"So it was just to get to the extreme, I thought you really would expose her..." There seemed to be some regret in Pandora's tone.
Expose her?
"One must be kind...I want to be a kind person."
Yan Xi walked down the stairs, autumn was approaching.
There was a bit of coolness in the air.
She had almost forgotten who had made her kind.
Besides, Ji Yao still had uses, if she was forced too much she would bite back, that wouldn't be good.
Her phone suddenly vibrated, a new message came in.
Zhou Zhou: Are you with Ji Yao?
Yan Xi raised her eyebrows and asked back.
Yan Xi: Did you watch the livestream?
Zhou Zhou was at a loss for words for a moment, not knowing how to reply.
He also didn't know why, after watching the dance livestream, he felt even more uncomfortable, he couldn't tell what emotion he was feeling for a moment.
But subconsciously he just wanted to contact her, by the time he came to his senses he had already sent her a message.
Before he could think of how to reply, another message from Yan Xi came in.
Yan Xi: Let's talk about how to play the third round.
Zhou Zhou looked at the new short message, and suddenly felt a bit irritated.
Hadn't their relationship been like this from the beginning?
Why would he suddenly feel a bit annoyed?
"Come out with me today, little brother."
"You seem to be in a very good mood today." Qi Yili looked at Yan Xi, her eyes full of smiles.
"Not bad."
She would be even happier if she could get Ji Yao to the extreme soon.
"Where are we going?"
"To buy some clothes, the school's Christmas party is about to start right? Yesterday the optician told me your prescription glasses were ready, let's go out and try them on, see if they fit properly, if not we can adjust them again."
"How long will we be out?"
Lately, his mother's condition had worsened.
"It won't be for too long, there will be time to go see your mom today." Yan Xi said in understanding, and patted his shoulder.
"Okay."
"How is it? Does it fit properly?"
Qi Yili's vision went blurry, almost dizzyingly nauseous.
It was like his previous state, muddling through obscurely, the unknown far off future, he didn't even dare to hope.
"Is the lens prescription not right?" Her voice was steady and calm, like a tranquil pool of water.
His vision instantly became clear again, in the light and shadows, everything slowly took shape.
The first thing he saw was her.
The light fell on the girl's shoulders, her beautiful face half illuminated by the sun, half submerged in darkness, the depths of her eyes always without a hint of ripples.
No matter what expression, he could always sense a feeling of aloofness from her, as if to everyone, and also to this world.
In these short few weeks, he had an unprecedented experience.
A warm bed, well-fitting clothes, brand new textbooks, a peaceful life, the only thing he had to work hard on was his own grades.
No longer any school uniform that could never be washed completely clean, no more day after day of cruel curses and violence, no longer having to skip breakfast to save money and walk for hours from school to home.
The foot blisters and stomach pains that once came seemed to disappear without a trace.
That wall, seemed to separate two different worlds.
Many times he woke up at midnight, and found himself lying in the soft bed, wrapped in warmth, the room arrangement neat and cozy, as if everything he had experienced before was just a dream, an absurd and bizarre dream.
And that him being Yan Xi's little brother was the only truth.
Only when seeing his ill mother in the hospital bed each time, could he briefly wake up from this dream, what he was escaping from was brought up again, only then could he painfully sober up.
He had also been observing her, at first it was more precaution, but after following her for the short few weeks, he read something different beneath that beautiful yet overly fair exterior.
She was like an onlooker, whether in daily laughter or annoyance and gloom, he didn't feel any ripples from her, as if those emotions only clung to the surface. Even her help towards him, seemed like a trivial lending of a hand.
He didn't see a shred of compassion in her help, just like a light wisp of cloud, he relied on it and at the same time felt at ease.
"Do the lenses need adjustment to the prescription?"
"They're fine."
But no matter her purpose, he admitted that when by her side he would feel a soothing tranquility.
"Little brother, I discovered you look really good with glasses on." Yan Xi said with a smile of praise.
If nothing changed, this would be enough.
"Hey, have you thought about how to compete?" Yan Xi bought everything and returned home, after Qi Yili helped bring everything back home he went to the hospital alone.
After she tidied everything up that she bought, she opened her phone. Zhou Zhou this chatterbox still hadn't replied to her message from yesterday until now. So she just called and asked.
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
On the other end of the call, a few brawny guys surrounded Zhou Zhou, ears pricked listening in.
"Move aside." Zhou Zhou said speechless, he had just met up with a couple of buddies at the basketball court to let off some steam for a day, when the call came in.
And that blabbermouth Kong Jie upon seeing the caller ID was Yan Xi, became the biggest gossip, and quickly pulled the brothers he was playing basketball with to give an update.
The result of the update was them instantly looking at Zhou Zhou with the most gossipy expressions. It made his hairs stand on end.
"It really is the voice of the school belle Yan Xi? Zhou Zhou, you're merciless! Playing this hand, yesterday you were still saying Yan Xi's dance was nothing special. Privately you're contacting her, quite the hypocrite!" Kong Jie yelled loudly at Zhou Zhou while eagerly dodging them.
"Boss Zhou, I said you were interested in her right, that chick's dance in yesterday's livestream was hot stuff! That livestream went viral, it's blowing up all over the internet!"
"Boss Zhou was even asking me for the dance cut of the livestream yesterday. He was watching it for a whole afternoon, yo what's the relationship? Didn't that chick say she was in your class too?"
....
"Is there something?" Zhou Zhou avoided them and found an empty space before he started speaking.
"You didn't reply my message, so have you thought about how to play the third round?"
Zhou Zhou also didn't know what mood he was in, he didn't know how to reply.
No, he had been very confused since yesterday.
He was like possessed as he watched that video over and over, the more he watched, the more he wanted to watch it again!
And when he woke up this morning, seeing the mess below, he had a wet dream. And the main character of his dream yesterday was actually Yan Xi! He felt like he was going crazy.
"If you have no ideas, I happen to have a way to play this. Not sure what you think?" The girl's clear voice came over through the phone.
"Let's end this game at the Christmas party."
