Trap in a Book

Chapter 51

Xiaomei was heading back to her room with her mind occupied with Chuhua and Bojing that she didn't notice LiJie coming behind her. "Huang Daiyu," LiJie called out and grabbed her sleeve.

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ZhangWei entered the residence and was about to head towards Xiaomei's room after he received no news about Zhou Haitou and finished his work early. He stopped in his tracks once he spotted LiJie and Xiaomei together. He narrowed his eyes at LiJie's hand that grabbed Xiaomei's sleeve. His body immediately wanted to interfere with them until he saw her pull her sleeve away. He instantly felt content.

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LiJie was a little startled by Xiaomei pulling away from him, but he said, "Huang Daiyu, was it you who saved me? That day when I fell in the river?" LiJie asked, showing her the small waist tassel as he had already asked Baozhai about the tassel and soon figured out who the owner was.

She was slightly surprised to see her tassel. She then looked him in the eyes and saw how sure he was, so there was no point in denying it.

"Yes, it was me," she said without her facial expression changing.

He wanted to say something, but she interrupted him, "Don't worry. I didn't do it, so you have to repay me, or I get something in return. I don't need anything. I only did it because I know there are people who care about you if you die."

"I-I," he didn't know what to say. He still felt guilty for accusing her of hurting Baozhai, and now this.

"If that's all. I'll be leaving now," Xiaomei said, taking a step to leave.

"Wait," LiJie shouted out. "I-I'm sorry...," he finally said, avoiding her eyes.

"It's alright. I didn't want you to know either," she said, moving one of her feet.

"No. Not only that... b-but also accusing you," he said, forcing it out of him.

"Oh," she said, a little surprised. She sort of forgot about that. "There's no need for an apology. I long forgot about that, so it's no longer necessary," Xiaomei said, stopping moving and looking him in the eyes.

"B-but...," LiJie tried to say, but then Baozhai spotted them.

"There you are. I was looking for you and Chuhua. I was wondering where you two went. Have you seen Chuhua?" Baozhai said, walking towards them.

Xiaomei answered, "I was with Chuha a couple of minutes ago, but something happened, and she ran off" Baozhai tightened her lips in disappointment and nodded her head. "But what is it you need to see me?" Xiaomei asked.

"Oh, I wanted to see how things went last night since yesterday night was a little hectic," Baozhai said.

"Oh, I see. Everything went well," Xiaomei said, acting like nothing happened. LiJie looked at her smile and didn't say anything.

"Have you finished talking to Huang Daiyu?" Baozhai asked LiJie, causing him to stop looking at Xiaomei's smile.

"Ah, yes," he answered. Even though it wasn't really resolved, it was done. "I see," Baozhai said, not minding it as if she knew what he wanted to talk to Xiaomei about. "Let's see if we can find Chuhua. I'm worried about her. She didn't want to talk about it last night," Baozhai said. Xiaomei nodded her head in agreement.

"I'll join you," LiJie said.

Before they could even start looking, Chuhua and Bojing were spotted from afar. They started walking closer to them and could hear and see Chuhua's unpleasant voice and expression.

"I-I already told you, it's nothing. I'm busy and don't have time to talk to you. So excuse me," Chuhua said, trying to leave.

"Chuhua!" Bojing said abruptly, as he couldn't let her go. "Wait. I can tell something is wrong. So please tell me," Bojing said, holding her hand.

Chuhua looked back at him, and her eyes once again started to tear up as she saw his eyes showed great concern for her, but she knew it was because he thought of her as a childhood friend, nothing compared to how she felt for him. She wasn't ready to pull up her smile and act like nothing was wrong. She didn't have the strength to continue to lie to herself again and hoped she still had a chance. She was done.

She pulled her hand away and quickly ran off. "Chuhua!" Bojing said. His eyes widened in shock as he couldn't believe that she pulled her hand away. It felt like she was slipping away from his fingers, and he may never be able to have her in his grasp again. It was as if ice-cold water poured on his heart, and the cold sensation lingered and left a sharp pain. His body immediately went after her, but this time Xiaomei and Baozhai stopped him.

"I'll go after Chuhua," Baozhai said.

"B-but...," Bojing tried to say.

"Don't worry, I'll go," Baozhai said, reassuring him, but Bojing didn't seem to care if Baozhai was going or not, he was still going after Chuhua.

"Go ahead, Zhou Baozhai. I will talk to General Bojing," Xiaomei said, giving Baozhai the look to go ahead. Baozhai instantly nodded her head and went after Chuhua. Bojing tried to follow after her. "General Bojing, can I talk to you in private," Xiaomei said, blocking his path. At first, he didn't seem to listen and tried to go around her, but she continued to stop him. "General Bojing, it won't take that long," Xiaomei said. Bojing stopped his track and looked at her before complying. Both Xiaomei and Bojing moved to another area to have a private conversation, leaving LiJie alone while ZhangWei was watching the whole thing from afar. Both ZhangWei and LiJie felt mixed emotions as they were left to watch.