The Senior Student (female) Is Not Human - Chapter 52

Chapter 52: The Reward

—Jiang Xi-yao bit down harder…

Xie Shiwei suddenly wasn’t sure what to do about Jiang Xi-yao.

If their current identities were more conventional—say, in an ambiguous stage of pursuit, or simply as classmates—Xie Shiwei wouldn’t be so conflicted.

She might express profound gratitude on her face, thank Jiang Xi-yao for her intentions, and then rack her brains to distance herself from the person.

Because the way Jiang Xi-yao took revenge for her was too extreme, a sign that major trouble would follow. Xie Shiwei couldn’t accept it.

She instinctively didn’t want to get involved with such a troublesome character.

But this person was now her girlfriend.

Although Xie Shiwei didn’t know what considerations her pre-amnesia self had when she bravely took the step to “request a relationship,” since things had progressed this far, and they were in a relationship, a community of shared destiny, she needed to find an active solution.

—She couldn’t just keep avoiding the issue as if it didn’t concern her.

At the same time, Jiang Xi-yao heard her entire thought process clearly. After waiting a long time without the desired look of ecstatic joy, the woman’s face instantly darkened:

“You don’t like it? How can you not like it? Xie Shiwei, that idiot who is only capable of jealousy, are you going to stand up for her? Do you want to argue with me because of her?”

“Wait, that kind of person doesn’t even deserve to be mentioned by you. You are not allowed to think about her! Absolutely not, not, not!”

Xie Shiwei raised her hand and gently stroked the back of Jiang Xi-yao’s delicate neck, ignoring her subsequent petulant commands.

“I’m not trying to argue with you,” the girl said with a patient smile. “First, tell me, why did you take someone else’s item because of me?”

She avoided the word “steal,” as it was hurtful.

Moreover, she felt that given Jiang Xi-yao’s pride and self-respect, she shouldn’t stoop to such underhanded actions.

Yet, Jiang Xi-yao still looked at her with an expression of disbelief:

“That was my property in the first place. She’s the thief; she ‘stole’ my thing. What’s wrong with me taking it back? Besides, she provoked you. She deserves to die!”

Jiang Xi-yao had gained the memory of this fragment during its wanderings.

It was originally a fragment scattered after one of Jiang Xi-yao’s deaths. Perhaps it was too fragmented to respond to the core entity’s summons at the time, or perhaps Jiang Xi-yao was too lazy and lacked the patience to look for it.

In any case, it lay quietly in the soil, absorbing the malice leaked by every passerby.

Eventually, the fragment gradually turned into a palm-sized piece of skin.

When Jiang Xi-yao’s stray fragments grew to a certain extent, her facial features and colors would appear on the skin. Later, hair and nails would grow. In short, the thin skin would become increasingly exquisite.

If someone were to pick it up, stuff it with straw, and stick it in a field, this demonic scarecrow would not only attract dense crowds of crows and sparrows but also countless farmers’ obsessive stares.

Even if it was just a piece of unmoving skin.

This doll was the same. It came into the possession of a folk craftsman, who loved it, was obsessed with it, and eventually stuffed it with cotton, brushed its hair, and tied little braids.

He hung it in his shop, attracting countless customers, until Fan Hui passed by and bought it at a high price.

But so what?

Jiang Xi-yao didn’t care what process led to it falling into Fan Hui’s hands. She only knew that with a crook of her finger, another idiot would be driven mad and obsessed by her, degrading into mere fodder that provided malice.

“Xie Shiwei,” her dark eyes allowed no light to penetrate, and her tone emphasized eerily: “This is mine.”

The scattered fragments belonged to her.

The person in her arms also belonged to her.

Jiang Xi-yao could not understand why Xie Shiwei would challenge her over something so self-evident.

For a moment.

Xie Shiwei felt as if she saw the layers of shallow and deep sludge on Jiang Xi-yao’s WeChat profile picture slowly oozing from the person. This dangerous sludge was covering her, trying to suffocate her.

Her survival instinct screamed at her cerebral cortex to leave this dangerous person.

But Xie Shiwei went against her instincts for the first time. Amidst the shivers that raised her goosebumps, she slowly sighed and instead cupped Jiang Xi-yao’s face in her hands.

“Okay.”

She racked her brain, attempting to instill the laws and ethics of the human world into her girlfriend’s mind: “Let’s assume it’s yours. But Fan Hui bought it through a legal procedure. She has a receipt. From a legal standpoint, it is hers.”

“If you want it back, you can tell me, and we can think of another way together—”

“Or, actually, if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be so keen on taking it back, would you?”

“But Jiang-jiang, while I appreciate your intention to take revenge for me, I actually can’t accept this way of getting back at someone. I can’t accept others doing evil because of me, do you understand?”

Jiang Xi-yao did not understand.

She was born to perform acts of malice. It was her specialty to follow the dark thoughts of humans and provoke them to comply with their evil desires, leading to their ultimate downfall and loss of control.

Since she was so good at it, she did it. She didn’t even force Xie Shiwei to descend into the filth.

Yet, Xie Shiwei was now saying she couldn’t accept this side of her.

She hadn’t even revealed her terrifying true form, and Xie Shiwei was already refusing to accept her.

Jiang Xi-yao’s tone was suppressed and dangerous: “You are rejecting me. You are rejecting my love.”

And what was the next step after rejection? Was Xie Shiwei immediately going to unilaterally propose ending this game?

Xie Shiwei almost couldn’t catch her breath.

Was she speaking Chinese? Was she not patiently trying to reason with her? Why was Jiang Xi-yao jumping to this conclusion?

At this point, she abandoned all patience and attempts to mimic how her grandparents used to instruct her. Xie Shiwei raised her palm and placed it in front of Jiang Xi-yao’s face:

“Stop.”

She said: “Let’s both calm down first.”

Xie Shiwei withdrew from the woman’s embrace, feeling the grip on her arm tighten momentarily. She paused, then said calmly:

“Jiang Xi-yao. Let go.”

Jiang Xi-yao didn’t want to let go at all. Not only did she not want to let go, but she wanted to violently knead Xie Shiwei into her body. She wanted to make this suddenly unpleasing mouth unable to utter another word she didn’t want to hear.

However, meeting those calm, rational, clear eyes.

Jiang Xi-yao was abruptly struck by a hint of fear. She released the pressure in her palm.

Xie Shiwei turned and walked into the study: “I need to study for the rest of my exams first. You are not allowed to disturb me during this time.”

The dark-haired beauty stood rooted to the spot.

As if a pause button had been pressed on her.

And after entering the study, Xie Shiwei quickly detached her emotions, immersing all her thoughts in her exam revision.

She keenly realized that this argument between her and Jiang Xi-yao would not be resolved quickly. Endless arguing would not only drain her emotionally but would also affect her exam results.

She couldn’t afford to mess up both things in the end.

In a situation like this, she had to deal with the urgent and most crucial task of exam review first.

Xie Shiwei was true to her word. When she left the study in the evening, she went straight to the bathroom to wash up.

Before going to sleep, she sent Jiang Xi-yao a message from the study: “I’ll sleep in the study for now. We can talk after my final exam week is over.”

Jiang Xi-yao did not reply to the message.

It was unclear if she was angry or if she was worried that replying would distract Xie Shiwei.

In any case, Xie Shiwei managed to get through the ten-day long final exam week in one go.

Fan Hui did not appear for the later exams. No one knew if she had given up in despair or if there were other issues, but given the students remembered her previous malicious act of snatching and rummaging through bags, no one bothered to check on her.

Xie Shiwei didn’t bother to seek trouble either by specifically contacting her to return the doll.

Because Xie Shiwei had an intuition—

That doll definitely had a very special connection to Jiang Xi-yao.

But she also keenly realized that this was a secret Jiang Xi-yao didn’t want her to know.

Everyone has secrets. Even with her best friend Zhong Chu-yao, Xie Shiwei noticed moments in their conversations when her friend seemed to hold back words.

Xie Shiwei chose not to press the issue.

As long as their relationship remained the same, and they remained good friends, leaving a little space for each other was the most comfortable way to interact.

She felt the same way about Jiang Xi-yao.

Couples can also have little secrets. As long as it doesn’t involve ethics or morality, and as long as they remain faithful to each other, irrelevant trivial matters should be left alone.

She wouldn’t demand that Jiang Xi-yao tell her every single person she met, every word she spoke, every gift she received, every confession she heard, or every person who pursued her.

…Otherwise, Xie Shiwei would probably be busier than an emperor reading imperial edicts in ancient times.

The only thing currently stressing Xie Shiwei was how to resolve the previous issue.

At the very least, she needed to let Jiang Xi-yao know that she disliked her taking certain actions without discussion. She wanted Jiang Xi-yao to consult her beforehand, or perhaps, simply abandon those terrible ideas.

When the last option surfaced, Xie Shiwei was suddenly startled.

She thought of her girlfriend’s forceful, dominant aura. She couldn’t help but feel a headache: could she really get Jiang Xi-yao to listen to her?

Was she being a little too self-important?

Xie Shiwei stood at the bus stop, troubled, and plugged her earphones in.

She had forgotten to charge her electric scooter last night, and since today only involved an exam and no part-time work, she decided to take the bus to and from home and school.

With the lunar new year approaching, and the holidays drawing near, merchants were also thinking about going home. Besides the bustling New Year’s markets and shopping malls, few individual businesses were looking for part-time workers.

The bubble tea shop owner was definitely already thinking about vacation. Only the hot pot restaurant from before had asked Xie Shiwei if she was free during the new year, as their private rooms were fully booked for New Year’s Eve and they needed extra help.

Xie Shiwei hadn’t replied yet.

She planned to go home and ask Jiang Xi-yao how she wanted to spend the New Year.

Thinking of Jiang Xi-yao, she boarded the bus, picked a window seat, and started worrying again about how to communicate the previous issue with her girlfriend.

She habitually searched for the problem on a certain app, and the big data predictably started pushing content to her furiously.

“How to Tame a Bad-Tempered Large Dog”

As an alluring mature woman’s voice popped up, Xie Shiwei couldn’t help but blush.

—I will judge for myself whether this is a real dog being trained.

She clicked on the bilingual Chinese-English video.

“Step one: Keeping a poker face is the cruelest training method.”

“No response is the strongest response. When dealing with a difficult, bad-tempered dog that is hard to communicate with normally, the quieter you are, the more anxious he/she becomes. You need the other party to calm down, observe you, and figure you out. Let him/her guess your boundaries first.”

Xie Shiwei was momentarily stunned.

Hey, wait, no, did she accidentally get the first step right? Is this not some kind of PUA technique for couples?

While feeling “something isn’t right here,” she couldn’t help but continue watching.

“Step two: Controlling your own emotions is true dog training.”

“The louder your voice, the more he/she will think you’re just feigning toughness. He/she will then use their default rules to train you in reverse. You must be emotionally steady to let the other party know who is in charge.”

Xie Shiwei: Oh no, I got this one right too?

“Step three: Avoid positive punishment as much as possible; use gentle negative punishment.”

“According to research reports in foreign child psychology, spanking increases a child’s aggression. When dealing with a bad dog, hitting too lightly turns into a game they enjoy. Hitting too hard becomes a one-sided emotional outburst for you.”

“In short, you must give a clear response immediately when he/she does something wrong or right.”

Xie Shiwei’s face was flushed.

She understood. She understood perfectly.

Spanking should remain just a flirtatious game between the two of them.

“Negative punishment means you remove a reward when he/she makes a mistake. For instance, my dog loves to sleep next to me, even holding his favorite toy in his mouth. If he misbehaves, he is not allowed to sleep with me.”

Xie Shiwei couldn’t help but recall Jiang Xi-yao’s newly developed sleeping habit over the past few days: hugging her and having an all-night pacifier…

Ugh, ugh, ugh, how did she manage to get this one right too?

“Xingfu Residential Area station. Please exit through the back door.”

The bus speaker blared.

Xie Shiwei quickly turned off her phone and headed toward the back door.

However, after getting off the bus, when she tried to click back into the video on her way home, she saw a black page stating, “This content has been reported by a user and is temporarily removed.”

Xie Shiwei: Ugh, ugh, ugh, at least let me finish it! I haven’t seen the part about rewards and communication yet!

She knew it. A “dog training” video like this was bound to be reported!

She put her phone down with regret, unaware that the blogger on the other end was angrily taking photos and videos of their Border Collie and Bernese Mountain Dog, engaging in a battle of wits and reason with the platform’s review team.

…

Xie Shiwei had just pressed her thumb on the fingerprint lock when the door opened from the inside.

Jiang Xi-yao looked at her with a cold face for two seconds, puffed out her cheeks as if holding her breath, then quickly deflated.

“Are you done with exams? You’re done now, right? I checked your department’s final exam schedule. You’re finished, aren’t you? Xie Shiwei, you are done! You are not allowed to give me the silent treatment anymore!”

Xie Shiwei was astonished. She hadn’t been.

“Didn’t I message you every day when I came home before bed? You were the one who didn’t reply?”

Jiang Xi-yao’s confidence wavered for a moment, then she justified herself:

“How was I supposed to know you wouldn’t see my reply and say I was distracting your studying, then use that as an excuse to say I broke our agreement and break up with me? You’ve wanted to dump me for a long time anyway! I won’t let you catch me out!”

Xie Shiwei: “…?”

She belatedly remembered that when she first heard her “scumbag story” from Jiang Xi-yao, she had indeed felt excessively guilty and over-reflective, wanting to persuade Jiang Xi-yao to find a better partner.

However.

Now it seemed that the “amnesia version” of the story that Jiang Xi-yao described was highly questionable in terms of how many punctuation marks one could believe.

Xie Shiwei raised her hands and swore: “Fine, I won’t casually bring up ‘breaking up’ again, alright?”

Jiang Xi-yao interrupted without hesitation:

“Bringing up breaking up is casual in itself. You are not allowed to bring it up under any circumstance! Xie Shiwei! Don’t think you can unilaterally dump me!”

Xie Shiwei was about to speak, but the second rule from the video suddenly flashed in her mind.

She couldn’t be led by Jiang Xi-yao’s emotions. Continuing to let Jiang Xi-yao steer the conversation toward the “breakup” issue would deviate from the core of her intended discussion.

So, she simply responded with calm silence.

Jiang Xi-yao heard her inner thoughts clearly and didn’t care what kind of nonsense Xie Shiwei had watched. She was only annoyed that Xie Shiwei was once again thinking about the irrelevant Fan Hui.

Why should that damned side character, that cannon fodder, repeatedly occupy Xie Shiwei’s thoughts?

“Fine! I was wrong!” Jiang Xi-yao’s eyes showed the hatred she harbored for Fan Hui; it was all this thoughtless thing’s fault that Xie Shiwei had given her the cold shoulder for so many days. “I know I was wrong, isn’t that enough!”

She just needed to get Xie Shiwei back to how she was before, right?

Jiang Xi-yao hadn’t felt right these past few days.

She felt this dating game was rapidly spiraling out of control.

The end button to the game wasn’t in her hands; it was in Xie Shiwei’s.

And yet, Xie Shiwei wasn’t pressing the “end game” button. She simply pressed “pause.” A pause meant it might continue, or it might be stopped indefinitely. Jiang Xi-yao hated this endless sense of waiting.

It made her heart feel like it was constantly being fried in a blazing oil pan.

She figured that no matter what Xie Shiwei said, she should just agree to it, right?

Xie Shiwei patiently asked her: “What were you wrong about?”

Jiang Xi-yao’s expression froze. Jiang Xi-yao was incredulous. Jiang Xi-yao was shocked—

Since her birth, she had never bowed her head to any human. Whether they were screaming for her death or brazenly displaying the ultimate sadistic desire toward her, she would only respond to those incompetent fools with sarcasm.

Jiang Xi-yao never apologized to anyone because she couldn’t make a mistake.

The ones who were wrong were clearly the idiotic people who couldn’t control their desires and were easily seduced by her.

But Xie Shiwei was different from them.

Jiang Xi-yao was silent, then, for once, began to stutter, her dark eyes darting around:

“Wrong about… wrong about making you unhappy!”

Xie Shiwei slowly: “…?”

She suddenly had a slight understanding of the helplessness of an early childhood educator.

The moment Jiang Xi-yao reached that absurd answer, Xie Shiwei suddenly started hesitating about pursuing teaching in her major after graduation. She would go crazy, wouldn’t she?

She raised her hands and cupped Jiang Xi-yao’s face again, making those magically beautiful eyes look at herself:

“Okay. Let’s just leave it at that.”

“After all, I was the one who first forgot the stories about you and your background, so now I also have no right to criticize why your way of thinking is different from mine.”

“Then you only need to remember one thing: anything related to me in the future, whether it’s taking revenge for me, giving me a surprise, or anything else—you must ask me first about everything. If I don’t like it, you mustn’t do it, okay?”

Xie Shiwei realized that their relationship could not be like that of other ordinary couples.

There should never be sudden “surprises” between them.

Otherwise, given Jiang Xi-yao’s thought process, she would definitely give her something very difficult to accept.

Jiang Xi-yao stared intently at her with those pitch-black eyes.

A few seconds later.

Xie Shiwei was suddenly pinned against the front door.

As her back hit the cold door panel, her clothes in front were lifted, and a cool breeze swept over her front as well.

But what was more outrageous was the sudden warmth of Jiang Xi-yao’s mouth as she bit down—

It was still cool.

However, after a small gasp, Xie Shiwei felt an undeniable flush of heat spread over her body.

Jiang Xi-yao hadn’t been able to hug this desired warmth for ten consecutive days, nor had she been able to hold the soft flesh she wanted to gnaw and grind on in her mouth for ten nights. Now that she finally had her wish, she didn’t forget to look up with the corner of her eye.

“Then, do you like this?”

Jiang Xi-yao bit down on the soft flesh between her teeth, refusing to let go, and strictly adhered to the rule Xie Shiwei had just set by asking her.

Xie Shiwei couldn’t help but raise the back of one hand to cover her mouth.

She heard the sound of the elevator opening and closing in the stairwell behind the door, and the sound of other residents walking and talking on the same floor. Separated by the thin door panel, she could hear every movement clearly.

This also meant that any sound she made in her throat could be heard clearly by the people outside the door.

The tips of Xie Shiwei’s ears were flushed red.

Mist quickly welled up in her eyes.

She swallowed hard for a long time, closing her eyes in self-deception, her voice suppressed, and according to the newly learned dog-training rule, gave a clear response:

“…I like it.”

Then a deeper, short scream escaped her throat.

—Jiang Xi-yao bit down harder.

As soon as Xie Shiwei looked down, she could see the unconcealed joy in the woman’s eyes.

And in that instant, she also clearly realized.

To tame this evil dog and establish the correct system of rewards and punishments, her own body was the absolute best reward she could offer.