AITAMITB Chapter 74

Zhao Xiaokui sat blushing in the passenger seat.

She savored the previous kiss. Touching her lips, her eyes sparkling slightly.

At this moment, Shen Zhifei had already returned to the driver’s seat. Seeing Zhao Xiaokui’s expression, she felt somewhat guilty for no apparent reason. After fastening her seatbelt, she reminded with a hint of discomfort, “We’re home.”

Indeed, they were heading home.

Shen Zhifei’s villa was, for Zhao Xiaokui, considered a second home.

Just thinking of this word made her heart feel tender.

Turning her head to look at the person driving, Zhao Xiaokui felt like the luckiest person in the world.

How fortunate she was to have encountered Shen Zhifei.

With some time left, and both of them not fond of dining out, they decided to buy groceries and cook at home.

In the supermarket, Zhao Xiaokui, not skilled in household chores, was assigned the task of pushing the cart, while Shen Zhifei took care of the shopping.

“Do you want yogurt?”

After receiving an affirmative answer, Shen Zhifei picked up a bottle of yogurt, lowering her head to read the production date on the packaging.

A strand of stray hair slipped restlessly from her ear, kissing her cheek. The soft lights from the freezer aisle cast a gentle glow around her. Zhao Xiaokui watched her, feeling her heart melt like it was soaking in warm water.

With only a few scattered customers in the supermarket at this time, Zhao Xiaokui, who had been ordered to wear a mask to lower her visibility and avoid being recognized by fans, couldn’t resist pulling down her mask and placing a gentle kiss on Shen Zhifei’s cheek.

Shen Zhifei didn’t take this kiss to heart, gently pushing her face away and coaxing her like comforting a child, “Be good.”

Not far away, a girl pressed the shutter button on her phone.

In her mobile phone, the girl pushing the cart tilted her head slightly, and her lips happened to touch the corner of the woman who was looking down at the yogurt.

She placed the snack packaging back on the shelf and quickly slipped away. She found her friend shopping on the other side and showed her the photo on her phone, unable to resist boasting, “Ah, I just saw a pair of fairy-like ladies, the gentle older sister and the tsundere milk-loving girl. For me, they match perfectly!”

Her friend was a Xiaokui Flower named Duo Xiao. Zhao Xiaokui could weaken her presence to others through mental influence, but the camera on the phone was an inanimate object that would faithfully record what it saw.

Seeing the people in the photo, her friend immediately covered her mouth, looking surprised, “Oh my, this person looks like Xiaokui! Wait, I feel like I’ve seen this person somewhere!”

Shen Zhifei kept a very low profile. Even though she had made the front page a few times due to Zhao Xiaokui and Rong Zhen’s affairs, however, people tend to forget.

But the photo of her with Zhao Xiaokui was easily found.

The two girls who secretly took a picture of Zhao Xiaokui and Shen Zhifei stared at each other. Xiaokui Flower’s eyes showed a hint of threat, and the girl taking the photo immediately made a zipper gesture, ensuring that she would keep her mouth shut.

Xiaokui Flower looked at the woman in the photo with a worried expression, “Our Xiaokui is still a young girl. Could she have been deceived…”

Regarding Shen Zhifei’s affairs, Zhao Xiaokui never thought of hiding or covering up. It was just that Shen Zhifei and her manager didn’t want her to be announced too early, so they kept it under wraps.

The manager felt that as an artist, Zhao Xiaokui’s fans were mostly moms and older sisters. If a controversy about her sexual orientation erupted, her popularity would undoubtedly suffer, affecting her commercial value. Even if Miss Zhao mixed in the entertainment industry just for fun, the manager was not willing to see Zhao Xiaokui undermine her reputation.

Shen Zhifei, on the other hand, didn’t want Zhao Xiaokui to face online criticism because of their relationship. In the various social media platforms that Zhao Xiaokui often used, there were dedicated personnel managing the comments to ensure that she wouldn’t see any upsetting messages.

People who needed to know would eventually find out, but those who shouldn’t know wouldn’t be able to pry into their relationship without concrete evidence. After all, the societal norm was such that the intimacy between two girls could sometimes be even more affectionate than that between lovers.

After buying several bags of items, most of which were snacks for Zhao Xiaokui, the two returned to the car and drove back home.

Upon entering the house, Zhao Xiaokui felt something different. But after scanning the surroundings, she couldn’t pinpoint the changes. It wasn’t until she walked to the place where Shen Zhifei displayed some items and saw the framed photo on the “Treasure Pavilion” that she turned around with surprise and asked, “Where did you find this?”

In the frame was a picture of Zhao Xiaokui wearing her junior high school uniform, holding a trophy, and standing next to her grandmother.

Seeing the first difference, she looked around and found many items from her old home, cleverly placed in various spots as if they had always belonged there.

Zhao Xiaokui rummaged through everything like she was playing a treasure hunt game, retrieving these items from their hiding places. The room ended up looking like it had been hit by a tornado, and Shen Zhifei followed her with a smile, tidying up.

“This is my elementary school classmate’s yearbook. Haha, look, my graduation photo is still in there. My grandmother braided two small pigtails for me; it looks so silly, hahaha. Back then, we were all into writing connected characters, like ‘Happy every day, wish you joy and happiness,’ and there was even something like ‘Hope you find a BF/GF soon.’ Looking at it now, it seems so childish…”

“Wow, this is my grandmother’s record player. She loved using it to listen to songs; she said you could only feel the music properly using this.”

“This is…”

As she flipped through the items, she suddenly squatted down.

Shen Zhifei put down what she was holding and walked over, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Getting close, she noticed tears in Zhao Xiaokui’s eyes, filled with indescribable grievance.

“Where did you find all these things?”

Ever since she learned about the demolition of the Qingmu community, Zhao Xiaokui had been avoiding thinking about where those items storing her memories had gone – whether they ended up like the house, submerged in ruins.

“Some were found at the recycling station, and some were obtained from your previous neighbors…”

Finding these items wasn’t an easy task, and Shen Zhifei put in a lot of effort.

Fortunately, she had visited Zhao’s house once before and had some impressions of the things inside. That’s how she could painstakingly retrieve each item.

She didn’t mention how much sweat and effort she invested. Listening to Shen Zhifei, Zhao Xiaokui’s tears fell incessantly. Before Shen Zhifei finished speaking, she buried her head on her shoulder and choked out, “Shen Zhifei, how can you be so good?”

Shen Zhifei chuckled, “If I’m not good to you, then who should I be good to?”

Zhao Xiaokui remained silent.

Nobody is inherently obligated to be good to anyone. She had been living alone for almost ten years, understanding this truth early on.

However, when Shen Zhifei spoke these words, the feeling of being held in someone’s palm, protected like a delicate flower, made her feel all soft and tender.

She wasn’t afraid of the evil god, and the matter of systems didn’t seem troublesome anymore. With someone like this by her side, what challenges in the world could she not overcome?

Seeing her happiness, Shen Zhifei knew she had done the right thing. The energy spent in these days, in the eyes of Zhao Xiaokui who was crying tears of joy, seemed insignificant.

Leaving the room for Zhao Xiaokui to reminisce alone, she went to prepare dinner.

Zhao Xiaokui’s joy was evident as she devoured a table full of dishes, all of which she managed to consume. Shen Zhifei even cooked a pot of rice.

Even with the digestion capacity of superhumans, she had eaten a bit too much today. Lying on the sofa, she asked Shen Zhifei to massage her stomach.

The setting sun spilled through the French windows, casting mottled shadows as the light extended onto the sofa, illuminating Shen Zhifei and Zhao Xiaokui, creating a feeling of peaceful times.

Unfortunately, this serene atmosphere was soon interrupted by an incoming call.

“Your phone…”

Shen Zhifei’s phone vibrated and was placed in her bag by the entrance. Initially, Zhao Xiaokui didn’t want to bother, but the phone kept vibrating several times. She thought it might be something important, so she reminded Shen Zhifei.

Shen Zhifei didn’t know who would be calling her at this time. The company had recently been introduced to a new platform and was steadily running; there shouldn’t be any urgent matters requiring her attention.

She stood up and took out her phone from the bag. She frowned slightly upon seeing the caller ID, revealing a hint of displeasure.

Noticing Shen Zhifei’s expression, Zhao Xiaokui asked, “Who is it?”

She couldn’t figure out who could make Shen Zhifei show such a look.

Shen Zhifei showed her the caller ID, saying, “Rong Zhen.”

“Why is he calling you?” Zhao Xiaokui still remembered the past engagement between Shen Zhifei and Rong Zhen. She said in a slightly sarcastic tone, “A good horse doesn’t eat the grass it has passed by. This rotten horse wouldn’t be thinking of coming back for a taste of your grass, would he?”

No way!

She ran barefoot over, circled Shen Zhifei’s waist, and hugged her, childishly saying, “You belong to me now; I won’t let him have you.”

Shen Zhifei couldn’t help but smile wryly, “He’s probably calling about Tao Zijin’s matter.”

“Oh…” Zhao Xiaokui immediately relaxed.

Then she asked with confusion, “Why would Rong Zhen contact you about Tao Zijin’s matter?”

Shen Zhifei put her constantly vibrating phone aside and explained, “Tao Zijin has gone missing, right? Rong Zhen thinks I might know about her whereabouts.”

“You know nothing. He’s just picking on you because he thinks you’re an easy target. If he’s gutsy, let him go find the Nightwalkers.”

During their conversation, Rong Zhen’s call automatically hung up once, but he quickly called again persistently. Zhao Xiaokui grabbed the phone and said, “Don’t worry about this, I’ll talk to him.”

As soon as the call connected, she took the initiative and said, “Hello, who is this? Are you kidding me with these constant calls? Can’t it wait until tomorrow when we’re working? Do you realize it’s personal rest time now? Please show some respect for others, okay?”

Hearing her voice, Rong Zhen was momentarily stunned. Then, he asked with more joy than surprise, “Zhao Xiaokui?”

Immediately, he questioned eagerly, “Where’s Zijin? Where did you take her?”

“What Zijin, what are you talking about? I have no idea who you’re referring to.”

Zhao Xiaokui pretended to be clueless.

“Tao Zijin, the actress who participated in ‘Little Ox Charges Forward’ with you before.” Rong Zhen gritted his teeth, “Zhao Xiaokui, don’t play dumb with me. We all know what’s going on here. Just because the hospital’s surveillance footage is deleted doesn’t mean I can’t track you down. On the day Zijin went missing, someone saw you specifically at that hospital.”

Zhao Xiaokui chuckled, “But what does that have to do with me?”

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