Chapter 90: Canary
As he got closer, Lin Yu finally got a clear look at Jian Yu’s face.
Her eyelids were faintly red, the corners of her eyes were moist, and her small face was tinged with weariness. She looked utterly pitiful.
’She’s studying so hard.’
Most new students at Weis Lan Noble Academy spent their time networking and attending various small group gatherings.
It wasn’t that students like Jian Yu, who always had their nose in a book, didn’t exist; they were just exceedingly rare.
"The item." Ling Yanzhi’s gaze turned icy, his stare like daggers being thrown at Lin Yu.
Lin Yu lowered his head. "I brought it."
He was lucky. After following Chief Ling for a year, he’d gotten to use a Space Storage Device himself.
The Floating Wheelchair he produced could switch between more than ten different forms.
Soft, hard, semi-soft, a sofa, a recliner, a rocking chair—it even had styles from various planets.
Lin Yu glanced at Jian Yu’s soft, chestnut-colored hair.
He subconsciously switched the wheelchair to the Mermaid Shell Bed form.
It was adorned with Coral Sea Grass, lined with soft coral velvet, and decorated with colorful Ocean Fabric Accessories. It seemed as if it were made just for Jian Yu.
Seeing her lean forward, her gaze captivated, the corners of Lin Yu’s downturned lips quirked up slightly.
"Jian, you can take a look first. If you don’t like it, I have a few other models."
In the middle of the spacious living room, six different wheelchairs were lined up.
The shell bed form had a virtual door.
Staring at the half-shell, even though he knew it wasn’t real, Xi Yu’s expression grew strange.
His mind was filled with images of grabbing Jian Yu’s hands and feet with his tentacles, and then...
Xi Yu swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing unconsciously.
"Baby will look so well-behaved sleeping in there."
Jian Yu snapped back to reality and looked at him blankly.
’Well-behaved? Why well-behaved?’
She did a quick analysis, her gaze hesitant.
The color in Ling Yanzhi’s eyes deepened.
"This one’s fine." He designated the first wheelchair to be left behind and stored the rest in his Space Button.
Xi Yu, still holding her, eagerly placed her inside.
He adjusted the angle, and the shell bed floated in mid-air.
At a height of 1.99 meters.
Xi Yu raised a hand, grabbing Jian Yu’s ankle to caress it as he sized her up.
His eyes were excited, as if looking at a trapped canary.
Fragile, easily broken.
’Untouchable by outsiders, unable to escape on her own. A baby who belongs only to him.’
The sound of his swallowing grew louder, his gaze turning morbidly crazed.
"..."
Jian Yu picked up a blanket to cover her legs and lowered her head to read her book.
The blanket was yanked away.
’I like it, but it’s shameful.’
She turned her back, and her vision darkened.
This act of resistance displeased Xi Yu.
Tentacles crept forward, forcefully restraining her limbs.
"Xi Yu," Ling Yanzhi said, stopping him.
He didn’t want to humiliate Jian Yu too much in front of an outsider.
’Though the impulse in his own heart was no less than Xi Yu’s.’
He had always known that Xi Yu had mental problems.
It took repeated warnings each time to snap him out of it.
Ling Yanzhi knew Xi Yu very well; calming him down was easy for him.
It just depended on whether he wanted to or not.
"Baby is just shy."
The tentacles retracted, and Xi Yu’s ears turned red.
’Shy.’
’You only get shy if you like someone. That’s practically the same as Baby liking him.’
Acting out of character, Xi Yu thoughtfully covered her with the red coral velvet blanket.
"Baby is so cute when she’s shy."
Jian Yu’s breathing softened.
The tentacles had just flipped her over, so now she could only face Xi Yu.
The restraints were gone. Her fingers gripped the fluff of the blanket, her knuckles turning white.
’Thrilling.’
’Too bad Lin Yu, the big third wheel, hasn’t left yet.’
Jian Yu bit her lower lip, her long lashes half-lowered.
Her expression was innocent, exuding a sense of naivete.
Jian Yu was sure that not even a lost little fawn could put on an act as well as she could.
"Baby, come down." Ling Yanzhi walked over, holding out his arms.
Jian Yu deliberately avoided looking at Xi Yu.
She threw herself into Ling Yanzhi’s embrace with teary eyes.
She pressed her face against his chest, forcing tears from her eyes that wet his collarbone.
Ling Yanzhi patted her head. "Good girl. Go on and read."
Lin Yu didn’t dare to breathe.
He glanced at Xi Yu out of the corner of his eye.
A dark aura began to spread from him.
Lin Yu wanted to leave.
’This is no place for a human being.’
"Xi Yu, your hands are warm. Come warm Baby’s feet," Ling Yanzhi said, interrupting Xi Yu’s impending episode.
His eyes landed casually on the anxious Lin Yu. "Let’s talk business."
’Incredible!’
Lin Yu’s jaw nearly dropped.
He snuck one glance, then two, then three.
’Chairman Xi is really warming her feet?’
’Although... but... I don’t even know what to say about this.’
’Poor Jian.’
Lin Yu reined in his complicated emotions and looked up with a serious expression.
"Those men only gave up Yan Qin’s fake identity; they didn’t name anyone else. Student Li probably isn’t an accomplice, just an intermediary at most."
"The result is the same as what Chairman Sheng investigated. The mercenaries deny they were going to harm Miss Jian. They only said they were to wait for their employer to bring her out and then help Jian escape."
Ling Yanzhi glanced at Xi Yu, who looked ready to act up again. "I know."
His gaze slowly fell upon Jian Yu.
"Baby was a good girl. She told me everything."
Xi Yu instantly snapped to his senses.
’That’s right, he knew too.’
’Shen Gu had reported that Baby wasn’t trying to escape.’
He rubbed his palms together and continued to warm her feet.
"They’re still cold. Baby is so frail. My mouth is warmer... no, then we couldn’t kiss."
Xi Yu muttered to himself.
Lin Yu looked away. "..."
’Dressed like high society, but doing such low-class things.’
’Suddenly, Chairman Xi doesn’t seem so scary anymore.’
Jian Yu stared at her book, but she couldn’t take in a single word.
She pressed her lips together.
To guard against any follow-up moves from Yan Qin, she could only reveal things to Shen Gu, and then have Shen Gu tell Lin Yu.
’If those two knew, it meant Ling Yanzhi and the others would know as well.’
A playful impulse had gotten the better of her, and Jian Yu felt a small, tiny bit of regret.
’If I had known they were this capable, I would have pretended to run away for real.’
’Maybe I could have gotten the whole forced-love package deal and had my end-of-month exam qualification canceled.’
Then she thought of the praise on the forums.
’Hold on to the crown, can’t lose the top student title.’ Jian Yu’s eyes hardened, and she silently read the text, line by line.
She split her focus.
She didn’t let Lin Yu’s voice fade into the background.
"Yan Qin doesn’t plan to show her face. She just gave them money to pass on to Jian and told them to send Jian to live on Liu Xing."
Worried they might not know of Liu Xing, Lin Yu gave them some basic information about the place.
"The planet isn’t exactly chaotic, it’s mostly inhabited by ordinary people, but it’s very remote, and its medical standards are relatively backward."
’Not going for the kill didn’t necessarily mean Yan Qin had a soft heart.’
’It was just a clever person’s way of testing the waters.’
Given Yan Qin’s value as a researcher, Jian Yu believed that with Duan Feiye around, he would definitely ensure nothing happened to her.
’Yan Qin most likely wouldn’t pin her hopes on Duan Feiye; she’d probably be more worried about her fake identity being exposed, so she didn’t dare to take things too far.’
’It was a big gamble.’
’If Jian Yu had cooperated with the plan, she might have actually been able to leave.’
’Once Jian Yu was far away and it was certain Ling Yanzhi and the others couldn’t find her—or weren’t planning to look—that would be the perfect time to strike.’
Lin Yu was still worried, fearing Jian Yu was too naive and didn’t know how treacherous people could be.
"Yan Qin has killed people before. Jian, you must never believe a word she says."
He bent down slightly. "If something like this happens again, you have to tell us immediately."
Jian Yu’s fingers pinched the page of her book.
Her gaze faltered. "Killed people?"