Chapter 36
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Chapter 36: Cyberbullying
“At someone else’s place? A classmate?” Heli, who was feeding the cat for Mi Xiaoliu, put the phone on speaker. “Male or female?”
“Female.” In the background, Lu Mingxue coughed deliberately in response.
Hearing her owner’s voice through the phone, Circle—who had been calling out “Old Liu” just moments ago—instantly softened into a coo.
“Mmm…”
Though Heli only let out a simple hum, it inexplicably carried a sense of relief.
“Your mom called?” The girl sitting on the bed asked.
“Mom?”
It was a somewhat unfamiliar word, but Mi Xiaoliu understood its meaning—it was like the owner of a cat. She fed the cat every day, so she was their owner.
Heli, who had been diligently providing her with food lately, was effectively her owner.
“The weather forecast says the rain will last until tomorrow morning. You probably can’t go back. No one’s home at my place, so you can sleep in my bed if you want. Just don’t disturb me while I’m gaming.” Lu Mingxue sized up the freshly bathed girl.
Dressed in the pink bunny pajamas she had provided, the sleeves were slightly long but not overly so. Her glasses were properly worn, and tiny droplets of water still seeped from the ends of her short hair. Before this, Lu Mingxue had assumed the short hair was the wig—turns out the long hair was the fake one…
Poor girl. She must wish she had waist-length hair.
Her small, delicate toes curled slightly in the oversized slippers—a natural reaction to the lingering dampness on her feet.
Mi Xiaoliu looked down at her feet. “Shoes are too big.”
“It’s not that they’re big, your feet are just small. When you’re my age, they’ll probably be the same size as mine.” Lu Mingxue turned her head away, cheeks tinged pink.
What girl wanted to hear someone say her feet were big?
I actually invited a murder suspect into my home… If she gets caught later, won’t I be an accomplice for harboring her?
One wrong move, and everything spirals out of control.
“Master, you should try not to wear other people’s shoes from now on… Some households insist on guests changing footwear, but what if the person who wore these before had an athlete’s foot?”
Sasha added an explanation:
“Athlete’s foot is a contagious condition that affects the feet—”
“Mmm.” Mi Xiaoliu turned to Lu Mingxue. “Do you have an athlete’s foot?”
Sasha: “……”
“Master, that’s incredibly rude!”
Lu Mingxue seemed to want to say something, but given the other girl’s identity as a killer, she only dared to mutter the curse under her breath.
“If you don’t want to wear them, just kick them off. If you’re going to dislike me, then I’ll dislike you too,” she finally spat out. “I’m taking my glasses off now. Even with guests over, I have the right to do as I please in my own home.”
With that, she removed her sunglasses. The dim world before her eyes instantly burst into vivid color. But for her, this vibrant world was confined to just these seventy square meters.
She glanced at Mi Xiaoliu, who showed no reaction to her removing the glasses—still staring at her toes, lost in thought about what exactly “athlete’s foot” was.
Confirmed. This little assassin hasn’t been rigorously trained in discipline. She’s just… simple-minded.
How does someone this naive even become a killer? Could I just bribe her with a good meal and get her to spill all her secrets?
Unlike Wei Shi and Yiwen, Lu Mingxue played single-player games—and switched between them every few minutes. It didn’t seem like she was playing for fun, but just to keep herself occupied.
The one she opened most frequently was a certain block-building 3D game. She’d stare at the messages on the signboard for a while, exit, play something else, then return…
After repeating this cycle for who knows how many times, she finally closed the game for good and turned around to find Mi Xiaoliu sitting quietly on the edge of the bed, watching her without even touching her phone.
This is way too creepy. If not for her mind-reading ability letting her decipher the other girl’s thoughts, Lu Mingxue would’ve probably had a full-blown panic reaction by now.
“Go to sleep. I’ll take the floor.” She shut down her computer and pulled a quilt from the wardrobe, spreading it out on the ground.
She wasn’t used to sleeping next to someone else—even if that someone was a girl younger than her. Based on her own experience, little girls had terrible sleeping habits.
Mi Xiaoliu lay down without removing her glasses, though she stayed so close to the edge that she looked ready to roll off at any moment.
Lu Mingxue glanced at her and picked up her thoughts: 35°C is hot weather. A 90° corner would be hot enough to kill someone.
“……”
So that’s why she was leaning against the cold tiles in the elevator hallway earlier—she was trying to cool down.
Where does she even get this stuff in her head? Did she ever go to elementary school?
Such a strange, pitiful girl with… gaps in her knowledge.
“Master, that’s not how ‘degrees’ work… Your glasses are 800 degrees, you know?”
Sasha’s words startled Mi Xiaoliu into immediately taking off her glasses, then fixing an unblinking stare at Lu Mingxue.
Must not let anyone see her face.
“Master, since she’s a mind-reader, she’s probably already figured out your secret. But for some reason, she hasn’t exposed you… Since she hasn’t said anything, you can take out your colored contacts now.”
Sleeping with them was dangerous.
“Mmm.” Mi Xiaoliu removed the contacts.
Even though Lu Mingxue had seen those eyes before, she couldn’t help but steal another glance. Such uniquely beautiful eyes were rare—the kind that made people envious.
“Can’t sleep,” Mi Xiaoliu suddenly said.
“What, you want a bedtime story?” Lu Mingxue replied flatly.
A few days ago, she wouldn’t have dared to be this bold with Mi Xiaoliu.
But Mi Xiaoliu just stared at her expectantly, waiting for the story.
“……”
“Fine, I’ll play some music. Just go to sleep.” Lu Mingxue turned off the lights and switched to a soft melody on her phone.
A slow, soothing prelude led into a sweet, gentle voice. On its own, the song was unremarkable—even a little sleep-inducing—but that very quality made it a staple on relaxation playlists.
(Of course, some high-energy electronic rock could also make it onto those same playlists.)
Hearing music for the first time, Mi Xiaoliu curiously propped herself up on the pillow to look at Lu Mingxue’s phone.
“You like this?”
No answer. Fortunately, the person asking this time was a mind-reader.
Even so, when she picked up “I don’t know” in response, Lu Mingxue was baffled.
How can someone not know their own preferences?
To Mi Xiaoliu, this song was like the first lullaby a baby ever hears. Maybe it wasn’t particularly catchy or memorable, but the pleasant melody instinctively lifted her mood.
Lu Mingxue placed the phone in front of her and opened the music video.
On the screen was a beautiful girl with headphones, singing into a microphone.
Snow-white hair, gray eyes, holding a white plush cat with bunny ears as she sat primly on a chair. Paired with her soft, graceful voice, she looked like an angel who had fallen to earth—untouched by worldly stains.
She looks familiar.
“Oh, it’s Jingyin’s song.” Only then did Lu Mingxue notice the person in the video.
She’d picked the track randomly, after all—she was here for the music, not the visuals. “None of her songs ever went viral, but they’re all pretty nice to listen to. Too bad she quit the internet.”
“Quit?” Another new term.
“Yeah. Got cyberbullied by gossip accounts. That’s just how the internet is—after a while, when they’re done tearing someone down, they’ll turn around and whitewash the same person they trashed. No one cares about the truth, and no one ever apologizes.”
Lu Mingxue snatched her phone back. “Someone as naive as you should stay far away from all that. Now go to sleep. You have class tomorrow.”
