If the world had no daytime (GL) - Chapter 5

For a whole week, Bai Tian had no more interactions with her deskmate.

Although Bai Tian was good at protecting herself, more often than not, she had a bad temper and was lazy and willful.

Since the other party had already torn apart this superficial “friendly deskmate” relationship, there was no need for her to go over and act like a coward.

So Bai Tian started skipping class again.

She didn’t skip much, just the last self-study period every day. Old Bald Li, who was bald, was surprised that Bai Tian had been well-behaved for a whole month, but now seeing her return to her old ways, he felt a sense of calm, as if it was “just as expected.”

Self-study periods were actually a time for writing daily homework for Class A, because most people had various tutoring classes to attend after school. They were really busy, and every second had to be used for studying, otherwise they might not be able to keep up with the overall level of their classmates.

But for Bai Tian, studying was never the only thing that occupied her entire life, even though she was still a student.

••••

At 9:30 in the evening, the restaurant started to prepare to close.

Bai Tian held the menu and stood in front of the last customer, patiently waiting for the woman in the red dress to order.

The customer had been sitting there for an hour. It seemed like the person they were waiting for hadn’t arrived, so they decided to just grab a bite to eat before leaving.

The woman’s fingers, painted with red nail polish, traced over the thick menu for a long time before finally settling on a discounted single-person meal that was on promotion.

Bai Tian made a note of it and politely bent down, saying, “Okay, please wait a moment.”

She carried the menu around from the booth and walked towards the back kitchen, passing the restaurant’s front door. Most people were preparing to wrap up, so the restaurant was very quiet.

The glass door was pushed open, causing the wind chime to jingle. Bai Tian, already accustomed to the sound, turned around and said, “Welcome. But the restaurant is about to close. Is there anything you need?”

“I have a meeting with someone.”

A somewhat cold voice, mixed with the cold wind outside the door, made Bai Tian raise her head in surprise.

A face she knew all too well flashed past her and walked towards the only booth in the restaurant that was occupied.

Bai Tian paused for a moment, said nothing, and continued towards the back kitchen.

After printing out the receipt and sticking it on the kitchen window, Bai Tian inconspicuously stood behind a tall potted plant and looked towards the corner.

The girl, still wearing her school uniform, was sitting with her back to her in front of the woman, making it impossible to see her expression. She was too far away to hear any sound. Bai Tian indifferently withdrew her gaze, not interested in continuing this peeping behavior.

Time passed minute by minute, and the faint aroma of meat sauce for the pasta wafted out. Bai Tian picked up the tray, carefully placed the drink on it, and walked towards the corner.

As she got closer, the conversation between the two became clearer bit by bit.

The woman had a beautiful face. With a light application of makeup, she didn’t look worldly, but rather, her temperament neutralized her overly striking features.

She looked at the girl, her eyes slightly red.

“Once you settle down over there, I’ll come and get you.”

The girl nodded without making a sound.

“Excuse me, here’s your drink, freshly squeezed juice.”

Bai Tian placed the cup down steadily and said no more, turning to leave.

From beginning to end, she had not made eye contact with the girl.

The girl’s profile was not very clear in her peripheral vision, but it was definitely a face that Bai Tian was familiar with, just that the expression was very unfamiliar. She had never seen it on the girl’s face before.

Thinking that she might have accidentally stumbled upon the girl’s privacy again, Bai Tian suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness. It seemed like the more she didn’t want to have anything to do with the other party, the more she kept getting involved. This was not a good sign.

Fortunately, this meal ended quickly.

The woman had hardly touched the food on the table, and focused intently on watching the girl in front of her eat slowly, unconsciously revealing a gentle smile on her face.

But when Bai Tian glanced at it, seeing this smile, she felt a strange sense of sadness.

The restaurant finally closed, Bai Tian changed into her school uniform and came out of the back door of the kitchen, slowly walking towards the bus stop.

She calculated in her mind that she would probably be able to get her salary in another week, and decided to quit her job as a waitress a few days in advance.

Originally, Bai Tian only planned to work part-time for a month, so the money would be enough. But this was the busiest time for the restaurant, and she was only able to get the job because the manager was soft-hearted. Otherwise, where could a high school student find a decent part-time job.

So Bai Tian stayed a little longer, until a new waitress was finally recruited these past few days.

‘I wish she were a bit taller,’ she thought to herself, a sigh escaping her lips. Bai Tian clutched her backpack and walked towards the street corner.

In the distance, a group of rowdy boys was approaching. They were wearing strange clothes and had their hair dyed in all sorts of colors. Bai Tian glanced at them and discreetly kept a distance.

But it was already very late, and there were hardly any people on this street. As a girl in a school uniform, she stood out.

Seeing the group of people blocking her path, Bai Tian’s heart sank.

“Little sister, why aren’t you going home so late?” the leader, a guy with green hair, asked with a smirk, his eyes scanning Bai Tian from head to toe.

The red-haired guy beside him whistled, “Isn’t that the uniform of No. 7 High School? You must be a top student.”

“Really? Really? I’ve never worn a No. 7 High School uniform in my life. Little sister, why don’t you take it off and let big brother wear it for a while?”

The group surrounded Bai Tian, laughing and blocking all her escape routes.

Cursing under her breath, Bai Tian tightened her grip on her backpack strap, her mind racing as she thought about how to escape.

But they didn’t give her much time to think. Someone impatiently reached out and grabbed her shoulder, asking, “Why aren’t you talking? We’re just borrowing your uniform, don’t be so stingy.”

The guy tugged at Bai Tian’s school uniform jacket, trying to pull it off. Bai Tian struggled and took a step back.

She reached into her backpack and fumbled for her phone, but put on a terrified expression, greatly lowering the other party’s guard.

Someone else came forward to pull at Bai Tian’s clothes. She seized the opportunity, stepped on the other person’s foot, and pushed him away forcefully when he screamed. She bent down and slipped through the gap, then ran as fast as she could.

The people behind her quickly reacted and chased after her, cursing.

Bai Tian ran forward as fast as she could while fumbling for her phone in her hand.

She tried to run towards a wider area, but unfortunately, most of the shops around had closed early. She had run a long way but hadn’t seen anyone. Her stamina was almost exhausted from running continuously, and she vaguely saw a small shop still open in the distance. Without thinking, she ran towards it and hid inside without even looking at the shop name.

When the group’s footsteps faded away in the distance, Bai Tian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She was panting heavily and carefully stood up.

At that moment, she realized that she seemed to be in a strange shop.

Bai Tian looked around the somewhat narrow space and didn’t see anyone, not even the owner. There were some oddly colored product boxes on the shelves on both sides. The lights in the shop were too dim for her to see clearly, so she walked over and picked up a box to look at it.

Three seconds later, Bai Tian put down the box, her face flushed red, and vigorously rubbed her hands on her school uniform.

She turned around, and a huge, thick instrument on a stand suddenly appeared in front of her. At the same time, the door at the far end of the shop, which was covered by a thick curtain, suddenly opened, and a person walked down the stairs.

Bai Tian and the other person looked at each other.

Another footstep came from behind the door, and a hoarse male voice came from behind the other person, “What are you doing standing at the door?”

The person in the black hoodie paused and replied, “Nothing.”

She walked out and made way for the boy to come out from inside.

Just as Bai Tian was about to pretend she hadn’t seen anything and leave, the person in the black hoodie called out to her, “Bai Tian.”

The boy showed a strange expression, looked at the person in front of him, then looked at Bai Tian, and then suddenly put on a knowing look and said, “Then I’ll be off.”

He walked out and smiled at Bai Tian as he passed by.

However, this smile made Bai Tian feel very strange.

The surrounding environment made Bai Tian extremely uncomfortable. She didn’t want to continue chatting with her deskmate who appeared here, after all, they weren’t that familiar and had nothing to talk about.

Moreover, in such an awkward environment, Bai Tian even forgot about the other party’s completely different appearance from school and just wanted to leave quickly.

Ye Wan put her hands in the pockets of her hoodie and walked over slowly, looking Bai Tian up and down, then asked with a smirk, “What are you buying here?”

Bai Tian was suddenly a little grateful that the lights in the shop were dim, otherwise her facial temperature would be completely exposed.

“I came to the wrong place.”

What she said was true, she just omitted the details.

The other party’s expression seemed noncommittal. She walked over, patted Bai Tian on the shoulder, and quickly withdrew her hand.

“Let’s go.”

Bai Tian almost eagerly walked out of the shop, without looking back. She didn’t need to look to know what was written on the sign outside the door. It was strange that she was in such a hurry and even went blind.

The person behind her closed the glass door, locked it, and then followed behind Bai Tian.

The two walked like this for ten minutes, one in front and one behind, and Bai Tian finally became impatient. She stopped and turned around, looking at the other person with an unfriendly tone, “What are you following me for?”

The person wearing the hoodie hood also stopped, took their hands out of their pockets, pointed to the bus stop not far behind Bai Tian, and said casually, “I’m catching the bus.”

“…”

Bai Tian pursed her lips and didn’t look at the other person again, continuing to walk towards the bus stop.

There was no one else at the bus stop at this time. Bai Tian took out her phone, checked the time, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that she hadn’t missed the last bus.

Her tense nerves finally relaxed a little at this moment. Bai Tian held her phone, leaned against the advertising board, and tightened the collar of her school uniform jacket. She had just worked up a sweat and had been blown by the evening wind for a long time, and she felt a little dizzy and her body started to feel cold.

The person wearing the black hoodie leaned against the side, their long hair hidden in the hat, looking like a tall and thin boy from a distance. The two did not exchange another word, nor did they even make eye contact, as if they were strangers.

However, the quiet atmosphere was soon broken by a noisy sound.

Bai Tian heard the sound of people approaching from behind and turned her head to look, then quickly looked away.

She gripped her phone and stood up straight, starting to look around for a place to hide.

Two seconds later, Bai Tian made a quick decision. She put her backpack on the ground, took off her school uniform jacket, wrapped it up and stuffed it into her backpack, then pulled off the hair tie on her hair and let her hair down.

Then she flipped open her phone cover and was ready to press those three buttons at any time.

The noisy footsteps got closer and closer. Bai Tian held her breath, and just as the group was about to walk over, the person standing beside her suddenly reached out and grabbed Bai Tian’s left hand, turned her back to the group without looking back, and walked away quickly.

Their pace was not flustered, just a little faster, and did not attract their attention.

Bai Tian took a deep breath and let the person beside her pull her along, until they were completely away from the bus stop, and the other person let go.

“Aren’t you catching the bus?”

Bai Tian didn’t look back but asked the other person, trying to calm her abnormal heartbeat by talking.

Ye Wan put her hands back in her pockets, slowed down and walked beside Bai Tian, and casually replied, “I’ll just take a taxi.”

The next bus stop was still a long way away, and it would be too late to catch the last bus if they walked there. Bai Tian counted the change in her pocket, gritted her teeth, stopped and looked at her, and after the other party stopped and met her gaze, she pretended to be natural and said, “Since we’re going in the same direction, why don’t we share a taxi?”

The girl in the black hoodie looked at her for a long time, her eyebrows raised slightly, and she showed a knowing and straightforward smile.

“You’re asking me for a favor.”

T/N: Oh! My heart is beating fast because of those thugs.