Lei Nuwa, during her time at school, had become less cold. The emotions she had learned to suppress for two lifetimes already began to surface in rare moments. She did not immediately assume the worst of schoolmates who approached her, nor did she try to isolate herself from Zhou Lan. The differences in this life had made her the tiniest bit more comfortable. Like Icarus who flew too close to the sun, Lei Nuwa was flying close to the type of hope that could destroy her. She knew this, but she did not stop.
Liu Yichen had been watching her from afar. Seeing her laughing with Zhou Lan, doing well in her classes, getting attention from guys, made his blood boil. He remembered the very distant past, when he and Lei Nuwa were younger. Even then, the girl clung to him like a parasite, and even then he treated her like one. However, there would be moments when he would do something small for her in order to elicit a smile from the young girl; something about it made him want to see it again. As time went on, that smile became rarer and rarer, until it was gone completely.
At least, he had thought so. Seeing that same smile made him scowl and clench his fist. After so long, why now? Why has she become so different in such a short amount of time? Was it even Lei Nuwa?
His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Shi Qian's figure skipping up to him. He plastered a smile on his face and embraced her. He breathed in the smell of her. It comforted him like no other; the feeling of his hand in her soft, smaller ones seemed to relieve his frustrations. Shi Qian noticed his mood.
"Brother Yichen, is something wrong?" Her voice held an innocence that could move mountains.
"Ah, it's nothing. How are you?" Liu Yichen said, pulling her closer in his arms. Shi Qian pouted.
"That Lei Nuwa is so slutty! Doesn't she know she's engaged? And yet, she walks around provocatively, purposefully trying to lure men to her!" Shi Qian could not see the double standard: while Lei Nuwa had simply cleaned herself up, Liu Yichen was openly embracing and cuddling with Shi Qian. But upon hearing support, Liu Yichen jumped in immediately.
"It's disgusting. She probably had sex with the dean in order to get into this school, because she is so obsessed with me. We should get her expelled." Liu Yichen said this offhandedly, but it gave Shi Qian an idea. An evil smile was on her face, unbeknownst to the man holding her.
Despite the way the scene looked, the "pleasantry" between Lei Nuwa and Zhou Lan was beginning to heat up.
"Traitor! Brutus! How could you betray me like this?" Zhou Lan had been angry at Lei Nuwa since the moment in the garden with Lin Cheng.
"Zhou Lan, I don't know what you're talking about. Did you maybe have a weird dream?" Lei Nuwa laughed and winked. Zhou Lan reached out and bonked her on the head. Despite her serious face, there was a crack of a smile on her face.
"Ai, Lei Nuwa, you don't understand! You can't put me through that without warning, he walked in on me feeding a raccoon." She slammed her head on the table they were sitting at. Lei Nuwa threw a hand over her mouth, trying to stay serious.
"You were doing what?" A small laugh escaped her mouth at the end of the sentence, causing Zhou Lan to slam her head on the table again.
"I had a sandwich, and I was nervous because I didn't know if something happened, and there was a raccoon, and the raccoon was so cute. His eyes were so watery, and his little hands were reaching for me, what was I supposed to do? I don't even like ham! Why wouldn't I give him the sandwich? And he was so rude to me, the raccoon, not Lin Cheng, but he was rude too!" Her dramatic wails pushed Lei Nuwa over the edge. As she laughed hysterically, Zhou Lan once again tried to slap her.
"You are evil, witch Nuwa! Evil, horrible, we aren't friends anymore!"
"Lan Lan, forgive me." Lei Nuwa put on her most puppy-like face and voice. "But I really forgot about it!"
"Forgot, my ass. You owe me, Lei Nuwa." Zhou Lan crossed her arms and turned away from Lei Nuwa. Their conversation was interrupted by someone walking up and throwing water on the two girls. Zhou Lan screeched, but Lei Nuwa reacted immediately and grabbed the perpetrator by the wrist before they could walk away.
A pretty girl with a perfectly styled uniform cried out as Lei Nuwa twisted her arm at a painful angle.
"Ow! You bitch, let go!" Lei Nuwa had not planned to hurt the girl, or do anything actually, but Zhou Lan quickly stopped her from letting go. She lifted her hand and swiftly slapped the girl across the face. The girl started crying upon being slapped, garnering a crowd to form around them. Zhou Lan, after slapping her, tugged her head back by the hair and got up close to her face.
"Who are you? Are you really that clumsy, or have we done something to offend you? We are all high class here, shouldn't we use our words. Right, Nuwa?" Lei Nuwa was not familiar with this side of Zhou Lan– she had seen her yell passionately, whisper mischievously, but her serious and menacing voice made Lei Nuwa feel proud inside.
"I'm sure she did it by accident, right?" Lei Nuwa twisted the girl's arm even further. The girl started crying harder.
"Let go! It hurts!" Zhou Lan would not relent. She grabbed the girl by the chin and turned her head towards Nuwa.
"Nuwa, you can ask your questions now." Lei Nuwa was surprised, but understood Zhou Lan's knowing look. It said 'you're better at this than I am, you talk'. She nodded.
"Who are you? I will ask once."
"Okay, okay! Just stop, please!" Lei Nuwa loosened her grip on her arm and pushed her away. The girl fell onto the ground. "I'm just a girl tired of this school letting sluts through the gates." Her teary eyes were full of hate.
Zhou Lan was dumbfounded and confused at the girl's statement, however Lei Nuwa was unfazed. In her past lives, reckless and outlandish accusations were like winds against the mountain. She just sighed and shook her head and held Zhou Lan back from slapping the girl again.
"Are you delirious? Do you have a drug problem? What are you talking about?" Zhou Lan's voice rose in octaves with emotion. Lei Nuwa knew it was no use, and grabbed Lei Nuwa's hand and pulled her away.
"It isn't worth it, Lan."
"We can't let people get away with this, others will start to believe what she's saying!"
"They'll believe regardless." Zhou Lan could not help but sniffle and tear up. While she had been unwavering in the moment, she admitted she felt shaken.
"What if they tell the dean? We could get expelled." Lei Nuwa shook her head.
"I won't let them do that to you." As she continued to comfort Zhou Lan, Lei Nuwa knew that her presence was a bane to those she cared about in this life. She began to think of ways to remedy the situation for Lan, on how to ensure it didn't happen again. While she had not quite reached the sun, she felt foolish. Her usual vigilant nature returned; even the tiniest muscles in Lei Nuwa's body refused to relax.