The Junior Schemer Has Her Eyes on Me, What Should I Do? - Chapter 4

Chen Mengjing’s tone was, to say the least, extremely merciless.

Zhou Xiangxu thought they had agreed last night, and she shouldn’t have said such words to humiliate her. Wouldn’t a clean break be better?

Chen Mengjing’s eyes were fixed directly on her, and Zhou Xiangxu had a strong intuition: if she didn’t give a clear answer, she would never find her dress.

“No, I’m looking for my dress,” she finally chose to lie.

Although it couldn’t be called a complete lie, the thought of slipping away without saying goodbye had indeed crossed her mind.

Now that Chen Mengjing was awake, leaving without a word was out of the question anyway, so Zhou Xiangxu wasn’t too concerned about telling a harmless lie at this moment. “Do I look like I’m trying to slip away right now?”

Chen Mengjing straightened up, and lazily tilted her chin towards the direction behind Zhou Xiangxu—the balcony. “If Senior Sister had found her dress, she would probably be gone by now.”

“So, did you put away my dress?”

“Mhm, it’s in the washing machine.”

After Chen Mengjing finished speaking, she lowered her head and let out a light yawn.

Zhou Xiangxu wanted to say something else, but when she opened her mouth, she found herself speechless. Before the other person could lift her head, she casually turned around and went back to the balcony.

The balcony faced east and was warm inside. Earlier, it must have been exposed to the sun.

There was only one dress in the washer-dryer, which was why she hadn’t noticed it just now.

She took the dress out and gently shook it. When she turned around, she discovered that Chen Mengjing had also walked over.

Were her footsteps really that light?

Along with that thought, Zhou Xiangxu lowered her gaze and saw that she was barefoot.

Chen Mengjing’s feet were long and slender, and very pale.

“The weather seems very nice today,” Chen Mengjing said.

Zhou Xiangxu saw the teary moisture still in her eyes from the yawn she had just given.

At a time like this, Zhou Xiangxu wasn’t in the mood to care about the weather, but she still pretended to glance out of the enclosed balcony. The sun-drenched sky was dazzlingly blue, without a single cloud.

“If you like hot weather, then yes, it’s good weather.”

“I do like hot weather, I like summer. What about Senior Sister?”

Chen Mengjing walked past Zhou Xiangxu, went to the window, and gently pushed it open.

This ordinary small talk gave Zhou Xiangxu the feeling that the other party was trying to bridge the distance. “The opposite of you, I prefer winter and cold weather.”

“Why?” Chen Mengjing turned back, leaning against the wall.

She seemed sleep-deprived and looked a little weary.

Despite not wanting to explain, Zhou Xiangxu still offered a serious answer. “Summer is too passionate.”

Chen Mengjing didn’t speak after hearing that. She turned her head to look at the potted plant on the shelf in the corner—a cactus that looked quite aloof.

“I’m going to change clothes first,” Zhou Xiangxu said, turning and walking inside.

Although she didn’t look back, she could feel Chen Mengjing’s gaze fixed on her back.

Only when changing clothes did she notice two obvious marks on her chest. The bright red color had already darkened, but it was enough to make her instantly recall every detail of last night. Chen Mengjing was considerate, but she would bite—

After putting on her dress, she briefly washed her face, dried it with a paper towel, and casually ran her fingers through her hair. In the mirror, her complexion looked quite good, fair with a light flush. She was prepared to leave just like this.

Zhou Xiangxu wished that Chen Mengjing being awake was just an illusion, so she really could have slipped away without a word.

But things went contrary to her wishes. As soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, she immediately saw Chen Mengjing, who seemed to be following her shadow.

So, Zhou Xiangxu couldn’t help but tease, “You weren’t listening to me wash my face, were you?”

“Yes,” Chen Mengjing didn’t hide it at all. “That’s exactly what Senior Sister said.”

Her tone was so frank that it rendered Zhou Xiangxu speechless, as if following her around was a hobby.

“I should go home now.”

Zhou Xiangxu was the one who raised the topic, and she was also the one avoiding it.

“Did Senior Sister forget something?”

“What?”

“Is Senior Sister really planning to just leave like this?”

Zhou Xiangxu could finally confirm the reason why Chen Mengjing’s tone had been so cold and merciless earlier: because she had already concluded that she was going to slip away without a word.

So, was she now giving her a chance to change her mind?

Zhou Xiangxu didn’t understand. The lie about looking for her dress was perfectly reasonable. Why couldn’t it fool her? Did she have telepathy?

Zhou Xiangxu nervously changed the subject. “I thought we had already agreed.”

“Don’t you think we were very compatible last night?”

“What does compatibility prove?”

“Never mind.” Chen Mengjing dropped her hands, which were clasped over her lower abdomen. “I’ll see Senior Sister out.”

Having said that, she looked towards the main door.

Zhou Xiangxu wanted to say something else, but felt it was useless to say more, so she silently walked past Chen Mengjing toward the door.

By the door, as she put on her low-cut shoes and stood straight, she noticed Chen Mengjing had clasped her hands over her lower abdomen again.

When silent, she exuded a sense of coldness.

Zhou Xiangxu slightly lifted her chin, meeting Chen Mengjing’s clear, waveless eyes. Some words reached the tip of her tongue but were forcefully suppressed. In the end, she only managed a pale, “Thank you.”

“Thank you.” Chen Mengjing’s lips barely parted.

Zhou Xiangxu could tell she was responding to her own heartlessness with cold indifference.

Pulling open the door and stepping out, Zhou Xiangxu thought she could manage a graceful exit, but she still couldn’t resist looking back.

Chen Mengjing leaned her left hand against the doorframe and lazily said to her, “I haven’t changed, so I won’t see Senior Sister out.”

To Zhou Xiangxu, this sentence sounded even colder than the mechanical “Thank you” she had just uttered.

“No need, you should go back and catch up on some sleep.”

Both hoped the other would be the first to look away, for the nascent alumni camaraderie and for the brief happiness of last night.

Ultimately, they were locked in a tug-of-war that seemed to have no end, silently watching each other through the doorway.

“If Senior Sister doesn’t leave soon, I’ll have to pull you back in,” Chen Mengjing said.

Zhou Xiangxu gave a stiff smile. “Chen Mengjing, goodbye.”

Back home, she hastily ate a little something, then took out her diary and sat down at her desk to catch up on yesterday’s entry.

She had a habit of keeping a diary, but she almost never wrote about the events of the current day. Sometimes it was a momentary reflection, sometimes a memorable quote she saw in a book, sometimes a cloud in the sky, sometimes a dream she had, sometimes a person who brushed past her…

For her twenty-six-year-old diary, after pondering for a moment, she wrote:

The gift from Qilu Garden. So good.

The interpretation of this sentence was: ONS with Chen Mengjing on the twenty-fifth floor of Qilu Garden. Happy.

Zhou Xiangxu was the kind of person who held back even when writing in her diary.

Despite the slim possibility, she was still worried that her parents, who occasionally visited, might sneak a peek at her diary when she wasn’t prepared, thereby peering into the secret she tried so hard to conceal.

Just as she closed the diary and put it away, her phone on the desk vibrated. A new WeChat message popped up on the screen. It was from Chen Mengjing, a very brief sentence: “Home yet?”

Zhou Xiangxu put down her diary, picked up her phone, unlocked it, and opened the chat interface. She stared at the message she had just received for a long time, but ultimately, she didn’t reply.

On the other side, Chen Mengjing had also been staring at her phone since sending the message.

One minute passed, two minutes passed, three minutes passed… fifteen minutes passed.

Just as she had expected, Zhou Xiangxu didn’t reply.

Similar to the “Is Senior Sister really planning to just leave like this?” she had asked before they parted, Chen Mengjing knew the outcome of “Home yet?” would be the same.

Zhou Xiangxu was a woman of her word; ONS meant ONS, with absolutely no further involvement.

After learning that Senior Sister liked women, and after having a passionate night with her, Chen Mengjing couldn’t help but try to push things, but the result was just like this.

Compatibility meant nothing.

Having all the other person’s contact information meant nothing.

Having had skin-to-skin intimacy meant nothing.

With the other person’s heart tightly closed, you could only ever hover outside her world.

Either continue the hopeless wait, or let go and move forward; there was no third possibility.

Chen Mengjing expressionlessly turned off her phone screen.

Today was the day she was supposed to report to Meili Middle School, but she had turned off her phone last night.

After Zhou Xiangxu left, as soon as she turned her phone back on, various messages flooded in.

Even if she missed the morning report, she was fearless. Meili Middle School was founded by her father and was the most prestigious brand private comprehensive middle and high school in Ludao.

Of course, Chen Mengjing wasn’t the irresponsible type. She had only turned off her phone because of Zhou Xiangxu.

Last night, they indulged themselves until almost dawn.

After showering, Zhou Xiangxu wanted to leave, but Chen Mengjing insisted on keeping her.

She held her and slept for a while, but when she opened her eyes, the space beside her was empty.

At that moment, she thought Zhou Xiangxu had already slipped away without a word.

When she walked out of the room and saw Senior Sister’s figure, even though she tried to restrain herself, her tone was not as friendly as she had intended.

After Senior Sister left, she realized that all the coldness and heartlessness she had shown were the result of being stung by greed and unrequited love.

We already agreed on the rules of the game, what right do you have to demand more?

Chen Mengjing self-mockingly tossed her phone aside.

Time to clean up and head out for the report.

Even though it was her father’s school, she didn’t want to appear too willful.