Chapter 18

◎Can I come stay at your place for a few days?◎

Zhao Xuning finished her rounds and came by after ten.

She wasn’t on night duty tonight, so once rounds were done, it was her personal time. She’d come to check on Xu Qingzhu and, finding nothing wrong, would head home.

In the ward, Xu Qingzhu had her eyes closed in fake sleep. At the sound of footsteps, she opened them. Seeing it was Zhao Xuning, she gave a weak smile. “You’re here.”

Zhao Xuning nodded. “Feeling better?”

“Much better.” Xu Qingzhu sat up.

The two weren’t particularly close. It was Xu Qingzhu and Bai Weiwei who were close. They were high school classmates and later college roommates.

They’d known each other for many years. Bai Weiwei and Zhao Xuning, on the other hand, had met online. They played the same multiplayer game together.

For a while, Bai Weiwei couldn’t stop talking about her online friend.

Later, when Bai Weiwei came down with acute gastroenteritis and was hospitalized, the attending physician turned out to be Zhao Xuning. Bai Weiwei spotted her own messages on Zhao Xuning’s phone left in the ward, and the two accidentally met in person.

And so they became friends in real life.

After graduation, Bai Weiwei didn’t inherit the family business. She became a talent agent instead.

Work kept her swamped. She had barely any time to play games, let alone flirt with Zhao Xuning.

And Zhao Xuning’s feelings toward her seemed lukewarm at best.

But Zhao Xuning was too reserved. Neither Xu Qingzhu nor Bai Weiwei could quite figure out what she was thinking.

Back when Bai Weiwei was hospitalized, Xu Qingzhu had been in the ward the whole time taking care of her, which was how she got to know Zhao Xuning.

Whenever she came to the hospital, Bai Weiwei always asked Zhao Xuning to look after her. Over time, the three of them became familiar.

As for the Zhou Yi’an matter, Xu Qingzhu had indeed asked Zhao Xuning.

Because when Liang Shi had played that voice message, Zhao Xuning had been there too. After Liang Shi and Bai Weiwei left, Zhao Xuning made a special trip back and asked whether Xu Qingzhu knew about Liang Shi and Zhou Yi’an’s relationship.

Xu Qingzhu did know some things. For example, Liang Shi had once said to Cheng Ran: “To hell with Zhou Yi’an. A toad lusting after swan meat.”

At the time, she hadn’t known what was going on. She searched the name online but found nothing.

Cloaked gender persons received regular injections of medication. Only those closest to them knew their true gender. Applying to the national administration to become a cloaked gender person brought state protection, and no information about their gender would appear anywhere online.

In exchange, the application process for cloaked gender status was extremely complicated and required a payment of twenty million.

So there were very few cloaked gender persons in the country.

And cloaked gender persons were almost always people who liked the same gender but feared public backlash, so they paid a high price to conceal it.

Zhou Yi’an was a textbook case.

Once registered as a cloaked gender person, the state provided protection from public scrutiny.

After telling Zhao Xuning everything, Xu Qingzhu asked: “Is Zhou Yi’an into Alphas? Or rather, into Liang Shi.”

Zhao Xuning paused, then gave an ambiguous answer. “The answer is what you think it is.”

Which served as enough of a warning for Xu Qingzhu.

That was why she had gone to Liang Shi’s ward.

She originally wanted to ask Liang Shi for help.

Even though she didn’t want to ask, her mother’s phone call left her in a difficult position, so she went to see Liang Shi after all.

But she overheard some unpleasant things.

She’d caught the gist of what Mother Liang had said.

She also heard the mother-daughter argument, which caused her emotions to fray slightly.

But fortunately, she held it together at the critical moment.

How could she turn to Liang Shi for support?

That was Liang Shi.

Although… this didn’t feel like Liang Shi.

“Still thinking about Liang Shi?” Zhao Xuning’s words pulled Xu Qingzhu back from her drifting thoughts. She blinked and pressed a hand to her brow. “No.”

Then she changed her mind. “Yes.”

“Her and Zhou Yi’an, is it confirmed?” Zhao Xuning asked.

Xu Qingzhu nodded. “I called her. I have a rough idea.”

“That’s good.” Zhao Xuning paused, pulled up a chair, and sat down. Her white shirt was buttoned all the way to the top button, her long hair tied loosely. She removed her glasses slowly and deliberately, revealing a teardrop mole beneath the corner of her eye. She held the glasses between her fingers, twirling them idly. “You asked me to come because you want to know more about Liang Shi.”

“Mm.” Xu Qingzhu didn’t deny it. “You mentioned before that Liang Shi showed symptoms of amnesia?”

“Yes. When she first woke up, there were some symptoms of memory loss. I arranged a brain CT, which showed nothing wrong. Her cognitive function and physical health are intact.” Zhao Xuning said. “But she’s been acting very strangely these past few days, as though… she suddenly became a different person.”

“You’ve known her longer. What do you think?” Xu Qingzhu asked.

Zhao Xuning shook her head. “I know her, but we’re not close.”

She had never wanted to associate with someone like Liang Shi.

Ever since they were children, everyone in their circle knew Zhao Xuning and Liang Shi didn’t get along.

That one had been domineering since elementary school: claiming territory, forming cliques, a proper little tyrant. She had two older brothers above her and a wealthy, powerful family. The Liang family back then was even more formidable than now, one of the premier names among Haizhou’s elite.

Over the years, the Liang family had declined.

But Liang Shi’s temperament hadn’t changed.

If anything, it had gotten worse.

Except… after she was kidnapped once as a child, that version of Liang Shi also showed some strange symptoms.

Sometimes in class, she’d jolt awake from sleep and say, “I’m not me. Who am I?”

Spooky and strange.

But everyone privately assumed the kidnapping had left her mind slightly unhinged.

She’d heard that the other kidnapped little girl had been in a coma for two months after coming back, and never spoke again.

At the time, Zhao Xuning didn’t know that person was Xu Qingzhu.

As for Zhao Xuning, she had been cold since childhood, with excellent grades and no interest in socializing. Plenty of people thought she was putting on airs.

Plus, she was decent-looking. Love letters arrived every other week, drawing plenty of jealousy.

Everyone began gender differentiation between fifteen and eighteen.

Before fifteen, nobody knew what gender they would become.

Even so, many people developed crushes before fifteen.

In middle school, a girl Liang Shi liked sent Zhao Xuning a love letter. After school, Liang Shi brought a group of people and cornered Zhao Xuning.

The two of them arranged a fight.

Both came away bruised, but Zhao Xuning won. From then on, Liang Shi never provoked Zhao Xuning again.

Zhao Xuning had always looked down on Liang Shi.

Or rather, she looked down on those second-generation rich kids who threw their weight around just because their family had money.

Which was why Zhou Yi’an also fell into her dislike.

“But she really is very different from before.” Zhao Xuning said honestly. “Suddenly polite, humble, mild-tempered, even somewhat approachable.”

Xu Qingzhu was silent for a moment before speaking. “Is there any chance this isn’t Liang Shi?”

“I’ve considered it. But I checked all the hospital surveillance since her admission and verified her blood type and DNA. Everything proves she is Liang Shi.”

“What else could cause a complete personality change overnight?” Xu Qingzhu asked. “Have there been similar cases?”

“There have been. Some were transferred to the national secret organization for research and locked away for decades. Others were later confirmed to be genuine, deep-seated changes, though usually triggered by a major event.” Zhao Xuning paused. “Which do you think she falls under?”

Xu Qingzhu shook her head. “I’m not sure.”

After a moment, Xu Qingzhu thought of something. “That day during my heat, she tried to force a mark on me. I pushed her hard. Her head hit the wall. It was a really bad impact. Could that be related?”

“Possibly. But I examined her. There’s no blood clot pressing on any nerves, so it doesn’t really look like amnesia. Though other factors could be involved.” Zhao Xuning said. “I’ll run a full-body check on her tomorrow.”

“Will she agree?” Xu Qingzhu asked.

The hand twirling Zhao Xuning’s glasses stopped. With certainty, she said: “She will now.”

“But…” Zhao Xuning hesitated. “Is she not good enough as she is now?”

“She’s very good. Unbelievably so.” Xu Qingzhu said.

“Then why worry about it?” Zhao Xuning said. “Whether she’s a reformed prodigal or someone who’s had a sudden epiphany, what matters is that she’s good enough now. Sometimes people can’t be too fixated on answers.”

Xu Qingzhu let out a small laugh. “You’re right.”

After Zhao Xuning left, Xu Qingzhu lay in bed turning things over.

After a long while, she sent Liang Shi a message: “I lost my composure earlier. I’m sorry.”

Liang Shi didn’t see the message until the next morning. She replied: “It’s fine.”

Then she went downstairs, bought breakfast, and carried it up to the tenth floor to eat with Xu Qingzhu.

The two shared a very quiet breakfast.

Liang Shi didn’t bring up divorce.

She’d already tried. Any message to Xu Qingzhu mentioning divorce got blocked by the system. The system had even appeared briefly yesterday to warn her not to waste her effort.

There were no shortcuts in romance.

She gave up.

After breakfast, Liang Shi politely declined Zhao Xuning’s suggestion for a full-body check, insisted on discharging herself, and asked Xu Qingzhu whether she wanted to be discharged too.

Zhao Xuning happened to come by and said discharge was fine, but Xu Qingzhu would need to rest at home and be observed carefully for two days before resuming normal activity.

So Liang Shi handled her discharge paperwork as well.

On the drive home, Xu Qingzhu sat in the passenger seat without a word, once again wearing that keep-away demeanor.

Last night’s vulnerability and distance seemed to have vanished entirely.

The two of them were like strangers.

As the car approached Cloud Summit Tower, Liang Shi’s phone rang.

The gentle ringtone made Xu Qingzhu open her eyes. She looked at Liang Shi, who was driving. “Pull over, or should I hang up for you?”

Liang Shi said: “See who it is.”

She didn’t dare let Xu Qingzhu answer abruptly.

The original owner’s phone was like a ticking time bomb. You never knew when it would go off.

Even answering it herself was nerve-wracking, let alone letting Xu Qingzhu do it.

Xu Qingzhu glanced at the screen. It was Xu Qingya.

She picked up and turned on the speaker.

Xu Qingya said over the phone: “Sister Liang Shi, what are you doing? Let’s discuss something.”

Liang Shi looked at Xu Qingzhu. Xu Qingzhu simply mouthed: “Focus on driving.”

Liang Shi cleared her throat and tried to sound normal. “What is it?”

“The hotel is too quiet.” Xu Qingya said. “Can I come stay at your place for a few days?”

Xu Qingzhu rejected flatly: “No.”

“Huh? My sister’s there too?” Xu Qingya was frustrated, then added: “I was asking Sister Liang Shi. I wasn’t asking you.”

“I have the final say.” Xu Qingzhu said.

Xu Qingya huffed coldly. “I’m coming anyway. I’m already at your front door. Hurry up and get back.”

Xu Qingzhu: “…”

Liang Shi, resigned, said: “Just wait a bit. Your sister and I will be there soon.”

After hanging up, Xu Qingzhu said: “I’ll deal with my sister. You don’t need to worry. When we get back, I’ll move into the room at the far east end of the first floor and pay you rent at market rate. My father’s health is poor, and the company is having some problems right now, so I can’t divorce you yet. But when the time is right, we’ll go through with it. Is that okay?”

Before Liang Shi could respond, Xu Qingzhu continued: “During this time, I’d like you to keep acting the way you used to in front of my family. Just play along.”

Liang Shi: “…”

Fine. Sure. Works for me.