Chapter 52 (First Release)

Driven by a strong intuition, Ning Wanwan suddenly stood up and retreated until she reached the office doorway.

“Dr. Mu, I… I think I should…”

Mu Xijue also stood up, a thoughtful expression on his face: "Does Ning Wanwan want to leave?"

"Don't you want to do this part-time job?"

"Still think the pay isn't good enough."

As Mu Xijue spoke slowly and deliberately, he walked step by step toward Ning Wanwan, the approaching distance making Ning Wanwan feel breathless.

Until they were only one step apart.

"Ning Wanwan, if there's anything you're not satisfied with, please feel free to mention it."

"I'm genuinely interested in what's special about you, Ning Wanwan."

"We also look forward to your participation in the experiment."

Ning Wanwan bit her lip, stammering in refusal: "No, I..."

Seeing that the girl still refused, Mu Xijue narrowed his eyes slightly, and his slightly raised tone carried a hint of danger.

"What a pity. It seems that Ning Wanwan's intuition is very sharp."

"..." Ning Wanwan was caught off guard by the other party's sudden change in attitude, which seemed to be tearing off a mask.

Mu Xijue remained calm, looking down at the girl.

"Or does Ning Wanwan already know the 'secret' of my lab?"

"Otherwise, why would you so firmly reject such a part-time job that everyone would consider to have excellent conditions?"

Under Mu Xijue's relentless questioning, Ning Wanwan's mind was in complete disarray.

Knowing that saying more would only lead to more mistakes, she only managed to squeeze out a soft "I don't understand what you're saying..." before falling silent.

I really want to leave right now! If I just open the door and run, will I be able to escape?

But this person was too close! Ning Wanwan had absolutely no confidence that she could open the door and run away before the other person could react.

"Hey, Ning Wanwan doesn't know?" Mu Xijue nodded, looking like she had taken it to heart. "I believe you."

"After all, you're just an ordinary senior high school student who has never been involved in these circles before. How could you possibly know these secrets?"

Ning Wanwan showed a hint of anticipation and nodded slightly.

I really don't know anything, so please let me go!

“But—” Mu Xijue changed the subject.

Ning Wanwan's heart leaped at the man's "but," and then she heard him say—

"I'm a rather cautious and timid person, and I'm very afraid of getting into trouble."

"What if you find out and leak my secret?"

"It would be a bit difficult if too many people knew about me."

Ning Wanwan's unease reached its peak, and sweat began to seep from her forehead.

What exactly does this person want to do?

“So why not—” Mu Xijue drawled, then suddenly leaned down and brought her face close to the girl’s to look her in the eye.

His smile vanished, and he lowered his voice, as if whispering softly in her ear. The tenderness that had been on the surface of his peach blossom eyes had completely disappeared.

"So why don't we just kill you here?"

"As far as I know, you have no relatives or friends, right? It should be easy to make you appear 'missing' and erase all traces of yourself."

"Ning Wanwan, tell me, should I get rid of you here?"

Mu Xijue, seemingly with great kindness, handed the choice to the terrified and pitiful girl he had trapped in the corner.

Ning Wanwan's hair almost stood on end, and a chilling feeling quickly crept up her spine to the back of her head.

Under his shadow, she was forced to look him in the eye for a few seconds before turning her head away in a panic, unable to bear being stared at any longer.

This person, this person is definitely not normal!

The girl adopted a posture of refusing to communicate, but Mu Xijue was not angry: "Ning Wanwan, are you planning to let me speak unilaterally now?"

"Pretending to be mute is not a good habit."

Ning Wanwan remained silent, though to Mu Xijue, this little bit of silence was nothing more than a weak and futile resistance from the prey.

However, under such close, almost eye-to-eye contact, Mu Xijue discovered that this girl, who always liked to lower her head, had a pair of very beautiful eyes.

Because of its owner's current predicament, those once clear and bright eyes were now filled with panic and unease, and covered with a thin layer of mist.

It's as if if you're even a little bit more afraid in the next second, the mist will condense into droplets of water and fall down, wetting your whole little face.

"Your eyes are beautiful. Could it be that Chen Wu only took a liking to this aspect of you and reluctantly acknowledged that 'He' has some taste?"

Ning Wanwan was not pleased by the praise.

The man's gaze was too intense, as if he wanted to dissect her thoroughly. The girl lowered her eyelashes uncomfortably, her eyelashes trembling pitifully.

But Mu Xijue didn't feel any pity or reluctance. Instead, she developed a wicked interest and wanted to scare the other person even more and see how she cried so badly.

It should be very interesting.

Unfortunately, because the mask obscured the girl's appearance, Mu Xijue found that she couldn't quite imagine the scene.

He suddenly felt that the mask was a bit of an eyesore.

Mu Xijue raised an eyebrow, not intending to resist this sudden idea that had suddenly popped into her head.

He reached out, his long, slender fingers with distinct knuckles trying to remove the mask from the girl's face.

Then, his fingertips were gripped by the girl.

The warmth emanating from the girl's slender, white palms made Mu Xijue squint slightly.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently and considerately, his peach blossom eyes sparkling.

Ning Wanwan: "What...what are you going to do..."

She didn't want to speak, but she just couldn't hold back anymore.

This person seems to want to—take off her mask!

Ning Wanwan wasn't sure if the strange things that happened to her were related to the "love at first sight" phenomenon, but she wasn't willing to take the risk!

Mu Xijue seemed to be pondering something. Looking into the girl's eyes, he saw the fear hidden in her eyes—the fear of not wanting him to remove her mask. He smiled slightly.

"Hmm... Wanwan, didn't you already guess it?"

"How about it? If you let me take off my mask, I might change my mind and let Wanwan go."

The way she addressed him changed from "Ning Wanwan" to "Wanwan," a difference of just one word, but it seemed to make them even more intimate.

Ning Wanwan didn't pay attention to the difference.

"..." She whispered two words, turned her face away, avoided Mu Xijue's fingers, and unconsciously tightened her grip on his fingertips.

Mu Xijue looked puzzled and pretended to listen carefully: "Hmm, what is Wanwan saying?"

"don't want……"

He still smiled, his tone light: "I didn't hear you clearly, did Wanwan say 'want'?"

Ning Wanwan was almost in tears. The person in front of her was clearly teasing and coercing her. At such close range, no matter how soft her voice was, he couldn't possibly not hear her.

He did it on purpose.

"...No, no, I already said no!"

Ning Wanwan's eyes reddened from being bullied by this awful man.

In this helpless and dangerous space, she finally couldn't help but choke out two sobs, the mist in her eyes condensing into water vapor, wetting her gently trembling eyelashes.

Like a delicate yet beautiful butterfly with its thin wings dampened by the rain.

Mu Xijue thought she was prettier and easier to bully.

So even when the girl forcefully slapped away his hand, which he always valued and used for experiments, the next second, Mu Xijue wasn't particularly angry.

He even had the leisure to comfort her, his voice gentle, like that of a most caring teacher: "It's alright, if you don't want to think about it, that's fine, don't be nervous."

"Slow down your breathing, you're going to have trouble breathing."

Although it was a bit of a disappointment that she wasn't crying her eyes out as she had hoped, Mu Xijue knew when to stop. Sometimes, the process of slowly revealing the gift was more interesting.

He stood up, put his hands back in his pockets, and made some distance between himself, considerately giving the girl space to recover.

Taking advantage of the opening, Ning Wanwan turned around and tried to turn the doorknob, but she couldn't. She didn't want to think about why the door was locked even though Mu Xijue hadn't touched it.

Her voice still carried a faint sob: "I want to go out."

"Okay, go to class now." As a new teacher who cares a lot about her students' learning, the gentle and kind Ms. Mu would never do anything as bad as forcing a student to stay behind.

He was also concerned about the students' real-life difficulties, and added with a smile, "If Wanwan changes her mind, this part-time job will still be reserved for you."

His response was the sound of Ning Wanwan finally opening the office door and then slamming it shut without hesitation.

...

Even after returning to the classroom, Ning Wanwan was still not fully recovered.

She rubbed her eyes hard. As a socially awkward person who rarely communicates with others, Ning Wanwan is prone to tears when she gets excited. It's not serious, but she just couldn't hold back in that situation.

The system's angry mutterings still echoed in my mind.

[That jerk! How could he treat you like that! Host, you've suffered so much, waaaaaah! You must find a way to teach him a lesson later!]

“Mm.” Ning Wanwan nodded solemnly.

In fact, in that oppressive environment, Ning Wanwan's rational mind could realize that the other party probably didn't really want to do anything to her on the spot. Their talk of "killing" her was probably more out of malice, otherwise there would have been no need for them to say so much to her later.

Simply put, he was interested in her, but not much; he was more interested in teasing her and wanted to observe her reaction.

However, this does not mean she was not in danger at the time.

Ning Wanwan had a gut feeling that he had initially considered whether to simply make her "disappear," and that after she "disappeared," he would most likely forcibly take her to the laboratory. However, for some reason, he changed his mind later.

Although she didn't know why, Ning Wanwan felt lucky to have escaped.

Ning Wanwan really didn't want to encounter this situation a second time. The danger that Mu Xijue posed to her was different from any other character.

Ning Wanwan even suspected that the other party might be the villainous boss who had been hiding behind the scenes and would eventually fight the male lead.

"The current situation is that he hasn't seen my face and wants me to volunteer as a guinea pig, but he's not insistent on it, so it's still relatively controllable."

"Hopefully, we can keep to ourselves from now on."

Ning Wanwan thought to herself sincerely.

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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 16:52:04 on January 6, 2024 and 17:59:36 on January 7, 2024!

Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: 1 heart;

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: 50 bottles of donuts;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!