"Are you moving your luggage, not skipping calculus class?"
"No, I've already previewed today's class."
"Alright," the counselor signed the leave request, "You can't take any more leave for calculus class next week."
"Okay."
With the leave request sorted, Qin Xin returned to her dorm to do a simple tidy-up. She didn't need to bring her sheets, blankets, or pillows since her sister had those, so she only needed to pack her personal items.
Even so, it took about half an hour to get everything ready. Qin Xin carried her suitcase out of the school gate and headed towards "Shuiyue Tingyuan."
As she walked, the girl's thoughts became lively.
Knowing that her sister had been deceived in a previous relationship brought them closer together, reducing the barriers between them. With less resistance in her heart, Qin Xin began to look forward to her upcoming life.
After all, home is still better than the dormitory, especially in her sister's standalone villa, which is like heaven compared to the school dormitory, and they also provide breakfast and dinner.
Although the school cafeteria's food was barely acceptable, it couldn't compare to her sister's home.
Thinking about it this way, staying at her sister's house seemed quite nice.
Upon entering the gate of Shuiyue Tingyuan, Aunt Zou happened to be in the garden.
"Second Miss, you're here?"
"Yes, good afternoon, Aunt Zou," she nodded slightly in greeting, "I just got out of class."
Aunt Zou had come from the Qin family, and both sisters had been taken care of by her when they were young.
"Come in and sit down; just in time, the eldest miss and the others haven't eaten yet." Aunt Zou led her inside.
Qin Xin noticed the term "others" and thought that her mother's second guess was correct; her sister had brought that girl back to tidy up.
Indeed, that was the right thing to do.
"They haven't eaten lunch yet? Is it that late for lunch?"
"Not really," Aunt Zou's expression was a bit strange, "It's just... something unexpected happened, or maybe it can't be called unexpected."
"Hmm?"
This statement confused Qin Xin.
"Anyway, come in, Second Miss," Aunt Zou opened the living room door and instructed the other maids, "Go, tidy up the Second Miss's room."
Qin Xin casually placed her suitcase to the side, and just as she sat down, she suddenly heard some strange voices.
Aunt Zou walked into the living room and also heard these sounds, her eyelids twitching.
Oh no, why are they doing that there?
The bedroom was a bit far from the living room, separated by two corridors. But there was a small room next to the living room used as a break room for napping.
It was unclear whether the eldest miss was too lazy to run to the bedroom or was so furious that she couldn't wait another moment, so she resolved it nearby. In any case, they were currently having a battle in the break room.
It was very close, and everything could be heard, albeit a bit muffled.
"I don't want to eat, huh? Here, eat this, swallow it down!"
"Mmm mmm..."
Qin Xin listened in confusion: "What are they doing?"
Aunt Zou pressed her hands together, trying to use her wits as a maid: "The girl brought back by the eldest miss is not satisfied with lunch. The eldest miss is very angry."
"She has to be forced to eat something else."
Because Aunt Zou thought the second young lady didn't know Miss Ningning, she changed her way of addressing her.
"How about this," Qin Yue's voice came through vaguely, "does she like to eat this?"
"Um... no, she doesn't like it."
"What about this one?"
"Mm... the same."
Although the voice was a bit unclear and the tone couldn't be distinguished, the content of the conversation could be understood with some effort.
However, Qin Xin didn't understand one thing: "That girl, why can she still talk while being fed?"
Aunt Zou instinctively replied, "Maybe she isn't eating with her mouth."
Qin Xin: "?"
Oh no, that was a slip of the tongue.
Aunt Zou thought hard about how to remedy the situation, but saw Qin Xin pondering for a moment before saying, "They must be doing ( ) right?"
"You, second young lady," Aunt Zou was shocked, "how do you know..."
"Don't be surprised, Aunt Zou, times have changed," Qin Xin said nonchalantly, "these things are basic, very few people don't know about them."
Now is the era of hypermedia; if you can go online, what is there that you wouldn't understand?
"Alright," Aunt Zou sighed, "are you hungry, second young lady? When do you want to eat?"
Qin Xin was puzzled: "Aren't we waiting for my sister? How long has she been at it?"
Aunt Zou looked at the clock: "Forty minutes."
"Shouldn't we wait for her to finish together?" Qin Xin said, "It should be almost over, right?"
Aunt Zou smiled wryly: "That's not necessarily true; it's still early."
Qin Xin frowned: "Is my sister's health that good?"
"That's not really the reason," Aunt Zou said, "it's her willpower."
"What?"
This was the first time Qin Xin had heard such a far-fetched explanation.
"In short, the young lady has a reason to keep going, and she won't stop until she achieves that goal," Aunt Zou advised, "the second young lady should eat first."
Is that so?
Not waiting for the host and eating first as a guest is a bit impolite. But since Aunt Zou said so, then let's eat first.
After a simple lunch, Qin Xin had nothing else to do, so she simply sat in the living room and read a book.
"Second young lady, why don't you go to your room?" Aunt Zou suggested, "It's all tidied up."
"No need, I'll stay here."
"But here," Aunt Zou glanced at the lounge, "isn't very quiet."
The sounds were intermittent, making one blush and their heart race.
"It doesn't matter," Qin Xin said, "I'm fine with it."
She mainly felt that coming to her sister's house and settling in without greeting anyone was a bit unreasonable.
It had been over an hour, and Qin Xin believed her sister would come out soon.
"Alright then, the second young lady can go to her room anytime."
The maids cleared the dining table, leaving the living room for Qin Xin alone... no, for Qin Xin, her sister, and the girl with her sister.
The long afternoon began.
The sounds were indeed intermittent, like a fluctuating prose novel, sometimes grand and sometimes drizzling softly. Sometimes there were transitions, and sometimes it was rhythmic.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Qin Xin listened to the sounds around her and slowly closed her book.
She thought, that girl must be very beautiful, to the point that her sister couldn't bear to part with her, and it had already been three hours.
The afternoon was indeed lazy, and Qin Xin closed her eyes and dozed off.
The rhythmic sounds from the lounge turned into a lullaby, entering Qin Xin's dreams.
In her dream, she saw her senior, her Ningning senior, dreaming of her beautiful, cold little face, dreaming of her graceful and charming figure, dreaming of everything about her.
Even that indifferent whisper merged with the lullaby in her ears.
But a dream is ultimately just a dream; no matter how splendid it is, it always feels like something is missing. No matter what Qin Xin did in her dream, she felt like a rootless floating weed, unable to... break free.