No? Can I read the mind of my mortal enemy?

(Phew, wiping forehead.jpg, all done, all done~)

After the set was set up, Shi Qiao stood backstage before the curtain was drawn, waiting to make her appearance.

Once on stage, Shi Qiao realized that she was actually under the spotlight, while everything below the stage was shrouded in darkness.

The world has become nothing more than a stage.

She took a deep breath and immediately got into the zone.

Everything was progressing even more smoothly than she had imagined.

Finally, it was time for Shi Qiao's favorite part of the entire play: the scene where Romeo escapes from Juliet's room.

Shi Qiao carefully stood on the raised platform, placing her hands on the edge.

"Are you leaving now? It's still a while before dawn..."

Pei Jingnian stood on the windowsill and leaned down to support Shi Qiao's hand.

"...I must find a way to survive elsewhere; staying here is tantamount to waiting to die."

His brow was slightly furrowed, and the light from the spotlight on the landscape reflected off his dark pupils, making them clear and transparent.

"That light is not the dawn, my love... so you don't need to rush off, delay a little longer."

Pei Jingnian swallowed hard, his head burying itself in her forehead, longing to gently brush against hers, but ultimately restrained himself by reason.

"Let me be captured by them, let me be executed by them, if that is your will, my Juliet, I will have no complaints."

"I wish I could stay here and never leave..."

Shi Qiao increasingly understands why Juliet is so infatuated with Romeo.

Her little mouth was as sweet as honey.

She reached out and gently stroked Pei Jingnian's cheek, shaking her head repeatedly, "My love, it's already dawn... you should go now."

Pei Jingnian tilted his head and kept pecking at her palm, "The sky is getting brighter, but our sorrowful hearts are getting darker."

The wet nurse's cries cut in from behind.

"Go quickly! Window, let the daylight in, and let life out."

Pei Jingnian hung the rope with one hand and hooked the other around Shi Qiao's waist, gently kissing her lips.

Just as their lips were about to part, he gave them one last, reluctant peck.

"Goodbye." He slid down the rope.

The original plan was for someone to pull them down, but in order to create the scene of the transition between dawn and dusk, Lin Ruo asked Pei Jingnian if she could slide down by herself.

The platform was only four or five meters high, and Pei Jingnian tested it several times without any problems.

Some safety was sacrificed in exchange for the visual appeal of the scene.

At this moment, the lights gradually dimmed, and the scene was about to cut.

Pei Jingnian should have slipped down at this moment.

Shi Qiao turned her back and held onto the armrests on both sides, preparing to leave the stage and switch to a new scene, where she had a conversation with the wet nurse and Mrs. Capulet.

The lights went out completely, and the set crew came on stage one after another to change the scene.

The next second, a solid bang slammed onto the stage.

She was startled, and a moment of panic made her stumble.

At a glance, Pei Jingnian was seen lying on his side on the ground, not leaving the scene as scheduled.

The next scene requires her to move to the far right of the stage within half a minute.

She couldn't bring herself to ask Pei Jingnian what was going on; she couldn't let her own selfish concern ruin the entire team's hard work.

She hurriedly lifted her skirt and ran to the designated spot.

Her gaze lingered on Pei Jingnian's body, and she couldn't help but clench her fingers, leaving crescent moons of varying depths.

In the darkness, the figure finally got up and left the set with the set crew.

I'm fine, honey.

[My hand slipped.]

After hearing those two sentences, Shi Qiao's wildly beating heart gradually calmed down.

The plot then proceeded steadily.

Even in the final act of feigning death, just moments before Romeo kissed Juliet, Juliet rose and took the initiative to embrace him.

I kissed those lips.

Thus, the play, which had been in preparation for a month, finally came to an end.

The entire cast and crew stood in a row, welcoming the thunderous applause and screams from the students in the audience.

As soon as she stepped off the stage, the four adorable girls immediately swarmed around her, vying to show Shi Qiao how beautiful the photos they had just taken were.

Lin Ruo, holding the clapperboard, snapped a "click" at the entire crew.

"Celebrating the resounding success of our Romeo and Juliet production, and..." she proudly pulled out her phone, scrolled to the campus forum, and read, "...received unanimous praise from our audience!"

Let's go out for a celebration dinner!

Everyone laughed heartily and raised their hands, shouting, "Great! Great!"

Shi Qiao did not respond immediately, but instead turned away from the noise and searched for Pei Jingnian's figure.

Is that guy going to play the "boy who cried wolf" trick again, lying in wait for her to come to him?

Pei Jingnian, the childish devil.

Forget it.

Who told her that she was magnanimous and forgiving?

Let's try to find him again, even if it's difficult.

She weaved through the crowd, searching high and low, and after about ten minutes she finally spotted Pei Jingnian in a secluded corner.

But he wasn't alone; Lu Zhou was standing beside him.

Lu Zhou took a can of spray out of his backpack and handed it to Pei Jingnian.

"Hey, Lao Pei, in a bit..."

Lu Zhou noticed Shi Qiao, and as if he had seen a ghost, he stuffed the spray back into his bag and swallowed the rest of the sentence.

Shi Qiao's smile froze.

She quickly stepped forward. "Pei Jingnian, are you really hurt?"

Lu Zhou dared not get involved in this household chore and silently placed the bag containing the spray on the table.

"Oh dear, I suddenly remembered that I still turned off the gas stove at home. I'll be going now."

He said that and then ran away in a flash.

Pei Jingnian casually placed his bag on the other side, using it as a shield behind his body.

He leaned forward, wrapping his arm tightly around Shi Qiao with one hand, while raising his other hand slightly to rest it lightly on her waist.

"Honey, looks like my attempt to play the victim worked again." He slumped his head, a triumphant smile playing on his lips. "You've finally come to see me."

Shi Qiao, however, showed no sign of joking or laughing, her gaze fixed on his obviously weak hands.

"My right hand, let me see." Her tone was somewhat forceful.

Pei Jingnian pursed his lips, pulled her closer, and hooked her hair with his fingertips.

"Honey, why does your face look all wrinkled up like a little bitter gourd? We're going to a celebration party later..."

"Pei Jingnian, I'm not joking with you." Shi Qiao tilted her head back, her delicate eyebrows pressing down on her eyes. "If you keep doing this, I'll get angry."

Pei Jingnian couldn't reply immediately. Half of his strength suddenly dissipated, and he was like a child who had done something wrong, not daring to look at the person in his arms for long.

Shi Qiao reached out and quickly and carefully rolled up Pei Jingnian's sleeve.

Without the sleeves to cover it, the redness and swelling on my right forearm were clearly visible, and the congestion was so severe that it was noticeably half a size larger than my left arm.

Her chest heaved, and she didn't know what to say for a moment.

My phone vibrated twice; it was a message from Jiang Youran.

[Jiang Youran: Qiao, where did you go? The place we're having our celebration dinner later is a street food stall, it's super awesome!]

[Jiang Youran: You should also invite your partner along, then we can take some beautiful photos~]

Shi Qiao remained expressionless, typing with one hand as she prepared to reply "I'm not going," when her phone was stopped.

"I'm fine." Pei Jingnian gently rubbed Shi Qiao's fluffy head.

Shi Qiao clenched her fist and punched him directly in the chest, followed by another punch.

"You're okay? You're okay, your hand is so swollen!"

"Don't you usually report to me even for the smallest scrape?"

"And yet! Such a big thing! And you just kept it to yourself!" Shi Qiao said, punching the ground repeatedly, her voice trembling uncontrollably with anger.

"So stupid! You idiot! You big idiot!"

Pei Jingnian was stunned and couldn't reply to her. He grabbed Shi Qiao's hand and looked at her slightly reddened skin with heartache.

"Wife, stop hitting me."

"I was wrong."

His lips parted and closed several times before he finally lowered his head and leaned on her shoulder.

"You're having such a good time today, I don't want to spoil your fun."

"I'm sorry, I messed up."

Shi Qiao lost her temper after being rubbed against, but she still stubbornly turned her head away, "Let's go to the hospital to get checked out quickly."