The days passed slowly, and in the blink of an eye, summer was over. Lan City never really had an autumn; the temperature plummeted like a roller coaster, and people on the streets were already wearing thick coats.
As expected, Yu Mingjiao passed the preliminary round. When Cen Lingqiu found out, she looked at her with a calm, gentle expression that said, “I told you so.” Staring at the acceptance notification on her phone, Yu Mingjiao felt a sense of bewilderment.
In that moment, her dying heart leaped. The numb, listless emotions she had felt for so long were tinged with a bit of color.
It had been a long time since she had experienced the joy of a rapidly beating heart. Her life had been a complete failure. Since birth, it was as if she had lost the ability to feel happiness. Numbness and despair corroded her spirit, making life feel like death.
Most of the time, she felt it would be better to just die. After all, there was no happiness, no expectations, and no love whatsoever.
Upon seeing the news of her success, she thought with a calm and stunned feeling:
Oh, so even a useless person like her could feel a little bit of luck?
The sense of accomplishment and recognized value flowed into Yu Mingjiao’s rusted limbs and bones like spring water.
And she couldn’t deny that the pleasure brought by this event was all because of Cen Lingqiu.
In the past, she had given her so much embarrassing pain, but now she had given her the opportunity to gain value.
Pain and pleasure, both originated from this woman.
The System’s voice appeared in Cen Lingqiu’s mind.
【Self-destruction coefficient has dropped by thirty percent. Current self-destruction coefficient is at fifty percent. Qiuqiu, the completion of your mission is just around the corner!!】
【Shh, be quiet.】
Happiness must be contagious, otherwise why would Cen Lingqiu also feel a little bit of joy?
Yu Mingjiao.
Just keep living with anticipation and value.
To celebrate her passing, Cen Lingqiu decided to take her to Wen Zhi’s bar to have some fun. Wen Zhi’s band was performing again today.
Yu Mingjiao didn’t like crowded places. She originally wanted to refuse, but this time, for the first time in a long while, she didn’t decline Cen Lingqiu’s invitation.
Cen Lingqiu took her to the VIP section, where there were fewer people, so it wouldn’t make Yu Mingjiao uncomfortable.
Wen Zhi’s band was very popular. Even from the corner, Yu Mingjiao could feel the crowd’s frantic screams.
Cen Lingqiu handed her a glass of sour orange soda. Because it was noisy, she leaned close to her ear and said loudly, “Remember to tell me when you want to leave!”
Yu Mingjiao couldn’t hear what she was saying. Her attention was solely on the breath by her ear and the cold body of the woman beside her.
Cen Lingqiu’s body was very cold. Just a slight touch from Yu Mingjiao and the coldness was clearly transmitted to her palm.
“Did you hear me?” Cen Lingqiu saw her spacing out and thought she hadn’t heard, so she asked her again.
Only then did Yu Mingjiao nod.
The bar had air conditioning on, but Cen Lingqiu was still very cold. She was naturally afraid of the cold, and once autumn and winter arrived, she turned into a block of ice.
No matter which world she was in or what kind of person she became, this point never changed from beginning to end.
And recently, she discovered that Yu Mingjiao’s body was very warm. She was born so thin and weak, and her face was gloomy and cold, yet her body was warm. Every time Cen Lingqiu got close to her, she could feel a bit of warmth.
She liked Yu Mingjiao’s hands the most. Her fingers were long, slender, and pale, but very warm. Regardless of the temperature outside, Yu Mingjiao’s hands were always dry and warm.
Cen Lingqiu loved all warm things, so as soon as the weather turned cold, she would unconsciously get closer to Yu Mingjiao, and occasionally touch her hand.
Just a touch, though. Yu Mingjiao wouldn’t let her hold it.
The two of them were sitting very close. Yu Mingjiao felt hot and took off her coat, leaving only a thin black knit sweater on.
When Wen Zhi came down, she saw the two of them sitting very close together.
Cen Lingqiu had her face slightly turned, speaking gently to Yu Mingjiao, while Yu Mingjiao had her eyes lowered, slowly sipping her soda. Her indifferent expression was hidden in the dim light, showing no emotion. She didn’t speak, just occasionally nodding her head.
Although she had long known that Cen Lingqiu and Yu Mingjiao’s relationship had been strange recently, seeing the two people who once hated each other suddenly sitting together and chatting peacefully was still a bit too absurd for Wen Zhi to accept at once.
She didn’t show it on her face, calling out to her as usual, “Lin Qiu, you’re here.”
Wen Zhi met Yu Mingjiao’s gaze and nodded with a smile, “Hello.”
Yu Mingjiao grunted in response.
The other band members also came over. Seeing Yu Mingjiao, they all exclaimed, “Wow, Big Sis Lingqiu, is this your friend? She’s so beautiful.”
Cen Lingqiu was used to people around her being amazed by Yu Mingjiao’s face. After all, she also thought Yu Mingjiao was truly beautiful.
More beautiful and delicate than any protagonist from her past worlds.
It was just that Yu Mingjiao perennially wore a cold and gloomy expression, which gave her face a kind of unapproachable beauty.
But she was really cute when she smiled.
Cen Lingqiu thought, her mind wandering.
She wondered if she would be able to see her smile again before leaving this world.
“Come on, let’s have a drink together,” a boy suddenly said, pouring drinks for everyone.
“She can’t drink.” Cen Lingqiu blocked the boy’s attempt to pour wine for Yu Mingjiao.
“Hmm?”
“She can’t drink,” Cen Lingqiu smiled. “Her health isn’t good, spare the kid.”
Wen Zhi laughed at her, “Lin Qiu, you’re only five years older than her, not ten. Why are you calling her a kid?”
Cen Lingqiu’s real age was almost thirty. For a moment, she forgot that this body was only twenty-five, and she would always unconsciously treat Yu Mingjiao as a young person.
“Drink yours.” Cen Lingqiu took a glass of wine and pushed it to Wen Zhi’s lips. “You talk too much.”
Wen Zhi laughed out loud, and in a moment of carelessness, blurted out, “You’re quite protective of her, aren’t you? Then why did you bully her so much before?”
Yu Mingjiao’s action of drinking water paused for a moment. Cen Lingqiu noticed the atmosphere was off and said flatly, “You talk a lot.”
Wen Zhi belatedly realized she had said the wrong thing and laughed it off, “I’m a little drunk.”
“By the way, Lin Qiu—” Wen Zhi said, “Do you want to go up on stage and play? Didn’t you say before that you wanted to perform up there?”
Cen Lingqiu had never said that; it was the original owner’s idea. She shook her head, “No.”
“Go on, go on,” Wen Zhi urged her. “I want to see. Maybe the one next to you is interested too.”
Cen Lingqiu looked at Yu Mingjiao again and whispered, “Do you want to see?”
Yu Mingjiao met her gaze for two seconds, then looked away.
“Whatever.”
That seemed to mean she was interested.
Cen Lingqiu didn’t refuse anymore. She leaned closer to her, “I’ll go up and play for a bit, as a celebration for you passing the preliminary round.”
She went up. There was a female singer on stage. Cen Lingqiu couldn’t sing, only play the guitar, which she had learned during past missions.
Yu Mingjiao put down her drink and looked up at Cen Lingqiu on the stage.
She sat on a high stool, her long hair tied up casually. Perhaps because she was cold, she wore a blue woolen coat, the waist cinched by a belt, revealing a slender waistline.
Her posture was casual, her expression nonchalant and calm as she played the guitar.
As if noticing Yu Mingjiao’s gaze, Cen Lingqiu’s eyes looked over the crowd, towards the audience below, and met Yu Mingjiao’s line of sight.
She smiled at Yu Mingjiao, her amber pupils like glass beads in the mist, clear and light.
Yu Mingjiao’s hand holding the glass trembled, and liquid splashed out, dripping onto the back of her hand.
She averted her gaze, her eyes not knowing where to land.
After passing the preliminary round, the next step was the second round. The organizer, x.r, had already released the topic for the second round, with the competition deadline in mid-December. For this month, Yu Mingjiao immersed herself in design, piling up several draft papers. In addition, she had exams at school, so she barely went out during this time.
Cen Lingqiu was also busy. Zhang Li’s health was poor, and her gastroenteritis had flared up again, constantly demanding Cen Lingqiu to accompany her.
Cen Lingqiu’s work also became busy. After work, she had to take care of Zhang Li, so for over a month, Yu Mingjiao and Cen Lingqiu saw each other much less.
But Cen Lingqiu would still make time to cook at her place. Her kitchen was fixed, but she found it troublesome to carry dishes back and forth, so she simply cooked at Yu Mingjiao’s house. Yu Mingjiao’s attitude was no longer as cold and resolute as it was at the beginning; she would now silently accept Cen Lingqiu’s presence.
The two of them would eat together, and after the meal, they would return to their respective homes to get busy.
If she got off work early, she would also go to Yu Mingjiao’s school to pick her up.
Unconsciously, the weather grew colder and colder.
On a certain night, Cen Lingqiu looked at the first snow outside and murmured, “It’s already winter.”
Did time pass that quickly?
Yu Mingjiao also looked at the snow outside.
“I want to go out.”
She said suddenly.
Cen Lingqiu turned her head, “You want to go out and see the snow?”
Yu Mingjiao nodded.
Cen Lingqiu really liked it when Yu Mingjiao could take the initiative to express what she wanted. She was too silent, suppressing all her emotions deep inside, never saying anything, completely closing herself off.
Being able to express her own thoughts like this was already a very good start.
Although Cen Lingqiu didn’t like snow, she would respect Yu Mingjiao’s wishes.
She took a scarf and wrapped it around her delicate, snow-white half-face. During this time, Cen Lingqiu had taken good care of her. Her cheeks were no longer gaunt and weak, her complexion was a healthy snow-white, and her beautiful face had lost some of its sickly air. She finally had a freshness befitting her age.
Cen Lingqiu felt a great sense of accomplishment and couldn’t help but touch her increasingly long hair.
She took Yu Mingjiao downstairs to the community area.
Yu Mingjiao quietly watched the snow drifting under the streetlight. Snowflakes landed on her long eyelashes, fluttering delicately. Her eyes were clean and beautiful, as pure as could be.
Cen Lingqiu leaned against the lamppost, staring at Yu Mingjiao.
These past few days, the System told her that Yu Mingjiao’s self-destruction coefficient had dropped to twenty-five.
Now, Cen Lingqiu just had to wait until Yu Mingjiao’s birthday and ensure she survived it, and her mission would be complete.
And now, this mission was already three-quarters complete.
The time for her to leave this world was getting closer and closer.
Actually, she was a little reluctant to leave.
In the few months she had spent with Yu Mingjiao, she had felt more than in any of her previous missions.
Yu Mingjiao was gloomy, spoke little, and always ignored people. She was sensitive and suspicious, and also too direct, which often gave Cen Lingqiu a headache.
But after getting to know her better, she discovered that she was just an awkward little thing who said one thing and meant another. She never said anything nice, but at certain moments, she would reveal her fragile, childish side.
In essence, she was a beautiful cat with high alertness that had been hurt many times.
Perhaps because she had spent a long time with her, although the process was not always pleasant, there were still some feelings involved. It was like feeding a stray cat on the street; if one day she didn’t see it, she couldn’t help but feel a little reluctant to part.
Cen Lingqiu helped her brush off the snowflakes that had fallen on her hair and asked, “Mingjiao, does the wound on your wrist still hurt?”
She was asking about the scar left from when Yu Mingjiao had slit her wrist.
That scar was very old and had long since stopped hurting.
Yu Mingjiao: “What are you trying to ask?”
Cen Lingqiu smiled, stood behind her, and gently played with her hair.
“In the future—” Cen Lingqiu paused for a few seconds and said in a joking tone, “you’ll live a good life, right? Don’t do something stupid like you did that day.”
Yu Mingjiao didn’t catch the strange tone in Cen Lingqiu’s voice. She just spoke coldly as usual: “It would be fine as long as you don’t bother me.”
Cen Lingqiu’s tone was calm, “So fierce with your words.”
An expected answer.
“Your birthday is coming up soon, right?” Cen Lingqiu looked at the falling snow. “On your birthday, I’ll come and celebrate with you.”
Yu Mingjiao… “I don’t need you to.”
Cen Lingqiu: “I can’t hear you.”
Yu Mingjiao: “…….”
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