Translated by: Queen Dei Mos
Novel Update Schedule: Sporadic
[dropdown title = Characters:]
Ji Bai – MC
Ji Feifei – MC’s older sister
Ji Mingzhi – MC’s father
Tao Jiazhi – MC’s mother
Old lady Ji – paternal grandmother – Ji Mingzhi’s mother
Xie Sui – ML
Cong Yuzhou – ML friend
Jiang Zhongning – ML friend
Ai Xiaoxiao – MC’s close friend
Xu Huan – MC’s close friend
Yin Xiaxia – MC’s close friend
Madam Cheng – ML’s birth mother
Chen Zheyang – Childhood friend of MC and Ji Feifei
Chen Zhenheng – Principal of Dexin High School, Father of Chen Zheyang
Director Qin – Director of Academic Affairs
Lu Weiwei – Ex-girlfriend of Jiang Zhongning
Assistant Qin – Assistant of Old Lady Ji
Ji Jing – Cousin from Eldest Uncle (Brother of Ji Mingzhi)
Li Chen – Young master of the Li Group
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you[mfn](Original Text): 您 – nín. (English): you – formal, courteous you.[/mfn] = formal speech
WARNING: This chapter mentions self-harm. Feel free to skip it if you prefer!
Ji Feifei cut her wrists.
Blood splattered across the entire bed, dyeing the beautiful clothes on it a shocking, bright red.
She still didn’t have the resolve to die. In the few seconds after cutting her wrists, pain and fear consumed her. Clutching her bloodied wrist, she stumbled out of the room, screaming in frantic terror, “Dad, Mom…Help!”
Tao Jiazhi scrambled up the stairs, scared out of her mind “Fei Fei, what did you do?! Oh my God, there’s so much blood!”
Her face deathly pale, Ji Feifei lay curled on the floor, writhing like a worm.
Blood gushed from her wrist uncontrollably…
Ji Bai heard the commotion and came out of her room. She saw her mother cradling Ji Feifei, tears streaming down her face. “Fei Fei ah, why would you do such a fooling thing?! Are you trying to punish mom?”
Seeing that Ji Feifei was nearly unconscious, Ji Bai couldn’t believe that Tao Jiazhi was just holding her and bawling her eyes out. Unbelievable.
Calmly, Ji Bai took out her phone and dialed 120. After providing their address, she followed the doctor’s instructions and found a clean cloth to wrap it around Ji Feifei’s wrist to stop the bleeding for the time being.
Tao Jiazhi was completely freaking out, just sitting there in the blood, and endlessly wiping away tears. Unable to help in any way, she still blamed Ji Bai, “It’s all because of you! You did this to your sister! All over a closet! Why couldn’t you just let her have it? How did I end up giving birth to a domineering and selfish daughter like you?!”
Once Ji Bai had finished tending to Ji Feifei’s wrist, Tao Jiazhi abruptly shoved her from behind, nearly making her fall.
“If anything happens to Fei Fei, I’ll hold you responsible!”
Ji Bai was startled by this careless threat and took several steps back.
If anything happens to Fei Fei, I’ll hold you responsible!……
In her previous life, her mother had threatened her like this before, back when she was trying to escape the hospital by any means necessary.
After being reborn, many things seemed to have changed, but really, deep down, nothing ever really changed.
Good people stayed good, evil people never changed, the young man who loved her still loved her just the same, and her parents would always be only Ji Feifei’s parents…
She meant nothing!
In no time, the ambulance arrived, sirens wailing. The doctors and nurses lifted the unconscious Ji Feifei onto a stretcher. Tao JiaZhi stayed by Ji Feifei’s side and rode along to the hospital.
Back home, only Ji Bai’s lonely and desolate figure remained. She sat on the stairs, head in her hands, battered and exhausted.
The housekeeper, Auntie Zhou, came upstairs with a cleaning rag and knelt on the floor, wiping up the congealed blood. Shaking her head, she said, “Bai Bai, don’t worry too much. Your older sister will be alright…”
“I don’t care what happens to her.” Ji Bai looked up, her eyes filled with endless frost and indifference. “Even if she died right now, it would mean nothing to me.”
Auntie Zhou couldn’t help but sigh. “I shouldn’t say this, but how could there be such parents in this world?”
Yes, how could there be parents like that in this world? Ji Bai herself often wondered about that too.
Just then, Ji Bai’s phone rang. The caller ID showed it was Ji Mingzhi.
Ji Mingzhi wasn’t home when it all went down, but from Tao Jiazhi’s rambling and tearful account, he pieced together a rough understanding of what happened and immediately called Ji Bai to confront her.
Ji Bai wordlessly bore Ji Mingzhi’s stern reprimand. Finally, he ordered her to get to the hospital immediately, and be prepared to give Ji Feifei a blood transfusion if needed.
Ji Bai hung up the phone without a word, and walked down the stairs in a daze. She missed a step and nearly fell, but Auntie Zhou quickly caught her. “Young miss, please watch your step.”
“Thank you Auntie Zhou.”
“Are you going to the hospital? I’ll call a taxi for you.”
“Yes.”
Auntie Zhou went outside and called a taxi for her. Ji Bai, feeling like her head weighed a ton, got in. The driver started the engine and asked, “Where to?”
Ji Bai didn’t know where she wanted to go. She only knew she had to escape, to run away to a place where no one could find her, and hide herself away.
She refused to give her blood., and she didn’t want to save Ji Feifei!
**
It was early spring and as night fell, a light, drizzling rain began to fall, cloaking the entire city in a mist. The streets were wet and slick, reflecting the neon lights.
At ten that night, Xie Sui finished his boxing practice and returned home, sweaty and hot.
It had been a long time since he’d worked out his muscles. After tonight’s session, his whole body felt loose and relaxed, which felt great.
He loved the raw power of physical combat, it made him feel truly alive.
A girl sat in the dimly lit corridor, arms wrapped around her knees, unsure of how long she had been waiting for him.
When Xie Sui caught sight of her, he thought he was dreaming.
Straining to see in the faint light, he made out the blurry silhouette of the girl, and his heart skipped a beat.
“Xiao Bai?” He tentatively called out, “Is that you, Xiao Bai?”
The girl heard his deep, mellow, and familiar voice. She lifted her head in recognition and softly replied, “It’s me.”
“What are you doing here?” Xie Sui said, quickly climbing the stairs, a hint of anger in his voice. “Why didn’t you call me? What are you doing just sitting there blindly waiting?!”
Before he could finish, Ji Bai suddenly reached out to him and in a hoarse voice said, “Xie Sui, could you just hold me?”
Xie Sui’s steps faltered slightly.
Could you just hold me…
Absolutely!
He bent down and scooped Ji Bai up off the stairs, carrying her inside in a few long strides. Then, he pinned her against the wall, holding her tightly with all his strength…
Tight enough that his body trembled.
Ji Bai’s arms wrapped around his lean, hard waist, and she gently hugged him back, closing her eyes and burying her face in his chest.
His clothes were damp from the drizzle and carried a faint, almost unfamiliar scent of his sweat. She didn’t mind it, though she just leaned into him, resting her cheek against his chest.
Xie Sui buried his face against her neck, nuzzling her relentlessly. What should have been a simple hug became tinged with a subtle, sensual tension because of how tightly he held her.
The young man’s body was burning hot and hard like a branding iron. The stubble on his jaw also made her neck incredibly itchy.
Wrapped in his tight hug, Ji Bai suddenly felt the missing half of her heart become whole, and all her lingering sadness went away.
“Okay, Xie Sui, you can let go now.”
Xie Sui, despite his reluctance, slowly let her go. The girl lowered her head slightly, a shy blush crept onto her face, “That was a weird hug.”
Weird was putting it mildly. Xie Sui was sniffing all over, rubbing and nudging. It wasn’t a hug, he was acting like a total dog!
Xie Sui chuckled, then reached out and wrapped his arm around her slender waist. “Then I’ll give you a proper hug.”
The girl quickly slipped out of his arms and went to the window. The cool night air, damp with a light drizzle, brushed against her face. She took a deep breath of fresh air, feeling refreshed all over.
Ji Bai reached back and closed the window, keeping the drizzle from coming inside.
Xie Sui turned on the light and cleared the magazines and textbooks from the table, and asked, “Why did you come to see me at this hour?”
Ji Bai sat down by the coffee table and said casually, “Just checking up on you, making sure you came home early.”
“Really?” Xie Sui said, a hint of disbelief in his voice, leaning back on the couch behind her, arms crossed. “I promised I’d be home early, and I meant it. You didn’t have to come all the way here, you know.”
“I was afraid you were having too much fun.”
Leaning back on the couch, Xie Sui swung his long legs around, nearly kicking Ji Bai in the head. She quickly scooted out of the way.
Xie Sui flopped down next to her, leaning against her, and said, without a hint of shame, “You…did you miss me? Couldn’t control yourself, so you came all the way over here to see me?”
Ji Bai raised her delicate eyebrows and joked, “How are you so smart? You seem to know everything.”
A smirk played on Xie Sui’s lips. “Because every night, laozi is holding back from……”
“Holding yourself back from what?”
“Do you want to know?”
“Yeah?”
“Sleeping with you.”
“……”
Okay, she shouldn’t have asked.
Just then, Ji Bai’s phone started ringing. She glanced at the screen, saw it was Ji Mingzhi, and promptly hung up.
Almost as soon as she ended the call, the phone started ringing again. This time it was Tao Jiazhi.
Ji Bai, her face devoid of any emotion, turned off her phone.
She knew the reason for their calls, they wanted her to go to the hospital and give Ji Feifei a blood transfusion. Ji Bai had no intention of going…first of all, she wasn’t in any condition to give blood as it was the second day of her period.
Secondly, she didn’t believe that someone like Ji Feifei would genuinely attempt suicide. Cutting her wrists was nothing more than a way to get back at Ji Bai.
Ji Feifei wanted to use this as a way to make Ji Bai understand that no matter how hard she tried to change her situation, as long as Ji Feifei needed her, Ji Bai had to be at her service anytime and anywhere.
Ji Bai knew that giving in again would mean eternal submission. She’d never be able to escape the life of being a slave, tied down and trapped.
To sum it up, Ji Bai had already made up her mind that even if they blew up her phone with calls, she wouldn’t go to the hospital.
Xie Sui silently watched her hang up the phone then deliberately switched off the phone and flung it onto the coffee table, distancing herself from it.
He ran a hand over his forehead and asked her, “Did you have a fight with your family?”
Ji Bai didn’t want him to worry and simply replied, “It’s just me being difficult. It has nothing to do with anyone else.”
“So tonight…”
“Xie Sui, can you take me in tonight?”
If he’d been hooked up to an EKG at that moment, it would have shown Xie Sui’s otherwise steady heart rate suddenly spike.
He rose to his feet and began pacing around the room, trying to play it cool as he asked, “You want to sleep at my place?”
“Is that okay? If not, I’ll just stay at a hotel.”
“Yeah, of course it’s okay.” Xie Sui said, fighting to keep from grinning like an idiot, practically straining to keep a straight face.
“Well, uh, you sleep on the bed.” Xie Sui said, rubbing his nose. “I’ll sleep on the sofa, no problem.”
Ji Bai carried her school bag and hung it on Xie Sui’s chair, then pulled out her study materials, getting ready to do some reading.
Xie Sui rummaged through a box and found a brand new, energy-efficient, eye-friendly lightbulb. He replaced the old one in the desk lamp, then turned the brightness to its highest setting, saying thoughtfully, “You study first, I’ll clean up around here.”
“Mm.”
Xie Sui swept and mopped the floor, wiped down the table, emptied the trash, and even changed the sheets on the bed. The whole process took him a solid hour.
Ji Bai looked up and asked, “What are you so busy with?”
The entire room had been transformed, he had cleaned and tidied everything so thoroughly that it was spotless and organized, and the floor gleamed.
Impressive ah.
“There’s nothing to eat here so I’m going to the supermarket for some frozen dumplings.” Xie Sui put on a black windbreaker and turned back to ask her, “You need anything?”
Ji Bai turned around and dug through her school bag, realizing she was almost out of supplies.
Seeing Ji Bai blush for no apparent reason, Xie Sui asked, puzzled, “What are you looking for?”
She stammered, “N-nothing.”
Xie Sui had almost reached the door when Ji Bai called out to him urgently, “Xie Sui, could you get me something after all?”
As he slipped on his shoes, he gazed at Ji Bai’s flushed cheeks, and a few ambiguous thoughts stirred in his mind.
A wicked smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You won’t tell me when I ask, so what do you want me to get? Condoms?”
“……”
Ji Bai got up, walked to the door, gave him a little push, and said, “Forget it, I don’t need you to get it. I’ll buy it myself.”
“Hey, I was just kidding.” Xie Sui said, quickly wrapping his arm around her shoulders and guiding her back inside. “It’s raining outside, so you stay here and be good. I’ll buy it for you. What do you need?”
Ji Bai bit her lower lip and said in a gentle voice, “Sanitary pads.”
Xie Sui stilled, a profound understanding glimmering in his dark eyes.
“Got it, I’ll buy them for you.” Xie Sui said. As he left, he lightly caressed the girl’s chin, much like petting a kitten, and said softly, “Go lie down and rest.”
T/N:
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