Chapter 2

PE class was still in session, and the field was full of students at free activity.
Ever since Qian You had been humiliated by Qiao Zhenzhen, he’d been in a foul mood. He sulked by the edge of the playground, cursing for a long time, finally downed an entire bottle of iced tea in one gulp, tossed the bottle aside, and stomped off with a scowl.
His cronies hurried after him. When they reached the restroom tucked in the corner of the playground, the group ignored the sign that read “Do Not Use” and filed in one after another.
Everyone squeezed into the boys’ restroom; though small, it was soon thick with smoke.
Qian You clamped a cigarette between his lips and took a hard drag, then exhaled a cloud of white smoke. “Damn, that actually helps.”
He ground his teeth and continued, “If it weren’t for Lianqiao, I’d fucking slap her and take her name!”
Those present exchanged glances; they all knew he’d chickened out earlier not because of Zhao Lianqiao, but because of Qiao Zhenzhen’s family background. His words were nothing more than a clumsy attempt to save face.
Knowing that, no one was going to tempt his bad luck.
“Exactly. For Lianqiao’s sake, don’t make a scene. Besides…” the one trying to talk him down gave a lecherous smile, “Qiao Zhenzhen’s so pretty, boss, could you really bring yourself to hit her?”
Qian You paused, narrowed his eyes, and bit the cigarette viciously. “Fuck, that girl is real pretty. Compared to her, Lianqiao’s nothing. Her skin’s pale, and that waist is so tiny you could snap it with a little force… Damn, I’m going in to cool off.”
He tugged at his waistband and turned toward the stalls. The others broke into knowing grins; someone made a lewd gesture. Qian You sneered, spat a couple of curses, and went to the first stall, kicking at the door, but the kick didn’t move it.
“Who’s in there?” he demanded impatiently.
No answer.
Qian You, thinking it was probably Qiao Zhenzhen again, raised his foot to kick once more, but his followers hurried up and grabbed him. “This restroom’s about to be torn down. The school banned it the moment term started. Nobody else would dare come in here, there’s probably just junk locked inside.”
Qian You thought about it and then went to the second stall. He shut the door, dropped his pants, and pulled out his phone to play a short video.
The explicit sounds from the clip mixed with the end-of-class bell. The guys outside hurried, “Boss, hurry up! It’s homeroom for the last period, you can’t be late.”
“Fuck, already?” Qian You’s breathing grew thick, annoyed at being interrupted. “Whatever. There’s still one more class. When I’m done I’m heading straight to the internet cafe. You guys can go to class if you want.”
His family wasn’t as influential as Qiao Zhenzhen’s, but they were well-off enough in the city that skipping class or fighting wouldn’t bring the homeroom teacher down on him. The others weren’t so lucky, if they skipped homeroom they’d be roasted by the teacher and might even have to involve their parents.
They looked at one another, then forced a reply, “O-okay, we’ll go to class first.”
“Get out!” Qian You snapped.
The boys hurried away and the restroom fell silent. A faint click came from a neighboring stall; Qian You didn’t notice at first. He waited a moment in the stall, exhaled a long breath, stared at the still-playing clip on his phone, and hissed through narrowed eyes, “Qiao Zhenzhen, don’t let me get my hands on you, I’ll make you cry sooner or later.”
Then he seemed to get an idea, a lecherous smile spreading across his face. He pulled up his pants and reached for the door.
The door didn’t budge.
He froze a beat and then pulled harder, tugging the handle and shaking it, but it wouldn’t move.
“Damn it! Who locked me in? Open up!” he ranted, but only his echoes answered him; then the water faucet head suddenly began to make noise.
Hearing the running water outside, Qian You got even more irritable. “Who the hell are you? If you don’t open this door I’ll come out and break your legs!”
No one answered. Only the sound of water.
“Fuck your mom!” Qian You swore and tried to kick the door out, but the stall was too cramped to get any leverage. After a couple of useless kicks he gritted his teeth and tried to climb over the top of the stall, before he could move, a bucket of cold water was dumped on him from above, soaking him through to the bone.
Even in the heat of late summer, the shock of cold water raised goosebumps across his skin. The icy liquid ran down his hair and brows; Qian You shivered and grew angrier by the second.
He cursed, grabbed the door with both hands, and hauled himself over the partition, but the moment one foot hit the floor it slid to the side. His hands couldn’t save him and he fell, landing with his butt on his twisted foot. A dull crack ran up his ankle, his vision went black for a moment, and then he let out a long, pained scream.
There was no one else in the restroom, only the recently turned-off water faucet, dripping faintly. The droplets hit the sink with a fragile, tinny sound.
Qian You was gasping, fingers trembling as he reached out and touched the floor; it was slick and tacky, as if someone had dumped dish soap there.
Fear finally set in. Like every one of the kids he had bullied before, he panicked and, teeth clenched against the pain, began crawling toward the door.
But the restroom door had already been locked from the outside.
He froze, then completely fell apart, pressing himself against the threshold and calling out frantically. Even though the playground buzzed with activity, nobody paid any attention to the abandoned restroom in that secluded corner.
September sunlight blazed, making it hard to keep your eyes open.
Chi Shen stood in the sun; the whites of his eyes were sharply defined, and his complexion had grown even paler.
By the time class had been out for a while, students began drifting back, and the classroom slowly grew lively.
Qiao Zhenzhen searched twice around the school and still couldn’t find Chi Shen. Knowing he never missed class and would certainly show up before lessons, she went back to her desk to wait. After waiting a long time without seeing him, she instead ran into Zhao Lianqiao.
“Zhenzhen, where did you run off to just now? I didn’t see you in class at all.” Zhao Lianqiao came over with a bright, easygoing smile, acting breezy and unconcerned.
Ha, breezy and unconcerned.
It was this very person, who pretended to be her friend with a fake sweetness, who had secretly helped her own mother seduce Qiao Zhenzhen’s father, Qiao Jian, coaching him on moving assets around in advance, and who had nearly driven Qiao Zhenzhen and her mother out onto the street.
It was this heartless person who spent all three years of high school smearing her name, who left her finally betrayed and trusted by no one, and even used a kidnapping to kill the one person in the world who had treated her best.
Just thinking about everything she'd once done to him made Qiao Zhenzhen feel sick.
"Zhenzhen, why aren't you saying anything?" Zhao Lianqiao leaned over, worried.
Qiao Zhenzhen frowned and leaned back in disgust. Zhao Lianqiao was startled by the look of loathing in her eyes and was about to ask what was wrong when she turned and saw Chi Shen walking down the corridor toward the classroom. Everything suddenly made sense to her.
"Don't worry. I'll walk you home tonight. I won't let him hurt you," she said, thinking herself considerate.
All of Qiao Zhenzhen's attention was on Chi Shen; she couldn't be bothered to answer and only tugged the corner of her mouth in response.
Zhao Lianqiao wanted to say more, but the bell rang for class. She hurriedly shoved a comic into Qiao Zhenzhen's desk cubby and whispered, "You can pass the time with this during class."
Then she returned to her seat.
Qiao Zhenzhen looked at the comic sticking out of the cubby and found it ridiculous. Zhao Lianqiao had always been determined to beat her at everything, including academics.
Since they met in first year, she'd been brainwashed into thinking studying was useless. In school, Zhao Lianqiao did everything she could to drag her into playing while secretly taking tutoring sessions every night; Qiao Zhenzhen's grades steadily fell while Zhao Lianqiao stayed upper-middle. She had once naively believed Zhao Lianqiao was simply smarter than her.
She couldn't believe she hadn't seen through such underhanded tactics before, how stupid she had been. Qiao Zhenzhen knit her brows, and when she looked up Chi Shen was walking into the classroom. Her mood brightened at once; when he glanced over she lifted the corner of her mouth.
Chi Shen showed no expression and walked straight to the back row. Passing Qiao Zhenzhen's seat, he heard her whisper softly, "Hey, you're doing that again."
Chi Shen paused, his back stiffening further.
[Affection +10, current 20.03 points]
"...Gained ten points again?!" Xiao Ba exclaimed in shock.
Qiao Zhenzhen cleared her throat, stifled a laugh, and watched Chi Shen return to his seat. Then she told Xiao Ba, "Convert them all into extra life for him."
"...All of them?" Xiao Ba hesitated.
Qiao Zhenzhen answered with a hum. She had come back to live this life again for him.
"Why not exchange one month first and keep 10 points in reserve?" Xiao Ba suggested.
Qiao Zhenzhen couldn't think of anything useful to do with paused time, but since affection points didn't expire and could be used on Chi Shen later, she agreed without much hesitation.
"Exchange successful! 10.03 affection points remaining!" Xiao Ba announced in place of a notification.
Qiao Zhenzhen clicked her tongue. "That 0.03 is ridiculously small. Didn't you say we could exchange it for other things?"
"...It's too little. If you try to buy a lottery ticket with it, you might win two yuan," Xiao Ba's electronic voice sounded dry.
Qiao Zhenzhen considered for a moment. "Can it be used to clean clothes?"
"Huh?" Xiao Ba didn't quite understand.
Qiao Zhenzhen lowered her eyes. "Chi Shen's clothes were dirtied by Qian You and that pack of bastards."
"It can be cleaned," Xiao Ba replied, and the affection dropped to just 10 points. Qiao Zhenzhen glanced back and confirmed the stains on Chi Shen's clothes were much reduced. Not completely clean, but tolerable.
"0.03 affection only gives this much cleaning power," Xiao Ba explained.
Qiao Zhenzhen acknowledged this. When the homeroom teacher entered the class she straightened up but immediately got a headache again.
She hadn't really studied during three years of high school, and it had been ten years since she'd touched a textbook. Listening to the teacher now was like listening to gibberish.
The homeroom teacher rattled on while Qiao Zhenzhen's head spun; after half the lesson she gave up and asked Xiao Ba in her mind, "How much affection would it take to make me a little smarter?"
"...Are you planning to have a brain transplant?" Xiao Ba asked seriously.
Qiao Zhenzhen: "..." Chat over.
She continued to stare blankly at the teacher, bored, then suddenly perked up with an idea. Quietly she took out a small mirror and, using her textbook as cover, unexpectedly stood up.
Chi Shen's face appeared in the mirror, and for a moment they met each other's eyes through the glass.
Qiao Zhenzhen: Heh heh, got you.