Chapter 31
Qi Yi could never have imagined that Su Zihan would cancel her birthday party on her own and secretly run back home - he only discovered this when he was blocking her door.
Su Zihan was also slightly stunned when she saw him, and then she reacted: "Oh, I see, Shen Huaixin complained to you first, didn't she? Let me guess, what did she complain about me? Did she leave without saying goodbye or deliberately ruin the birthday party?"
Qi Yi was confused and a little dissatisfied with Su Zihan's weird attitude: "She just cares about you, but what are you talking about? She is not as bad as you think."
After that, he sent a text message to Shen Huaixin, asking her to rest assured. Su Zihan sneered,
"I think she's not as good as you think."
"Su Zihan," he didn't want to argue, so he just called her name with a slight warning, his expression becoming a little calmer, "Now that you're home, I'll..."
"Don't you want to know what she thinks of you?" Su Zihan interrupted him.
“…”
Without waiting for Qi Yi to speak, he stuffed a USB flash drive into his hand and went back to the house without looking back. With a "bang", he slammed the iron door shut.
Qi Yi stroked the dark blue USB drive in his hand and pursed his lips.
After saying goodbye to Shen Chumo, Shen Huaixin hurried backstage, removed his mask, changed his clothes, and looked himself over, making sure he had seamlessly transformed from "Su Zihan" to "Shen Huaixin." The system notification sounded at the perfect moment.
[Plot Deviation -20, Current Value 6 (Conclusion: Even a cold-blooded villain has weaknesses? He's no longer indestructible.)]
Shen Huaixin suddenly felt dazed. A month before the pollution outbreak, she had nearly succeeded, far exceeding her expectations. Yet, she couldn't be happy. She watched the characters in the book gradually approach death, watched Shen Chumo approach his end, and ultimately, she couldn't bear it.
When reading a book, she could still watch from the sidelines, regardless of whether it was the protagonist or the villain, it was ultimately just a few lines of cold handwriting after dinner. But when she was in the situation, the closer she got, the more hesitant she became.
"Do villains have to die?" Shen Huaixin murmured.
The answer to her was still the inorganic electronic voice of the system: "Chen Chumo must die, otherwise this world will eventually come to an end."
When she returned to Shen Chumo, Shen Huaixin regained her usual domineering expression. She looked at him and snorted, throwing out a few thick books with a look of disgust.
"It's your birthday present. No need to thank me. Don't even mention that I didn't buy you a birthday present in my house."
"Thank you, Sister Xin," Shen Chumo's eyes lit up. He looked at the book in his hand, which contained titles such as "Five Years of College Entrance Examination and Three Years of Simulation" and "Huanggang Secret Papers." He held the heavy test paper in his arms, happily accepting it. "I will study hard and live up to your expectations."
She must be hoping that he would become a successful person, so she specially gave him these things. Shen Chumo could feel her good intentions as the eldest sister.
[Plot Deviation Value -6, Current Value 0 (Conclusion: The outcome is set.)]
“…”
Normally, would a child be genuinely happy to receive a workbook for their birthday? Wouldn't it be considered polite not to chop it up? Shen Huaixin was baffled.
He is a villain who kills without blinking an eye, but he was so easily satisfied when he was a child.
She shook her head and just as she reached out to rub Shen Chumo's head, she remembered that she was no longer "Han." Although she had only been "Han" for one night, the mask on, the disguise removed, the comfortable feeling of communicating with Shen Chumo without any hindrance was still etched in her mind. After playing the role of someone else for so long, Shen Huaixin sometimes felt a little dazed, thinking that she was living this leisurely and affluent life.
When Shen Huaixin withdrew his hand, he grabbed her wrist and pressed it to the top of her head. He put on the innocent expression of a dog begging for food, his eyes as wet as his nose: "You can touch it."
Really cute...
Shen Huaixin's Adam's apple rolled, and her hand couldn't help but rub twice before her consciousness came over. Before the ooc warning popped up, she stopped in time and said coldly,
"Don't get me wrong, I don't want to touch your head."
Shen Chumo recalled the direction in which Shen Huaixin had reached out. If it wasn't to touch his head, then... his face? His head was buzzing, his cheeks were burning, and he regretted his presumptuous decision.
Shen Huaixin didn’t pay attention to Shen Chumo’s wandering thoughts, and motioned him to leave with him: “It’s getting late, let’s go home.”
"Sister Xin, thank you."
Shen Huaixin nodded without saying anything, and then heard the voice behind him, mixed with the rustling sound of feet stepping on the grass, which was both real and romantic.
"I love the stars tonight."
She paused, her heart tightening. For a moment, she was caught off guard and thought he was talking about her.
"Ah, Xingxing is your nickname?" Shen Chumo arched his eyebrows, "Can I call you that from now on?"
Shen Huaixin realized that she had just blurted out and told him that this was her nickname. That was her real identity, Du Mingxing's nickname - Xingxing.
Intuition told Shen Huaixin that it was not good to have too many connections with the characters in the book. She turned cold and refused directly: "No, don't call me that in the future, forget it."
Shen Chumo was slightly stunned and stopped asking questions.
Qi Yi plugged the USB drive into his laptop, and soon, a mobile folder popped up. Inside was a single video, labeled "The Truth." Qi Yi didn't even need to click on it to guess it was related to Shen Huaixin.
As he watched, his brows gradually furrowed and his expression became deep in thought.
The next day, Su Zihan successfully waited for Qi Yi to come to the classroom. When he saw her, his face was not very good. He took out the USB flash drive from his pocket and handed it back to her.
Su Zihan was delighted, and then she looked at Qi Yi hanging his schoolbag behind his seat, and said calmly: "After class, I have something to tell you."
After seeing Shen Huaixin's outrageous speech, it would be better if he had something to say. Su Zihan was afraid that he would accept it as calmly as that fool Shen Chumo. Fortunately, Qi Yi was not blinded by Shen Huaixin.
Su Zihan naturally agreed happily.
After waiting for a long time for the get out of class to end, Su Zihan saw Qi Yi stand up and hurriedly followed him out of the classroom. He walked quickly and found an open space with few people before stopping and turning to look at her.
Su Zihan couldn't tell what Qi Yi's expression was like at the moment. His brows were slightly furrowed, and his eyes under his gold-rimmed glasses showed a worry that she couldn't understand. Before Su Zihan could savor it carefully, she heard him ask,
"You took a secret photo of her?"
"..." Su Zihan was stunned by the question she had never imagined. An unknown anger rose in her throat. She tried her best to restrain herself, but a few sparks still escaped from her words. "Is this what you want to say? Blame me for taking secret photos?"
Qi Yi shook his head, hesitating: "I'm not blaming you, it's just..."
The first thing he noticed about the video was its location. Judging by its placement, Su Zihan seemed to have placed a camera near his collar or the first button. The footage wasn't particularly clear, and there was occasional shakiness, so he could roughly guess it was a covert recording from a pinhole camera.
"I'm just concerned about you!" Su Zihan retorted forcefully.
"Even if you care about me, you can't do it in this way, secretly filming my classmates and then asking them questions," Qi Yi paused and said calmly, "This behavior is inappropriate. I have deleted the video on the USB drive. Of course, I appreciate your concern." The last sentence was a bit of a last resort.
Su Zihan looked at him and suddenly sneered. After thinking for a moment, she shook her head and laughed more coherently. At this moment, she really felt that people would laugh when they were angry: "Qi Yi... do you think I don't have a backup? She betrayed you so much, and you still want to defend her? Do you really want me to post it online so that other students can help you see her true face?"
Qi Yi's face turned cold.
"Why, are you feeling heartbroken?" Su Zihan put away his smile, clenched his fists, and his fingertips turned white.
Qi Yi closed his eyes, sighed, and when he opened them again, he had calmed down: "Zi Han, I just don't want you to become like this. Planning to secretly film a classmate and post it online to ruin her reputation, is this something the former 'Su Zi Han' would do? You are my friend, and compared to Shen Huaixin's joking words, I am more worried about you."
In Qi Yi's opinion, the tone of Shen Huaixin's words was really like a joke, neither true nor false. She said she wanted it all, and the movement of her fingers together was inexplicably magical. It always seemed like she was deliberately performing in front of her.
But Su Zihan's understanding was obviously different. He obviously regarded it as some kind of "handle" or "evidence" of the other party.
“…” Su Zihan’s eyes were stunned for a few seconds, she shook her head and lowered her tone, “In the final analysis, you are protecting Shen Huaixin.”
"If it were someone else... I mean, if you were taking pictures of someone else, I would also think it's inappropriate. This is not something you would do." Qi Yi said solemnly.
Su Zihan pursed her lips, and the fire in her chest seemed to be suddenly poured with a basin of water. She pursed her lips,
"Am I just a blank slate in your heart? Taking secret photos just to help you is a heinous crime?"
"Of course not." Qi Yi pushed his glasses and smiled, "Su Zihan in my heart has never been a blank slate, but she has her own principles."
“…”
A gentle breeze blew across the pond, rippling the water. A bird landed on the edge of the pond and pecked at the ground. At this moment, Su Zihan looked through the other person's glasses and saw those eyes that didn't seem fake. They showed their owner's subtle reserve and concern as always, as if nothing had changed.
She suddenly wasn't sure if she was the only one who had changed.
What was the original Su Zihan like? She couldn't quite recall it. Perhaps it had been accidentally thrown into some dusty corner, gradually gathering dust.
The recollection of jealousy and resentment she had felt during this time gradually transformed her into someone so unfamiliar that she barely even knew herself. When she tried to shed this look she disliked and put on her original leather again, she discovered the size was slightly off.
Su Zihan suddenly felt a little bored, she couldn't explain it. It was like when she was planning to attack the enemy, cracks appeared in her own castle. If she continued, the castle would collapse and become a ruin.
"What principle?" She looked at Qi Yi as if seeking confirmation and murmured the question.
"I think you should ask yourself."
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