Chapter 26: If I Go Bald, Will You Still Love Me? (26)

Indeed, it is true that going through hardships together fosters deeper feelings between people. At the very least, Bu Zhongyao now mentions Gu Yueshuo’s name far more often than before. These two, who once shared only a superficial connection, seem ready to open their hearts at last.

Since Gu Yueshuo was out of trouble, Bai Yao felt no urge to meddle further—she had plenty of matters demanding her own attention. A sense of urgency pressed on her: she was keenly aware her time was limited, and she needed to devise a plan to help her not-so-bright boyfriend become independent in the shortest span possible.

She was drafting an educational plan when her phone, sitting on the desk, vibrated with a new message.

"Yao Yao, let’s have lunch together today," it read.

Scrolling up, she saw the many messages he’d sent before:

"Yao Yao, I memorized a poem today."

"I’ve recited the multiplication table up to four!"

"I resisted eating junk food the whole day."

And so on.

Most of his messages were simply seeking her praise. Bai Yao replied a few times—“Well done”—but when he asked to see her, she only responded, "Finish pages 38 and 39 of your math workbook before you come find me."

He immediately replied with a string of crying emojis.

Bai Yao’s heart did not soften. Shen Ji wasn’t truly foolish—only terribly lazy, always relying on her for everything. She doubted he could manage the simplest tasks if she weren’t around.

So, during their free time that day, Bai Yao suggested accompanying Lu Xiaoran to investigate the school’s history. Lu Xiaoran was surprised—Bai Yao had always spent her spare moments with Shen Ji, rarely with her friends. This was the first time since Bai Yao had started dating.

Lu Xiaoran couldn’t help but speculate that perhaps Bai Yao and Shen Ji were drifting apart.

After school, Lu Xiaoran lugged a stack of materials up to the rooftop of the tallest building on campus. From here, one could overlook the entire school.

Bai Yao watched as Lu Xiaoran stood at the roof’s edge, snapping photos below with her camera. "What are you photographing?" she asked.

Lu Xiaoran handed her a document. "This is something I managed to pry open—well, something I managed to dig out of the oldest archives. The information recorded here is truly fascinating."

Bai Yao opened the folder to find faded, yellowed pages—old documents that Lu Xiaoran had photographed, printed, and bound together. There were blueprints from the school’s early days, along with detailed room assignments.

At first glance, nothing seemed amiss. But as she delved deeper, Bai Yao’s brow furrowed.

On the second blueprint, notes in red ink marked the various feng shui alignments—a common practice, since even modern builders often consult feng shui before construction. Yet one spot on the blueprint was circled in red and labeled with two characters: “Central Palace.”

Bai Yao was unfamiliar with feng shui, so she asked, "Is there a special meaning to these placements?"

Lu Xiaoran put down her camera and pointed at the blueprint. "I’ve done some research. In feng shui, the placement of a building is subject to strict rules—every direction has its own significance. The very center is called the Central Palace, a place to be kept pure and undisturbed, best left tranquil."

"But?" Bai Yao prompted.

Lowering her voice, Lu Xiaoran continued, "But when our school was built, the layout was the exact opposite of traditional feng shui theory. Except for the Central Palace, every other area is reversed from what’s considered proper."

Bai Yao’s frown deepened.

"Don’t you sense something off, Yao Yao?" Lu Xiaoran went on. "Our school has been around for over eighty years. People back then were even more superstitious—why would they deliberately build it this way? I suspect there’s some enormous secret behind it."

Her imagination took flight. "Maybe someone wanted to perform a sinister ritual, or perhaps by inverting the layout, they could siphon luck from everyone living on campus. Strange things are always happening here, and the teachers just turn a blind eye. All our elders, from our great-grandparents onward, have graduated from this school—maybe there’s some unspeakable secret behind it all."

Bai Yao, holding the documents, walked to the edge of the rooftop. She glanced at the blueprint, then gazed into the distance.

Lu Xiaoran, already familiar with the school’s layout, pointed in a certain direction. "That should be the Central Palace marked on the blueprint," she said.

It was the very center of campus.

"Normally, the Central Palace must be kept pure," Lu Xiaoran mused. "But if everything here is reversed, what does that mean for the center? Surely they didn’t put something filthy there, did they?"

Bai Yao’s gaze lingered on a distant building. She pressed her lips together and said nothing.

The building Lu Xiaoran indicated was the long-abandoned comprehensive building, closed off for years after an incident soon after the school’s founding.

It was Friday. That night, students were free to enjoy themselves, though only within the school grounds.

Bu Zhongyao arrived at the screening room, where Gu Yueshuo was already waiting. Though the screening room was available to everyone, it was understood that access depended on whether the school’s top students needed it.

Gu Yueshuo and Bu Zhongyao had announced they’d be using the screening room that evening, so naturally no one else showed up to intrude.

Bu Zhongyao had taken special care with her appearance, but no matter how she dressed up, her oblivious boyfriend never seemed to notice.

She tossed her hair and asked coyly, "Is my lipstick prettier today than yesterday?"

Gu Yueshuo replied, "Don’t you always wear the same color?"

At once, her playful mood vanished. She dropped her hand and glanced at him in boredom. "You invited me to watch a movie, but you’re not even ready."

Gu Yueshuo had promised her a retro film, but he hadn’t even turned on the TV, and her time was precious.

Seeing a stack of DVDs beside the television, she walked over to pick one, but in the next instant, someone seized her hand.

Gu Yueshuo stammered, "It’s still early—no need to start the movie yet."

Seeing him so flustered, Bu Zhongyao understood. She slid her hand onto his chest and, with a shy smile, said, "You should have just said so. I wouldn’t have turned you down. No need to use the old movie excuse to get me here."