After clarifying Su Nanfeng’s condition and learning she hadn’t suffered any major problems, Su Zhiyi breathed a sigh of relief. “So, what’s the deal with you and Gu Xizhou? Why did you fight again? Did you bring people to bully her again?”
Su Nanfeng’s mouth twisted downwards. She answered very unwillingly:
“Just like you said, I was getting ready to talk to her.”
“She’s the one who started it. I didn’t hit her.”
Su Zhiyi heard the lack of repentance and the unwillingness in her voice, and felt a massive headache coming on.
“Educating” was a task that should be carried out jointly by parents and teachers. But due to parental neglect, the burden of “educating” Su Nanfeng now fell on Su Zhiyi’s shoulders.
Su Zhiyi took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm: “Talk? Not apologize? You just surrounded her with a group of people?”
Su Nanfeng sensed the change in her tone. She bit her lip and feigned grievance: “Zhiyi… my good little sister, I’m in the hospital. Are you really going to keep scolding me?”
After what happened at school the last time, Su Nanfeng had discovered that her sister harbored an unusually stubborn trust in Gu Xizhou. A trust she couldn’t defeat with her usual pretenses.
On top of that, her mask of the good child had been torn to shreds. No matter what she said now, Su Zhiyi probably wouldn’t believe her.
Her only tactic now, her usual tactic, was to show weakness.
Appear weak before her sister, win her sympathy, and redirect her attention away from Gu Xizhou.
So she had to be good. Be weak. Be obedient. Make it seem like Gu Xizhou was the unreasonable one.
But Su Zhiyi didn’t soften. After discovering Su Nanfeng had bullied Gu Xizhou for a year and a half, Su Zhiyi had looked up a lot of information and consulted relevant sources. She understood that antisocial personality types made up only a tiny fraction of the population.
Su Nanfeng clearly wasn’t born evil. She just lacked discipline and a good beating.
Calm down… stay calm…
Despite telling herself this, Su Zhiyi still felt very angry. Her voice involuntarily rose: “Sis, I’m not scolding you. I’m reminding you.”
“Even now, do you still not understand the kind of damage you’ve done to Gu Xizhou? You bullied her for so long, and then you brought a whole crowd to surround her. Of course she’d be scared, of course she’d fight back. Is that her fault?”
As soon as Su Zhiyi’s tone became stern, Su Nanfeng on the other end turned into a frightened quail: “I just wanted to bring people to help her wash clothes. I didn’t have any bad intentions.”
Su Zhiyi sighed heavily: “If you genuinely want to help her, do it yourself. Don’t make others do it for you. Whether it’s Gu Xizhou or anyone else, I hope you can learn to respect them from now on.”
“Nanfeng, learning to respect and cherish friends isn’t that hard.”
But Su Nanfeng knew she didn’t really have any friends. She understood perfectly well why those people flattered her and fawned over her.
Deep down, she was just like Su Tianyu: cold-blooded, stubborn, unscrupulous in achieving her goals.
Su Nanfeng fell silent, saying nothing more on the phone.
Seeing she’d stopped making excuses, Su Zhiyi softened her tone: “If you need a friend to keep you company, after school starts, I can convince Mother to let me move in with you.”
Su Nanfeng’s mood instantly brightened. Her voice suddenly shot up: “You agreed to live with me!”
Su Zhiyi hummed lightly in affirmation, then added a necessary condition: “But there’s a prerequisite. I don’t want to hear about you bullying classmates again.”
“Cut ties with those so-called friends of yours. For my sake, can you study properly?”
Things that hadn’t been done yet could be promised easily. Su Nanfeng was overjoyed and agreed immediately: “Okay!”
The two sisters soon ended the call. Su Zhiyi didn’t mention her own fainting spell to Su Nanfeng. She just told her to rest well and strive to turn over a new leaf soon.
After communicating with Su Nanfeng, Su Zhiyi, having fulfilled her role as the “parent”, sent a message to Mu Zhilan, who was overseas: “Mom, at the military training base these past two days, sister bullied a classmate again.”
“I don’t know how to guide her. If possible, I hope you can talk to her. Taking her to see a psychologist would be good too, anything. Just teach her, please.”
“Otherwise, I have a feeling she’ll end up on the social news one day, cause some disaster, and die miserably on the street.”
Su Zhiyi had made the matter sound extremely serious. When Mu Zhilan finished her concert and saw her daughter’s message, she was so frightened she lost her composure.
Mu Zhilan immediately called Su Zhiyi back, consoled her, and told her not to worry too much about her sister. Then she called to communicate with Su Nanfeng.
Su Nanfeng was, naturally, full of grievances. She declared emphatically that she had recognized her mistake, had gone to help Gu Xizhou, and was just misunderstood and beaten up for it.
It seemed parents have a natural inclination to trust their own children. Even after seeing the violent marks Su Nanfeng had left on someone else’s child, and hearing those brutal audio recordings, Mu Zhilan still felt Su Nanfeng had merely strayed down the wrong path.
Mu Zhilan was somewhat helpless. She said something similar to Su Zhiyi: “Nanfeng, after the way you treated Gu Xizhou before, she’s going to be afraid.”
Su Nanfeng still cast herself as the victim: “But I sincerely apologized. I really did want to make it up to her.”
Mu Zhilan had to remind her: “But Nanfeng, for a child you’ve hurt, what she needs isn’t your compensation. It’s for you to stay away.”
“Perhaps you’re genuinely repentant. But Nanfeng, given your record, no one will believe your sincerity in the future.”
Mu Zhilan had just finished her concert and was riding back to her hotel.
She sat in the spacious back seat, leaning against the large chair, raising a hand to rub her brow. Her voice sounded very tired: “You bullied someone. The incident was so big. In the future, no matter what you do, you’ll be labeled like that in society.”
“And as you grow up, the title of ‘bully’ won’t be removed. No matter how much you try to make amends, it’ll be useless.”
“And your mother… I will also be dragged along, becoming a bully’s mother. Your sister will become a bully’s sister.”
“In the eyes of society, our whole family is tied to you, becoming villains who bullied others.”
Su Nanfeng said nothing. Deep down, she felt a slight stirring, knowing that everything Mu Zhilan said was true.
She could disregard her own reputation. Even if she died today, it wouldn’t matter. But she cared about her mother and her sister.
A wave of fear washed over Su Nanfeng. After a long moment, she murmured timidly: “I’m sorry, Mom. I’ve caused you trouble again.”
Although Mu Zhilan rarely communicated with Su Nanfeng, and didn’t understand adolescent psychology very well—and could even be considered a failure in family education—
Unlike Su Tianyu and her “hegemonic” ways, Mu Zhilan could at least shoulder her responsibilities.
Mu Zhilan shook her head and said faintly: “It’s okay. I was the one who brought you into this world, to face it.”
“I failed to teach you properly, allowing you to bully your classmates.”
No one had ever said anything like that to Su Nanfeng. Su Tianyu always just blamed everything on her.
Bad grades? It was her fault for playing musical instruments.
Hanging out with Ding Yi and the others? Occasionally, she’d get a hint of approval, that in business, you need to make useful friends.
In her social circle, there were only two categories: useful and useless.
She yearned for her mother, longed for her mother’s care. In the torment of year after year of not receiving it, that longing had twisted into hatred.
But when her mother was honest with her, Su Nanfeng was still deeply moved.
Su Nanfeng felt a sour swelling in her nose, her eyes brimming with hot tears. Her voice broke as she spoke: “It’s not like that, Mom. It’s my fault. I’m a bad kid…”
She was crying, and this time, her tears were far more genuine than the false ones she’d shed before.
Whether a child is sincere—a mother can usually sense it. Mu Zhilan finally breathed a sigh of relief: “Nanfeng, no one is born a bad child.”
“You’re just too young. You strayed onto the wrong path, but it can still be corrected.”
“The harm you’ve caused can’t be undone. Even if you’re sincere, you might never receive Gu Xizhou’s forgiveness in your lifetime. Remember the pain you felt when you were beaten last night. Before you felt that pain, Gu Xizhou had been tasting it for over a year.”
“Your mother feels heartbroken and guilty about this. I can’t offer Gu Xizhou any real spiritual compensation.”
“But Nanfeng, you can control yourself. Don’t let yourself bully classmates again, don’t make others feel that pain.”
Since she had brought Su Nanfeng into this world, besides protecting her, she had one other duty.
To teach her how to be a person. A kind, upright person who doesn’t harm others.
Maybe Su Nanfeng would grow up to be a complete failure, and that would be okay. But Mu Zhilan couldn’t accept her child bullying others.
It was a mistake, and it needed correction.
“If you can’t control yourself, Mom can take you to a doctor, take you for treatment… But please, don’t hurt anyone again, okay?”
Su Nanfeng was burdened with sin, but she was still a minor. Even the law gives them a chance to correct their mistakes, let alone Mu Zhilan.
This rare moment of care made Su Nanfeng choose to obey.
She sullenly hummed an agreement. Mu Zhilan then said with relief: “I’ll be able to finish my performances soon.”
“Mom hasn’t cooked for you in a long time. If you behave, when I come back, I’ll come cook for you.”
A good scolding followed by a sweet reward. Su Nanfeng felt the skies had cleared, the rain had stopped, and she could do anything again: “Okay!”
Even though she’d been thoroughly lectured, receiving the concern of her sister and mother didn’t feel like a bad thing to Su Nanfeng.
She had originally thought her mother and sister would give up on her. They hadn’t. Su Nanfeng began to reflect deeply, determined to turn over a new leaf.
Of course, that was just a resolution in her heart. There were no corresponding actions.
For example, she didn’t tell Ding Yi to let Wang Yiren off the hook, or to disband her little clique.
Nor did she stop having Ding Yi keep an eye on Gu Xizhou.
After ending the call with her mother, Su Nanfeng sent Ding Yi a message: “I won’t be around for this period. Keep a close watch on Gu Xizhou. Don’t let her seduce my sister.”
By the time Ding Yi saw this message, the afternoon military training session had already ended.
Fiery clouds burned across the horizon, dyeing the azure sky a brilliant, vivid red.
Gu Xizhou carried two lunch boxes, walking through the sunset to the infirmary. Su Zhiyi was just getting off the sickbed, preparing to go to the canteen.
As the young girl’s feet touched the ground, a thin, frail figure appeared at the doorway.
Their eyes met. Su Zhiyi was a little surprised: “Gu Xizhou… what are you doing here?”
Gu Xizhou had come reluctantly, urged on by 0820’s chattering. Something along the lines of ‘you already princess-carried her, bringing her a meal isn’t too much, right?’ She braved the burning heat in her ears to see Su Zhiyi.
Freaking hell.
Gu Xizhou thought to herself. Her cheeks flushed slightly, a color even more striking than the sunset clouds.
She walked into the empty infirmary, placed the lunch box on the bedside table, and said to Su Zhiyi: “I brought you food.”
“Your lunch box… Zhang Chuchu found it for me. Here, eat first.”
She thoughtfully opened the lunch box for Su Zhiyi, handed over the chopsticks, her expression very calm.
Su Zhiyi sat on the bed, looking up at her pink cheeks. A feeling of gratitude welled up in her heart.
The young girl looked up at her, her fawn-like, innocent eyes clear and bright, brimming with undisguised mirth: “Thank you.”
Gu Xizhou looked down, gazing at her face. She faintly began to understand why, despite Su Zhiyi possessing a face eighty percent similar to the person she hated and resented most, she felt no resistance towards her at all.
Perhaps it was that dream. In the dream, it felt like she had lived sixteen years. For fourteen of those, she had been interacting with Su Zhiyi.
From the age of eighteen to thirty-two. Relying on those innocent and bewildered fawn eyes, it was enough to wash away and replace that face she detested so much.
Su Zhiyi’s eyes were too pure. Her gaze was too gentle. Like a clear stream, inviting immersion. Or like the sea, encompassing everything, yet dragging one down into the abyss.
In that moment, Gu Xizhou inexplicably tasted a surge of intense hatred. It didn’t seem to originate from within herself, but rather from something attached to her soul.
Driving her to think: If only Su Zhiyi weren’t Su Nanfeng’s sister.
If only that kind of thought had never arisen.
If only they had never met.
If only…
She hadn’t denied falling in love.
But there were no ‘if onlys’ in life. Su Zhiyi was Su Nanfeng’s sister. This was an unavoidable fact, a truth she had to digest.
If she wanted to continue being friends with Su Zhiyi, she had to accept the family Su Zhiyi came with.
That was fate, unavoidable.
But it was fine. Thanks to those glimpses of the future, Gu Xizhou had already understood one thing: Su Zhiyi was Su Zhiyi. Su Nanfeng was Su Nanfeng.
Su Zhiyi was Su Nanfeng’s sister. She hated that point. That was normal.
Su Zhiyi was a good person. She liked that point. There was no contradiction.
The friendship growing between them was normal. Everything was fine.
She absolutely… absolutely would not become like her future self in the dream. For the sake of revenge, she wouldn’t trap herself in a fortress of hatred, trampling on an innocent person and becoming another “Su Nanfeng.”
She wouldn’t become “Su Nanfeng.” She didn’t want to be “Su Nanfeng.” And so, she would accept Su Zhiyi.
In the name of friendship.
