So I Had No Choice But to Stop Being the White Moonlight – Chapter 58

I’m Not Going to Be the White Moonlight

“Come here, help me put on leg cream.”

Faster than Thirteen’s download speed was the speed at which Shi Jinlan’s people worked.

The dark figures standing on either side of the emergency exit formed a dense black wall, blocking Chi Qian’s path and making it clear she had no chance of escape.

I really can’t figure it out. It was just one look.

I only met Shi Jinlan’s gaze for a second, so how did she recognize me? When she called me “Miss Chi,” did she think I was the Chi Qian who had already died, or had she found out my new identity in this world?

No way.

Even Thirteen hasn’t fully acquired the information on my new identity in this world. How could Shi Jinlan have possibly done it?

But to call a stranger by a dead person’s name… isn’t that a little too creepy?

Chi Qian’s mind was filled with question marks. Neither possibility allowed her to relax, and she had no idea how she was supposed to face Shi Jinlan next.

But it seemed Shi Jinlan was giving her a chance to catch her breath.

Chi Qian obediently followed the men outside the building. The scorching sunlight spilled across the plaza, which was green and empty. Shi Jinlan was nowhere in sight.

Standing at the entrance, Chi Qian’s nervous heart suddenly felt hollow.

It’s as if, mixed in with the anxiety, there’s also a kind of fervent anticipation. My heart is going against the thoughts in my head, inexplicably wanting to see Shi Jinlan.

Just then, a pure black Rolls-Royce drove slowly toward Chi Qian under the sunlight.

The man in the lead took the initiative to open the car door for her, polite and gentlemanly. “Miss Chi, please.”

To be honest, Chi Qian had never ridden in such a luxury car in her life.

The car’s chassis seemed a bit higher than a normal car’s. She had to lift her leg higher than usual just to cross this threshold of social class and sit in a car that didn’t belong to her.

Chi Qian sat down stiffly. Just as the man was about to close the door, she suddenly looked up at him and asked directly, “How do you know my last name is Chi?”

The man maintained his serious expression, revealing nothing. “You’ll understand when you see the boss.”

What a watertight reply, not a single drop of water could leak from it.¹

Chi Qian figured she wouldn’t get anything out of him. Besides, if Shi Jinlan’s people let her get information that easily, wouldn’t that make Shi Jinlan’s abilities seem mediocre?

This was the person who had tormented the System until it had no stratagems left to use, forcing it to ignore all logic just to send her back.

She wasn’t just an embroidered pillow²—all looks and no substance—or someone with nothing but flowery fists and embroidered kicks.³

Thinking of this, Chi Qian felt her future was bleak; her burden was heavy and the road was long.⁴

She leaned back against the seat, and the man smoothly closed the door.

The car started up so calmly that Chi Qian didn’t even feel the inertia. She watched the trees outside the window approach her, then recede.

Her body sank into the soft leather seat, but she felt as if she were eating without tasting the flavor.⁵ 【Thirteen, Shi Jinlan already knows my last name is Chi. Have you found out what my identity is in this world?】

【Found it!】 Thirteen responded enthusiastically. 【I’ll transmit it to the Host now!】

【Okay.】 Chi Qian sat up a little straighter.

The System is so inhuman, not giving me any time to prepare.

I can only use this time to cram like crazy!

This time, however, the System didn’t seem to have set up a very complicated persona for Chi Qian. In fact, to reduce unnecessary trouble, it had made her identity in this world as simple as possible.

According to the setup, she was an orphan who grew up in an orphanage. Because she was found by a pond, she was named Chi Qian.

She had asthma, so no family ever adopted her. After leaving the orphanage at eighteen, she worked and studied on her own, so she didn’t make any friends, let alone have any relatives.

After graduating, she joined a large internet company and worked diligently. However, she was currently framed for leaking project secrets to a rival company and was under suspension pending an investigation. Her prospects weren’t bright.

Chi Qian looked at the latter half of the story and found it familiar. 【You Systems really know how to cut corners. Isn’t this just my experience from my original world?!】

【The System needs to process the story as simply as possible. If existing material does not affect the plot, it will be used directly.】

For once, Chi Qian agreed with the System’s approach. 【That’s not bad, actually. I guess you Systems have your good points after all.】

Thirteen was proud. 【Of course.】

The side of her face was reflected in the spotlessly maintained car window. Looking at her unchanged features, Chi Qian felt the System must have done it on purpose.

If it weren’t for this face, how would Shi Jinlan have ever noticed me?

Who wouldn’t want to keep the moonlight by their side, even if it’s just a look-alike?

The scorching sunlight passed through the glass and fell on Chi Qian’s eyes, so bright it made her lower her gaze slightly.

She watched the lush green scenery outside when she suddenly felt something was wrong. 【Why is it still summer here? Haven’t I been gone for half a year? Shouldn’t it be winter?】

【Host, the flow of time in a small world is different from the System world.】 Thirteen reminded her. 【In this particular small world, one month in the System world is equivalent to half a year here. So, by the local time, you’ve been deceased for three years and two months.】

A drop of accumulated time fell into Chi Qian’s calm world with a plip, instantly sending out ripples.

Chi Qian froze.

Three years…

It’s actually been that long.

So it’s not that Shi Jinlan’s growth has been too terrifying, but that I’ve been gone for a very long time.

This problem, which had tormented the System for over three months, had actually been brewing for a long time.

Like a nightmare, it had also tormented Shi Jinlan for over three years.

In the three years I was gone, how did she get through it?

Don’t they say time is the best way to wear away memories? Why was she still able to lock onto me with a single glance?

Her white teeth bit her lip, leaving a faint red mark on the inside.

Chi Qian felt as if her heart was being squeezed. The more she thought about it, the more miserable she felt, but her thoughts were beyond her control, spiraling downward.

Zhiya—⁶

The sound of a heavy gate opening faintly penetrated the car. As she was thinking, the scenery outside changed without her noticing.

Expensive trees grew vigorously toward the sun, with neatly trimmed lawns below.

Everything here grew according to a person’s will. Several buildings of varying heights were nestled within, creating a delicate painting no matter which angle you viewed it from. It was a real eye-opener.

Chi Qian couldn’t believe it, but as the car continued at its steady and stable pace, she was certain this was where Shi Jinlan lived now.

—A delicate and luxurious manor.

The car passed through a road shaded by green trees and finally stopped in front of a three-story Western-style villa.

Chi Qian was about to get out, but before she could even reach for the handle, the door was opened by a woman waiting by the entrance. “Miss Chi, please.”

This person calls me that, too.

The air here hadn’t been baked through by the midsummer sun; a pleasant shade surrounded everything, yet it made Chi Qian feel completely out of place.

It was as if she had arrived in a world that didn’t belong to her. The woman who opened the car door introduced herself as the housekeeper here. She led Chi Qian to the villa and then opened the front door for her. “Miss Chi.”

“Thank you.” All this way, she hadn’t had to open a single car or house door herself. Her hands were clenched loosely, feeling very awkward.

What was even more awkward was that as soon as she stepped into the foyer,⁷ the housekeeper took out a pair of slippers and very naturally reached down to take off her shoes for her.

Chi Qian had never experienced such treatment before. She frantically pulled her foot away from the housekeeper’s hand. “Um… I can do it myself.”

The housekeeper insisted, giving Chi Qian a small smile. “This is my job. Please don’t feel pressured.”

The woman’s smile was gentle and kind, with a hint of benevolence. Chi Qian was somehow comforted again and was guided to sit on the shoe-changing bench.

She looked down from her superior position, watching the housekeeper lift her foot and receiving a service she’d never had before. The feeling was strange.

She wasn’t used to being a superior.

“Miss Chi, please follow me.”

Just as Chi Qian’s thoughts were in a tangle, the housekeeper stood up and gestured for her to follow.

“Okay.” Chi Qian quickly tucked those emotions away and got up to walk into the villa.

After a short hallway, Shi Jinlan’s living room slowly opened up.

Ornate, vintage furniture combined with the room’s dark brown frame to form an oil painting from a prosperous era of the last century.

Chi Qian looked around curiously, feeling as if the chaotic flowers were gradually beginning to mesmerize her eyes.⁸

In the center of the room hung a painting as large as an entire wall. Its interweaving blue and green colors didn’t quite match the room’s tone, like a stubborn scar.

Chi Qian slowly slackened her pace, an odd feeling of familiarity washing over her as she looked at the painting.

The crescent-shaped, fishtail-like island, the rolling hills draped in green vegetation, the seafoam-white waves, and that one, towering, eye-piercing cliff.

It’s Xiao Yu Island.⁹

Dong.¹⁰

Chi Qian felt a poke in her heart.

She stared deeply at the painting, at that cliff, and it was as if the wind was whistling past her ears.

When I jumped off back then, what kind of mood was I in?

Was it just to complete the mission quickly?

Then why does my heart ache so much? It feels like there was sorrow, like there was reluctance.

“Miss Chi.” The housekeeper’s call cut off Chi Qian’s thoughts.

She turned to look at the housekeeper and saw that she hadn’t stopped in the living room but was standing at the staircase leading to the second floor. “This way.”

Chi Qian instantly realized her lapse in composure and immediately left the painting, following the housekeeper up to the second floor.

The layout of this villa was a bit strange, and Chi Qian couldn’t get her bearings.

Just as she was about to lose her sense of direction, the housekeeper led her to a room that resembled a reception area. The room continued the same theme as downstairs, with intricately carved cabinets displaying various decorations. Freshly changed flowers still had dewdrops on them, their colors bright.

Only the sofa arrangement was less conventional. Amidst the complexity, there was a sudden patch of blank space that broke up the crowdedness, and it was just right.

Very Shi Jinlan.

Chi Qian didn’t know why “very Shi Jinlan” had become a descriptor for her.

It’s just an unfounded feeling that this is her personality, that this place suits her.

But… am I really that familiar with Shi Jinlan?

Chi Qian frowned. The housekeeper had left at some point.

In the quiet space, she thought she could faintly hear the sound of water splashing on the floor, steaming, as if a warmth not from the outside world was drifting out.

A fragrance wrapped in heat burst out as the door on the left side of the room was pushed open.

White mist billowed out, following a path carved by the sunlight. The light slanted as a long, fair leg stepped out from within. It had no fancy adornments, not even a shoe, with only a few stray water droplets clinging to it.

The old-fashioned wooden villa was recklessly filled with steam. Shi Jinlan walked out, draped in dampness.

She was simply wrapped in a white bath towel, and the surrounding humid air flushed her lips crimson.

Her long, dark hair was casually draped over her shoulders, dripping wet, soaking the edge of her bath towel along her back and collarbone, as if trying to pull it off.

Drawn by the sound, Chi Qian looked over and was instantly stunned.

The sound of water that had abruptly stopped in the bathroom had now moved to her heart, a downpour pattering against banana leaves.

Skin like solidified cream,¹¹ warm jade giving off fragrance.¹²

“You’re here,” Shi Jinlan said slowly, her calm and cool voice melted by the steam.

She seemed to know her own beauty. She lazily lifted a hand and, right in front of Chi Qian, tucked a strand of long hair back, a hint of languor in the eyes that looked at her.

Chi Qian’s heart pounded uncontrollably. Remembering her current identity, she forced herself to remain calm and asked Shi Jinlan, “Miss Shi, you were looking for me. Is there something you need?”

“Something I need?”

For some reason, Chi Qian’s question seemed to amuse Shi Jinlan. She repeated the question, her calm eyes passing through the steam to slowly sweep over Chi Qian’s face. Suddenly, the corner of her mouth tugged into a smile.

She walked barefoot across the dark brown floor, leaving a trail of vapor¹³ toward the Guifei couch¹⁴ by the window.

Shi Jinlan then picked up a small bottle from the side table, beckoned to Chi Qian with one hand, and answered her question.

“Come here, help me put on leg cream.”

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The author has something to say:

Lanlan: You can put it on other places, too~

Qianqian: Burns into a whistling kettle¹⁵

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