Another month passed. By October, autumn had set in. As the saying goes, one autumn rain brings one degree of cold, and it had begun to rain more and more often.
From the back row, Gu Qianran watched the sheets of rain outside and pondered what to eat for lunch. It was a self-study period. As expected, Bai Ziyuan had fallen asleep in Gu Qianran's arms again, a faint smile on her face as if she were having a sweet dream.
Gu Qianran curved her lips in a smile. In recent days, Li Junsheng had already realized that Li Junyao had no head for business and had begun to treat Gu Qianran as a potential heir. Although Liu Cuimei fumed and stomped, nothing she did could change the trend.
As for Gu Lian, after years of being verbally thrashed by Gu Qianran, she had developed her own school of cynical snark, and was now evenly matched with Liu Cuimei in the art of sharp tongues.
With Gu Qianran's help, Ji Tang and Li Junze had slowly begun to grow wealthy. Bai Ziyuan had escaped her original rancid storyline and become the pampered, lawless sweetheart that Gu Qianran spoiled rotten. Bai Zilu, well, Bai Zilu seemed even younger now, like a three-year-old Mary Sue. In short, more or less, everything appeared to be moving in a good direction.
Looking at the little one who trusted her unconditionally, Gu Qianran once again sighed from the heart, thinking, wow, how can she be this adorable.
At noon, Bai Zilu was, as always, leaning against the wall waiting for them, with such unfailing punctuality that one had to wonder if she had skipped class. When Bai Zilu saw Ji Tang and the others, she raised a brow, lifted Ji Tang's chin with exaggerated flourish, and drawled, "Woman, you finally deigned to come out?"
The three of them were speechless.
Ever since Bai Zilu had possessed herself with the spirit of the domineering CEO and babbled nonsense to Ji Tang in the hallway, she had stopped hiding her love for domineering-CEO novels. Sometimes even Bai Zilu found it strange. Why did a little lily like her love domineering CEOs so much?
Expressionless, Ji Tang played along and reversed the position, pinning Bai Zilu to the wall. "Woman, you are playing with fire." Word for word payback. Ji Tang never forgot.
Bai Ziyuan and Gu Qianran automatically turned away. "Tsk, we cannot bear to look." And people said the two of them were odd. Clearly these two were the ones with a story.
Bai Zilu wriggled out from the gap between Ji Tang and the wall, then threw an arm around Ji Tang's shoulders and went off to discuss lunch. Bai Ziyuan, using her geographical advantage, placed her order directly with the decision maker, Gu Qianran. Gu Qianran could only be helpless. These girls had already turned the dorm upside down, and it seemed she herself had started the trend.
Watching the little one shamelessly and adeptly act spoiled for the sake of a meal, Gu Qianran could only admit that Bai Ziyuan had been utterly spoiled by her. Nothing to be done. A child you have spoiled must be spoiled to the end.
The rain outside was heavy, and the three were trapped in the teaching building for the moment. Dark clouds covered the sky, and suddenly there was a loud peal of thunder.
Bai Zilu still wore her usual playful grin, but her body trembled slightly. Gu Qianran did not notice, but Ji Tang, whose arm Bai Zilu was holding, felt it clearly.
Ji Tang looked over. Bai Zilu's voice shook ever so slightly as she kept up the banter, and her face had gone a little pale. Ji Tang gave her a worried glance and quietly pulled her closer.
Autumn showers usually come in bursts and seldom last. This downpour had come fast and left fast. Before long, it lightened and stopped. The four returned to the dorm and cooked a simple feast together, iron pot instant noodles. Strange to say, made this way, instant noodles had a new kind of flavor.
Bai Ziyuan ate until she was stuffed, then melted across her bed bonelessly. Gu Qianran gently rubbed Bai Ziyuan's stomach to help her digest.
Bai Ziyuan gave Gu Qianran a plaintive look. Rotten Ranran, you are already so used to being close with me, yet you still cannot sense my feelings. You are a block of wood. No, Bai Zilu is too unreliable, I need a new strategy target.
That vague, ineffable feeling within Gu Qianran grew stronger. She caught a thread of a thought in her mind, then it slipped away again.
She sighed. It was best to ask someone. Of the people around her, the dependable one was Ji Tang. She might as well ask Ji Tang tonight.
The four afternoon classes passed in a doze and a blink. They went back to the dorm. Gu Qianran supervised Bai Ziyuan's review, Ji Tang watched the markets, Bai Zilu began to draw.
Bai Zilu had wanted to be an illustrator since childhood. Lately her ambition was to draw covers for domineering-CEO romances. She had already laid out the composition. The male lead would pin the female lead to the wall while spouting lines from the sacred scriptures of domineering absurdity.
Perfectly suited to the idiotic title, The Arrogant Young Master Loves You Hard.
She had sketched the clothing and was pondering the faces. By some trick of fate, she thought of Ji Tang's face.
When Ji Tang had pinned her in the corridor, Bai Zilu's heart had indeed sped up for a second. Her love for domineering-CEO stories suddenly had a reasonable explanation. This was exactly her taste. Domineering types need not be male or female. If they are A, that is all that matters.
With these little thoughts swirling, she drew the arrogant young master's face with seven parts resemblance to Ji Tang, and inserted herself perfectly into the role of the delicate spouse. Satisfied, she nodded at her work.
After turning in the cover, she opened the novel to read and was dazzled with outrage by chapter fifteen.
Happily, she shared her confusion with her roommates. "This The Arrogant Young Master Loves You Hard turns out to be a brainless harem power fantasy. The villainess is unbelievably stupid. She could have been a perfectly fine third female lead, but she insists on chasing the male lead."
Bai Zilu liked devoted domineering types, not this system-generated harem for loser nerds.
The Arrogant Young Master Loves You Hard? Was that not the title of this world's story? The corner of Gu Qianran's brow twitched. Was Bai Zilu actually reading the script? Also, what did she mean by ignoring the third female lead, the focus was way off.
She leaned in to take a look and found it was only the same title. The plot was eye-searingly bad. Gu Qianran immediately looked back at the beauty of Bai Ziyuan to cleanse her palate.
Reading a Mary Sue novel inside a Mary Sue novel, did that count as nesting dolls? Gu Qianran was genuinely curious.
Bai Zilu kept complaining. "Look at this. For the sake of the male lead, she even destroys the female lead's dreams. Is she even human? Stupid villainess. Right, Gu Qianran?"
Gu, villainess, Qianran felt called out.
Gu Qianran quickly led the little one away, and the two sat together with such perfect harmony that Bai Zilu felt bad interrupting. Seeing that the pair would not listen to her rant, Bai Zilu turned to harass Ji Tang instead. Ji Tang had to endure the brainless rich-family melodrama being recited into her ear. She was helpless, but did not interrupt Bai Zilu's performance.
Bai Zilu was deeply moved, so she became even more dramatic. Ah, such touching reciprocation.
Ji Tang could only think, you are repaying kindness with torment.
But could Ji Tang really cut Bai Zilu off mid-rant? She could not. So she did what Gu Qianran would do, and indulged her. I will cooperate with your performance as best I can. Do not mind me, perform however you like.
They carried on like this until night. At bedtime, the sky began to rain again. This time there was not only thunder, but fierce lightning that bleached the sky white.
After lulling Bai Ziyuan to sleep, Gu Qianran soon drifted off herself. Ji Tang, habitually a night owl, lay in bed scrolling through her phone. A flash of lightning split the sky. Instinctively, Ji Tang glanced across and saw Bai Zilu trembling.
Ji Tang quietly climbed down and went to Bai Zilu's bedside. "Are you afraid of thunder?"
Bai Zilu had most of her head buried under the blanket and nodded slightly. Every year around this time was a nightmare for her. She had thought growing up would make her forget, but no.
Ji Tang did not ask why Bai Zilu feared it. She simply patted the quilt gently. The trembling eased a little, though Bai Zilu's face was still pale.
After a while, Ji Tang grew sleepy and started to leave. The moment the little bit of darkness that Ji Tang's presence had held at bay returned, Bai Zilu grabbed Ji Tang and whimpered, "Do not go."
Ji Tang looked at her helplessly. "If I do not go, how do I sleep?" Bai Zilu blurted, "Then sleep with me." The moment she said it, she realized how it sounded and hurried to explain. "I am really scared. Look, we are both thin, we can fit if we squeeze. Please."
That pleading expression truly captured Bai Ziyuan's essence. Combined with the pallor on Bai Zilu's face, it softened Ji Tang's heart. With a sigh, Ji Tang accepted fate and lay down beside Bai Zilu.
Bai Zilu's feelings were complicated. She was afraid, she was excited, and she felt something she could not name.
As Ji Tang drew close, Bai Zilu naturally felt a warm heat and a soft breath. She instinctively nestled into Ji Tang's arms. Ji Tang stiffened, but did not push her away. Ji Tang's arm encircled Bai Zilu, the pose undeniably intimate.
There was no time to overthink. Ji Tang only felt that Bai Zilu smelled sweet and felt comfortable, and she fell asleep.
Ji Tang carried a faint sandalwood fragrance. Curled in Ji Tang's arms, Bai Zilu breathed in that scent. Her fear slowly dissipated, replaced by a growing sense of safety.
It still thundered outside, yet she heard something louder than the thunder. After a moment she realized, it was her heartbeat.
A bolt of lightning flashed beyond the window, lighting Bai Zilu's burning red face. Shy, she buried her face deeper into the sleeping Ji Tang's embrace, the corners of her mouth lifting in silence.
In that moment, she understood. She could now stand on equal ground and duel with her younger sister.
She, Bai Zilu, was now certain that she liked Ji Tang.