It was a cloudy evening, with thick layers of pitch-black clouds pressing down, completely obscuring the light of stars and moon. The campus street lights were not very bright, casting indistinct reflections of trees on both sides.
She walked along the path for a while, her breathing finally evening out, but the stifling feeling in her heart was like the layers of clouds, without the slightest gap.
Even though she slapped Hu Jiaojiao twice, and it felt relieving at the time, once she stepped outside, many complicated emotions surged back. As a friend of seventeen years, she really didn’t want to see her turn out this way, or perhaps, this was her true nature all along.
When the Gu Family was in its glory days, Jiaojiao fawned over her at every occasion. When the Gu Family went bankrupt, she calculated her every move. Even if Qili wanted peace, Jiaojiao would create waves without wind. Such a person was impossible to guard against.
The dormitory building was right ahead, the bright lights inside revealing many shadows moving by windows.
In the past, she loved that bustling atmosphere, but now, many people looked at her differently. Every time she entered or left the communal water room, she could hear the whispering voices coming from inside.
No one likes to be pointed at and gossiped about, and even the hardest shell has a fragile spot that cannot withstand a single blow.
She suddenly didn’t want to go back.
Sitting by the roadside for a while, Gu Qili pulled out her phone. Thinking about her own miserable state, aside from the dormitory, she really had nowhere to go. The only place that could shelter her was Jingshan, but whether she could take refuge there was at the mercy of Mu Shuoqian’s mood.
His behavior was erratic — he might not mind using her tableware, but was stingy enough to not give her a ride. One second it was clear skies, the next, thunder and lightning.
Gu Qili pondered for a long time before typing a line of text on the screen, looking at it and feeling dissatisfied, then deleting it and shutting off her phone, only to take it out again after sitting still for a while.
Finally, she composed a message and sent it.
"Is it okay if I stay over at your place tonight?"
Just as she thought, there was no reply to her message for a long time. She sarcastically raised her eyebrows, thinking to herself, might as well go back to the dormitory.
Just as Gu Qili had reached the foot of her dormitory building, the alert tone for the message made her stop in her tracks, as she had been eagerly awaiting his reply, her ears were particularly sensitive.
"I’m outside." These short four words were his style.
Gu Qili ran to the school’s main gate and, sure enough, saw the Maybach 62 parked at the roadside, its uniform blackness almost merging with the night, yet shining like stars and moon.
Gu Qili had to admit, at this moment, she had never so eagerly anticipated his arrival, and her nose felt a bit sour.
After getting in the car, she took the initiative to pull over the seat belt and fasten it. Once buckled in, she looked at him with glee, "Why did you come yourself? I could have taken a taxi there."
He glanced at her indifferently, started the car, and after a long while, he said, "It’s on the way."
Earlier at the dinner table, he received her text message. He didn’t expect that she would take the initiative to ask to go to his place. He immediately left his meal and drink untouched, grabbed the keys, and drove over. From Casino Lisboa to Aus City University, it wasn’t far.
The moment Gu Qili settled in the car, her gloomy mood swept away. She found that as long as she was with Mu Shuoqian, she didn’t seem to have any extra energy to think about other things, as dealing with just him was headache enough.
"Have you had dinner?" Gu Qili wasn’t sure if he had already eaten at this time.
"Hmm." It was still a faint response. He looked ahead, focusing on driving, seemingly not too interested in talking to her.
Feeling snubbed, Gu Qili nestled into the spacious and comfortable seat to play with her phone. When they passed a lingerie store, she suddenly spoke up, "Stop here."