Chapter 144: A Morbid Encounter

Full of collagen, skin smooth enough to break with a breath.

A lovely smile, fair skin, clear and limpid eyes—combined on one face, they made Chang Qingsen's heart thump.

"If a touch of rouge were lightly brushed onto this clear and lovely face, she would surely be more charming than that cute kitten from this morning."

Chang Qingsen thought to himself, feeling as if he had fallen into the river of love, and while eating he kept stealing glances at Feng Yuhuai's face with the corner of his eye.

"Yuhuai, what would you like to order? I'll help you place the order," Xiao Juan's voice carried a hint of playful amusement.

Feng Yuhuai chatted with her roommate while also quietly paying attention to Chang Qingsen.

She caught Chang Qingsen's slightly shy yet eager gaze, and the smile on her face grew sweeter.

"Senior, thank you, otherwise my roommate and I wouldn't have found an empty table, really, eating at the cafeteria is like going to war every time," Feng Yuhuai said softly, her tone full of sincerity.

The thumping in Chang Qingsen's heart grew stronger; he put down his chopsticks, his gaze burning, yet he said modestly, "It's a small matter, no need to be polite."

While their roommate queued for rice, the two chatted casually.

Perhaps it was love at first sight, mutual affection, mutual pursuit—their casual conversation went exceptionally well.

In the relaxed and pleasant exchange, they inadvertently learned each other's personal information, and as naturally as friends, exchanged phone numbers.

When their roommate returned with food, they tacitly paused their chat and turned their attention to eating.

Chang Qingsen's eating movements were delicate and meticulous, more refined than a girl's. When Feng Yuhuai and her roommate finished eating and left softly saying goodbye, he was still slowly savoring every mouthful of food, chewing carefully and swallowing slowly.

A few minutes later, Chang Qingsen finally finished eating; he picked up his tray, preparing to leave.

Just then, his gaze inadvertently swept over and noticed that on the seat Feng Yuhuai had just left, a red cloth doll lay askew.

"Eh, did she accidentally drop it?"

Chang Qingsen picked up the cloth doll, which had only one eyeball, the other eyeball having come loose, making its appearance somewhat strange.

He stood by the seat, thought for a while, then suddenly grinned with an excited smile, stuffed the cloth doll into his upper pocket, his eyes flashing with longing for the beautiful moment to come.

…….

As time passed, an afternoon quietly slipped away.

Feng Yuhuai sat quietly in her classroom seat, her head occasionally tilting slightly toward the door, as if silently hoping for something, her eyes hiding intense anxiety and irritability.

"Strange, Chang Qingsen clearly picked up the cloth doll I left behind, and he clearly showed interest in me while eating, so why doesn't he use returning the cloth doll as an excuse to find me?"

Feng Yuhuai lightly furrowed her brow, pondering over and over in her heart, trying to find the crux of the matter.

If time permitted, Feng Yuhuai could have woven every encounter to be more natural and smooth, slowly seeping into Chang Qingsen's heart, until finding the perfect moment to devour him, body and heart together.

However, the time left for Feng Yuhuai was not much.

Feng Yuhuai lowered her head and glanced at the time on her phone again; the time until school let out was drawing nearer, she grew increasingly urgent in her heart, so she could no longer maintain her reserve and hurriedly sent Chang Qingsen a text message.

Feng Yuhuai: Senior, I seem to have accidentally left a red cloth doll in the cafeteria; may I ask if you've seen it?

The reply to the text came almost immediately.

—Yes, I did pick up a cloth doll; it turns out it's your thing, junior.

—It looks a bit worn and has come loose at the seams; I plan to take it home and carefully mend it, then return it to you neat and tidy tomorrow.

Feng Yuhuai browsed the first text reply and smiled slightly in her heart; everything went as she had expected.

However, when the second text appeared on the screen, Feng Yuhuai was completely dumbfounded, instantly scared out of her wits.

"What ghost?" she thought, surprised and uncertain, panicked to the point her heart nearly stopped, "This idiot actually wants to mend a Puppet Mother's avatar?"

Feng Yuhuai's face turned as white as paper in an instant; the texts she had received these past few days, how was each one more ridiculous than the last.

She roared in her heart, nearly collapsing: "Chang Qingsen, if you want to die, don't drag me into it!"

Don't look at how Feng Yuhuai usually kneads and rubs cloth dolls, and even sleeps with them pressed against her chest, but she absolutely never thought of using needle and thread to sew and mend a cloth doll.

This idea was absurd to the extreme, practically no different from seeking death.

Feng Yuhuai was anxious and uneasy in her heart; what if Chang Qingsen really did that—would Puppet Mother misunderstand it as desecration, and thus inflict punishment and vent its anger on her?

Feng Yuhuai's scalp went numb; she frantically tapped her mobile phone screen and quickly sent a text message.

Feng Yuhuai: No need to trouble you, Senior; Senior, just return it to me directly.

Ding ling ling—

The class dismissal bell and the after-school bell rang together.

Feng Yuhuai couldn't wait for a reply; she stood up abruptly, eager to rush out of the classroom.

However, just as she was about to step out of the classroom door!

"Everyone, don't rush to leave yet; Coach Guo Feng has something to say to everyone."

The homeroom teacher's voice suddenly sounded; he walked quickly into the classroom, and behind him, Martial Arts Instructor Guo Feng followed closely; the appearance of the two instantly blocked the students' steps to leave after school.

"Everyone, please don't be impatient; I will only take up two minutes of everyone's time." Coach Guo Feng casually closed the classroom door, then said to the students inside in a calm and firm tone.

Feng Yuhuai instantly looked as if her father had died, and sat back down on her chair.

Guo Feng coughed lightly, attracting everyone's attention, then continued: "Recently, some unsettling events have occurred at our school. Therefore, the school believes it is necessary to strengthen everyone's practical combat ability to ensure everyone's safety."

He paused, then continued: "So, next month, the school plans to jointly hold a Martial Arts Tournament with several other universities."

"This competition has relatively few restrictions, but the rewards offered will be very generous. In principle, participation is voluntary, but for us students of the Martial Arts Key Class, I expect everyone to actively participate."

Guo Feng's gaze swept around the classroom, his tone becoming serious:

"Although participating in the competition may face injury or even danger, if you don't even have the courage to face these challenges, then I suggest you consider withdrawing from the Martial Arts Key Class as soon as possible."

Feng Yuhuai sat on pins and needles; she secretly glanced at the three consecutive text replies, her scalp nearly splitting, her face turning red, her throat as if blocked by black blood.

—Junior, you're truly too polite.

—Junior, no need to worry; my mending skill is quite exquisite, and I will surely make your cloth doll's eyes perfect and flawless, symmetrical as before.

—Looking forward to meeting you tomorrow!

Feng Yuhuai's head was full of black lines; she gazed with lifeless eyes at Guo Feng, who was speaking nonstop on the podium.

The latter's words buzzed in her head; Feng Yuhuai felt even more uncomfortable than if she had eaten fly shit.

Because Guo Feng occupied precious after-school time, and the school suddenly held a Martial Dao competition — the root cause of all this actually traced back to the series of troubles caused by her impersonating 【Mask】.

These troubles fermented continuously like a chain reaction, ultimately forming a boomerang that struck her own knee today when she was caught completely off guard!!

Feng Yuhuai stared blankly at the playground, and at a glance saw Chang Qingsen walking away from the school gate with an upright posture and big strides.

Night fell.

After dinner, Chang Qingsen sat alone by the bed, slowly taking out a needlework box from the drawer.

His fingertips were light and dexterous, gently pinching the fine thread and skillfully threading it through the needle eye.

As his wrist turned gently, the needle tip slowly descended, about to gently touch the red rag doll's skin with tenderness……

(End of Chapter)