Inside the dark house, only the sound of footsteps on the carpeted staircase could be heard.
Mo Qianren walked up the steps slowly as he thoroughly checked his surroundings.
There were three rooms on the second floor. The master bedroom, a study room, and one room far off at the end of the corridor.
Mo Qianren checked the first two rooms before walking toward the last room.
He pushed open the wooden door softly, without letting any sound escape.
The bright flashlight scanned the room. Aside from an enormous closet that was stuck horizontally to the wall, Mo Qianren couldn't see anything else. The room was so empty that it highlighted the presence of the closet.
He slowly walked toward the dark red closet and stood in front of one door and softly pulled it open…
His heart suddenly grew nervous.
Creak… Translated by The Novelst
It was empty!
He then walked to the second door and found that empty as well. And then the third… which revealed a human figure to his sight!
Mo Qianren's eyes widened. He stepped backwards to turn on the lights at the door. The bright lights immediately lit up the whole room.
Inside the closet, a human puppet that was just as tall as a human being was hung from the top, silvery threads wound around its four limbs. The puppet's skin looked bloodless and its body was twisted into a weird position, the expression on its face seeming very pained, mouth wide open as if trying, but unable, to scream.
This doll really seemed like a real person, but it didn't have any eyes in the sockets. If there had been a pair of real human eyes, then Mo Qianren might have been able to see at just a glance that this was not actually a puppet, but a real corpse.
Just as Mo Qianren went to touch it, a shout suddenly came from outside the villa: "Who's upstairs?!"
It was Uncle Bao's voice.
Mo Qianren took a glance at the lights. He regretted turning the lights on. It seemed he couldn't stay any longer and needed to flee immediately before Uncle Bao arrived. If he got caught, he'd surely be blacklisted.
……
Mu Rulan got a call from Uncle Bao as she was leaving her bath. He told her that someone had actually dared to barge into her house. She was surprised, but still had a smile on her face.
It looked like the big fish she was looking for didn't let her down? Hehe…
My dear, let us play an interesting game.
……
In the blink of an eye, a few days had already passed and it was almost time for the students to face their fear-inducing midterm exams.
Bai Suqing's wounds had started to recover after a few days of recuperating. Her scars had mostly healed, but there were still very many bruises on her body. Since these were covered by her shirt, no one had noticed.
She arrived to school early because she was planning to prepare for the exams. She had taken a few days' leave just after she'd entered the school as a student, so other students had starts to suspect she would drag down their overall results.
Bai Suqing took small steps to walk toward Duan Yao, her face flushing red. She handed over papers from past years' examinations to Duan Yao. When she stretched out her arm, her sleeve slid up, revealing the bruises that had been inflicted by Zhou Yaya.
Duan Yao took the papers from her, his gaze skipping over the obvious purple bruises, asking, "What happened to you?"
Bai Suqing seemed fearful. She immediately withdrew her hands and held them in front of her chest, her face paling and her eyes tearing up a little. "N-nothing."
The other students immediately took notice of their conversation. She suddenly became the center of attention. Since she'd been introduced to them as Mu Rulan's "little sister," they needed to make it look like they at least were concerned about her.
"Bai Suqing, if you're being bullied outside of school you can tell us. Liu Silan is pretty cooperative now that our president's managing the school.," said Li Shen.
"Or if even if you have problems in school you can still tell us. You are at the very least one of the members of Class F," said Liu Peiyang disinterestedly, staring at himself in the mirror.
Bai Suqing's expression was moved, her lips moving like she wanted to say something but could not. At last, she stood in front of Duan Yao, tears streaking down her face.
No man could bear to stand looking at a girl crying in front of him, right? Especially Duan Yao, who was known as a popular lover; how could someone like him let a beauty cry before him?
Just as she thought, Duan Yao took out a piece of tissue to hand to her. She gave him a pitiful little glance, taking the tissue from him in a way that was a little reluctant but willing to receive.
Duan Yao tried to restrain his hand from quivering at that sight. Not because he had fallen for her, but rather because he was disgusted.
Bai Suqing noticed that small movement and was happy in her heart, but on the surface even more tears poured down her face.
"Eh, can you please stop crying and at least tell us what happened," said Taishi Niangzi. She couldn't stand it anymore. She hated women who only knew how to cry, or only to act!
"It's nothing…" Bai Suqing said weakly, shaking her head. "I'm just sorry for making sister mad… It's nothing."
Bai Suqing did not notice the gazes on her immediately turning cold as she shook her head.
Li Shen couldn't help but shake his head in disapproval, "Look at your stupid face. Is your brain filled with air?"
Bai Suqing heard this and couldn't conceal her reaction in time: her body stiffened and even her expression became stony in an instant. She looked at Li Shen, noticing he was actually facing Taishi Niangzi and not her. She was relieved, but at the same time she felt it was a little odd.
Duan Yao's heavy gaze fell on Bai Suqing. He said, "Since it's nothing, you should go back and prep for the exam."
"Mn," Bai Suqing nodded tactfully and left back to her seat, her eyes still brimming with tears.
The bell for first period rang, signaling the start of the exam. Time passed quickly, indicated only by the fervent sound of pens scribbling on paper.
In the afternoon, after the end of the examinations, many students rushed to the lunchroom. Mu Rulan stayed in class to help Ou Kaicheng solve a difficult math question. A few students also stayed back to watch.
Bai Suqing looked at the gathered students of Class A from outside the window, noticing that Ou Kaicheng seemed much warmer when looking at Mu Rulan. While everyone else had their attention on Mu Rulan teaching them to solve the question, Ou Kaicheng was gazing at Mu Rulan the entire time…
Bai Suqing's fingernails carved deeply into her palms. Something dark was moving in her eyes.
When Mu Rulan and Ou Kaicheng came out of the classroom, they saw Bai Suqing leaning on the wall like she was waiting for someone.
"Qing Qing?" Mu Rulan voiced in surprise. Translated by The Novelst
Bai Suqing immediately looked like a frightened little bunny. She quickly stood straight to face Mu Rulan. She lowered her head slightly and her entire body shivered. "Sister… I've ordered the dishes, y-you…"
The few people around them found it odd. Their gazes went between Mu Rulan and Bai Suqing. Why did this Miss Bai Suqing act this way? …Why did she seem so afraid of Mu Rulan?
Proofread by: Hannah