Nightfall
After bidding farewell to Cornelia and Li Guanqi, Su Cheng sat alone on the sofa, pondering over today's student council application.
Yaya remained motionless on his shoulder.
"Ding-ling-ling~"
It wasn't until his phone rang with an alarm that he snapped out of his reverie.
Su Cheng glanced to the side and realized it was time for Yaya to go to the bathroom. He said, "It's time for you to go to the bathroom. Remember to wash your bottom."
Yesterday, he had set an alarm every time the crow needed to relieve itself, intending to train Yaya to use the bathroom at regular intervals.
Yaya seemed to understand Su Cheng's meaning. It shook its head, then hopped off Su Cheng's shoulder and strode toward the bathroom.
"Heh~"
Watching the tiny figure go, Su Cheng chuckled.
Yaya was a raven, known for its high intelligence and complex behaviors. It had already demonstrated a strong capacity for intelligence and social interaction.
Moreover, Yaya had learned to bathe, turn on the faucet, adjust the water flow, and even watch cartoons on TV when bored.
Its intelligence was estimated to be approaching 3.
Wonder what would happen if I feed it walnuts?
"Knock-knock-knock~"
The doorbell rang, accompanied by a childish and adorable voice: "Su Cheng!"
"Yaya, go open the door!"
Hearing this, Su Cheng was momentarily taken aback, then called out toward the bathroom. Quickly, Yaya flew out of the bathroom and leapt at the doorknob, which clicked open.
Standing outside the door was none other than Cornelia, who had returned, carrying a laptop bag on her back.
"Why do you keep making it do such things? Can't you open the door yourself?"
With Yaya perched on her shoulder, Cornelia stepped in, noticing Su Cheng lounging on the sofa. She couldn't help but complain.
"Isn't it the same?"
"Whatever."
After saying that, Cornelia walked toward Su Cheng's bedroom, while Yaya flew back to Su Cheng's shoulder.
Su Cheng sighed.
Because his work shift was about to begin.
"You can watch TV here."
Su Cheng told Yaya, placing it on the sofa before following Cornelia into the bedroom.
In the bedroom
Cornelia took out her laptop and started logging into the game, while Su Cheng did the same beside her.
After two rounds of the game, Cornelia's laughter never ceased.
It was clear that she was having a great time playing with Su Cheng.
However, Su Cheng looked rather gloomy. For him, the game wasn't fun anymore; it was work.
Another game ended—
"Ah~"
Cornelia suddenly let out a cry, clutching her right foot, her face turning pale.
Sweat beaded on her forehead.
Su Cheng, noticing her condition, quickly walked over to help her sit down on the bed, asking concernedly, "What's wrong?"
"Pain… it hurts… so much."
Tears welled up in Cornelia's eyes as she clenched her teeth, "My right foot cramped up!"
"......"
Su Cheng was rendered speechless. He had seen players lose sight of friend or foe in the heat of battle, but cramping from playing games was a first for him.
However, it wasn't entirely unexpected from Cornelia.
"Let me help you."
Without waiting for Cornelia's response, Su Cheng took her adorable white fuzzy right foot in both hands, massaging the muscles alternately from the bottom up. He then lightly tapped the area with his fingertips before gently rolling it between his palms.
"You… you…"
Cornelia's face turned a deep shade of red, her watery eyes fixed on his face, unable to speak a word.
Then—
"Ah~"
She let out an involuntary, strange sound.
Su Cheng's technique was simply too soothing.
The pain had vanished…
She didn’t even notice the drool spilling from her lips…
She just stared blankly as he tenderly massaged her foot until a few minutes later, when he finally released her foot and looked up at Cornelia, only to chuckle, "You're drooling, huh?"
"I'm not drooling…"
Hearing this, Cornelia stiffened, hurriedly wiping at her lips, but the more she wiped, the more it seemed to spread...
"Hahaha…"
Su Cheng couldn't help but laugh out loud, finding her embarrassed state amusing. His mood, which had been dull from working earlier, suddenly lifted.
"It's not like your massage made me drool!"
With evidence so clear, she panicked and retorted angrily at Su Cheng, her face crimson.
"Hahaha, okay."
Hearing this, Su Cheng hurriedly waved his hands to explain, then said, "Alright, that's it for today. Let me take you home."
"Go back then."
Cornelia pouted, beginning to search the floor for her slippers.
At the doorstep of the villa
"Well… thank you for that earlier!"
After saying that, Cornelia ran into the villa.
"........"
Back home, Su Cheng found Yaya watching anime on the sofa. He told it to continue before grabbing his toiletries and heading to the bathroom for his nightly routine.
After washing up, he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze.
Originally, he had thought that after coming back to life, he could enjoy this world's life to the fullest.
However, problems, doubts, and troubles kept piling up.
Sometimes, if he didn't figure out a matter, he couldn't rest easy.
Like now.
Gu Ruoxue and the student council's matters.
Although he knew his ex-girlfriend's identity, Gu Ruoxue herself was unwilling to discuss it. Even if he wanted to inquire, he couldn't find a suitable excuse.
"Ding-dong~"
At that moment, the phone on the bedside table rang.
Su Cheng picked up the phone to see a message from Li Guanqi.
Li Guanqi: "Was that dog silent writing Ode to the Pavilion of Prince Teng, was that you controlling it?"
Seeing this message, Su Cheng was momentarily stunned. It seemed that despite saying nothing at the time, Li Guanqi had taken notice of the incident earlier.
He chuckled and replied: "It was me controlling it with cigarettes."
Li Guanqi: "I see."
Li Guanqi: "Tomorrow, good night."
Su Cheng: "Good night."
Then, Su Cheng began scrolling through his chat interface, seeing messages from Xuan Ying, Zhao Yan, Liu Qingyue, and Ji Qingyi.
Earlier, he had chatted with Liu Qingyue about some orphanage matters.
Basically, whenever he had free time now, he would chat with Liu Qingyue.
"Ding-dong~"
Cornelia sent a transfer of 500 (tomorrow's meal/grocery money.)
Every night, Cornelia would schedule tomorrow night's gaming time and send a transfer to him.
Although he wanted to refuse and claimed that it wasn’t necessary and tried to return the money, Cornelia was insistent. Eventually, Su Cheng relented.
Since daily takeout was unhealthy for her, he decided to allocate half of the money to buy nutritious meals and fresh ingredients for Cornelia.
"President…"
Su Cheng's gaze landed on Ji Qingyi's chat interface, recalling that Ji Qingyi had mentioned that he could contact her via phone earlier.
Moreover, Ji Qingyi only had two contacts.
He hesitated for a moment, then clicked into the chat, typing: "President, are you asleep?"
A few minutes passed, and just as he thought the other party wouldn't reply, the phone screen lit up.
[Ji Qingyi]: "What is it?"
Seeing Ji Qingyi's reply, Su Cheng breathed a sigh of relief: "Nothing, just a routine check-in."
[Ji Qingyi]: "Not asleep."
Su Cheng: "When will you sleep?"
[Ji Qingyi]: "Soon."
[Su Cheng]: "Oh, good night."
After a few awkward exchanges, Su Cheng felt exceptionally uneasy and decided that he shouldn't disturb his president in the future unless necessary, to avoid upsetting her.
With that thought, Su Cheng placed the phone aside and lay back on the bed, closing his eyes to rest.
But just as he dozed off, the phone screen lit up again.
[Ji Qingyi]: "Good night."
However, a moment later, the message was recalled by the other party.
……………………………………
The Next Day
After tidying himself up, Su Cheng arrived at school.
Arriving later than usual, he nodded at Li Guanqi before being surrounded by Wang Guancong.
"This is for you."
"And mine too."
Seeing Wang Guancong and Gao Ye smirking as they handed him their hair ties, Su Cheng was bewildered.
"Thanks."
Unable to resist, Su Cheng accepted their hair ties and tucked them into his pocket.
"Why aren't you wearing them?"
"Yeah, showing favoritism, huh?"
"Discriminating by gender?!"
Wang Guancong and Gao Ye couldn't help but tease him.
"No, my hands are already full!"
Su Cheng said, raising his hands high.
The six small rubber bands on his wrists gleamed brightly under the sunlight, nearly blinding everyone present!
Everyone in the class was shocked silly. More had been added within just one day. Wouldn't this affect blood circulation and kidney function? What if it went into double digits in a few more days?
"Hahahaha..."
Seeing Su Cheng go all out, Wang Guancong and Gao Ye couldn't hold back their laughter. Their laughter spread, and some others in the class joined in, instantly livening up the atmosphere.
Especially Xuan Ying, watching Su Cheng show off so proudly the rubber bands she had given him, felt a mix of joy and excitement, her heart nearly impulsively wanting to hug him tight and give him a big kiss.
However, the next second, looking at a silver rubber band on her left wrist, she felt a sense of familiarity and squinted at the rubber bands on her right wrist. Suddenly, her heart leapt, and her smile gradually faded as she seemed to recall something.
Slowly, she turned her head to look at Zhao Yan beside her, who was busy writing something with a pen, pretending to be completely uninterested in what was happening.
She pursed her lips, trying to reassure herself, "It's just a coincidence, perhaps it's just the same model."
..................
In the corner, Li Guanqi watched the scene expressionlessly, then glanced at Xuan Ying and Zhao Yan, before a brief flicker of doubt crossed her eyes. She returned to focusing on her book.
"It's Senior Gu."
Suddenly, Gao Ye pointed out the window and nudged Wang Guancong beside him.
"Where?!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Guancong shuddered, quickly pressed against the window to look downstairs at the slender figure below, his eyes full of admiration and adoration.
Su Cheng also came over to his side, and the three of them looked down at the elegant figure.
Gu Ruoxue walked among the crowd, but inexplicably gave Su Cheng a sense of solitude. It was an image of loneliness amidst the bustle.
This woman was quite peculiar. Born in the wild like a standout grass, yet too out of place in a garden of flowers. Her aura was always somewhat off, like the drawing style was slightly wrong, an immaculate phantom outshining her surroundings.
Suddenly, the girl downstairs seemed to feel their gaze and lifted her eyes to look in their direction.
She scanned briefly before their gazes met.
Su Cheng's heart skipped a beat—his ex-girlfriend had been looking at him.
Then, she withdrew her gaze and continued walking, as if she had seen nothing.
"She just glanced at me."
Wang Guancong and Gao Ye said in unison.
Su Cheng withdrew his gaze and returned to his seat, sinking back into thought.
He knew that unless he took the initiative, the truth about him and Gu Ruoxue would remain forever unknown.
Although it was the past 'him' who did things, he always felt something was amiss, and matters were perhaps not so simple.
There was a high likelihood that she knew some of his secrets, otherwise she wouldn't have saved his life in a critical moment.
But now, he had no way in.
"Whatever, what does it have to do with him?"
Su Cheng decided to give up, feeling it wasn't worth the hassle.
However, in the corner, Li Guanqi continued to watch him intently.
The end of the first lesson.
Su Cheng went outside the classroom and stood alone, looking at the scenery outside, silently contemplating what to eat for lunch today.
At that moment, a figure suddenly appeared beside him and tapped his shoulder.
Startled, Su Cheng turned to see it was Li Guanqi.
"Were you thinking about Senior Gu during the first lesson?"
Li Guanqi asked, her expression calm, her tone flat.
"Hmm."
Su Cheng nodded.
"In truth, people's liking for a character in a story usually begins with their 'setting,' but what truly fascinates us is the personality behind it as it's uncovered, the complexity and contradictions of human nature unveiled."
As she spoke, Li Guanqi's gaze remained fixed on his face.
Hearing this, a tremor went through Su Cheng's heart.
At this moment, he felt the pressure emanating from Li Guanqi.
What a mind-breaking cross-dimensional statement, eh!
"And only you can uncover that."
Su Cheng: "..."
"Can you put it more simply?"
Li Guanqi nodded and continued, "Her club accepts commissions from both inside and outside the school. You can share your troubles with her and ask for her help in resolving them."
Su Cheng's brows furrowed as he struggled to respond.
Li Guanqi merely waited quietly for his response.
"Why?"
Su Cheng took a deep breath and instead blurted out a seemingly unrelated question.
"Because it's something you'll inevitably face."
Her voice remained composed, as if discussing something mundane.
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
Li Guanqi confirmed, then added, "But there are also things that cannot be changed, such as, you are Su Cheng. That is enough."
After speaking, she turned and prepared to leave.
Su Cheng watched Li Guanqi's retreating back, feeling a chaotic mess in his heart.
What was she trying to imply with this speech?
"No way!"
Unable to figure it out, Su Cheng grabbed Li Guanqi's small hand and declared outright, "Stop being a riddle-teller!"
Li Guanqi: "..."
She looked down at her hand being held, blinked, and then pulled her hand free.
Su Cheng let go of her hand.
Then, Li Guanqi spoke, "The you from before and the you now, in my eyes, is all what you perceive yourself to be. The truth is with Senior Gu, and only by finding that out can you truly pursue what you want wholeheartedly, isn't that right?"
She paused briefly before continuing, "As for your doubts, just ask yourself."
Su Cheng remained silent, looking at her, and she at him.
After a long while, Su Cheng spoke, "I know how to commission."
She looked at him, her eyes glimmering with anticipation, and softly asked, "What way?"
"Well..."
Su Cheng pondered for a moment before he spoke, "I had a memory loss during middle school, but I remember having an ex-girlfriend. However, I don't recall who she was, so I'd like to commission Senior Gu to help me find out who she is!"