Chapter 88
A faint scent of sandalwood wafted through the study, and sunlight streamed obliquely through the half-open wooden window, casting slant onto the old oak desk. Grandma took out a neatly bound stack of documents from the drawer; the pages were yellowed and looked quite old.
She handed the documents to Yun Zhan, her tone kind and gentle: "The list is all here. Take a look first. I'll go prepare some food for you and come over in a bit."
Yun Zhan accepted the gift with both hands and bowed slightly: "Thank you so much for your help this time."
Upon hearing this, Grandma Xu's wrinkles deepened with laughter, resembling crumpled rice paper in autumn.
She took Yun Zhan's hand and patted it gently, her tone teasing: "If you really want to thank me, you two should get married sooner rather than later."
After saying that, she turned to look at Shi Mingyue standing to the side, her gaze both loving and slightly teasing: "When do you two plan to hold your wedding?"
Shi Mingyue's ear tips instantly flushed a light pink. She shyly brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and said in a voice as soft as a spring breeze, "Let's wait until Yun Zhan graduates next year. She's still studying now."
As she spoke, her gaze unconsciously drifted toward Yun Zhan, her eyes glistening with tears.
Yun Zhan turned his head to look at her, a slight smile curving his lips, his fingertips secretly hooking Shi Mingyue's sleeve.
...
Having obtained the information, Yun Zhan and Shi Mingyue walked side by side in the corridor.
A sliver of light shone through the window at the end of the corridor, landing at Yun Zhan's feet. She suddenly stopped, the soft clatter of her heels abruptly ceasing, and the folder in her arms tilted slightly upwards due to inertia.
"Senior Pei has been waiting for some time."
Yun Zhan lowered his voice, but it was enough for Shi Mingyue beside him to hear clearly: "It's probably not good to let her come alone... How about we go and pick her up?"
Shi Mingyue and I were walking side by side when she heard this. She lightly tapped the cover of the document with her fingertips, the rhythm was so light, it was as if a certain heartstring was being quietly plucked.
She turned her head, and a dappled light fell on the tip of her eyelashes, obscuring the fleeting undercurrent in her eyes—a thin undercurrent, yet carrying a bittersweet warmth.
"Yes, you're right."
Shi Mingyue nodded, her voice steady, even the corners of her lips maintaining a perfect curve: "It is indeed impolite to let a guest come alone."
After speaking, Shi Mingyue turned around first. Her movements were extremely light, and the hem of her skirt brushed against Yun Zhan's shoes, just an inch away, yet it made a very soft rustling sound.
The girl's back remained straight, her shoulders elegant, even the rhythm of her heels tapping on the wooden floor was perfectly measured, but only Shi Mingyue knew...
Upon hearing the words "senior sister," there was a moment of breathlessness, as if the air had been quietly drawn away for half a second. A subtle sourness welled up in my chest, like an unripe plum being gently cracked open by my teeth, its juice splashing onto the softest part of my heart.
Shi Mingyue didn't turn around, but her eyelashes trembled very slightly, like butterfly wings fluttering in the wind, before quickly returning to calm.
As Yun Zhan caught up, his fingertips brushed against her wrist unintentionally; Yun Zhan's warmth was warmer than the wind in the corridor.
Shi Mingyue tightened her fingers slightly, as if secretly clenching that sour feeling into her palm, and then released it without making a sound.
Yun Zhan is right...
It would be impolite to leave Pei Yanxi there alone.
...She would gladly accept this request from anyone.
Only with Yun Zhan, she couldn't help but develop some stubbornness that she shouldn't have.
She craved everything about Yun Zhan, and hated that he would turn his attention to things that didn't belong to her, whether it was people or other things...
Shi Mingyue covered her forehead, closed her eyes, and sighed softly... She was probably sick.
He is quite ill.
The window at the end of the corridor wasn't closed tightly, and a gust of wind slipped in, causing the flame on the wall lamp to flicker.
Shi Mingyue stood with his back to the light.
"If you hadn't met me..."
"Will he end up with Pei Yanxi?"
Shi Mingyue's voice was very soft, but it carried a slight, almost imperceptible tremor.
As soon as the words left her mouth, Shi Mingyue regretted them.
His fingertips unconsciously traced the cover of the document, as if trying to crush that inappropriate, petty remark.
But she couldn't help it, couldn't help but think about those possibilities that had never happened.
Yun Zhan paused for a moment, then answered almost without thinking, "I'm already with you, so don't try to imagine things that didn't happen."
Yun Zhan stepped forward and grabbed Shi Mingyue's hand: "Shi Mingyue, are you unhappy?"
Shi Mingyue pursed her lips, making them taut like a bowstring.
Shi Mingyue said in a low voice, "She's not a senior anymore, she's a member of the school board..."
The voice was soft, yet carried a touch of childlike stubbornness.
She didn't want to hear Yun Zhan call Pei Yanxi "senior sister." That title was too intimate, too soft, as if it were forcibly laid bare in front of her a past she had never been a part of.
Yun Zhan suddenly realized: "Is that why? I didn't have a boyfriend back then, and she was a year older than me, so I called her 'senior sister'... a rather intimate term..."
Shi Mingyue had her back to her, so her emotions were unreadable. She simply said in a low voice, "I didn't have a girlfriend back then either, and we went to the same school, so why didn't you call me 'senior'...?"
She remembered that Yun Zhan had always called her by her name. Shi Mingyue, her full name, was aloof and cold, like a boundary defined by rules.
The title "senior sister" carries a hint of coquetry and a touch of soft intimacy, something she had never received before.
A bittersweet feeling welled up inside me, like being splashed with the juice of an unripe plum—small yet sharp.
Shi Mingyue didn't speak again, but straightened her back even more, suppressing her untimely jealousy with a dignified demeanor.
The wind slipped in through the window cracks, ruffling the stray hairs around her ears and stirring up the secret longing in her heart.
She also longed to be called by Yun Zhan's gentle address, even if only once.
A hint of rust lingered between his teeth, but it couldn't mask the bitterness in his chest.
Shi Mingyue could hear her own heart pounding wildly, each beat repeating the same name she had just called out...
The moment this thought crossed her mind, it felt like a stone was pressing on her chest, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.
Am I being too unreasonable?
Shi Mingyue asked herself, her fingertips digging into her palms, using pain to maintain her dignity. But the sourness was still fermenting, forcing her to admit: she was not satisfied with Yun Zhan calling Pei Yanxi that way; she wanted a more intimate, more affectionate name.
Before the thought could take hold, Yun Zhan suddenly reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her into his arms.
Shi Mingyue bumped into that shoulder and heard his heart pounding rapidly, like drumbeats striking her eardrums.
"I'm always very careful around people I like."
"I didn't call you 'senior' back then because I was afraid of offending you... There's such a big gap between us, and I was afraid that I would overstep my bounds if I opened my mouth."
Yun Zhan lowered his head and kissed Shi Mingyue's cheek, as if being pecked by a kitten: "But things are different now... You're not my senior anymore, you're my wife, the most important person in my life."
Shi Mingyue's eyelashes trembled. She didn't look up, but gently buried her chin halfway into her shoulder—a small movement that slowed her breathing and heartbeat.
A trace of lingering moisture remained at the corner of her eye, but in a corner unseen by Yun Zhan, it subtly curved into a very shallow arc, like an icicle illuminated by a warm lamp on a snowy night, its coldness lingering, yet its luster already softened.
She didn't say anything or hug back, but simply lightly brushed her fingertips against Yun Zhan's sleeve.
"Alright, let's go."
Then, Shi Mingyue straightened up a bit, her back still dignified.
backyard
The sun is shining brightly
Pei Yanxi had drunk a pot of tea and sat in the chair for a long time without seeing Yun Zhan.
She frowned, her fingertips tapping the teacup. Could these two have abandoned her to get intimate...?
After thinking about it, Pei Yanxi felt that this idea was not valid, as neither Yun Zhan nor Shi Mingyue were that kind of people.
"Sorry I'm a little late..."
The wooden door to the backyard was pushed open forcefully, and Yun Zhan rushed over.
Shi Mingyue followed behind Yun Zhan, her face calm, with a thin layer of pink behind her ears, revealing no emotion.
The round table was covered with a linen tablecloth, and the unfolded paper looked like a sheet of cold, white snow.
"Then let's not delay, let's take a look quickly."
Pei Yanxi bent down, the pencil tip tracing the lines of text, the circled names glaringly obvious, the pressure a little too heavy, leaving shallow dents on the back of the paper.
"These people generally have a bad reputation in high society. Many of them use the students' connections to get in touch with their parents, forming a network of protection and involving a lot of money and power transactions. Among them... are Pei Ying's people."
In recent years, Minton School has been embroiled in numerous controversies, which are undoubtedly related to these individuals.
Pei Yanxi's voice was low and cold, her anger barely contained, leaving only a hoarse tone: "When I investigated the principal before, I wasn't prepared to investigate my own people, but it seems I have no choice but to investigate now."
Shi Mingyue raised her eyes, her tone unhurried: "I remember what you planned to do?"
Pei Yanxi didn't look up, the pencil twirling in a tiny circle between her fingers, her voice calm: "Mington School is now my property, and I won't allow any parasites to appear on my turf."
What she wanted was to take complete control of Minton School and restore it to its former glory.
Pei Yanxi lightly tapped her pen on the paper: "Once bribery is involved in the education industry, it will inevitably lead to its downfall and corruption. There are too many parasites within Minton, and I will clean them up one by one according to this list."
She spoke very slowly, and the pencil was put back into the clip with a soft metallic click.
Pei Ying's relationship with her was not good; in fact, she was on the opposite side.
However, this wasn't settling a personal score; it was simply handling official business.
Shi Mingyue nodded slightly and did not ask any further questions.
“Up there, I saw ‘Song Yuan.’ She was also a time traveler. She came to work at Mington School about 30 years ago. If you count the days, she might still be alive.”
Yun Zhan crossed out Song Yuan's name on the document.
If you want to investigate what's going on inside this school, perhaps she needs to focus on something more crucial.
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