Chapter 99

From early June to mid-to-late August, Chi Jun had been missing for more than two months.

As the days went by, he seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving no trace.

Chi Jun was a central figure in their circle of friends, and his sudden disappearance shocked everyone.

Over the past two months, the shock gradually turned into doubt, the doubt into regret, and finally, as time passed, the regret was gradually smoothed over, leaving only a sigh when mentioned unintentionally.

Xu Qingzhou remained calm throughout, a calmness that frightened Li Rui and his group.

I was afraid she might suddenly wake up and go crazy from being cooped up.

However, Xu Qingzhou did not suppress her emotions.

She was simply brainwashing herself.

Chi Jun was forced to come to the human world in the first place; he never felt a sense of belonging there.

Chi Jun never liked her from the beginning, and now he's suddenly left without saying goodbye. Perhaps even his feelings for her in the meantime were fake.

She even tried to tell herself, in a despicable and dark way, that Chi Jun disappeared with Xuan Li, and that they might have been secretly betraying her ever since their reunion in the human world.

On a sleepless night, Xu Qingzhou gazed at the moon, trying to convince himself of the truth over and over again.

She desperately denied her love for Chi Jun, attributing all the changes in their relationship over the past year to Chi Jun's forced compromise with reality, and then cramming in all the so-called "deception" and "betrayal".

—She wanted to make herself hate Chi Jun.

At least that way, I can continue on with hatred in my heart.

This approach did produce some results.

Faced with Chi Jun's sudden disappearance, Xu Qingzhou, as the person closest to him, remained calmer than anyone else.

She worked part-time, ate, slept, washed, gave media interviews, cooperated with the school's publicity... everything was done in an orderly manner, and those negative emotions that were about to surface when she was alone were all suppressed by her.

suppress.

suppress.

Suppress it again...

But these emotions, which she usually kept locked away, poured out like a flood when she saw the pile of photos and the note left by Chi Jun tonight. The immense sadness overwhelmed her, almost suffocating her.

Why did you drag her to take those photo booth pictures?

Why did I always hug and pinch her cheeks during those days?

Why was Li Rui allowed to accompany and take care of her throughout the entire exam process?

Why leave her the pills after you've already left? And why apologize to her?

A series of "whys" clustered together, peeling back layers to find the box of memories, which was then overturned. Memories surged forth in an instant, enveloping Xu Qingzhou like a thick fog, forcing her to witness the various scenes of herself with Chi Jun—

Bathing the fox, tapping the wall with a clothes hanger to call the fox back for dinner...

Chi Jun carried her home, still drunk...

Chi Jun jokingly warned her not to have any improper thoughts about him...

She caught the plush toy and excitedly jumped up and down to show it off to Chi Jun...

Chi Jun pulled her into his arms and arrogantly told her suitors that she was his girlfriend...

Xu Qingzhou clutched the pills in her hand, her immense grief feeling like a hand tightly gripping her heart. Her face was streaked with tears, and even breathing became difficult.

She opened her mouth wide and gasped for breath, trying to banish these images from her mind and let hatred take over once again.

This time, however hard she tried, her hatred was as weak as a wisp of smoke, scattered by the constantly flashing memories, and could never be rekindled.

Xu Qingzhou opened her palm with trembling hands.

Looking at the small black pill in her hand, she finally had to admit—

Throughout the entire process, she was very worried about Chi Jun's safety.

Not a day goes by that she doesn't miss him madly.

She really, really missed him.

*

The next morning at 7:30, Li Rui arrived at the rented courtyard on time.

Besides him, there were his parents, and Wang Shuai.

During this time, Li Rui and Xu Qingzhou have become very close. Li Rui's parents have also met Xu Qingzhou a few times and know that she is a pitiful child with no one to rely on. They love her from the bottom of their hearts. A few days ago, they even specially arranged a small graduation banquet for her, inviting only some friends that Xu Qingzhou knows.

They originally wanted to drive Xu Qingzhou to school, but Xu Qingzhou declined repeatedly, so the couple decided to take them to the train station instead.

They brought breakfast.

But Xu Qingzhou had already made himself his last breakfast in the small rented room and planned to save it for lunch on the train.

After checking their phone memos to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything, the group prepared to head to the train station.

As Xu Qingzhou closed the door, he took one last, deep look at the small rented room.

This is a small rented room where I've lived for a year.

Simple and cramped.

But it was her real home in her memories.

The bed inside was neatly made, and the bowls, chopsticks, tables, chairs, and benches were all still in their original places. The clock on the wall continued to tick, and the atmosphere of life was still there, as if Xu Qingzhou and Chi Jun would always live in this small rented room.

A red bathtub was visible under the dimly lit bed.

That was the fox's bathing tub.

Xu Qingzhou seemed to see the scene of the little fox splashing around in the water, spraying her with foam.

She raised the corners of her mouth slightly, but her eyes were a little sore.

"Clang—"

The outer security door is locked.

Xu Qingzhou stood silently facing the door for a while, then suddenly took a deep breath, turned around and left.

*

Xu Qingzhou started school.

Xu Qingzhou was the subject of a deluge of online rumors and gossip during the summer, even trending on social media twice. It was hard for anyone not to know about him.

Fortunately, many of the freshmen at this university are top scorers in their respective provinces and cities in the college entrance examination. Everyone has their own pride, and they might jokingly say something like "I know you, you were super popular online before" when they first meet. They don't usually pay special attention to Xu Qingzhou or try to get close to her.

Therefore, Xu Qingzhou's university life was relatively quiet at the beginning.

Like other universities, this university's freshmen enrollment also begins with military training.

Xu Qingzhou hadn't done any research on this before. It was only on the first night of school that her enthusiastic roommate, Xu Qingqing, dragged her to the supermarket to buy a tube of sunscreen.

The sunscreen wasn't very waterproof, and even though he kept reapplying it, Xu Qingzhou still got a bit tanned after several days of military training.

She didn't care much about it, but Xu Qingqing was even more anxious than her.

"Oh my god, my skin is peeling from the sun. I need to quickly buy some waterproof sunscreen online!"

Xu Qingzhou had never shopped online before and didn't know how to do it or where to start.

Xu Qingqing plopped down on the edge of her bed and said simply:

"Wait here, I'll buy it for you."

Xu Qingzhou: [Thank you]

"Oh, you're too kind."

Xu Qingqing browsed online for a while, then called Xu Qingzhou over to look at the content together.

"Look at this one, it's a classic bestseller, and it's said to prevent sunburn, but it's a bit pricey."

"And this one..."

"Oh, right, I just remembered, there's another sunscreen that's quite gentle. Let me find it for you..."

Xu Qingqing tapped and clicked on the screen, switching between pages. Suddenly, she accidentally switched to a men's clothing brand and paused for a moment when she saw the advertisement.

"This model is quite handsome."

Xu Qingzhou stared at the photo, his heart suddenly trembled, and his breathing became erratic for a couple of seconds.

It's Chi Jun.

Xu Qingqing keenly sensed that something was wrong with Xu Qingzhou and turned to ask her:

"What’s wrong with you?"

Xu Qingzhou lowered his eyelids and shook his head.

Her eyelashes hung obediently like small fans, her face was calm and gentle like water, her hair had just been washed and dried and hung down on the side of her face, exuding a faint scent of shampoo, her body was slender and delicate, wearing only a long nightgown, she looked so soft and tender, and had a very scholarly air about her.

Xu Qingqing was momentarily lost in thought.

No wonder she's a "top student and beauty" who made the news.

I feel so sorry for him...

She couldn't help but ask, "Qingzhou, do you have a boyfriend?"

Xu Qingzhou paused for a moment, then nodded.

"Huh? There really is one?"

Xu Qingqing tilted her head back.

Wait a minute, she already has a boyfriend at the start of the semester, which means they started dating at least before summer vacation. But she looks like a well-behaved girl, how could she be in a relationship so early?

"I still think you didn't want to agree to Chen Binglie from the Computer Science Department, so you deliberately lied and said you had a boyfriend."

Chen Binglie was a boy who confessed his feelings to Xu Qingzhou in a grand manner on the third day of military training.

It was nearly dusk, and the day's military training was almost over. Amidst the cheers of a group of boys, Chen Binglie, with the crimson sunset behind him, played his guitar and confessed his romantic and tender love to Xu Qingzhou.

The surrounding area was filled with freshmen in camouflage, and many instructors also came to watch. The scene was quite lively, with many people shouting, clapping, and cheering.

In this situation, most girls would probably feel quite uncomfortable.

Xu Qingzhou remained calm throughout.

She listened quietly to the boy play the guitar before stepping forward and saying:

Thank you for the guitar music you sent me. It sounds beautiful, thank you.

But I have a boyfriend, sorry.

Chen Binglie froze on the spot, while Xu Qingzhou simply nodded slightly before turning and leaving with a graceful and calm demeanor.

Everyone said that this woman was too calm and composed, and seemed indifferent and aloof. She didn't seem like someone who would be in a relationship. As for her boyfriend, it was probably just an excuse to reject Chen Binglie.

To everyone's surprise, Xu Qingzhou claimed to have a boyfriend back in the dorm.

Xu Qingqing was shocked for a moment and asked:

When did you start dating?

Xu Qingzhou: [Senior Year 3]

"Well, you're something else," Xu Qingqing slapped her arm. "I didn't realize you'd be in a relationship so early."

"I'm quite curious about what your boyfriend looks like. How did he manage to win over a girl like you? Do you have a picture? Can I see it?"

Xu Qingzhou smiled slightly and said nothing.

Just then, the cell phone rang.

She made an apologetic gesture and turned to get her phone from the desk.

Xu Qingqing wasn't a clueless fool. Seeing that Xu Qingzhou probably didn't want to talk about it, she didn't press the matter further. She lay down comfortably and continued to help her choose sunscreen.