When Shi Qian and Liu Yichen heard about Xu Zihao's scene in the hallway, they immediately went to confront him. He was sitting in his room, listening to music while staring out of the window. He was deep in thought when Liu Yichen threw open his door.
"Xu Zihao! Explain yourself!" Xu Zihao innocently moved his headphones to his neck and folded his hands.
"Explain what?" His voice held no emotion or panic, which angered Liu Yichen.
"ZiZi, what is going on? You have been drifting away from me– I mean, from us. It pains me to watch you spiral like this." Shi Qian's crocodile tears began to fall.
Xu Zihao's first instinct was to comfort her, to promise to harm anyone who made her cry. But now, he was the one who was making her cry. And he found her tears superficial and annoying; perhaps something inside of him still had feelings for Shi Qian, and seeing her fake display of manipulative emotion irritated him. He remembered his promise to Lei Nuwa– he had wholeheartedly declared himself ready to destroy the two people in front of him, one he had followed for his entire life.
Time is a powerful thing. A part of him still felt as if Shi Qian was someone he needed to love and protect regardless of who is by her side, and his sudden feelings about a purple-eyed girl were not enough to completely erase that past. But even the smallest amount of wavering kept him rooted in his seat, kept softness and sympathy out of his eyes. What changed? Xu Zihao felt as if the person before he met Lei Nuwa was a different soul than the one he had now– everything was just too different. The dreams, her eyes; if he was under a spell, Xu Zihao was apparently ready to embrace it.
"I don't know what this is about, but I am studying, so I would appreciate it if you guys could postpone the show for later."
Shi Qian was taken aback by his reaction. She was used to using tears to break his resolve.
"Xu Zihao! Did that slut Lei Nuwa seduce you?! She is a manipulative, low class whore! ZiZi, we grew up together. Would you neglect your Qian Qian for such a thing?" Xu Zihao's eyes narrowed. He was ready to curse them both and have them out of his life forever, but the ruthless part of him held back. He wanted to give them back the pain they gave Lei Nuwa, the pain that pushed her to the scene in his dream, but he had to act rationally.
Inside of Xu ZIhao, there was neither a tiger nor a dragon, but a snake. Deadly, poisonous, cunning. This snake would not strike quite yet.
He put a soft expression on his face.
"Qian Qian, I would never! I was making fun of her, everyone must have misinterpreted it wrong." He pretended to not see the smug expression on Shi Qian's face, and turned to Liu Yichen. "She is as pathetic as you say. She really was bluffing that one luncheon. She is whiny and unrefined– I wanted to make sure."
While Shi Qian was completely convinced and satisfied with his satisfaction, Liu Yichen was more suspicious.
"Why would you need to make sure? We will get rid of her eventually, so just stay away from her. Regardless of the reason, if you go near her again, I cannot forgive you." Xu Zihao clenched his jaw but smiled.
"Of course, Yichen. I would never disrespect your wishes. Qian Qian, Yichen, please excuse my rude actions." His voice sounded sincere. If anyone were to watch, they would believe him; it was impossible not to. "Now that everything is cleared up, I really must study, so I must kick you out." He said so in a joking manner, but still pushed them gently out of the room and locked the door.
His hands were shaking; he was not used to emotion affecting him like this. Once again, he cursed Zhang Fengge. He wanted to be as capable as him, but all he could manage was give her a few painkillers– he could not even attack Liu Yichen like Zhang Fengge had done at the cafe.
Xu Zihao knew that the phone he texted was Zhang Fengge's, that the bracelet on her wrist was most likely from Zhang Fengge, and that the blush in her cheeks was for Zhang Fengge. What was so great about him? Xu Zihao was taller than him! He was also stronger, and he had no doubt that he was smarter, too.
'Perhaps Lei Nuwa is attracted to mediocrity?' He thought, but then despaired. How could he make himself seem less than he was? He decided that his thought could in no way be true, and resorted to the fact that Zhang Fengge simply beat him. If Xu Zihao could rewind time, he would have done everything and more than Zhang Fengge before Lei Nuwa even knew about his existence. Since he could not, he knew he had to work ten times harder than usual.
"Fuck." He felt tired already.
***
Lei Nuwa had a plan. She had given directions to Zhou Lan to meet her in the same spot Lin Cheng always went to mess with girls. She knew that he would be there due to an unfortunate incident in her past life– after running away from the humiliation she faced in the outside dining area, she had run to the spot. There, she had once again run into Lin Cheng, but this time he was alone. Still, he had been annoyed by her presence– but based on their previous interaction that Lei Nuwa saw, she didn't think he would be annoyed with Zhou Lan.
She had spent all of her previous lives only focusing on survival and herself, so the feeling of satisfaction she got from planning things for other people, using her knowledge of the world to her advantage, surprised her. She had always resented the fact she continued to be reborn. But could she reclaim her lives for herself? Could she finally find a reasoning behind all of her misfortunes?
Her eyes started to itch. As she rubbed them, she saw that she was crying. Before she could blink, a handkerchief appeared before her eyes. Lin Cheng was holding it out for her, concern on his face. Lei Nuwa's frowned.
"What are you doing here???" She shrieked, pushing his handkerchief back towards him.
"Wha-"
"Go back! Right now!" Lin Cheng was confused.
"Did I miss something?" Lei Nuwa felt increasingly frustrated and guilty– Zhou Lan was probably waiting alone for her, concerned.
"Go back to your sex garden!!"
"My what?"
"That area you always go to!" She began pushing him towards the door as she spoke. "I- uh, I forgot one of my books there! Please get it for me." She coughed.
Lin Cheng gave her a strange stare. He knew something else was going on, but obeyed because he was curious. He held his hands up in surrender and began moving.
When he finally arrived, he saw a small figure trying to feed part of her lunch to a raccoon. The raccoon was hissing at her, while the girl was talking harshly back.
"Dumb animal, I'm feeding you! It's a sandwich, better than bugs or trash like you usually eat! You should be thanking me." She threw a piece of sandwich at the foot of the raccoon, and then yelled out as the animal ran away. "Next time I'm putting poison in it!"
Lin Cheng hid behind a tree in order to watch the show. He tried to stifle a laugh, but it escaped. Zhou Lan, upon hearing the noise, jumped and shrieked. This made Lin Cheng laugh harder until he felt something soft hit his head.
"Did you just throw a sandwich at me?"
"You're lucky I didn't throw something heavier. Are you stalking me now too? Go away!" Lin Cheng felt wronged, and his forehead twitched.
"I'm here because Lei Nuwa said she left her bag here. Can I have it?"
"What? She isn't here yet, she said to meet her here…" Both of them understood what had happened at the same time. Zhou Lan turned red and threw her hand to her face, shaking her head. Lin Cheng laughed once again.
"Who knew she was so cunning?" Lin Cheng was as easygoing as ever. While he was surprised, he could not deny that it was a pleasant surprise. From the parts of her personality he had seen, this seemed out of character. Zhou Lan's reaction told him that he was not alone in that thought.
Zhou Lan was furiously typing on her phone, most likely cursing Lei Nuwa out. He walked up to her until they were inches apart. When she finally looked up from her phone and realized their closeness, she yelped and stepped back.
Instead of hitting the ground, she caught herself on a tree; however, she was now trapped. Lin Cheng held his arms on either side of her head and leaned in. In a panic, Zhou Lan threw her phone at him.
"Back up, player! I know you're doing this to get closer to Nuwa, and it won't work!" Zhou Lan could not help but feel wronged; what girl would like to be used to get to their friend? Lin Cheng perceptive; he understood the small twinge of hurt that Zhou Lan tried to conceal. He didn't know why, but he didn't like it.
"Maybe the heavens attracted me to her so I could find you?" Lin Cheng raised an eyebrow. His first reaction was always to flirt- even as he said the words, he wanted to slap himself for his timing. You are an idiot, Lin Cheng thought to himself.
"Well, the heavens must want you dead." Zhou Lan deadpanned. Lin Cheng laughed again; its contagiousness even forced Zhou Lan to roll her eyes and smile slightly.
Lin Cheng was not one to think about his actions before he did them; this led to a lot of misunderstandings between him and other girls. He suddenly found Zhou Lan very beautiful in the light; so he wanted to express that, not caring about what it would look like or how the other person would feel. He reached up and moved hair out of her face– Zhou Lan moved his hand away ducked under his arms to escape.
"Quit playing with girls' feelings, Lin Cheng. And don't approach me again." She added before taking her sandwich and throwing it deeper into the woods– most likely for another hungry animal. She quickly ran away, kicking dirt up on her socks and shoes.
Lin Cheng did not catch her facial expression, but he knew he did something wrong.
"Fuck." He felt tired all of a sudden.