The Senior Student (female) Is Not Human - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: The Car Accident

“Jiang Xiyao is dead.”

Xie Shiwei didn’t dare to look at Jiang Xiyao’s expression throughout the entire ordeal.

Even though she had returned safely from the activity building to Zhong Chuyao’s house, she still felt a bone-deep chill. Even after burrowing under a thick blanket on the bedroom floor, she couldn’t stop trembling.

For a moment, Xie Shiwei desperately wished time would stand still, and tomorrow would never come.

This was the first time in her life that she had felt such severe resistance toward going to school.

But Le Qiong’s messages and voice bombs never let up.

“I sent you a few style references. Hurry to the commercial street near the school and buy something similar for tomorrow. I’ll be waiting for you at the school’s East Gate entrance.”

Xie Shiwei’s eyes went dark when she heard the chosen confession location.

The East Gate, the school’s busiest main entrance. The school had a unique red-bricked building with a heavy sense of history. Nearby were mountain forests and scenic areas. Countless influencers and tourists visited daily to take photos.

“S-Sister Le Qiong…” she tried to interject.

“Also, don’t choose tacky styles of roses, like spray-painted or ink-dyed ones. I want the reddest, most vibrant Ecuadorian roses. If you don’t know the variety, just pre-order using the link I sent you.”

More eye-catching than the exquisite packaging were the prices: 980 and 1680 for the bouquets.

…Is this what they call spending money to ward off disaster?

Xie Shiwei quickly glanced at the prices and didn’t dare to look further. She tucked her head under the blanket, throwing her phone to the side with the voice messages playing on speaker.

From Le Qiong’s enthusiastic monologue, she slowly came to a realization.

Sister Le didn’t seem to care who was confessing; she only wanted the grand spectacle.

It began to rain outside at some point. As the sound of the rain came, Le Qiong got excited and accidentally hung up, finally granting Xie Shiwei a moment of peace.

Lost and helpless, she began to wish for Zhong Chuyao to come home, so she could ask her how to deal with the stupid decision she had impulsively made today.

—She was already starting to regret agreeing to confess to Le Qiong.

But she tossed and turned on the soft bed. She dozed off to the sound of the rain outside but never heard the sounds of Zhong Chuyao coming home.

…

Zhong Chuyao hadn’t returned all night.

She was currently sitting in her car, looking at the mountain range hidden in the rain and fog ahead. A luxurious mansion on the mountain peak was only vaguely visible as a golden roof, giving the area a mysterious, secluded feeling.

The sheer extravagance, which would intimidate an ordinary person, looked strange to Zhong Chuyao. The mansion’s feng shui had been deliberately altered by a master to gather wealth.

But why was the golden color entangled with an ominous grey-black?

Zhong Chuyao searched the current location on her phone and easily found the Zhou Pharmaceutical Group.

If Xie Shiwei were next to her, she would immediately recognize this road as the entrance to Zhou Jiming’s house.

Zhong Chuyao calculated that You Jiayi would surely leave here tomorrow, so she decided to stake out in her car. She even took a picture of the mountain forest ahead and sent it to her “Esteemed Mother” on WeChat.

“This family is surnamed Zhou. They’re in the pharmaceutical business here and seem to run a private hospital. Mom, remember to avoid their clinics when making appointments. The feng shui here clearly shows a shift toward decline and bad luck.”

Esteemed Mother: “Silly child, why avoid it? What a perfect target client.”

Esteemed Mother: “Note the address. If they ever come to us begging for a feng shui consultation, charge them double.”

Zhong Chuyao silently applauded her mother’s spirit of seeking fortune in danger.

So, after making a special note of the Zhou family’s address, she reclined her car seat, took out a thin blanket, and spent the night in the car. It wasn’t until she woke up the next morning and was ordering her second takeout meal that she felt a sudden awareness and looked outside.

At the barrier gate guarded by several security personnel at the foot of the mountain, a large truck was slowly driving out.

Zhong Chuyao saw a young girl in the driver’s window wearing a cleaning uniform, with traces of dyed hair still visible despite the hat. She knew this was her target.

The truck drove off shortly, and she followed.

When she stopped at a traffic light, Zhong Chuyao was about to dial 110 to report a suspect as a concerned citizen, but she suddenly noticed that this road… seemed to lead to Xie Shiwei’s school?

Dressed like that and driving a large truck back to school, surely she wasn’t secretly returning to class?

Zhong Chuyao frowned and tossed a few coins onto the passenger seat.

The coins landed.

—A sign of extreme danger, a lurking murderous intent.

Zhong Chuyao’s brow furrowed abruptly.

…

At the same time, at the school’s East Gate.

Taking advantage of the few tourists due to the rain, Xie Shiwei arrived at the East Gate early, eager to quickly get the confession over with, but Le Qiong wouldn’t allow it.

She demanded Xie Shiwei not only set up a heart-shaped candle arrangement and a red carpet but also hire an atmosphere crew to scatter petals and fire confetti cannons. Finally, she even made an erroneous assumption about Xie Shiwei’s financial capacity, asking if she could hire a drone team to perform.

Xie Shiwei, who hadn’t even bought the so-called Ecuadorian roses: “…”

She sat under the long corridor outside the gate, where the gloomy rain fell, looking at her backpack, which was getting wet from the drops. Her eyes had been blank for a long time when she suddenly thought of a perfect way to end this!

“Sister Le Qiong.” She asked sincerely, “If I don’t prepare all this, will you reject me?”

Xie Shiwei suggested politely: “How about, you take a moment out of your busy schedule to reject me?”

No one said a confession had to be accepted, right? Wouldn’t it be even better if Le Qiong rejected her?

The person on the other end of the phone was silent for two seconds.

The background music paused, then suddenly became frantic and harsh, accompanied by Le Qiong’s abruptly altered voice:

“You don’t want to give it to me? You don’t want to give it to me?! Who did you see? Is someone next to you? Xie Shiwei, don’t you dare back out… I’ll be there immediately! That love letter can only be given to me! Do you hear me!”

Realizing that Sister was suddenly no longer concerned about the red carpet, candles, or roses, Xie Shiwei mumbled a response. Just as the rain stopped outside the corridor, she took out the love letter, sealed in a pink envelope, and walked outside.

She waited for another ten minutes.

Then, she saw the carefully dressed Le Qiong walking toward her.

And the other students Le Qiong had deliberately called over, clearly intending to watch the show.

From a distance, Xie Shiwei could hear their cheers and encouragement:

“Le Qiong, seriously? A girl is going to confess to you?”

“More than that. I heard the person is Jiang Xiyao’s target.”

“Huh? Are they crazy? Jiang Xiyao? Le Qiong? Which way did they bump their head at the temple? To dare to covet both of our campus goddesses simultaneously? We have to go and see which big shot in the lesbian community this is!”

The unpleasant words, along with Le Qiong’s proud, showy gaze, stung Xie Shiwei’s eyes.

Still wearing her usual plain T-shirt and jeans, she pre-emptively bowed toward Le Qiong’s direction, self-deceptively, holding the love letter envelope politely above her head with both hands.

Xie Shiwei knew that, given Sister Le’s personality, she would savor the attention and discussion from the surrounding crowd before finally, slowly, accepting the love letter.

She just didn’t know.

If her back could hold out until Le Qiong’s desire for display was satisfied.

So tired, woo woo. Her back had suffered following her around. It hadn’t gotten the good life of being a graceful water snake, twisting enticingly under a beautiful sister’s palms and fingertips every night.

And after this confession, she still had to go back to her part-time job and work like a dog for her boss.

The more desperate Xie Shiwei felt, the more she thought her back was about to “crack” and break right there.

The letter was suddenly snatched from her palm.

The surrounding murmurs instantly fell silent.

She looked up, filled with relief and liberation.

But the moment she saw the person in front of her, her expression went blank, then turned to terror—

“S-S-Sister Jiang?!”

In the grey world after the rain, only the black of Jiang Xiyao’s long hair, the white of her skin, and the red of the small mole on her lip formed the three brightest colors in Xie Shiwei’s eyes at that moment.

The flimsy pink envelope, which couldn’t have been simpler, suddenly looked as precious as a high-end black and gold invitation as she slowly tore it open with her fingertips.

In the brief moment of Xie Shiwei’s daze, a sharp voice pierced the air:

“Jiang Xiyao! You’re shameless! That love letter is for me! It’s mine!”

Jiang Xiyao paused her action of flipping through the old paper.

Since hearing Xie Shiwei was going to confess to Le Qiong yesterday, she had expected her skin to crack and destroy itself uncontrollably.

But perhaps because she had heard Xie Shiwei say she liked Le Qiong too many times, Jiang Xiyao found herself surprisingly calm when she heard the answer directly.

She suddenly remembered Xie Shiwei’s briefly expressed dislike for Le Qiong; she was only forced to say those things.

But she still felt immense fury!

After much thought, Jiang Xiyao could only attribute the reason to the material Xie Shiwei used for the love letter.

It was one thing for the heart to fly away, and she could tolerate the body no longer overflowing for her—but how dare she write words of affection for another person on her own skin?!

Did the name of such an ugly thing deserve to be carved onto her?

Jiang Xiyao had originally planned to give Xie Shiwei a profoundly unforgettable lesson after reclaiming what was hers today. However, when she saw the love letter was addressed without any specific name.

For no reason at all, her anger subsided slightly, only slightly.

Still, there was something more bothersome that needed to be dealt with first.

Jiang Xiyao clenched the thin skin in her palm, a slight curl to her lips. She gracefully dodged the figure rushing over to snatch it:

“Yours?”

She raised a contemptuous eyebrow: “Does it have your name written on it? Or will it answer if you call your name?”

Seeing the pretentious figure, who had rushed too fast, twist her back and fall down miserably, her makeup and clothes completely soaked in dirty water.

Jiang Xiyao, standing perfectly still without a single hair out of place, appeared even more composed.

“If you don’t have a mirror at home, you must at least have pee, right? Or perhaps Heaven took pity on you and pooled this water here. Why don’t you hurry and look? Where do you get the confidence to compare yourself to me?”

“With me around, what kind of blind, tasteless, mentally deranged person would hand you a love letter?”

“If you’re not fully awake, just lie there and continue sleeping. Don’t shout your dreams out loud and bring shame upon yourself.”

Familiar cruelty flowed from those beautiful red lips.

Le Qiong, who had fallen miserably, glared at her with hatred. Touching the muddy water on her face, she couldn’t help but let out a scream: “Aah! Shut up! Shut up! You shut up! The uglier one is you! It’s you!”

Her eyes were bloodshot, but her peripheral vision suddenly caught a grey silhouette. She immediately locked onto it:

“You speak! You tell them! Xie Shiwei! Who is your love letter for! Who is the campus beauty queen! Tell them—”

Compared to her shrill coercion, Jiang Xiyao’s gaze and tone were calmer.

But…

“If you don’t want to die, you’d better think clearly before you speak.”

The threat was far more potent than the former’s.

Xie Shiwei had already felt the change: the eyes that were merely curious spectators when they heard Le Qiong was getting a confession turned malicious the moment they saw Jiang Xiyao accept the letter.

“She actually dared to write a love letter to Jiang Xiyao? Does she think she’s worthy?”

“That cheap, stinking letter paper, she dared to hand it to Jiang Xiyao? And she dared to contaminate her eyes with disgusting love words? Does this woman have a death wish?”

“She looks poor from head to toe. I’m afraid her poverty might be contagious if I stand too close. Why does she dare to approach Jiang Xiyao? Did she secretly put some drug on herself? Or on the paper? What lie did she use to trick Jiang Xiyao into accepting her trash?”

Vicious speculations and sarcasm came from all directions.

Xie Shiwei even felt a sudden flashback of the temperature of the cleaver on her neck that night.

If this continued, someone would surely try to kill her again.

Xie Shiwei shivered violently, raising her hands to cover her head, shaking her head helplessly, tears streaming out in panic. She didn’t dare to look at the chaotic “most popular campus beauty queen” election unfolding before her.

With her remaining strength, she turned and fled in desperation.

Unaware that a cold, sticky gaze was fixated on her from behind.

Jiang Xiyao watched the coward, who had caused all this trouble, irresponsibly turn and run away. It was expected, yet she found it a little cute.

She narrowed her eyes, ready to step forward and follow her without hesitation—

But she was caught off guard and finally tackled by the long-coveting Le Qiong, who had gotten back up.

“The letter! The letter! It’s mine! It’s mine! This paper is mine!”

Dirty hands unexpectedly pressed against Jiang Xiyao’s face. She narrowed her eyes in disgust. As murderous intent gathered, her eyes suddenly shifted, and she spoke slowly:

“You want it so much? You’re obsessed with this paper, aren’t you?”

“Do you think it’s like that magical violin you got? Do you think possessing more of them will make you more attractive?”

“You blind fool who would throw it away to a dog, didn’t you realize who they belong to?”

Jiang Xiyao narrowed her eyes and, as if in a moment of great generosity, placed the letter paper near her cheek.

The originally yellowed, old paper instantly seemed to be infused with life, rustling and changing color, becoming identical to the woman’s flawless, beautiful skin.

Le Qiong stared blankly as the red mole near her temple seemed to mockingly flicker.

Her mind was uncontrollably filled with more of Jiang Xiyao’s mockery:

“What kind of pig brain could come up with the idea of using a part of me to defeat me?”

“You’re inferior to me from head to toe. You must feel so inferior, right? What a pity. Even if your ugly skeleton is covered with more of my skin, you’ll never be even one-ten-thousandth as beautiful as me.”

All of Le Qiong’s rationality snapped in that instant.

Just then, a shrill horn sounded. She turned her head, her peripheral vision catching a grey shape. A small car suddenly flashed its hazard lights and pulled sideways, but it was no match for the out-of-control truck rushing toward them!

Le Qiong found a burst of strength from somewhere. She used all her might to crash into Jiang Xiyao, fiercely pushing the beautiful figure toward the truck!

“Then you go die! Die! Die—”

As long as Jiang Xiyao is dead, no one in this school will be prettier than her!

She would be the only one! The most popular campus beauty queen!

Watching the vibrant figure being crushed by the truck’s wheels, bl00d splattering onto her face, Le Qiong stood still and let out a manic giggle: “Haha, hahahaha…”

But the truck didn’t slow down.

The massive shadow, propelled by unstoppable speed, mercilessly enveloped her as well!

…

Not far away.

Zhong Chuyao climbed out of her car, which had its front end badly damaged. Hearing the belated sound of police sirens and ambulance horns, she frowned and first looked toward the school gate.

Although Xie Shiwei had the string of Buddha beads on her, she was still worried that, given her friend’s unlucky constitution, she might be at the scene. After all, Xie Shiwei was so afraid of bl00d, she would surely faint and fall.

Thinking this, she walked toward the scene, quickly kicking down the criminal who was trying to escape from the truck’s cabin, and then dialed a number.

After a long while, the call was finally answered.

“C-Chu Chu?”

The noise from the onlookers couldn’t prevent the sharp-eared Zhong Chuyao from catching the tremble and the subtle gasp in the voice.

She paused doubtfully: “Wei Wei, are you crying?”

Xie Shiwei, completely losing her composure, sniffled louder.

She had run without looking back, even taking the extravagant step of hailing a luxurious roadside taxi, forgetting to ask for the meter, and just telling the driver to speed back to Zhong’s house before throwing money and running inside.

Even though the security in Zhong’s villa community was extremely tight, Xie Shiwei was still terrified. She asked her friend with a tearful voice: “W-When are you coming back? I’m so scared alone.”

She felt certain that Jiang Xiyao’s insane pursuers were surely ambushed around her house right now.

But Zhong Chuyao’s side was too loud for her to clearly hear the answer.

There were police sirens and ambulance sounds.

Xie Shiwei quickly shifted her attention, afraid her friend was in trouble. She urgently took the phone away and turned the volume up as high as it would go. As she looked down, she saw a flood of group messages popping up on her screen.

“So much bl00d,” “Le Qiong was also hit,” “Can they be saved?” countless messages poured in.

But the most striking one was the final sentence:

“—Jiang Xiyao is dead.”