11

After Yu Mingjiao's emotions settled, Cen Lingqiu spoke softly, "Take your time eating. And stop eating bread; it's not healthy."

She stood up. "I'll be going now. See you tomorrow."

The door closed.

Yu Mingjiao stared at the food on the table with a calm, indifferent expression. She looked at it for a long time but ultimately didn't touch it.

Yu Mingjiao didn't take Cen Lingqiu's words that night seriously. She didn't believe in this woman's sincerity; perhaps it was just a temporary whim to act like a good person. How long could it last?

She wasn't in the mood to play along with Cen Lingqiu's act.

She continued her usual routine of going to school. That morning, as she was heading out, she happened to run into Cen Lingqiu, who was also leaving.

"Are you going to school? Do you need a ride?" Cen Lingqiu asked.

Yu Mingjiao furrowed her brows and ignored her, focusing on pushing her wheelchair to the elevator. Cen Lingqiu stood beside her.

"Did you have breakfast?" Cen Lingqiu asked softly.

Silence.

Cen Lingqiu didn't push her further. After saying what she did the other day, she figured it was natural for Yu Mingjiao to need time to process it. It was normal for her to be upset.

The elevator arrived.

Cen Lingqiu waited for Yu Mingjiao to enter first.

As Yu Mingjiao pushed her wheelchair forward, one of the wheels got stuck in the gap of the elevator door. She tried to push it out but couldn't.

She gritted her teeth and pushed the wheelchair handles again.

Cen Lingqiu stepped forward and helped push her wheelchair inside.

Yu Mingjiao bit her lip, turning her head away from Cen Lingqiu.

Cen Lingqiu pressed the button, and the elevator doors closed.

The small space was filled with silence until Cen Lingqiu broke it, "Are you sure you don't need me to give you a ride?"

Yu Mingjiao replied coldly, "No."

With that, Cen Lingqiu didn't insist. As they were about to reach the ground floor, she handed Yu Mingjiao a breakfast box from her bag.

"I made this this morning. Studying is tough, so eat well."

Yu Mingjiao frowned, intending to return it, but Cen Lingqiu, noticing her intention, quickly pushed her out of the elevator as the doors opened. She waved her hand, "Goodbye."

Before Yu Mingjiao could react, the elevator doors closed.

Yu Mingjiao stood there, slightly confused, looking down at the breakfast that had been handed to her.

Inside the transparent box were several cute bunny-shaped buns, intricately and adorably crafted, still warm.

Yu Mingjiao thought about throwing it away but couldn't find a trash can.

Cen Lingqiu's car was parked in the underground lot. As she drove out of the apartment complex, she coincidentally saw Yu Mingjiao's figure.

She didn't approach her, just quietly followed behind.

Yu Mingjiao slowly wheeled herself forward, drawing glances from a few passersby who quickly looked away and hurried on their way.

She noticed that Yu Mingjiao kept her head down, wearing a hat.

This child's pride was just too strong.

For her, every time she left the house must be a form of torment.

Cen Lingqiu followed her for about ten minutes until Yu Mingjiao reached the school.

Cen Lingqiu thought, It's fortunate the school is close. If it were further away, it would be quite dangerous for someone with limited mobility like her.

Seeing her safely arrive at school, Cen Lingqiu drove off in another direction.

Yu Mingjiao turned her head, catching a glimpse of the car as it drove away. From the moment she left the apartment, that car had been following her.

Only after she reached the school did it drive off in a different direction.

Was it a coincidence?

Or was someone deliberately following her?

Who could it be?

Yu Mingjiao frowned but couldn't figure it out, so she turned her head back.

The breakfast box was still in her hands because she hadn't found a trash can yet, and without realizing it, she brought it to school.

Yu Mingjiao stuffed it into her backpack, planning to throw it away later.

The school was large, and it took her a while to reach her classroom. She sat down and casually placed the breakfast box on her desk.

"Mingjiao." A short-haired girl noticed her and sat down beside her. "You're early today."

The girl, An Wu, had delicate features. She had been Yu Mingjiao's classmate in high school, and by coincidence, they ended up in the same university and major. An Wu was naturally outgoing and couldn't resist striking up a conversation whenever she saw a familiar face.

Even though Yu Mingjiao rarely responded, An Wu didn't mind. She was a top-level appearance-enthusiast, extremely tolerant of beautiful people.

Because of this, An Wu was the only person at school who spoke to Yu Mingjiao, as most others were put off by her eccentric and aloof nature.

Yu Mingjiao responded with a noncommittal hum.

"I woke up too late this morning, had to run here, and now I'm exhausted," An Wu complained. "I didn't even have breakfast, and I'm starving."

She noticed the breakfast box on the desk and raised an eyebrow. "Mingjiao, did you finally decide to have breakfast?"

Yu Mingjiao replied, "It's not mine."

"Huh? Then whose is it?"

Yu Mingjiao didn't know how to explain, so she responded coldly, "Someone I don't know gave it to me."

An Wu, understanding, said, "Ah, it must be someone trying to woo you."

Yu Mingjiao: "..."

"Here, you can have it." She pushed the breakfast box toward An Wu. "Didn't you say you haven't eaten?"

"Oh, my gosh." An Wu's reaction was exaggerated. "Mingjiao, you're finally showing some concern for me! And you're actually talking so much to me."

Normally, she was used to talking to herself.

Yu Mingjiao glanced at her, then ignored her again.

An Wu didn't hesitate. "Well, thanks then."

"But where did you get this? It's so cute." An Wu took a bite, her eyes squinting in delight. "It tastes great too, way better than what they sell at school. Next time, can you buy me one too?"

Yu Mingjiao was drawn in by her reaction, turning her head to look.

"Want one?" An Wu offered her one.

Yu Mingjiao stared at the bunny-shaped buns for a few seconds. They looked adorably naive, nestled in the packaging. She couldn't believe someone as wicked as Cen Lingqiu could make such cute food.

After a few moments, Yu Mingjiao looked away.

"You finish them."

After that, whenever Cen Lingqiu was home in the evening, she would make extra food and bring it to Yu Mingjiao, but it seemed that Yu Mingjiao became even more resistant to her presence, often not opening the door at all.

To avoid running into Cen Lingqiu, she would either leave the house very early in the morning or very late when she had no morning classes, avoiding any chance encounters with her.

She didn't want Cen Lingqiu's kindness, which felt more like a repulsive form of charity.

Cen Lingqiu was well aware of her abnormal behavior and thoughts.

But she was at a loss.

In the past, her tasks had mostly involved playing villainous supporting roles or being neutral characters, neither needing to please nor harm anyone. She had never taken on a task that involved redemption.

This was her first time taking on such a task. After growing tired of the usual missions, she had wanted to try something different.

But she was beginning to realize that maybe she wasn't cut out for it.

Outside of work, she rarely interacted with people. Before she died, she had been so busy studying and doing housework that she had no time to socialize. After death, even in this new world, she had lost interest in forming relationships.

The many years of solitude made her feel alien to the concept of "pleasing others." She didn't know how to approach someone's heart correctly.

Because she had never experienced it, she had no standard for what was right.

Cen Lingqiu sat on the sofa, letting out a soft sigh.

Wen Zhi, who was sitting across from her, playing the guitar, glanced at her. "What's with the sigh? Am I bothering you?"

Cen Lingqiu shook her head.

"Then why the sudden sigh?" Wen Zhi put down the guitar. "By the way, I've run into Yu Mingjiao a few times when I was out. Have you seen her?"

Cen Lingqiu thought, I wish I could run into her.

"Should we move again?" Wen Zhi asked considerately. "You probably don't want to see her, right? To avoid causing more trouble, maybe we should move again."

Wen Zhi was often out and about, rarely home, so she hadn't seen Cen Lingqiu delivering food to Yu Mingjiao.

"No need," Cen Lingqiu said, sipping her water.

If they moved, she wouldn't be able to keep an eye on Yu Mingjiao. What if something happened to her again?

Wen Zhi clicked her tongue. "That would be too awkward."

Cen Lingqiu smiled, not saying anything.

Night.

After taking a bath, Yu Mingjiao walked into the living room. She opened the fridge, took out a bottle of cold water, and was about to drink.

Suddenly—snap—the living room was plunged into darkness.

Yu Mingjiao froze, the bottle slipping from her hand as cold water spilled over her, but she didn't even notice. Her eyelashes trembled as she tried to find the light switch.

But the room was too dark, and her phone wasn't nearby, so she couldn't see anything.

The light.

Where was the light?

Yu Mingjiao's hands began to shake, her face in the darkness turning a ghastly white.

She was terrified of the dark.

Terrified, absolutely terrified.

Her heart pounded violently, her hands trembling uncontrollably, with nothing but endless darkness in front of her.

In her daze, she seemed to hear the disgusting sound of rats.

Chitter, chitter.

She covered her ears, trying to block out the hallucination.

But the sound was like the wind, invisible and unavoidable no matter how she tried to shut it out.

She hated the darkness, hated rats.

The year she lost her legs, there was a night when the power went out at home. She had fought with her sister again, and her sister, who had a strong sense of revenge, secretly placed dead rats in her room during that power outage and then locked the door from the outside.

Yu Mingjiao felt something cold, wet, and soft on her body. When she touched it, her hand came away wet.

Panic set in, and she threw the object away, only to find her body and bed covered in those soft, damp objects. She tried to turn on the light, but the power was out.

Frantically, she searched for her phone, but it wasn't where she had left it.

Her sister's voice echoed from outside the door.

"Big sister, I just put a lot of dead rats in your room. If you apologize to me, I'll open the door and help you get rid of them."

Rats.

Dead rats.

Seventeen-year-old Yu Mingjiao had recently lost her legs, leaving her fragile and vulnerable. Now faced with a bed full of rat corpses, she completely broke down.

She screamed, trying to escape, but she couldn't move. She rolled off the bed, her frail body landing on some of the rat corpses, feeling some kind of wet liquid.

Desperately, she tried to flee the room, yearning for the light.

It was too dark.

The fear of the unknown and unseen consumed her.

But her sister wasn't done. She let a few live rats into the room.

The rats crawled over Yu Mingjiao's body, squeaking in her ears.

She screamed, frantically waving her hands to get rid of the rats.

But the squeaking continued in her ears.

Yu Mingjiao couldn't see them, couldn't get up.

The smell of the dead rats, the shrill squeaking, the endless darkness—it all drove Yu Mingjiao to madness.

So she screamed and cried uncontrollably.

Yu Mingjiao felt as if she had returned to that night when she was seventeen.

She covered her ears, her eyes red, bowing her head deeply, her back hunched, her body trembling violently.

So dark.

So dark.

So dark.

So terrifying.

Someone, please help her.

Yu Mingjiao bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

Please.

Someone, anyone, come be with her.

She was really—

Terrified.

Thud.

Thud.

Was that a knock on the door?

Why did she hear someone calling her name?

Was it an illusion?

No one would come looking for her in this world.

But the voice calling her name persisted, one call after another.

Could it be that someone really had come for her?

Cen Lingqiu stood outside, holding a candle and knocking on the door repeatedly, but there was no response.

The power had gone out in the complex, and Cen Lingqiu figured Yu Mingjiao's apartment probably didn't have any candles, so she thought of bringing her one.

What if she needed it?

But there was no answer after repeated knocking. Was she asleep?

Cen Lingqiu waited a little longer, but still, there was no response. Just as she was about to leave, she heard a faint noise from inside, though it was muffled by the door.

What was that sound?

"Yu Mingjiao, are you home?" Cen Lingqiu pressed the doorbell and knocked again.

Suddenly, the door opened.

Cen Lingqiu paused mid-knock, then stepped inside, using her free hand to touch Yu Mingjiao's cheek. "What's wrong with your face?"

Beneath her eyes, the skin was red and slightly bleeding, and her lips were also stained with blood.

She looked completely out of sorts, her eyes red, face pale, and her shoulders trembling slightly.

Yu Mingjiao stared blankly at her, still in shock, unable to process why this woman had come for her.

Cen Lingqiu closed the door, set the candle down, and knelt in front of her. "What happened? How did you get hurt?"

Yu Mingjiao, unable to see, had tried to find the door by memory and had bumped into something, injuring her cheek.

But she didn't tell Cen Lingqiu that.

She couldn't explain how, the moment she saw Cen Lingqiu, her wildly beating heart suddenly calmed down, and the rats' squeaking faded from her ears.

It was strange.

She hated Cen Lingqiu but couldn't push her away at that moment.

It was like drowning in deep water and suddenly seeing a hand reaching out. She had grabbed onto it without hesitation.

Seeing that Yu Mingjiao wasn't responding, Cen Lingqiu didn't press her. She pushed her into the living room and asked, "Do you have any medicine or bandages at home?"

Yu Mingjiao's voice was barely a whisper. "…In the bedroom."

"I'll get them. Wait here."

Cen Lingqiu quickly found the first aid kit and knelt down in front of her.

"Come closer to me," she said. "The candlelight is dim, and I can't see clearly."

Yu Mingjiao blinked, moving a little closer.

Cen Lingqiu carefully applied the medicine to her wounds, the soft candlelight reflecting in her eyes, like a calm moonlit lake, cold yet serene, without a trace of harshness.

So this was what this woman's eyes looked like?

Yu Mingjiao thought absentmindedly.

Cen Lingqiu finished applying the bandages. "There, all done."

She looked at her and said regretfully, "Such a beautiful face shouldn't have any more injuries."

Cen Lingqiu put the first aid kit away. Seeing that Yu Mingjiao was alright, she said, "I came to bring you a candle. I thought you might need one. The power might not come back until midnight, so you should go to bed. I'll be going now."

Yu Mingjiao lowered her eyes. "You're leaving?"

Cen Lingqiu noticed something off in her tone. She thought for a moment, then knelt down in front of her again, looking into her eyes.

"Do you want me to stay with you?"

Yu Mingjiao clenched her fists, turning her face away without saying a word.

She was conflicted. On one hand, she didn't want to stay in the same room as Cen Lingqiu, but on the other hand, she needed her presence right now.

She didn't want to be alone in the dark.

But could she rely on this woman?

If she said yes, would Cen Lingqiu mock her?

Would she laugh at her fickleness and cowardice?

Yu Mingjiao feared the darkness, but she feared Cen Lingqiu's scorn even more.

She couldn't depend on Cen Lingqiu.

They didn't have the kind of relationship where they could rely on each other.

Yu Mingjiao belatedly realized that she was actually depending on someone as despicable as Cen Lingqiu. She suppressed her fear of the dark, just about to say no, when Cen Lingqiu spoke first.

"Alright, I'll stay with you."