Chapter 8: Scum’s Redemption – 3

Su Zhiyi walked into the hospital room carrying an armload of bags, setting them down on the bedside table.

Gu Xizhou’s gaze followed her every step, her eyes widening when she saw the pile of fruit and takeout containers.

0820 was screaming frantically in her mind: “Why would Su Zhiyi come to see you? It was weird enough that she showed up in the bathroom earlier!”

“Could she possibly…”

Gu Xizhou unconsciously finished the thought: “Could she possibly what?”

Before 0820 could finish, Su Zhiyi, having arranged everything, turned around and smiled sweetly at Gu Xizhou in the bed. She spoke to Song Qiao, who was equally surprised: “Teacher, you and Gu haven’t eaten yet, right?”

“I brought some Sampan Congee. Would you like some?”

She was so considerate that neither Song Qiao nor Gu Xizhou could refuse. The food was already bought, so they might as well eat together.

It was already early evening. The setting sun streamed through the window, blanketing the cold hospital room in a warm, orange glow.

Sitting up in bed, Gu Xizhou sipped her Sampan Congee in small mouthfuls. Her two ears, hidden beneath her black hair, stood up like a rabbit’s as she silently listened to Su Zhiyi and Song Qiao’s conversation.

Su Zhiyi sat beside the bed with her own bowl of congee, showing none of the airs of a rich Missy. She spoke while eating: “This morning, I happened to take the same subway as Xizhou.”

“She helped me catch a pervert on the train. We went to the police station together to give a statement, which is why we were late.”

Song Qiao looked at Gu Xizhou’s thin frame with some surprise, quite astonished: “Oh… is that so? Gu Xizhou really is more than meets the eye! That’s so impressive!”

Gu Xizhou was too embarrassed to look up, but Su Zhiyi joined in praising her: “Right? Don’t let her petite size fool you. On the train, she was the only one who threw her umbrella at that creep. Super brave!”

Hearing this, 0820 couldn’t help but snark in her mind: “Super brave~ That’s because I taught her well!”

“She was like a rabbit, completely frozen in shock. If it weren’t for me, could she have pulled off such a beautiful heroic rescue?”

Gu Xizhou ignored 0820’s bragging. She sipped her congee in small mouthfuls and, after a long pause, finally murmured: “That was all I could do.”

She was just that small; she couldn’t offer much strength. If Su Zhiyi hadn’t been so resolute herself, they wouldn’t have caught that voyeur anyway.

Su Zhiyi just smiled, her eyes curving like crescent moons: “Do great things with whatever ability you have.”

“You risked your own safety to help me. That was already incredibly brave.”

Song Qiao nodded, adopting her Teacher persona and lecturing: “Right. You’re still young, you need to learn to protect yourselves. You can’t say ‘because I’m an alpha’ and then do dangerous things without considering your own safety.”

“The prerequisite for helping others is ensuring your own personal safety. You are precious. Leave dangerous things to adults.”

Su Zhiyi nodded along cooperatively: “Mhmm mhmm… understood, Teacher.”

Su Zhiyi was a kind, but very smart girl. Soon, she steered the conversation toward the fight that happened in the bathroom at noon.

Concerned about Gu Xizhou’s physical and emotional state, Song Qiao hadn’t yet had time to ask about it.

It was Su Zhiyi who, after finishing her talk, turned to face Gu Xizhou, who was still slowly eating, and asked directly: “Gu Xizhou…”

Gu Xizhou paused her hand and looked up at Su Zhiyi by her bed, her eyes full of confusion: “Hmm?”

Su Zhiyi looked at her face, full of frail innocence, and laughed lightly. Softening her voice, she carefully asked: “You… in the bathroom at noon today, I saw it was my sister hitting you.”

“This afternoon in the Academic Affairs Office, I heard my sister talking. She said you went to the same middle school, and she said a lot of bad things about you.”

Gu Xizhou felt like her heart had been seized, pounding uncontrollably.

Eyes wide, she stared at this gentle girl who was so different from the one in her dreams, and suddenly found it hard to breathe.

What… what was she going to ask?

After being bullied for a year and a half, and enduring over a week of nightmares, Gu Xizhou knew Su Nanfeng’s tactics like the back of her hand.

It was always the same: reversing black and white, lying and spreading rumors, throwing the dirt onto her.

Wasn’t it the same in the dreams?

At the start of the school year, Su Nanfeng tore the suppressant patch off the back of her neck, then pulled down her pants and took nude photos of her, flaunting them like trophies: “This is the price for ghosting me during summer break.”

“If there’s a next time…”

————

In the cramped bathroom, the taller girl pressed down, completely trapping Gu Xizhou in her arms. Toying maliciously with the hair falling on her shoulders, she declared arrogantly: “I’ll upload your photos online. I’ll say you’re a lesbian who used those photos to sexually harass me.”

“Then all the students in your class, and your parents, will know exactly what kind of wretch you are.”

Suppressed by the alpha’s intense Green Tangerine scent, Gu Xizhou shrank back against the wall, holding back tears, stubbornly refusing to let them fall.

Su Nanfeng relished seeing her like that—pushed to the edge of a cliff, teetering yet refusing to fall.

She reached out and cruelly pinched Gu Xizhou’s gland, her voice low with pleasure: “Gu Xizhou, you’d better let me finish playing with you obediently.”

“Only when I get tired of you will you have a chance to escape.”

Gu Xizhou’s body trembled even more violently.

Su Nanfeng suddenly reached out, grabbed her neck, and forced her head up, her face full of viciousness: “Otherwise, don’t even think about getting rid of me!”

————

This was her nightmare. What she had to face was a demon so skilled at manipulating hearts and minds, so full of lies.

Even though reality differed from the nightmare—she hadn’t had her pants pulled down, no nude photos were taken—judging by Su Nanfeng’s past malicious deeds, she couldn’t escape being slandered.

She just didn’t know what kind of crime Su Nanfeng would pin on her this time.

Gu Xizhou’s heart pounded, her hands trembling slightly.

Right now, she was like a prisoner being led to the execution grounds, waiting for the judge to pronounce the crime that would define her life.

Was Su Zhiyi… here to question her, or to help her? She desperately wanted to know.

The young girl’s unease was so obvious. Su Zhiyi watched her slightly trembling frame, like a little rabbit, and sighed softly.

Holding her takeout container, her gaze fell on Gu Xizhou in the bed. She said gently: “I feel that you probably aren’t the kind of person she described.”

“And I haven’t seen my sister for so long. I feel like she’s changed a lot.”

Gu Xizhou suddenly looked up, staring at Su Zhiyi seated by her bed.

The girl was sitting facing the window against the sunset. The sunlight glinted off the amber button on her collar, making it sparkle. In that instant, Gu Xizhou felt like every strand of the girl’s hair was gilded with golden light, utterly sacred.

Gu Xizhou’s mind reeled. Looking at the girl’s eyes, clear as deep pools, her voice reached her ears: “Can you tell me… has she always bullied classmates like this?”

Gu Xizhou’s head was buzzing. She stared blankly at Su Zhiyi, speechless.

Su Zhiyi thought she didn’t trust her. After a moment of silence, she continued: “Don’t worry, whatever you say, I’ll believe you.”

“After all…” Su Zhiyi pursed her lips, offering an understanding smile, “a person as small and delicate as you couldn’t possibly go looking for trouble with two alphas taller than you.”

To say Gu Xizhou had a death wish and provoked two alphas—no one would believe it.

But saying Gu Xizhou was caught stealing and punished for it—that was another story.

But Su Zhiyi knew deep down that this was absolutely Su Nanfeng spreading lies. So she chose to believe Gu Xizhou, and she absolutely refused to believe those slanders.