by A Sick Frog
Zhuo Xiao Xuan glared at him. “You’re doubting my relocation skills?” At that, she tipped her chin in Liu Ting’s direction. “You, come here, I’ll show him.”
Liu Ting’d thought that Yin Xu Dong was just scaring her. However after hearing what Zhuo Xiao Xuan said, it seemed that that was indeed something that had happened before. At that, she immediately ceased her doubts about what they’d said and produced her ticket from her pocket to prove her innocence. “I’m not following you guys on purpose. You see, this is my bunk. If there’s nothing else, I’m going to sleep, I’m sleepy. Goodnight.” After bidding them goodnight in the middle of the day, she speedily dug into her bunk and pulled the covers over.
Zhuo Xiao Xuan’s bunk was the one above Yin Xu Dong’s. After removing her shoes, she flipped onto the bunk. Just as she lied down, she saw the person in the bunk across her staring straight at herself. “Hi, Zhuo Xiao Xuan.”
Chapter 60 - Love Rival And Comrade
* * *
The person on the bunk across hers was her classmate, Xie Sheng Ya. Same as what had happened when she was on the train to school the last time, he slept like a log the moment he boarded the train. When he heard the sound of people talking, and one of the voices was a little familiar, he opened his eyes. When he did so, Zhuo Xiao Xuan at on the bunk across him, looking straight at him.
“You’re going home today too?”
“Enh.” Zhuo Xiao Xuan was not the most familiar with the classmates in her class. One reason being her personality, and the other, all her classmates were guys. They didn’t feel much different from the guys outside. Before long however, their gazes became similar to that of their seniors—whenever they looked at girls, they’d have that eerie tint, as though a starving wolf in winter staring at its prey. That look became especially prominent when they were looking at pretty girls. As one of the girls skirting through on the high-end appearance spectrum, Zhuo Xiao Xuan would like to pronounce her mountain-like stress (the phrase had originated from her dormmate). And so, she kept her distance from the guys in her class.
Xie Sheng Ya was the kind of people that didn’t have a lot to say. Hence after their question and answer, the two of them went on with their sleep.
Zhuo Xiao Xuan closed her eyes to rest. However, a thought suddenly bubbled. She squinted at looked at Xie Sheng Ya and his lower bunk, Liu Ting. It won’t be very honest of her to pull something like that, but when did killers pay mind to integrity?
She had Yin Xu Dong hand her a packet of peanuts up. As she ate, she took one out, aimed it at Xie Sheng Ya’s sleep acupuncture and threw it over. Following which, she heard the heavy snores that told of his deep sleep. Other than her, no one noticed this little event.
She flipped down from her bunk, dropping on the ground silently. Yin Xu Dong was half-lying on his bunk chomping on his peanuts. When he suddenly saw her dropping down, he got such a scare he almost choked on his peanuts. Just as he was about to ask her what’s up, he saw her giving him a gesture to stay silent. Following that, she walked over to where Liu Ting was snuggled under her covers and sent a palm down her neck before pulling open her covers. A hand carrying her by her collar and another another hand dragging her by the hem of her pants, Zhuo Xiao Xuan extracted her from her bunk just like that.
Yin Xu Dong stood anxiously. “Xuan Xuan? What’re you doing?”
“I’m helping a thirsty and lonely male schoolmate find a partner while getting rid of my rival. Enemy and schoolmate, two birds with a stone.” As she spoke, Zhuo Xiao Xuan didn’t stop. She lifted the Liu Ting with her hands and sent her into the upper bunk, and just like that, Liu Ting lied beside Xie Sheng Ya.
Yin Xu Dong was floored, this works too?! “Nothing will happen right?”
“Nothing will happen. Even if something does happen, the rice would’ve been cooked.”
Goodness, Xuan Xuan, you’re forcing people like that!
After which, Zhuo Xiao Xuan sat cross-legged on Yin Xu Dong’s bed to cultivate. Yin Xu Dong looked at the two of them in the same bunk and looked at the Zhuo Xiao Xuan cultivating away peacefully, before sighing quietly. All the best for the two there! Then he sat down to read his magazine and chomp his peanuts.
A few hours later, Zhuo Xiao Xuan stopped and opened her eyes. Raising her hand to check the time, she kicked the asleep Yin Xu Dong that’s slanted off by the side of the bunk. “Get up, let’s go get a bite.”
Yin Xu Dong acknowledged blearily, stood, slipped on his shoes and followed Zhuo Xiao Xuan out. After a few steps, he was finally awake, so he asked: “What ‘bout the two of them?”
“You’ll know after dinner.”
Zhuo Xiao Xuan’s prediction was pretty accurate. After dinner when they returned to their cabin, they heard Liu Ting’s shrill shrieks.
“Pervert! Go die! Go die! Sob sob sob…”
“The fudge! Why’re on my bunk?!”
“Sob sob sob… you pervert! What did you do to me?! My, my dad won’t let you go so easily!”
“The fudge you talkin’! Shouldn’t I be the one asking you what did you do to me?!”
…
After the clamour in the cabin quietened down, Zhuo Xiao Xuan pulled the door open with a whoosh and entered, ignoring their flabbergasted expressions.
The dishevelled Liu Ting sitting on her own bunk upon seeing Yin Xu Dong walking in immediately wanted to pounce over as she sobbed and sniffed. However, Zhuo Xiao Xuan gripped her by the back of her collar and hence, Liu Ting following was unable to reach Yin Xu Ding no matter how much she stretched.
Zhuo Xiao Xuan tugged the back of her collar and flung her back, saying coldly: “Woman should stay loyal to their partners, else I’ll dunk you into a pig sty.”
The your-chastity-has-been-taken meaning Zhuo Xiao Xuan was hinting at stirred her sadness again, and her tears fell, smudging the already messed up makeup on her face.
Xie Sheng Ya massaged his forehead. “I really don’t know what happened. I saw this girl beside me the moment I woke up, how is that my fault?”
“Are you saying that it’s my fault then?! I’d been sleeping on my own as well! But I woke up on your bed, if you didn’t do something to me, what else could it have been?!”
“Gurl! It can’t be you sleepwalking and climbed onto my bed unknowingly then could it?”
The silent Yin Xu Dong upon being stepped on the toe by Zhuo Xiao Xuan at that moment was confused for a moment when she sent him a look. Following that, realization dawned, and he said to the crying Liu Ting: “Maybe it really is you sleepwalking? Then maybe you climbed onto his bed while you were sleepwalking? I mean why else would you be on his bed right! Maybe you’re more used to sleeping on the upper bunk, that’s why, heh heh, don’t worry, everyone’s been there before.” Goodness, he was lying so much with a straight face, but he was never going to reveal that it was a trick that Xuan Xuan had pulled.
The matter was extremely strange, but they couldn’t figure out what happened either. Liu Ting was even more embarrassed. After all, she was unable to accept the fact that she woke up beside a guy; she was terribly ill at ease. Now that Yin Xu Dong’s phrased it that way, she could find a way to relive her embarrassment. “Maybe that is what really happened…” While she said, she wondered if it was really just her sleepwalking? She’d never heard people telling her she’d sleepwalk. “Fine, it’s my fault. I’m sorry, okay?”
Just when Xie Sheng Ya was about to patch up their quarrel and draw this little affair to a close, Zhuo Xiao Xuan started: “No can do! As a girl, how can you speak so lightly of your chastity! He, shall be responsible for you in the future!”
Yin Xu Dong was once again dumbfounded. Sheng Xie Ya tried to argue against her, but Zhuo Xiao Xuan squinted her eyes at him. “Why, you don’t dare assume the responsibility? It’s College’s face you’re throwing if word gets out.” After that, she said to the teary-eyed Liu Ting: “Listen up, from now on, he is your guy. Don’t know who he is? His name is Sheng Xie Ya, male, 19 years old, ch
inese citizen, currently studying in Military College, height 178 cm, weight 64 kg…”
Sheng Xie Ya wanted to retort again. Nothing happened between the two them, what’s there for him to be responsible for! Now that he’s hearing Zhuo Xiao Xuan reciting his personal information, he suddenly felt extremely helpless…
“So that’s that then. None of you shall disagree otherwise.”
And so, under the overwhelming coercing and non-existent lures, Liu Ting and Sheng Xie Ya’s impure relationship was knocked out just like that.
Females would always feel different about their first guy, even if it was a guy she didn’t like. Of course, in some sense however, Sheng Xie Ya wasn’t her first guy, but he was the first to sleep with her on the same bed. And so, Zhuo Xiao Xuan very happily watched as Liu Ting gradually shifted her focus from Yin Xu Dog to Sheng Xie Ya.
When the train reached City B, Zhuo Xiao Xuan and Yin Xu Dong alighted. Before they left, Zhuo Xiao Xuan even reminded him: “Look after your girl.” After that, she pulled the extremely stoned Yin Xu Dong and left the the pair to themselves without a backward glance.
Yin Xu Dong sighed, look up at the sky. This was the most random of random string of fate ever knotted.
After exiting the train station, Zhuo Xiao Xuan was picked up by the chauffeur Zhuo lao ye’zi sent. Before she left, she whispered to Yin Xu Dong, “I’ll come look for you when I have time.”
Yin Xu Dong looked at the military vehicle, watching as her ride drew further, at loss. Though she’d made her decisions, was she really not going to even talk to her family? Was she just going to let them believe that she’d died? On the other hand though, that was what she was demanded to do by the military. Also, it was already against the law to reveal her secret to him, so he had no grounds to point fingers at her either.
He sighed, then flagged a taxi and went home.
He waited and waited and waited but Zhuo Xiao Xuan didn’t appear; she didn’t pick up either when he phoned her. Only half a month later when he thought somehow had happened to her, she finally appeared soundlessly in his room.
Yin Xu Dong pinched her cheeks mournfully. “You lost weight again.”
“Enh.”
“You must be tired, I’ll give you a massage, c’mere.” Yin Xu Dong sat cross-legged on his carpet and patted his thighs for Zhuo Xiao Xuan to lie on. After that, he started massaging her shoulders for her. As for what Zhuo Xiao Xuan went to do during this period of time, he didn’t ask; even if he did, she wouldn’t tell him.
One massaged quietly, the other was massaged quietly, of course that was until a certain shouta barged into the room and witnessed the scene. At that, he shouted in rage: “Dong’zi ge! Who is she?! Why’s she here?!”
Yin Xu Dong felt his head throbbing. How’s he going to explain this? Xuan Xuan’s identity wasn’t something he could reveal!
Zhuo Xiao Xuan sat up and swept a bland look at the imploding Qin Peng Cheng. “How come you’re here?”
“I came over via my balcony! You got a problem with that?! Who are you exactly?! How dare you seduce my Dong’zi ge!” Qin Peng Cheng glared at her, his eyes wide. “I’ll have you know that the person Dong’zi ge likes is my jie jie! So don’t even think about it!”
Zhuo Xiao Xuan looked at him strangely: “Your jie jie? Isn’t she already dead?”
Qin Peng Cheng panted in rage, his nostrils flaring. Face flushing, he looked as though his anger had reached an apex. He gritted his teeth: “You stinking woman, who did you say is dead?! You dare repeat what you said!”
“Why? Is that not the truth?”
When Yin Xu Dong saw how mad Qin Peng Cheng was, he immediately held Zhuo Xiao Xuan back, urging softly: “Don’t tease him.” After that, he turned to say to Qin Peng Cheng, saying: “Xiao Cheng, go back first, I’ll tell you next time.”
“No! If you don’t clarify what’s up with this woman, I’m not leaving!” Qin Peng Cheng sat on the chair, refusing to move.
Zhuo Xiao Xuan flicked the strands of loose hair on her forehead and patted Yin Xu Dong’s shoulders. “You know what you should and shouldn’t say. I’m a little busy these days so I’ll leave first.” The extremely irresponsible Zhuo Xiao Xuan dumped Qin Peng Cheng to Yin Xu Dong and slipped off on her own.
By the time she returned back to the Zhuo mansion and changed into her pyjamas, someone knocked on her door to have her head over to Commander Zhuo’s study room; Commander Zhuo wanted to see her.
Zhuo Xiao Xuan went to Zhuo lao ye’zi’s study, knocked on his door and saw him glaring at her grumpily when she entered.
“You (polite) were looking for me? ”
“Humph! Where’d you run off to in the middle of the night?” Zhuo lao ye’zi’s knocked the table loudly, extremely dissatisfied.
Zhuo Xiao Xuan replied blandly: “Oh, you (polite) already know though no? Why ask again?” She knew there were people reporting her whereabouts to Zhuo lao ye’zi all the time.
“Humph! I’ve told you long ago that you’re not allowed to contact the people from your past. If words gets out that you didn’t die, wouldn’t I have just wasted my time all this while? I won’t be able to save you when that happens either! So no! You are forbidden from seeing that lad again!” Zhuo lao ye’zi knocked even harder.
“Enh, that is if you (polite) can stop me.”
Chapter 61 - Why’s He Here?
* * *
“You! Why aren’t you listening?! Infuriating!” Zhuo lao ye’zi said exasperatedly.
“Because your concern is largely unnecessary.”
“How is it unnecessary?! Who knows if that hot-headed lad will spill it someday to someone?!”
“Then let me die.”
“Enh? Lass do you know what you’re talking about?”
“I’m very clear. If the matter is revealed because of him, I will accept the death penalty dealt.”
“You, aye, why are you so stubborn? Won’t everything be fine if you didn’t look for him?”
“Weren’t you impressed by my abilities a few years back and wanted me to serve the country? I obeyed your commands and joined this organization; I did everything you wanted me to do, isn’t that what you desired? The agreement for me to live was that I must serve this organisation. Are we not just taking what we need for ourselves? In that case, other than the missions I need to complete issued, how I utilize the rest of my time is my own liberty. I know where the draw the line so you needn’t send people to tail me.”
“Fine! Fine! This ole gramps I won’t care, and I don’t have the ability to! Whatever happens in the future, just remember that it’s the consequence of your choice!”
When Zhuo Xiao Xuan left Zhuo lao ye’zi’s study, she met her “biao ge*” Zhuo Hong Yi, and he asked her: “Xiao Xuan, you made ye ye** angry again?”
* 表哥 = biao ge; older male cousin from the mother’s side
** 爷爷 = ye ye; paternal grandfather
“No.” He’s the one finding things to be angry about; it has nothing to do with her.
“Ye ye’s is a little stubborn, and has a poor temper. He’s old, be a little more patient with him.” Though Zhuo Hong Yi wasn’t very close to this little distant biao mei* who popped out all of a sudden, she didn’t look like someone who would start arguments over trivial matters, so how did she make ye ye so angry?
* 表妹 = biao mei; younger female cousin from the mother’s side
“Enh. I’m going first if there’s nothing else.”
Zhuo Xiao Xuan returned to her room. This was the Zhuo Mansion she was to live in after returning from the cosmetic surgery from abroad as Zhuo Xiao Xuan. Zhuo lao ye’zi had arranged a room for her, but the only times she stayed in the room was to sleep.
She had been beyond busy in the past half month of her holiday upon returning here, so she only managed to drop by the Zhuo Mansion two to three times. She had agreed to join their Z Organisation—an organisation she didn’t even know the full name to—then, and so she’s running aroun
d completing her missions every day. On top of that, she had to be extremely careful not to get hurt during her missions, else Yin Xu Dong’s going to look at her with that pitiful and miserable gaze of his when he finds out. Though his concern had her very touched, she didn’t want him to worry.
After being busy for the past half a month, the organisation finally gave her a day off for her to rest properly. Just as she was about to cultivate her inner gong before sleeping, she received the organisation’s message indicating that their target’s moved. In other words, she was mobilised.
And so, she pulled her skin-tight dark clothing and strapped on her weapons. Following that, she pulled on a long coat, put on a short wig, speedily swiped on some of makeup on the table and turned herself into a lady with conspicuous make up, appearing as though having experienced the vicissitudes of life.
She pulled open the window to the Zhuo Mansion and jumped out, evaded all signs of life and surveillance before entering the streets. She then flagged a taxi and headed straight for the city centre.
When she reached the city centre, Zhuo Xiao Xuan walked into a small bookstore. She threw down a coin at the old man tending the store. “The weather today’s terrible. Do you have magazines here?”
“Pick whichever you want, we have a lot.”
“Do you have the magazine ‘Start Work!’?”
“We do. Which issue do you want?”
“358.”
“Here.”
Zhuo Xiao Xuan took the magazine the old man handed over, gave it a few flips before leaving the shop.
Z Organisation didn’t have an fixed base, or rather, she didn’t know if there was a fixed base or not. Every time she had a mission, she would head over to this little bookstore to get the mission details. The conversation they had previously was the password to prevent the enemy from faking their identity and seizing their information. The issue number of the magazine changed all the time. If you didn’t give the correct issue number, you won’t be able to collect the mission information.
