Chapter 54: Holding Zhu Yiqiao, Not Letting Her Leave
Ming Fei’s ears turned crimson.
Realizing what had happened last night, she pieced everything together.
First, she had drunk the beverage 0619 brought her, and because she couldn’t hold her liquor, she became completely drunk. Zhu Yiqiao, returning from the Trial Court, happened to see her in this state.
Then, for some reason… she had suddenly grabbed Zhu Yiqiao and pulled her onto her lap, holding her and not letting her leave.
Perhaps because their relationship had eased and changed during their time together, Zhu Yiqiao didn’t pull out her gun and point it at her head. In response to her subsequent questions, Zhu Yiqiao even affirmed that they were friends.
Most importantly—
Zhu Yiqiao confessed honestly that she was One Raccoon Hill.
Her first friend, whom she had known long ago and cherished deeply.
Finally, after confirming, she, overjoyed by this long-awaited reunion, held onto Zhu Yiqiao, not letting go, not only calling Zhu Yiqiao “Kitten,” but also… pressing her right cheek against Zhu Yiqiao’s left cheek. Before falling asleep, drowsy and her eyelids heavy, she said to Zhu Yiqiao with reluctance,
“I’m going to sleep, Kitten, don’t go away.”
Every single one of these things made Ming Fei so embarrassed that she wanted to run back to the bedroom and only come out after sorting out her chaotic thoughts.
But she didn’t have the chance.
Because at this moment, the person she had clung to last night was standing in front of her, calmly observing her, watching as the blush on her ears spread to the corners of her eyes, her cheeks, and even her neck.
Just as she was about to overheat, Zhu Yiqiao, who had been on the offensive, took a step back.
“Remember to drink the hangover soup.”
After saying that, she turned and left, leaving only 0619, holding the hangover soup, standing there. A smiling emoji floated on 0619’s display screen. Noticing Ming Fei’s flushed cheeks and dazed expression, it automatically activated care mode and asked with concern,
“Teacher Xiao Fei, what’s wrong?”
The lively and playful robotic voice rang out, bringing Ming Fei back to her senses. She asked,
“I’m fine. Was the drink you brought me last night alcohol?”
0619 said, “It was juice, but it did contain alcohol. But I checked, the alcohol content was very low.”
Ming Fei didn’t say anything. There wouldn’t be a next time anyway. She finished the hangover soup in one gulp and was about to go back to the bedroom to calm down when 0619 timely reminded her,
“Teacher Xiao Fei, Chief Judge Zhu asked you to come downstairs for breakfast in fifteen minutes.”
“…Mm.”
0619’s round eyes turned into two question marks: “Teacher Xiao Fei, why is your face so red? Is the temperature control in the villa set too high?”
Ming Fei shook her head and entered a command into 0619. 0619, receiving the command, immediately went downstairs to play with 008.
The corridor became quiet again. Ming Fei closed the door and buried her face in the sofa pillows. She was both happy and shocked, happy about reuniting with her old friend in this different space-time, and shocked, embarrassed, even at a loss because of her actions last night.
Zhu Yiqiao was One Raccoon Hill.
This truth made her think of the eternal green rose gift. She lifted her head and stood up, going to the display case in the study and carefully examining the bionic green roses under the sun, moon, and Milky Way.
She thought, it wasn’t a coincidence after all.
It was because One Raccoon Hill still remembered the book “Roses and Stars” she had shared.
Besides “Roses and Stars,” there were also the repeated questions after seeing the Grape-faced Bellflower Orchid Drum, all of which were unusual.
She should have realized it sooner. She had been too slow.
Starlight flowed on the petals of the rose in the center. Ming Fei couldn’t describe how she felt at this moment, but undeniably, she was happy that Zhu Yiqiao was One Raccoon Hill. She leaned against the wall, took out her phone, clicked on the chat page with Zhu Yiqiao, and after a brief hesitation, sent two emojis.
[[Kitten saying sorry.gif]]
[[Kitten offering a big fish.gif]]
[Jiejie, I remember everything from last night. I’m sorry, I didn’t know that drink contained alcohol. I apologize for everything I did after getting drunk.]
Ming Fei felt inexplicably nervous, her gaze fixed on the display screen.
A new message notification popped up, and Zhu Yiqiao’s reply arrived instantly.
[Why are you apologizing?]
Ming Fei didn’t really want to recall those transgressive actions, but she still recounted everything from last night. As she typed and deleted, deleted and typed again, Zhu Yiqiao’s message arrived first.
[You were very well-behaved last night.]
[Come downstairs for breakfast.]
Ming Fei’s heart rate accelerated.
Well-behaved?
Not at all.
She had even been clingy and unreasonable.
She blinked, deciding to avoid this topic for now. After deleting the typed message, she only replied with a simple emoji.
[[Kitten running fast.jpg]]
This was a key point mentioned in the best-selling book on social skills—when you don’t know how to reply but have to reply, use a universal emoji.
Ming Fei remembered this point very well and put it into practice perfectly.
Every step from the study on the second floor to the dining room made Ming Fei’s heart rate gradually increase.
She glanced at her pheromone bracelet and, seeing that her heart rate was about to exceed the limit, stopped and took a few deep breaths.
She felt it was a little strange, because she wasn’t that nervous. If she had to use a percentage to describe it, her nervousness only accounted for 10%, 70% was happiness, and the remaining 20% was embarrassment from her drunken behavior last night.
And, besides her almost exceeding heart rate, the pheromone bracelet also detected fluctuations in her pheromones.
It was probably a small fluctuation caused by not having fully mastered pheromone control yet, Ming Fei thought to herself.
Because there were more important things, she didn’t pay attention to this negligible fluctuation.
When she arrived at the dining room, breakfast had just been served. Ming Fei didn’t look at Zhu Yiqiao, who was sitting at the head of the table, but quickly walked to her seat and sat down.
The snow outside was almost stopping.
After 008 left, Ming Fei looked up at Zhu Yiqiao, and Zhu Yiqiao happened to be looking at her as well. As their eyes met, a gust of wind carrying snowflakes swept past, making the flowers in the garden sway.
Ming Fei’s voice was low, tinged with embarrassment.
“…Jiejie.”
“Mm.”
Ming Fei gave a shy and light smile: “I’m very happy to finally see you.”
If she were still a teenager, even though she was shy and introverted, she would probably have given One Raccoon Hill a hug when they finally met. But now she was twenty-five years old, and all the happiness, surprise, and excitement at this reunion turned into a simple sentence—I’m very happy to see you.
She was truly happy.
In the past, she would have written this day in her diary, and she would now as well.
Hearing this, Zhu Yiqiao looked at her intently.
“Aren’t you going to ask me why I deleted my account without saying anything?”
Ming Fei smiled: “It doesn’t matter anymore, and I’ve never blamed Jiejie.”
She explained, “Jiejie was a member of the royal family and also a supporter of the Mehertaer faction. There must have been times when you couldn’t help yourself. And, I’ve already received the answer I wanted most. The green rose you gave me also hinted at your thoughts.”
The world was too vast, and it was already fortunate enough that they could meet again, especially since neither of them had forgotten each other.
A faint light shone through the inky sky, indicating that the snow that had been falling all night might soon stop.
Just as Ming Fei was about to eat her porridge, a video call invitation from Ming Zaozao popped up.
She answered the call, and Ming Zaozao’s small, round face appeared on the display screen, her voice following.
“Mommy!”
“Mm.” Ming Fei asked softly, “Have you had breakfast, Zaozao?”
“Baby has eaten!”
Ming Zaozao then chattered, “Mommy, will you come pick up Baby later?”
“Okay.” Ming Fei asked, “What time?”
“Eleven o’clock!”
“Then see you at eleven.”
“Mm-hmm!”
After Ming Zaozao hung up, Zhu Yiqiao suddenly said, “I’ll go with you to pick up Zaozao.”
“Okay.”
Just as Ming Fei was about to change the subject, she noticed that Zhu Yiqiao’s pheromone bracelet suddenly lit up. She wanted to ask why, but Zhu Yiqiao stood up.
“I still have some unfinished business. You finish your breakfast and rest for a while.”
Ming Fei nodded: “Mm, then go ahead, Jiejie.”
Only Ming Fei was left in the spacious dining room. She admired the scenery in the garden, her gaze frequently returning to the newly transplanted Blue Fia lilies.
Half an hour later, the snow stopped.
Ming Fei slept for forty minutes.
At 10:10 am, after receiving the location from Lan Lubai, she went to the cloakroom to change her clothes, sent a message to Zhu Yiqiao, and prepared to go pick up Ming Zaozao together.
She originally thought Zhu Yiqiao was on the third floor, but after receiving a reply, she learned that Zhu Yiqiao was already waiting on the first floor. So, she hurried downstairs and saw Zhu Yiqiao by the French window on the first floor.
“Jiejie.”
The warm sunlight shone on Zhu Yiqiao, even softening the usually frosty blue in her eyes.
Ming Fei smiled at her: “Let’s go.”
“Mm.”
They left in the hovercar. Zhu Yiqiao worked on official business during the journey, and Ming Fei didn’t interrupt, quietly reading for fifteen minutes.
The hovercar arrived at its destination. Ming Fei got out of the car first and held Zhu Yiqiao’s hand after she got out. Because they were in public now, they needed to maintain a semblance of intimacy.
Entering Dejade, Ming Fei felt a stinging sensation in her gland. This stinging was exactly the same as the one before she developed pheromones, and it also lasted for a very short time.
But since they were in public, Ming Fei didn’t show any outward sign of abnormality, holding Zhu Yiqiao’s hand and taking the elevator directly to the nineteenth floor. Just as they reached a hanging painting, Lan Lubai happened to come out, holding Ming Zaozao’s hand.
Seeing them, Ming Zaozao immediately let go of Lan Lubai’s hand and ran towards them.
“Mommy! Pretty Auntie!”
Ming Fei caught her and patted her little head.
Lan Lubai teased with a smile: “Oh, you’re letting go of Auntie Lulu just like that?”
Because they were close to the elevator, when it dinged, Ming Fei noticed Xue Xun, dressed in red, stepping out.
She originally thought Xue Xun was here to find Lan Lubai, but Xue Xun, who usually had a bright and flamboyant smile, now had a cold expression, her eyes tinged with red, not even noticing the four of them, and walked directly in another direction.
Even though Ming Fei hadn’t interacted much with Xue Xun, she could tell at a glance that something was wrong with her.
Lan Lubai noticed Xue Xun: “What’s wrong with her? Should we go check?”
Zhu Yiqiao: “Mm.”
Ming Fei was also a little worried, following closely behind with Ming Zaozao. When they followed Xue Xun’s path to the end of the corridor, the sound of shattering glass came from a room.
Ming Fei subconsciously covered Ming Zaozao’s ears.
Xue Xun’s voice rang out.
“Miss Pei, please leave first, I have something to discuss with President Xu.”
The door to the room was open. Besides Xue Xun, Ming Fei saw an unfamiliar woman in a long purple dress and the head of the Luci Group, whom she had just met at the academy lab.
Because the academy was likely to reach a cooperation agreement with the Luci Group, Ming Fei had logged onto the public network on her way back last night and checked the Luci Group’s official website.
In the Luci Group’s official profile, Ming Fei focused on President Xu in the center of the group photo and learned that her name was Xu Zhou, twenty-five years old this year, who had started from scratch three years ago and quickly become a rising star in the business world of the Independent State of Yi Meng.
The atmosphere in the room was strange. Compared to Xue Xun, the other two were calm and composed. Xu Zhou looked at Xue Xun as if she were a stranger.
Even stranger was—
President Xu of the Luci Group, today, had her usually shoulder-length black hair tucked behind her ears. From Ming Fei’s current angle, the pattern behind Xu Zhou’s ear, revealed when she turned her head, was extremely similar to the one behind her own ear.
Both were a subtle lotus pink, both located behind the right ear, easily hidden by hair, and even the shape and size were the same, like a half-fingernail-sized petal.
They were identical in every aspect.
Ming Fei froze in place, stunned.
But… this was a birthmark she had had since birth. Why did Xu Zhou have the exact same birthmark?
Leave a Reply