# Chapter 15: The Magical Shop (4)
"Thump, thump, thump."
It was the sound of a heart beating with vitality and vigor.
The sound grew louder and louder.
The light faded away, and darkness descended. Some things could no longer restrain their desires, revealing their ferocious fangs in the darkness, stirring restlessly.
Qi An closed his eyes, lying on the soft bed, straining to control his breathing.
He could feel something approaching. The heartbeat sounded as clear as if it were right in front of him—every sensation in the darkness was amplified infinitely. Qi An suddenly felt cold, even though he was tucked in under thick blankets.
This coldness was as if he were being watched by something dangerous, its icy gaze dissecting him little by little.
It simply stood there, looking down at its prey from above.
Suddenly, the heartbeat quickened, gradually speeding up like drumbeats.
A chill settled over Qi An's face. Qi An had no idea what the uninvited visitor to their dorm was doing—he only felt cold breath喷洒ing against his neck.
He heard the sound of a喉结滚动.
"So sweet."
The voice was like intoxication, like infatuation, drifting through the room like mist, wrapping tightly around Qi An's ears.
The sun playfully revealed half its body once again from the east. Dawn was barely breaking, and the pleasant, ringing morning bell spread throughout the dormitory building. The classmates were chattering as they prepared to wash up. By the time Qi An was ready, Zhang Zhaoqi had already returned from the cafeteria with breakfast.
"Did you sleep well last night?" Zhang Zhaoqi glanced at the faint dark circles under Qi An's eyes and asked casually.
Qi An's skin was excellent—white and translucent like the finest suet jade. Just looking at him, one could tell his skin must feel incredibly soft.
That's precisely why those dark circles stood out so prominently.
"Yeah." Qi An nodded.
That prickling, back-monitoring gaze had accompanied him all night, following him like a shadow.
After a moment of contemplation, Qi An looked at Zhang Zhaoqi. "Did you feel anything yesterday?"
His voice was very quiet and low, and by the end, a trembling note had crept in—soft, like he was pouting.
"...No." Zhang Zhaoqi shook his head. Looking at Qi An's lashes that trembled slightly from fear, something strange stirred in his heart. He勉强maintained his composed voice. "What happened?"
"Something seemed to come in last night."
Zhang Zhaoqi furrowed his brows, scanning their dorm room with sharp eyes. The dorm was as neat and clean as always. A cold glint flickered in the depths of his dark eyes, but he finally spoke. "If you encounter something like that again, remember to call me."
I'll protect you.
He swallowed the second half of that sentence before it could leave his lips. Looking at the boy who was quite a bit shorter than himself, Zhang Zhaoqi couldn't quite understand why he had just felt somewhat displeased.
A hint of confusion crossed his eyes. In the end, Zhang Zhaoqi yielded to his true feelings. He placed his hand on Qi An's hair and gently patted it.
Indeed, the texture was wonderful.
Just as he had imagined.
When Qi An and Zhang Zhaoqi entered the classroom, they happened to see Fang Delian. The short, chubby boy with nerdy glasses was walking out of the classroom, carrying a basin with a mop inside. Every few steps, he would stop to catch his breath before continuing.
When he saw Qi An, he was overjoyed. He immediately set down what he was carrying to greet him. His somewhat chubby hand was already raised in the air.
But it awkwardly froze in place.
He saw Zhang Zhaoqi beside Qi An, saw the latter's cold gaze.
That person was so handsome.
Both he and his desk partner stood out in a crowd—people you could spot at a glance.
Only people like that deserved to be friends with his desk partner, right?
Raising his hand just now had apparently taken all his courage and self-respect.
Fang Delian dejectedly pulled his hand back, hastily picked up the basin, and hurried out of the classroom. His footsteps were somewhat uneven as he fled from Qi An's side as quickly as possible.
Qi An watched Fang Delian run out without saying a word. He followed Zhang Zhaoqi toward their seats. As they passed by the blackboard, Qi An glanced at it and raised an eyebrow.
The upper right corner of the blackboard was where the duty student's name was written.
But right now, instead of Fang Delian's name, it read another boy's name.
Qi An looked around and spotted that duty student sitting in the last row, legs crossed. The boy was holding a bun in one hand, biting into it while chatting with a girl beside him. Whenever he got excited about something, he would slap the table.
After returning to his seat, Qi An patted the girl seated in front of him. "Is Fang Delian close with him?"
As he spoke, Qi An pointed toward the boy who was once again slapping the table and shouting loudly.
"How could that be?" The girl first asked incredulously, then upon seeing Qi An's face, she seemed to have a moment of realization. "Oh right, you're new here. You probably don't know about these things."
"In our class, if someone doesn't want to do their turn at cleaning duty, Fang Delian does it instead." The girl said matter-of-factly. "If you ever don't want to do your duty either, you can have him help you."
"Why?" Qi An asked, as if out of curiosity.
"No particular reason." The girl shrugged. Seeing that he was genuinely confused, she thought for a moment before continuing. "As you know, our school's classes are on a rotating system. By the time I got assigned to this class, it was already like this. However..."
The girl's expression turned serious. Glancing at the people around them, she leaned close to Qi An's ear and whispered. "I heard that this position originally didn't belong to Fang Delian—it belonged to Pei Ying."
Pei Ying...
Qi An looked at her, somewhat surprised.
The girl saw his pupils slightly enlarge, his bright ink-black eyes clearly visible. Thinking he was adorable, she got carried away and unknowingly poured out everything she knew. "Right, I think it's unbelievable too. These things are probably only known by the old-timers who've been in Class F all along. Do you remember Li Li, the one who got into that argument with those boys yesterday..."
"It's said she used to be the class belle of Class F. She always disliked Pei Ying, so she and her little group went out of their way to bully Pei Ying..."
"I couldn't find out exactly what happened after that. Anyway, it ended up like this now—Pei Ying became the class belle, Li Li fell out of favor with the boys, and Fang Delian took Pei Ying's place as the one being bullied."
As she spoke, the girl kept an eye on the expressions of those around her, making sure no third person could overhear what she was saying.
"Qi An, you'd better not get close to any of them, or you'll easily get caught up in some kind of storm." The girl warned Qi An. "Even though you're now desk partners with Fang Delian, try not to talk to him if you can help it, or you'll easily get dragged into things."
Qi An smiled and thanked the girl for her kindness. Seeing that he had taken her advice to heart, the girl turned back to her book.
Fang Delian soon returned, carrying a bucket filled with water. He dutifully mopped the entire classroom floor with the mop. After placing the mop back in the bucket, Fang Delian prepared to carry the bucket of water out again to dump it.
But that's when the accident happened.
Someone suddenly ran into the classroom, colliding directly with Fang Delian. With a dull thud, the water bucket hit the ground, and the dirty water quickly spread across the freshly cleaned floor.
Fang Delian stood there in a daze, somewhat dazed as he looked at Li Li in front of him.
The short-haired girl also froze for a moment. Then, under the watchful eyes of the entire class, she opened her mouth.
Almost everyone in the class watched with the眼光of people waiting for a good show. They were all waiting for Li Li to deliver a round of sarcastic remarks to Fang Delian with her sharp tongue. Some people had even started betting on how many minutes she would berate him.
"I'm sorry, let me help you."
The girl seemed quite embarrassed. In a tone so gentle it was almost unbelievable, she apologized to Fang Delian. Then, with nimble movements, she took the mop from his hands and carefully cleaned up the dirty water piece by piece.
"I'm really sorry for all the trouble." Li Li apologized to Fang Delian once more after finishing everything.
After speaking, the girl walked leisurely toward her seat under all sorts of strange gazes. No matter who looked at her or what expression they wore, she responded with a gentle, faint smile.
Li Li maintained her perfect smile throughout the near-frozen classroom.
When she passed by Qi An's side, she suddenly stopped.
She stiffly turned her neck, looking at Qi An with her dark eyes full of a smile, as if somewhat puzzled.
Her eyes were completely vacant. Qi An was clearly right in front of her, yet her pupils remained dark and oppressive.
"So fragrant, so sweet."
Li Li leaned in closer, unable to contain herself as she let out a sigh, as if satisfied and excited as she took another deep breath.
She was still smiling, but it wasn't that perfect, elegant smile from before that looked almost like a假笑. Instead, it was a genuine smile from deep within, a comfortable expression.
Her eyes were filled with longing and joy.
In a dazed voice, she said, "So fragrant, like an angel."
"Angel?" Qi An asked her.
"Yeah, an angel." Li Li took another deep breath. "In the evening, if you go to the rooftop of the dormitory building, you can see paradise. There's an angel standing right there."
"The angel is especially good-looking. He just stands there, looking at me and smiling gently..."