Green Plum, Green Plum (8)
“Not enough.”
In front of the women’s restroom.
Xu Jiao stood in the corridor, looking at the distant sky. A subdued golden hue was plated over layers of deep blue and near-gray, with light traces of red, orange, and purple blending and spreading out, dyeing the clouds into a natural mix of colors.
Like a palette overturned by a careless god.
Even this wanton display was incomparably beautiful.
She gazed at the sky, and the sky seemed to fall into her eyes, reflecting light in her dark pupils.
After some time, there was a sudden noise behind her: “… Alright, thank you.”
Xu Jiao’s straight figure turned around, carrying an aura of crisp cleanliness. After the band-aid was removed from her forehead, her entire face was flawless like white jade, and her features were so stunning that Shen Yelan couldn’t help but stare in a daze.
Xu Jiao glanced her up and down and nodded at her: “Let’s go back.”
Having said that, Xu Jiao turned around first, ready to go to the classroom to pick up the schoolbag she had just left behind. Shen Yelan, however, took her words to mean they were going home together and quickly followed, slinging her already packed schoolbag over her shoulder and locking the classroom door before walking out with Xu Jiao.
When they were close to the school gate, Shen Yelan quietly glanced at Xu Jiao’s side profile. After a long time of brewing her words, she whispered:
“The jacket… can I take it home to wash and bring it back to you?”
Xu Jiao replied with a simple “Mm.”
The conversation ended.
Shen Yelan’s eyes showed a trace of disappointment, regretting that she never bought books like 《How to Improve Your EQ》, 《How to Talk to People》, or 《The Art of Speaking》 during her trips to the bookstore, instead of just study materials.
Still mired in frustration, she suddenly heard a whistle from the direction of the school gate.
She looked up and saw a girl leaning against the school’s name-inscribed stone monument, standing on tiptoe and waving in their direction… more accurately, in Xu Jiao’s direction
With a face full of joy.
Shen Yelan recognized her; she was the follower by Xu Jiao’s side, the one who had received the rose from Xu Jiao before, and the one who had grabbed Lu Pei’s hair in front of Class 7’s corridor today.
Her steps faltered slightly, but she saw Xu Jiao walking straight towards her without a pause. Shen Yelan didn’t even have time to think and instinctively followed.
Su Xi immediately hugged Xu Jiao. If Xu Jiao hadn’t raised her hand to hold her head, she might have kissed Xu Jiao on the cheek.
“Sister Jiaojiao! I’ve been waiting for you for so long!”
To be fair, among all the little gangsters, Su Xi was the closest and most loyal to Xu Jiao. Because she had absorbed the original owner’s memories, Xu Jiao unconsciously became more tolerant towards her.
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Her tone unconsciously carried a bit of gentle laughter: “Why are you suddenly being so nice to me? Did you get into trouble again?”
Su Xi pressed her forehead against Xu Jiao’s palm, laughed sheepishly, and rubbed her hand, guiltily saying: “It’s because the monthly exam results came out today. I—”
Before she finished, she noticed the person behind Xu Jiao, her voice stopped, and the smile disappeared from her face.
“I wanted to ask today, who is this? If I remember correctly, she’s from another class, right? A new follower?”
Seeing their intimate actions, Shen Yelan lowered her eyes, looking as if she was afraid of Su Xi’s aura.
Xu Jiao also noticed Shen Yelan standing beside her, her expression showing a bit of surprise, as if not understanding why she had stopped as well since their routes home were not the same.
But the surprise in her eyes only flashed briefly, and she casually said: “Not a follower, a newly acquainted classmate.”
Hearing that she was just an ordinary classmate, Su Xi lifted her chin at Shen Yelan with her usual arrogance and hostility: “Then why are you following my sister?”
Shen Yelan moved her lips but didn’t know what to say.
Indeed…
Why was she following Xu Jiao?
She didn’t know, but she just wanted to follow, to spend a little more time with this person.
Seeing Su Xi’s aggressive manner, Xu Jiao worried that she might later go and warn Shen Yelan. She couldn’t help but turn her head and gently said to Shen Yelan:
“Shouldn’t you be going home? You should go first.”
Hearing this, Shen Yelan realized she had no more reason to stay. She silently lowered her eyelashes and walked towards the school gate.
After taking just two steps, the breeze suddenly carried the voices of the two from where she had been standing.
“Sister Jiaojiao, you must save me today! My mom said if I fail again, I’ll face family punishment. I’m not going home today; I’m going to your place. Please, please, take me in!”
“Without telling your family, won’t you get beaten even more when you go back tomorrow?”
“You’re right! Then I’ll just stay at your place this month. I’ll pay for food! I’ll even help take care of your dog!”
“No need to pay for food, but you have to study.”
“Sis, are you crazy?”
“If you don’t agree, go home.”
“Alright… can you teach me?”
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Gradually, the voices became more and more distant until Shen Yelan could no longer hear them.
She turned the corner past the school gate and stopped beside the tall wall outside, inexplicably filled with a sense of loss and an indescribable irritability.
Hearing them chat was annoying, but now that she couldn’t hear them, it seemed even more annoying.
……
“Detected that the heroine’s favorability -10, cumulative -20.” The system suddenly spoke in Xu Jiao’s mind.
Xu Jiao: “…?”
Even someone as composed as her couldn’t help but be momentarily stunned.
What kind of little white-eyed wolf was this, repaying kindness with revenge?
“Sister Jiaojiao?” Su Xi saw her stop walking and turned her head in confusion.
Xu Jiao steadied herself, unwilling to delve into the reasons for Shen Yelan’s change, and gently shook her head at Su Xi before leading her towards her home again.
Meanwhile, the person she so easily forgot suffered from insomnia that night.
In the small attic where even a slight movement would cause dust to fall, Shen Yelan lay on a narrow bed barely a meter wide. She pulled the thick jacket she used as a blanket, placed one hand under her head, and the other by her side, staring blankly at the ceiling.
The jacket from the afternoon was draped over the chair where she studied.
After a long time, she curled up and turned to face the outside. In the dark room, with her faint night vision, she looked at the outline of the jacket.
The scent of the laundry detergent from the day resurfaced in her mind.
What kind of smell was it?
She pondered for a while, then suddenly sat up, grabbed the jacket, and brought it to her face, inhaling deeply—
The fragrance hadn’t faded much; it was still as present as before, soft and fragrant, completely different from Xu Jiao’s overly forceful demeanor.
Of course, the Xu Jiao who had been so considerate to her that afternoon was also different from usual.
Shen Yelan sat there holding the jacket for a long time. Gradually, the fragrance seemed to wrap around her, and she dozed off while sitting, holding the jacket and curling up on the bed.
She dreamed again.
In the dream, she saw that straight figure. She quickly stepped forward and tugged at the person’s sleeve, whispering, “I… I don’t want to go home either. Can you take me to your home?”
“Take you to my home? What’s in it for me?” The person turned around, the corners of her eyes lifting in a smile, casual yet nonchalant, with an inexplicable arrogance, as if deliberately making things difficult.
Shen Yelan was extremely anxious, her heart pounding loudly, both nervous and afraid of being rejected.
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Then, somehow summoning her courage—
She suddenly closed her eyes, leaned forward, and her lips met something soft.
It felt like kissing a cloud.
Suddenly, Shen Yelan bit down, wrapping her arms around the person, her movements full of arrogance and audacity, like a shark tasting blood, relentlessly pursuing its prey.
The other person raised a hand to push her away, her voice filled with surprise and resistance: “Enough, let go of me…!”
But she wouldn’t let go, murmuring over and over between their lips:
“Not enough.”
Still not enough.
Far from enough.
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