The dim yellow light enveloped Tong'an City, and every window reflected an orange glow, signaling the impending arrival of night.
In a bedroom of about ten square meters, a girl in a maid's uniform was kneeling on the bed.
"Third Miss, does your head still hurt?"
"Third Miss, shall I make dinner for you?"
"Third Miss, we were supposed to play a game yesterday, do you still want to..."
Since returning, Qin Guoxuan had asked Qin Yuanyuan multiple times, but the other girl just lay silently in bed, playing on her phone.
However, when she mentioned playing a game, Qin Yuanyuan finally sat up.
Qin Guoxuan was overjoyed.
"Third Miss!"
But her enthusiasm was met with Qin Yuanyuan's cold eyes.
"Play a game? How can a maid play with her master?"
Eh, eh?!
Oh, oh, so that's how it is, I understand...
Qin Guoxuan's face showed no expression as she silently moved from the bed to the bedside.
Before these past few days, this was where she had always stood.
Qin Guoxuan placed her hands on her abdomen and bowed deeply. "I'm sorry, Third Miss. I spoke out of turn."
Just like before.
"As long as you know..." Qin Yuanyuan ignored her, pulled the covers over herself, and went to sleep.
Qin Guoxuan knew that Third Miss was exhausted from being angered by an incompetent maid like her. She couldn't even play the part of a friend well and ended up tattling.
She had only made Third Miss feel worse.
Even though Qin Yuanyuan was no longer looking at her, Qin Guoxuan didn't raise her head for a long time.
Perhaps if Qin Guoxuan had looked up, she would have seen Qin Yuanyuan biting her lip, looking as if she were about to cry.
But if she had seen it, she would have blamed herself even more. Third Miss was already missing that girl so much, and she had still angered her. (Qin Yuanyuan had cried several times before because she missed Rou-jie, and Qin Guoxuan assumed this was the same.)
Third Miss must really hate her now.
Qin Guoxuan stood by the side, waiting for who knows how long, until the sky turned dark.
Hearing the girl's steady breathing, she slowly left the room.
"I should probably leave... otherwise, Third Miss will feel sick every time she sees me," Qin Guoxuan said with a dejected expression, sitting on a chair in the living room.
She felt a sense of reluctance in her heart, but she didn't know for what.
Qin Guoxuan opened her phone and dialed Qin Siying's number.
The other person was one of the two maids who had stayed in Xiamo City. She was a normal girl, diligent in her work, with a normal sexual orientation.
"Xiao Ying, can you come and take over for me in taking care of Third Miss? I made her angry."
"Third Miss definitely doesn't want to see me anymore."
...
The phone call ended. Qin Guoxuan sent her location to the other person, and they agreed that she could take over tomorrow afternoon.
"Yuanyuan, Guoguo," Qin Guoxuan said one last time, a term of endearment that was incredibly intimate to her.
Opening her phone again, she long-pressed the icon of the game she had just downloaded, and then uninstalled it.
She couldn't play with Yuanyuan anymore.
As Qin Guoxuan sat on the chair, her eyes inexplicably became moist.
"Wuwu, it's not like this."
She lifted the white frill of her maid's dress and wiped her wet eyes.
As she wiped, she felt she had dirtied the dress and didn't dare to do it again.
There was no tissue around, so she could only wipe her tears frantically with the back of her hand.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, Su Yun was searching for Qin Xue and Chu Bing in the room but couldn't find them anywhere.
Su Yun looked at the empty room. Even her parents weren't there; they had probably gone out to buy groceries.
The sky outside the window was dim, and she was all alone in the large room.
Instantly, she felt the air fill with loneliness and discomfort.
It was as if she were about to be swept away by the darkness outside the window.
"Where did Sister Xue go? She didn't even tell me she was going out..."
Normally, Sister Xue would want to stick to her side. How could she leave without saying anything?
Su Yun thought for a moment and quickly realized something was wrong. She ran back into the room.
She picked up her phone and called Qin Xue.
"Du... du..."
The hollow sound of the phone dialing was very distinct in the silent, empty bedroom.
Su Yun waited anxiously, afraid that something had happened to her.
"Di."
The call connected.
"Little sister Yun?" A clear, pleasant female voice came from the other end of the line.
"Sister Xue, why did you go out without me!?"
"Hehe, I saw you were still sleeping. After all, you worked so hard last night, I didn't want to disturb you."
"?"
As Su Yun imagined it, she recalled the storms of last night.
The wind was the hot breath exhaled by the girl, and the rain was...
Last night's Su Yun, to Qin Xue, was a tornado and a torrential downpour.
Su Yun opened her small cherry lips, wanting to curse, but ultimately pursed them shyly.
"Little sister Yun? Why aren't you talking? If it's nothing, I'll continue taking photos for the winter break volunteer activity with Chu Bing. The deadline is tomorrow morning."
"Oh," Su Yun replied softly, her mind not yet caught up.
Sister Xue and Chu Bing together?
No!
She remembered the conversation that seemed like a dream, and her heart instantly sank.
Could it be that Sister Xue really promised Chu Bing something?
"Sister Xue, where are you?"
Su Yun picked up her phone and asked anxiously, only to find that the other side had already hung up. What she saw now was her phone wallpaper, a photo of her and Qin Xue taken on campus one day.
The proud big sister had a faint smile on her face, her gaze drifting to the white-haired girl beside her, looking very intimate.
"..."
Su Yun got dressed and ran out to find Qin Xue.
...
The winter night wind was cold. At this moment, a cold wind howled at the bottom of the community, creating a sea of wind that whipped across the girl's face.
Due to the time and the lack of streetlights in the community, it was pitch black ahead.
But this was not a problem for Su Yun. She wasn't afraid of the cold, and she could see clearly.
But even so, she circled the community once and still didn't see Qin Xue.
"Could it be that Sister Xue really went to volunteer? Shouldn't she just be taking pictures with a broom downstairs?"
"Master."
Just as Su Yun was standing on the first floor of Building 13, hesitating whether to make a call, a male voice sounded from behind her.
"What the heck?" Su Yun turned to look and found that it was the future landlord who owned several buildings.
She vaguely remembered his name was Wang Liang. He wore black glasses, was well-mannered, and was a rather gentle and handsome boy.
If there was anything bad about him, it was probably that he was addicted to yuri.
"It's me, Master. I'm Wang Liang. I joined the group you gave me last time. The people in it shared a lot of yuri novels and manga with me, and I've finished reading them all..."
The young man spoke endlessly, as if he wanted to release his desire to share in real life.
But he was interrupted by Su Yun. "I know, I know, landlord. I have something to do right now. Let's talk later when we have a chance."
"Oh, oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to talk about the important thing!" Wang Liang adjusted his glasses, and his previous gaffe immediately turned into a serious analysis.
"First, let me apologize again, because I just did something that is considered unqualified for a yuri fan."
"But I was very scared, scared that you would break up, so I couldn't help but tail... uh, follow them to see."
"Followed who? Did what?" Su Yun looked at him with an unfriendly gaze.
"Uh..." Wang Liang thought for a moment. "I followed your 'boyfriend,' Master, because I saw her holding hands with another girl when she went out, so I couldn't help but go and see."
"I didn't know until I looked, but when I looked again, they were hugging! Master, is this considered normal? You obviously like girls, yet you go out holding hands with another girl behind your girlfriend's back, and even hug."
Wang Liang was very excited, and Su Yun could hear it.
But don't you be anxious first, let me be anxious.
"Which way did they go?" she asked, not denying the term.
"This reaction, it seems it's true, uh... they went left, in the direction of Qianli Xiang BBQ. I don't know if they're still there."
Hearing the location, Su Yun immediately turned to leave, reminding Wang Liang along the way, "Okay, thanks. You should go back inside. It's not safe to be outside alone at night."
After saying that, she walked into the darkness, leaving Wang Liang standing alone and disoriented at the entrance of Building 13.
"Not safe to be alone at night...?" Wang Liang looked at the small figure that had just left, a faint fragrance from her still lingering around him.
Why did that sentence sound so awkward coming from Master?
Wang Liang thought for a moment and felt that it was dangerous so late at night, and he wanted to follow and protect his master. But then he thought again, a boy and a girl walking together so late at night would easily cause misunderstandings.
After weighing the pros and cons, Wang Liang chose to turn around and go back inside.
Anyway, it wasn't too late. There were still many people outside at 7 or 8 o'clock, and the rapist had been taken to the police station yesterday.
...
[End of Chapter]