Green Plum, Green Plum (16)
“Do you like me?”
“Do you know what an M is? Just like her!”
Su Xi’s voice was so loud that it echoed throughout the entire living room, even Shen Yelan, who had just come out of the bathroom to get a glass of water, could hear it clearly.
Perhaps because her personality was not lively on usual days, Shen Yelan’s calm and pitch-black eyes always gave people an inexplicable sense of pressure when she looked at them with a calm expression.
Lu Pei had always hated her gaze.
Now as Su Xi turned around after speaking, she was startled by the sudden eye contact with Shen Yelan’s gaze. On one hand, she felt a bit guilty, on the other hand, for some reason, she always felt like she had just seen… Xu Jiao.
Su Xi shivered at her own imagination, plus being caught red-handed speaking ill of someone behind their back, for the first time, she chose to actively avoid Shen Yelan, quietly returning to the sofa, picking up a pen, and pretending to do homework.
Shen Yelan fastened the decorative belt on her black shorts, glanced at Su Xi indifferently, her fingers moving nimbly on the black belt, then silently walked to the wall-mounted water dispenser, and poured herself a glass of water.
Noticing her back was turned, Su Xi secretly glanced over, puzzled:
Is Shen Yelan angry?
Or has she gotten so used to being bullied at school that she’s immune to such words?
But to be honest, if she heard someone speaking like this behind her back, she would definitely be angry, and she would probably go and beat that person up.
Su Xi bit her pen, struggling with her thoughts for a while, and finally decided not to trouble herself, and spoke up:
“Hey.”
Shen Yelan paused in her drinking motion, turned her face slightly, and looked over indifferently.
Su Xi’s gaze flickered, feeling a bit uncomfortable, her voice drifting, showing a bit of awkwardness: “What I said just now…”
She paused, as if she wanted to apologize, but also seemed like she wanted to argue.
From her voice, Shen Yelan could hear her hesitation, thinking of this person’s relationship with Xu Jiao, she lightly pressed her lips together, letting the cool moisture spread across her lips, and said lightly:
“What? I didn’t hear.”
Su Xi let out a big sigh of relief. She wasn’t the type to actively apologize, and if it wasn’t for Xu Jiao saying that this person was a guest, she wouldn’t even have felt conflicted just now.
Waving the pen in her hand at the other person, Su Xi immediately said: “Nothing! It’s nothing!”
It’s best if she didn’t hear.
She immediately put this matter behind her and earnestly focused on the malicious homework.
On the other hand, Shen Yelan, holding her cup, returned to her room, closed the door, and didn’t hurry back to the desk with the books spread out. She leaned her back against the cold wooden bedroom door, and took a deep breath.
Su Xi’s words still echoed in her mind.
But she wasn’t angry.
Because she knew, her thoughts… were much scarier than what Su Xi had described.
Shen Yelan didn’t have any strange thoughts about herself, but rather—
Had delusions about another person.
Especially recently, as she learned more and more from Dong Qing, the things she dreamed about at night became more and more outrageous.
She took another sip of cold water, steadied her mind, and let out a breath. Once her thoughts had calmed down, she returned to her desk, burying herself in endless study.
……
The light blue curtains gently swayed with the breeze coming through the window gap.
The warm light cast a milky white glow on the skin, a kind of porcelain-like white, once your gaze touched it, you couldn’t look away.
Shen Yelan stared at the person in front of her, no longer with the initial panic, excitement, and confusion of dreaming, but with a calmness that seemed inevitable.
Here it comes again.
She thought.
But even though she had dreamed many times, she still couldn’t resist this person, she didn’t even need a mirror to know that her eyes must be filled with infatuation and greed at this moment.
Slowly walking to the bedside, she watched the smooth and silky black hair fall strand by strand from the back of the neck of the person in bed, falling into the folds of the sheets. The thin blanket couldn’t cover the person’s smooth shoulders, even revealing the hollow of their shoulder.
She held her breath, watching the small patch of light on the round shoulder, like welcoming an unknown surprise, she slowed her steps.
The edge of the bed sank a little due to the extra weight, before Shen Yelan got closer, she heard that person’s clear and cold voice: “You’re here?”
Shen Yelan didn’t know how she ended up here, nor could she remember how it all happened, but she responded without feeling out of place: “Hmm.”
The person in bed moved a little, turning their face slightly to the side, the messy hair falling on her face, some strands lying in her neck and collarbone, vaguely revealing a bright red color, not clear if it was fabric or something else.
But this wasn’t the most attractive part to Shen Yelan.
The person’s face was flushed, possibly from drinking, their usually calm eyes now filled with a blurry scene, as if they could cry at any moment, but upon closer inspection, their eyes didn’t seem too wet.
Shen Yelan heard a “gulp” sound from her throat.
Her voice was inexplicably a bit hoarse, and soft, as if afraid of disturbing something: “Sister Xu Jiao… what’s wrong with you?”
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Xu Jiao looked at her, slightly raising her neck, allowing Shen Yelan to see more clearly.
Shen Yelan then noticed—
What was around the person’s neck wasn’t fabric.
But a red rope.
Using a strange method, she bypassed the remaining part and slipped into the quilt, making it impossible to see the person clearly.
The overly vivid color gave her a strong sense of impact. Shen Yelan almost instantly recalled the thorn tattoo on Xu Jiao’s ankle; it was the same principle.
Thinking of that tattoo design, even in a dream, Shen Yelan could feel her heart skip a beat.
She heard Xu Jiao say in that indifferent voice, “Help me untie this.”
Hearing her voice, Shen Yelan’s throat felt dry. Harboring some unspeakable thoughts, she both wanted to meet that thorny cross pattern again and couldn’t bear to refuse Xu Jiao’s request.
In the end, she actually reached out her right index finger and gently hooked the crimson rope around the other’s fragile neck, thinking she could pull out the remaining part. Who knew it would make the person in the quilt lift her neck futilely, like a fish on a chopping board, following Shen Yelan’s force.
A strange sound escaped her mouth.
Like a muffled hum, or the ultimate suppressed nasal sound.
It was a very light sound, but it startled Shen Yelan, making her subconsciously loosen the first knuckle that held the rope, releasing the force and letting Xu Jiao lie back on the bed.
Shen Yelan, like a startled bird, let go of her hand. In the next instant, she didn’t know what she thought of when she saw the marks of the rope and suddenly reached for the corner of the quilt, then, bit by bit, lifted it—
……
“Beep beep beep beep! Beep beep beep beep!”
The piercing alarm clock rang out.
Shen Yelan abruptly opened her eyes, reaching for the clamorous alarm clock on the table. But because her sweeping motion was too large, she accidentally knocked the alarm clock’s tin shell, causing it to fall to the floor with a “clang.” Yet the little tin box didn’t stop making noise, ringing even more joyfully, making her brain’s nerves throb painfully.
The pain from her fingers and everything in this dark room reminded her:
Everything just now was just a dream.
Those amorous thoughts evaporated into the air along with the thin sweat on her temples.
Shen Yelan let out a soft breath, turned on the light, bent down to pick up the alarm clock, turned off the ringer switch, and silenced the noise.
Another new day.
If there was any new change in life, it was…
In the previous monthly exam, she performed normally and returned to Class 1.
Also, Xu Jiao came to Class 1 as well.
Hearing that Xu Jiao had applied to switch from being a sports specialty student to a liberal arts student, strange rumors began to spread in the grade, such as “A legendary school bully hurt by love, decided to dedicate herself to the cultural construction of the motherland,” “No matter how good you are at fighting, you still need to study,” “Heartbroken but successful in exams is actually true”…
The most ridiculous one was that someone said Xu Jiao had found the joy of studying by sitting with the nerd Shen Yelan in Class 7, and suddenly had an epiphany overnight.
Shen Yelan scoffed at the last statement.
But regardless, thanks to these absurd rumors, her life became much more peaceful after returning to Class 1, almost like a calm sea.
Even Lu Pei, who always made her life difficult before, seemed to be scared by Xu Jiao, shrinking into a transparent person in the corner of the classroom every day, afraid to be seen by Xu Jiao.
Only occasionally, Shen Yelan would notice that Lu Pei would secretly look at her with a hostile gaze.
If it were before, she would start worrying about what tricks Lu Pei was up to.
But now, Shen Yelan’s heart was just peaceful.
……
“Brother, do we really have to come this early? We social people have nightlife, wouldn’t it be better to come after school?”
“You know nothing. Big Brother said that there are too many people after school, what if we miss her and let that girl run away again?”
“Hey, but I didn’t sleep all night, I’m so tired, drank too much last night… Seriously, do we really need so many people? A bunch of big men confronting a female student from No. 18 High School, it’s a joke if word gets out.”
“Joke? Didn’t you hear Big Brother say, last time she took down a dozen people by herself. Don’t underestimate that girl; she might be a tigress. What was that tigress’s name, Jiao, something Jiao?”
In the alley near the school gate, several men with colorful tattoos on their arms were talking not too far away. Their smoke intertwined, making the utility pole they leaned on look mysteriously ethereal.
At this moment, a voice came from somewhere:
“Xu Jiao?”
One of them slapped his thigh, “That’s right! That’s the name.”
After saying that, he thought for a moment, something felt off. The voice just now seemed to be a female voice, where did a woman come from here?
They all turned their heads simultaneously.
They saw a female student with a backpack, wearing a neatly dressed school uniform.
Judging by her experience, this student looked like someone who had been bullied a lot in school, with a faint timidity in her demeanor, the easiest type to be threatened.
The one who didn’t guess Xu Jiao’s name earlier took two steps forward, holding a cigarette, showing a smile that wrinkled the lines around his eyes, as if worried about scaring her away, he asked vaguely:
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“You’re a student at No. 18 High School, right?”
“Do you know Xu Jiao?”
“Great, this brothers need a little help from you—”
Before he could finish his sentence, Shen Yelan had already guessed the whole story from their conversation. It must be related to the gang fight she accidentally walked into last time. The girl who left held a grudge against Xu Jiao, and after bringing people last time and being chased away by her and Xu Jiao, she was still not resigned and brought even more men this time.
So despicable.
She thought expressionlessly.
But this works too. She had just woken up from a sweet dream and was in a bad mood. While helping Xu Jiao solve these troubles, she could also calm her mind a little.
Next, the gangsters watched as the timid-looking female student suddenly put down her backpack and even took off her thin school uniform jacket, revealing her fair arms.
In the next second.
The person who seemed timid gave them a faint smile and said, “Just in time, I also need a favor from this brothers.”
Gangsters: “???”
Someone curiously replied, “Hey? You’re making requests now? Let’s hear it, what do you want us to do?”
Shen Yelan’s dark eyes looked over, and in a flat tone, she said:
“Please remember, after you get beaten up, that the person who hit you is called Shen Yelan.”
“If you want to mess with Xu Jiao, you have to get past Shen Yelan first.”
……
More than ten minutes later.
Shen Yelan walked out of the alley, raised her hand to steady herself against the wall, and slightly shook her head.
Still too weak.
She thought, if Dong Qing were here, she would probably walk out unscathed, right?
Not like her, taking a hit directly.
Not to mention, getting hit on the head with a brick hurts quite a bit.
Shen Yelan’s head was spinning badly. She closed her eyes and rested for a moment. Suddenly, she heard a voice drawling out in front of her:
“Yo, Shen Yelan, you’re here, just in time—”
It was Lu Pei’s voice.
She almost forgot, this person would get off her uncle’s car and walk this way to school.
But now she had no patience to deal with this person.
Shen Yelan opened her eyes irritably. Just one look made Lu Pei swallow the rest of her words. Then, the person in front of her suddenly widened her eyes in surprise and pointed behind her:
“What’s that? Blood? My god, Shen Yelan, you’re done for, did you kill someone?”
With a tone of irritation, Shen Yelan said, “If you don’t want to die, get lost.”
Lu Pei kept retreating, tripped over a slightly raised step on the sidewalk, and fell to the ground. But even so, she didn’t dare stay any longer, stumbling and running towards the school, looking back as if a ghost was chasing her.
Shen Yelan’s headache worsened. Seeing the annoying person leave, she squatted down, planning to rest a bit before heading to school.
She closed her eyes again.
Not sure how much time passed.
A gentle, soft voice appeared in front of her:
“What happened to you?”
The moment she heard this voice, Shen Yelan froze, instinctively thinking: Impossible, Xu Jiao doesn’t take this route to school, how could she be here?
Moreover…
If she remembered correctly, Xu Jiao hadn’t actively spoken to her for a long time.
Nervously and somewhat bewilderedly, she opened her eyes and saw a girl in a Monday uniform standing in front of her, with hair turning dark brown in the golden sunlight, almost glowing, still so beautiful.
Shen Yelan murmured, “Sister… Xu Jiao?”
Before she could ask why the other person was here, that person extended a hand to her, smiling gently, “Get up, why are you squatting here?”
Hearing such caring words, Shen Yelan suddenly felt a bit aggrieved.
Maybe her head hurt too much, or maybe she had been neglected for too long. At this moment, she just wanted to ask:
Why are you ignoring me?
Her eyes inexplicably turned red. She reached out with a slight tremble, wanting to grasp the warmth the other extended—
And then…
She grabbed nothing.
The person in front of her suddenly disappeared, leaving only the sunlight on the ground, emitting the usual warmth.
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Shen Yelan kept the posture of reaching out for a long time.
Then, she incredulously said, “Sister Xu… Jiao?”
No one responded.
Only the headache worsened.
It felt as if someone suddenly tore a hole in her heart, letting the wind blow through, making the sense of loss even more apparent.
She murmured, “Was it an illusion?”
Shen Yelan closed her eyes, taking deep breaths, trying to dispel this strange feeling. Then… she heard that voice again, seemingly with a warm facade, but actually very calm, making it impossible to guess the true thoughts of the person.
“Shen Yelan,” the voice was now a bit closer to her, sounding like a mischievous whisper in her ear.
Shen Yelan knew it was fake, but she still couldn’t help opening her eyes to look. She saw that person squatting beside her with great interest, raising a hand to brush her hair back, and smiling at her as she asked:
“Do you like me?”
……
Classroom of Class 1.
A student was memorizing vocabulary when she suddenly heard a mechanical voice in her mind:
“Detected the female lead’s emergence of blackening value, current value… 10.”
The person holding the book suddenly tensed, gripping the pages so hard that she left marks. Xu Jiao looked up at the classroom and found that Shen Yelan was nowhere to be seen.
She loosened her grip, staring at the new creases on the book’s pages, and asked in her mind, “What blackening value? Did something happen to her again?”
How did she suddenly blacken?
