Chapter 51: Can I Be Friends With You?
“The dormitory code of conduct is written at the end of the contract. You can take your time to read it. I have other things to attend to. Make yourself at home,” Jiang Ning said, handing her the contract in her hand and turning towards the back garden.
“Do you hate me?” Weisheng Yu looked down at the contract in her hand, her eyes flickering.
Hearing this, Jiang Ning’s footsteps paused. She slowly turned back to look at her. “At least I can’t say I like you right now.”
To be honest, she was indifferent towards Weisheng Yu.
Although her act of using puppetry behind her back did disgust her, there was nothing else.
And the two of them hadn’t spent much time together, so she couldn’t say she liked Weisheng Yu very much at the moment, but it wasn’t to the point of hating her either.
Weisheng Yu’s head was always lowered, her bangs covering her eyes. She let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
As expected, no one was willing to be friends with her.
Jiang Ning waited quietly for a while. Weisheng Yu had nothing more to say, so she continued to walk towards the back garden.
Weisheng Yu stood at the doorway without moving.
Xia Shi had helped her move her luggage back and forth several times.
When he returned, Xia Shi was holding several cute Q-version dolls. “Student Weisheng, you have a lot of dolls in your luggage!”
“Don’t touch them!” Weisheng Yu came to her senses and shouted loudly.
Xia Shi was startled by this sound, and a doll fell to the ground.
Weisheng Yu hurriedly walked over, picked it up from the ground, dusted it off, and then carefully took the dolls from his hands and gently placed them in the bedroom.
Xia Shi was at a loss for a moment. He couldn’t stay idle and wanted to move the remaining luggage.
Weisheng Yu came out of the bedroom and saw Xia Shi holding her doll again. She frowned and quickly walked over to stop him. “These are not allowed either!”
Xia Shi pursed his lips and was forced to withdraw his hand. “Alright, student Weisheng, I won’t touch them.”
“It’s getting late. This is a girls’ dormitory. How long are you planning to stay here, student Xia Shi?” Weisheng Yu said coldly.
“Ah!? Yes, it’s getting late,” Xia Shi said with an awkward laugh. “Then I’ll be going back now. The melons and fruits on the table are my own. You can eat them with confidence.”
“Goodbye, student Xia Shi,” Weisheng Yu made a gesture of invitation.
“Good night,” Xia Shi said with a shy smile. “Student Weisheng.”
Weisheng Yu closed the door.
After seeing Xia Shi off, she returned to her bedroom on the first floor alone.
The villa returned to a state of silence.
In the backyard.
Jiang Ning was busy until around ten at night before she straightened her back and gently hammered her waist with her hand.
After the last time her shop’s orders had exploded, she hadn’t used her ability with such high intensity for a long time. Her body felt a long-lost sense of fatigue.
Jiang Ning put away her tools and planned to go upstairs to wash up and sleep.
There was another day of classes tomorrow.
As she passed by the first floor, she saw that the light in Weisheng Yu’s bedroom was on, and there were shadows moving around in the room, moving quite frequently.
She glanced at it and went straight upstairs.
When she reached her own room door and was about to open it, she habitually glanced at the room next to her and saw that the light in Simon’s room was still dark.
Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow.
Simon was not the type to stay out all night. And what kind of class meeting would last so long?
The road on the plant department’s side was very deserted. Jiang Ning was worried that Simon would be scared walking at night, so she called her.
The call was connected, and Simon’s voice came from the Star Brain.
“Jiang Ning? Is something the matter?” Simon asked.
On the phone, Simon’s side was very noisy.
Jiang Ning said, “I saw that you hadn’t come back so late. I was worried something might have happened to you, so I called to ask.”
“Thank you for your concern,” Simon was very moved. She said, “But I probably won’t be back tonight. There’s a class social gathering, and we’re in the city.”
“Okay, be safe.” After confirming that Simon’s emotions were stable and that there was nothing wrong, Jiang Ning hung up the phone.
Just as she was about to go back to her room, Weisheng Yu suddenly came out. She looked up and asked, “If I don’t come back for the night, will you be worried about me?”
Jiang Ning was startled by her sudden voice. She turned to look at Weisheng Yu and said concisely, “No.”
Even though she had expected this answer from Jiang Ning, Weisheng Yu’s heart still couldn’t help but tighten.
Jiang Ning wondered why Weisheng Yu would ask such a question.
She was a 3S, with formidable strength. Was there any need for her to worry?
Weisheng Yu’s mood was a bit off tonight, but she didn’t have time to think too much.
Jiang Ning turned and went back into her room, closing the door behind her.
She was covered in stinky sweat, sticky and uncomfortable.
She just wanted to take a quick shower and go to sleep.
At night, Jiang Ning was sleeping soundly when she suddenly heard a rustling sound from downstairs.
There was also the faint sound of someone talking.
She woke up from her sleep and carefully identified the source of the sound. The talking was coming from the first floor.
But only Weisheng Yu lived on the first floor. Who could she be chatting with in the middle of the night?
Jiang Ning sat up from the bed, put on her shoes, and walked to the window, looking down.
The light in Weisheng Yu’s bedroom was off, but under the moonlight, there were several standing shadows in the room that were stretched very long.
Jiang Ning swallowed her saliva.
Could the villa be haunted?
She had heard from Xia Shi that there was something strange about the back mountain.
She had only been here for a few days, and she had already encountered it?
Jiang Ning turned on the light in her room, opened the door, and went downstairs.
At this moment, the door to Weisheng Yu’s room was open.
As soon as she went downstairs, she could see the full view of her room.
Weisheng Yu was lying on her side on the bed, her hands still moving, looking as if she were not yet asleep.
By her bed was the group of dolls she had brought.
At this moment, the dolls seemed to have come to life, all surrounding Weisheng Yu.
Some were lying on her, swinging a pair of furry little feet. Others were standing by the window, making various funny gestures. There was even one holding a book and telling the story from the book.
Weisheng Yu was giggling from their teasing.
The scene was very heartwarming, but for some reason, Jiang Ning saw a hint of loneliness in Weisheng Yu.
Jiang Ning’s perception was very keen. Weisheng Yu’s room had been filled with her perception all along.
Presumably, she was controlling these dolls with her puppetry, just to have them accompany her.
Dolls had no life, could not speak, and had no thoughts.
All their actions were limited to what Weisheng Yu had endowed them with.
Seeing this, Weisheng Yu’s abnormality earlier in the evening could be explained.
Weisheng Yu longed for companionship and attention.
Jiang Ning watched quietly for a while. She now also understood where the voices and shadows had come from.
She moved gently, preparing to go back to her room to continue sleeping.
Suddenly, a small bear doll appeared downstairs.
When it saw Jiang Ning, it immediately covered its face with its hands, and the water cup it was holding fell to the ground.
‘Clang—’
The glass cup shattered on the floor.
The sound disturbed Weisheng Yu in the room.
Her puppetry was interrupted, and all the dolls instantly lost their traction and fell to the ground.
“Who is it?” Weisheng Yu sat up from the bed.
Jiang Ning’s steps upstairs paused. She sighed and stuck her head out. “It’s me.”
“Jiang Ning?!” Weisheng Yu was startled.
“You, you saw everything?”
“Yes,” she nodded.
“…”
“Do you also think I’m a freak?” Weisheng Yu gave up and looked at Jiang Ning sarcastically.
Puppetry, just to control a group of dolls that couldn’t speak. Jiang Ning would laugh at her too, right?
Jiang Ning did not answer directly. She asked, “Are these your friends?”
“What friends? They’re just a bunch of broken dolls,” Weisheng Yu turned her head. “I don’t have any friends at all.”
Jiang Ning walked downstairs and picked up the little bear next to the water cup.
Fortunately, the spilled water did not get on the little bear.
She handed the little bear to Weisheng Yu. “If you think like that, the little bear will be sad.”
Earlier, when Xia Shi had touched her doll, she had been so nervous.
Weisheng Yu refused to take it.
Jiang Ning had no choice but to place the little bear next to the bed.
“You’re a 3S, and you’re so beautiful. There are people outside who are chasing after you to be your friend,” Jiang Ning said. “Isn’t Xia Shi an example?”
“Those people want to be friends with me just because they think I’m powerful,” Weisheng Yu said with disdain.
Lacking the companionship of her parents since she was a child, her personality was a bit withdrawn. One day, she discovered that she had suddenly awakened an ability. She then began to use puppetry to control those dolls and have them accompany her.
Later, when she went to school, she introduced her doll friends to others, but those people only thought she was abnormal and gradually distanced themselves from her.
It wasn’t until she was tested for 3S rank that more and more people took the initiative to be friends with her.
But this was just people’s mentality of admiring the strong, not out of sincerity. If she wasn’t a 3S, would others still pay attention to her as they did now?
Weisheng Yu only believed in her own puppetry. Whoever she wanted to be friends with had to obey her commands.
Until Jiang Ning appeared.
She was an exception. Her puppetry could not completely control a 3S+ ability user.
Jiang Ning looked at Weisheng Yu with a complicated expression for a long time. She said seriously, “Everyone more or less has some purpose in making friends, whether it’s because they think their personalities are compatible, or they think their friends are beneficial to them, or it’s just a phase of mutual need. You want to make friends purely without any purpose? It’s almost impossible.”
“Then are you and Simon also mutually in need?” Weisheng Yu looked up.
Jiang Ning nodded. “We are both from Planet M412. Being on a foreign planet, what we both need is a bit of friendship from our hometown.”
“What about me? Can we also be friends?” Weisheng Yu looked at her expectantly.
“Yes,” Jiang Ning said. “But you can’t use your puppetry on me anymore.”
“I don’t like the feeling of being restrained,” Jiang Ning said frankly.
Weisheng Yu lowered her eyes. “I understand.”
Looking at her like this, Jiang Ning felt that she hadn’t really heard her.
However, to have Weisheng Yu let down her guard all at once was probably completely impossible.
“It’s getting late. Go to sleep,” Jiang Ning patted her little bear doll.
“Good night, Weisheng Yu.”
Weisheng Yu looked up and gave her a sincere smile.
“Good night, Jiang Ning.”