Chapter 9: Scum’s Redemption – 4

“I believe you.” It was a sentence Gu Xizhou hadn’t heard in a very long time.

After transferring schools, ever since she stopped Su Nanfeng from targeting the previous victim of bullying, Su Nanfeng had made sure everyone knew the consequences of stepping up as a “righteous helper.”

The students weren’t unaware of Su Nanfeng’s true nature; they just didn’t dare offend her.

At school, relying on her good looks and masterful acting, aided by toadies like Ding Yi, she crafted the image of a perfect student.

Even if her grades were poor, her exceptional musical talent earned her immense favor with the School Leaders.

Externally, to the teachers, Su Nanfeng was the face of the school. Just participating in recitals every year brought glory to the institution.

Internally, Su Nanfeng was a nightmare for many students.

Everyone either integrated into her little clique and bullied other students with her, or they steered clear of her to stay safe.

Gu Xizhou was the first to openly defy her.

And this was the person who had become Su Nanfeng’s source of amusement, whom she had persistently tormented for so long.

Su Nanfeng’s family background destined her to be unbridled in this bullying.

Even in the future the dreams had shown, Gu Xizhou couldn’t get Su Nanfeng properly punished for “school bullying.” She could only send her to prison through alternative means.

Without sound laws and regulations, without powerful oversight from social institutions, Su Nanfeng… and every bully like her, could almost always get away with it.

Gu Xizhou had never received an apology or any form of compensation from her.

Nor did she crave the other party’s apology.

A bully’s remorse is like a scumbag’s belated affection—cheaper than dirt.

Their repentance and atonement mean absolutely nothing to the victims they tormented and the lives they destroyed.

Even though, in every dark, sunless night after each bullying incident, Gu Xizhou wished she could beat Su Nanfeng to a pulp and send her to prison, making her receive due punishment for her crimes…

Every morning when she woke up, all she truly wished was that Su Nanfeng would disappear from her world.

Stay far away from her, don’t steal her money, let her eat a full meal, let her grow up in peace.

Let her break free from the quagmire, so that even in life or death, they’d never meet again.

As for whether anyone would dare step up under Su Nanfeng’s intimidation to speak for her, to say they trusted her—Gu Xizhou had long stopped dreaming about such luxuries.

But now, Su Zhiyi was saying she believed her. What a powerful thing to say.

Looking at the gentleness and encouragement on the girl’s face, Gu Xizhou felt an inexplicable pang of sadness.

She suddenly remembered, in those week-long nightmares, she had witnessed this person’s death.

Before dying, the poor woman—an innocent sacrifice in “Gu Xizhou’s plan for revenge against Su Nanfeng”—could still manage a gentle, ethereal smile for her.

She had said: “Xizhou, in the next life, grow up well.”

When Gu Xizhou confessed the origin of the entire revenge plot, the woman didn’t resent her anymore; she just found her pitiful…

So pitiful that she could still offer Gu Xizhou this last bit of kindness.

This bit of kindness was like the final straw, completely crushing Gu Xizhou. Leaving her unable to bear living, yet unable to die.

After Su Zhiyi jumped from the building, Gu Xizhou spent the rest of her life in endless regret and nightmares.

Gu Xizhou couldn’t help but think, if her future was going to turn out like that, then what meaning was there in her revenge against Su Nanfeng?

And what’s more, was that even revenge against Su Nanfeng?

It was trading all her remaining life’s happiness in an attempt to eradicate the shadow of her youth.

She had lost all possibility of happiness and buried her entire life.

Gu Xizhou, you got a terrible deal.

As Gu Xizhou sat on the bed thinking this, 0820’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind: “What about trying to tell Su Zhiyi?”

“Tell her what a terrible person her twin sister is.”

“Let her stay away from Su Nanfeng, let her protect you, be with you. How about it?”

But would Su Zhiyi really choose to trust a stranger and betray her own sister?

Gu Xizhou looked at Su Zhiyi’s expectant eyes, her throat tightened, and she clenched her fists. After a long moment, she began: “I…”

She had barely started when the hospital room door burst open with a bang.

Startled, Gu Xizhou, along with Su Zhiyi and Song Qiao, turned to look.

A female alpha, about 1.8 meters tall, stood at the doorway. Seeing Song Qiao, she smiled sheepishly, deeply embarrassed: “Ah, sorry, you must be Xizhou’s Homeroom Teacher… I got held up working late.”

“Thank you so much for bringing Xizhou to the hospital.”

Seeing that tall figure standing outside the door, the words Gu Xizhou had been about to say died in her throat. She couldn’t tell Su Zhiyi anything now.

————

Around 6:30, Song Qiao left the hospital with Su Zhiyi, who had come to visit.

Before leaving, Su Zhiyi exchanged contact information with Gu Xizhou and earnestly repeated that Gu Xizhou must tell her if there were any problems.

After they left, Gu Jing set the takeout she’d brought to one side and muttered: “You’re in the same class as Director Su’s daughter again?”

Gu Xizhou nodded: “Mm.”

She thought for a moment and added: “But this isn’t the Su Nanfeng from my middle school. She’s Su Nanfeng’s younger sister, Su Zhiyi.”

Gu Jing suddenly understood: “Ah, Director Su has twins.”

Gu Xizhou nodded. Gu Jing brought out her boxed meal, and the smell of Braised Pork Trotter filled the hospital room as soon as she opened it.

Gu Jing set up the bed tray and placed the meat down, saying a little fawningly to Gu Xizhou: “Freshly bought, still hot. Want some?”

Gu Xizhou glanced at her favorite Braised Pork Trotter and pursed her lips: “My stomach is upset. The Doctor said I can’t eat greasy things.”

“Oh.”

Gu Jing responded, having no choice but to dejectedly start eating her own meal by the bedside.

Silence fell over the room. Mother and daughter had little to say to each other. Only the chirping of cicadas in the summer night, accompanied by the evening afterglow, drifted in, noisy and relentless.

Gu Xizhou took out her phone and glanced at it, finding that Su Zhiyi had already added her on WeChat.

Gu Xizhou hesitated for a moment, then accepted her friend request. Tapping on her little rabbit profile picture, she proactively sent a message: “Thank you for coming to see me today.”

Su Zhiyi didn’t reply. Gu Jing, eating her meal silently, spoke up: “Xizhou…”

Gu Xizhou didn’t look up, just responded quietly: “Hmm?”

Gu Jing remembered what the teacher had said that afternoon, that Gu Xizhou had been punched in the abdomen and sent to the hospital. It made her feel incredibly bad.

In truth, the journey from her company to the hospital had been agonizing for Gu Jing.

She was a very typical alpha. When she reached the right age, she went on blind dates and met Qin Xiang, who was five years older than her.

Qin Xiang was a high school art teacher. Although a bit older, she perfectly matched Gu Jing’s criteria for marriage: good-looking, stable job, willing to take care of a child.

They had a whirlwind romance, and a year after marrying, fulfilled their duty by having Gu Xizhou.

Gu Jing was busy with work. If she earned money, she threw it at the family. She didn’t smoke, drinking was only for business socializing, she didn’t sleep around… she worked diligently, all for her wife and child.

But when Gu Xizhou was in her first year of middle school, Qin Xiang died of cancer.

Gu Jing had sold their house to save her wife, ending up with a mountain of debt. For the past few years, she’d been buried in work trying to pay it off, with no energy left to look after Gu Xizhou.

In Gu Xizhou’s second year of middle school, Gu Jing was called in for a parent-teacher conference for the first time, because Gu Xizhou had been involved in a fight.

But the person Gu Xizhou had clashed with was the daughter of her work lab’s biggest investor. She couldn’t really say anything, so for the sake of her job, she had no choice but to force Gu Xizhou to apologize.

Later, Gu Xizhou asked her once if she could transfer schools. But Gu Jing had no money and couldn’t easily move, so she had to drop it.

But today…

Gu Jing took a deep breath, looked up at her daughter’s body, so much thinner and frailer than her peers, and her eyes reddened: “Did someone hit you today?”

Gu Xizhou was taken aback, looking at Gu Jing in confusion: “Hmm?”

Gu Jing took another deep breath, looking at her daughter’s innocent face, and pressed on with another question: “The person who hit you, was it the same one who knocked over your lunch tray when you first transferred in middle school?”

“Director Su’s other daughter. The one called Su Nanfeng.”

Gu Xizhou’s eyes gradually widened, looking at her mother in disbelief.

Her useless mother, over forty, weary and running herself ragged in life, always smelling of alcohol. Holding a food tray in one hand, she scratched her hair with the other, frowning deeply, looking very distressed: “If it was her who hit you, then I’ll arrange for you to transfer schools.”

Gu Jing really had no other options.

Discovering her daughter had been bullied at school, beaten badly enough to end up in the hospital, her first reaction was pure anger. So angry she wanted to grab Gu Xizhou by the collar and tell her to hit back.

But the moment she arrived at the hospital and saw her tiny daughter sitting in that bed, all her words failed her.

She was so small, like a rabbit. How could she fight back? Even alphas weren’t necessarily all powerful.

On top of that, the person who beat her daughter was rich and powerful, the main investor in her own research lab.

How could she fight back?

What the hell kind of situation was this!

All the anger in Gu Jing’s heart deflated like a punctured balloon, leaving only bitter sorrow.

Life had already drained this middle-aged widow of all her spirit. The only thing she lived for now was paying off the debt and raising her child.

Living meant enduring all sorts of injustices. Her child was being bullied, but she didn’t even have the means or strength to seek help.

Transferring schools—that was the only way out she could think of for Gu Xizhou.