Chapter 38

Whether it was the milk or something else, Jiang Lai slept very well that night.

So well that when Gu Xizhou knocked on her door the next morning, she didn’t hear a thing. The girl was so frightened she thought something had happened to her, and rushed to the front desk for a key card to Jiang Lai’s room before hurrying back to open the door.

The person in question was still buried under the blankets, sleeping in complete peace. Gu Xizhou was so furious on the spot that her fists clenched.

“Jiang Lai!”

She called out, swallowing her temper, but the person inside still didn’t react.

She strode over, yanked the quilt off the girl, and pounced on top of her. “Get up already! You’re sleeping like a pig!”

Still not fully awake from her dream, Jiang Lai suddenly felt as if a mountain had been pressed down on her; she could barely breathe.

“Gu Xizhou, are you crazy?!”

She opened her eyes, grabbed the pillow beside her, and hurled it at Gu Xizhou. The girl nimbly dodged it, still not forgetting to needle her.

“Crazy? Look at the time. The sun’s already on your butt. You must’ve slept yourself stupid.”

The girl was still pinning her down. Jiang Lai lifted a leg, wanting to kick her, but afraid she might really kick her into some kind of trouble, she could only turn all her anger into a glare. “Get off me. If you don’t, I’m going to suffocate!”

“I won’t!”

The girl shamelessly hugged her tighter. “You know, Jiang Lai, you’re pretty skinny, but you’ve got plenty of meat where it counts. Everything that should be there is there!”

“Gu Xizhou, your skin’s itchy again, isn’t it?”

Jiang Lai freed one hand and went for the girl’s waist, tickling her.

The commotion naturally drew a crowd.

Cheng Shuyang was the first to reach the door.

Jiang Lai caught sight of her from the corner of her eye and, as if she’d seen a savior, waved at her. “Aunt Cheng, hurry up and save me.”

The woman stood in the doorway, looking at the two of them tangled together, and a helpless smile surfaced in her eyes. “What are you two up to now? I could hear you from downstairs.”

“Aunt Cheng, save me. Gu Xizhou’s going to crush me.”

Jiang Lai made a miserable face as she pleaded for help.

“You,” the woman chided with a glance, then walked forward a few steps and tapped the girl’s shoulder. “Xizhou, for my sake, let her go, okay?”

As soon as the girl heard that, her grip loosened a little. She was just about to get up when her leg went numb and she fell back down again; her elbow happened to slam heavily into Jiang Lai’s chin.

Jiang Lai let out an immediate “Ow!” and clutched her chin. Her eyes went red on the spot, and tears started streaming down as if they cost nothing.

It wasn’t because she was being dramatic; it really hurt!

Gu Xizhou scrambled off her in a panic. Seeing Jiang Lai like this, she instantly lost all her temper. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean it. My leg went numb just now, I didn’t stand up properly...”

The woman hurried over, sat down by the bed, and pulled Jiang Lai’s hand away to check her chin. Only after looking it over did she breathe a sigh of relief. “Good thing you didn’t break the skin. Put some ointment on it later and it’ll be fine.”

Then she looked at Gu Xizhou, who was standing off to the side, clearly full of self-reproach. “All right, don’t blame yourself. Breakfast is ready; go downstairs and eat. Leave this to me.”

The girl glanced at Jiang Lai’s chin, then at the woman, her tone still uneasy. “Then... I’ll head down first. If you need anything, remember to call me.”

The woman smiled and nodded. “Okay.”

Only then did the girl slowly make her way to the door.

Just before closing it, she looked back and saw the woman holding an ice pack to Jiang Lai’s chin. The two of them were sitting very close together, talking about something.

Only then did she relax and gently pulled the door shut.

The room fell silent at once. Cheng Shuyang adjusted the ice pack, her voice soft. “Does it still hurt?”

The girl tilted her head back and gave a muffled mm.

“See if you still remember to be careful next time.”

Even so, the woman’s hand was gentler now.

Jiang Lai leaned in and acted spoiled. “If Aunt Cheng blows on it for me, it won’t hurt anymore.”

The woman straightened and tapped her on the forehead. “You’re how old already, and you’re still acting cute like a child.”

“Anyway, it’s just my bad luck. I got burned by fire the night before last, and today I got hit again.”

She pressed the ice pack against her own face, deliberately sounding pitiful, while sneaking glances at the woman from the corner of her eye.

Seeing her childish behavior, the woman could only shake her head helplessly. She bent down, brushed aside Jiang Lai’s wrist, and gently blew on the red mark on her chin.

Warm breath brushed against her skin, ticklish. Jiang Lai couldn’t help shrinking back slightly.

“All better?”

The woman couldn’t help ruffling her messy hair. “I’ve given you everything you asked for; now it’s time to go downstairs and eat.”

“Got it. You go down first; I’ll be there in a bit.”

The woman headed toward the stairwell, still reminding her uneasily, “Make sure you eat. Director Zhang said today’s schedule looks pretty physically demanding.”

“I know.”

The girl’s reply came from the bathroom.

The moment the woman closed the door, she ran into Xu Zhiyi, who was just stepping out. The two of them looked at each other and both froze.

Cheng Shuyang spoke first. “Good morning.”

“Mm.”

The woman nodded faintly, not sparring with her like she usually did. Cheng Shuyang raised a brow, feeling a little puzzled. She tried to read the woman’s expression; whenever the two of them met, it was usually far from pleasant, so this sudden calm left her slightly unused to it.

The atmosphere was a little awkward.

Cheng Shuyang cleared her throat and started making small talk. “You seem to be in a pretty good mood today.”

She did her best to keep her tone normal, so as not to stir up another unnecessary fight.

The woman lifted her eyes and looked at her, snorted coldly, and didn’t continue the conversation.

All right, so she was the one overthinking it.

After everyone had finished getting ready, Director Zhang called them onto the bus.

Jiang Lai let out a bored yawn, and the woman immediately smiled at her. “Tired again?”

“Nope.”

She insisted stubbornly, “I was just thinking about something.”

Seeing through her stubbornness, the woman didn’t expose her; she simply turned away with a smile.

Then that annoying voice of Lin Wanqiu’s rang out from behind her again.

She had just been looking for somewhere to vent her anger, and since someone had foolishly run straight into her line of sight, she rolled her eyes and suddenly sat down beside the girl.

“Miss Lin.”

“W-What?”

Lin Wanqiu swallowed, her body unconsciously leaning toward Qin Huaicheng.

“Why didn’t you wash the dishes last night? We were clearly on the same team, so why didn’t I see you the whole time? And you, Mr. Qin; where did you go last night?”

“I...”

Qin Huaicheng was left speechless by her question and could only apologize. “Sorry, last night Wanqiu and I were in the wrong. I apologize to you.”

Jiang Lai raised a brow and did not accept his apology. She folded her arms and glanced at him. “You think one sorry is enough? There are only four people in our group. Senior stayed up until midnight helping me clean up, and what about you two? I didn’t even see a shadow of you!”

The man looked a little embarrassed and explained, “Last night was our fault. After dinner, Wanqiu said her stomach was a little upset, so I went to take care of her first. By the time I came back, you’d already finished cleaning up, so I thought I’d talk to you about it today...”

“Stomach upset?”

She glanced at the girl, who looked perfectly energetic. “I don’t see Miss Lin looking sick at all.”

Lin Wanqiu’s face went pale, then red, before she finally forced out a sound. “I’m sorry. Isn’t that enough?”

“Fine. You two wash the dishes tonight yourselves.”

“Okay, okay.”

The man hurriedly agreed and tugged at the girl’s sleeve, signaling for her to stop talking.

Only then did Jiang Lai relent. She shot them both a glare, then returned to her seat.

“Acheng, look at her...”

“All right, all right, stop talking. You can’t win an argument against her.”

The man’s gentle voice sounded beside her ear, and all she felt like doing was rolling her eyes. When they were together back then, when had he ever treated her that gently?

“Alai, did you see the paparazzi shots of our show?”

Gu Xizhou leaned over from the front row to talk to her.

Jiang Lai patted the seat beside her. “Come sit over here and talk to me. Isn’t that tiring?”

The girl laughed and quickly sat down beside her. “I’m just afraid you’re still mad at me about this morning.”

“I’m not that petty.”

She shifted a little, making room on the outside.

Gu Xizhou sat close beside her and pulled up the photos on her phone to show her.

“You’ve got to admit, fan photos these days are amazing; every shot’s more stunning than the last. Look at this one.”

As she spoke, she enlarged the picture for Jiang Lai.

Jiang Lai turned to look, and just happened to see the girl swipe to the photo of her and Cheng Shuyang together.

It was the one from last time when she’d been caught by the two of them.

The woman had her head lowered, brushing dirt off the cuffs of her pants, while Jiang Lai herself was smiling brightly, saying something to her.

Her breath caught. She subconsciously wanted to swipe past the photo, but just before her finger touched the screen, Gu Xizhou gasped.

“This picture has such a vibe! Look how gentle Aunt Cheng’s movements toward you are!”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but Jiang Lai could guarantee the woman beside her, who was drinking water, had definitely heard it.

“Stop talking. Show me another one.”

Jiang Lai twisted around to snatch the phone.

“Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? It’s so atmospheric!”

Gu Xizhou deliberately held the phone high, teasing her.

“Gu Xizhou!”

Jiang Lai’s cheeks burned as she called the girl’s name through gritted teeth. Unfortunately, the woman was sitting right next to her, so she didn’t have much confidence.

The woman set down her cup and coughed lightly. “What picture? Can I take a look?”

“It’s nothing.”

Panic-stricken, Jiang Lai turned off the phone screen, trying not to let the woman see it.

The woman in the photo really did look very gentle; so gentle that even she felt her own thoughts were shameful and didn’t dare look a second time.

Only after the woman spoke did Gu Xizhou put away her phone and, understanding the situation, winked at Jiang Lai. “I’ll send it to you tonight.”

The two of them were silent for a while.

Gu Xizhou still couldn’t hold it in and nudged Jiang Lai’s shoulder. “I heard we might be going to play an escape room this time...”

“What?”

The moment Jiang Lai heard the words “escape room,” her brain could no longer process anything else.

“What’s wrong? It’s exciting; I love adventures.”

Gu Xizhou rubbed her fists together, her face full of excitement.

But the girl looked a little flustered, as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t.

Lin Wanqiu in the back row rolled her eyes and asked the man, “Huaicheng, is Jiang Lai afraid of escape rooms?”

The man only took her question as curiosity and didn’t think too much of it; he patiently explained, “Mm. She’s also afraid of enclosed spaces and dim places.”

“Is that so?”

At that, a barely noticeable smile curved Lin Wanqiu’s lips, though her face still wore a courteous expression.

“Girls are like that. Being a little timid is normal.”