How many people were on campus? Leaves rustled as they brushed the ground, and the withered shape caught Xu Shiyue's voice.
Lu Shizhen's movement to leave suddenly froze in the wind, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Xu Shiyue's hand instantly grabbing hers.
She didn't know how to describe the scene she was seeing. It was as if someone had knocked over a jar of candy, and the glass-like candies rolled around in her heart, refracting colorful light in the sunlight, instantly filling her world with wonderful and bizarre colors.
She thought she was happy at that moment, but she also felt that it wasn't just the happiness of being asked to stay.
Xu Shiyue's voice was soft and gentle, like the autumn wind that was blowing around her, which calmed her inexplicably downcast heart.
The two's behavior clearly surprised Chen Miaomiao, who called out Xu Shiyue's name in confusion: "Shiyue..."
Xu Shiyue understood the surprise in Chen Miaomiao's words, but she didn't know how to explain her sudden action of grabbing Lu Shizhen.
But the sun, unfortunately, fell into her line of sight at the wrong time, casting a shadow of a head bowed into her vision, like a drooping tail.
Xu Shiyue thought that she might just be used to Lu Shizhen as her "guide stick" and didn't want to readjust to someone else.
But when the words were about to come out, she felt that they were a bit too intimate, and the explanation eventually turned into an excuse: "Lu Shizhen promised me a guide dog, and she can't go back on her word."
Chen Miaomiao glanced at Lu Shizhen, who was standing to the side, with a mixture of belief and doubt.
Although she wasn't in the same class as Lu Shizhen, she had met this person a few times, and her impression of her wasn't very good.
That's why she exchanged a few pleasantries with Xu Shiyue before trying to send her away, her polite tone merely a way of maintaining distance and being courteous.
But why...?
Chen Miaomiao looked Lu Shizhen up and down, her gaze lingering on Xu Shiyue's wrist and hand, which were still resting on Lu Shizhen's wrist.
Her eyes were full of doubt, but she didn't dare to say anything in front of Lu Shizhen, only saying, "Then let's go."
Because today's rehearsal was quite important, and Xu Shiyue had returned to the orchestra after a long absence, the orchestra members quickly finished their lunch and arrived at the rehearsal room early to wait.
As soon as Lu Shizhen opened the rehearsal room door, she felt even more attention on her than before.
She suddenly realized that it was a good thing that Xu Shiyue couldn't see, at least she wouldn't feel nervous.
But when she turned around and directed Xu Shiyue to sit in the head seat in front of her, she realized she was wrong.
The young woman sat upright in her chair, effortlessly accepting the cello handed to her by the bodyguard.
Her long, black hair cascaded down her shoulders, smooth and flowing without obscuring her face.
She responded to the warm or curious greetings from those around her, without showing any sign of panic during the audition.
In a daze, Lu Shizhen seemed to see Xu Shiyue from the book standing calmly and composed at the shareholders' meeting.
This is Xu Shiyue.
She adored the characters in the book.
Lu Shizhen gently squeezed the hand that Xu Shiyue had just held. Seeing that Xu Shiyue didn't need to worry about her, she silently left the rehearsal room.
The bodyguards stood in a dark mass outside the door. She looked at the teaching building where her class was located behind the two connecting corridors, not wanting to go back to class so early.
Tuesday afternoons are all for self-study, and going back to the classroom is just a headache facing a pile of test papers.
Although she had been in this world for some time, Lu Shizhen was still somewhat unfamiliar with life here, especially the school.
She wanted to stroll around the school's expensively built art building before leaving with her exam paper, to experience the power of money.
The floor where the orchestra is located is full of well-soundproofed music classrooms, and faint music flows from different rooms and converges together.
Lu Shizhen stepped onto the next floor following the musical notes. The classroom, with the same layout, was filled with various plaster statues and canvases. She looked at the students painting in the classroom and realized that this floor was an art studio.
There is no classroom here.
The upstairs room was well-sealed, and the paint smelled unpleasant coming through the open window, but it made Lu Shizhen feel at ease.
She walked past classroom after classroom, her pace slowing down as she watched.
The classroom we just stopped in seemed to be a club. The multimedia blackboard had a theme called "Twilight" on it, with no set style or reference, and the people inside were drawing freely.
Lu Shizhen stopped in her tracks and looked into the room with some curiosity.
A young girl, who seemed to be the head of a club, noticed Lu Shizhen outside the window and walked over enthusiastically: "Senior, are you interested in oil painting?"
Lu Shizhen hadn't forgotten the trap the original owner had left for her, and replied, "It's alright."
Unexpectedly, a mocking laugh came from her direction: "Lu Shizhen, I didn't expect you to be so humorous."
A girl with long, curly hair looked up and, as if joking, revealed to the junior sitting next to her, "You guys don't know, this senior of yours got a mere 30 on her oil painting exam last semester, which infuriated Lao Xu. That night, Lao Xu drank almost half a bottle of wine in frustration."
That familiar tone clearly indicated boasting, and it was done by belittling others to show off one's own prowess.
Lu Shizhen frowned immediately. She disliked and even loathed this kind of person, and asked coldly, "So what? So I can't be interested in oil painting?"
The girl was clearly used to being sarcastic, and when Lu Shizhen asked her a question, she didn't realize that the question was about to take a serious turn against her. She leaned back on the drawing board, thinking she was very cool, and said, "Not bad, but that's just how your skill level is."
Lu Shizhen and the others were referring to those words.
She would accept it if others said her skills were bad, since she wasn't the original owner of this body and hadn't learned many special skills since childhood. But she would absolutely not accept it if others said her drawing skills were inferior.
She prefers to be direct and blunt rather than engage in verbal debate.
If you're going to get slapped in the face, how can you do it without going all out?
Lu Shizhen walked into the classroom and asked the junior student who had greeted her earlier, "I'm also quite interested in your topic. Could I borrow a drawing board?"
As if she had some dissatisfaction with that girl, a young girl standing up by the window said, "Use me, senior."
"Shizhen, are you planning to join in too?" The girl looked at Lu Shizhen's action and wanted to laugh. She didn't hide her smile at all and said to her with a hint of contempt, "It's okay. It's just a club activity. Participation is the most important thing. Don't put too much pressure on yourself."
“Yes,” Lu Shizhen replied, her eyes slowly curving into a smile.
Sunlight streamed through the window onto her face, and beneath her calm eyes lay a hint of sinister malice that was difficult to detect.
Just like the original owner.
The art studio quieted down, and the orchestra music seeped into the clubrooms through the gaps between the buildings.
The paintbrush spreads paint across the canvas, the hand holding the brush and the hand holding the bow seeming to move in sync for a moment, then abruptly stop after a graceful retraction of the bow.
After the third rehearsal, Teacher Chen applauded everyone with great satisfaction: "Everyone cooperated very well this time. You have half an hour of free time, and we'll continue at three o'clock."
"Okay." Everyone nodded, their tense bodies relaxing with a sense of relief.
Except for Xu Shiyue.
The sunlight fell perfectly on her profile, creating a distance between her and the rustling sounds behind her.
She sat alone in the chairman's seat, quietly checking the condition of her bow, her raven-feather eyelashes slightly lowered, clean and spotless.
Chen Miaomiao glanced at Teacher Chen who had gone to fetch water, then, clutching her clarinet, slipped over to Xu Shiyue's side and whispered, "I didn't have a chance to ask you earlier, but are you living at Lu Shizhen's house now? How did you end up at her house?"
When she saw that Lu Shizhen hadn't come, she became bolder in her questions, "Did she imprison you?"
Xu Shiyue listened to the little girl's exaggeratedly wary voice and glanced at her calmly.
Chen Miaomiao paused for a moment.
Looking at the smiling face sitting beside her, she realized she might have overestimated Lu Shizhen. She chuckled twice, "That's true. Now that you're sitting next to me, how could I possibly imprison you..."
She was particularly worried about Xu Shiyue, so she carefully squatted down next to her.
The person next to him said, "But I heard that Lu Shizhen seems polite and gentle, but she's actually a very good-looking madwoman. She didn't do anything to you, did she?"
Xu Shiyue shook her head: "No, I was fine staying at her house."
"Really?" Chen Miaomiao blinked and told Xu Shiyue everything she had learned about Lu Shizhen over the past few days. "I heard she has some very unusual hobbies, like those crazy women in movies. Things like voyeurism, SM, and laughing while choking you, letting go just before you die, giving you special names, keeping you like a pet but actually wanting to use you, and so on..."
As Xu Shiyue listened to Chen Miaomiao's description, she frowned slightly. Before Chen Miaomiao could finish listing them, Xu Shiyue interrupted her, saying, "Miaomiao, Lu Shizhen didn't do that, don't worry."
"Relax? I can't relax at all." Chen Miaomiao put her arm on Xu Shiyue's leg. "Have you forgotten who was bothering you last semester, trying to bump into you every now and then? To put it bluntly, she was stalking you. She was blatantly up to no good!"
"Shiyue, you're so beautiful, you must protect yourself and never be deceived by her hypocrisy. Those lunatics love to slowly boil frogs in water."
As she spoke, Chen Miaomiao picked up Xu Shiyue's arm, which was lying to the side, and stroked her delicate skin while saying in an old woman's voice, "Shiyue, don't take this lightly. Do you know that a girl like you with fair skin and tender flesh, who is both beautiful and talented, is practically prey prepared for these crazy men?"
As Chen Miaomiao spoke, she looked up at Xu Shiyue.
But she remained calm, showing no sign of being frightened by her own words.
The gentle sunlight added a touch of light to those originally dark and lonely eyes.
Chen Miaomiao just stared at the eyes that were looking at her. Xu Shiyue's voice was indifferent: "Miaomiao, what TV dramas have you been watching lately?"
Chen Miaomiao scratched her nose: "Ah...it's just..."
Xu Shiyue didn't wait for her to actually report to her, and continued, "Lu Shizhen isn't as bad as the rumors say. She's actually a decent person."
After speaking, Chen Miaomiao paused for a moment.
As if she had just remembered something, she called out to Xu Shiyue, "Shiyue."
"Hmm?" Xu Shiyue responded.
“I’ve discovered that you’re protecting Lu Shizhen.”
Chen Miaomiao looked at Xu Shiyue intently and said this.
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