Winter flew by quickly.
Even though it always got cold by the time night fell, every time she went to sleep, she didn’t feel anything, but when she woke up the next morning, she would immediately feel the piercing cold as she headed to school.
Every day, once she arrived at the classroom, she would take Shi Qi’s hand into hers. If she could bring him home, she would have immediately done so without question.
She asked the system when she would meet her demise but the system responded that there was still some time left.
And so, Ning Meng could only head to class everyday with candies in her pocket, giving half to Shi Qi. Even though she hadn’t seen him consume any of it, he still accepted it regardless.
By the time the second semester had started, spring was already near.
Ning Meng was already feeling a bit better.
It was the first time she felt such pain from having yin air enter her body, spending the whole winter cooped up under the covers.
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She originally assumed he was just late, however, when 40 minutes or two classes of morning reading passed by, Shi Qi did not arrive, his seat left empty.
Ning Meng often cast a look to the side, naturally piquing Qiu Keke’s attention.
Qiu Keke thought for a moment before reminding, “It looks like he had a high fever and went home. I heard the class teacher say this in the office.
She was the subject representative so after every morning reading, she was responsible for going to the office and leaving the assignments there. That was when she heard the class teacher speaking to the phone with someone.
Ning Meng felt shocked, “He can also get fevers?”
Qiu Keke laughed in response, pinching her face, “Shi Qi is also human. It’s only normal for him to get fevers. What did you think he was?”
Hearing her words, how could Ning Meng tell the truth? She merely chuckled, saying, “He just looks like he has a fairly healthy body.”
“Even if he looks healthy, he can still catch a cold.” Qiu Keke muttered before turning around and tidying up her desk, “You’re on duty tonight, don’t forget.”
In order to train the students, the class teacher assigned one student to be on duty for the classroom’s sanitation, but that was also because there weren’t a lot of areas to sweep. Moreover, everyone had to keep their area clean during the day, otherwise, they’d get points deducted for it.
When the weather was cold, rarely did anyone go on duty.
Now that it was the second semester and spring had come, the class teacher brought back the matter of handling the classroom sanitation.
And since Ning Meng feared the cold the previous time, some people took the initiative of taking up the duty on her behalf. If she continued declining the responsibilities, it wouldn’t look good on her.
Ning Meng nodded, “I know.”
Cleaning also took place minutes after school ended and included checking whether there was any trash left in the classroom and sweeping them away.
What remained after that was turning off the lights and shutting the windows. They had to make sure that the classroom was secure so that little thieves won’t be able to intrude easily.
Qiu Keke asked, “Do you want me to accompany you?”
Ning Meng smiled, “It’s not a big matter, it’s just cleaning duties. I’ll only take a look and sweep a little. Besides, isn’t your home a bit far. My house is just at the school
entrance. It’s nothing much.”
Qiu Keke didn’t continue insisting.
Ning Meng originally thought that Shi Qi couldn’t possibly have a fever, but in the end, he didn’t come to school the whole day.
She was unused to seeing an empty seat the whole day but most importantly, her hand warmer was gone, making her feel discomfited.
Even though it was still already spring, which was a lot better than winter, she still felt slightly cold.
When the bell signalling the end of late night revision classes sounded, she couldn’t help but let out a loud sigh, having her face propped up on the desk.
Qiu Keke had just put on her school bag and seeing her pitiful appearance, she approached her and asked, “What’s wrong? Do you feel lonely and sad that your deskmate isn’t present?”
Ning Meng glared at her, “What did you say? It’s already late. You better get home.”
Once spring schedule had gone into change, their late night revision classes increased, totalling 3 classes which ended by 9:50pm. If they continued dilly-dallying around, it would soon turn 10pm.
Qiu Keke replied, “Then, I’m going. Be careful and get home earlier.”
There were also a lot of people who had already gone from the classroom and when the last person had left, Ning Meng finally started inspecting the rubbish on each seat.
Fortunately, most of the people were decently clean, throwing their own rubbish into the bin.
After inspecting a whole row, Ning Meng found only 1 or 2 paper balls. She picked it up and threw it to the trash can at the back.
Ning Meng occasionally exchanged words with the system before tying up the rubbish bag and heading outside the classroom, towards the big rubbish bin.
A lot of classrooms outside had already turned their lights off, darkness enshrouding the place.
The rubbish bin was beside the toilet which was equipped with sensor lights. And since nobody was there, the edge wasn’t lit, appearing dark while the figure of trees could be seen at the side.
Ning Meng looked at it while walking and felt trepidation in her heart. She hurriedly threw the rubbish bag she was holding into the big trash bin.
Then, upon turning her head around, she discovered a girl standing at the side.
The girl wasn’t looking at her. She merely stood in her place with her head lowered, motionless. Her long hair covered half her face, exposing a fair profile.
Ning Meng didn’t dare to approach her, only hurrying back to the classroom at the side.
Fortunately, there was still some light in her classroom as well as corridors, easing her worries a lot.
Upon turning her head to look back at the girl, Ning Meng realized she had disappeared, the area around the trash bin empty.
It was so dark in that area she hadn’t gotten a clear look at the girl’s appearance.
Ning Meng bit her lip and asked the system, “Was that person a ghost?”
The system only replied after a long time, “It was probably a human..I’ll go talk to the higher ups, I’ve never seen her before…”
Ning Meng remained silent at this.
If they continued to insist that that person was human, she’d feel incredulous.
Even though she thought that girl was strange, she assumed that that person was human and was probably having some problems so she turned to enter the classroom.
After shutting all the windows, she then turned the lights off.
After the lights had gone out, the whole corridor was dark. Ning Meng used the flashlight on her phone to light her view and before she could even lock the door, she saw a shadow reflected on the wall signifying a person standing behind her.
She nearly leapt in fright and turned her head shakingly.
It was Shi Qi.
He stood behind her, appearing tall. With the light shone on his body, his silhouette appeared brighter.
The finger placed on his lips was long and white, the joins distinct and curved in shape. The outline of it was so smooth and elegant, it was hard for a person to shift their eyes away from this sight.
Ning Meng exhaled the breath she was holding before raising her head to ask, “Why did you come here in the middle of the night? Weren’t you at home nursing a fever?”
The height difference between her and Shi Qi was too large. When they stood together, she only reached his chin. Only when she raised her head was she able to look at his face.
Shi Qi said indifferently, “Getting my books.”
His voice sounded a little hoarse, confirming the fact that he had caught a cold.
Ning Meng considerately pushed the door open and turned the lights on, “I still haven’t locked the doors yet. Quickly go get them.”
She stood at the entrance while Shi Qi easily reached his own seat from her side in a matter of seconds with his long, slender legs, taking out two books.
Before he could even straighten his body, the lights of the classroom suddenly went out.
Shi Qi’s gaze congealed and he abruptly stood up, crossing his legs through the table as though he could see everything in the dark. Within just a few seconds, he had reached the classroom entrance.
Ning Meng’s eyes had yet to adapt to the dark and was unable to see anything. She blinked for a moment before reaching her hand out to feel the wall and pressing the switch.
She turned the switch several times but to no avail, “Aiii, why isn’t it turning on?”
Reaching out a warm hand over, Shi Qi spoke in a gloomy voice, “Somebody’s here.”
Before Ning Meng could even react, Shi Qi immediately pulled her into the room, turning her phone light off.
Just as she was about to speak, she heard footsteps coming from the stairs outside.
The footsteps not only sounded faint but also in a hurry.
Shi Qi pulled Ning Meng, stuffing her underneath the podium before going inside as well. The space underneath was very big, enough to accommodate two people with room to spare.
His long legs were bent and Ning Meng secretly poked at it, confused as to why he suddenly insisted on having them hide when he was clearly very powerful.
The footsteps came to a stop at their classroom entrance.
A flight of stairs divided the first class and second class of the third year and one could reach the main entrance after just heading down the stairs. This unknown person or ghost certainly must’ve come from there.
Ning Meng’s heart thumped quite quickly. She wanted to raise a question but was afraid that she would inadvertently alert the enemy.
Very quickly, the footsteps that halted at the entrance, rang out again. This time, slowly and cautiously, walking towards the inside, all the way to the end.
And finally stopping at one place.
Ning Meng’s ears perked up and she covered her mouth, clenching Shi Qi’s clothes tightly with the other.
Shi Qi tried to pull it away from her but was unable to. He raised the corner of his lips slightly and suddenly stuffed a candy into her palm. If the time were appropriate, he would have stuffed the candy into her mouth.
Ning Meng was slightly taken aback, confused as to what he was trying to do, but she still placed the candy into her pocket, slowly without making a sound.
This was probably a person, but to come here in the dead of night and how sudden the lights went out certainly meant they weren’t ordinary.
She turned her head, noticing a crack in the podium.
This reminded her of the time two guys had a mischievous scuffle and ended up damaging the podium which was then reported to be fixed but hadn’t been done yet.
She poked Shi Qi and quietly neared him, whispering very softly in his ear, “….You can see what’s going on from here.”
Shi Qi’s ears twitched and he suddenly pursed his lips.
Seeing him remain motionless, Ning Meng no longer cared for him and leaned towards the crack to watch.
Only one classroom across theirs wasn’t lit so the faint light passed through the windows into their classroom, allowing her to see the blurry figure clearly.
However, perhaps because the classroom was too dark, that person was very careful, slowly walking towards the back with long hair fluttering at every step.
It was the girl she saw when she was throwing the trash.
Ning Meng was startled. Before she could clearly discern where she stood, the girl had already ran out of the classroom, her footsteps sounding farther away.
It was only until silence prevailed for a few minutes that Shi Qi finally stuck out his leg and came out of the podium, standing in place without moving.
Ning Meng was still cooped up underneath and asked in a soft voice, “Can I come out now?”
Shi Qi responded playfully, “Nope.”
Ning Meng immediately knew he was joking as soon as he said it and reached out a hand to pat his leg. Shi Qi then helped pull her out.
She immediately looked at the entrance upon coming out, and didn’t see any figures.
It was the same back at the trash can area. That girl’s face wasn’t completely revealed and she couldn’t see the true color of her clothes in the dark.
Shi Qi suddenly turned his phone on and walked towards the back of the school desk.
With him here, Ning Meng’s courage grew a little bigger and she curiously asked, “Who was that person? And why did she come to our classroom at such a late time? Was she doing something shameful?”
She acted just like a thief. Could it be that she was stealing something?
It didn’t look like it. Thieves would usually go through the windows late at night to steal when nobody was there but the classroom clearly had people inside.
Shi Qi didn’t respond so Ning Meng could only inform him quietly, “I was taking out the trash as part of my duties tonight and I saw her standing at the side looking quite scary.”
They were probably the same person but why did she let her see her back then?
Shi Qi turned around to look at her, saying calmly, “The footsteps stopped here.”
Ning Meng jogged over and said in astonishment, “It’s Keke.”
Why did that girl come to the classroom in the middle of the night and even stop at Qiu Keke’s seat…What exactly did she want to do?
***
I couldn’t even pull my clothes off.
The power of candy is amazing.
——”Shi Qi’s secretly hidden little diary”
The author has something to say:
Ning Meng: Aggrieved.
Strictly speaking, Ning Meng was very scummy. She ran off just after provoking the person.
This is the last story of this arc
Thanks for the chapter 😊
Ahhh! *•* I MISS SEEING THIS NOTIFICATION! ♡u♡ thank you for updation!
I want to smack her again. I don’t like clueless MCs like her. Instead of caring about ML, she’s feeling sorry for not having a warm hand to hold. I don’t like her anymore. How old was she when she died? She’s behaving a 12 year old spoilt brat.