The Senior Student (female) Is Not Human - Chapter 63

Chapter 63: Shopping

 

“Will you come in?”

Under the owner’s strange gaze, Xie Shiwei wanted to flee in panic.

She had never been so mortified and exposed.

Her waist trembled, her legs went soft. She took off the gloves, her finger joints and the skin between her fingers all red.

“…How much?”

Her face was flushed. She forced herself to speak, enduring the shame, and asked the price.

Xie Shiwei didn’t know where she found the courage to insist on asking this question.

Tear marks remained on the edge of her glasses, and the heat on her face reminded her that she had made such a strange sound in front of a stranger while trying on the product.

Perhaps her legs were too weak to run.

Or perhaps, she would rather endure the look of a pervert than walk away without buying these gloves.

Because she missed the temperature and intensity of that caress too much. Even if it was just a material close to that person’s body temperature, she wanted to keep it.

She consoled herself that she just wanted to wean herself off gradually.

She just wanted to find a substitute to treat her insomnia first.

The body she could cling to wantonly all night was suddenly gone. It would definitely take a long time for her to quit cold turkey. What did it matter if she touched a pair of cheap gloves with a similar texture before bed, as a stand-in to lull herself to sleep?

Given time, she would slowly get used to the vanished scent, and get used to the person who had left.

“Is it too tight?”

The owner’s sudden question interrupted Xie Shiwei’s thoughts.

She stammered: “Wh-what?”

The owner stared at the pair of gloves, inexplicably not wanting to sell them to her: “Your hands were all red when you took them off. They must be too tight, right? Should I go find you a pair one size larger?”

Xie Shiwei’s complexion gradually returned to normal after taking off the gloves.

Now even her rationality returned: “Why don’t you tell me the price first?”

The owner turned to walk towards the storage room: “Others are two hundred. This pair is two thousand.”

Xie Shiwei: “?”

She looked down in disbelief. The gloves were beautiful, but this store was in a wholesale mall. Was such a high unit price meant for stocking luxury goods?

“Why is this pair two thousand?” she asked, feigning an interest in a detailed explanation.

“Isn’t it obvious? This color, this fabric, this cut. It makes your skin look fair and expensive. How good did you look in them just now? This glove looks good on anyone—if you don’t want to buy it, I don’t want to sell it!”

The owner’s attitude suddenly changed, completely different from the friendliness when he welcomed her in.

Xie Shiwei somewhat understood why this store had no business.

She swiftly put the gloves back in place: “Goodbye.”

The price, shouted as if she were a fool, didn’t even give her the urge to bargain.

A mere case of insomnia. If you’re tired enough, you’ll fall asleep. At worst, I’ll buy some sleeping pills.

Substitute? I don’t need a substitute.

Xie Shiwei quickly fled the shady shop, afraid that if she was slow, the owner would chase after her to charge a “breathing air fee.”

The girl’s departure was resolute. Behind her, the lambskin glove, hung back on the wall, suddenly dropped onto the owner’s face with a crisp “smack,” giving him a clean slap.

The owner’s cry of pain coincided with the ringing of Xie Shiwei’s phone.

She looked down and answered: “Chu Chu? What’s wrong?”

“The food I ordered is going to get cold. Why aren’t you here yet? Did you see clothes so pretty you couldn’t move?” Zhong Chuyao teased her.

Xie Shiwei decided to eat dinner with her friend first before continuing to shop.

When she arrived at the restaurant, Zhong Chuyao suddenly sat up straight, her sharp gaze fixed on Xie Shiwei’s neck:

“The Buddha amulet? Did you take it off or did it fall off?”

Xie Shiwei sat down across from her, touching her neck: “Oh, I took it off just now and put it in my bag.”

Her fawn-like eyes blinked, and she smiled: “What’s wrong? There are people coming and going here. It’s not safe to wear such a large piece of gold. What if it falls off or changes color, like the Buddha beads I wore last time? Wouldn’t that be a greater sin for me?”

With that, Xie Shiwei took out the paper-wrapped Buddha amulet from her bag and handed it over.

“No. I probably still can’t get used to wearing such a valuable gift. I have a psychological burden.”

“Chu Chu, you should take this gift back. That teacher gave it to me out of respect for you anyway, so it’s really your gift.”

Zhong Chuyao stared at her friend’s actions, frowning.

She tasted the boomerang of her “materialist” basic persona again.

However, the answer to which was more important—the persona or Xie Shiwei’s safety—was clear at a glance.

Zhong Chuyao didn’t reach out to take it. She even unhesitatingly overturned her past self:

“No.”

“You know I was adjusted to this special major, but as I’ve been learning recently, I realized I was too arrogant before. The truth of this world far exceeds what I once saw.”

“This Buddha amulet is a genuine artifact, blessed by a master and capable of warding off evil. It can help you stay away from bad people and things. If you wear it, a thief wouldn’t even dare to look at you twice. How would they dare steal it?”

Zhong Chuyao’s tone was slow and firm: “Put it on.”

Xie Shiwei’s eyes widened in surprise.

She realized she had misunderstood. The value of this Buddha amulet was far greater than she imagined.

Then she absolutely couldn’t accept it!

“No, absolutely not.” Xie Shiwei insisted on taking Zhong Chuyao’s hand and putting the amulet back: “Since it’s such a good thing, you should keep it for yourself.”

Zhong Chuyao lost her patience.

“Even if it’s the most precious thing, my family has plenty. Do you think your luck needs it more, or do I need it more? Xie Shiwei, put it on!”

She saw the girl’s vacant look, paused, and asked suspiciously:

“Do you really not want it? Or did something unusual happen just now? Did someone urge you to take it off? Wei Wei, who did you meet?”

Zhong Chuyao was filled with suspicion.

She even suspected that the demon had given up completely and reappeared in front of Xie Shiwei despite her previous death. Otherwise, why would Xie Shiwei suddenly want to return the amulet?

Xie Shiwei looked at her friend’s highly vigilant appearance with confusion.

“No,” she replied with a bewildered tone: “I didn’t meet anyone. I just felt it was too valuable, that’s why I wanted to return it to you. Chu Chu, what’s wrong?”

Zhong Chuyao scrutinized her eyes, finding no trace of a lie.

After a long while, Zhong Chuyao’s gaze swept over the Buddha amulet:

“I’m not short on money; I’m only short on good friends—”

“But I’m past the age where I want to make new friends. Wei Wei, I just want you to be well, okay? Just fulfill my birthday wish for this year. I want to be good friends with you for a lifetime.”

“A fortune-teller told my mother I’d live to be at least a hundred. Can you live peacefully until you’re a hundred to keep me company?”

The fingers clutching the amulet curled slightly.

This was the second time she had heard someone truly, sincerely wish her a long life.

It was as if she were some fragile being. She almost thought she was an ephemeral creature with only a day to live.

However.

The person who always worried about her was the one who first broke the promise of longevity.

—Should she believe it again? Could she believe it again?

Parents, grandparents, girlfriend… every single person had left this world early, before her. She had to use all her strength just to remember them.

The consequence of her fully remembering these people was facing one long rain after another in her life. The rain would only completely stop when she also died.

Xie Shiwei didn’t want to try hard to live at all.

Zhong Chuyao was the only important person left by her side. If even Zhong Chuyao broke her promise, her world would be completely overwhelmed by this downpour.

Xie Shiwei silently took the amulet back.

But she decided to put it away on a high shelf.

Even if this amulet could truly protect and bless her, she no longer needed this precarious existence.

She had already lived longer than many important people around her. She wanted to be selfish for once. She wanted to die before Zhong Chuyao. At least this way, she wouldn’t have to bear the pain of losing someone important again.

“Okay,” Xie Shiwei smiled and lied to her friend: “I’ll try my best.”

Zhong Chuyao was still worried.

She instructed Xie Shiwei again: “This Buddha amulet has a spirit. Not only can it protect its owner, but it can also issue warnings about dangerous presences.”

“If it ever emits a golden light, or suddenly acts abnormally, it’s warning you that the current environment is dangerous, or the person you’re facing is dangerous. You must leave immediately, understand?”

Xie Shiwei rested her chin in her hands, watching Zhong Chuyao, who was full of mystical talk.

“You’ve changed so much, Chu Chu.”

She sighed, yet vaguely felt that this was also Zhong Chuyao’s most authentic appearance.

Before, Zhong Chuyao didn’t want her to dwell on those elusive destinies, so she always encouraged her to strive and work hard. Now that Zhong Chuyao might have the ability to do more, Buddha beads and a Buddha amulet appeared on Xie Shiwei.

Ultimately, Zhong Chuyao only wanted what was best for her.

Xie Shiwei understood this well.

So, she smiled at Zhong Chuyao: “But even like this, you’re still my best friend.”

Zhong Chuyao had been sterilizing a set of bowls and chopsticks with boiling water while talking. She now handed them over: “I know. Remember what I said, and hurry up and eat while it’s hot. The food is getting cold.”

Xie Shiwei reached out to take them, but the heat stung her fingertips, and she instinctively pinched her ear.

Zhong Chuyao smiled, remembering something: “Oh right, the warning from the amulet I just told you about also includes heating up. If you ever feel it getting hot, it’s also warning you that the environment is unsafe.”

The girl’s slightly red fingertips, pinching her pale earlobe, paused.

…Heating up?

That’s a warning?

She thought of the shop just now, and the pair of light gray lambskin gloves.

She praised sincerely: “Wow, it’s so spiritual! It’s really useful. I almost got ripped off by a shop just now. Good thing I ran away fast.”

Zhong Chuyao put a piece of her favorite eggplant casserole on Xie Shiwei’s plate.

“See?” After unconsciously agreeing, Zhong Chuyao herself became suspicious.

Wasn’t this amulet for warding off evil? The warning should only be about evil things, right? Is the effect so powerful that it works against dishonest merchants?

Zhong Chuyao wasn’t sure, but as long as Wei Wei kept wearing the amulet, whatever she said was fine.

…

The Temptation

After dinner.

Xie Shiwei put on the Buddha amulet and walked back to the shopping area alone.

This time, she didn’t choose a specific destination. She quickly walked through four streets, North, South, East, and West. The Buddha amulet was played with in her palm the entire time.

Until…

A sudden burst of heat made her jump.

Xie Shiwei abruptly stopped walking.

She used the amulet’s warning as a pointer, holding it up to both sides. She found that the amulet was warning her of danger from a lingerie shop.

Xie Shiwei walked into the lingerie shop without hesitation.

She found that once she stopped caring about living, she became intensely interested in exploring ways to die.

She wanted to see what the danger the amulet was warning her about was.

“Beautiful lady, what style do you like?” the female owner put down her boxed lunch and greeted her.

Xie Shiwei replied, “Just looking around.”

The owner then looked back down at her phone, scrolling through short videos, but still made a customary sales pitch: “We have all kinds of fabric and all sizes of underwear. But you can’t try them on. There are discounts for bulk purchases.”

She acknowledged it but stood still in the store.

Xie Shiwei curiously surveyed the shop. Will the fan hanging from the ceiling suddenly fall and cut off her head? Or will someone suddenly come in to rob the place? Or will there suddenly be an earthquake here?

The delicate figure stood in the center of the store for a full ten minutes, but nothing happened.

The owner finished her boxed lunch and couldn’t help but look at her suspiciously:

“What exactly do you want to buy?”

Xie Shiwei’s palm was almost blistered by the amulet.

She was also curious. Where was the danger? What was the warning for? The corridor outside was empty. Even if a murderer suddenly passed by, there should be some movement, right?

She felt uncomfortable under the owner’s gaze and had no choice but to pretend to carefully select some underwear.

Speaking of which.

She did want to buy a few new sets of underwear, preferably made of the kind of fabric Jiang Xi-yao had previously given her, so she wouldn’t waste so many liners and sanitary napkins when she wasn’t on her period.

She tried turning to the owner and asking: “Do you have any panties that are particularly absorbent?”

“Like… I sweat a lot, and I don’t like it sticking to me when I exercise. I want it to dry quickly, or not leak during my period…”

She hesitated, gesturing vaguely.

The owner looked at her calmly: “How much do you sweat? How much do you leak during your period? If the flow is heavy, you buy extra thick sanitary napkins. Do you expect panties to absorb it all for you?”

Xie Shiwei was choked by her bluntness.

The previous description had already used up all the girl’s nerve. She silently started to walk away.

The owner, however, saw through her thoughts: “We really don’t have that kind of fabric. If you want something cheap and thin, buy ice silk. If you want something breathable, buy pure cotton. If you want something thin and breathable, buy real silk. The expensive brands outside that sell for five figures all source their goods from my store—”

“I’ve never heard of such a strange request. Absorbent panties? Isn’t that stealing business from diapers?”

Xie Shiwei felt utterly mortified.

A blush of embarrassment showed on her delicate face again.

Just as she was about to run away in a panic, pretending she had never been there and hoping never to step foot in this store again, she turned around and glimpsed a set of exquisite, hand-embroidered lingerie quietly hanging on the wall.

Although there was no special light source nearby, it seemed to glow on its own.

Xie Shiwei’s gaze was unconsciously drawn to it.

She pointed to the set of lingerie: “What… what fabric is that set?”

This hand-embroidered fabric also felt familiar to her.

The owner looked over and was suddenly startled: “Holy cow, I never hung that set up.”

She told Xie Shiwei to wait, took out her phone to call her relative: “Did the new shipment from the factory arrive last time? Was there any extra sample given? Oh, oh, oh… okay, okay, I understand…”

She walked behind the counter, looking at Xie Shiwei: “It’s a new, pure handmade product. A new shipment from the factory. That’s the only set. I’ll sell it to you cheap. Take it for two hundred.”

Xie Shiwei looked at the lifelike bamboo leaf embroidery on it.

She walked over and touched it.

It was indeed delicate and cool, just like the one she had worn before.

She was hesitant that the fabric Jiang Xi-yao favored was so cheap: “Two hundred?”

The owner looked at her and quickly changed the price: “One hundred eighty. That’s the lowest.”

Xie Shiwei quickly found the answer: Jiang Xi-yao always liked to pursue brands. The owner just said that the brands selling five-figure lingerie sourced their goods here, so Jiang Xi-yao must have paid a brand premium.

She composed herself: “One hundred?”

Owner: “Deal.”

Xie Shiwei: …Damn it, I cut too little?!

She walked over to scan the code and pay. The owner tossed her a plastic bag and let her pack it herself.

Xie Shiwei didn’t mind the lack of service. After all, they were doing wholesale and discounts, they didn’t have time for fancy packaging.

She took down the beautiful set of lingerie, regretting that there was only one set.

She wanted to buy a few more sets for rotation.

The girl picked up the plastic bag and happily packed the garments. The Buddha amulet grew increasingly hot in the middle of the process, its golden color becoming dazzling. Xie Shiwei, no longer trusting it, wrapped it in several more layers of paper and threw it back into her backpack.

Shopping finally made progress. Her steps were cheerful and light as she walked out.

Behind her, the owner peeked out from the store, watched her walk away, then quickly closed the door and pulled down the roller shutter, muttering, “Bad luck, bad luck, Amitabha,” and closed up shop early—

In the past, there were always weird stories circulating about the mannequins in the underground mall, but the owner had dismissed them. Until today, when she personally heard her family swear they hadn’t been to her store or touched her display.

She had a good memory and knew every piece of merchandise in her store.

She had never hung up that bizarre, evil set of lingerie.

She was even certain that the wall was empty before she ate her boxed lunch.

Where did those two pieces of cloth come from?

She didn’t want to investigate. Anyway, a poor soul took the fall, and she made an extra hundred. She was satisfied.

The top priority was to rush home and bathe with pomelo leaves, and then go back to the store to burn incense and pray. May God bless her. She didn’t want to encounter such an evil thing again!

…

A few minutes later.

Zhong Chuyao yawned in the restaurant area, watching Xie Shiwei walk in: “Finally done shopping. Let’s go home.”

The formation she set up at home was almost complete, only the final step remained. Once successfully completed, the formation would take effect. Even if that demon was a master of disguise, she wouldn’t be able to sneak into the Zhong house a single step, not even if she dug three feet under.

With Xie Shiwei wearing the Buddha amulet and being with her when she went out, and staying in the extremely safe fortress of the Zhong family at night, Zhong Chuyao didn’t believe that demon could find another chance to get close to her friend.

Thinking of this, she glanced at Xie Shiwei’s neck again—

The Buddha amulet was intact. Good. It seemed Wei Wei’s shopping trip went smoothly.

Xie Shiwei felt her gaze and instinctively smiled at her.

The hand clutching her backpack, however, tightened.

She didn’t know what was wrong with the amulet. It almost set her backpack on fire earlier. She had to take it out and put the bag of lingerie inside. But even exposed to the air, it was still hot and glowing.

Xie Shiwei was genuinely afraid it would explode. She held its string, intending to go to the restroom to run cold water over it to cool it down.

After walking a few steps, it cooled down again.

She turned back, bewildered, holding it. As soon as she was near the backpack again, it immediately flared up.

“What does this mean? Does it dislike me because I’m unlucky, or does it dislike my old backpack? What’s going on? Is the noble gold looking down on poor people like me?”

Xie Shiwei shook it left and right in confusion, until she saw the golden light radiating from it, burning through the plastic bag and causing the light blue fabric inside to start turning black and wrinkling.

“Hiss! My one hundred yuan!”

Xie Shiwei tossed the Buddha amulet away without hesitation.

After a “thud,” she belatedly remembered that the amulet was more expensive than the hundred-yuan panties.

She didn’t want to give up either, so she tried to put a safe distance between them.

Now she was wearing the Buddha amulet around her neck, and her backpack had to be carried near her feet. Even so, the skin beneath her collarbone continuously radiated warmth.

Such a demanding artifact, she thought.

But Xie Shiwei was more curious about what about this lingerie was causing such a reaction. So, after returning home with Zhong Chuyao, she rushed back to her bedroom, locking the door tightly.

Her clothes fell to the floor one by one. Even the Buddha amulet was thrown into the farthest corner of the bed.

Xie Shiwei turned the light blue fabric over and over.

She didn’t find any hidden needles, nor did she see any new type of hidden camera technology.

What danger could this clothing possibly bring her?

Xie Shiwei put it on with anticipation.

“Snap.”

Her fingertips released the thin, cool elastic fabric at her waist, making a faint sound.

The extremely skin-friendly comfort returned. She squinted her eyes and let out a pleasant sigh.

The moment she opened her mouth: “Ah… Ah!”

The fabric that suddenly tightened around her chest pinched her so hard that her waist went soft, and she fell onto the bed.

But she was still not let go—

“Mmmph! Ahh, stop rubbing…”

Her glasses had fallen off, but when she looked down, she still clearly saw a bizarre scene.

The fabric clinging to her body, as if bound to an invisible hand, began to wantonly knead and squeeze her soft flesh. She even saw the fabric pressing against her pale soft body, causing indentations.

Xie Shiwei’s pupils widened in horror.

She instinctively raised her hand and tried to strike at the space in front of her, but she hit nothing but air.

And her action seemed to displease this eerie presence.

The force wrapping around her soft body suddenly tightened!

A short sound escaped her throat: “St-stop pinching…”

Xie Shiwei didn’t even know who she was begging: “Don’t pinch… it hurts…”

But the force on the fabric miraculously loosened.

Only.

It quickly changed into another form that Xie Shiwei couldn’t accept.

The girl buried her head in the pillow, trying to muffle the continuous gasps coming from her throat. Although a slightly louder sound would have brought her friend to the rescue, her choice was to hide these unusual occurrences.

Mixed with her gasps was her low moan: “No… don’t suck… I can’t take it…”

She felt like she was going seriously insane.

Even though it was such a terrifying and dreadful scene, she allowed herself to be played with by this eerie presence, because the feeling of the touch was too familiar, and the covering warmth and intensity were too nostalgic.

Xie Shiwei was suddenly very grateful that she couldn’t see any extraneous visuals.

The scene in the bedroom was still normal.

This way, she could close her eyes and still deceive herself that she was living her old life—

And this force, wantonly manipulating her body, was still her girlfriend.

She seemed to miss Jiang Xi-yao too much.

To what extent did she miss her?

She even wanted to make up for the regrets of the things they hadn’t done before.

In the soft bed, the solitary girl had her eyes tightly closed, a look of sweetness on her flushed face.

Even her voice was as soft as a whisper to a lover.

“Come in… will you come in?”

“I want you… I want you so badly…”

Her two pale legs, which had been tightly closed and rubbing her inner knees raw,

also slowly began to open—