Chapter 30: Scratches

In Xinhua Bookstore.

The first-floor lobby wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t empty either.

Most of them were students wearing the same uniforms as them, gathered in groups of two or three in front of the bookshelves, looking but not buying.

The auxiliary teaching area was the worst hit, with several students simply lying on the counter, copying questions furiously.

“Tsk, a bunch of poor bastards.”

Lin Xiaomei followed behind Xiahou Ming, not hiding her contempt at all, her voice neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for the people around to hear.

Several students who were copying questions raised their heads and glared at her angrily, but when they saw her bad girl outfit, they lowered their heads without daring to say anything.

“It’s so hard to be a good student,” she continued sarcastically, “I think only a young lady from a wealthy family like Ling Yicai is worthy of being a good student.”

Xiahou Ming ignored her chatter and walked straight towards the stairs leading to the second floor.

The second floor is much quieter and darker than the first floor.

Rows of tall bookshelves cut the space into narrow and oppressive passages.

Following her intuition, Xiahou Ming went straight to the deepest literature and social science areas.

She felt that if it were that woman, she would definitely stay farthest away from the crowd.

“What a shabby place!

It smells like dust.”

Lin Xiaomei casually pulled a book from the shelf and curled her lips in disgust.

“Anyone who reads this kind of book must have a problem with their brain, right?”

Just then, a shop assistant in work clothes walked past them with a bunch of keys.

“The upstairs is about to close!

Five more minutes!”

Xiahou Ming’s heart was in suspense, and her search became more anxious.

Bang—!

There was a harsh sound of an iron gate being pulled open at the stairs.

With a “click,” the lights in their area went out.

It’s over.

Xiahou Ming stopped and leaned against the cold bookshelf, overwhelmed by a huge sense of disappointment.

She subconsciously asked the person behind her:

“Where else do you think she would be if not in the bookstore?”

“Ah?”

Lin Xiaomei was stunned by her sudden request for help.

“You mean…oh…”

She looked at Xiahou Ming’s profile, which looked somewhat helpless in the dim light, and felt a mixture of irritation and secret joy in her heart.

“How should I know?

Maybe it’s in someone’s bed.”

Xiahou Ming turned her head suddenly and glared at her fiercely.

The two were forced to come down from the second floor, walk out of the bookstore, and stand under the street lights at night.

Lin Xiaomei looked at Xiahou Ming’s distraught look and was silent for a long time.

Finally, she couldn’t help but speak:

“So, you really are here to find that freak.”

Xiahou Ming did not answer, but just walked forward in silence.

“To be honest,” Lin Xiaomei followed her, her tone suddenly becoming a little strange, “At first, I was quite happy that you became a girl like me.”

“I thought, finally, no one can steal your limelight now.”

Lin Xiaomei curled her lips, her eyes filled with confusion and contempt.

“Who knew you’d turn around and go hang out with a freak even weirder than you?”

“What kind of curse did she cast on you?

You’re running around like a dog without an owner.”

“I’m telling you, Xiahou Ming, I’ve seen a lot of women like that.

They love to play with people like you… who appear to be quite capable, but whose hearts are actually rotten.”

“If she doesn’t show up now, she’s just keeping you hanging.

When you’re about to go crazy with anxiety, she’ll show up and throw you a bone, and you’ll jump on her with your tail wagging.”

“You know quite a lot,” Xiahou Ming finally said coldly.

“I don’t know when you became so knowledgeable about this kind of thing.”

“You…!”

Lin Xiaomei’s face flushed red from choking.

“I learned this from you!”

“Really?”

Xiahou Ming chuckled.

“Then who still remembers what you looked like a year ago?”

“Ask yourself?”

Lin Xiaomei retorted without showing any weakness, but there was a hint of guilt in her voice.

“It’s because you suddenly changed.”

Xiahou Ming looked at her doubtfully.

“Do you know how exhausted I have been this week?”

“Those dogs you had before are going crazy now.”

“In order to prevent the cage you worked so hard to build from collapsing so quickly,” she looked at Xiahou Ming, her eyes filled with grievance, “I can only imitate you and take your place in class every day.”

“I’m working very hard, okay!”

“And during the day, in the classroom, the thought of having to act like that and say those things to you, it annoys me to death!”

She paused, her voice suddenly lowering.

“I can’t control myself anymore, you know?”

Xiahou Ming didn’t understand whether her words meant that she couldn’t control her subordinates, or… something else.

Lin Xiaomei didn’t explain any further, but just looked at her deeply and continued:

“Look, a girl like me can do it.

You’re the real Xiahou Ming, so what if you become a girl?”

At this moment, her voice actually had a hint of begging tremor.

“Come back soon… idiot.”

Afterwards, the two walked in silence, the dim street lights lengthening and shortening their shadows.

A lone figure appeared before them—a thin girl wearing the uniform of another middle school and carrying a drawing board.

“Just watch.”

Lin Xiaomei whispered something to Xiahou Ming, with a malicious smile on her lips.

She quickly stepped forward and blocked the girl’s way.

Xiahou Ming stood there, watching quietly.

She saw Lin Xiaomei leaning close to the girl’s ear, whispering something.

The girl was so frightened that her face turned pale and her body was shaking.

Finally, she took out a wad of crumpled change from her pocket and handed it to Lin Xiaomei.

Lin Xiaomei took the money and even patted the girl on the shoulder in a formal manner.

Then she turned around, whistled, and walked back with a smug look on her face.

She walked up to Xiahou Ming and roughly stuffed the wad of crumpled change—about a dozen yuan in total, and a few coins—into Xiahou Ming’s hand.

“Here, you can’t get any money recently.”

Xiahou Ming’s attention was attracted by something else.

Right at the tip of Lin Xiaomei’s index finger, there was a tiny scratch with a blood scab.

It is particularly dazzling under the dim street lights.

She reached out, held Lin Xiaomei’s wrist, pulled her hand closer, and looked at the scar carefully.

“Hey!

What are you doing!?”

“Does it still hurt?”

She asked subconsciously.

“Ah?”

Lin Xiaomei looked at Xiahou Ming’s face, which looked extremely serious under the light, and for a moment she forgot to resist.

She followed her gaze to her fingers before realizing what was happening and curled her lips nonchalantly.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore, that psychopath…”

She stopped mid-sentence.

A bold idea came to mind.

As if possessed by a demon, she put the injured finger to Xiahou Ming’s mouth.

She had a provocative smirk on her face, but deep in her eyes, there was a hint of nervous anticipation.

“If you help me,” she said casually, “it might really stop hurting.”

Xiahou Ming raised her eyes and looked at her quietly.

Under Lin Xiaomei’s incredulous gaze, Xiahou Ming lowered her head slightly, opened her mouth, and slowly put her fingertip with blood scab into her mouth.

“!”

A strange electric current instantly ran through her body from her fingertips.

“Don’t do that!?”

She came to her senses and pulled her hand back abruptly.

“How disgusting!?”

The face that was always filled with sarcasm and dissatisfaction now showed an intense blush that she couldn’t even control.

Xiahou Ming didn’t say anything.

She just raised her head, looked at her calmly, and then gently wiped the wet corners of her mouth with the back of her hand.

“I didn’t ask you to actually do that!”

“I just—”

“You…”

Xiahou Ming looked at her incoherent appearance and finally spoke.

“You shouldn’t have turned over her desk.”

This sentence, like the last straw, completely crushed Lin Xiaomei’s psychological defenses.

“That’s enough, that’s it!”

As if to hide her heartbeat that was about to burst out of her chest, she forced herself to regain her impatient tone and stuffed her hands into her pockets.

She looked at Xiahou Ming’s face, which looked even more unfathomable under the light, and took a deep breath.

“Don’t think about that woman!”

“If you really feel uncomfortable… come to me.”

After saying that, she no longer dared to look at Xiahou Ming and disappeared into the darkness of the alley without looking back.