Chapter 11: Aquarium Reflections and Academic Woes

The aquarium, a sanctuary for lovers.

“Xuanyu, look at the jellyfish.”

Silver Moon’s tender voice drew Gu Xuanyu from her thoughts, her wine-red pupils gradually focusing on the translucent, soft blue creatures.

Immersed in this aquatic world of glass and water, watching schools of vibrant tropical fish glide past her, she would often find herself lost in thought.

It used to be her who pestered Silver Moon to visit the aquarium, only to later find it rather dull.

Yet, Silver Moon appeared utterly captivated. Her beautiful amber eyes, usually so serene, now sparkled with rare light.

Her typically steady footsteps had grown unconsciously nimble, and the pristine white feathered robe she wore fluttered like delicate butterfly wings in the breeze.

She seemed less like a person truly belonging to this world and more like a fairytale princess who had just escaped an ivory tower, finding everything utterly novel.

Gu Xuanyu shook her head with a resigned sigh, quickening her pace to keep up with the girl’s eager strides.

Suddenly, a large, fan-shaped fish pressed itself against the glass, revealing the dense, intimidating rows of sharp teeth beneath its body. Silver Moon’s gaze was firmly ensnared, and she asked with profound curiosity.

“What is that?”

“That’s a manta ray…”

Before she could finish, Gu Xuanyu paused, a flicker of surprise crossing her face.

‘Had I asked someone this very question in an aquarium before?’ she mused.

She, of course, knew it was a manta ray. Her feigned ignorance was merely a playful whim, a desire to coax words from that ‘blockhead’.

Yet, she couldn’t recall ever visiting an aquarium with anyone other than Silver Moon. ‘Perhaps I’m simply mistaken,’ she thought, dismissing the fleeting memory.

After strolling for quite some time, Silver Moon remained energetic, but Gu Xuanyu was beginning to feel weary.

While they called it an aquarium visit, it was, in essence, just another setting for a date. The true interest often lay not in the fish, but in the person by one’s side.

However, Silver Moon’s attention was entirely elsewhere.

“Silver Moon, you can look around here for a bit. I need to go to the restroom.”

Silver Moon nodded distractedly, her focus still firmly fixed on the marine life behind the glass. She paid no mind to Gu Xuanyu’s departure.

Witnessing this, Gu Xuanyu let out a soft sigh and silently walked away.

***

Before the mirror, Gu Xuanyu released her bound, snowy hair, letting the strands cascade over her shoulders. It was slightly dishevelled, yet it brought her a profound sense of relief.

Silver Moon always tied her hair exceptionally tight, meticulously arranging every single strand as if tending to a precious doll.

But if Silver Moon consistently overlooked her, there was no need to maintain such an elaborate appearance.

Gu Xuanyu swapped her hair tie for a black bow, something she had always wanted to try. She casually gathered her hair into a simple ponytail.

The silver-haired girl in the mirror instantly shed her doll-like refinement, gaining instead a vibrant, spirited air.

It was as if a butterfly, inadvertently trapped within a flower bud, had finally discovered its escape, now soaring freely once more.

She carefully tucked away the hair tie she had used since childhood, placing it in a hidden compartment of her wallet.

‘If I accidentally lost it, Silver Moon would be upset, wouldn’t she?’ she pondered.

Leaning gently against the washbasin, Gu Xuanyu pulled out her phone, savoring this rare moment of solitude.

She couldn’t recall who had told her that solitude was beneficial for restoring energy. Previously, Gu Xuanyu had never quite understood, but now, she found profound truth in those words.

Her notification bar was still overflowing, its contents reflected in Gu Xuanyu’s wine-red eyes. With a slender finger, she calmly swiped away the superfluous messages, searching for anything that might pique her interest.

Just as she thought she was about to be disappointed, a unique notification popped up.

[From Bixiv: An artist you follow has posted new content!]

Her slender finger instinctively swiped to open it, yet remained paused for a long moment. After a brief hesitation, Gu Xuanyu’s curiosity got the better of her, and filled with questions, she tapped into the notification.

Although she appreciated beautiful illustrations, she couldn’t recall ever following a specific artist.

Upon entering the application, Gu Xuanyu’s interface appeared remarkably clean. Her avatar was a tree, her ID a single character, “Yu,” and both her follower and following counts stood at one.

The chat section displayed her sole “mutual follower,” an artist named Qingyu, who used the default black cat avatar.

The chat history contained no conversations, only illustration pushes from the other party.

Scrolling upwards revealed a slew of rather embarrassing, R-rated content, causing Gu Xuanyu’s cheeks to flush. She hurriedly scrolled back to the very bottom.

Fortunately, the latest post was quite innocuous: a delicate illustration of a black-haired maid. The intricate art style immediately caught Gu Xuanyu’s eye, and she couldn’t resist tapping to enlarge it.

The girl in the drawing had a serene, lake-like expression. Her ink-black short hair, neatly and crisply styled, just brushed past her ears, subtly framing her face and making her amber almond eyes appear exceptionally bright.

The moment her gaze met the girl’s, Gu Xuanyu’s eyes lost focus. She clutched her chest tightly, trying to quell the sudden surge of emotion within her.

‘So adorable,’ she thought.

Yet, she hastily patted her cheeks, dismissing the thought. Those familiar amber eyes instantly brought Silver Moon to mind.

‘It must be because Silver Moon resembles her that I’m having these thoughts,’ she rationalized.

Gu Xuanyu put away her phone, staring blankly at the ceiling.

‘Speaking of which, why does Silver Moon have white hair? It would be so much better if she had black hair,’ she mused.

‘While black is quiet, it feels more approachable.’

***

“What do you mean my drawing class was marked as a failure?”

Ye Qing, awakened by An Yueying’s incessant call, felt a vein throb in her forehead. She questioned the ‘wicked woman’ on the other end of the line with an irritable tone, simultaneously pulling on her clothes in a rush.

“My apologies. Our quota was hard-won, and getting you in was the extent of my abilities. To graduate, you’ll have to rely on yourself.”

“So, what’s with the failing grade?”

Hearing this, An Yueying stifled a laugh, trying her best to maintain a normal tone as she spoke to Ye Qing:

“Because you didn’t attend class yesterday. Normally, it takes three missed sessions to fail, but that beautiful teacher seems to particularly despise ‘connections,’ so she just crossed your name off directly…

Oh, and besides drawing, she’s also your color theory teacher this afternoon. If you don’t hurry over, you might just earn yourself an academic warning.”

“You dragged me out to buy clothes yesterday when I had class!”

There were too many points to complain about, so Ye Qing could only pick the most infuriating one to vent her frustration at An Yueying.

“So, you were planning to go to class wearing men’s underwear, wrapped in that utterly hideous hoodie?”

“What else?”

“Pfft… Miss Ye Qing, if you did that, you’d become the center of attention for the entire department.”

“Beep! [An Yueying lost an important family member!]”

An Yueying laughed for a good while before finally calming down. She then spoke with significant meaning:

“Mascot Qing, I understand your dissatisfaction with failing.

However, I must remind you that your primary mission at Jinzhou University’s Fine Arts Department isn’t to study, but to recruit cadres and gather intelligence on Magical Girl Bai.

Work should take precedence; sometimes it’s better to set aside personal emotions.”

“Beep-beep! [An Yueying lost her entire family again!]”

The old man downstairs stared blankly at the black-haired girl scrambling down the stairs, then scratched his bald head in confusion.

“That girl is quite pretty, but why is her temper so fierce?”