My Girlfriend is a Cold and Aloof Sickly Beauty 229

Chapter 229: An Upright Person

Before Teacher Sui was even born, Ms. Sui and Professor Yan had debated between the names “Sui Jinghao” (Sui Peaceful Good) and “Sui Jingyu” (Sui Quiet Elegant).

They wanted their child to have a peaceful life but also pragmatically considered that a stable government job wouldn’t be bad—”Yu” was an ancient title for a female official. Unable to decide, they let the newborn Teacher Sui choose by grabbing a name written on paper.

Even though she didn’t choose “Jinghao,” Sui Jingyu’s life had been peaceful and uneventful since she could remember.

Her two mothers were both “inheritors of intangible cultural heritage,” open-minded and knowledgeable. Under their care and guidance, Sui Jingyu rarely encountered any difficulties. If anything, it was only when asked about her hobbies and interests that she would become confused.

“Although I like reading and playing the guqin, I can’t dedicate my life to them like my mothers,” she confessed to her two mothers, perhaps because she had grown up surrounded by love and care. “I feel like, even if I pursue a related major or career, I would just be going through the motions.”

“But even if I’m just going through the motions, I’ll still treat my work seriously. And if I’m lucky, maybe after working for a while, I’ll find my ‘true calling’?”

Her two mothers didn’t think this was a problem at all. The fact that their daughter could rationally analyze her future at such a young age was a sign of maturity and growth.

Sui Jingyu met Qi Mu in her second year of high school, right after the division into liberal arts and science tracks.

Her two mothers bought a second-hand villa and moved to the suburbs, fulfilling their dream of a “secluded life.”

Besides reading and playing the guqin, Sui Jingyu also liked making new friends wherever she went.

Her first friend was Shui Shuying, also a sophomore, who enjoyed taking pictures around the community.

“This is called ‘photography’!” Shui Shuying corrected her seriously. “Just like ‘writing novels’ is called ‘creative writing,’ and ‘sticking needles in people’ is called ‘acupuncture’!”

Sui Jingyu found her amusing, and since they had similar tastes and interests, they quickly became best friends.

“I really want to be friends with that ‘Qi family descendant,’ Qi Mu, in our community. I like girls whose backgrounds and names remind me of ancient times!” Shui Shuying said one day, holding her camera and looking towards a certain villa, then sighed. “But I really dislike the Huang family, who are close to the Qi family, and that Huang family descendant is so possessive, anyone who gets close to Qi Mu will be ‘driven away’ by her.”

“There are such terrible people?” Sui Jingyu, close to Shui Shuying, couldn’t help but comment. “Does the Qi family know about this? What about the ‘Qi family descendant’ herself?”

“I think they probably know, but prominent families rarely create conflict with long-time partners,” Shui Shuying shrugged. “By the way, don’t provoke Qi Mu either, being targeted by a mad dog isn’t fun!”

Sui Jingyu, however, felt that she had to do something. Perhaps due to her upbringing, she believed that “for a healthy mental state, you have to distance yourself from harmful people.” Despite Shui Shuying’s repeated warnings, she still decided to approach Qi Mu.

“Suit yourself, just tell me if anything happens, I can protect you,” Shui Shuying shrugged. “It’s good to make friends with someone from a medical family, and if worst comes to worst, we can just hang out together and ignore the ‘bad person’!”

Making friends with Qi Mu wasn’t difficult.

There was only one good private high school in this area—Si Ling Foreign Language School. Although she and Qi Mu were in different classes due to their chosen subjects, there were still many opportunities to “be classmates” during free study periods.

Qi Mu was different from Huang Qi, the Huang family descendant. She hadn’t chosen pure science, but added history, so during history class’s free study period, Sui Jingyu would sit near Qi Mu’s usual spot.

At first, she deliberately avoided interacting with Qi Mu, but after a while, during one free study period, Sui Jingyu arrived early, and when someone tried to sit next to her, she saw Qi Mu entering the classroom and quickly said, “Sorry, this seat is taken.”

When Qi Mu was about to pass by, she reached out and stopped her. “Sit in your usual spot, partner!”

The confused Qi Mu thus became her “temporary deskmate,” but Qi Mu didn’t find it strange. When she was memorizing notes in the hallway during evening self-study, she would also consider the students studying nearby as “comrades,” and if a “comrade” was absent due to their period, she would even feel a little lonely.

However, considering that Huang Qi might be unhappy, she wouldn’t proactively talk to her “comrades” like this.

But this was undoubtedly a good start. She quickly discovered that Sui Jingyu was very organized in her studies, something worth learning from, and Sui Jingyu was also happy to share her study methods, so they both benefited from their conversations.

After being “deskmates” for a while, Qi Mu would also save a seat for Sui Jingyu if she arrived early.

Sui Jingyu, remembering her friend’s warning, carefully maintained a certain distance between them, so even if there were Huang Qi’s spies in the classroom, her actions towards Qi Mu wouldn’t be misinterpreted.

—Actually, she was hoping for a misinterpretation and for Huang Qi to confront her, which might help Qi Mu realize that this person was problematic and escape her control and the information bubble she had created.

Both she and Shui Shuying liked making friends, so they could easily gather information about Qi Mu and Huang Qi’s past and their usual interactions.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk… I would definitely run away if I were her,” Shui Shuying shook her head repeatedly during one of their information sharing sessions at Shui’s house. “That Huang is truly controlling Qi Mu’s social circle! Qi Mu herself is quite nice, but so far, only the Jiang family’s eldest daughter can stay by her side—after all, Huang Qi wouldn’t dare offend the Jiang family.”

“So she only drove away those besides Jiang Mei?” Sui Jingyu frowned. “A bully… what does she want from Qi Mu?”

“My initial suspicion—just treat this as a rumor for now—is that she wants to cultivate their relationship from a young age, so that when they grow up and she proposes marriage, Qi Mu, out of a sense of responsibility and their long-standing relationship, will agree,” Shui Shuying speculated seriously.

Sui Jingyu felt her worldview crumbling. “Can they even be together?”

“Of course! This is common among those old, established families where the children have known each other since childhood!” Shui Shuying shared a bunch of stories she had heard. “To put it bluntly, it’s a toxic relationship where…”

“That’s too harsh! Don’t say that!” Sui Jingyu covered her mouth, frowning, and corrected her seriously, “People trapped in ‘information bubbles’ can’t see the truth, that’s normal, right? We have to first pull her out of Huang Qi’s circle before judging whether she’s worth saving!”

Young and passionate, they always had a sense of “justice” and were willing to do anything to uphold it.

To “rescue” someone, they first had to gain their trust.

In gaming terms, if the “affection level” wasn’t high enough, when there were disagreements on important matters, or when trying to persuade the other person to make a major decision, not only would it be difficult to succeed, but it might also lead to strong opposition and even alienation.

She had to slowly and carefully get to know Qi Mu better, to understand the bond between Qi Mu and Huang Qi.

Was it because of their families’ partnership? Because of some favor or life-saving grace? Or was it simply one-sided manipulation and control, with the other party, due to her introverted personality, being deceived and bullied, unable to resist or escape?

Since she didn’t have many hobbies and didn’t have to worry too much about her grades, Sui Jingyu was happy to dedicate her remaining energy to investigating this matter.

Considering the potential consequences of offending Huang Qi, she didn’t hide her intentions and told her two mothers about her plan, both to inform them and to hear their opinions.

“Although I want to say ‘you have too much free time,’ you’re almost a university student now, and Mommy believes you can manage your time and energy,” Ms. Sui said with a smile.

Professor Yan, however, was very supportive. “If you’re confident and have a plan, then try it. It’s not like we have no connections. We don’t have much overlap with the Huang family, we’re clean. Does she think she can mess with us? She should reflect on her own actions first!”

So Sui Jingyu followed her plan.

She continued maintaining her “partner” relationship with Qi Mu, planning to add her as a friend through the yearbook after high school graduation.

According to her plan, she would need to slowly increase their “affection level” during university, and if she was lucky, she could “rescue” Qi Mu before graduation.

Unexpectedly, one Saturday during her senior year, when she went to the reservoir to shout and de-stress, she saw someone already there, shouting at the water:

“I can’t take it anymore!!”

“I don’t like it! I don’t want to!! Can’t you understand what I’m saying?!”

Sui Jingyu: ?

She immediately recognized Qi Mu’s voice and started brainstorming.

Who was she venting about? Her family? Or… Huang Qi?

…It must be Huang Qi, right?

She remembered that Qi Mu had a good relationship with her family, even buying expensive BJD dolls without hesitation. And her family had also supported her choice of “chemistry, biology, and history” instead of the pure science track, which would have made it easier to get into medical school.

But after roughly deducing the answer, Sui Jingyu wasn’t sure if she should approach Qi Mu.

Putting herself in Qi Mu’s shoes, it would be quite embarrassing to be overheard complaining about someone… although she wasn’t exactly a stranger to Qi Mu, it was still awkward…

Thinking this, she retreated with her bicycle, waiting until the shouts subsided before casually approaching, as if she had just arrived, and “bumping into” Qi Mu, who was about to leave.

“Oh, what a coincidence,” Sui Jingyu feigned surprise, then patted her fishing gear bag, which she used to conceal her true intentions. “Are you also here to fish… uh, you must be here to scout the location?”

Qi Mu hadn’t expected to see her here either. After a few seconds of silence, she nodded. “Yes, I’ll come back and fish after the college entrance exam, during summer vacation.”