Chapter 33: A Plan in the Dark

As she reached the door, Shen Nian caught up with her.

“Hey, Xiao Xue, how are you getting back? It’s so late. How about I drive you?”

Lin Qingxue shook her head. “No need. Someone’s coming to pick us up.”

***

Downstairs.

The night wind blew against her face, cool.

Lin Qingxue stood by the roadside holding her.

A car pulled up in front.

The window rolled down.

Qiansui sucked in a sharp breath beside Su Yutao’s ear. “Holy shit—”

Su Yutao froze. ‘What’s wrong?’

Qiansui’s voice changed. “It’s that Zhou Ye… but how…”

The car door opened. A voice sounded, muffled, as if something was stuffed in its mouth: “Sister Lin… you got the person?”

Su Yutao was placed in the backseat by Lin Qingxue. Then she smelled a strong medicinal odor. And the smell of blood.

Qiansui whispered in her ear, voice trembling: “His head is wrapped in gauze… there’s blood on the gauze… one arm is in a cast hanging across his chest… his face is swollen like a pig’s head… his eyes are just slits… his lips are busted…”

Su Yutao was stunned. Zhou Ye? The same Zhou Ye who was bouncing around yesterday, fighting her over the penguin?

Qiansui continued: “His nose is crooked… his face is covered in bruises… he looks terrible…”

The car started. Zhou Ye drove carefully in the front seat, movements stiff, as if he hurt everywhere.

Lin Qingxue glanced at him lightly. Su Yutao couldn’t see that look. But Zhou Ye flinched all over.

Lin Qingxue spoke, her voice still gentle: “You useless piece of crap. Can’t do anything right.”

Zhou Ye shrank his neck. Lin Qingxue continued: “I told you to look after someone, and you end up hurting them like this.”

Su Yutao was frozen. Zhou Ye’s injuries… were from Lin Qingxue?

Qiansui whispered in her ear: “It was Lin Qingxue… because of what happened before…”

Zhou Ye muttered quietly from the front: “Sister Lin, I know I was wrong…”

Lin Qingxue ignored him. She just reached out and pulled Su Yutao closer into her arms.

Su Yutao was stiff all over. Zhou Ye glanced at the backseat through the rearview mirror, seeing Su Yutao curled up in Lin Qingxue’s arms, clutching the penguin. A complex look flickered in his swollen eyes. Then he looked away. Continued driving.

Qiansui whispered in Su Yutao’s ear: “If Zhou Ye ended up like this… then if you…” It didn’t finish. But Su Yutao knew what it wanted to say. She curled herself tighter. Buried her face in Qiansui’s fur.

The car drove through the night. Heading toward the place she feared.

…

Before long, the car stopped. Zhou Ye said quietly: “Sister Lin, we’re here.”

Lin Qingxue hummed in acknowledgment, then carried Su Yutao out of the car. She didn’t even glance at Zhou Ye in the car.

Upstairs. Opened the door. The familiar room. The familiar darkness.

Lin Qingxue walked into the bedroom. Then—she let go. Before Su Yutao could react, she fell to the floor.

Thud.

A dull sound. Knees hit the floor. Elbows banged against the ground. Qiansui almost slipped from her arms; she held it tightly. Pain.

Su Yutao curled up on the floor, afraid to move. In the darkness, that voice came from above, flat: “Had a pretty good time these past few days, did you?”

Su Yutao trembled all over. Footsteps. Lin Qingxue crouched in front of her. A hand reached out, gripping her chin, tilting her face up. That voice was right by her ear, very light, very calm: “I asked you a question.”

Su Yutao shook her head. Then nodded. Then shook her head again. She didn’t know how to answer.

Lin Qingxue stared at her for two seconds. Then her gaze fell on the penguin in Su Yutao’s arms. Bulging. Newly stuffed with cotton. Sewn neatly.

Lin Qingxue reached out and took the penguin. Su Yutao’s hands went empty. She froze. Then she panicked. Reached out to grab it back. Lin Qingxue’s hand gently blocked, and she fell back to the floor.

That voice sounded: “Where did this thing come from?” Su Yutao pointed outside—Shen Nian’s home. Lin Qingxue looked at the penguin in her hand, turning it over for a moment: “Shen Nian made it for you?” Su Yutao nodded. “Stuffed it with so much cotton?” Su Yutao nodded again.

Lin Qingxue let out a soft laugh. The laughter was very light. But as Su Yutao heard it, a chill ran down her spine. Lin Qingxue held the penguin in her hand, squeezed it. Then she looked at Su Yutao. “But I heard that you went out on your own these past few days?”

Su Yutao’s body stiffened. Lin Qingxue’s hand reached out, gripping her ankle. Gently at first. Then slowly applying pressure. Pain. That bone-crushing pain. Su Yutao gritted her teeth, afraid to make a sound. Lin Qingxue’s voice was still flat: “A little blind girl like you ran downstairs alone, got bitten by a dog, and was rescued by that useless Zhou Ye?”

The force on her ankle increased another notch. Su Yutao trembled from the pain. “Didn’t I tell you not to run around?” Su Yutao nodded frantically.

Lin Qingxue let go. But her hand moved to Su Yutao’s calf, squeezing. “Do you think I wouldn’t really kill you?” Su Yutao shook her head. Shook it desperately.

Lin Qingxue looked at her like that and let out a soft laugh. That laugh was colder than before. “Let me tell you, I’ve been putting up with you for a long time.” “If it weren’t for not wanting the daytime me to know—” She paused. “You’d already be dead.”

Su Yutao was stunned. ‘Don’t want the daytime me to know?’ So she had been holding back because of this.

Lin Qingxue looked at her dazed expression, let go. Stood up. Looked down at her: “Tomorrow, the daytime me will wake up. She will ask you how these past few days have been.”

Su Yutao curled on the floor, afraid to move. “Have you thought about what to say?” Su Yutao froze. ‘How to say it?’

Lin Qingxue watched her flustered appearance, her brow slightly furrowed. “Forget it.” She turned around. “Expecting you to come up with a solution? I might as well do it myself.”

Su Yutao was stunned. ‘Do it herself?’ Lin Qingxue walked to the headboard, picked up the daytime phone. The light from the screen, Su Yutao could sense it. Lin Qingxue was scrolling through something. Then she put the phone down. Walked back, looked down at Su Yutao.

“The daytime me took leave these past few days.” Su Yutao nodded. She knew. Lin Qingxue continued: “The reason for the leave was family matters, needing to take care of someone.”

Su Yutao nodded again. Lin Qingxue looked at her: “So when the daytime me wakes up, she will think she has been at home all this time, taking care of you.”

Su Yutao was stunned. ‘How is that possible?’ She clearly wasn’t at home.

Lin Qingxue said flatly: “I will add a memory for her. These past few days she didn’t go anywhere, just stayed home with you, cooked for you, changed your bandages, watched you sleep.”

Su Yutao listened, a chill running down her spine. ‘Add memories? This person could add memories to others?’ Lin Qingxue looked at her terrified expression and let out a soft laugh: “What? Scared?”

Su Yutao didn’t dare move. Lin Qingxue continued:

“As for Shen Nian, she only knows that something happened to you at my place, that Zhou Ye didn’t take good care of you, so she took you to her place for a day. But she doesn’t know that I came out at night.”

Su Yutao listened to this plan, piecing it together bit by bit. Perfect. Flawless. This person could even manipulate memories.

Lin Qingxue finished speaking, her gaze falling on Su Yutao’s arm. It was wrapped in bandages. The bandages from the rabies vaccine shots. She frowned. “How do we explain this injury?” Su Yutao was taken aback.

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