A Game of Hide-and-Seek and an Unexpected Encounter

She stumbled back two steps, only then realizing she had bumped into a young woman. The girl looked somewhat familiar, as if she had seen her somewhere before. The young woman wore a white sailor uniform with a grey pleated skirt, a sight that initially made her mistake it for the uniform of Xinshi Private High School.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, so sorry!”

The brown-haired girl clutched her forehead, repeatedly apologizing to Qin Ruoxue, who in turn felt a blush creep up her neck.

‘It was just a slight bump. Surely, it wasn’t enough to make her this scared?’

“It’s fine, really. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“No, it was *my* fault for not looking!”

The two young women found themselves in a peculiar argument over whose fault it was. Lin Yi, who had just rounded the corner, watched the scene unfold with a bewildered expression.

‘What exactly are these two doing? Some kind of performance art?’

As he silently mused, Lin Yi was about to step forward and speak when his eyes finally registered the girl’s face.

“Xu Wei!”

Lin Yi rubbed his eyes in disbelief; he never would have imagined encountering Xu Wei in such a place.

He recalled the scene at the banquet earlier, where people had addressed the middle-aged man at the head table as ‘Brother Xu’.

‘Could Xu Wei be connected to the Xu family? Yet, the original novel never mentioned anything about Xu Wei.’

Lin Yi furrowed his brow, scrutinizing Xu Wei’s attire.

He hadn’t seen her at the banquet earlier.

“Xu Wei, what are you doing here?”

“Huh?”

Xu Wei, still a little bewildered, had been about to ask Lin Yi the same question. Nevertheless, out of politeness, she answered his query first.

“My dad brought me. He said an uncle invited us to ‘lend him some face’.”

“But what about you two? I thought I’d bumped into some important figure.”

Seeing Xu Wei’s pitiful expression, Lin Yi’s lips twitched involuntarily.

Everyone present here was essentially a person of influence. This meant Xu Wei’s presence implied her own status was far from ordinary.

‘And she’s worried about bumping into an important person? Talk about high-level humble-bragging.’

Xu Wei’s appearance reminded Lin Yi that among those who had been slandering his sister earlier, one man bore a striking resemblance to Xu Wei.

Now, it seemed, that man must be Xu Wei’s father.

His emotions became complicated, and Lin Yi was unsure how to view Xu Wei.

‘For now, I’ll still consider her a friend. After all, her father’s actions have nothing to do with her.’

“Want to play hide-and-seek with us?”

“Hmm? Hide-and-seek?”

Xu Wei’s eyes lit up at the suggestion; it had been ages since she last played a game with friends. Ever since starting high school, she had almost entirely abandoned multiplayer games.

Her days consisted of either sitting in the classroom or doing homework at home.

In her memories, the faces of her childhood friends had blurred, some so much that she couldn’t even recall their names.

“Sure! What are we playing?”

Seeing Xu Wei agree to the invitation, Lin Yi glanced at Qin Ruoxue, curious to see if the latent yandere would react.

Qin Ruoxue found Lin Yi’s gaze perplexing.

While Xu Wei’s presence caused a flicker of displeasure within her, it wasn’t enough to show on her face.

Finding no trace of the expected yandere emotions, Lin Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

‘It seems the later-stage yandere is quite stable in her early stages. Not like Chen Sishi, who explodes at the slightest touch.’

The three of them re-established the order for who would be ‘it’, and this time, it was Lin Yi’s turn to chase them.

Lin Yi settled onto a roadside bench, closed his eyes, and began counting down.

Seeing this, the two girls quickly scattered. The small path offered many hiding spots, and a hundred seconds was more than enough time for them to conceal themselves.

As Lin Yi continued to count silently with his eyes closed, he caught a familiar scent.

Then, he felt someone settle beside him.

“What are you doing, Lin Yi?”

The girl’s warm voice drifted into Lin Yi’s ears, causing his body to tremble.

This voice was all too familiar to him, a voice that had once filled him with immense dread. Yet, compared to before, Lin Yi no longer felt such profound fear; instead, a strange sense of security bloomed within him.

“Sishi, I’m playing a game with them. Don’t disturb me.”

The silver-haired girl tilted her head, sitting “obediently” beside Lin Yi. Her gaze fixed on Lin Yi’s prominent Adam’s apple, and she subtly licked her lips.

“18”

“17”

Lin Yi’s countdown abruptly halted. He felt a small, damp “snake” slithering mischievously over his Adam’s apple.

He unconsciously swallowed, and the “snake” moved up and down with his throat.

Lin Yi could tolerate it no longer. He abruptly opened his eyes, determined to give this “white-haired menace” a stern talking-to.

‘He had just warned her. If he didn’t do something now, he would completely lose face.’

“Chen Sishi, you—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Chen Sishi launched herself at Lin Yi, clinging to him like an octopus, wrapping her limbs tightly around his body.

This left him utterly helpless; from this angle, he couldn’t muster much strength to push her away.

And scolding her would be pointless; she simply wouldn’t listen. His only option was to wait for her to release him herself.

Fortunately, Chen Sishi didn’t maintain the embrace for too long. She soon let go, and Lin Yi pretended as if nothing had happened.

Without a word, Lin Yi stood up and went to find Qin Ruoxue and Xu Wei.

‘Where is Lin Yi going?’

‘I’m playing hide-and-seek with them.’

‘Oh~’

Chen Sishi pouted, watching Lin Yi walk away from her spot on the bench. As she savored the lingering scent of him on her lips, a subtle smile played at the corners of her mouth.

She felt as though she had been poisoned by a potent venom, one that could drive her to madness at any moment. And Lin Yi was her only antidote.

Since Lin Yi had just walked through this area, he quickly located both girls within moments.

Qin Ruoxue was the first one Lin Yi found. Initially, she was quite spirited, leading him on a chase through several turns.

During this, Lin Yi happened to catch Xu Wei, and then the two of them teamed up to catch…

…until Qin Ruoxue’s stamina was nearly depleted, at which point Lin Yi finally caught her.

It had to be said that Qin Ruoxue’s stamina was top-tier among girls.

If Lin Yi hadn’t been exceptionally fit, he might not have outlasted her.

After the three had their fill of playing, they returned to the bench. Chen Sishi, who had been sitting on the bench the entire time, watched them approach without moving.

The three paid her no mind, settling onto the bench to rest for a while.

Just as their energy was mostly restored and they were about to start another round, Chen Sishi suddenly leaned closer.

“Can I be ‘it’ for a round?”

Her face was perfectly calm, yet a chilling, artificial smile played on her lips, making her appear somewhat unnerving.

Qin Ruoxue discussed it briefly with the others, and they agreed to Chen Sishi’s request.