Gu Xizhou was only 1.65 meters tall, a bit shorter than the average Alpha. But her advantages lay in her good body proportions, long, slender limbs, a narrow waist, and a delicate face that could belie her age.
Typically, a person seeing her for the first time would think her frail.
But Su Zhiyi understood that she was quite sturdy. When she had grabbed the voyeur’s wrist on the subway, Gu Xizhou’s hand had been like the sturdiest iron pincer, holding tight, not budging an inch.
At that time, Gu Xizhou had been wearing a white T-shirt. Su Zhiyi looked down at her sharp jawline, her gaze falling on her shoulders, which weren’t broad but were very straight. As her eyes slid lower, she saw the faint muscles on her arms.
Now, having pushed her sleeves up to reveal her firm forearms and those fierce tattoos, she looked truly intimidating.
Those two bullying delinquent girls, seeing how fierce she was, were so scared their legs went weak. Pressured by Gu Xizhou, they honestly apologized and then fled with their trays.
After scaring off the two bullies, the victimized high school girl kept bowing to Gu Xizhou, tearfully saying: “Thank you, Big Sister, thank you, Big Sister…”
Gu Xizhou waved her hand, not making much of it. Just then, Su Zhiyi stood up and walked over, kindly comforting the girl for a while.
Perhaps Omegas naturally had more affinity than Alphas. Even though Su Zhiyi was taller than Gu Xizhou, her beauty so stunning it was almost unapproachable, that child still buried herself in Su Zhiyi’s embrace and cried.
Su Zhiyi comforted her for a time and then left her own contact information: “If you encounter situations like this at school again, give me a call.”
“We are affiliated with the Minor Protection Association and can provide you with help.”
The young girl was moved to tears. “Wuwuwu… Big Sister, you’re really too kind.”
After that, Su Zhiyi lectured the young girl on the topic of “Anti-Bullying,” guiding her on how to protect herself.
Gu Xizhou sat to the side watching, looking at Su Zhiyi’s gentle voice and persuasive words, her heart felt very conflicted.
Strange. It was like watching a bully reform, a devil become a saint—filled with a sense of absurdity.
Ridiculous. That a skin like “Su Nanfeng’s” could utter such high-sounding words.
Absolutely not genuine, right?
With both Gu Xizhou and Su Zhiyi counseling her, the young girl’s mental state was much better by the time she left.
At nine-thirty in the evening, the two also bought their pastries and walked back to school under the neon lights.
Su Zhiyi looked at Gu Xizhou, who was half a head shorter by her side, and hesitantly spoke: “If you don’t mind me asking, those tattoos on your arms…”
Gu Xizhou was sheepish. “That… when I was friends with Nanfeng before, we went to get them together.”
Su Nanfeng was a very neurotic person. Since Alphas couldn’t mark each other, she had dragged Gu Xizhou on a whim to get tattoos on their backs, just as a mark.
That was during the Christmas of their senior year of high school. The tattoo design was chosen by Su Nanfeng. It took a very long time and was so painful Gu Xizhou could barely stand it.
After Su Nanfeng’s incident, Gu Xizhou had wanted to get them removed, but the cost was too high, so she gave up.
Besides, after experiencing so many things, the harm Su Nanfeng had inflicted on her was never just a matter of leaving a tattoo.
More of the violation was on her mind, deep within her soul.
The marks branded on the soul, even if the flesh were obliterated, could not be erased.
Su Zhiyi felt something was off everywhere. She bit her lip, her expression hesitant: “Gu Xizhou…”
Gu Xizhou answered impassively: “Mm?”
Su Zhiyi didn’t stop walking but dropped a weighty question: “When you were friends with Nanfeng before… did you do a lot of bad things?”
Gu Xizhou was somewhat surprised. After all, Su Nanfeng had kept Su Zhiyi very well in the dark. And Su Nanfeng’s drunk driving and fleeing incident had been suppressed by Su Tianyu, at most characterized as youthful indiscretion.
The true Su Nanfeng, Gu Xizhou felt, was not understood by the Su family, nor did they want to understand her.
Gu Xizhou smiled and asked back: “What do you mean by ‘bad things’?”
Su Zhiyi thought for a moment. “Skipping class, fighting, brawling… that sort of thing.”
Things rebellious teenagers could do just about summed it up. Probably nothing worse than that.
That was a good student’s understanding of a bad student. Gu Xizhou laughed inwardly, vaguely disdainful, but outwardly she put on a look of shame: “Mm… more or less, a bit.”
“Nanfeng and I walked a very bad path before. After her incident, I regretted it deeply—that as a friend, I hadn’t guided her well.”
“That’s why I joined ‘Youth Companion’—to help some lost kids.”
How pleasant those words sounded. A child who was chronically bullied, finally forced to integrate into the bully’s clique, did many wrong things, and is now turning over a new leaf…
Naive, sweet girls would surely feel a surge of compassion and trust.
Just as expected, Su Zhiyi turned around, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her: “Me too…”
“I also want to help these children. Whether it’s someone like Nanfeng or the kid we just met, I hope they can be physically and mentally healthy and walk towards a bright future.”
She sounded so sincere. Gu Xizhou couldn’t help but lift her eyes and seriously look at her.
In the slightly chilly autumn night, on the neon-lit street corner, a gentle breeze blew.
The partly-familiar young woman wore a white, lace-trimmed camisole dress, draped with a light green knit cardigan. A small portion of her slightly wavy hair was clipped up at the back with a shark clip, the rest cascading over her shoulders like seaweed.
The air was filled with the enticing sweet fragrance of a young woman, faintly warm.
Gu Xizhou looked at that face, identical to Su Nanfeng’s, but with a completely different temperament and smile, and felt a blockage in her heart.
Why did Su Nanfeng have a younger sister with such a personality?
Could this be the other face of a true devil—a hypocritical angel?
Gu Xizhou felt nauseous, her stomach even starting to spasm, almost making her want to vomit. But she still put on a very sincere expression and praised: “Zhiyi, you’re really a good person.”
Give me a break. The younger sister of a devil couldn’t possibly be a naive, sweet angel. Even if she were, she’d be a fallen angel with soiled wings!
————
“Urgh…”
On the way to Petrel Island, a student sitting a few rows in front of Gu Xizhou got carsick.
The sour, putrid smell of vomit spread throughout the bus cabin, making Little Gu Xizhou, whose stomach was already unwell, feel like retching. Even though every window was open, Gu Xizhou still felt terrible.
She leaned back in her seat, covering her mouth and nose with her hand, her expression pained.
Beside her, Su Zhiyi opened the bag she was carrying and handed medicine to the carsick student: “I have some motion sickness pills here. Not sure if they’ll help, but take one first…”
“Thanks…”
The students passed Su Zhiyi’s medicine to the person who needed it like a relay.
Gu Xizhou’s head was spinning. She heard Su Zhiyi quietly asking other students if they were okay and thought to herself: This female classmate really is so well-prepared.
Indeed, a warm-hearted person, thinking of every aspect.
0820 knew perfectly well what was going on and remarked sarcastically: “Jealous, are you?”
It didn’t know if it was typical for all Alphas, or if even someone as tolerant as Gu Xizhou could become exceptionally mean-spirited about certain things.
Gu Xizhou was too dizzy to bother with her.
0820, having found no amusement, snorted and fell silent. At that moment, Su Zhiyi, having finished distributing the medicine, turned her head, nudged Gu Xizhou, and asked quietly: “Are you okay?”
Gu Xizhou opened her eyes and met a concerned gaze. “Want to take a pill too?”
Her head was so dizzy, her body felt awful. Gu Xizhou wanted to refuse but pursed her lips in thought and then nodded: “Mm.”
Su Zhiyi broke off a motion sickness pill and handed it to her. Gu Xizhou took it, put it in her mouth, and swallowed it in one go, without even using water.
Su Zhiyi, who had just taken out her thermos, was stunned. “You don’t need water to swallow pills?”
Gu Xizhou didn’t think it was anything strange. She blinked, somewhat innocently, as if asking: Is that weird?
At sixteen years old, the young woman possessed a pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes, long, dense eyelashes trembling like raven feathers, making her look pitiful and adorable.
Su Zhiyi couldn’t help but laugh. She took the cap of her thermos, poured a cup of hot water, and held it out to Gu Xizhou. “Drink it. Drinking some hot water will make you feel a bit better.”
Gu Xizhou looked down at Su Zhiyi’s cup.
It was a deep red thermos, the body patterned with a chubby little tiger, now tied up with various cup-string accessories, looking rather naive and cute.
The cup lid Su Zhiyi held was green. The overall combination was very childlike and playful.
It was a children’s travel water cup, completely incongruent with the elegant aura of a wealthy young miss.
Still… pretty cute.
Thinking this, Gu Xizhou reached out and took Su Zhiyi’s cup, saying softly: “Thank you.”
She brought the water to her lips and blew on it to cool it down, then took a small sip. The warm water flowed down her throat into her stomach, soothing the intense, churning discomfort.
Not knowing if the medicine had taken effect or if it was purely psychological, Gu Xizhou felt much better.
She drank the water in one go and returned the cup lid. “I’m much better now.”
Su Zhiyi smiled, her smile even more radiant than the September autumn sun outside the window. “That’s good. If you still feel unwell, you can lean on my shoulder.”
Gu Xizhou’s gaze dropped to Su Zhiyi’s shoulder, which was higher than her own. She thought silently: She’s so tall.
Just how much milk did she have to drink to get this tall!
