The demonic concubine and the muddle-headed emperor?

Staring around furtively Xu Jiao spotted a secluded corner some distance away from the medical center and darted there as if her whole life depended on it, painting a rather comical sight.

[Phew!] She sighed after making sure that no one noticed her actions while clutching her chest. [What now?] She thought rather crossly, feeling foolish and lost in equal measure. After all, it's not like she can run and hide forever, right?

[And, it's not like I did anything wrong right? This can be considered as…as a kind senior brother helping a junior sister who is in trouble, right?] Xu Jiao nodded her head sagely, but then suddenly stopped, a vexed expression flashing across her face.

[Wait.. phrasing it like this... It kinda sounds…ambiguous? What senior brother and junior sister?]

[....]

[Oh for heaven's sake! What am I even thinking? I was unconscious! UNCONSCIOUS!! Got it?]

[I mean, how can an unconscious person even dictate what happens to them? Can I control it? Can I? I can't, right?]

After rebuking the rather dumb 'little Jiao' in her heart, Xu Jiao consoled herself with much positive thinking, all the while keeping an eye out for any unexpected aggressor. After walking for quite some distance through…

[Hmmm?] She looked at the students busily passing by, each minding their own business but not paying any heed to her even in the slightest.

[Maybe, they didn't see me clearly? Hahaha… that-that must be why!] Now feeling slightly annoyed out of nowhere, on top of being nervous and still feeling weak from her fainting spell earlier, Xu Jiao started to walk towards the liberal arts faculty, her gait betraying a feeling of purposeful determination.

***

Arriving at the main entrance of the liberal arts faculty, she had stood there in stupefied silence, her eyes looking rather dead than alive. Students were milling about, each busy with their own thing, while not a single person paid her any heed in the slightest.

In a last-ditch attempt to prove to herself that she didn't think wrong -that's right, she only wanted to prove that she was right-, Xu Jiao circled the whole place from the entrance to the upper floors of the building a few good times, but the only thing she managed to earn from it was the suspicious glances of the security guard at the main entrance.

At that, she tried to force out what she thought to be a friendly smile at this security uncle, if not for anything else but to act as proof of the fact that she's not a suspicious person. But, it only seemed to make the middle-aged guard more suspicious as the guarded look on his face increased by a few notches.

Heaving a sigh, Xu Jiao got up from the comfortable lobby chair, now feeling even more stupid on top of feeling embarrassed and annoyed.

[Guo Shen… that two-legged menace!]

She knew that instead of acting unreasonable in this manner, she should be grateful to this person; after all, he had somehow carried her to the medical center without leaving her lying prone on the ground in some who-knows-what corner and even managed to do that without anyone witnessing, though how he accomplished this is a total mystery to her. And for that matter, she couldn't now be entirely certain that it was actually Guo Shen who brought her there.

But, everything that happened till now made her feel like she was experiencing an emotional roller-coaster, each sensation more potent than the last; nervousness, disbelief, embarrassment, and even slight anticipation, which finally ended with disappointment!

[Xu Jiao, you must be crazy! Do you have histrionic personality disorder or something?]

[Aren't your current troubles not enough?]

[And what is with that 'anticipation' and 'disappointment'? What the heck do you have to feel anticipation and disappointment for??]

Deciding to push this embarrassing situation to the deepest corner of her mind and lock it up in a black room for good measure [Good thing no one saw this nonsense!], all the while berating herself harshly enough to send any strong-hearted warrior into tears, she trudged her way out of the main entrance of the building, oblivious to the now-concerned looks tinged with slight pity the security guard was throwing her way.

[Is this kid alright? She had been acting weird for quite some time now…]

It was just as well that she didn't notice his looks though, because if she did, she'd probably have flipped right then and there; too many people had looked at her in a pitying and patronizing manners within the past few hours after all; anymore, and it would probably be way past her limit. Even a coward has their pride!

By the time she finally stepped out of the university gates, the sun was setting, bathing the many buildings dotting the roadside in its golden light; some of which looked antiquated, while the others looked quite modern. This beautifully contrasting scene somehow managed to lift up her rather fluctuating mood to a more stable level.

Just as she was starting to feel a bit calmer, her phone suddenly rang, drawing her mind away from the pleasant internal contemplations. However, taking a look at the caller ID displayed on the phone as "Ah'Jian" Xu Jiao felt her mood hit the rock bottom again, falling all the way down from the high it had been experiencing moments ago.

[Damn! I forgot all about this.]

She stared at her phone which had stopped ringing a few minutes ago while waiting for the bus, the expression on her face showing a dash of calculation which was quickly hidden away and gave way to blatant indifference. Even someone like her also had to accept that for some problems (fears), it's better to confront them head-on rather than shrinking back and hiding behind a multitude of excuses.

"Hello, Xu Jiao" Listening to the youthful male voice coming from the other end of the phone, she fell into a momentary daze, her mind swamped with all sorts of memories; none of them pleasant to say in the least.

"Hello... Are you there? Hello... HELLO?"

Listening to the other person who still tried to be polite while probably feeling impatient, she felt a sort of childish and vindictive pleasure, while a train of distorted memories seemed to flash past her eyes.

"He-hello.." [Tsk… Why do I sound so hesitant?]

"Oh, Xu Jiao… I thought you left the phone." Yang Jian sounded amused, hints of laughter apparent in his voice. "Were you daydreaming again?"

"Haha.." Xu Jiao felt disgusted listening to the hint of affection in the voice of this person, but what could she do except force out an awkward laugh?

"Oh, by the way, why didn't you stop when I called out to you earlier this morning? And, you didn't even reply to any of my messages these past two weeks!"

"Huh?" she displayed her ignorance of the matter, her voice sounding as innocent as it could get. "When did you call out to me?" And let's just gloss over that question about why she didn't contact him within the past weeks; it's better that way for now.

"You didn't hear me? No wonder… I was afraid that you were angry with me or something." Yang Jian's voice had a rather spoiled and complaining tone to it, making her fall into momentary speechlessness.

[Who does this guy think he is? What's with that tone?]

And, more importantly, Xu Jiao started wondering just what kind of image this jerk had in his mind about her to be able to talk to her in this shameless manner. Did he imagine her as the muddle-headed emperor, and himself to be the beautiful, demonic concubine, or something along these lines? But considering all that happened in the past, it can be said that this conjecture had some sort of truth to it?

"..Jiao? Hey! Are you there?"

"Oh yes... Sorry, I suddenly remembered something, so I didn't hear you ne." Then continuing innocently as if nothing happened, "What were you saying earlier?"

"Ah I was telling about how I saw you there and you didn't answer my message-"

"Oh, when was this? I didn't see you today ah!" So, he's going to circle this whole round, just so he could arrive at the starting point, right? Well… two could play this game.

"Oh-ah, I mean… It was today morning at-at our faculty lobby. You looked to be in such a hurry… And I even messaged-"

"Oh, that… I suddenly remembered that I left the lights on at my place. So I went back in a hurry just when I remembered to turn them off… that must be when you saw me."

"I-"

"Ah'Jian, you know how high the electricity bills are right? I can't waste money like that ah!"

"..." Xu Jiao could practically envision the other party gritting their teeth in annoyance. She felt like she wanted to laugh, but when she spoke next, her voice seemed to contain equal measures of concern and hesitation.

"Ah' Jian?"

"Ah, Xu Jiao... Actually, I wanted to ask why you stopped writing in Caihong?"

[Oho… Can't continue the act anymore?] Xu Jiao was feeling not a little amount of amazement at this guy's chain of actions. First the caring yet affectionate friend act, and then the slightly spoilt act; she could only say that he put in quite a lot of effort, just so he can dupe her successfully. What admirable dedication!

But, when she answered this question from Yang Jian, her tone of voice sounded rather flat while her reply was curt.

"Oh."

"Xu Jiao?" The other party now sounded a little bit unsure, probably as a courtesy of her curt tone.

"Ah'Jian... The bus is coming and I have to get on it. Let's talk later?"

"Wait…wait!"

"..." Smirking, she refused to speak and kept silent.

"How about, let's meet tomorrow? Ok? In that new coffee shop near university.."

Seeing her still keeping silent, Yang Jian started to speak hastily. "After all, we haven't met for quite some time ne… So let's meet and talk, ok? My treat."

"...ok."

After disconnecting the call, Xu Jiao stared at the gradually darkening surroundings through the glass windows of the bus, the look in her eyes hazy and unclear, bereft of the sparkling expression they sported during the day.