Volume 1 Chapter 43: Farewell and Worry

Luckily, Amber did not say anything else that Bai Muxue could not handle. She also did not bring up the Bai family again.

The two of them simply sat quietly on the bench in the amusement park, lost in thought.

This peaceful silence lasted until countless car lights and shouting voices appeared inside the park.

The Bai family had arrived, together with people from the Special Investigation Department, to pick up Bai Muxue.

“Wah, no matter what, even though there are still many suspicious things behind all this... the matter was solved in the end.”

Amber lazily stood up and stretched, showing off her graceful figure at the same time.

“Looks like your family came to get you. Then it’s time for me to leave too. Ahh... I stayed up all night. I’m so sleepy.”

Amber covered her mouth elegantly as she yawned, then gave Bai Muxue a playful wink.

“Amber...”

Bai Muxue opened her mouth without thinking, but she did not know what to say.

For some reason, a faint feeling of reluctance rose in her heart. And when Amber turned around to leave, that feeling became even stronger.

She did not know what Amber was thinking now...

But no matter how round the Earth was, maybe they would never meet again.

“What’s wrong? Still can’t bear to part with me~”

Amber seemed to see through Bai Muxue’s thoughts at once. She smiled brightly and said,

“Sigh, honestly, Xiao Xue is really cute... If we meet again in the future, I might maybe perhaps consider going on a date with you.”

Heh... this little brat is talking nonsense again, isn’t she?

The quality of education these days really needs improvement!

Hearing that, Bai Muxue immediately widened her eyes in annoyance and fought back angrily.

“A date? Do I need you to date me? Don’t say it like you’re giving me charity!”

“Oh~ is that so~”

Amber brushed back her long hair and crossed her arms. She suddenly looked even more elegant and charming.

“That’s really a pity then. I’m extremely popular, you know. If I casually say one word, I don’t know how many beautiful girls would be waiting for me. If they want to contact me, they’d need to line up through my manager first. Hmph hmph.”

Tch, keep bragging.

Beautiful girls, really...

Filled with strong disbelief, Bai Muxue turned her head away and secretly pouted.

But then a pair of soft white hands suddenly entered the corner of her vision and forcefully turned her little head back.

At some point, Amber, who had already stood up, had leaned her face right in front of Bai Muxue.

The blonde girl’s lovely face was now extremely close.

Her golden eyes shined with playful light as she smiled warmly at Bai Muxue.

Smelling the faint fragrance around her, and feeling Amber’s warm breath on her skin, Bai Muxue shrank back slightly.

“W-what are you doing...”

“Xiao Xue, don’t always keep such a serious face. You look much prettier when you smile... like this.”

Amber stretched out two slender fingers, pressed the corners of Bai Muxue’s mouth upward, and made a rather funny smile.

“Cough... what is that?”

Looking at the strange smile in front of her, Bai Muxue finally could not hold back anymore and burst into laughter.

“See, see? Didn’t you smile? You look much better when you smile.”

Amber tilted her head and carefully looked at her for a moment, then nodded with satisfaction.

“Cough... I...”

Feeling embarrassed by losing control, Bai Muxue quickly stopped smiling and turned her head away.

“I was not...”

Before she could finish speaking, the playful gaze on her cheek had already quietly disappeared.

Feeling something strange, Bai Muxue carefully turned her head back.

As expected, the blonde girl who had just been standing in front of her was already gone in the blink of an eye.

Like the bright moon disappearing behind dark clouds, only deep silence remained in the night sky.

“What the heck... leaving so fast... not even saying goodbye.”

Looking at the Bai family members and the Special Investigation Department staff running toward her from the distance, Bai Muxue suddenly felt a strange emotion in her heart.

Was it really... over just like that?

Thinking carefully, the time the two of them spent together was truly very short.

But when this kind of turning away, farewell, and reluctance filled the heart, perhaps it meant those feelings would not disappear easily.

Instead, they would remain quietly in some corner of memory.

...But if Amber really planned to investigate the Bai family, then she and Bai Muxue would definitely meet again, right?

“But if that happens... it would probably be better if we didn’t meet again.”

Staring blankly at the starry sky in the distance, Bai Muxue suddenly felt an unexplained pain in her chest.

She coughed several times in a row, and even breathing started to feel difficult.

Damn it... don’t tell me I caught a cold...

I need to go back, change clothes, and take a bath...

Bai Muxue rubbed her aching head and slowly walked toward the main gate.

…………………………

The next morning, Shen Jingyi went early to her part-time job at the convenience store.

As she watched the news playing on the TV hanging inside the store, a trace of surprise appeared on her usually calm and cold face.

“Early yesterday morning, the child disappearance case that many citizens of Wangdu had been following was successfully solved. According to staff from the Special Investigation Department, disaster beasts were once again behind this disappearance case. At present, the disaster beast has been defeated, and the missing children have safely returned home to reunite with their families...”

A disaster beast? Last night?

Looking at the abandoned amusement park shown on the news, Shen Jingyi was slightly stunned for a moment.

She had also been paying attention to the child disappearance case and suspected that a disaster beast or strange monster was behind it.

But she had never made any progress.

Yet while she was sleeping last night, the whole case had already been solved?

Her beautiful brows slowly frowned.

Based on her naturally sharp instincts, Shen Jingyi began to form a strange guess.

The news said the case was solved and the disaster beast was defeated...

Then who defeated it?

The Special Investigation Department?

Probably not.

If they had taken care of that disaster beast themselves, every media outlet would already be praising them loudly.

How could they miss such a good chance for publicity?

Since the news intentionally avoided mentioning it...

Could it be because even they did not know who defeated the disaster beast, and only arrived afterward to clean up the mess?

If so, that would make sense.

Then who could it be?

Someone in Wangdu, acting secretly without being discovered, and strong enough to solve this incident...

Shen Jingyi lowered her eyes.

Even though she had no proof at all, in her heart she had already connected this matter to a certain hard-to-read, bad-tempered rich young lady.

“......”

Biting her lip and hesitating for a moment, Shen Jingyi still took out her phone and opened the chat app.

From last night until now, Bai Muxue had not sent her a single message.

At first, Shen Jingyi did not care much.

After all, Miss Bai always did whatever she wanted. Maybe she had gone somewhere to play with friends again.

I’m only a toy for her amusement and boredom.

Did I really expect someone like her to send me a goodnight message?

But...

Even though she kept warning herself like that again and again, the faint sweetness of the lollipop she had in her mouth last night still appeared in her mind from time to time, making it hard for her to sleep.

Her pale fingers stayed above the screen for a long time.

Finally, she slowly typed a line in the chat box.

“Did you sleep well last night?”

...No, this feels strange.

I’m not anyone special to her.

This makes it sound like I care about her.

Delete.

“Was it you who defeated the disaster beast last night?”

...This looks even stranger.

What is this, a magical girl coworker chat group?

Delete.

A strange light shined in the girl’s eyes, and her brows unknowingly tightened because of nervousness.