Chapter 24: The Duet and the Watchers

That afternoon, the backstage of the auditorium was in chaos.

Lin Ci stood in front of the full-length mirror in the changing room and tugged awkwardly at the waist of the suit pants.

“Why is this damn pair tighter than it was in rehearsal? It’s squeezing the life out of me. I can barely move my legs.”

She muttered under her breath and turned in front of the mirror, irritated.

The suit was a slim fit. The waist was pulled in too tight, spelling out curves that were already sleek.

She tied her long hair into a high ponytail, revealing a clean, coldly beautiful face.

“At least this outfit lets me walk like a normal person.”

Lin Ci rolled her shoulders and felt the tightness across her chest.

She simply undid the top button of her shirt. Her breathing finally eased.

Her collarbone showed, pale under the dim backstage lights.

“Senior, let me help you straighten up.”

Gu Mianmian’s voice came from behind.

Lin Ci turned and felt her eyes brighten.

Today Gu Mianmian wore the same slip dress from yesterday. She looked tall and thin.

For once she had pinned her bangs back behind her ears with a clip, showing her full features.

The girl was pretty, but her skin had the pallor of someone who never saw sunlight.

“You look really good today.”

Lin Ci praised her sincerely.

Gu Mianmian’s face reddened slightly. She hurriedly lowered her head, stepped forward, and reached out to smooth the wrinkled collar of Lin Ci’s shirt.

Her fingers were cool. They brushed accidentally over the skin near Lin Ci’s collarbone.

A tingle shot through Lin Ci. Her body shrank back on instinct.

“What’s wrong? Senior, are you cold?”

Gu Mianmian lifted her head and stared at Lin Ci quietly.

“Not cold. Your hands are freezing. Go warm them up.”

Lin Ci looked away, a little awkward.

“When we get onstage, just sing along with the accompaniment. Don’t panic. I’ll be there to hold the stage for you.”

Lin Ci patted her chest in promise.

“Mm. I won’t panic. As long as you’re beside me, Senior, I won’t be afraid.”

Gu Mianmian answered softly. A dark light rose in her eyes.

Before they went onstage, Zhou Yan’an approached with the program list.

He saw Lin Ci’s outfit, and a flash of light passed through his eyes.

“Senior Lin Ci, you’re really impossible to look away from today.”

Zhou Yan’an struck up conversation with a smile.

Before Lin Ci could speak, Gu Mianmian stepped half a pace forward and blocked her.

She kept her head half lowered. Her voice was a little flustered, but there was a cold hardness in it.

“Senior Zhou, please move. We… we’re about to go onstage.”

The smile on Zhou Yan’an’s face stiffened. He stepped aside tactfully.

Lin Ci looked at Gu Mianmian’s back and felt amused.

This girl was guarding what was hers more and more tightly.

“Next, please enjoy the duet from dorm 302, ‘The Summer the Wind Blew Past.'”

The host’s voice had just come through the speakers.

A buzz of whispers rose from the audience.

“302? That cold, gorgeous senior who blew up on the forum?”

“They say she’s going to wear a suit and guest perform today. Is that real?”

Hearing the noise outside, Lin Ci felt a headache coming. She quickly adjusted her breathing, grabbed Gu Mianmian’s hand, and strode toward the stage.

The auditorium was packed, a dark sea of people.

The moment the spotlight fell, the whole room went silent.

Lin Ci stood with both hands in her pockets. The line of her profile looked cold and hard under the halo of light.

That cool aura radiating from inside made the boys in the front row stare.

Gu Mianmian stood before the standing microphone. The hem of her dress swayed slightly.

At the judges’ table, Zhou Yan’an pushed up his glasses. His gaze locked straight onto Lin Ci.

The intro flowed out, light and quick.

Gu Mianmian held the mic stand, closed her eyes, and sang the first line.

Her voice was ethereal and clear, shockingly accurate in pitch.

Every word carried an indescribable flavor that spread through the auditorium.

“You are my only direction, lighting every dark corner of me.”

The song circled. Soon there was movement below the stage.

“Damn, that voice is unreal. I’ve got goosebumps.”

“Is that really Gu Mianmian, the one who usually can’t squeeze out a single fart even after three kicks?”

Lin Ci stood two steps away. Keeping to the rehearsal rhythm, she walked casually to stand behind Gu Mianmian.

She took the pose of an invitation, right hand in her pocket, left hand slightly raised.

The boys in the audience sucked in a breath.

“Those legs, that waist. Killer.”

“Who could handle this!!!!”

The song gradually reached its climax.

Gu Mianmian turned slowly and looked at Lin Ci.

Her focused gaze treated the thousands of people around them like air.

Lin Ci took half a step forward as agreed and extended her right hand, palm up.

It was a knight’s invitation, perfectly standard.

But Gu Mianmian did not take her hand.

She came straight forward, the tip of her shoe almost touching Lin Ci’s leather shoe.

The distance was too close. Lin Ci’s nose was filled with that strawberry sweetness.

Gu Mianmian tilted her head and pressed half her cheek into Lin Ci’s palm.

Skin met skin. A fine shiver rose.

Lin Ci’s mind buzzed. The warm touch from her palm made her skin crawl.

Gu Mianmian did not pull away. Instead, she rubbed her cheek lightly against Lin Ci’s palm.

Warm breath fell against the side of her hand, unbearably ticklish.

Lin Ci cursed inwardly. She had thought it was ridiculous during rehearsal, but she had not expected this girl to dare pull the same thing onstage.

But facing Gu Mianmian’s dark, heavy eyes, she could only grit her teeth and keep a straight face.

The audience exploded at the sight.

“Holy shit! Face to face! She’s too good at this!”

“Senior’s eyes are killer. Help!”

Whistles and catcalls rose one after another.

Gu Mianmian paid no attention to the noise below. Her black eyes locked on Lin Ci without wavering as she hummed the last note.

The accompaniment faded, and the lights dimmed.

Lin Ci yanked her hand back and wiped it twice on her pant leg in the dark.

Then she hooked an arm around Gu Mianmian’s shoulder and gave her a friendly slap.

“Beautiful singing. You didn’t embarrass me.”

Lin Ci praised at the top of her voice.

Gu Mianmian was knocked slightly off balance. In her lowered eyes, an obsessive darkness was thick beyond dissolving.

Backstage, Lin Ci stripped off the suit jacket in a few moves.

“I’m suffocating. This damn thing doesn’t breathe at all.”

She fanned herself with her hand and walked quickly toward the rest area.

Gu Mianmian followed behind, holding the jacket warm from Lin Ci’s body.

“Senior, we’re first.”

She lowered her voice, full of pride.

The judges had just given the highest score of the night. There was no suspense about the championship.

“Of course. I personally went onstage. How could we get second?”

Lin Ci raised her chin smugly.

“Let’s go get an ice-cold cola from the campus store.”

Lin Ci licked her dry lips.

“No. You’re sweating a lot. Cold drinks will hurt your stomach.”

Gu Mianmian refused with a stern little face.

“Tch. You little kid are pretty strict.”

Lin Ci rolled her eyes but did not insist on buying one.

Gu Mianmian stepped closer and pinched the hem of Lin Ci’s shirt with two fingers.

“Senior, now the whole school has seen it.”

“Seen what?”

Lin Ci turned back, puzzled.

“Seen that you’re my partner.”

Gu Mianmian insisted stubbornly, her voice very low.

Lin Ci did not take it seriously at all. She only thought the girl was starved for affection.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m your exclusive partner. It’s hot as hell. Hurry up and change so we can go back to the dorm and lie dead.”

She ruffled Gu Mianmian’s hair roughly.

Gu Mianmian lowered her neck obediently, letting that hand mess up her hair.

“Mm. Exclusive partner.”

She repeated it silently in her heart.

To her, those two words directly equaled private property.

The day after the performance, the campus forum was boiling.

Someone posted a high-definition direct recording of the previous night.

In less than half a day, the thread had thousands of replies.

“Heavy reward for the suit senior’s WeChat ID!”

“The white-dress girl’s singing is lethal. I approve this marriage!”

“This CP energy is too strong. Even idol dramas wouldn’t dare act it this way.”

Lin Ci sprawled on the top bunk of the dorm and scrolled through the comments on the screen, her scalp tingling.

“College students these days really have too much damn free time. What’s there to ship about two girls?”

She locked the screen irritably and tossed her phone beside the pillow.

She, a pure man’s soul with a d*ck, had inexplicably become the internet’s certified lesbian dream girl. There was nowhere to even plead her case.

On the lower bunk, Gu Mianmian quietly peeled an apple.

Her gaze swept over the various comments asking for contact information on the screen, her eyes dark.

She screenshotted, saved, and moved them into an encrypted album.

Her movements were practiced and cold.

“Senior, have some fruit.”

Gu Mianmian handed up a piece of cut apple.

Lin Ci took it and bit into it, answering vaguely.

“Thanks. You’re still the reliable one.”

Gu Mianmian’s lips curved up. Her gaze on Lin Ci was dark.

At the same time, thousands of miles away in the capital.

On the top floor of a financial building, the floor-to-ceiling windows were brightly lit.

A woman in business attire stared at a computer screen. The image was frozen on a direct recording of the Jiangcheng University performance.

It happened to be a close-up of Gu Mianmian lifting her bangs.

The woman hit Enter. The internal database spun fast.

A green verification screen popped up: facial bone comparison complete, features matched to a high degree.

The woman picked up the landline beside the desk and dialed an internal line.

“President Gu, we found her. She is a sophomore at Jiangcheng University.”

“Should we arrange contact?”

A cold male voice came from the other end.

“Hold off. Add more people to watch her. Find out her social connections.”

“Understood.”

The woman hung up and filed Lin Ci’s screenshot along with the rest.

Three nights later, autumn rain fell over Jiangcheng.

Lin Ci and Gu Mianmian came out of a convenience store off campus and walked side by side toward South Gate Two.

Cold wind carried rain into their collars.

Lin Ci sneezed, hunched her neck, and cursed.

Gu Mianmian shifted half a step closer without a sound, using her thin body to block the wind.

“Senior, when we get back to the dorm, I’ll use the water heater to make you hot milk.”

“Sure. Put in two extra spoons of sugar.”

Lin Ci grinned.

“I’ll transfer you the money for the oden on WeChat.”

“No need. I said it was my treat.”

Gu Mianmian answered simply.

“Oh ho, little rich girl. Then I’ll count on you to support me from now on.”

“Okay. I’ll support you.”

Gu Mianmian answered extremely fast, biting down hard on each word.

Lin Ci only thought she was joking and walked on with a laugh.

Just as she turned onto the tree-lined road in the dorm area, Lin Ci’s steps stopped abruptly.

In the blind spot of the streetlight ahead, a business car sat quietly.

A capital license plate. The last three digits looked familiar.

She had run into this car several times this week.

It was parked here every time.

Wasn’t that too much of a coincidence?

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