Chapter 120: Dating, and the Whole World Has Become My Rival in Love (20)

Bai Yao had no work the next day, and after the ordeal of the previous night, she was so exhausted in body and mind that she slept until after ten in the morning.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw, as usual, was Fu Huai, beautifully dressed and immaculate.

Her second glance landed on her makeup bag sprawled messily across the table.

The young man's hair was adorned with a delicate little clip, his face perfectly made up. He possessed a strange allure, as if his beauty transcended gender. Yet when he didn’t purposefully dress as a girl, no one doubted he was male.

He was indeed a boy—even more adept at dressing up than most girls.

He wore a white shirt and black trousers; the shirt was Bai Yao’s, loose on her but fitting him just right.

He strutted before Bai Yao, posing with a coquettish touch to his hair by his ear. His fingers, painted red, starkly contrasted with his pale skin; the clash of colors carried a teasing hint of sensuality.

He resembled a peacock displaying its plumage, the curve of his eyes and the little expressions on his face proclaiming, “I know I’m beautiful.” In a sweet voice, he said, “Yao Yao, am I pretty? Do you like it?”

Bai Yao glanced at the lipstick on the table, now half-used. She suddenly threw back the covers and sprang from bed. “Pretty, my foot! That’s my favorite lipstick!”

She leaped at him in fury, and Fu Huai caught her flawlessly.

Bai Yao clung to him, both hands wildly messing up his carefully styled white hair. “Fu Huai, I’m going to kill you!”

He supported her, careful not to let her fall. Though he was the one being bullied, he still laughed joyfully. “If it’s Yao Yao, you can keep me however you like!”

His words were infuriating!

Unable to contain her anger, Bai Yao bit his lips hard, smearing his lipstick into a chaotic mess.

He didn’t resist, gazing at himself reflected in her eyes: his painstakingly applied makeup now ruined, his white hair disheveled like a bird’s nest, the hair clip hanging askew.

Gone was his usual perfection; now he could only be described as a “beggar,” as he’d once joked.

Yet he laughed, not with that aggravating, affected manner, but with a pure, childish glee.

Silly and naïve.

Bai Yao’s anger evaporated. She gently tidied his hair, kissed the corner of his smudged lips, and scolded him feebly, “Don’t use my makeup again.”

He blinked. “Yao Yao, I can’t?”

He leaned in close, admiring his own clownish, ruined beauty, repeating with self-aware charm, “I can’t? I can’t? I can’t? I can’t—”

Bai Yao paused. “You can’t make a mess of my things.”

He burst out laughing, hugging her and spinning her around in delight, chanting joyfully, “Yao Yao, Yao Yao, Yao Yao—”

Dizzy from the spinning, Bai Yao clung to his neck and couldn’t help laughing herself.

A patient had died in the hospital—a major event in the entertainment-starved Lanshan Hospital—but the gossip didn’t last long before another incident overshadowed it.

The patient in Room 505 had disappeared.

The Huo family was furious, threatening to shut down the hospital if Huo Zhiyuan wasn’t found.

Though the hospital wasn’t afraid of the Huo family’s power, they were still responsible for a missing patient. All staff, aside from those on duty, were out searching for Huo Zhiyuan.

Huo Mingyuan soon approached Bai Yao.

He opened with, “Has my brother come looking for you?”

Bai Yao, still on leave and just out of the supermarket with an armful of snacks, met his intimidating gaze without flinching. “I haven’t seen your brother.”

Huo Mingyuan frowned slightly. “I don’t know what you did to my brother to make him obsess over you. He’s the second young master of the Huo family, not someone from your world. I hope you’ll keep your distance from him.”

Bai Yao smiled. “I have a boyfriend, and we’re very happy together. Since you’re Huo Zhiyuan’s elder brother, I hope you’ll take responsibility and guide him properly, instead of saying strange things to bother me.”

Huo Mingyuan, accustomed to authority for years, hadn’t been rebuffed like this in ages. His composure prevented him from stooping to argue, and he was anxious to find his brother. He dropped, “Suit yourself,” and turned away.

Once he was gone, Hao Meili darted out from behind a tree.

She scanned Bai Yao from head to toe, relieved that Bai Yao wasn’t Huo Mingyuan’s type. Glancing around, she said quietly, “I heard you were present when that patient committed suicide. You’d better be careful.”

Bai Yao asked, “Careful?”

Hao Meili whispered, “You probably don’t know yet. I bought some info from that reporter, Zhou. He said that if you witness the death of the cursed, you become the next to die.”

She rubbed her arms nervously. “Unless… you kill someone within three days. Otherwise, you’ll die just like the last person.”

Bai Yao said, “Wow, that’s terrifying.”

Seeing Bai Yao’s blank expression, Hao Meili assumed she was scared stiff. She encouraged her, “You’re someone Huo Ruanyuan dislikes. You’ve got to live long enough to disgust him to death.”

With that, Hao Meili hurried after Huo Mingyuan.

Bai Yao carried her groceries back and found Fu Huai crouched behind the dormitory, playing with fire.

Fu Huai had been behaving lately, knowing he couldn’t cause trouble for Bai Yao. Still, she couldn’t bear to confine him to a tiny room, so she let him play where few people passed—like a prisoner out for exercise.

Rain had paused earlier but was now falling lightly again.

Fu Huai crouched under a black umbrella, poking at a pile of ashes with a stick.

When he saw Bai Yao, his eyes lit up, shining like stars. “Yao Yao!”

Bai Yao walked over, eyeing the ashes. “Why are you playing with fire again?”

Fu Huai tossed the stick, covering his mouth with a giggle. If it were nighttime, his eccentricity would be even more unsettling.

Bai Yao quickly pulled his hand away and brushed the soot off. “You were playing with fire, then covering your mouth—don’t you think it’s dirty?”

Fu Huai, like a serpent, twined himself around her arm. He seemed delighted by something, laughing softly in her ear. “Yao Yao, you’re mine. No one can take you away.”

Bai Yao straightened the crooked hair clip in his hair, replying calmly, “Oh.”

Fu Huai took her hand, pressed it to his face, and rubbed it affectionately. Eyes closed in pleasure, he smiled. “For Yao Yao, I’ll burn all the imposters in the world. So, remember, you can only like me.”

He sounded just like a child telling an adult, “You can’t like other kids, only me.”

Bai Yao fixed his hair clip and answered, unruffled, “Got it.”