◎Cloaked gender person.◎
The rich fragrance continued to spread.
With every breath, the scent filled her nostrils.
Liang Shi’s abdomen was pulled taut. Her arm brushed against Xu Qingzhu’s skin.
Carrying a trace of coolness.
But that coolness couldn’t dispel the heat coursing through her body.
Liang Shi turned her face slightly away and shifted toward the other side of the bed.
Her shoulder burned the hottest.
It felt as though hot tears had fallen there, soaking through her T-shirt.
The skin across her shoulder stung with heat.
Something must have happened, Liang Shi thought.
But she didn’t ask.
She didn’t know if Xu Qingzhu was like her, someone who didn’t want to talk in a moment like this.
All she needed was a shoulder, to draw a little energy from.
Even if it was just the smallest amount.
If Xu Qingzhu wanted to talk, she would.
If not, Liang Shi would simply play her part as a human prop.
Fortunately, Xu Qingzhu didn’t stay long.
She leaned against her for a while, then pulled away. In the darkness, Liang Shi could barely make out her silhouette.
Xu Qingzhu sat up, arms bracing against the bed, back turned to Liang Shi, face toward the window. In that instant, Liang Shi thought she looked lonely.
The same kind of loneliness she herself carried.
But it was only a moment. Xu Qingzhu bent to put on her shoes, then stood and picked up her phone. Her voice had returned to its usual coolness, though if you listened carefully, you could hear she had been crying.
“I’ll head back,” Xu Qingzhu said.
Liang Shi sat up too. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
Xu Qingzhu paused. “What do you want to hear?”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to talk?” Liang Shi asked.
Xu Qingzhu shook her head. “I don’t feel like it now.”
Liang Shi: “…”
She was certainly capricious.
But rather interesting.
Liang Shi had expected Xu Qingzhu to be the introverted, aloof, gentle, and reserved type. But after getting to know her, this person was nothing like she’d imagined.
Not the rigid kind of cleverness, nor a carefully constructed persona.
She looked quiet, gentle, and cold on the surface, but inside she had a heart of fire and iron.
Very much like… a pure-looking dark mastermind.
Very much like… a pig eating the tiger.
Liang Shi replied flatly: “Oh.”
She didn’t press, lying back down on the bed. Meanwhile, Xu Qingzhu walked to the door and stopped again. In a low voice she called: “Liang Shi.”
“Mm?” Liang Shi answered through her nose.
“You owe me a favor,” Xu Qingzhu said.
Liang Shi: “…?”
“That night.” Xu Qingzhu reminded her. “Zhou Yi’an has been a cloaked gender person publicly all along.”
“Then how did you know?” Liang Shi asked.
“A friend of mine treated her.”
“Was it Zhao Xuning?”
Xu Qingzhu paused. “That’s none of your business.”
“Then why did you tell me?” Liang Shi stood and stepped closer. “Was it purely to help me?”
“What do you think?”
“I don’t think so.” Liang Shi drew close enough to catch the scent of her hair. “You’ve been wanting to divorce me all along. If I got together with Zhou Yi’an, you’d get your wish. But you didn’t do that. Given how much you dislike me, I can’t simply believe you told me this because you were worried about me. So… what’s your goal? Or rather, what else do you want from me?”
She stood very close, saying all this almost pressed up against Xu Qingzhu.
Her lips were only a hair’s breadth from Xu Qingzhu’s ear.
Xu Qingzhu didn’t move at all.
Hearing this, she let out a soft laugh, then composed herself. “Regardless of my reasons, the fact is I helped you. So you owe me a favor.”
“Then what do you want me to do?” Liang Shi asked. “Does the Xu family’s company still need financing? You heard my phone call earlier. The Liang family can barely keep itself afloat, to the point of selling off a daughter for a piece of land. I doubt we can help you.”
“I haven’t decided yet.” Xu Qingzhu said. “When I think of something, I’ll ask you to repay it. Don’t rush.”
“Xu Qingzhu.” Liang Shi took half a step back. “You’re nothing like before.”
Her calm tone stated it as a fact.
Xu Qingzhu suddenly turned around, a smile curving at the corner of her mouth. “Then is there perhaps a chance that you’ve simply never truly understood me?”
Liang Shi was left momentarily speechless.
“Get some rest.” Xu Qingzhu left the ward.
Liang Shi stood there, and it wasn’t until the door clicked shut that she snapped back.
Xu Qingzhu strode quickly toward the elevator the moment she left the ward. It was the busiest hour at the hospital.
The elevator lobby was packed. She stood among the crowd, trying to make herself inconspicuous.
The composure she had forced herself to maintain made her face burn. Her cheeks and ears were flushed red. Her palms were slick with sweat, her phone warm and damp in her grip.
The palms she’d gripped so tightly bore five crescent nail marks, the nails themselves an unhealthy white.
An auntie beside her asked kindly, “Young lady, are you all right? Should I call a doctor for you?”
“No need. Thank you.” Xu Qingzhu declined politely.
Her hand pressed against her chest, trying to calm the frantic beating of her heart.
She wasn’t an actress. Her acting was far too clumsy.
If the lights had been on, Liang Shi would have noticed something was wrong.
Fortunately, with the lights off, she had managed to keep up the performance.
The elevator rose to the tenth floor. When Xu Qingzhu returned to the ward, the young nurse was hanging an IV drip. Hearing footsteps, she turned and greeted her with a smile. “Welcome back.”
“Mm.” Xu Qingzhu sat on the bed and let out several deep breaths before she felt somewhat recovered.
“Lie down,” the young nurse said. “Once the drip is done, you can sleep.”
“Okay.” Xu Qingzhu set her phone on the bedside table and, while the nurse was inserting the needle, asked: “Where’s Dr. Zhao?”
“On her rounds,” the young nurse answered. “A patient needs an examination. It’ll probably be a while before she’s done.”
“All right.”
“Do you need her for something?” the young nurse asked.
“Mm. I’ll call her in a bit. Thanks.” Xu Qingzhu said.
Once the nurse finished with the IV and left, and the ward fell quiet, Xu Qingzhu finally let go completely.
A single clear tear fell.
She wiped it away with the back of her hand.
Her phone buzzed soon after.
She picked it up with reluctance. It was a message from her mother.
“A-Zhu, darling.”
Before Xu Qingzhu could reply, the messages poured in.
“Your father says if it’s not possible, then forget it. Don’t let these things create a rift between you and A-Shi.”
“Your father and I have discussed it. Minghui is destined for this fate. We’ve tried our best. There’s nothing to be done.”
“None of this is your fault. Mom was too emotional today and put pressure on you.”
“I’m sorry. Mom apologizes. As long as you’re all right, that’s all that matters. Don’t worry about the family. Your father and I have been through everything. Something this small won’t break us.”
“Mom only has you and your sister. I’m truly sorry. We shouldn’t have passed our burdens onto you.”
“A-Zhu, darling. Mom loves you.”
Xu Qingzhu’s eyes reddened as she read.
She wiped away the fresh tears and typed back: “I asked Liang Shi. The Liang family can’t help us.”
This time her mother sent a voice message. “It’s all right. The Liang family has done more than enough for us. You haven’t rested yet? Has your sister been any trouble?”
Xu Qingzhu replied: “Yaya’s been good.”
She chatted with her mother a while longer. Her mother apologized over and over, soothing her emotions.
She also said Minghui hadn’t reached a dead end yet. Her father could hold on.
Minghui Jewelry was a family business passed down from her great-grandfather. But her father truly had no head for business.
The business had begun declining within a few years of reaching his hands.
Even after securing a thirty-million financing round just months ago, bankruptcy was still inevitable.
Xu Qingzhu thought for a moment, then sent a message to her father: “I plan to join the company.”
