Chapter 33: Future

(This chapter requires some story elements. Some aspects of schools, student registration status, and exam rules are based on reality, but have been altered to serve the plot. If it feels disjointed, my apologies~)

The morning classes were strange.

He Rou couldn’t understand the lessons, and combined with this morning’s incident, she was absent-minded.

Luo Yun, on the other hand, knew everything already, so she kept looking at her phone.

Xun Su was still thinking about how to get revenge on He Rou for the humiliation she suffered in the morning.

Slowly, the whole morning passed.

During lunch break, the first and second years had a full three hours, while the third year had only one and a half.

Luo Yun didn’t want to eat in the cafeteria—she hated the greasy smell there.

So she ordered He Rou to buy a salad from the cafeteria, along with anything He Rou wanted to eat, and then meet her on the rooftop.

He Rou didn’t know where the cafeteria was.

Luo Yun didn’t tell her either.

She just threw down a card and went to the rooftop to hang out.

Helpless, He Rou had to limp outside.

She hadn’t moved much in two months, and after all the running around today, her leg ached so badly she could barely feel it.

The teaching building was tall.

It was lunch rush hour, and the elevator was packed with people.

He Rou waited.

Finally, after who knows how long, she made it to the first floor.

As soon as she walked out of the teaching building—

A cold wind blew, and He Rou shrank her neck.

The school was huge.

She had never been to the cafeteria.

No choice—she had to go to the sign at the school gate to look at the campus bird’s-eye view.

Her limping leg was nothing but a burden.

Who knows how many times she stopped just to let her leg rest a little.

Luo Yun, standing on the rooftop the whole time, watched the limping black pixel slowly make its way to the school gate, then from the school gate to the cafeteria.

This feeling wasn’t exactly good, but watching her pet perfectly execute her master’s commands like a robot…

…gave a sense of accomplishment.

The cafeteria was noisy with voices.

He Rou lowered her head and stood at the back of the line.

“He Rou?”

A clear voice came from beside her.

He Rou’s body stiffened.

This voice—she would never forget it for the rest of her life.

She turned her head and saw Cheng Ruo grinning at her.

Cheng Ruo was the same as ever.

Her school uniform hung crookedly on her body, full of liveliness.

“It really is you! I thought I was seeing things earlier. Actually, I saw you this morning and wanted to say hi, but I saw you were with someone, so I didn’t bother you and left. I thought I’d run into you in class—honestly, I waited and waited until I got hungry and went out to eat, and then I bumped into you.”

“Um… I’m so sorry. I… I changed classes, so I didn’t go back… sorry.”

“Mm… I understand. Someone like you, it’s really pitiful. Such a good-looking face—what a shame. No, that’s not right either. If it weren’t for this face, maybe you’d be really free.”

Cheng Ruo talked a lot.

They had only known each other for half a day and hadn’t seen each other for months, but now they met again, chatting like old friends finding each other.

He Rou found it hard to answer.

Every time she spoke, the wounds on her body ached faintly.

And along with that came Luo Yun’s words, always lingering in her ears: “Don’t talk to anyone else.”

“Sorry…”

Cheng Ruo looked at her sorrowful face and couldn’t help shaking her head.

“Have you… thought about changing this through the Gaokao?”

“Sorry! I… I really can’t talk anymore. So… let’s stop here. I’m really sorry!”

He Rou’s answer was completely irrelevant.

Cheng Ruo looked at her and realized that He Rou’s misery was already beyond her ability to intervene.

“Alright. Anyway… all the best.”

After Cheng Ruo finished speaking, she left the cafeteria.

Outside, the wind had died down, but the temperature was still low.

She put on a mask, thinking about He Rou’s situation, feeling uneasy.

In the two years she had been at this school, she had seen scenes like this countless times.

She often stood aloof, but always wanted to change things.

Helping… going crazy… fighting… and finally, a mental evaluation report…

She didn’t know who saved her, but at least her student registration status was preserved.

But the person she had wanted to help died.

Clearly, she herself had been a shy girl at first—someone who dedicated everything to studying.

The girl she wanted to help, the one who died, was someone she had known since elementary school.

Yet it wasn’t until their first year of high school that they even exchanged a single sentence.

There were many mysteries in this school.

Cheng Ruo herself didn’t know how many mysteries she had come into contact with, or whether… she herself was the cause of some tragedies.

But none of that mattered now.

He Rou had given up on her help.

Then she, too, had to learn to let go.

The Gaokao was less than a year away.

Escaping this place as soon as possible was the top priority.

—

He Rou bought everything.

A salad, and a meal she had never tasted but looked decent.

“The Gaokao, huh…”

On the way back, He Rou kept thinking about what Cheng Ruo had said.

Even though her own response had been decisive, it wasn’t that she hadn’t heard a single word.

But she knew her own ability.

How could someone who hadn’t gone to school for so long make a breakthrough in the Gaokao?

Unless… she went the art route.

One of the reasons this school had a high college admission rate was that most students were art majors.

Those who didn’t want to go abroad and didn’t have a high IQ all took this path.

He Rou herself had entered school alongside Luo Yun as a companion.

Although her age was there, in terms of student registration status, she was still a first-year.

If she just followed Luo Yun’s path, she would leave this school in her second year and continue serving her.

But… everything could be negotiated.

…

He Rou stood in front of the elevator, watching the descending numbers.

Thoughts kept surging in her mind.

“Two years…”

Ding—

She stepped into the elevator.

“There’s still plenty of time. The foundation in drawing I learned with Luo Yun when I was little should still be there…”

The numbers kept going up.

“But… will she agree? Can I… learn it well on my own?”

Ding—

She stepped out of the elevator.

“But staying means giving up, betraying… Luo Yun will never agree, right…”

He Rou lowered her head and turned toward the stairwell, heading up.

Before today, she had never thought of a way out for her own life.

Her parents’ indifference, the fire that day, the hospital bills, the debt to Luo Yun’s family, and—most importantly—atonement…

Any one of these was enough to break her back.

Let alone all of them.

In the three years she had worked at Luo Yun’s house, she had never thought of living for herself.

Never thought that she could be like this.

But today, her thoughts were awakened by Cheng Ruo’s single sentence.

She also had a chance not to be placed in front of Luo Yun like a vase.

She also had a chance not to kneel in front of Luo Yun like a pet.

Could she also have a chance… to stand in front of Luo Yun like a friend, like a true human?

To enrich her knowledge, go to college…