After dinner, Qian was sent off to do the dishes by Da Yi, while she stayed with Shi Tou.

"How come you suddenly ran out like this? Did something happen? Do you want to tell me about it?"

Actually, at this time Da Yi should already be getting ready to go back to Q City with Second Brother to rest during her pregnancy. But when she heard from Qian that Shi Touyu seemed to have some kind of problem, she stayed, and even drove Second Brother back home to look after the kid. Second Brother was pretty depressed; he hadn’t even finished being jealous of Qian yet, and now Shi Touyu had run out again.

But who could blame them? They’d slept in the same dorm room for several years during college; that kind of bond can’t be replaced.

"Even if I tell you, you can’t help me." Deep down there was a thought tempting her to tell her two best friends about borrowing money, but Shi Tou forced herself to suppress that strange feeling.

She didn’t want to get money tangled up with her friends; once you bring up money, everything changes.

Just like those uncles who used to treat her so well but now shut her out.

"Then talk to Qian. There’s nothing Qian can’t fix."

"Her? Forget it. I don’t want her standing above me, pointing out what I should do. In her eyes, nobody in the whole world measures up to her. I’m just her little sidekick, the universally acknowledged silly sweet girl, there just to show off how smart and mighty she is."

"Is that what I am in your heart?" Qian stood at the kitchen door, still wearing plastic gloves on her hands.

"Aren’t you? Do you actually care about me? If you cared, would I not be able to get through to your number? Would you be unreachable when I needed you the most? Do you know how awful it felt standing in the rain being blocked out by your building’s security guard?"

"Shi Touyu, what’s wrong with you? If Qian didn’t care about you, would she be standing out there in the rain like a drowned rat? Are you kidding us right now? Are you rehearsing some play again?" Da Yi truly couldn’t understand how things had gotten so complicated; her good friends went at each other the second they met.

Da Yi actually hoped this was just one of Shi Touyu’s pranks, and that the next second Shi Tou would go back to how she was in school, giggling and asking them whether they’d been fooled by her brilliant acting.

Then Qian would throw a cushion at her, laughing and scolding, "Aren’t you bored?"

If only it were like that.

But now Qian, expressionless, glared at Shi Touyu, who looked like she’d swallowed gunpowder, and the tension between the two was about to explode.

"You! And you! Stop pretending to be some saint!" Shi Touyu pointed at Da Yi. "Watching me fight with Qian, are you especially happy? With me not here, you two can do whatever you want, can’t you? When you’re out eating, drinking, having fun, do you ever think of me?"

"It’s not what you think, we worry about you a lot. Qian said—" Da Yi hurried to explain.

"Whatever she says, you just listen! In her eyes, we’re nothing but the two dogs she keeps!"

"That’s enough!" Qian finally couldn’t listen anymore. She walked up to Shi Tou. "Take back what you just said!"

"I won’t! I’m just telling the truth, what, feeling guilty now?"

"Smack!" Qian swung a slap across her face. Shi Touyu covered her cheek where she’d been hit, but her eyes suddenly cleared a bit. Huh... what did she just say?

The scene from just now replayed in Shi Yu’s mind like a movie. She really wanted to slap herself a few times! What on earth was wrong with her!!!

"You two, don’t fight. Talk it out, just talk it out..." Seeing the two actually come to blows, Da Yi panicked and tried to get up to steady them. But as soon as she moved she felt her vision go black, her whole body going limp, everything going dark...

Qian quickly caught Da Yi. The slap had also sobered Shi Touyu up; she tried to help too, but was pushed aside by Qian.

"Get out of the way!"

Qian supported Da Yi and helped her sit on the sofa. Once the faint spell passed, Da Yi opened her eyes, and the first thing she said was,

"You two, stop fighting..."

Da Yi was pregnant now; her physical condition wasn’t what it used to be. The fact that they’d scared her into fainting showed just how important these two friends were in her heart.

"You just rest. And you, go stay in the room!" Qian pointed at Shi Tou’s nose. Shi Yu’s nose stung; she deeply regretted what she’d just said.

She didn’t even know why she’d said those things. But after Qian slapped her, her head suddenly felt a lot clearer, while her heart was full of regret. Those harsh words she’d thrown out were stamped in her mind; she really wanted to smack herself a few times.

"I should just go..." Shi Touyu shuffled painfully toward the door. She really wanted to find a place with no one around and have a good cry. What was wrong with her? How could she say those things to Qian and Da Yi just now? That wasn’t what she really meant at all.

It was like she’d been possessed in that moment; she’d completely lost control of herself.

"Stop right there!" Qian called her back and pointed at the room.

"Go inside, don’t run around. Calm yourself down first. Once you’ve settled a bit, we’ll talk about what’s going on with you."

Qian had noticed that something was off with Shi Yu. She wasn’t angry at her now; she was worried that her friend might have some kind of psychological issue. In this state there was no way she could let Shi Yu go off alone.

"I don’t want to stay here." Shi Yu really didn’t want to say things like that again. If she had a few more episodes like this, she felt like she’d want to kill herself.

"Does this dictator of yours still have any authority over you or not?"

"Qian..."

"Go in!"

Shi Touyu stopped talking, obediently walked into the room, closed the door, lay down on the bed, and felt her head grow heavy. She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

In a blank void, a few sentences kept echoing in her mind: You’re an outsider, an outsider, an out...

"Why is Shi Touyu acting so strange?" Da Yi half reclined on the sofa for quite a while before she caught her breath. Qian handed her a glass of warm water, then sat beside her, looking pensive.

"I’ve already asked Big Brother to start investigating."

Shi Touyu had lived with her and Da Yi for four years; the three of them were practically inseparable. Qian considered herself very familiar with Shi Touyu’s personality. No matter what happened, Shi Yu shouldn’t be saying things like that to her.

Qian asked herself honestly: she wasn’t so blind that she didn’t know what kind of person a friend who’d slept in the same room with her for years was. She knew Shi Yu’s character better than anyone.

So where did things go wrong...

Qian instinctively thought of some psychological issues that can arise after sudden traumatic events, but none of them seemed to match Shi Yu’s current state.

Big Brother was still investigating. Da Yi looked at the closed door, then at Qian, who was deep in thought, and hesitated.

"You should go back for now. Shi Touyu’s not very stable like this; I don’t want her affecting you."

Da Yi was still in early pregnancy; her condition wasn’t stable and her emotions could easily fluctuate. Qian didn’t want her fainting again like she just had.

"But you two... I’m not at ease!" Da Yi’s heart ached when she thought of how tense it had been just now.

After so many years of friendship, that scene had been truly hurtful. Da Yi was worried that the sand-averse Qian and the suddenly personality-shifted Shi Touyu would end up actually fighting. That was the last thing she wanted to see.