Chapter 26

Pei Yanxi stopped two steps away from Wen Sixue, looked up at her condescendingly, and said, "She cares about you a lot, so I won't do anything to you. I'm afraid she'll be angry with me."

Pei Yanxi's tone was calm, yet it felt like an icicle piercing Wen Sixue's fingertips.

Wen Sixue's back was pressed tightly against the metal door, the black collar of her dress twisted and deformed from her own pulling, her knuckles white from the force. Her breath was still choked with sobs, yet she stubbornly raised her face, refusing to give up on seeing Yun Zhan.

Pei Yanxi stood a step away, her black trench coat unbuttoned, revealing the collar of her formal shirt underneath. That collar was snow-white, like an insurmountable line.

Her voice was low and clear, each word striking Wen Sixue's eardrums:

Unfortunately, I like her too.

A simple sentence, without any embellishment, is like the back of a knife gliding across the skin, leaving a chill.

Wen Sixue's eyelashes trembled, tears still clinging to her lower lashes, yet she forgot to let them fall. She opened her mouth, her throat dry and hoarse, only able to utter a very soft breath: "...I know."

Pei Yanxi raised her eyes, her gaze calm to the point of cruelty: "What makes you think you can take this from me?"

The sound wasn't loud, but it carried a natural sense of superiority—like the wind from the top of a snow-capped mountain looking down over a valley.

Wen Sixue's shoulders trembled slightly. She certainly knew Pei Yanxi's background:

The only daughter of Pei Zhen, a tycoon in the capital, she learned six languages ​​by the age of fifteen, took over the core business of the Pei family at the age of seventeen, and is now the new school board member of Mington School. A single appointment from her can make the lights in the entire building change color for her.

As for himself—his parents had fled abroad, leaving him all alone; now he had to work to pay for his school fees, and he even had to rely on Yun Zhan to pay for his rent…

The difference between her and Pei Yanxi wasn't just their social status, but an entire insurmountable chasm.

Feelings of inferiority washed over me like a tidal wave, instantly engulfing my chest.

Wen Sixue's clenched fingertips dug into her palms, her nails leaving crescent-shaped white marks, yet she felt no pain.

A metallic taste rose in her throat, and she almost wanted to shrink into the shadow of her black clothes and hat, but the next second, she straightened her back.

"I know I can't compare to you."

Her voice trembled, yet she stubbornly refused to back down, "But liking something isn't like bidding, where the highest bidder wins."

She raised her hand and wiped her face, the tear tracks roughly wiped red. "I have nothing... but I respect all her choices. If she chooses you, I wish her happiness. But if Yun Zhan likes me... I will definitely not let go."

Pei Yanxi's pupils contracted very slightly.

The corridor was so quiet you could hear the hissing of the light bulbs.

Wen Sixue leaned against the door, like a small animal driven to the brink of despair, trembling with fear yet still baring her softest teeth.

"I don't have much, not even a fraction of what you can give her. But whatever she wants, whatever I have, I'm willing to give her..."

She took a half step forward, her voice hoarse but each word clear, "I have no family constraints, I can be with her as I please, Senior Pei, can you?"

Pei Yanxi didn't move.

The wind lifted the hem of his trench coat for a fleeting moment, revealing the gun handle behind his waist; a cold glint flashed and disappeared.

She looked at Wen Sixue as if examining an unsharpened knife—sharp, yet recklessly arrogant.

After a long silence, Pei Yanxi spoke, her voice so low it was almost inaudible: "You can be with her as you please, but you can't afford to take responsibility for her future."

Wen Sixue did not retreat, but instead took another half step forward, her forehead almost touching Pei Yanxi's epaulettes.

"Then let's give it a try," she said hoarsely. "Senior Pei... let's see who she chooses in the end."

Pei Yanxi's fingers, hanging by her side, tightened slightly.

The red light at the end of the corridor flashed silently, and the countdown jumped to the last minute.

Pei Yanxi didn't say another word, but raised her hand and made a "please" gesture—her fingertips pointed inward, hooking almost imperceptibly, meaning: leave.

Wen Sixue was only half a step away from the forbidden room, but that half step was like a crack, creating an unhealable fissure in the steel-like authority.

"Please ask her to leave," Pei Yanxi ordered coldly.

Wen Sixue's knuckles scratched several white marks on the door, her nails broke, and blood seeped into the metal cracks, only to be evaporated by the cold air in the blink of an eye.

Wen Sixue slowly slid to the ground, leaning against the door, her hat drooping down, covering half her face. She hugged her knees, her forehead against them, as if she had folded herself into the smallest ball.

The emergency light above her head flashed twice before returning to its cold white light, making her shadow shrink into a tiny tuft.

Time was stretched into a viscous thread.

She counted her heartbeats, second by second, overlapping with the red countdown on the access control screen.

Each time she jumped, she silently recited Yun Zhan's name in her heart—as if if she could recite it enough times, the door would open for her.

The numbers jump to 00:00 and start over, but the door remains completely still.

...

In the middle of the night, the student group chat suddenly exploded. Jiang Yanmo groggily opened her phone and found hundreds of unread messages.

"Ah, why are there so many messages? What happened this time?" Jiang Yanmo immediately snapped out of her daze, scrolled to the top of the group chat page, and checked the messages one by one.

It turns out that a senior student took the photo of Shi Mingyue.

"Shi Mingyue is here..." The senior student posted a photo of Shi Mingyue's back in the group chat, and then added, "I live on the second floor by the window. I saw Shi Mingyue get out of the car with my own eyes."

"What exactly did the principal do to cause such a commotion? Even the eldest daughter of the Shi family is here..."

"I haven't seen Shi Mingyue since the middle of last semester..."

The candid photo was taken secretly with a spare camera at the end of the corridor. The senior student didn't dare to turn on the lights, so the image quality was compressed to only 720P, and the color temperature was also too cold, as if it were taken through a thin layer of frost.

Shi Mingyue stood in that blurry blur, her trench coat being lifted by the air currents in the corridor, leaving only a swaying white shadow at the hem.

Her slender waist was outlined in the afterimage. She tilted her head slightly, and her eyelashes were surrounded by a soft white glow from the light strip, like dandelions in a snowy night, as if they would scatter at the slightest touch.

The trench coat is off-white, with a collar wrapped in apricot-colored cashmere. The frayed edges are gently lifted by the airflow, but the pixelated texture cannot conceal the soft warmth that feels like it's about to snuggle into someone's arms.

The flickering lights sliced ​​her profile into frames, her long, curly hair appearing as if splashed ink in the blur, a few stray strands leaving afterimages, like ripples on a lake at night.

The pixelated textures couldn't conceal her natural beauty.

The elevator doors slid open, and the first sound to land was the crisp sound of high heels; Shi Mingyue had arrived with her entourage.

She came to school without wearing a school uniform, but instead wore an ivory-white trench coat over a black dress, and the badge pinned to her collar was the Golden Iris, a badge worn by a high-ranking official of the Moon Capital.

The color exploded in the cold gray corridor, like hot rose wine splashed on snow.

Shi Mingyue held a thin document box in the crook of her arm, the corner of which was stamped with the parliamentary seal, its sharp edge exposed.

"Get out of the way."

She stopped three steps away from Pei Yanxi, her voice not loud, but very pleasant to hear.

She looked up and, without pausing, her gaze fell directly on Pei Yanxi.

"The matter has been investigated and found to have nothing to do with her... Release her immediately."

Pei Yanxi was still standing in front of the gate, her fingertips tucked into her trench coat pockets, like a cold, lifeless gate.

"No one is allowed to visit during the interrogation period."

"Including me?"

Shi Mingyue raised an eyebrow, lightly flicked the document box with her fingertips, and the golden iris badge flashed a calm and noble arc under the light.

“Pei Yanxi, you’d better check who wrote this document.”

The document box was handed to Pei Yanxi—a thin sheet of paper, with an emergency transfer order from the Supreme Supervisory Office at the top and Shi Ke's handwritten signature at the bottom.

The ink was not yet dry, and the red mark was as sharp as a freshly cut heart.

Pei Yanxi glanced down at the door, her lips remaining perfectly still, but she raised her hand and pressed the intercom lock, and the red light came on again.

"The time limit has expired, and the transfer order is invalid."

His voice was so cold that there was no flaw in his tone.

Shi Mingyue chuckled softly and suddenly leaned forward.

The tips of her high heels almost touched the tips of Pei Yanxi's boots, and her breath carried the scent of mint and gunpowder.

"Hierarchy and social hierarchy... You understand these four words better than anyone else. You know who my father is, and I know who is behind you."

Shi Mingyue lowered her voice, like a lover's murmur, yet every word was menacing, "Don't force me to dismantle your position as a school board member."

Pei Yanxi finally looked up.

Two gazes collided in mid-air, scattering cold light.

“Pei Yanxi, I don’t have your strong desire for power. I just want to see Yun Zhan... I don’t want to make things difficult for everyone.”

She has a good temper and a gentle personality. If Pei Yanxi hadn't offended Yun Zhan, she wouldn't have spoken so sharply...

"Before I let you in, answer one question for me." Pei Yanxi was silent for a long time before finally nodding.

"Go ahead." Shi Mingyue suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes brightening slightly.

"How did you meet her, and... why did she go to Mingyue Manor?"

Pei Yanxi has never forgotten that night—the night Yun Zhan carried her to Mingyue Manor and then lied to her.

"We met during the Lantern Festival. She knows medicine and came to Mingyue Manor to treat me." Shi Mingyue did not immediately reveal her relationship with Yun Zhan.

Shi Mingyue carefully observed Pei Yanxi's expression. Her thinking was meticulous enough... she sensed that Pei Yanxi's feelings for Yun Zhan didn't seem like the feelings she would have for an ordinary detainee...

Could it be...?

A bold guess surfaced in Shi Mingyue's mind...

No, Pei Yanxi has a strong desire for power and shouldn't be someone who falls in love easily.

She instinctively denied it, but in the instant the door opened, she didn't see the silent shattering in Pei Yanxi's eyes...

The air pressure gate hissed very softly behind Pei Yanxi, and she took a half step back, as if she were removing her last layer of armor.

One by one, the incandescent lights in the corridor turned on, illuminating the huddled shadow at the end—

Yun Zhan sat in the corner with his knees drawn up, his shirt collar pulled askew, revealing a pale blue collarbone in the cold light.

The chains rattled as they dragged from her wrists, each tremor striking Shi Mingyue's heart.

She practically ran there.

The white trench coat billowed in an arc at the knees, and as she squatted down, the cashmere hem swept across the ground, stirring up fine dust.

“Yun Zhan…”

Her voice was so soft as if she were afraid of startling something. Her fingertips touched Yun Zhan's hair first. Yun Zhan's hair was stuck to her forehead with cold sweat, icy cold, like feathers wet in the rain.

In fact, Pei Yanxi did not ignore Yun Zhan; she even provided heating in Yun Zhan's room.

Yun Zhan is so cold now, it's all her own fault. She bumped into a leaky basin by the wall while she was planning an escape route, and got soaked. She had no clothes to change into, so she was shivering from the cold.

Hearing someone call her name, Yun Zhan looked up, her eyelashes still glistening with tiny droplets of water, and her pupils contracted sharply the moment she saw Shi Mingyue.

Before Yun Zhan could speak, Shi Mingyue had already unbuttoned her trench coat.

The fabric, carrying the warm scent of her body heat, enveloped Yun Zhan instantly.

She turned up her collar, the cashmere edge brushing against Yun Zhan's cool earlobe, like building a soft wall around it.

"Don't be afraid, it's me."

She pulled her clothes tighter, placed her palm on her shoulder, and gently stroked it.

The voice was low and soft, with a slight nasal tone, like soothing a child having a nightmare.

"I brought you something hot."

She took a small bottle of ginger tea from her trench coat pocket, unscrewed the cap, and the steam hit Yun Zhan's eyelashes, instantly turning into water droplets that rolled down.

Yun Zhan's fingertips, frozen purple, trembled violently as they touched the cup.

Shi Mingyue then wrapped her hand in his own, as if placing a small ball of fire into her palm.

She bent down to straighten the disheveled hem of Yun Zhan's shirt, her fingertips tracing the red marks left on her wrist, her movements as light as if touching fragile glass.

"Does it hurt?"

She asked, her voice trembling with heartache, but she tried to force a smile to shield her from the pain.

Under the light, she looked like a bouquet of freshly cut lilies.

It was almost transparently white, yet carried a warm fragrance.

She buried her face in the collar of Shi Mingyue's trench coat, her nose brushing against the soft cashmere.

The trembling breathing gradually calmed down.