432 The first stumbling domino
‘Guiying’ blinked twice and stared at the cat in Ai’s arms. “…A cat?”
The cat narrowed his eyes at her and then ignored her altogether.
‘Her’ brow twitched.
Strange…
Not only Zhou Ai is here but she also brought a cat with her. What is she doing at Dream High though?
Is this related to Liu Jun and her fight? ‘She’ inwardly rejoiced.
Ai watched her once best friend closely and the cigarette in her hand made numerous questions instantly crowd her mind from all sides.
“…Guiying, you don’t smoke,” she emphasized.
‘Guiying’ clicked her tongue inwardly.
Well, it’s true the idiot inside me doesn’t. But I sure as hell do.
‘She’ smiled and twirled the cigarette in her hand. “Oh this? I was just trying out something new.”
Ai’s focus on the cigarette was difficulty to let go of. She blinked thinking how Guiying couldn’t even stand the smell of cigarette smoke. In the past, whenever they crossed a path of a smoker walking Xuanhua streets, Guiying always broke into coughing and discomfort.
Now she wondered how that same Guiying could smoke so easily?
“But you cannot even bear the smell…”
“It takes a while but you get used to it, Zhou-…Ai.”
It was quick, but Ai did catch her saying her surname first.
p-a- n-d-a-n-0-v-e-l、(c)om Why is everything so different about Guiying today?
‘Guiying’ raised her brow. “Anyway, so how is-“
Her phone beeped with a message from Zixin.
‘Are you free today to meet?’
‘She’ quickly replied ‘No’. ‘She’ then looked back at Ai and wanted to probe about her and Jun’s relationship at this moment, especially after the ruckus at Shui’s birthday banquet.
“Like I was asking, how are things-“
There was another buzz on her phone, and it was another message from Zixin. ‘Her’ mouth twitched with his reply to her reply.
‘Are you free tomorrow?’
‘No.’
‘She’ let out a breath and just looked back at Ai when there was a buzz yet again.
‘Day after tomorrow?’
‘Guiying’ wanted to throw away her phone.
‘Why are you so persistent?’
She got an immediate reply.
Is this man glued to his damn phone!?
‘I have jotted down some good ideas to share with you. You also said you will start writing the new chapter today. I wish to be there.’
This idiot in me will die feeling this conscious of his attention!
‘I won’t be able to write if you watch me so intently.’
*Ding!*
‘She’ gritted her teeth.
At least let me take a break!
Zixin’s reply was – ‘I will keep my distance, no worries.’
Then what’s the use of you being even there!?
Ai was silently observing the myriad of emotions which she was expressing. She had never seen Guiying so impatient and annoyed before. She then noticed her taking another drag from the cigarette so effortlessly that she questioned the Guiying she knew before this.
How is it possible…
‘Guiying’ locked her phone and said with a forced smile, “I need to get going.”
Or Chen Zixin might really appear in Dream High!
In this whole chatting conversation with Zixin, her agenda to dig deep into Jun and Ai’s problems completely slipped her mind. The rumors spreading about Yating and Ai because of Ai’s presence today also failed to cross her mind.
‘Guiying’ hastily kept her phone back and said, “See you later, Zhou Ai.”
Ai remained standing in silence even after ‘she’ left.
Once again she called me Zhou Ai.
Her brows pressed into a frown. So many things were odd with Guiying today.
Why is she suddenly calling me by my full name? And the cigarette…it’s impossible for Guiying to smoke.
What is going on with her today?
—
‘Guiying’ was muttering curses under her breath when she crashed into Zhan Yahui.
Zhan Yahui frowned. “Why are you in so much hurry? You have your bag with you. Are you going somewhere here?”
“I…”
There is nothing really to talk about Chen Zixin to her. Not like we are even friends…
“Yeah. Just a bit of an errand to do. I will be back.”
“I see. Okay. By the way, did you meet Zhou Ai?”
‘Guiying’ was busy typing and staring at her phone as she mindlessly hummed. “Oh yeah…I met her.”
“Did you hear the rumors about Gu Yating and her? He personally rushed all the way for her.”
“…Yeah,” ‘Guiying’ was half-listening to her and half-messaging Zixin, who was clearly ecstatic to meet her.
Why does he sound so happy? ‘She’ dryly thought to herself. He is really so insistent on being my friend. And even though he is the CEO, he somehow has a loooot of spare time in his hands! Is nobody complaining in his company?
Zhan Yahui noticed her fraying attention. “Are you listening to me?”
“Huh?” ‘She’ snapped out from her furious typing sprint. “What were you talking about?”
She frowned. “Zhou Ai and Gu Yating. She came to Dream High herself with Gu Yating by her side the whole time.”
“Yeah,” ‘she’ sneered. “Perfect moment to fan the flames even harder. I will do something about it soon. Cannot miss this chance.”
*Buzz*
‘I am at the cafe,’ Zixin promptly texted her.
You didn’t need to inform me! ‘Guiying’ grimaced. It feels like he is reminding me to come soon…
“I will get going for now.”
Or this Chen Zixin won’t let me live in peace!
She hurried away with Zhan Yahui slightly widening her eyes in wonder.
Why didn’t she seem so thrilled? Gu Yating and Zhou Ai’s meeting should have sparked more interest for her plans…Wonder why she is in so much of a hurry today? Maybe she got struck with some inspiration for her novel.
She had seen writers getting sudden bursts of inspiration and forgetting everything around them.
She shrugged and walked away, thinking that was the case with ‘Guiying’ too that didn’t bother her to pry into the matter any further.
Which was Zhan Yahui’s first ever mistake she made today.
It was the first tip of the domino which had slowly but surely started to stumble out of balance, threatening to disrupt her carefully laid plan.