Chapter 55
“Are you really scared?”
Lou Mi didn’t think Chi Lin, who had chased down serial killers, would be frightened by a superstition.
She gently massaged Chi Lin’s shoulders, mimicking Chi Lin’s technique.
“It’s just a story. Don’t take it seriously.”
Chi Lin wasn’t scared, just… overwhelmed by the implications of their shared birthmark. Her mind raced with possibilities.
The Empress’s birthmark was on her left breast, a delicate, petal-shaped mark.
Chi Lin had admired it during their first intimate encounter.
Most birthmarks were irregular and discolored, but the Empress’s was different.
Even her birthmark is beautiful, she had thought. A sign of her divine nature.
Chi Lin and the original owner shared the same birthmark, in the same location. It had to be a significant clue.
If Lou Mi also had a birthmark on her left breast, like the Empress… the possibility of her being the Empress’s reincarnation would increase dramatically.
“Sister,” Chi Lin said, “can you take a picture of my birthmark? I want to see what it looks like.”
“You’ve never seen it before?”
“I have, but it’s been a while.”
Lou Mi took a picture with her phone. Chi Lin examined it. It was a light gray, irregular shape, larger than her own birthmark, and the shape was slightly different.
But the location was the same.
“Where’s your birthmark?” she asked Lou Mi.
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
Chi Lin tried to sound casual, as if she were just making small talk.
“I don’t think I have one.”
“No birthmark?” Chi Lin’s heart sank. “How is that possible?”
“Why would I lie? I really don’t have one.”
“Everyone has a birthmark.”
“Not everyone. Maybe I have one somewhere… hidden.”
As Lou Mi spoke, Chi Lin mentally placed the Empress’s petal-shaped birthmark on various parts of Lou Mi’s body.
And when Lou Mi mentioned a “hidden” birthmark, Chi Lin’s mind immediately went to… a specific location.
Chi Lin: “…”
“Why are you blushing? What are you thinking?” Lou Mi asked, flicking Chi Lin’s head.
“Nothing…”
“That guilty look… you’re definitely thinking something inappropriate.”
Chi Lin, still hoping, asked, “Do you have any… marks on your chest?”
Lou Mi: “…”
“Your left breast,” Chi Lin added.
“What kind of marks?”
“Like a… petal-shaped, pink mark.”
“No.”
“How can you not have one?”
“Why would I have a petal-shaped, pink mark on my…?”
“Are you sure you’ve… checked?”
Lou Mi stared at her, bewildered.
What do you mean, “checked”?
Is it my body or yours? I think I know my own body after twenty-five years.
“I told you I don’t have one. Do you want to… check yourself?”
She made a move to unbutton her shirt, and Chi Lin quickly averted her gaze.
Lou Mi, seeing her reaction, chuckled. She hadn’t actually intended to show her.
“You tricked me,” Chi Lin muttered, realizing she had been played.
“I’ll show you if you want to see,” Lou Mi said, her voice teasing, her posture deliberately casual and… suggestive.
Chi Lin sighed. “That’s not what I meant… I just… thought you should have one.”
Lou Mi frowned. “Why would I have one?”
How could Chi Lin explain? Because she wanted Lou Mi to be the Empress?
The Empress is my wife. I followed her soul to this era, and now I think you might be her reincarnation, so please show me your breasts.
That would definitely result in a restraining order.
Chi Lin couldn’t answer, and she wouldn’t lie.
“Why are you so interested in my birthmarks?” Lou Mi asked, trying to lighten the mood. “Want to know how I died in my past life?”
Chi Lin, though appreciating her attempt at humor, felt a pang of sadness, the image of the Empress’s lifeless body flashing through her mind.
“Sister,” she said, “I’m tired. And the police officer is coming tomorrow. Let’s go to bed.”
Lou Mi, her attempt at flirting backfiring, cringed internally.
Her skills in insults and banter were unmatched, but her attempts at… romance were disastrous.
Her teammates, who constantly teased her about her nonexistent love life, should offer some guidance.
She tried to be gentle. “I’ll dry your hair first.”
“I can do it myself,” Chi Lin said.
“I saw you almost scalp yourself with the hairdryer last time,” Lou Mi said. “It was painful to watch.”
Chi Lin couldn’t deny it. She hadn’t mastered all the modern appliances yet.
Thankfully, it wasn’t her own hair. Otherwise, she would have been devastated.
Lou Mi carefully dried Chi Lin’s hair. After exchanging goodnights, Chi Lin sat at her desk, studying and reviewing vocabulary.
Lou Mi, exhausted, had been fighting off sleep during their conversation.
Back in her room, she collapsed into bed and fell asleep instantly.
She woke up to Lou Lixing calling her for lunch.
Noon already?!
She felt like she had been in a coma, not just asleep.
It was Sunday, and her parents were home, but Chi Lin was missing.
“She went to a study session,” Peng Ziyuan explained.
“Another one? How many study sessions does she have?”
“She wants to improve her grades,” Peng Ziyuan said, then turned to Lou Mi and Lou Lixing, her expression serious. “Do you know her score on the last monthly exam?”
“How much?”
“Four hundred and fifty-nine! Ranked 35th in her class! Another huge improvement!”
Lou Mi: “…That sounds like a good thing.”
“But it’s too much improvement! She was last in her class at the beginning of the semester! What if she becomes first?”
“Auntie… do you want her to do well or not?”
“I’m just worried she’s too perfect. The heavens might be jealous.”
Lou Mi, eating her porridge, thought, Only when she’s being dramatic do I see glimpses of the old Chi Lin.
“Xiao Lin didn’t sleep last night,” Lou Lixing said.
“How do you know?” Lou Mi asked.
“I saw the light on in her room when I went downstairs for water around 5 am. She must have been up all night studying.”
“You didn’t tell me,” Peng Ziyuan said, slightly hurt.
“I forgot. I had a bunch of calls early this morning.”
“Was she studying?” Lou Mi asked.
“Probably.”
Peng Ziyuan’s eyes welled up. “I don’t want her studying too hard. What if she becomes a genius?”
Lou Mi: “Auntie, are you concerned about the wrong things?”
Lou Mi checked the news about the Winter World Cup. Nine Heavens was still the favorite to win.
But the odds had increased, suggesting less confidence in their victory this year.
Nine Heavens fans and their rivals’ fans were already engaged in online battles, the atmosphere toxic.
Lou Mi, ignoring the online drama, played a classic parkour game to de-stress.
Her phone buzzed with notifications. It was a link from Xie Buyu.
Without pausing her game, she cast the link to her TV screen.
It was the South Lake Third High forum.
Chi Lin had made a bet?
Because of Ms. Hu’s insults towards esports and HighTowerMiyuki?
Lou Mi continued playing, her character leaping across rooftops, her speed increasing.
The loser of the bet had to… drop out of school?
She pressed a button, and the screen flashed:
WIN! 87777 points! New record!
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