Chapter 33
In her dream, Wen Sixue reached out her hand, only to find nothing.
Her fingertips grasped only a corner of the blanket, still warm to the touch, like grasping a broken thread. She opened her eyes abruptly; in the dim light, half of the mattress lay flat and cold... Yun Zhan was gone.
My heart suddenly started beating out of control.
Wen Sixue didn't even bother to put on shoes, stepping barefoot into the slightly cool wooden floor. The dampness of the night rain lingered in the cracks of the wood, seeping into the soles of her feet and creeping up her spine.
"Yun Zhan?"
Her voice trembled, like a spider web scattered by the wind, so soft it was almost inaudible.
The living room was dark. In her panic, she knocked over a chair, her knees aching, but she didn't care. She stumbled towards the entrance, where the door was still locked from the inside, the key hanging quietly in its place.
Before he could even catch his breath, an even deeper fear surged up: Yun Zhan hadn't left, so where was that person?
"Yun Zhan!" Wen Sixue shouted, her voice cracking, her fingertips gripping the door frame tightly.
Suddenly, my gaze fell upon a crack in the glass door to the balcony, through which a thin ray of morning light was streaming in, like a silver river.
Wen Sixue lunged forward.
The wooden floorboards creaked softly under her feet, as if the entire apartment trembled with her breath. She flung open the door, and a gust of wind rushed in, carrying the scent of morning dew.
Yun Zhan stood in front of the railing, his back to her. His white shirt was almost transparent in the sunlight, and the wind ruffled the fine golden threads of his hair. His figure was as quiet as an unfinished painting, yet so real that Wen Sixue's eyes instantly welled up with tears.
“Yun Zhan…”
This time the voice was even lower, as if afraid of startling something.
Yun Zhan turned around, his eyes still red from the dream, but when he saw her bare feet, his brows furrowed slightly.
Wen Sixue rushed over without hesitation, grabbed her waist, pressed her forehead against the other's shoulder, and her voice trembled with a muffled tone:
"I thought you were gone..."
Yun Zhan froze for a moment, then his palm finally landed on the top of her head and gently rubbed it.
"I didn't leave. I just couldn't sleep, and I didn't tell you when I got up because I was afraid of waking you." Yun Zhan's voice was low and hoarse, but it carried the warmth of the morning breeze.
Wen Sixue hugged him tighter, placing her bare feet on Yun Zhan's insteps and rubbing them against him as if checking his temperature.
The early morning wind, carrying the damp chill of the night rain, blew in through the open glass gaps of the balcony.
When Wen Sixue came out of the room, she was wearing only a very thin cream-colored camisole, and the two thin straps on her shoulders trembled slightly in the wind.
She grabbed a long coat and draped it over her shoulders, but the hem couldn't cover her calves. Her bare feet were on the cold floor, and her toes curled up from the cold. But she didn't stop and walked straight to the hanging chair by the railing.
Yun Zhan sat in a rattan hanging chair, her eyes lowered, her fingertips unconsciously gripping the armrests, her knuckles turning blue from the force. She looked like a stone soaked by the night wind, cold and lifeless.
Wen Sixue bent down, knelt on the soft cushion, and fell into the hanging chair.
The chair swayed slightly, and Yun Zhan subconsciously looked up. His dark eyes still held the emptiness that lingered from his dream.
Wen Sixue didn't say anything, but simply reached out and wrapped her arms around her waist, pulling her into her embrace.
With the coat open and the camisole straps pressed against her skin, Wen Sixue trembled at Yun Zhan's body temperature, as if she were hugging a block of ice.
Wen Sixue bit her lip, pulled her coat open further, letting Yun Zhan's back press directly against her chest, and tightened her arms as if to transfer all her heat to him.
The wind continued to blow, lifting the hem of her coat to reveal a section of Wen Sixue's waist, and a chill instantly enveloped her.
Wen Sixue didn't let go, but instead buried her face in Yun Zhan's neck, her voice muffled and trembling: "Why is it so cold..."
Yun Zhan's back stiffened for a moment, then slowly relaxed. She didn't speak, but rested her forehead on Wen Sixue's shoulder, her nose brushing against the other's warm collarbone, her breath damp with moisture.
Wen Sixue felt her slight trembling, her heart tightened, and her voice was low and stubborn: "Come back to the room with me, okay? It's too cold here."
As she spoke, she stroked Yun Zhan's back with her palm, as if she were stroking the fur of a cold cat.
When his fingertips touched the back of the other's neck, Yun Zhan finally let out a soft "hmm".
The hanging chair swayed gently. Wen Sixue stood up first, her bare feet touching the cold floor, but she didn't care about the cold. She just reached out to take Yun Zhan's hand.
Yun Zhan grasped that hand, and the warmth from her palm made her eyelashes tremble. She then obediently got up.
The coat slipped halfway off Wen Sixue's shoulders, so she simply pulled it off and wrapped it around Yun Zhan, leaving herself only in a thin tank top, which she used to block the wind.
The balcony door was closed, cutting off the morning breeze.
Wen Sixue held Yun Zhan's hand in her palm and led him into the house.
The sunlight finally slanted in, falling on their intertwined fingertips, as if gilding that moment with a layer of warm, pale gold.
At 6:50 a.m., the stone steps in front of the main gate of Minton School were washed black by the rain.
A black sedan with parliamentary license plates came to a silent stop. The door opened, revealing a black umbrella-like figure first, followed by Shi Mingyue.
She was wearing a dark gray school uniform jacket, the badge on her collar gleaming coldly in the rain and mist.
The half-face peeking out from under the umbrella had brow bones and a nose bridge that looked as if drawn with a ruler and compass; the lips were very pale, yet they could overpower any other color.
Rainwater dripped down the edge of the umbrella, splashing onto the tips of her black Oxford shoes without leaving a single stain.
The students on duty on both sides of the school gate stood at attention, not daring to make a sound.
In the distance, under the covered walkway, small groups of girls pressed against the pillars, exchanging glances in hushed whispers.
"Why is Miss Shi back?"
"Didn't she finish her credits before last year?"
"She could have just gone straight to the graduation exam; there was no need for her to come."
The sounds were swallowed by the rain, leaving only eyes—admiration, envy, secret love, and speculation—like a row of silent searchlights.
The moon shines brightly, its tip dripping water that falls into the grooves of the stone steps with a crisp sound.
She looked up, her gaze piercing through the rain curtain, landing on the leftmost window on the third floor of the main building—
That was Yun Zhan's classroom; she had specifically asked about it before going there.
Last night, while she was reading, she came across the phrase, "Those who are near the water get the moonlight first."
These words suddenly ignited a sensitive nerve within her... "Proximity breeds advantage," a perfectly apt description. Yun Zhan studied at Mingdun School, and Pei Yanxi was a member of the school board. If Pei Yanxi wanted to, she could find countless excuses to get close to Yun Zhan... What if Yun Zhan was attracted to Pei Yanxi? Wouldn't she...
Shi Mingyue quickened her pace, raindrops shattered into mist on her shoulders and were wiped away by the wind, as if no excess moisture could get close to her.
At the end of the corridor, the copper bell of the Academic Affairs Office had just rung for the second time.
Shi Mingyue closed her umbrella, and rainwater slid down the ribs into the umbrella tube, making a very soft "drip".
She pushed open the door and entered the main building, her silhouette against the rain like a straight line cut by a knife. All eyes remained fixed on that line until the door closed, at which point someone quietly exhaled a puff of white breath.
The classrooms at Minton School are always quiet during self-study periods, with only the scratching sound of pens slicing across paper.
The moment the door was pushed open, the brass handle made a very light "click," but it felt like a hammer blow to everyone's nerves.
Shi Mingyue stood at the door.
The dark gray uniform was crisp and the badge gleamed coldly; the rain had not yet dried, and the ends of his hair were slightly damp, making his skin appear even colder.
Her gaze swept across the row of desks, finally stopping at the window—where Yun Zhan's fountain pen hung in mid-air, its ink spreading into a small black patch on the paper.
It was as if the air had been sucked away in an instant.
Everyone straightened their backs and even suppressed their breathing.
Someone in the back row accidentally knocked over a water glass, splashing water, which was then quickly covered up by someone else.
Wen Sixue sat in the third row by the window, her knuckles turning white from the effort.
She first looked at Yun Zhan, then abruptly turned to Shi Mingyue, her gaze bouncing back and forth between the two figures.
Like a runaway second hand, it's getting faster and faster, more and more frantic.
My heart was pounding painfully inside my chest.
She knew that Shi Mingyue probably liked Yun Zhan too. The cold light in Shi Mingyue's eyes reminded Wen Sixue of the time two years ago on the awards stage in the auditorium, when Shi Mingyue looked down at people with the same gaze.
Now, that gaze is fixed on Yun Zhan.
Wen Sixue knew that Shi Mingyue came from a better family than Pei Yanxi, and before dropping out of school, even Pei Yanxi was overshadowed...
Yun Zhan's surprise only flashed in his eyes for a moment.
She closed the book and tapped the cover lightly with her fingertips. In her mind, Shi Mingyue shouldn't be in this classroom.
Yun Zhan: "21, didn't you tell me that Shi Mingyue doesn't interact much with ordinary students?"
21: "Maybe they came here for you."
21 made a few sarcastic remarks to Yun Zhan, and the three female protagonists frequently showed goodwill towards Yun Zhan, but Yun Zhan was as if he were blind and couldn't understand it at all.
Seriously... it's just throwing a flirtatious glance at a blind person.
The desks and chairs here are made of fine wood, the classroom is well-heated, and all you see outside the window is a row of withered sycamore trees.
In the brief silence, Shi Mingyue raised her hand, her knuckles lightly tapping the door, and handed the documents in her hand to the class monitor. Her voice was not loud, but clear enough:
"The formalities have been completed. From today onwards, I will be troubling you."
She paused, her gaze shifting from the class monitor's face, passing over Wen Sixue, and finally settling on Yun Zhan's face.
Please take care of me.
Shi Mingyue gave Yun Zhan a look.
Wen Sixue gripped the edge of the table tightly, her fingers turning bluish-white.
Yun Zhan lowered his eyes, his fingertips leaving very light creases on the pages of the book.
The monitoring center is located on the basement floor of the old library. It is kept at a constant temperature all year round, and the only sound in the air is the low hum of machines.
Pei Yanxi sat in front of the control panel, the cold light from the screen reflecting on her face like a thin layer of frost.
In the scene, Shi Mingyue stands at Yun Zhan's door, her shoulders straight, a silver badge pinned to the collar of her gray woolen uniform.
The administrative director leaned down and asked in a very low voice, "Ms. Pei, should we transfer Ms. Shi to another class on the grounds of 'course conflict'?"
The administrative director was quite familiar with Xue Qi, and Xue Qi had hinted to the administrative director about the relationship between Pei Yanxi and Yun Zhan.
Pei Yanxi's gaze never left the screen; her fingertips tapped lightly on the table, the rhythm like a heartbeat.
After a long silence, she shook her head, her voice so calm it was devoid of emotion: "No need."
The light from the screen shattered into two cold stars in her pupils.
She recalled what Xue Qi had said the night before last—that the business deal on the West Coast had only a 3% chance of success.
My journey here is fraught with peril, with a nine-out-of-ten chance of survival...
She held the confidential document issued by the Pei family in her hand; the words on the paper were like a pre-determined death sentence.
"The things she wants to investigate are too dangerous. Perhaps only Shi Mingyue can protect her."
Pei Yanxi said in a low voice, as if trying to convince herself.
“Yun Zhan will always need someone to accompany him in the future.”
She paused, her fingertips stopping their tapping, her gaze falling on Yun Zhan's slightly raised profile in the image.
The administrative director hesitated for a moment, but ultimately just nodded.
Pei Yanxi closed the monitor, and the screen went black instantly.
In the darkness, she exhaled softly, as if releasing her last bit of struggle.
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