Chapter 317: Chapter 315: Who’s Speaking?

The sky slowly brightened. Nothing happened all night—no terrifying nursery rhymes, no phone calls bearing bad news.

Zhuang Yanzheng had been reviewing the case all night. He checked the time and went out to buy breakfast.

The moment he opened the door, the draft blew a piece of paper off Lu Zhishen’s face and onto the floor.

Lu Zhishen frowned slightly but didn’t wake up, continuing to sleep.

Chu Xingrou, who was sleeping with her head on the desk, felt a chill and turned her face the other way.

Su Miaoyi woke up at the sound of the movement.

She tried to salvage her neck, which was on the verge of getting a serious crick.

The sleeping quarters were right next door. She couldn’t figure out why she hadn’t gone back there, instead spending the night here. Now her neck was aching and her head felt cold.

She glanced at Lu Zhishen and Chu Xingrou, then quietly opened the door and slipped out.

The cold wind outside hit her, instantly waking her up.

She stretched her neck.

Suddenly, a voice whispered in her ear, "Why aren’t you back yet?"

Su Miaoyi froze. She looked around, but there was no one there.

Just as she thought she had misheard, the voice spoke again. "Come back, come back, come back!"

Su Miaoyi walked around the area, looking carefully.

There was definitely no one there.

"Is that you talking?" Su Miaoyi asked.

’No,’ said the voice in her head. ’When have you ever heard me sound like that?’

’You heard it too? So I’m not hallucinating?’ Su Miaoyi asked.

’I heard it.’

"Who is it?" Su Miaoyi rubbed her ears. "It sounds both far away and close by. It’s a woman’s voice, and it sounds a little familiar."

’Mmm, it sounds a lot like yours,’ the voice in her head said.

’It sounds like me, but not like you?’ Su Miaoyi countered.

’My vocal tone is like this,’ the voice in her head replied, its words colder and more biting than the wind.

Su Miaoyi stopped and listened again, but there was no sound. Then she went back to the spot where she’d first heard the voice and listened. After a while, there was still nothing.

"What’s going on? Where did that voice come from?" Su Miaoyi muttered to herself. "It couldn’t be... that besides the two of us, there’s another personality, could it?"

The voice in her head remained silent.

’Why aren’t you saying anything?’ Su Miaoyi asked. ’Is there really another one? Do you know about it? And you’ve been hiding it from me?’

’Is the trust between people... between personalities... really that fragile? You just stop trusting me at the drop of a hat?’

Su Miaoyi scratched her cheek and said nothing.

’In any case, I don’t know anything about it,’ the voice in her head said.

Su Miaoyi thought for a moment. ’What if there are three personalities... Wow, it’d be a full house.’

’Impossible,’ the voice in her head said, its tone growing even colder. If one listened closely, a hint of annoyance could be heard.

’What’s impossible?’ Su Miaoyi asked.

’I’m territorial. If a third one shows up, I’ll kill her,’ the voice said.

Su Miaoyi’s eyes widened. "What are you doing? How could you kill one of our own? No, wait a minute! You’re not thinking about how to kill me every day, are you? Huh? I’ve never had a thought like that. I’ve always thought of us as the closest, bestest friends. I..."

As she spoke, she rubbed her face and started to "cry." "You said you like noodles, so I ate noodles for every meal! You said you like dark clothes, so I bought tons of dark clothes! You said you don’t like long hair, so I get it cut every time it grows out a little! I do everything you want, I’m always thinking of you, but what about you? What about you?! You actually! You actually want to—kill—me!"

"That’s enough," the voice in her head said. "You could squeeze your eyelashes off and still not produce a single tear."

Su Miaoyi immediately stopped her act, patting her eyelashes to comfort them.

"Also, you have not been eating noodles for every meal. I never said what kind of clothes I like, and I certainly never said I like short hair," the voice in her head said icily. "It’s a waste of your rich imagination not to be a screenwriter."

"I write novels, so how is it being wasted?" Su Miaoyi retorted.

’Are you, though? You just slap that label on yourself.’

"How am I not?" Su Miaoyi said. "Who else has Su Miaoyi’s memories? I am her now!"

’Fine, fine, yes, yes, you are. Wrote ten books, seven of them flopped,’ the voice continued its barrage.

Su Miaoyi fell silent, gritted her teeth, and threw a couple of punches at the air in frustration.

"What are you doing so early in the morning?" Zhuang Yanzheng stood at the door, holding breakfast, a thoroughly confused expression on his face. "Don’t tell me there’s someone standing there that I can’t see."

"Don’t say such scary things this early," Su Miaoyi said.

Zhuang Yanzheng breathed a sigh of relief, genuinely afraid she was about to say something that would shatter his understanding of reality. "Time to eat."

With that, he went into the office first.

Su Miaoyi stood outside a moment longer. After making sure she didn’t hear the voice again, she went into the office as well.

Once inside, Su Miaoyi saw Zhuang Yanzheng standing next to Lu Zhishen.

Chu Xingrou was awake but still looked a bit dazed sitting in her chair.

Su Miaoyi patted her head, then walked over to Zhuang Yanzheng. She watched him press his thumb into an ink pad and then gently smudge it on Lu Zhishen’s face.

Su Miaoyi was speechless. ’So childish,’ she thought. Yet, her own finger pressed into the ink pad.

But just as she lifted her finger, Lu Zhishen woke up and stared at the two of them.

It took them only a tenth of a second to react, and they both pointed at each other.

"It was him."

"It was her."

They said in unison.

Lu Zhishen looked from one to the other, then sat up straight and massaged his neck. He took two seconds to clear his head before asking, "What did you two do?"

"Nothing," said Zhuang Yanzheng. "Just calling you to eat."

He walked away as soon as he finished speaking.

Lu Zhishen looked at Su Miaoyi.

Su Miaoyi gave him a friendly smile. "I was worried he was going to hit you, so I came over to check. It’s nothing. Time to eat."

She also walked away immediately after speaking.

Lu Zhishen saw the red ink on her finger. He then took out his phone to look at his face. Staring at the red smudge, he was speechless. "..."

Su Miaoyi sat down next to Chu Xingrou. "Rou, you’re awake?"

Chu Xingrou rubbed her eyes and nodded.

Zhuang Yanzheng opened the containers of food he’d bought one by one, glancing over his shoulder at Su Miaoyi. Her expression did not bode well.

"Time to wake up," Su Miaoyi said, pinching Chu Xingrou’s cheek. "Ah, to be young. Look at this skin."

Chu Xingrou laughed as her cheek was pinched.

Su Miaoyi let go of her face and nodded in satisfaction.

Chu Xingrou still didn’t know what had happened until Su Miaoyi opened her phone’s camera and showed her.

Chu Xingrou stared at the lopsided heart on her face. "Sister Miaomiao!"

Su Miaoyi burst out laughing.

Lu Zhishen walked past her, placing a wet wipe on her desk. "People who grow up together are just as bad as each other."

"Am I bad?" Su Miaoyi asked Chu Xingrou.

Chu Xingrou shook her head while wiping the red mark off her face. "Not at all."

Su Miaoyi nodded with a smile.

"Hey? What does that have to do with me?" said Zhuang Yanzheng.

"I don’t even have to think about it to know you’re the one who did this to my face," Lu Zhishen said.

"Why are you using my hair? You can’t use it," Zhuang Yanzheng retorted.

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