Chapter 14: Leaving

She let go, stepped back half a step, and tilted her head to look at Bai Zhinuo.

“It’s been less than half a day, and after one full meal, you already dare to ignore my orders?”

Bai Zhinuo’s breath hitched.

“Or maybe,” Shen Qingci said, her voice airy, the tail end rising with a playful coldness, “you think your head is harder than those three missing corpses?”

Bai Zhinuo trembled.

“I wasn’t asking for your opinion.”

Shen Qingci looked at her, her wine-red eyes sinking into the moonlight.

“Fine. I’ll give you one more chance to rephrase that.”

Shen Qingci smiled, her fingertip gently tracing Bai Zhinuo’s lips again and again.

Bai Zhinuo’s eyes started to sting again, but this time she didn’t let the tears fall.

She breathed in deep through her nose, pushed the ache back down, straightened her spine, and did her best to look alert.

“I-I-I-I’m sorry!”

“I… I’ll go pack now!”

She spun and rushed to the plastic bag beside the pile of old textbooks in the corner, moving as if a ghost were chasing her.

But she had pitifully few belongings. The bag held one spare old sweater, two pairs of faded socks, a half-used bottle of cheap diluted shampoo, and a few beat-up textbooks.

That was all she had.

She picked up the bag, weighed it in her hand, and glanced at Shen Qingci.

“P-Packed.”

Shen Qingci looked at the limp bag and frowned again.

She didn’t say anything, just turned her gaze to the tattered school uniform Bai Zhinuo was wearing.

The left shoulder was torn open, a long rip running from shoulder to sleeve. The edges frayed outward, revealing her thin shoulder beneath.

The underarm on the other side was ripped, and the collar was missing a button. The whole uniform hung loosely off her.

Needless to say, it was Zhao Min’s handiwork from earlier. The back of the uniform was torn in a few places as well.

Shen Qingci walked over and stretched out a hand.

Bai Zhinuo instinctively shrank back. But Shen Qingci only placed her hand on her left shoulder, pinched the edge of the tear between her fingers, and gave it a light rub.

Her fingertip grazed Bai Zhinuo’s shoulder, brushing the hollow above her collarbone.

Bai Zhinuo stayed frozen.

Shen Qingci stared down at the rip running from shoulder to sleeve, which exposed a thin bit of collarbone and pale shoulder.

Her gaze rested there for two seconds, then she pressed the torn edges together, as if to keep that patch of skin from showing.

“What a mess. I’ll buy you a new one tomorrow.”

Shen Qingci said it casually, like a throwaway line. But the firm look in her eyes was unmistakable.

Bai Zhinuo was stunned and instinctively blurted, “No need… I can mend it…”

“When I say buy, I buy.”

Shen Qingci cut her off, leaving no room for discussion.

She moved her fingers off Bai Zhinuo’s shoulder, then reached up to refasten the loose button at the collar.

But the uniform’s collar was already too wide, and even buttoned it hung slack, showing a small patch of skin under the collarbone.

Shen Qingci’s hand paused, then she gathered the two sides of the collar and flattened the wrinkles with her fingertips.

“Let’s go.”

She turned and walked toward the door.

Bai Zhinuo stood where she was for a moment, clutching the plastic bag, then trotted after her.

At the door, she paused and looked back at the concrete room she’d lived in for nearly half a year.

The straw mat still lay on the floor. The ragged quilt was still folded in the corner. Two washed-out uniforms hung swaying from the clothesline in the night wind.

It looked the same as ever, except the broken door was gone. The bare door frame let the moonlight pour in without anything blocking it, illuminating every corner of the room.

She turned away and caught up with Shen Qingci.

After they left the unfinished building, Shen Qingci pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

The phone rang twice, and a male voice answered.

“Miss?”

“Come pick me up.”

Shen Qingci’s tone was cold, back to the chilly demeanor she used with outsiders.

There was a two-second silence on the other end. Then the man spoke with a forced apology.

“Um, Miss, I’m sorry, but I’m on the west side of town. It’ll take about an hour for me to get there. Maybe you could call a cab…”

Shen Qingci didn’t respond.

Her hand tightened around the phone, knuckles slowly clenching, the glow from the screen casting light on her face.

Standing half a step behind, Bai Zhinuo could see Shen Qingci’s expression turn slightly heavy in the moonlight. Obviously, this was not what she had been expecting.

“You’re on the west side?”

Shen Qingci’s voice was flat, with no hint of emotion.

“When did you go?”

“I came over around three in the afternoon. I had some personal matters to handle…”

“Personal matters.”

Shen Qingci repeated the phrase, a cold smile at the corner of her mouth.

When Bai Zhinuo caught that smile, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. It was the same smile she’d had right before she broke Zhao Min’s leg in the room earlier.

“Fine,” Shen Qingci said, holding the phone a little away from her mouth. “Then go handle your own business.”

She hung up before he could answer.

Bai Zhinuo watched her silhouette. The moonlight outlined her tensed jaw.

Shen Qingci stood still for two seconds, then lowered her head to look at the contacts on her phone.

Shen Jiao.

Bai Zhinuo caught a glimpse of the name.

She didn’t know who Shen Jiao was. But she saw Shen Qingci staring at the name for a long time, thumb suspended over the screen, not pressing down.

Emotions Bai Zhinuo couldn’t name swirled in those wine-red eyes, as if something inside was splitting apart.

Then Shen Qingci’s brows tightened abruptly.

She shut her eyes, as if in thought.

Bai Zhinuo saw her lashes tremble slightly and her lips press together even harder, the fingers wrapped around her phone turning white at the knuckles.

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