Chapter 24: Shame

In the afternoon, Ming Ci went to the counselor’s office in the dormitory building to apply for a room change.

The counselor thought he was having conflicts with his roommate, so he calmly chatted with him, hoping to mediate the relationship between students. In the end, realizing he couldn’t persuade him, the counselor reluctantly handed him an application form.

Ming Ci filled out the form in the office and placed it on the counselor’s desk, politely saying, “Thank you, Teacher Liu. I’ll leave now.”

The counselor nodded, “You can’t change rooms tonight, at least wait for two or three days. Once it’s arranged, I’ll send you a message.”

“Understood, thank you, Teacher Liu.”

Ming Ci walked out of the building and looked up at the sky.

The sky was darkening, with dark clouds approaching, indicating that it would rain soon.

Summer showers in the south come very quickly, and just a few steps away, the raindrops began to fall heavily.

The rain was pouring down urgently, and in no time, a curtain of rain enveloped the area. He had to return to the building to seek shelter from the rain.

The patter of raindrops approached from behind, followed by a somewhat familiar voice, “Is it raining?”

Ming Ci hadn’t turned around yet, but the person had already noticed him and hurried over, casually patting his shoulder, “Ming Ci!”

Ming Ci’s heart skipped a beat, hastily stepping back two steps, his black-and-white eyes slightly widened, looking at the person warily.

It was Wei Yuheng, the girl he had seen once on the subway.

“Did I scare you? Sorry about that.” Wei Yuheng smiled gently, her tone light and cheerful, “That expression of yours, it’s like my cat at home.”

Ming Ci felt a bit uneasy and turned his face away, gazing at the rain outside the door.

Wei Yuheng stood beside him, smiling softly, “Really, it does. My cat often sits on the windowsill and looks outside. Every time I suddenly touch it when it’s not paying attention, it reacts just like you did.”

Ming Ci pursed his lips, not really in the mood to chat with her.

He wasn’t scared just now; he was worried that the monster might react impulsively.

But Wei Yuheng didn’t mind his indifference at all; instead, she found him quite cute.

She looked at his pale and handsome profile and couldn’t help but ask, “Ming Ci, are you anemic? Your complexion has always been very pale.”

“I have some herbal tea that’s good for nourishing qi and blood. I’ll give you a few packs. Just steep them in hot water for a few minutes; it’s very convenient.”

Ming Ci wasn’t good at dealing with people who were overly familiar and liked to show kindness. He didn’t know how to respond. If he directly rejected her with cold indifference, it would seem too harsh.

As for accepting— that option didn’t even cross his mind.

Amidst the sound of pouring rain, he could only say softly, “Thank you, but it’s unnecessary. I’m in good health.”

When refusing, simply adding the word “thank you” makes it sound much gentler.

“Uh…” Wei Yuheng expressed skepticism about his statement of being “in good health,” “Then be careful yourself. There’s two weeks of military training ahead, so be careful not to faint.”

Ming Ci nodded lightly.

The shower came quickly and left just as swiftly. After a moment, the rain weakened, the dark clouds dispersed, and the sky cleared up.

Ming Ci sighed silently, about to leave, when suddenly he heard Wei Yuheng ask, “Hey? What about the red mole on your neck?”

He paused for a moment, slowly turning his face, his black eyes meeting hers.

Wei Yuheng pointed to her own neck, “Right here. Why’s it gone now?”

“That’s not a mole,” Ming Ci replied calmly, “It was red ink splattered on. It’s gone after washing it off.”

Hearing this, Wei Yuheng raised her eyebrows, expressing regret, “What a pity. You have fair skin; red moles would have looked so good on you.”

It’s a shame she didn’t take a photo; otherwise, if she posted it on social media, it would surely receive many likes and shares.

While she expressed her regret, little did she know that the “washed-off” crimson was now nestled in Ming Ci’s heart.

“Did you hear that?” it said to Ming Ci, “This human thinks it suits us. We’re well-suited to be together.”

Ming Ci tugged at the corner of his lips, seeming to smile at the girl beside him, yet no one knew he was actually smiling at a strange and dangerous monster.

“Goodbye.”

With that, he strode down the steps and left under Wei Yuheng’s gaze.

The heavy rain swept away the heat, the sun set, and the campus air became fresh and cool.

Ming Ci sat in the shade of a pavilion, unzipped his backpack, and pulled out the old notebook.

With no one around and the faint light of dusk, it was quiet and dim here.

Ming Ci flipped to the last few pages of the notebook. In the twilight, the handwriting on the paper was blurry and difficult to read.

However, the contents seen during the day were deeply imprinted in his mind, vividly clear at this moment.

When he first saw the unfamiliar handwriting, his initial thought was that Qin Shuyi had picked up the notebook and wrote some drafts.

But upon closer inspection, he found that the two sets of handwriting intertwined and contradicted each other logically, filling several pages.

Just from these drafts, he could imagine how they debated and argued, how they held their pens to write.

Of course, handwriting can be imitated, forged, but did Qin Shuyi really need to do this? Going to such lengths to fabricate stories just to find reasons to make friends with a stranger roommate?

It’s absurd.

The likelihood of such a scenario is very small.

A more plausible explanation is that what the other said was true, but he simply doesn’t remember… There’s a missing piece in his memory, unnoticed.

A chilling feeling washed over him like a tide, momentarily giving Ming Ci a suffocating sensation. He trembled as if shocked, subconsciously throwing the notebook in his hand!

With a loud thud, the notebook fell onto the damp ground.

Ming Ci stood frozen in place, breathing slightly quickened, his eyes staring fixedly at the notebook.

“Ming Ci, I want to swallow it.”

The voice of the monster rang out clearly, Ming Ci unable to stop it in time, watching with wide eyes as a dense shadow suddenly surged, swiftly skimming across the ground.

In the blink of an eye, the monster returned to him, and the notebook vanished without a trace.

Ming Ci’s dark pupils stared at the empty space, his voice hoarse and slow, “Xiao Hong, this is in the school’s greenery, someone could appear at any time. You shouldn’t have shown up suddenly.”

“…”

“And I’ve told you not to eat indiscriminately. Are you really that hungry now? So urgent?”

The monster whispered, “I’m sorry, I was wrong.”

Ming Ci sighed helplessly, spreading out his right hand.

In the dim night, with human vision, one could barely make out the outline of his palm, but he could feel it sliding into his palm.

“Ming Ci.”

The monster called softly, then thought for a moment, finding the right words, “Don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry.”

After saying this, Ming Ci closed his eyes and lifted his hand.

He opened his lips, and his soft, moist tongue slowly licked over his palm, saliva dripping down his palm.

“Ming Ci…”

The monster emitted a sweet and eerie low hum, savoring the sweet liquid. As Ming Ci was about to withdraw, it greedily licked his tongue again.

Ming Ci’s breath paused slightly, suddenly raising his head, his palm curling into a fist.

He pressed his lips tightly together, cheeks flushing, belatedly realizing his previous actions… were a bit twisted.

In the brief silence, Ming Ci’s heartbeat uncontrollably quickened.

He forced himself to remain calm, standing up and walking, speaking in a business-like tone, “Here, take these first, consider them appetizers. I’ll give you a proper meal in a couple of days, but no more eating random things.”

Meanwhile, the monster continued murmuring, speaking bluntly with those shameful words: “Ming Ci, I like it when you feed me like this, I really do.”

“Your heartbeat is so fast, are you happy? Or nervous?”

“Can we go somewhere with no one around? Ming Ci, I want to touch you… touch you in intimate human ways, okay?”

The streets on campus were particularly bustling, with shops bustling on both sides and people coming and going. Ming Ci walked amidst the noisy crowd, but all he heard in his ears was the tingling whisper of intimacy.

Even though he knew others couldn’t hear the monster’s voice, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of public embarrassment about his private affairs in such a crowded place.

The monster not only spoke but even spread and wriggled on him, like a thin palm, gripping his waist.

“Ming Ci, your body is getting hot, why are you still trembling?”

Ming Ci stopped abruptly at the corner, his footsteps halting suddenly, two words squeezed out from between his teeth: “Don’t move.”

The monster immediately stopped moving, sticking to his waist like this, then asked, “Ming Ci, about the proper meal you mentioned, can I get it myself?”

“Don’t be afraid, I’ve taken it before, you won’t hurt, and you seemed to like it, didn’t you?”

Ming Ci paused, suddenly realizing what was going on, his whole body stiffening momentarily.

“Shut up.”

He covered his burning cheeks with his hand, weakly reprimanding.

Author’s Note:

The “proper meal” Ming Ci mentioned and the “proper meal” Xiao Hong mentioned are clearly not the same thing.