Chapter 214

Qiao Jiming turned back following her gaze, seeing that the empty hallway had nothing.

"Who did you say?"

Qiao Suisui blinked, and the phantom disappeared instantly, as if she had seen things. She confirmed again, and there was indeed no one where the phantom had just appeared.

"Nothing... I saw wrong..." she said in a daze.

Qiao Jiming noticed she was a bit absent-minded and asked: "Sister, have you encountered anything recently? I always feel you are not very happy."

Qiao Suisui could hide it from others, but not from Qiao Jiming. He grew up with her, and it could be said he was the person who understood her best.

"I..."

But just as she wanted to explain, the phantom under the corridor flickered along with the induction light and appeared again.

Qiao Suisui looked in surprise at Lan Ze standing at the entrance of the unit building. He seemed to be trying to say something to her, but she couldn't hear it at all.

In the blink of an eye, Lan Ze's phantom flickered a few times again like a dropped frame, like a stuttering computer screen, and disappeared again.

"Jiming, didn't you see it just now?"

Qiao Jiming had been looking in the direction of her gaze. He squeezed Qiao Suisui's somewhat cold hand and asked: "What did you see? I didn't find anything unusual."

Others couldn't see Lan Ze... Could it be that only she could see him? Wait, perhaps only players who had entered the game world could see him.

Qiao Suisui said in a daze: "Oh... it was just a mouse..."

Qiao Jiming sighed with a smile, patting her back to comfort her not to be afraid. He sent her back to the apartment. Along the way, he tried to speak out about his background several times, but Qiao Suisui was always absent-minded. In the end, Qiao Jiming swallowed the words back several times when they reached his lips.

In the following days, Qiao Suisui didn't see Lan Ze's phantom again, but she always felt as if someone was watching her. She felt that she seemed to be too sensitive.

This day, she made an appointment to meet Guan Weizhi. Guan Weizhi had been busy with company matters recently and hadn't even gone to school, so he didn't know about Qiao Songfan coming to school to make a scene. He was actually using work to calm himself down. His recent performance had been too aggressive, making Qiao Suisui notice his intentions and tactfully express her rejection. It would be a lie to say he wasn't sad, but he wasn't a person who would give up so easily, and his parents' mature view of love had influenced him a lot. After adjusting for a few days, he regained his reason. Guan Weizhi felt that it was normal for Qiao Suisui not to accept him for the time being. After all, the relationship between the two was currently teacher and student, and normal people would have psychological burdens. What he needed to do next was to let her gradually get used to his existence, truly walk into her life, and ideally let her be able to rely on him with peace of mind.

But Guan Weizhi didn't know what kind of concentration of feelings Qiao Suisui had experienced, so it became a very difficult thing for her to fall in love normally in the real world. No matter who it was, after receiving such scorching love, there would be some gap. However, the subtle affection Guan Weizhi showed and his long-term, step-by-step infiltration strategy were indeed the least likely to fail immediately, it just depended on how long he could persist.

Guan Weizhi walked into the school cafe and saw her sitting by the window in a daze.

"Sorry, I'm a bit late, the road was a bit congested today."

Qiao Suisui came back to her senses and immediately indicated it didn't matter. After he ordered coffee, the two went straight to the point.

"You said on the phone that you wanted me to help your dad's company?"

Qiao Suisui was a bit ashamed, but for the sake of her freedom, she had to be thick-skinned. Then she detailed the situation and difficulties the company was currently encountering to Guan Weizhi.

"You said before that you didn't need me to intervene, it seems the situation wasn't dire enough." Guan Weizhi teased her with a smile.

"Actually, it's not. I originally didn't intend to ask you to help him, but recently he came to school to make a scene, and I didn't want to endure it anymore, so I broke with my family. So I came today, not to beg you for Qiao Songfan, but for myself. I must confess this, I used you as a condition for my freedom... I'm sorry." Guan Weizhi was slightly surprised, and after hearing it, he suddenly laughed, "What's there to be sorry about? This just shows that I have capital that you can utilize. I'm very happy."

The two discussed some specific details again. Just as they were talking, the waiter brought the two drinks they had ordered. Suddenly, a brat rushed out and bumped into the waiter who was holding the tray. The latter didn't stand firm, and just saw a cup of hot cocoa about to spill onto Qiao Suisui.

Everyone, including Qiao Suisui, didn't react in time, but in a microsecond, the hot cocoa changed its trajectory in mid-air, originally rushing toward Qiao Suisui in a parabola, but finally hit the corner of the table, spilling onto Guan Weizhi's trouser leg.

The waiter's apology, the child's crying, and the screeching sound of tables and chairs rubbing against each other all sounded at the same time. Guan Weizhi looked down at the mess on the ground and didn't notice, the waiter kept apologizing desperately and helping him wipe his trouser leg and didn't notice, most people in the cafe heard the sound and looked over idly, so they didn't notice... but Qiao Suisui noticed—

That cup of hot cocoa should have spilled on her.

She clearly saw Lan Ze use mental power to change the direction of the cup in an instant.

Qiao Suisui was stunned on the seat.

Lan Ze was standing beside the waiter at this time, but Guan Weizhi, the waiter, and everyone present couldn't see him.

"Sui Sui," Guan Weizhi saw her in a daze and thought she was scared, comforting her: "It's okay, just go back and change clothes." Fortunately, this thing didn't spill on her. He felt the heat through his trousers just now, and it was estimated that the skin was already red by now.

Qiao Suisui nodded, restraining her impulse to look at Lan Ze, and said: "Teacher Guan, why don't we go back, your clothes are dirty, it's not too late to talk about this later."

Guan Weizhi followed her and didn't say anything. He paid the bill and sent Qiao Suisui home first before leaving himself. Before leaving, he said to her: "Don't worry, I will solve the matter of your dad's company."

Qiao Suisui watched his car drive away, turned, and walked into the residential complex, her pace faster than usual.

Her heart was beating nervously.

After returning home and confirming that she was the only one, Qiao Suisui took a few deep breaths and said to the surrounding air: "Lan Ze, I can see you, come out."

There was no response.

"Lan Ze, you are by my side, right?"

She called three or four times, but Lan Ze's figure didn't appear by her side.

"It can't be a hallucination... If it was a hallucination that day in the unit building, it definitely wasn't a hallucination today..." Qiao Suisui thought and muttered to herself. She paced back and forth in the living room. Suddenly, as if thinking of something, she stopped her pacing and said to the air: "Lan Ze, if you can hear me, respond to me, no matter what way."

A few seconds later, a bag of potato chips that Lin Xixi had left over last night on the coffee table suddenly fell to the ground.

The potato chips were placed properly in the center of the coffee table. The living room didn't have windows open and there was no wind, so it was impossible for it to fall to the ground for no reason.

Seeing this, Qiao Suisui covered her mouth in surprise. She asked again: "Where are you? Why can I see you sometimes, and sometimes I can't?"

(End of chapter)