Close Enough To Pluck the Stars” (GL) - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The next day, Liang Ke woke up very late. It wasn’t that her biological clock had failed, but rather that she had slept poorly.

Aside from the pain from the wound, her mind was wound tight.

Though Shu Qingchen’s attitude remained detached, every word the woman said was correct. Forcing an argument would only make Liang Ke look like a petty rogue.

Besides, the woman had offered the necessary sympathy. For instance, right now, as Liang Ke faced the mirror, she was surprised to find that her wound had been re-dressed. The gauze was wrapped with perfect tension, and the finishing touch was flawless. Her unruly, straw-like short hair had been gathered together; from a distance, she looked like half a giant steamed bun fresh out of the pot—perfectly round and tidy.

“She has a conscience after all,” Liang Ke muttered. “At least my effort wasn’t in vain—staying stiff as a mummy for the first half of the night, not daring to move for fear of waking her.”

She wasn’t sure if she was nervous about something else. Of course, even if she knew, she wouldn’t admit it; even if she admitted it, she wouldn’t dare tell anyone. Besides, such an absurd thought would probably be dismissed as nonsense anyway.

Liang Ke walked back to the bedroom and checked her phone. There were plenty of messages, but nothing urgent. Tucked under the phone was a note in the “Big Boss’s” handwriting: Change your dressing at the scheduled time.

Not a single extra word.

“Hmph.”

Despite her dissatisfaction with the attitude, Liang Ke still obediently booked an afternoon appointment at the clinic. Keeping her neck stiff, she changed and washed her blood-stained clothes and bedding.

It was only when she was casually swinging her hands out the door that Liang Ke remembered she was a “lone soldier” now. Xiao Xiaoxiao was busy managing—or perhaps subverting—her father’s business empire, while Zhao Pu had enrolled in a cram school for journalism, claiming that AI courses weren’t for him and threatening to run away from home if she forced any more lessons on him.

Stepping out of the building, Liang Ke saw that it had snowed last night. She breathed in the fresh post-snow air and, keeping her neck stiff, gave a long, wide stretch. Looking up at the azure sky, her heart was filled with emotion.

In the New Year, her friends were all charging forward like wild boars, chasing what they wanted. She, however, seemed to have been left behind. Even the tender green sprout that had just poked through the soil of her heart a few days ago was nearly withered from lack of nutrients.

“Oh, Liang Ke! Haven’t seen you for a few days. What happened to your head?” a neighbor shoveling snow asked loudly.

“I fell.” Liang Ke pulled up her hat.

“The roads are slippery after snow; you must be careful. So, what date did you and Zhao Pu settle on? Why haven’t we heard anything?”

Confused, Liang Ke asked, “What date?”

“To get your marriage certificate! He told everyone already. No need to be shy—it’s great! I wish you two the best. Childhood sweethearts, and the families know each other’s roots.”

Another person added, “Right, right. His dad is in the same system as you; he’ll definitely be able to help out. You’ll save yourself years of struggle.”

Liang Ke recalled the scene at the hospital yesterday. The doctor had only said she had a mild concussion, which usually doesn’t cause amnesia.

She tried to contact Zhao Pu, but he played dead—as if he had cut himself off from time and space, crossed into another dimension, and disappeared perfectly.

But who was Liang Ke? She was raised by Liang Jiyue. Professor Liang was a true warrior who had been baptized by fire on the front lines and had once been dedicated to raising Liang Ke into a “Special Forces” soldier with a will of steel.

Whether the Professor’s parenting philosophy was successful or not was debatable, but the aunties and uncles in front of her beat a hasty retreat the moment they saw Liang Ke’s expression.

She smiled, and they smiled back, quickly changing the subject to chat about other things. Meanwhile, in some unknown corner of the world, Zhao Pu was shivering, contemplating his hopeless life.

The wind was biting and the snow was cold. Pedestrians were sparse. Liang Ke strode forward with her long legs, but found that walking too fast made her head throb. She had to alternate between slow and fast paces until ice formed on her eyebrows and steam rose from her head. Either way, she looked even more like a “Calico Cat Steamed Bun.”

The wound was numb and a bit itchy. The “Special Ops Calico Cat” was dizzily trying to avoid emotional issues. By the time she had exhausted her emotions, she realized she had unconsciously walked back to her old high school.

This middle school was extraordinary. Its students were the top picks from surrounding counties and cities. With its college entrance rate climbing every year, it was seen as a “holy land” by citizens whose greatest wish was to get their children in.

Back then, Liang Ke had entered the elite class based on her individual entrance exam scores. Zhao Pu’s middle school scores had been a dozen points short, but he had powerful connections. Though Xiao Xiaoxiao’s scores were high enough, Boss Xiao had still insisted on using his “superpowers” to force his daughter into Liang Ke’s class to enjoy the thrill of being at the bottom of every subject—until the classes were reshuffled.

The school’s decor had become increasingly grand over the years. The gate was magnificent. Someone had built a snowman by the entrance; its proportions were perfect, and it even seemed to blink.

Liang Ke couldn’t help but reach out to touch its eyes.

“What are you doing? What are you doing!” the snowman snapped.

“Whoa!” Startled, Liang Ke leaned back to observe the snowman. After a long pause, she said, “Little A?”

“Rude. Call me ‘Sister’.” A was clearly in a bad mood.

The “Calico Cat” thought of something and forgot her own troubles. Sitting beside A with her hands tucked in her sleeves, she asked with a wide grin, “Sister, why are you here all by yourself COS-playing a reindeer?”

“Who’s a reindeer? Watch your mouth.”

“A roe deer, then?” The Calico Cat reverted to her “annoying brat” persona.

Little A reached out to swat the cat’s head, but stopped abruptly when she saw the gauze. She grabbed Liang Ke by the collar and asked, “Did someone hit you?”

“Yeah.”

Liang Ke thought to herself: As expected of someone from the Arts Department, her intuition is razor-sharp. She then asked Little A why she was sitting there.

“Just frustrated.”

Liang Ke guessed it had something to do with Little B, because she was frustrated about similar things.

The “Calico Cat” and the “Roe Deer” shared a silent understanding. They changed the subject back to Liang Ke’s bandaged head.

“Who has the nerve? Is ‘rule of law’ just a joke?” Little A paused and added, “To be able to strike a face like yours… it wasn’t Professor Liang, was it? If so, I can’t help you.”

“Nonsense,” Liang Ke said. “My grandma hasn’t hit me in twenty years. Stop bringing up painful memories.”

Little A scoffed. “Give me a break. It’s not like I haven’t seen you get beaten. What secrets do you have with me?”

A had been Professor Liang’s student since childhood, from enlightenment to mastery. She had occasionally seen Liang Ke being “educated” while playing the violin. The notes and rhythm would be correct, but the emotion was never right—not even once. Every time she played a passage, Liang Jiyue would tap her elbow.

Little A mimicked Liang Jiyue’s tone: narrowing her eyes and asking, “Is it a crime to be a bit softer? It’s supposed to be ‘pines in a lonely valley’ or ‘rosy clouds over a clear pond,’ yet here you are blowing a bugle call for a charge!”

Liang Ke was choked up, able only to indignantly throw snow at her. “It’s been centuries! Can you stop digging up the corpse? Grandma stopped using the ruler long ago. Besides, what kind of grandmother hits her granddaughter like this?”

Snow went down Little A’s neck, freezing her to the bone. Unfortunately, the Calico Cat was too agile for her to fight back. She pulled out her phone to find reinforcements.

“See this?” She held up her phone—it was a chat page with Shu Qingchen. She threatened, “Keep it up and I’ll call your leader.”

Liang Ke sneered. “Do you know how busy she is every day? Why would she have time for me? Besides, I bet you wouldn’t dare report to ‘High Heaven.’ Just die quietly!” With that, she continued throwing snow.

Little A screamed and tried to block with her hands while Liang Ke ruthlessly closed in. In the chaos, a security guard ran over angrily to break them up, scolding them: “Which class are you two from? You’re not leaving until you leave your class and student numbers, or have your homeroom teacher come pick you up!”

“Uncle X, it’s me, Liang Ke.” The Calico Cat tucked her hands away and acted perfectly behaved.

Uncle X was first shocked, then delighted, and finally asked warmly, “On holiday? You must be a Doctor by now, right?”

“Mmh.”

“Is it cold out? Come into my booth,” Uncle X said.

Liang Ke and Little A politely declined. The latter mimicked Liang Ke’s posture, tucking her hands in and greeting sweetly, “Uncle X, I’m Little A.”

“Oh, oh. Little A, right. Mmh, good, good.” Uncle X pretended to recognize her.

Little A’s face turned green. Liang Ke quickly suggested taking a walk on the playground, and Uncle X waved them through.

“Even though I’m two years ahead of you, I graduated from this school too.”

“You don’t get it—this is the charm of a famous alumna. See that tree over there? The one with the ‘No Climbing’ sign?”

“Yeah.”

“It was put up the year I graduated. One summer at noon, the teacher couldn’t find me—turned out I was sleeping up there.”

“Are you actually a cat?” Little A looked at her with disdain. She glanced at the time on her phone, then suddenly paled, making a series of frantic “shushing” sounds at Liang Ke.

“What is it?” Liang Ke didn’t understand. “Why are you nervous? Is your phone going to explode?”

Little A turned the screen around. Liang Ke saw it was a video call from Shu Qingchen.

“What do I do? Do I pick up? Why is your leader looking for me?” Little A panicked. “Did you skip work? Go back and surrender yourself!” With that, she tossed the “bomb” into Liang Ke’s arms.

Liang Ke gave a “tch,” saying, “This is a legitimate sick leave.” She added, “So you’re afraid of the Ice Mountain too? Have some backbone!” Then, with trembling fingers, she pressed the ‘Accept’ button.