After watching a late-night movie alone, Jiang Xiaosi returned home exhausted, hugging a pair of Prison Rabbits plushies. The streets were almost empty, and the bright streetlights hurt her eyes.
She suddenly felt uneasy, as if someone had been following her. Jiang Xiaosi held her breath and focused, but there was no one… could it be a ghost?
She looked around but saw nothing. Walking a bit further, she heard a faint sound, like a baby laughing, and immediately remembered the ghost baby from last time. But that one had already been captured by Koudan and sealed by her dad, right?
Feeling a bit creeped out, she unknowingly quickened her pace. By the time she rushed into Shen Mo’s house, she was drenched in sweat.
Ugh, how embarrassing. She, a proud zombie, getting scared by a ghost? If word got out, it would bring shame to Tuoguxiang’s reputation.
“Where were you this late?”
Startled, Jiang Xiaosi looked up to see Shen Mo standing in front of her, which made her jump.
“Professor, you’re awake! How’s your cold? Why does your voice sound like that?”
Shen Mo shook his head, looking exhausted. Jiang Xiaosi noticed he was wearing a bathrobe and holding a cup. He looked so different from his usual self that she found it slightly amusing.
“Did you take your medicine?”
“I did. But what on earth did you buy?” Shen Mo’s naturally deep voice was now hoarse, causing Jiang Xiaosi to swallow nervously.
“Better to be over-prepared than underprepared! Shouldn’t you go to the hospital for an IV drip?”
“No.” Shen Mo flatly refused.
“But you’re injured, and now you have a cold…”
“I’m fine. What’s that you’re carrying?”
Jiang Xiaosi immediately looked defeated and tiredly stuffed the two Prison Rabbits into his arms.
“I got dumped.”
“What?”
“I’m saying, I got dumped… Zhang Qi broke up with me. These are his parting gifts. He said he hopes that in the future, my partner and I will be as happy together as these two rabbits, living happily ever after.”
Shen Mo’s face twitched slightly. Were these rabbits even male and female? And weren’t they wearing prison outfits?
“Didn’t everything seem fine before you left?” Shen Mo couldn’t understand. Relationships nowadays seemed to be like playing house, with marriage and divorce happening as fast as lightning.
“He said he has someone else he likes now.” Jiang Xiaosi bitterly chewed on her finger. “He’s leaving me to pursue true love, so I’ve been heartlessly abandoned.”
Shen Mo looked at her pouting face, her red nose, and his frown deepened.
“Are you upset?”
“Of course! This was my first relationship! You try being dumped and see how upset you get!” Jiang Xiaosi glared at him sideways. “I miss my dad so much right now…”
Looking at her tear-filled eyes, Shen Mo suddenly said, “I’m sorry.”
Jiang Xiaosi was startled, feeling a bit embarrassed. “It’s not your fault. Why are you apologizing?”
“I should’ve known better…” He abruptly stopped himself and began coughing violently.
Jiang Xiaosi gently patted his back. “Go rest in bed. If you need anything, just ask me to get it. Did you eat dinner? There’s porridge in the pot—want me to heat it up?”
Shen Mo shook his head, glanced at her deeply, and without saying another word, went back to his room to rest.
Jiang Xiaosi, worried she might not sleep well, decided to stay up a bit later. In the middle of the night, she started cleaning. She scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom until they were spotless, but in the process, she accidentally knocked over a small bottle from the kitchen pantry, spilling some clear green liquid on the floor.
In that moment, Jiang Xiaosi felt a wave of pain so intense she could hardly stand upright.
What a strange smell—like a thousand needles stabbing her brain cells at once.
Jiang Xiaosi sniffed the air hard. She couldn’t identify the scent, but it was familiar—she’d definitely smelled it before.
She didn’t worry about Shen Mo coming to scold her like usual, because she knew anything important wouldn’t be kept in the kitchen. Yet, deep down, she sensed this was something crucial. But what was it? Why did the smell make her feel so sad all of a sudden?
Something inside her was trying to surface, and for no apparent reason, she felt afraid, a cold fear creeping into her heart.
After cleaning up the mess, she collected a few drops of the liquid into a bottle, deciding to take it to Miao Yan for inspection.
The next day, Jiang Xiaosi didn’t wake up until noon, but Shen Mo slept even later. When she knocked and entered his room, she found him in a deep, feverish sleep—his cold seemed to have worsened.
“Seriously, he can endure serious injuries, but can’t handle a little cold.” Jiang Xiaosi touched his forehead—it was slightly warm.
Shen Mo, half-awake, weakly pushed away the little hand poking at his face and mumbled, “Koudan…”
Jiang Xiaosi’s heart tightened. She suddenly had the urge to hold him in her arms and feed him his medicine.
“Professor, you keep resting. I’m going out to see Miao Yan, to check if she has any news about my dad and Koudan. I’ll be back soon. If you need anything, just call me. I left the phone by your bed, you just need to press dial.”
Jiang Xiaosi hurried to Baili Street but didn’t have any news about Jiang Liu or Koudan yet. Miao Yan, however, was shocked when she saw the aromatic liquid Jiang Xiaosi brought.
“Xiaosi, where did you get this ‘Heart Disperser’?”
“‘Heart Disperser’? I found it in Professor Shen’s kitchen. The smell was so familiar, and when I inhaled it, my whole body hurt like crazy, but I couldn’t remember where I’d smelled it before. So I brought it to you. Is it poison? Am I poisoned?”
Miao Yan, cigarette in hand, looked at her seriously.
“You’re not poisoned, but it’s worse than that.”
By the time Jiang Xiaosi returned to Shen Mo’s place, it was already evening. She should have come back earlier to take care of him since he was sick, but she was furious. She had wandered around outside for a long time, trying to calm down, but ultimately decided to return and confront him.
Shen Mo, feverish and disoriented, heard a loud slamming of the door. He immediately knew Jiang Xiaosi had returned, and even before seeing her, he could sense her rage and sadness from far away.
Had there been news of Jiang Liu and Koudan? He sat up, alarmed, using all his strength to steady himself.
Jiang Xiaosi stormed into the room, pointing at him with one hand and throwing a small bottle containing a bit of green liquid onto his bed with the other.
“How many times have you given me this?” she demanded.
Shen Mo’s heart sank.
His expression turned serious as he looked at Jiang Xiaosi, remaining silent. Jiang Xiaosi was so frustrated she nearly stamped her foot. If he weren’t sick and injured, she would’ve rushed up and hit him.
“Answer me! How many times?” she demanded again.
Shen Mo turned his head away, finally responding coldly, “Does it matter now?”
Jiang Xiaosi burst into tears.
“Of course it matters! How can it not matter? How could you do this? What right do you have?”
She had been so confused for so long. She’d come to this university just for Shen Mo, leaving behind familiar friends and classmates. She liked him so much, yet every time she questioned herself, the answer was always that she didn’t actually like him. Then, out of nowhere, she found herself falling for Zhang Qi—a guy she could barely remember the face of. Her heart was full of affection, but something always felt off.
So it was him! He had deliberately added Heart Disperser to her food, time and time again, erasing her feelings for him before they could even bloom.
Every time her feelings for him started to grow, he cruelly snuffed them out!
Why? Why would he do this? What did it matter to him if she liked him? What gave him the right?
Shen Mo remained calm and silent in the face of Jiang Xiaosi’s childish accusations. But his lips had turned a bluish hue, trembling slightly, betraying his emotions.
The Shen family had a little-known secret technique called Emotion Sense. If someone harbored feelings for you, you could tell with just one glance.
But being liked by someone wasn’t always a good thing, especially when you didn’t like them back. More often than not, it just caused trouble. So, along with Emotion Sense came Heart Disperser. If someone fell for you, a simple drop of Heart Disperser would cause all feelings of love and hate to vanish.
With Jiang Xiaosi’s straightforward nature and the admiration she held for Shen Mo when she entered T University, every time she felt a stir of affection, how could Shen Mo not notice? He knew she was a persistent person, and letting such admiration develop would only end up harming her.
So, he had added Heart Disperser to her food, ensuring that she would only see him as her professor. But he hadn’t expected her feelings to resurface every time, stronger and more frequent than before. Eventually, he had to increase the dosage, which led to unintended consequences. With no one else to direct her feelings towards, she ended up confused and mistakenly believing she liked Zhang Qi, even boldly pursuing him—a situation that left Shen Mo speechless.
At first, he had thought that dating someone closer to her age wasn’t a bad idea. It was better than liking him, after all. But things hadn’t gone as planned—Zhang Qi ended up falling for someone else and hurt Jiang Xiaosi. Even though Zhang Qi hadn’t done it on purpose, Shen Mo still felt guilty since it was his interference that had caused the mess.
“How many times? How many times did you give me that stuff?” Jiang Xiaosi demanded, fists clenched, her shoulders shaking.
Shen Mo remained silent for a long time before sighing softly and slowly closing his eyes.
“Twenty-three times.”
Jiang Xiaosi took a step back.
Twenty-three times? She had fallen for him twenty-three times?
Each time, her feelings had been erased, only for her to look up at him again as just a student. Did he find this amusing? Did he enjoy being loved again and again? Did it give him a sense of accomplishment?
Furious, Jiang Xiaosi pointed at him and shouted, “Shen Mo! If there’s a twenty-third time, there’ll be a thirtieth time, a hundredth time, a thousandth time! You could kill me, but some things you’ll never be able to stop!”
With a loud bang, she slammed the door and stormed into the kitchen, her anger blazing.
Shen Mo felt like another heavy blow had struck his chest, causing him to cough violently. He turned his head and saw the two Prison Rabbits sitting motionless on his desk, seemingly mocking him with their gazes.
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