CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 44: TEN MILLION PAGES OF GIRLS’ SCHOOL HISTORY

It was past midnight when Yan Wuxu returned. The dormitory was shrouded in silence and darkness, and from Su Ziceng’s bed came the sound of her breathing in sleep. Not daring to turn on the light, she removed her clothes in the dark, carefully folded them, and placed them back into Su Ziceng’s wardrobe. For the past few weekend nights, she had been taking French lessons during the day with Fei Qing’s teacher and "borrowing" Su Ziceng’s clothes to go out at night. Tonight, she delayed her return for fear of running into Su Ziceng. She had heard from Fei Qing about Su Ziceng’s family background and knew of her status as a wealthy heiress, with a fiery temper and a domineering personality. Earlier, she had already warned Fei Qing that he was not a suitable match. If Su Ziceng were to find out about her and Fei Qing, she feared Su Ziceng would disapprove.

Early the next morning, when Su Ziceng got up, there was no sign of Yan Wuxu. Even Yan Wuxu’s bedding was neatly arranged. If not for some traces of use in the bathroom, Su Ziceng might have even believed that Yan Wuxu hadn’t returned all night. These days, Yan Wuxu was making swift progress in French, attending the university’s courses intermittently, which left Su Ziceng sitting alone and more prone to drowsiness.

When she opened the wardrobe, Su Ziceng noticed that a few pieces of clothing were not in their usual places, but she didn’t take it to heart. She picked out a set of casual wear, got ready, and left the dorm. Accustomed to having Yan Wuxu by her side diligently taking notes, Su Ziceng felt somewhat uneasy without her.

In the French class, Mr. Green, despite his unattractive appearance, was a teacher of the highest ethical standards. Knowing that Su Ziceng’s foundation was weak, he reviewed the content taught the previous week. After listening for the second time, Su Ziceng finally began to vaguely remember. She grasped the basics, yet whatever she read during the weekend vanished. By lunchtime, Mr. Green, having lectured until his throat was parched, ended the class early.

The students gradually gathered in twos and threes towards the cafeteria. At the entrance, Su Ziceng saw the bustling crowd and, smelling the combined scent of the cooling system and food, felt her head swell without a trace of appetite. Instead, she wandered against the flow of the crowd around the campus.

The architecture of Kelly Women’s College resembled that of the school’s various international alumni principals, eclectic in style—partly antique-styled red brick for teaching buildings, and Mediterranean white bungalows for experimental labs. In this season, the resplendent summer flowers had yet to wither, and vines crept along the windowsills, resembling crafted tapestries. Su Ziceng had never actually taken the time to explore Kelly Women’s College. Walking around, she found herself amidst a cluster of unfamiliar buildings and, looking at the building names, realized it was the library of Kelly Women’s College.

As Su Ziceng was about to leave, the unique structure of the library caught her eye—an imitation Thai-style rounded dome, painted in gold, four stories high, divided into two sides by a central administrative hall. Due to the lunch break, symbolic chain barriers hung at the entrances to each side. This was the library that Pello had mentioned. Through the reflective coating on the windows, one could see neatly stacked books and rows of shelves. At the end of each row, there were matching tables and chairs. On both sides, eight floors of book storage—the scale of Kelly Women’s College library was indeed substantial.

Given that the Su family were well-known nouveau riche, they owned numerous antiques and jewelry, but their book collection was limited. In the study room set up by Su Qingzhang, there were mostly decorative books presented by friends. Books never held much allure for Su Ziceng, so as she turned to leave, she noticed something unusual about the arrangement on the other side.

Libraries generally have reading rooms, so there was plenty of natural light, but the glass doors on the library’s shaded side weren’t fitted with extra reflective coatings but rather with patterned paper to block radiation; the glass was also much thicker than on the other side. From the outside, one could only see a few dark corners of the shelves, almost as if... it was hiding some forbidden books.

Su Ziceng looked around and saw no one else. She unclasped the waist-high chain barrier and then hung it back up. On the other side of the library, what was hidden was not forbidden books but the Rose Handbooks.

"With more than two hundred years of history, Kelly Women’s College has, to date, enrolled over ten thousand female students from across the country. Among them, there are..." After a string of names, Su Ziceng suddenly felt a deep respect for Kelly Women’s College. It turned out that the first female deputy prime minister of the country was an alumna of Kelly. In addition, many female entrepreneurs and socialites from various cities originated from Kelly. If it had been Daoquan University, they would have certainly placed these distinguished figures on the stone tablets at the entrance to the school, rather than concealing them like Kelly does.

"Each Rose Handbook records the changes that students go through after entering Kelly. The original purpose of the Rose Handbooks was not to pry into the students’ privacy, but with the hope that every woman who leaves Kelly will always remember that her alma mater has reserved a place for them to store the most beautiful years of their growth," wrote the first principal in the preface placed at the exit. Next to the preface, it was also clearly stated that the order of the Rose Handbooks was arranged according to the chronological enrollment of each student. More than ten thousand handbooks, each with over a thousand pages, totaling more than ten million pages, filled the shaded side of the library.

Su Ziceng first started searching from the first floor, where the handbooks with over two hundred years of history were placed. At that time, even the current government of the country had not yet been established, and Su Ziceng found the content of many handbooks boring. Then she went to the second floor and found the Rose Handbook of the country’s first female prime minister. From the beautiful fountain pen writing and the methodical narratives, it was evident that the female prime minister had been an exemplary student during her studies. Su Ziceng vaguely remembered the photo of that pioneering female prime minister, who looked like a stern version of Wen Muxue. There were also handbooks of several famous, now deceased socialites, most of which recorded misunderstandings about various courses and daily trivial matters when they first enrolled.

When she reached the third floor, Su Ziceng reviewed the books faster. Since the style of each Rose Handbook was roughly the same, the only way to distinguish the original owners was by the enrollment time and the names on the title pages. Su Ziceng initially wanted to find Chang Mei’s handbook, but after searching for a while, she gave up. The old handbooks, with over a thousand pages each, were somewhat cumbersome to handle.

The fourth floor still had many empty spots. If Su Ziceng graduated successfully, her handbook would probably be placed on the fourth floor. After taking a quick look and feeling a bit hungry, without having found any useful information, she decided to go back downstairs.

When she returned to the third floor, she noticed a shelf used for retrieving books, with a handbook left on it. Apparently, a student had come in to read and left it behind.

The solitary handbook looked somewhat pitiful. Su Ziceng thought for a moment and picked it up, intending to put it back in its place. A sticky note fluttered down from inside the handbook. Despite being from an aged handbook, the note was still brightly colored—a dried green leaf with two crooked, disjointed ghost faces drawn on it.