Chapter 21: The Knight’s Invitation

Gu Mianmian was staring blankly at the program registration form.

Suddenly, the water in the bathroom stopped.

Lin Ci pushed the door open and walked out.

She pulled on an old set of pajamas and rubbed her long hair with a towel.

Droplets ran down the ends of her hair, onto her collarbone, then slipped under her collar.

Lin Ci tugged at the cloth clinging to her skin and cursed her long hair for the umpteenth time.

Washing her hair was more exhausting than running an experiment, and drying it would take another half hour.

She walked to the desk to look for the hair dryer and caught sight of Gu Mianmian sitting in a chair, spacing out.

Gu Mianmian held a sheet of paper, her eyes fixed on a line of text.

Lin Ci leaned over to take a look.

It was the registration form for the school art festival. The vocal music section had a deep nail mark pressed into it.

“What’s up? Why are you spacing out? Want to join?”

Lin Ci asked casually and plugged in the hair dryer.

Gu Mianmian’s shoulders twitched, and she hastily turned the form face down on the desk.

“N-no, nothing like that, Senior.”

Gu Mianmian shook her head.

“I… I don’t dare go on stage.”

Lin Ci pressed the hair dryer switch, and hot air blew out.

“What’s there to be afraid of? That song you were humming tonight was pretty good.”

Lin Ci said while fiddling with her hair.

“Your voice is so nice. It’d be a shame not to sing.”

“Go busk under a bridge? That’s a bit beneath you.”

Gu Mianmian didn’t speak.

She stared blankly at the desk, Lin Ci’s praise echoing in her ears.

Senior said her voice was nice.

Senior said it’d be a shame not to sing.

Then she would sing.

She wanted to sing for the whole world, but every word would be sung only for Lin Ci.

As long as she could make Senior’s eyes stay on her, going on stage was no big deal.

2:30 a.m.

The dorm was quiet enough to hear the air conditioning vent.

Lin Ci was sprawled in the upper bunk, one leg hanging outside the blanket.

In the lower bunk, Gu Mianmian lay awake, phone in hand.

The faint glow of the screen lit her face, reflecting the light in her eyes.

She scrolled through the school website. A notice with a red header was pinned to the top of the homepage.

The school art festival required every class to submit one group or two-person interactive performance.

Gu Mianmian’s eyes caught on the words ‘two-person interactive.’

Two-person interactive.

Did that mean she could go on stage with Senior?

She wanted to stand with Senior in front of everyone.

Let those boys who stared at Senior every day know that Senior was her partner.

Senior was hers alone. No one else could have designs on her.

Gu Mianmian swiped her finger across the screen and screenshotted the notice.

She stuffed the phone under her pillow and pulled the blanket over half her face.

In the dark, the corners of her mouth curved up.

Tomorrow, she would seize this chance.

The next day at noon.

Lin Ci had just come back to the dorm with her food when her phone buzzed repeatedly in her pocket.

She pulled it out and saw the counselor @everyone in the class group.

“Our class still has an open performance slot. Dorm 302 must fill it.”

“Submit the program list before Friday, or your dorm’s comprehensive evaluation score will be deducted.”

Lin Ci had just put a piece of braised pork in her mouth. When she saw the words on the screen, it instantly tasted like nothing.

“Is the counselor out of her mind? Why does she always draft me for this crap?”

She tossed the phone onto the desk and scratched her hair in irritation.

Back when Lin Ci lived in the boys’ dorm, she hated forced group activities like this most.

Seriously!!!

If she had that time, staying in the dorm with the AC on and playing a few rounds of games would be so much better.

Now that she’d turned into a girl, she was forced on stage to show her face every single time.

The trauma from wearing a qipao last time hadn’t faded, and now there was some new nonsense.

Why did they always pick on her?

Damn counselor!!!!

Gu Mianmian sat across from her with a lunchbox, quietly eating plain rice.

She watched Lin Ci’s irritated expression, set down her chopsticks, and spoke softly.

“Senior, why don’t we sign up together?”

Lin Ci blinked and looked up at her in confusion.

“Gu Mianmian, are you crazy? Didn’t you say you don’t dare go on stage? Why are you so brave now? Who gave you the courage? Liang Jingru?”

“Senior, I…”

Lin Ci interrupted her before she could finish, waving a hand.

“No, no. I’m tone-deaf. My singing could summon wolves. If I go on stage, I’ll definitely ruin it for you.”

“Senior, you don’t have to sing. You just need to stand beside me as my knight companion.”

Gu Mianmian looked into Lin Ci’s eyes.

She was rarely this proactive, and her eyes were pleading.

“Besides, I’m scared to go on stage alone. If Senior comes with me, I definitely won’t be scared.”

Lin Ci looked at Gu Mianmian, and the refusal on her lips stuck.

This girl was usually so timid.

It was rare for her to have the courage to show herself on stage. If Lin Ci refused outright, wouldn’t it crush her?

Plus the counselor was using the comprehensive evaluation score as leverage. There was no dodging this.

Maybe?

Lin Ci thought for a moment, then sighed and picked up her chopsticks in resignation.

“Fine, fine. We can’t escape it anyway.”

“But first, as long as I don’t have to open my mouth, I’ll just be a wooden post next to you.”

Gu Mianmian lowered her head, satisfaction flashing in her eyes.

She lowered her gaze, hiding the obsession in her eyes.

“Thank you, Senior. I’ll sing really well.”

That afternoon there were no classes, so Lin Ci lay in bed catching up on sleep.

Gu Mianmian sat at the desk and took an encrypted diary from the back of a drawer.

She turned to a new page and pressed her pen hard into the paper, writing a line.

“Today I succeeded. I’m going to stand on stage with Senior.”

“Everyone will see that Senior is my partner, and mine alone.”

After writing those lines, Gu Mianmian traced the words on the page with her fingertip.

Her breathing grew heavy, her eyes filled with possessive obsession.

Senior agreed.

Senior was going to be her knight.

A knight belongs only to the princess. No one else can steal her away.

At 8 p.m., the college rehearsal room.

Lin Ci stood in front of the full-length mirror, examining her clothes.

This was the performance outfit the counselor had sent over.

A fitted shirt paired with suit pants.

Lin Ci tied her long hair into a ponytail, giving her a sharp, cool aura.

Looking at herself in the mirror,

she patted her pant leg in satisfaction.

These clothes were so convenient, much better than that awful qipao.

It felt great to be back in men’s clothes. She could even take long strides when walking.

Lin Ci casually tugged at her collar and undid a button.

Her collarbone was exposed, the skin contrasting sharply with the shirt.

Gu Mianmian stood a few steps away, holding the lyric book.

She wasn’t looking at the lyrics. Her gaze was glued to Lin Ci.

Lin Ci’s tall figure and profile were especially striking under the light.

Gu Mianmian’s breathing quickened.

She looked at the waistline faintly visible under Lin Ci’s shirt.

The shirt was tailored close, making Lin Ci’s waist look very thin.

When Lin Ci raised a hand to fix her hair, her sleeve slid down.

Revealing a wrist.

Gu Mianmian’s finger dug a small hole into the lyric book.

She really wanted to walk over and button that undone button back up.

Hide that wrist back in the sleeve.

This sight was for her alone. Why should she show it to those outsiders?

Lin Ci didn’t notice Gu Mianmian’s gaze at all.

She turned around and strode to the center of the rehearsal room.

“Hurry up. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go back and sleep.”

Lin Ci urged.

“These leather shoes are so stiff. They’re hurting my feet.”

Gu Mianmian lowered her head, hid the obsession in her eyes, and instantly put on a docile expression as she walked over.

“Senior, this song has an interlude in the middle.”

“The instructor said that during the interlude, you need to do a move with me.”

Lin Ci waved her hand impatiently.

“What move? Just show me. Don’t make it all fancy.”

Gu Mianmian walked up to Lin Ci, the distance between them less than half a meter.

She could smell the milky scent on Lin Ci, mixed with the lemon of her shampoo.

Gu Mianmian’s heart skipped a beat, and her fingers secretly clenched the hem of her shirt.

“When the interlude is about to end, Senior, you need to reach out your hand.”

“Make an inviting gesture.”

Gu Mianmian explained softly.

Lin Ci rolled her eyes and cursed the instructor in her mind.

What kind of knight invitation? Did they think this was a stage play?

And wasn’t this supposed to be a singing performance?

But to get it over with, she had no choice but to tough it out.

“Fine, I got it. Come on, start the accompaniment.”

Music came from the rehearsal room speakers.

Gu Mianmian held the microphone and began to sing along with the accompaniment.

Her voice echoed through the rehearsal room.

Like a voice from heaven, ethereal and quiet.

Lin Ci stood to the side, hands in her pockets, seriously enjoying Gu Mianmian’s singing.

She had to admit, this girl really could sing.

This version of her was much easier on the eyes than her usual timid self.

Lin Ci silently gave her singing a score of ninety-eight.

The two points deducted were because this rehearsal was pure torture.

As the music progressed, the interlude was approaching.

Gu Mianmian’s singing gradually stopped, and only the accompaniment flowed through the rehearsal room.

She turned her head and looked at Lin Ci beside her.

The light fell on Lin Ci’s profile, making her eyes look especially cold and clear.

Gu Mianmian stared into Lin Ci’s eyes, her heartbeat growing faster.

It was almost time.

Her knight was about to reach out to her.

The drumbeats of the accompaniment grew denser.

The climax was about to arrive.

Lin Ci counted the beats in her head. When the moment came, she slowly pulled her hand from her pocket.

According to the instructor’s request, she took half a step forward.

Leaned slightly forward, extended her right hand.

Palm up, in a knight’s invitation pose.

Lin Ci wore a perfunctory expression, just wanting this part to end.

Just as she extended her hand.

Gu Mianmian didn’t follow the script and place her hand in the palm.

She stepped forward, directly ignoring the hovering hand.

Her knee almost touched Lin Ci’s pant leg, closing the already narrow distance between them.

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