In My Next Life, I Want to Be a Rabbit, That Way I Can Still Nestle in Shi Jinlan’s Arms
Shi Jinlan’s voice was neither loud nor soft, yet it was like a bomb, exploding with a boom right beside Chi Qian’s ear.
She had been so focused on the preserved plum Shi Jinlan handed her as a comfort, so happy, that she had completely forgotten why she was sad in the first place.
It was because she had heard such a poignant and beautiful love story and had failed to control her sentimental brain.
But Shi Jinlan was completely unaffected.
What did she mean by saying that to her?
Being frightened and teased twice in one day… Shi Jinlan was not the type of person who enjoyed joking around like this, was she?
Unless…
Had Shi Jinlan really discovered something and was now testing her?
Chi Qian’s heart hammered in her chest, her mind frantically replaying her every move from moments ago.
With every detail she replayed, Chi Qian’s heart would pound violently, striking her chest cavity again and again as if to accuse its unscrupulous owner, hating the iron for not becoming steel.1
【Host, remain calm.】Thirteen crouched far away in the courtyard, reminding Chi Qian.
Upon hearing this, Chi Qian subconsciously glanced at the flames on Shi Jinlan’s body. Seeing that the flames still burned calmly, dotted with specks of gold and showing no signs of being devoured by blackness, she understood that Shi Jinlan was not experiencing any intense emotional fluctuations.
She perhaps had not yet aroused any real suspicion in Shi Jinlan.
With that thought, Chi Qian steadied her nerves and forced herself to appear calm, disguising her guilt as embarrassment. “I’m just a rather sentimental person…”
“I can see that.” Shi Jinlan smiled slightly and, after speaking, slowly withdrew her gaze.
A layer of amusement clung to her eyes as her fingers unhurriedly stroked Emergency Rations’s soft fur.
——In all her years in the business world, Shi Jinlan could still tell the difference between guilt and embarrassment.
——The sentimentality was real, but so was the guilt.
But if Chi Qian could recount the story of Ah Qing and Ling Ji so fluently, how could it be her first time hearing it?
For someone who had never heard the story to be able to tell it with such full emotion and fluency…
Was that not a paradox?
But this was far from the only paradox surrounding Chi Qian.
In Shi Jinlan’s eyes, Chi Qian was both kind and timid, sometimes trembling before her, and at other times, fearing neither heaven nor earth.
This person was full of question marks, a complete enigma.
And before coming to this place, Shi Jinlan’s favorite thing to do was solve enigmas.
She was a person who understood delayed gratification and thus particularly enjoyed the process of solving a puzzle.
Even if the one now placed before her was a…
Dumb-bunny puzzle.
Shi Jinlan gently chewed on those words in her mind, and something inexplicable began to build within her.
It swelled, sprouted, and on the muddy, decaying earth, a tender green shoot, easily overlooked, pushed its way through.
Shi Jinlan gently closed her eyes, feeling an odd tug.
She lowered her gaze and saw Emergency Rations lying small and docile on her lap, its dark little nose twitching along with its mouth.
The cotton-linen fabric of Shi Jinlan’s skirt was right beside its mouth, and like a pavilion near the water2, it had been nibbled into its mouth.
“…”
Shi Jinlan’s brows knitted together as she lifted the rabbit without hesitation.
It was not just Chi Qian; Emergency Rations also perplexed her.
To this day, she still did not understand why she had insisted that Ah Ning bring it back from the mountains.
She could clearly feel her own obsession at the time, a rare moment when reason failed to gain the upper hand, suppressed by something else.
An unfamiliar environment could become comforting with the arrival of a familiar person, but at that moment, Shi Jinlan had only felt resistance.
It was as if something was about to be erased from her world.
And she did not want that.
Shi Jinlan’s gaze fell, and she saw that her skirt had not been bitten through.
In a rare act of kindness, she lifted Emergency Rations and handed it directly to Chi Qian, who was beside her. “It’s hungry.”
“Then I’ll go feed it!” This was a perfect opportunity to escape. Chi Qian eagerly volunteered.
As they exchanged the rabbit, Chi Qian’s fingers brushed against Shi Jinlan’s for a fleeting moment.
The warmth that grazed her skin was there and gone, softer than the rabbit’s fur.
Shi Jinlan unhurriedly withdrew her hand, her gaze obscure.
In her peripheral vision, Thirteen swaggered past her with its tail swinging. Just as Chi Qian reached the cage, its nimble form leaped onto a nearby haystack.
【Host, you should have acted more composed.】Thirteen critiqued Chi Qian’s psychological fortitude while basking in the sun and licking its fur.
Chi Qian grabbed a handful of grass indignantly and retorted, 【I can also be a Zhuge Liang after the fact3.】
【Host, let’s just be more careful in the future.】Thirteen was genuinely worried and could not help but add a few more words. 【You still have one system punishment that hasn’t been carried out. If Shi Jinlan detects something else and the punishments accumulate, causing the penalty level to increase, we’ll be in a lot of trouble.】
Even if they were detached from the world, they were still bound by its rules.
Thirteen made a lot of sense, and the impending system punishment had been hanging over Chi Qian’s heart, leaving her in limbo.
She watched Emergency Rations leisurely munching on fresh grass and could not help but feel a little envious. Sighing, she said, 【In my next life, I want to be a rabbit, that way I can still nestle in Shi Jinlan’s arms. I’d be much happier than I am now.】
【As long as the Host completes the mission, you can freely choose what you want to become and who you want to live with.】Thirteen encouraged her, following her line of thought.
【It’s that interesting?!】Chi Qian could hardly believe it. This future function the system could provide greatly interested her, reigniting her fighting spirit. 【I will definitely be careful from now on! I will absolutely not expose myself again!】
The next day, the sun rose from the east as usual, and the island morning was once again full of life.
Chi Qian’s biological clock woke her up early. She simply splashed her face with some clean water and began to prepare herbs, decocting medicine for Chi Qingyan’s patients.
Reddish-brown medicine pots were lined up in the courtyard, their contents simmering slowly over the gentle flames of small stoves, steam billowing out.
After training for these past days, Chi Qian had grown accustomed to the bitter smell of medicinal herbs and could even detect their unique, fresh fragrance within it.
Chi Qian carefully watched over the pots, especially the one on the far right, which was Shi Jinlan’s.
It seemed Chi Qingyan had developed some new formula these days, as Shi Jinlan’s medicine had an even stronger bitter taste. Every time Chi Qian drank her own medicine with her, she would frown deeply, and she had stolen quite a few of their preserved plums.
But Shi Jinlan never showed much of a reaction.
Her eyes were always so calm, the bitterness seeming to only float on the surface without truly entering her mouth. She could finish a whole bowl without even knitting her brow and would even help cover for Chi Qian when she ate extra preserved plums.
As expected of the future great villain.
Whenever she thought of this, Chi Qian would sigh with admiration in her heart.
And this time, as she was doing so, she heard a knocking sound from the direction of the gate. “Knock, knock, knock.“
The sound came from the courtyard gate, as if someone had arrived.
But to make it convenient for the islanders seeking medical help, the Chi family’s gate was never latched from the inside. People usually just pushed it open and came in.
Such a knocking sound perplexed Chi Qian.
Chi Qian was still busy tending to the medicine pots. Billowing hot steam shrouded her vision in a white mist, and without looking up, she called out, “Just come in, why are you knocking?”
“But I have always knocked.”
Through the white mist, a clear and serene voice came from the entrance.
Chi Qian looked up and saw Yuan Ming pushing the gate open.
She was holding a plate, her eyes gentle, smiling at her.
Chi Qian’s eyes flickered, and her heart skipped a beat.
——Oh, hell.
——Did I just give myself away again?
But it seemed Yuan Ming had not noticed the slip-up that Chi Qian had blurted out. She changed the subject herself. “I brought some rice cakes. They’re perfect for breakfast. Would you like to try a piece?”
As she spoke, Yuan Ming lifted the cloth covering the plate, revealing several squarely cut rice cakes arranged neatly on a porcelain-white dish.
The rice cakes looked as if they had just come out of the steamer. The hazy morning light shone on them, seemingly carrying a tangible fragrance.
Chi Qian had not eaten breakfast yet, and her stomach had long been growling. The hook was baited, and she was instantly tempted. “Yes, please.”
Seeing her reaction, the smile in Yuan Ming’s eyes deepened.
She then took a piece from the plate and handed it directly to Chi Qian. “Here.”
“Thank you.” Chi Qian took it and bit into it.
The rice cake was perfectly soft, its warmth clinging to Chi Qian’s mouth.
That mouthful of sweetness was just right, washing through her palate and rinsing away all the bitterness from the medicine she had taken over the past few days.
So delicious.
Chi Qian had eaten rice cakes before, but those were bought online and could not compare to these.
She had been on the island for so long and had never eaten anything so delicate. Her mood brightened considerably.
Chi Qian held the rice cake, nibbling along its edges, her face filled with satisfaction.
She happily ate this rare treat, completely oblivious to Yuan Ming’s gaze, which had been on her the entire time.
The morning sun carried a gentle haziness, making everything appear dim and soft-edged.
Yuan Ming just watched Chi Qian as she ate, her gaze following the hand that held the rice cake, gentle and difficult to detect.
But it was detected.
Not by Chi Qian.
But by Shi Jinlan.
She had just come out of her room when she saw Yuan Ming standing with Chi Qian.
The morning sunlight fell into the courtyard, laying a clean, new, and glaring layer over everything.
Shi Jinlan stared directly at the gaze Yuan Ming had fixed on Chi Qian’s face, then moved her wheelchair, taking the rare initiative to approach. “What are you eating?”
Hearing her, Yuan Ming immediately retracted her gaze and smiled at Shi Jinlan. “Rice cakes my mother made. Would Miss Shen like a piece?”
Shi Jinlan said, “I do not like sweets.”
This was the truth.
But the tone of her refusal was colder than usual.
“Is that so.” A hint of regret was in Yuan Ming’s voice. She smiled and lowered her eyelashes. “What a pity.”
Shi Jinlan gave a slight nod, then looked at Chi Qian, who was already on her second rice cake. “The medicine.”
The bitter medicinal aroma drifted through the courtyard with the swirling white steam.
Unattended, one of the fires was burning a bit too fiercely. Shi Jinlan’s reminder was a wake-up call for Chi Qian.
She hastily ran back to the stoves, the rice cake still in her mouth.
Using a well-worn fan, she fanned the rebellious flames back into submission. Yuan Ming watched Chi Qian’s movements, her gaze tracing over her body without leaving a mark. The sunlight coated her in a golden sheen, making the sight seem captivating.
As the medicinal steam roiled, Shi Jinlan inexplicably smelled the scent of her own kind.
So her brows furrowed involuntarily, her expression calm yet vigilant.
“Squeak—“
“Hahahahaha.”
Just then, the gate that had just been pushed open and closed was pushed open again.
The strange silence in the courtyard was broken by Auntie Zhou’s hearty laughter.
She walked in from a distance and, seeing the three of them in the courtyard, could not help but tease with a smile, “Honestly, how is it that I came yesterday and saw you three, and I come today and see you three again.”
“Auntie, why are you here too?” Yuan Ming quickly averted her gaze from Chi Qian and greeted Auntie Zhou.
“Isn’t it because Qianqian and Miss Shen have been chosen to play Ah Qing and Ling Ji for the Third Day of the Third Month?4 We’re going to do the cup tossing5 today, and if it’s approved, it’ll be officially decided,” Auntie Zhou said, patting Yuan Ming’s hand. “Just like you and Xiao Ning last year.”
“Is that so.” Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming’s pupils dimmed imperceptibly with disappointment.
“We have to wait for your medicine to finish decocting, right?” Auntie Zhou stood smiling beside Chi Qian.
“It’s almost done, very soon.” Chi Qian checked the medicine in the pot, still remembering that Shi Jinlan hadn’t eaten breakfast. “Miss Shen, there’s breakfast on the table, remember to eat. The trip will take a while, so you should eat your fill first.”
For some reason, Shi Jinlan’s mood improved slightly because of Chi Qian’s words.
She unhurriedly glanced past Yuan Ming and said calmly, “I know.”
Yuan Ming looked at the people in the courtyard preparing to leave and turned to Auntie Zhou. “Auntie, can I go too?”
The author has something to say:
Lanlan: Unhappy.
Yuan Ming: Unhappy.
Pigeon:6 Super happy.
Auntie Zhou: Super happy.
Qianqian (out of the loop): Eh? What are you guys happy or unhappy about? I want to become a rabbit!
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