“Whew...” Su Yun took a deep breath, trying to stabilize her condition.
It took nearly five minutes before the intense dizziness subsided.
Although she was no longer dizzy, she still felt extremely weak. Her hands could barely hold her phone.
“Ugh.”
She was doomed. Duck blood didn’t work—what, was she supposed to drink human blood?
Come on, that’s illegal.
Su Yun instantly deflated. She gave up supporting herself with her hand and let her forehead slump hopelessly onto the desk.
Was the price of experiencing life as a girl for a few days really going to be death? What would happen to her parents?
“Su Yun, what’s wrong? You look drained. Got your heart broken?” A deep male voice sounded from behind her.
She didn’t need to lift her head to know who it was.
That pitiful roommate who ended up with nothing after all his simping—Zhang Deyi.
Zhang Deyi looked slightly above average and had an honest, gentle personality. Su Yun had a slightly better impression of him than of her other roommates, but not by much.
“Not heartbroken. I’m fine. I’ll be better soon.”
Su Yun forced her voice out, then straightened up, pulled a book from her backpack, and pretended like nothing had happened.
“Oh, really?” Zhang Deyi walked over to the seat in front of Su Yun and sat down with a doubtful look, then pulled out his phone.
Just yesterday, Zhang Deyi had sworn off love, heart sealed in concrete after being crushed.
But today, just after waking up from his afternoon nap, he saw a photo.
A girl with white hair, her face cold and distant like she’d seen through the world’s emptiness—this icy demeanor stood in stark contrast to her adorable face. That contrast struck him at first sight.
He believed in love again. No way a girl like that could be like Chen Tingting.
Chen Tingting always joked and laughed with everyone as if the whole class were her best friend. He should’ve realized it sooner—it was just that he lacked experience.
Still, Zhang Deyi figured chasing this new girl was a long shot. He’d use the motivation to study hard and marry a good wife in the future.
……
Su Yun and Zhang Deyi were the first two to arrive for the advanced math class. But each was lost in their own thoughts and didn’t say a word.
Over the next twenty minutes, the rest of the class trickled in, filling up the room. The classroom grew noisy.
Three of Su Yun’s roommates sat in front of her. Next to her was a guy she didn’t know, with one empty seat between them.
“Everyone sign in,” the math teacher said, entering the room with his bag.
Class began.
(Can you buy human blood online?)
A few minutes into the lecture, Su Yun was secretly using her phone under the desk to search on Baidu.
After browsing for a few minutes, she learned—
You can buy blood online, but most of it is unregulated. It might be contaminated with diseases. The legal stuff wasn’t accessible to her.
And the illegal kind wasn’t easy to find either.
“Doomed.”
“You in the back row—stand up!”
“Stop playing with your phone.” The math teacher stopped lecturing and pointed a red laser pen at a certain spot.
Su Yun noticed a red dot on her face and looked up, realizing the teacher was talking to her.
Crap.
She didn’t argue, just put down her phone and obediently stood up.
“You’re already doing poorly in class and still sit in the back row playing with your phone. Seriously.”
“I’ll let you sit down once I catch the next one.” The math teacher returned to the podium with a displeased expression and resumed the lesson.
Most students just turned to glance at Su Yun, then looked away, uninterested.
Many people were secretly on their phones too, but Su Yun just had bad luck.
……
Su Yun couldn’t use her phone anymore and ended up standing there like a zombie for a whole hour.
Her body was already weak, and standing made her feel dizzy again.
One class might have been fine, but the teacher dragged on and merged it with the next period.
Two back-to-back classes—almost two hours. She felt like she couldn’t hold on much longer.
……
Ding ling ling—
“Class is over, teacher!”
Only when someone spoke up at the sound of the bell did the teacher smile and dismiss the class.
Su Yun, whose vision was already blurry, finally sat down.
As soon as she sat, she slumped forward onto her desk in a daze.
So uncomfortable...
In her vision, the ceiling and floor blended together. Before long, the ceiling was on the floor, the floor was in the sky, and the blackboard had turned into an earthworm.
“...”
Su Yun shut her eyes, lying still on the desk, thinking that ten minutes of rest might help her recover a little.
Even though the classroom was noisy with chatter, all the sounds mixed together into something unintelligible. To Su Yun’s ears, it became a soothing lullaby.
“Zzz...”
……
By 6 p.m. on a winter afternoon, the sky had darkened, and dim yellow light filtered into the classroom. If it weren’t for the lights inside, half the room would already be shrouded in darkness.
“Su Yun, class is over. You’ve been asleep the whole period.” Zhang Deyi gave her a pat as he left.
“Huh? Oh.” Woken up by the pat, Su Yun blinked sleepily, eyes half open.
“...Don’t fall asleep again.” Zhang Deyi stared at her eyes for a moment, inexplicably stunned.
“Mm.”
Su Yun replied, then lay back down again. Even after waking, her head was still spinning.
She suspected she hadn’t slept, but actually passed out.
Gradually, the noise in her ears faded to silence.
“Zzz...”
She was out again.
The crowd dispersed. Then, two more people entered the now-empty classroom.
“Sis, she’s still sleeping! Look at her—she totally doesn’t care about you.”
“Shh.” The older sister, much taller, covered her younger sister’s mouth.
“Mm!”
……
Time ticked by. The classroom turned pitch dark; even the lights had gone out.
“Ugh... I’m still in the classroom?”
Su Yun didn’t know how long she’d been out. She slowly lifted her head and saw nothing but darkness. Only the streetlights outside cast faint light inside.
She spotted the desks glowing faintly under the streetlamp and realized she’d fallen asleep in class again.
“You’re finally awake? Hmph.”
“You sleep so well—why don’t you just sleep forever?”
“Who?!” Su Yun had just woken up in a dark classroom, assuming she was alone. Suddenly hearing someone speak nearly scared her to death.
She whipped around, eyes locked on the speaker.
“Wah?!”
“There’s a ghost!” Qin Yuanyuan saw Su Yun’s glowing red pupils and instantly jumped up.
“Pfft—mm... mmph... Sis, save me!” But in her panic, she tripped while trying to run and let out a series of pitiful sobs.
“...”
Su Yun stared blankly. After the initial fright, her vision suddenly became clear.
Somehow, everything around her appeared in black and white—this allowed her to clearly see her surroundings.
Desks and blackboards were in grayscale, but the girl on the floor in front of her glowed with a faint red hue in Su Yun’s eyes.
She didn’t know why, but she couldn’t tear her gaze away from that girl.
So dizzy... so hungry... Blood...
“Mmph! Don’t come any closer! Sis!” Qin Yuanyuan saw the red glow approaching and started bawling even louder.
She tried to get up, but her body had gone limp—likely from fear.
Smells so good...
Su Yun couldn’t hear the girl’s cries. The closer she got, the stronger a faint scent wafted toward her—a smell like food.
Compared to the duck blood at lunch?
Duck blood, to Su Yun, had a muddy, sour stench. But this girl gave off a scent like sweet cake.
Su Yun crouched down, pressing her body against Qin Yuanyuan’s soft frame, pinning her completely.
She grabbed the girl’s shoulders.
“No, please... don’t eat me... ah—it hurts...”
“Sis...” Qin Yuanyuan felt her blood draining and slowly lost consciousness.
Su Yun pulled down the girl’s collar and bit into her pale shoulder.
She couldn’t control herself at all—she just wanted more. She didn’t know how long it lasted, only that her body felt warm.
Su Yun finally let go, but a wave of dizziness made her faint again.
“...”
……
When Su Yun next woke up, she felt something soft beneath her—like lying on a bed.
But the ceiling wasn’t her usual enclosed dorm bed. It was a white, flowery ceiling.
And instead of an energy-saving bulb, there was a lantern-like light fixture overhead—it looked like it would eat up a ton of electricity.
Where... was this?
“...” Su Yun’s head still felt a little fuzzy, but her body was clearly brimming with energy.
It felt like she could lift a bulldozer with one hand.
“You’re awake?”
“You a ghost or something? You made my little sister faint. How are you going to make up for that?”
“?” That chilling voice came from above her head.
It took Su Yun a moment to realize the words were directed at her.
Looking up, she recognized the person.
It was Qin Xue.
Only now, Qin Xue wasn’t wearing the long pants and sleeves from earlier that day. She was in a light pink nightdress, her hair down instead of tied in a high ponytail.
Su Yun wondered if she was dreaming and blinked.
“Hm?”
Qin Xue looked at the dazed, innocent girl on the bed and sighed inwardly.
Just now, when she’d heard her little sister’s terrified scream from the classroom, she’d been startled—thought maybe she’d let some guy in by mistake.
But...
Fortunately, Qin Yuanyuan had only fainted from fright. If she’d lost too much blood and something serious had happened, she would not have let Su Yun off.
“Are you even human?”
Qin Xue’s voice had none of the usual warmth she used with Su Yun. It was cold.
“I...” Su Yun fell silent, recalling what she had done.
“I probably... am not. I don’t know why I turned out like this. I’m a vampire...”
“I lost control earlier. I was too hungry. I felt like I was dying all afternoon... I’m sorry.”
She closed her eyes.
Whatever punishment awaited her—so be it.
This body was doomed anyway.
Dragged to the police station... sent to a lab... she could only hope the experiments paid well so her parents would get some compensation.
“Just ‘sorry’? That’s not enough. You fed on someone’s blood—you should be feeling better now, right? Get up. Stop faking.” Qin Xue pinched Su Yun’s soft cheek.
If she had planned to call the cops, she would’ve already had Su Yun hauled off—instead, she brought her home and let her sleep in her own bed.
Ouch...
“Yeah, I feel better...” Su Yun winced from the pain and quickly sat up.
Her eyes no longer had that terrifying gleam. The crimson hue had faded a little.
Qin Xue sat by the bed, observing the petite girl leaning against the headboard. Just by looking at her, anyone would assume she was soft and harmless.
And yet... she bit someone.
“Heh.”
“You bit my sister. How are you going to make it up to me?” Qin Xue asked coldly.
“I...” Su Yun lowered her head again.
“I don’t have much money... Just a little over twenty thousand. If it’s for medical bills, I’ll give it all to you.”
That was everything Su Yun had saved since freshman year by scrimping and saving.
“Not enough. Far from it.”
“...” Her head drooped even lower.
“You’ll come work for me. Pay it off slowly.”
“Huh?” Su Yun thought she misheard and looked up at Qin Xue’s face.
But Qin Xue looked completely serious.
“Every afternoon, after class, come to my house. Clean up, do housework. You can only leave when I say so. Got it?”
“Mm... You’re not calling the cops?”
“If you dare skip even once, I will.”
(End of Chapter)