They had lunch together.
When Gu Ximian wanted to, she was an excellent conversationalist. Whether it was responding to others or bringing up new topics, she did so as smoothly as flowing water, never making one feel that the conversation was difficult to continue. She even struck up a conversation with Ling Jing a few times, which left Ling Jing feeling flattered and stunned. Even after Gu Ximian left, she continued to stare in the direction of her departure, her eyes glazed over.
“…Aren’t your eyes tired?”
Zhuang Chi silently criticized, “Stop staring over there. It’s because you’ve been so absent-minded, only looking at Gu Ximian, that you still haven’t finished your meal. She’s already gone to class, what are you still looking at? If you don’t eat, I’m leaving too.”
Ling Jing reluctantly withdrew her gaze, shoveled a few mouthfuls of rice, and then her eyes suddenly lit up. “Is that an order?”
“…”
Feeling that this word would probably appear with increasing frequency in the future, Zhuang Chi twitched the corner of her mouth and gave up. “…If you think it is, then it is. You can write it in your report if you want.”
Ling Jing seemed very satisfied with this answer. After devouring her food like a whirlwind, she leaned back in her chair, looking content and satisfied, and sighed, “I never thought… I was getting scolded by Gu Ximian this morning, and now I’m actually having lunch with her…”
Her tone sounded quite grateful. Zhuang Chi sighed and, for the time being, corrected her, “She didn’t scold you this morning.”
“Now that you mention it, I guess that’s true…” Ling Jing mumbled for a while, then turned her gaze to Zhuang Chi, her expression suddenly becoming serious. “You really are on good terms with Gu Ximian!”
…Lunchtime was supposed to be for resting. Zhuang Chi didn’t want to deal with the fast-thinking Ling Jing on this topic, so she silently stood up with her tray. Amidst Ling Jing’s dissatisfied complaints of “Why are you leaving without responding to me?” from behind, she slowly placed her tray in the designated spot and walked out of the cafeteria.
…Her relationship with Gu Ximian. Zhuang Chi slowly pondered it in her mind. Although she hadn’t done anything… it seemed she had indeed won a little of Gu Ximian’s favorability just now. That was probably a good thing…?
Speaking of relationships, it was her relationship with Ling Jing that had undergone a dramatic change in a short period. She had no idea what would happen next…
“Zhuang Chi, Zhuang Chi,”
Ling Jing had already caught up from behind. Her attitude towards Zhuang Chi seemed a bit more familiar than before, and she didn’t keep harping on the fact that Zhuang Chi had just ignored her and walked away. Instead, she said with a hint of hope, “You know, since Gu Ximian was willing to talk to me just now, does that mean she might be willing to re-hire me?”
“…You’re really optimistic. I’ll repeat what I said before to you again later. You need to listen carefully this time.”
After that, more than a week passed.
Nothing major happened during that time—meaning, nothing related to the main plot. Of course, plenty of small things happened. For instance, St. Blaisedon, which had no military training, officially started classes, and Zhuang Chi finally began living a proper freshman life. Also, Ling Jing gradually grew bolder and would come to pester her whenever she was free.
“…How long is she going to keep this up?” As they were preparing to leave for class, Lu Man looked at Ling Jing, who was sitting on the sofa by the entrance of their dormitory building playing on her phone, and said with exasperation, “Hasn’t it been a week already?”
“…” The person in question, Zhuang Chi, felt even more burdened than her. She sighed, “I asked her about that too…”
‘But of all the reports I submitted, only the one from the first day was accepted.’
In her memory, Ling Jing had replied with such self-righteousness: ‘So I still have to submit six more acceptable reports to be considered as having worked for you for a week—why do you look like you’ve been hit with a club? What? You thought a week wasn’t calculated this way? Well, now you know. There’s nothing I can do about it. In fact, you’re the one who can do something, so give me work! Order me around! Come on, give me some harsh orders!’
Just recalling it made her head start to ache. Zhuang Chi omitted the latter half and explained to Lu Man, whose face immediately showed a complicated expression. “…I can’t even tell who’s being punished anymore.”
Ultimately, Zhuang Chi didn’t really have anything she wanted Ling Jing to do. The first day’s order, “Don’t bring the hawk to school,” was pretty much her most urgent and only request. In the following days, she couldn’t come up with any tasks at all and could only force Ling Jing to help save a seat in the (not at all crowded) cafeteria or run errands to the vending machine to buy new drinks (that she didn’t even really want to drink). But evidently, none of these passed the principal’s inspection, and the situation had reached a stalemate.
…What is with this principal? Zhuang Chi thought. Don’t tell me she actually wants to see a report about me retaliating by beating Ling Jing up and not letting her fight back. And if it never reaches seven days like this, does that mean the hawk never has to go to the zoo? What’s with this setting full of loopholes? So in this whole process, was she, Zhuang Chi, the only one suffering?
“Oh, oh, isn’t that Zhuang Chi!”
Ling Jing on the sofa noticed them. Her eyes lit up as she stood, and though it was so obvious, she still tried to act as if it were a chance encounter. In a “have you eaten yet?” tone, she asked, “Do you have any orders for me today?”
…Ling Jing should have been suffering too, but for some reason, it felt like she was looking less and less reluctant lately. Zhuang Chi thought to herself, can’t she use a different phrasing? Everyone around them was looking at them with an “oh, it’s these two again” expression. She slowly shook her head. “…No.”
They had already tried all the trivial tasks, and none of them had passed. Even though Zhuang Chi had told Ling Jing that she would contact her if she thought of something, Ling Jing still showed up on her own initiative from time to time—perhaps she was just quite idle. Thinking such a slightly rude thought, Zhuang Chi heard Ling Jing let out an unsurprised “oh” and then continue naturally, “Are you two going to class? Why don’t I tag along and sit in on it?”
“…Huh?” Before Zhuang Chi could speak, Lu Man cast a questioning glance. “Aren’t you a second-year? And you’re probably well-known to the teachers, you’d be recognized in a second.”
“So what if I’m recognized?” Ling Jing waved her hand dismissively and huffed, “They won’t kick me out.”
Lu Man fell silent, muttering “is this the privilege of being the principal’s daughter” as she looked at Zhuang Chi, probably handing the decision over to her. Zhuang Chi pursed her lips and shook her head. “I definitely won’t be able to think of anything for you to do during class… It would just be a waste of your time.”
With that, Zhuang Chi refused, “Let’s just forget it, okay?”
Ling Jing’s eyes and brows drooped slightly, but she didn’t press the matter. “Hmm, you’re right. I’ll go do my own thing then. Contact me when you think of something after class!”
After saying that, she slowly turned and left. Zhuang Chi and Lu Man stood side by side, watching her walk away. After a long silence, Lu Man was the first to speak in a low voice, “…It looks like she just wants to hang out with you.”
“…” A faint sense of guilt welled up inside her. Zhuang Chi, stressed from all sides, had a headache and managed to reply, “…Class isn’t really a suitable place to hang out.”
“True.” Lu Man nodded in agreement, then patted her on the back comfortingly. “Don’t overthink it. You really could only do that. I understand, since this elective of ours is with—”
—is with some people from the literature department.
Sitting in the prime slacking spot in the back row by the wall, Zhuang Chi heard Lu Man next to her whisper “lucky” and blinked with a complicated feeling. The person on her other side also seemed to want to talk to her, and soon she heard a soft inquiry, “Did something happen? You look a little strange.”
“…It’s nothing.” Zhuang Chi gave a slightly stiff smile and turned to Gu Ximian. “I haven’t thanked you for saving us seats yet.”
Yes, this elective of hers was, surprisingly, the same one Gu Ximian was taking. Because they had been delayed for a few minutes talking to Ling Jing, Zhuang Chi and Lu Man arrived a little late. The classroom was already more than half full, and normally they wouldn’t have been able to get such a sought-after spot. It was all thanks to Gu Ximian, who had arrived early and saved them seats.
…It feels so strange, Zhuang Chi thought. Gu Ximian didn’t seem like the type of student who would want to grab a seat in the back row, but now not only had she done so, she had even saved seats for them. It was hard not to feel like she was being a bad influence on her.
This was also the main reason she had refused to let Ling Jing come along. For Gu Ximian, it would be very inappropriate for her to suddenly bring Ling Jing to class. And from another perspective—for Ling Jing—Zhuang Chi now had Lu Man on her left and Gu Ximian on her right. Even if she let her come, there would be no place to put her.
The first time they had this class last week, she and Lu Man had arrived first. Zhuang Chi had been sitting here then, too, when she saw Gu Ximian walk into the classroom alone, completely unprepared. She was so startled she couldn’t even hold her textbook steady, and its corner slammed against the edge of the desk with a thud. The noise caught Gu Ximian’s attention, and when she turned her head, her eyes met Zhuang Chi’s flustered ones.
What happened after that was a matter of course. Gu Ximian sat next to her for the entire class, and a week later today, she had consciously sat in the same spot, even taking advantage of her prime location to continue talking to her despite the class bell. “I heard Ling Jing went to find you again today?”
…This had just happened less than half an hour ago, how had it already reached Gu Ximian’s ears? Perhaps sensing Zhuang Chi’s confusion, Gu Ximian added an explanation, “It’s quite well-known, it’s been like this for the past few days. Basically, the news spreads as soon as she appears downstairs from your building.”
Just how long had Ling Jing been waiting downstairs? I should probably talk to her later, tell her to stop being so insistent on staging a chance encounter. Couldn’t she just send me a message before coming… As Zhuang Chi thought about this, she responded vaguely, “…Yeah, I saw her downstairs, we just chatted for a bit…”
She didn’t go into the specifics, but Gu Ximian could obviously guess. After a moment of silence, she suddenly said, “If you can’t think of anything for the time being, ordering her not to look for you is also an option, right?”
“…” That’s a very “order-like” suggestion, Zhuang Chi thought. She considered it, then slowly shook her head. “…I’d rather not. It’s not like she has any bad intentions when she comes to find me. A request like that feels a bit…”
Unable to find a suitable adjective, Zhuang Chi paused awkwardly. Gu Ximian looked at her and sighed lightly as if giving up. “But with things going on like this, don’t you find it troublesome?”
Although she wasn’t involved, Gu Ximian was surprisingly invested in this matter. Zhuang Chi thought about her question and replied, “…A little, maybe. That’s why I’ve been trying to think of a way to get past the principal…”
Gu Ximian looked at her for a long moment, then her clear, gentle eyes curved into a slight smile. “You’re not very suited for this kind of work.”
No matter how many times she saw it, her smile made Zhuang Chi’s ears burn. Zhuang Chi gave a helpless, bitter smile, then heard Gu Ximian change the subject. “Speaking of which, it seems she’s been wandering around my dorm building a few times recently.”
“…”
Suddenly, she couldn’t smile anymore. The alarm bells in Zhuang Chi’s head rang violently. She confirmed in shock, “…Are you talking about Ling Jing?”
“Yes, though I’ve only heard about it.” Gu Ximian didn’t have a disgusted expression; she was just stating a fact calmly. “I don’t live in the dorms, so I’ve never run into her. I don’t know what she’s doing over there.”
…If Ling Jing was really wandering around there, then 99% of the time it was for Gu Ximian. For a moment, Zhuang Chi didn’t know what to say. A sense of guilt and self-blame for not fulfilling her supervisory duties properly made her frown with a hint of gravity. “…I understand. I’ll… go ask Ling Jing about it later.”
Gu Ximian blinked, a look of novelty in her eyes. “…How will you ask?”
“Eh?” Caught off guard by the question, Zhuang Chi answered dumbly, “Just… ‘Have you been hanging around Gu Ximian’s dorm building lately?’ I’ll ask like that.”
“…And she’ll answer you honestly?”
“I… I think so.”
Gu Ximian’s expression was one of slight disbelief. After pondering for a moment, she said, “It seems your relationship is different from what I imagined.”
For some reason, she could sense it probably wasn’t a good image, but Zhuang Chi still couldn’t resist her curiosity. “What did you imagine my relationship with her was like?”
“A manic wild horse and the rider struggling to control it.”
“…”
A wild horse was one thing, but a manic one… Zhuang Chi silently thought that Ling Jing must never hear these words. Then she saw Gu Ximian let out a small sigh of relief. “I’m relieved it’s not like that. I was a little worried for the past few days that you’d be bullied by her… After all, an A-class Alpha going crazy is not something an ordinary person can stop.”
“I was even considering taking back my words and agreeing to let Ling Jing be my servant too. Maybe she could look out for you a little…” She said with a smile, “It seems my worries were unnecessary.”
Wow, Ling Jing can’t hear this either. Otherwise, I feel like I’d be resented. Zhuang Chi made a secret resolution to keep this matter hidden, then asked with a learning attitude, “If it were you, what kind of orders would you give her?”
“The orders I would give probably wouldn’t be a good reference for you, so I won’t go into specifics.” Her tone was very certain. Gu Ximian then added, “In short, I would first use up the six-day quota, and then order her around just within the limits of ‘passing,’ so she could never see the day of her liberation.”
“…”
Zhuang Chi was inexplicably speechless. Gu Ximian immediately followed up with a smiling “Of course I’m joking,” and then said in a gentle voice, “Then I’ll have to trouble you to ask her—by the way, if her answer… is something not so good, what will you do?”
“I’ll stop her,” Zhuang Chi replied quickly, then added after a thought, “…You don’t have to worry.”
“Mm, I’m not worried.” Gu Ximian nodded with pleasure, her voice soft. “You’re so reliable.”
It was a direct compliment, leaving Zhuang Chi at a loss for how to respond. She just mumbled an acknowledgment and turned her head away, pretending to listen attentively to the lecture, but the tips of her ears, peeking through her hair, were red. Gu Ximian didn’t say anything more, cooperatively turning to look at the blackboard as well. Meanwhile, Lu Man, who had been playing on her phone for a while, glanced at Zhuang Chi beside her, then silently looked away, tsk-tsking twice in her mind.
Zhuang Chi probably hadn’t realized it, Lu Man thought, but when she talked with Gu Ximian, there was always an atmosphere that was difficult for others to break into.
In any case, it was a good thing she hadn’t brought Ling Jing along.
