Chapter 12

Qiao Zhenzhen bought an indigestion tablet at the infirmary and returned. As soon as she entered the classroom she instinctively glanced at the back row, but it was empty.
Class was about to begin, where was he? Qiao Zhenzhen frowned and was about to go find him when she saw him coming in through the front door, so she lifted the corner of her mouth and smiled at him.
Chi Shen pressed his thin lips together; his gaze fell on the indigestion tablet on her desk, and after a moment his face went pale and he turned his eyes away, passing by her and returning to his seat.
Her smile froze for a moment; she inexplicably glanced back at him but couldn't meet his eyes.
The class bell rang; she had to turn her head back.
The final evening study period ended quickly. When the dismissal bell rang the building seemed to shake as students poured out in a rush.
Qiao Zhenzhen slung on her backpack, and after most of the students had left she turned to call Chi Shen, but she froze before she could even finish saying his name.
Chi Shen was gone.
She searched the classroom in a daze, then ran into the corridor. Just as she was about to check the boys' restroom, the student on duty called out to her, "You looking for Chi Shen? I saw him leave earlier."
"Left early?" Qiao Zhenzhen asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I saw him when I was rinsing the mop, he left right after school."
Qiao Zhenzhen stood stunned for a moment, thanked the student, and then left alone with her backpack.
In both her past life and this one, this was the first time, without her avoiding him, that he hadn't followed her to the school gate. Qiao Zhenzhen felt awkward walking, like a reflex made her want to keep looking back.
"Xiao Ba, can you check why he left early? I think something might have happened at his house," she asked in her head.
The mechanical voice replied quickly, "Xiao Ba does not possess clairvoyant abilities and cannot assist the host."
Qiao Zhenzhen sighed. "I was just asking. Fine, never mind if you can't."
"He must have had some sudden family matter, that's why he left early," Xiao Ba comforted.
Qiao Zhenzhen nodded and, sighing, went home.
Despite telling herself not to overthink it, she still slept poorly all night. Early the next morning she went to school intending to ask Chi Shen what was going on, but when she arrived at the gate she couldn't find him in his usual corner.
She had arrived half an hour early, so it wasn't strange he hadn't shown up yet. Qiao Zhenzhen hugged her small lunchbox and stood in the corner, looking around.
As the usual start time approached, the school gate grew crowded. Qiao Zhenzhen stood on her toes to peer through the crowd, scanning from thin spots to dense clusters and back, but she never spotted Chi Shen.
With class time approaching, the security guard came to close the gate. Seeing her still standing outside, he shouted, "Hey student, why aren't you going in yet?"
Qiao Zhenzhen frowned and glanced toward the road Chi Shen usually came from; there wasn't a single person there. Worried, she went to class.
"He must have had something happen; that's why he didn't come to school," she fretted.
Xiao Ba analyzed, "Could it be that Zhao Lianqiao's frame-up failed and she secretly retaliated?"
"Or maybe something's wrong at home, so he didn't come," Qiao Zhenzhen sighed.
"Host, if you're really worried, you could wait until lunch and go look for him."
Qiao Zhenzhen gave a slight nod and walked toward the classroom, weighed down by her worries.
As she stepped into the classroom she glanced at the back corner out of habit, and to her surprise, there he was. She froze in place.
At that moment, Chi Shen also looked up at her. Seeing her standing there stunned, he pressed his pale thin lips together and looked down.
"Qiao Zhenzhen, quickly take your seat," the teacher gently reminded.
Qiao Zhenzhen came to her senses and calmly sat down.
Xiao Ba, watching, couldn't help but praise, "You're the calmest host I've ever met."
"Calm my ass! That little bastard made me furious. I was over there worrying myself sick, and he sneaks back into the classroom without a word! Does he have some illness, or is he doing this on purpose? If it weren't for the fact he saved me, I'd really like to punch him right now!"
Xiao Ba: "..."
Qiao Zhenzhen raged silently in her head; after venting she calmed down again.
A class passed quickly. When the bell rang she turned to find him, but his seat was already empty.
She took a deep breath and quietly turned her head back.
"Host, aren't you going to go ask him what's going on?" Xiao Ba asked curiously.
Qiao Zhenzhen said expressionlessly, "Ask what? Even a blind person could see he's avoiding me."
Xiao Ba sensed how bad her mood was and quietly toned down his presence.
For the rest of the day, Chi Shen was elusive, he vanished whenever class ended and reappeared as lessons resumed. Qiao Zhenzhen tried every way to catch him but couldn't.
The two of them kept up their silent standoff until before the evening study ended: Chi Shen slipped out the back door without waiting for the bell, but not before glancing in Qiao Zhenzhen's direction to make sure she was sitting properly in her seat, then he left.
But just as he stepped out of the school gate, he saw her standing a short distance away with a stern face. He paused for a moment, then stopped in his tracks.
Qiao Zhenzhen's breathing was uneven, as if she'd just exerted herself. "Why didn't you wait for me?"
"How come you..." He broke off mid-sentence and shut his mouth.
Qiao Zhenzhen snorted lightly. "Want to know how I caught up with you? I run fast. If you don't believe me, keep running and see if I can catch you."
"...This time I used up all eighty favor points to chase him. If he runs again, the host might not be able to catch him." Xiao Ba dutifully warned, wincing at the loss of those eighty points.
Qiao Zhenzhen ignored it, crossed her arms and looked at Chi Shen. "What's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly avoiding me? Did something happen?"
Chi Shen stared at her steadily; his Adam's apple bobbed slightly, but he said nothing.
"You have to tell me so I can help you figure it out," Qiao Zhenzhen said as patiently as she could.
Chi Shen kept staring at her.
Qiao Zhenzhen's brow tightened. Just as she was thinking of how to persuade him, she heard his hoarse question: "Does your stomach still hurt?"
"How did you know..." Qiao Zhenzhen said in surprise. "It hasn't hurt for ages. I just ate too much at lunch yesterday and felt stuffed. After taking some digestion pills, I felt fine."
It really was because of him. Chi Shen lowered his gaze; his long, dense lashes trembled like a butterfly with broken wings, stirred by the slightest breeze.
After a long moment he took a step back, using all his courage, and looked at her as he spoke each word: "I don't want to be friends with you."
That was probably the longest sentence she'd ever heard from him. Though only a few words, it struck her like a heavy blow.
She opened her mouth, and after a long pause asked cautiously, "Why?"
"Just... don't want to." Chi Shen turned his face away, avoiding her eyes.
No reason, he simply didn't want to. Qiao Zhenzhen stood stunned for a long while, at a loss for how to reply.
Sure, if he had some deep secret she could work around it, but he simply refused to be friends. If he loved the idea but not the reality, only wanting to trail after her quietly, could she force him to accept her?
She had been reborn and come to his side precisely to make him happy.
The school bell had already rung and students began streaming out of the academic building. Chi Shen pressed his lips together and took a few more steps back, creating a wide distance between them.
Qiao Zhenzhen felt a bitter knot in her chest, but decided to respect him. Forcing a smile, she said, "Fine. If we're not friends, then let's just get along like before."
Chi Shen remained silent.
Qiao Zhenzhen drew a deep breath, hoping to change the mood, but she felt it couldn't be salvaged. After a brief struggle with herself, she turned and left first.
Chi Shen pinched the skin of his palm and watched her retreating figure. As before, he watched her get into the car and followed it until it vanished from sight. Long after the bustling crowd had thinned, he finally glanced at his palm, stained with blood, and walked away without emotion.
After he left, the engine sounded from a dark corner. The car that should have been gone restarted and quietly tailed him.
It was ten o'clock at night, the city's busiest hour, streets and alleys bright with lights as people who'd worked all day began their nightlife.
But the snack street where the fish stall was located seemed cut off from everything. Dim streetlights dotted the road; beneath one, three or four shopkeepers chatted. Their voices rose in excitement, waking a baby sleeping next door, and the baby's parents started cursing in reply.
Chi Shen walked by with his head down. The chatter hushed for a moment, then resumed as if he weren't there, gossiping about his family. He heard them say he had psychological problems, call his mother a shrew, and gossip that his father was entangled with the woman who sold fried dough sticks, as if they were talking about someone else's lives.
The bald man was closing up his stall. Seeing him come back, he glared. "Where the hell have you been?!"
Chi Shen said nothing. He rolled up his sleeves and began moving things. The fishy, foul-smelling water splashed over him, but he didn't flinch.
"Your mum's always got that dead-faced look, makes it seem like I owe you something. You're a useless piece of trash! Pervert! Ungrateful dog!" The bald man grew angrier as he spoke and snatched up an iron bucket to smash at him.
Chi Shen didn't dodge. The bucket struck his head and clattered to the ground. Blood instantly ran down his forehead, quickly staining half his face red. The onlookers glanced over, then went back to their conversation, as if this were an everyday sight.
Chi Shen raised a hand to wipe his face, only to smear the blood into a more shocking mess.
"Mute pig, huh? Won't say a word?" the bald man cursed even more viciously, his face darkening as he grabbed the cleaver used to chop meat. Just as he raised it, an angry voice rang out from across the street,
"Stop!"
Chi Shen froze at the shout and, following the sound, looked up. When he saw the familiar face, the pain in his wound flared and the numbness in his face broke into expression.
She had come.