Just then, the opposing team successfully backdoored their base. They lost this round.
Ji Xiangzhou set his phone down and did not continue playing.
Fang Ning raised a hand to greet him. "Oh, Xiangzhou, you're back so early."
Ji Xiangzhou looked at Fang Ning, his spirits low. "I came back because I felt like it."
Fang Ning had very good eyesight and noticed the record of consecutive losses on his phone. She slowly thought:
[There isn't much expression on his face. Looks like he's unhappy because he's such a noob and got killed too many times.]
[He really is terrible but loves playing, feeding kills left and right. Unlike me, MVP every round!]
Those words suddenly rang out in Ji Xiangzhou's head.
It was the first time someone had called him a noob like this. His brows drew into a tight frown on his cold face.
He wanted to argue back, but the next second, he abruptly came to his senses, confusion in his eyes.
She had not opened her mouth to speak just now. He remembered that very clearly. What was going on?
Even with an IQ of 150, Ji Xiangzhou could not figure out what was happening.
Could I have damaged my brain during that fight with those thugs last night, and now I'm hallucinating?
Wait, something's wrong. I must have gotten up too fast. Look again. Observe a little longer.
Fang Ning noticed something was off with Ji Xiangzhou. Thinking he felt unwell, she asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well?"
Ji Xiangzhou's gaze was complicated. He did not quite know how to explain the situation, so he simply shook his head and offered a terse reply. "I'm not."
The boy's eyes held three parts bewilderment, three parts cold confusion, and another three parts incomprehension.
This left Fang Ning bewildered and confused too. The boy's moods changed a little too quickly.
She could not stop muttering inwardly:
[Ah, don't try to guess what an edgy teenager is thinking. Don't guess. You can't figure it out, you really can't.]
Now Ji Xiangzhou was truly certain he had not imagined those voices just now. Something really was wrong with his brain.
It was already six in the evening, with two hours left until the agency's dinner gathering.
Seeing that she did not have much time, Fang Ning did not want to talk too much with the boy either. "I have something to go out for later, so I'll head upstairs and get ready first. I won't be eating at home tonight. If you're hungry, go find something in the kitchen."
After saying that, Fang Ning turned and went upstairs without giving Ji Xiangzhou any chance to react.
Ji Xiangzhou watched her slender figure hurry away, a few indefinable emotions flickering across his cold expression.
It's not like I'm a three-year-old. Wouldn't I know to find something to eat when I'm hungry?
After Fang Ning left, Ji Xiangzhou opened his phone and considered the voices he had just heard in his head. After pondering for a moment, he opened the WeChat group.
The WeChat screen showed:
No. 2 High School F3. A Lone Boat: I want to ask, under what circumstances would someone hallucinate and hear other people's thoughts? Sunshine Boy.Ye: When else? When their brain's broken, obviously! Spread Wings and Fly: Wait, Brother Zhou, why are you suddenly asking such a profound question? Did you hit your head during the fight last night and mess something up? Sunshine Boy.Ye: Brother Zhou, hurry and get checked at the hospital? You can't put this off!
Seeing their blunt replies, Ji Xiangzhou fell silent.
Get checked? But my homeroom teacher already took me to the hospital last night. I had a CT scan, and it showed no obvious damage to my brain.
Ji Xiangzhou extended his long fingers and typed one word at a time:
I already got checked. There's nothing wrong with my brain. Spread Wings and Soar: Huh, you got checked and there's nothing wrong? I know! This is when you need to get your fortune told! Maybe something unclean has latched onto you! Sunshine Boy.Ye: Zhao Fei, don't scare Brother Zhou like that. Everyone knows Brother Zhou is afraid of supernatural stuff! How are you going to make it up to us if you scare our Brother Zhou out of his wits? A Lone Boat: ... A Lone Boat patted Sunshine Boy.Ye and threw a lump of shit at him. Sunshine Boy.Ye: I know! You must have unlocked that mind-reading skill or whatever! My sister's been playing those mind-reading novels every day lately! : Maybe you got that ability too!
Reading this, Ji Xiangzhou grew thoughtful.
Her thoughts? So the voices in my head just now were her thoughts.
She said I'm terrible but love playing, and that I'm in my edgy phase!
At that thought, Ji Xiangzhou frowned and pressed his lips together.
He was seventeen this year and would be an adult next year. In his world, ever since he had been able to attend his own parent-teacher conferences in high school.
He had already grown up and become mentally mature.
It seemed he had grown into an adult without noticing, with no rebellious phase and no edgy phase.
Fang Ning returned to her room and looked at the piles of clothes in the walk-in closet. Her indecisiveness flared up, because she discovered that the original owner had heaps of clothes, many of them from major brands! They were all styles she liked!
There were even styles she absolutely loved! Fang Ning was a little surprised that her taste and the original owner's were so remarkably alike!
Her manager had told her to dress nicely, but faced with this pile of beautiful clothes, Fang Ning found herself torn.
They were all lovely clothes, beautiful clothes! She really could not decide.
She did not know what to choose. If she wore a dress from C, she would be neglecting that pretty dress from D.
In the end, Fang Ning's gaze settled on a simple, elegant white formal dress. After she put it on, a poised beauty appeared before the mirror.
Fang Ning kept feeling that something was off.