Being a Tutor to a Rich, Psychopathic Young Lady - Chapter 43
Chapter 43
The rain poured down. The umbrella in her hand was tossed about by the wind. The heat was completely dispelled, and a cold chill swept across the whole of October from all directions.
Shi Mingyue returned to her dorm and sat on a chair until her roommate reminded her, “Mingyue, you should take a shower. Look, there’s a puddle of water around you.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Shi Mingyue came to her senses, her face flushed. Her roommate said, “Hey, no, I’m not saying you made the dorm dirty. I’m afraid you’ll catch a cold. Go take a shower quickly.”
“Okay, sure.” Shi Mingyue took clothes from her cabinet. The first thing she saw was a Chanel paper bag hanging on a hook. Shi Mingyue reached out to touch it, but her wet fingertips made her retreat a few centimeters.
Shi Mingyue took her pajamas to take a shower. As the hot water poured down, she felt dizzy. She held onto the wall. The hot water drenched her from head to toe.
Shi Mingyue put on her pajamas. A week ago, Xiao Dengqu had worn this shirt. Xiao Dengqu always pulled at the collar and smelled it out of curiosity. The clothes of the two of them were hanging on the balcony, dry. She didn’t have the extra energy to go and collect them. Shi Mingyue took a mop and mopped the dorm.
“Mingyue, I got you some cold medicine,” Ding Xiaoman reminded her.
“Thank you.” After mopping the floor, Shi Mingyue washed her hands, climbed into bed, and pulled the blanket over her. She couldn’t sleep. Her temples were throbbing, and her head felt like it was going to explode. She tossed and turned twice. She was very sleepy and uncomfortable. She lay on her side, pulling at her collar to secretly smell it.
Besides her own scent, there was only the smell of ordinary laundry soap… Could it be that what Xiao Dengqu was smelling all this time was…
The next day, the rain stopped, but the headache hadn’t eased. When she got out of bed, her vision went black as if she was anemic. She stood still, waiting for her vision to clear before continuing.
Shi Mingyue tidied herself up. She saw the cold medicine on the table and guessed that she might have caught a cold, but she couldn’t remember who gave it to her.
After breakfast, Shi Mingyue put on a mask and went to the lab building. Her heart was throbbing. She did several sets of data in a row. She should have known that Xiao Dengqu was no longer here, but she still wondered if she would be waiting downstairs.
The autumn rain didn’t disappear without a trace like the summer rain. The cool dampness lasted for three days. Finally, the wind brought a cold chill.
A yellow leaf from a camphor tree was rolled by the wind to her pant leg. Shi Mingyue stared at the leaf, then turned her head to look at the stone chair under the tree. Many leaves had fallen.
Shi Mingyue had a cold for about three days. The pink Bentley never appeared again. On the fourth day, her senior classmate sent her a message, telling her to attend the group meeting this week and to do her best.
Shi Mingyue was looking up reporting templates in the dorm. During this time, there was a knock on the door. Her roommate had gone out to play. Shi Mingyue’s heart seemed to have been hit twice. Outside the door stood Cheng Jin, carrying fried rice and noodles.
“Have you eaten yet?” Cheng Jin asked.
Shi Mingyue moved to the side to let her in and said, “I’ll go eat after I finish my report.”
Cheng Jin: “I see you haven’t been in a good state recently, as if you’re sick. Eat something. Look, you’re eating rice and noodles. I originally wanted to buy you a chicken hot pot, but I felt like you couldn’t eat anything too greasy, so I didn’t.”
Shi Mingyue originally wanted to eat something, steamed egg custard. She would go to the second floor of the cafeteria next door to eat some light food with rice. Cheng Jin brought her some food, and she didn’t complain. She said, “Thank you. I’ve just been a little tired lately.”
Cheng Jin said, “I heard that’s how it is when you first join a group. You’re just a laborer.”
“Not really. My senior classmates are all very nice. I can learn a lot while helping them. I can use the testing equipment now. I can touch the equipment as long as I don’t affect them,” Shi Mingyue said.
Shi Mingyue tasted the fried rice. It tasted good. She no longer craved steamed egg custard. She said, “How are your procedures for going abroad coming along?”
Cheng Jin took a deep breath. “They’re almost done.”
She was originally going to leave in the second half of her senior year. Now that she had contacted her professor, her family was urging her to go over first to get used to the environment. Then she would fly back to finish her graduation. In fact, they were also afraid that she and Shi Mingyue would continue to get entangled.
Shi Mingyue lowered her head to eat. Cheng Jin looked at her slender profile, which was delicate and beautiful, always making her feel a ripple of emotion, a feeling of reluctance and a desire to touch her.
Cheng Jin didn’t know when she started to regret it. She shouldn’t have proposed a further relationship. At that time, she liked her too much, was too impulsive, and couldn’t control her feelings. When Shi Mingyue thanked her, her desire reached its peak. She didn’t expect to be seen by Xiao Dengqu, who then copied her in a similar fashion.
Now Shi Mingyue was entangled with her and couldn’t get rid of her.
Recently, she heard that Xiao Dengqu was also being pressured to go abroad. She should have been happy, but she was always worried that Shi Mingyue would be sad. After thinking about it carefully, she subconsciously felt that Shi Mingyue’s feelings for Xiao Dengqu were deeper than her own.
“Mingyue.”
“Hmm?”
Shi Mingyue looked at her. Cheng Jin asked, “If I leave, will you be sad and suddenly think of me?”
Shi Mingyue didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I will.”
Shi Mingyue spent her entire college life with Cheng Jin. They were very good friends. They were used to it and got along well. Shi Mingyue couldn’t adapt all at once.
“When are you leaving? If you’ve set a date, tell me. I’ll treat you to a meal. Before, you always treated me, so I’ll treat you to a good one this time.”
Cheng Jin was silent for a few seconds and then said, “Okay.”
It seemed that the senior year of college was really the time when friends went their separate ways. For example, her roommates who lived in the dorms. They used to be inseparable. Now she rarely saw them and they were almost strangers. Friends were basically on a three-year cycle, from good to nothing.
Relationships were the same, and even shorter. You could have several friends, but love required undivided attention. It was a three-month cycle. Love would bloom and burn, and then, in these three months, it would turn to ashes and reignite for someone else.
If they weren’t together, seeking undivided attention and a lifetime was an illusion. Shi Mingyue had never experienced love, but she had been liked by many people. It seemed that everyone who liked her was the same. She seemed so special and unforgettable, but they could also love the next person more.
Shi Mingyue didn’t blame those who came and went in a hurry. She just wished them well. Because she had refused them, others gave up from the beginning because it wasn’t a good fit. It wasn’t love from the beginning.
After giving her first group report, Shi Mingyue went to dinner with Cheng Jin on Saturday. They didn’t spend much money and chose a frog restaurant.
Cheng Jin sighed that she wouldn’t be able to eat it in the US anymore. Shi Mingyue told her to eat more. Cheng Jin wanted to eat more, but her stomach wasn’t that big. She really couldn’t fit any more.
After eating, Shi Mingyue went to scan the code to pay. A message popped up on her phone screen, blocking the verification code. She reached out to slide it. It was from Xiao Dengqu.
Xiao Dengqu: Teacher is so nice. My cousin is going abroad, so you’re having dinner with her and ignoring me.
Shi Mingyue immediately looked out the door but didn’t see Xiao Dengqu’s car. There wasn’t a hint of a bright pink color in her sight.
“Are you ready?” the cashier asked.
Shi Mingyue handed her phone over. The scan was successful. Shi Mingyue then took two bottles of Coke. They sat in the restaurant for a while after they were full. They talked for a while, discussing the professors they were following. Cheng Jin said, “I heard that the good thing about professors abroad is that they don’t treat people like livestock like they do in China, and you don’t have to be their assistant late at night.”
“China is indeed very competitive,” Shi Mingyue said.
On the way back to school, Shi Mingyue kept thinking about that message. She hadn’t looked at it a second time. This past week, Xiao Dengqu hadn’t sent her any messages. She thought that Xiao Dengqu must have already left and that her phone had been confiscated. But Xiao Dengqu knew that she had come out to eat.
After parting ways with Cheng Jin, Shi Mingyue took out her phone. She wanted to reply to the message, typing and deleting, not knowing what to say.
Xiao Dengqu: You’re seeing my cousin off, but you’re not seeing me off? Or, can you treat me to a meal too?
“Hmm? Teacher.”
But would Shi Chengyue let her come out?
Shi Mingyue thought that it would be fine if Xiao Dengqu came out for a meal and said a proper goodbye.
Shi Mingyue: Okay.
Xiao Dengqu: Thank you, Teacher.
Shi Mingyue didn’t know what to say. She stared at the phone screen and almost ran into a tree.
A few minutes later, another message came.
Xiao Dengqu: (＾＿＾)
…
On Wednesday afternoon, Shi Mingyue finished her experiment and came out of the teaching building. She received an address from Xiao Dengqu, a five-star hotel restaurant.
Shi Chengyue was having a meeting there. After dinner, they would go abroad together. Xiao Dengqu asked Shi Mingyue to come and have dinner together to say a proper goodbye.
When Shi Mingyue went, she put on some simple makeup and chose a nice outfit: a shirt and jeans, with one corner tucked in. It was a new outfit, clean and neat. When she got to the hotel lobby, she messaged Xiao Dengqu. Xiao Dengqu came out quickly. Xiao Dengqu was wearing a denim dress, her hands in her pockets, and her eyes were fixed on her, just like the smile in the rain that day. She curled her lips, and the smile was fleeting. Her eyes became gentle. “Teacher, don’t worry. I’ve talked to Dad. I’ll obediently go abroad. It’s just a little later. So, the later time is all my own.”
However, Xiao Dengqu didn’t take her upstairs. Instead, she hailed a car. Xiao Dengqu said, “Let’s go directly to the airport. I’m leaving today. Will you see me off, Teacher?”
Shi Mingyue nodded. When she got in the car, she felt something was off. Xiao Dengqu usually took a luxury car. She was just wondering when Xiao Dengqu laughed. “Teacher, you didn’t know, did you? My dad has already stopped giving me money.”
Soon, she said again, “If he doesn’t give it, he doesn’t give it.”
Shi Mingyue was silent, watching her hands clutching her clothes tightly. She was using a lot of force. The car kept driving. During this time, she looked out the window. The car was still driving. She was a little confused as to why it had been driving for so long.
Shi Mingyue took out her phone to check the time. Xiao Dengqu leaned over and said, “Teacher, when you were lying to me, did you feel like time was passing as slowly as it is now?”
“If not, then I’m really sad.”
Shi Mingyue asked the driver if the payment was online or in cash. While Xiao Dengqu was taking out cash, Shi Mingyue scanned the code to pay the driver. When they arrived, Shi Mingyue felt that this wasn’t the airport.
Xiao Dengqu didn’t explain. Shi Mingyue was thinking. Xiao Dengqu held her hand and led her in. Inside was a large courtyard with a spacious lawn. Behind it was a small house. The fence was full of flowers, in bunches. It was not uncommon in the summer, but it was a rare sight in autumn.
Xiao Dengqu ordered the food. It was clear that she had been here before.
After dinner, they went upstairs. Xiao Dengqu locked the door. She turned on the TV to watch. The scent of the flowers in the small courtyard wafted into the room, which was very calming.
“One more hour,” Xiao Dengqu said. “The nap will be over soon, Teacher.”
It was like a countdown.
For the one-hour nap, the two of them lay on the bed. Xiao Dengqu hugged her, just like she did in the dorm before. They were pressed tightly together. Xiao Dengqu curiously stroked her body and then used her fingers to tap a rhythm to lull her to sleep.
Xiao Dengqu slept extremely well. It was always contagious. In the shadow of her mother’s death, Xiao Dengqu seemed to be able to light a lamp for her.
…
When she woke up, Xiao Dengqu was gone.