My Unconventional Online Dating - Chapter 41

Xiao Nianyuan had been restless all day, though she couldn’t pinpoint why. Even though Lian Qiushui had reassured her before bed last night, her eyelids kept twitching after she woke up.

While going downstairs, she accidentally twisted her ankle. The pain forced her to crouch on the spot, gritting her teeth as she waited for it to subside.

A pleasant voice suddenly asked, “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”

Xiao Nianyuan looked up to see a stranger—a girl she had never met before.

Strangely, the girl acted as if they were familiar, reaching out to help her up. “Let me take you back to your dorm.”

“No need, I can walk on my own,” Xiao Nianyuan declined politely.

The girl teased, “Then should I call your partner to pick you up?”

Xiao Nianyuan froze, baffled. “…?”

What partner? She didn’t have one.

The girl seemed puzzled by her reaction. “Did you two break up?”

“I don’t have a partner. You must have mistaken me for someone else,” Xiao Nianyuan said, shaking her head.

The girl insisted, “I couldn’t have mistaken you. I even delivered his confession note to you before.”

“You’ve got the wrong person. I never received any note—” Xiao Nianyuan paused mid-sentence, then suddenly asked, “Wait, you were the one who delivered it?”

“Yeah, it was me. What’s wrong? Did you not accept it in the end?” The girl sounded awkward.

Xiao Nianyuan frowned. “I did receive a note, but it wasn’t a confession—it was a curse.”

The girl shuddered, her voice trembling. “A c-curse? Could there be some misunderstanding?”

The thought that the note she had delivered might have been a curse terrified her. She had believed she was doing a good deed.

“Let’s set aside the curse for now,” Xiao Nianyuan said, forcing herself to stand despite the pain in her ankle. “Do you remember who asked you to deliver the note?”

The girl hesitated. “I… I don’t remember.”

“You have to recall,” Xiao Nianyuan pressed, gripping her shoulders firmly. “This could determine whether we can save someone.”

The girl was on the verge of tears. She had thought she was merely helping pass along a sweet message, never imagining she might have unwittingly aided in something sinister.

She was timid, her mind in chaos. Xiao Nianyuan watched her silently—she had already said all she could. Pushing further might render the girl speechless.

As for comforting her, Xiao Nianyuan wasn’t skilled at that. What difference would it make from emotional neglect?

Xiao Nianyuan knew her limits. She waited quietly until the girl finally calmed down, stammering, “I think… he might have been a medical student.”

“A medical student?”

The girl nodded. “He smelled like disinfectant.”

“Anything else?” Xiao Nianyuan pressed.

The girl shook her head. “I really don’t remember.”

It had happened days ago, and the person who had handed her the note was someone she had never seen before. She hadn’t thought much of it at the time—how could she have known it would lead to such trouble?

Without another word, Xiao Nianyuan turned and walked away. The girl, uneasy, started to follow when someone suddenly grabbed her. “What did you two just talk about?”

The girl tensed. “Who are you?”

Tan Xiaolan glanced at Du Xiaotong, who simply said, “Roommates.”

Skeptical, the girl challenged, “If you’re really roommates, then prove it—follow her.”

Du Xiaotong said, “Let’s talk while we walk.”

The two of them were straightforward, and the girl seemed somewhat convinced. “I need to ask about someone.”

Once they left the dormitory building, Xiao Nianyuan was nowhere in sight. The girl frowned, and Du Xiaotong suggested, “Let’s check with the advisor.”

Her reminder made Tan Xialan and the girl realize—if Xiao Nianyuan was looking for someone, the quickest way would be to seek help from the advisor.

Xiao Nianyuan did indeed go to find the advisor. The moment she stepped out of the dorm, she commandeered a passing student’s bicycle. “I need to borrow your bike.”

The startled girl, initially thinking she was being robbed, was about to call for help when she recognized Xiao Nianyuan and immediately relaxed.

She might not know everyone, but she definitely knew Xiao Nianyuan. Her roommate had been talking about her nonstop these past few days—at first, she’d despised Xiao Nianyuan, but after going out one day, though she still claimed to dislike her, the resentment was gone. Then, after a phone call, she suddenly declared they were friends.

The girl found it strange, but her roommate only said Xiao Nianyuan was a good person and that it had all been a misunderstanding, refusing to elaborate further, saying it was still confidential.

If it was Xiao Nianyuan, then it was fine. If the bike wasn’t returned, she’d just ask her roommate about it.

With the bicycle, Xiao Nianyuan reached the teaching building in no time. Bursting in to find the advisor, she startled them. Seeing her urgency, the advisor stood up. “What’s wrong?”

Xiao Nianyuan demanded, “I need to find someone.”

The advisor was baffled. Xiao Nianyuan gave a brief explanation. “I can’t get in touch with Ji Rongxue. Someone might be trying to harm her.”

“What? Slow down—who would want to hurt her?” The advisor reached out to steady Xiao Nianyuan, but she barely noticed, sitting down only to stand back up.

“Is there some kind of misunderstanding?”

“If you won’t help, I’ll go to the police right now.”

The advisor: “…”