Chapter 40: The Submissive, Obsessive Top Student Part 2

Then, regretfully, “If you don’t have time, you can leave.”

Shi Qingyi forced a smile. “Thank you. I’ll wait a bit longer.”

The cold wind and rain battered her, soaking her through. She hadn’t brought an umbrella, just stood there. Her long hair clung to her temples. The rain grew heavier, nearly blinding her.

As dusk fell, in the night, only that pale, cold face was visible—ghostly white.

Jiang Zhiyi sat by the second-floor window, parting the curtains to watch her quietly. Her hand unconsciously gripped the blanket on her lap.

Her heart began to ache the moment she saw this person, the pain so intense she could barely breathe. The stump throbbed too. She didn’t know if it was the old ailment from the autumn rain or the woman outside.

In that car crash three years ago, Song Zhiming had gone mad, crushing over and pulverizing her leg. Amputation or death—she lost a leg, covered in countless scars. When she woke, the girl she loved had fled to a foreign land.

Her father loomed by the window, looking down at her dying form like something repulsive. “You’ve ruined Qingyi’s future. She’s gone abroad. I’ll give you some money. You’d better never show your face in front of her again.”

Her tears rolled down unchecked, and she stifled her sobs until not even a sound escaped. Her Qingyi did not want her anymore. She had been so humble, so obedient, yet she still did not want her.

It was all because of herself—she had ruined her future.

Indeed, on the first day of the new year, a driver killed someone in the bustling city streets. The perpetrator and the victim were top students from the same school and the same class. Police cars and media swarmed the scene, digging up endless details. For instance, the day before the incident, Song Zhiming had seen the results first due to his family’s connections and faced scolding at home. Or that the two girls who were hit were a pair of lesbians.

Even with mosaics blurring their faces, someone still dug up their real identities.

But perhaps in this world, fortune and misfortune were intertwined. The incident drew so much attention that her grandparents found her, gave her the best treatment, and granted her the courage to start over.

Shi Qingyi had gone abroad. No one knew how she had survived those three years—

Her fingers clenched inch by inch, digging pale marks into her palm. She thought she had endured for a long time, but when she opened her eyes, she realized it had only been half an hour before she crumbled.

So many years had passed, yet she still could not bear to see this person suffer.

Shi Qingyi waited outside for a long time. The rain grew heavier, and even the System began urging her to wait in the car instead when the gate finally opened.

The old butler came out holding an umbrella, his voice mild. “Miss Shi, President Jiang is awake. Please come in.”

Shi Qingyi’s tightly shut eyes slowly opened. She nodded and rasped a thank you. A layer of moisture had gathered on her eyelids, and when she blinked, it seemed as if she had been crying—the tears slid down all at once.

Upstairs, Jiang Zhiyi abruptly closed her eyes, her heart stabbing with pain as if pricked by something sharp.

Jiang Zhiyi was on the second floor, where she usually took the elevator. As Shi Qingyi gripped the handrail and climbed the stairs, she felt a wave of dizziness. Her clothes were soaked through, leaving wet footprints on the marble floor, but no one commented.

The lights in the second-floor study were dim. The woman, over twenty years old, sat with her hands crossed on the desk. When she saw Shi Qingyi enter, the corners of her mouth curved slightly. Her missing leg was hidden by the desk, making her look no different from anyone else—just a bit thinner. She wore a white silk nightgown with a white coat draped over it.

She truly looked as if she had just woken up.

“Long time no see.”

Her voice was clear and piercing, sending throbs of pain through Shi Qingyi’s head.

Shi Qingyi keenly sensed her body’s exhaustion after days of sleepless support. For some reason, seeing this person made her feel weary without realizing it.

Her throat burned as she cut straight to the point. “What will it take for you to let my family go?”

Her father might not have told her, but she had already guessed. With such a massive crisis, and Huiteng firmly in control, Jiang Zhiyi refusing to budge—it was all hopeless.

Jiang Zhiyi looked at her with faint surprise. A flicker of loneliness crossed her expression before she quickly smirked mockingly. “I thought you’d at least ask how I’ve been first. Or inquire about that car accident three years ago.”

Shi Qingyi drew a soft breath but said nothing. Her gaze involuntarily drifted to Jiang Zhiyi’s leg.

Hidden under the desk was an empty pant leg.

Noticing her stare, Jiang Zhiyi slowly smiled, her voice laced with casual indifference. “You think it’s just the leg?”

Her hand was slender and pale, as if it rarely saw sunlight—frail and weak. She pressed it to her forehead, brushing aside the brown hair that covered it and her temple. Her tone turned eerily sinister. “Do you remember when you shoved me away back then, Miss Shi?”

Beneath the cover of her brown hair was a scar running from her brow to her temple—ghastly, marring the beauty of her entire face. It looked like it had been sliced by some sharp blade, leaving a finger-length mark.

Shi Qingyi’s hand twitched inside her sleeve. She tried to speak, her lips parting and closing several times, but no words came out.

The System stayed silent alongside her, playing dead.

Three years ago, she had not even waited for Jiang Zhiyi to wake before her father sent her abroad, cutting off all contact with the country. She only knew Jiang Zhiyi had survived. The System had vaguely assured her it could not be worse than paraplegia.

Now she knew that “not worse” meant about the same.

The woman across from her seemed to chuckle, amused by Shi Qingyi’s shocked expression. She leisurely eyed her drenched, pitiful state. “Didn’t you come to beg me for mercy? Fine. Take off your clothes, and I’ll consider it.”

“You’ve always known exactly what I feel for you, haven’t you?”

Three years ago, you knew full well what I felt, and you still left me.

The person opposite froze. For a long, long time, the room was utterly silent. Jiang Zhiyi watched her with furrowed brows and a smiling face, her expression one of inevitable triumph. But her hands unconsciously tightened.

Am I humiliating her too much? Is this going too far? She’s always been so proud and unrestrained—

She did not dwell on it long. The drenched woman opposite closed her eyes and rasped, “Okay.”

After the drenching rain, her pale hands began unbuttoning her shirt one by one. Button after button, Jiang Zhiyi watched without flinching. The other woman’s hands shook more with each one until she finally squeezed her eyes shut, tears streaming down her jawline.

Her face was deathly pale, dark circles under her eyes, but her forehead and earlobes flushed unnaturally red. Even her lips trembled.

Jiang Zhiyi suddenly sensed something wrong and jerked her gaze up. The woman nearby seemed to finally give out, gripping the desk edge as she slowly slid down. Jiang Zhiyi desperately wanted to rush forward, but with the slightest movement, her remaining stump knocked against the wheelchair.

She wanted to flip the damn wheelchair over.

“Qingyi…”

…

She seemed to have another dream, still of that horrific car crash. She became a transparent ghost, watching everything unfold in that small hospital room.

The disfigured, amputated girl wheeled herself to the rooftop. The wind was fierce, tousling her hair across her face.

The girl she loved had left. Her studies were ruined, her guaranteed admission spot given to someone else. Her injuries might not even heal by gaokao. Someone offered her a large sum of money, but as a cripple, she could not even hold onto it—vampires drained her dry.

What was the point of living? Better to jump and end it all. She struggled to wheel herself to the rooftop edge, aiming to hurl herself through the gap.

If I die, I won’t have to suffer like this anymore, right?

“No… don’t…”

In the bathtub, the woman’s pale lips began to tremble as if trapped in a nightmare. Her fingers clawed at the tub edges, emitting sounds of struggle.

A warm, damp towel gently wiped her forehead, clearing the cold sweat. Someone softly patted her back, stroking her tense body over and over. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here. Right here…”

The person lost in the panicked dream was finally pulled from the nightmare. Her eyes flew open, unnaturally bright. For an instant, she did not react, instinctively grabbing the nearest person.

Her fingers gripped tighter and tighter, clamping the wrist until bruises formed. That person did not pull away, letting her hold on.

It took a while for Shi Qingyi to gradually come to her senses. She found herself in a bathtub somewhere, naked, with someone behind her gently wiping her forehead and back, adjusting the water temperature just right.

“You’re finally awake…” A warm, gaunt jaw rested on her shoulder. The person behind sighed in relief. “You scared me to death.”

The voice was soft and tender, yet carried a strange, shadowy undertone.

“Familiar, isn’t it? This is how you tricked me back then, only to abandon me. Right? Being outed as lesbians ruined your prospects as Miss Shi, didn’t it? You shoved me away between life and death to save yourself. My face is ruined, my leg gone—and you just tossed me aside? Now, for the company and your father, you’re being nice to me again, Qingyi…”

She murmured her name softly, in a coquettish tone that somehow chilled with isolation. As if recalling something, she suddenly pressed somewhere, and piercingly cold water surged into the tub of warm water.

Shi Qingyi shivered and sighed. “Back when you were at my house, you deliberately used cold water to make me feel sorry for you, didn’t you?”

Back then, drenched in the rain, she had curled up in the neighborhood crying like a kitten. Shi Qingyi dragged her home, and after the bath, her body was still icy cold, shivering insecurely as she slept beside her.

After Shi Qingyi left, she discovered the bathroom switch had been tampered with—she had deliberately rinsed herself with cold water post-bath to freeze solid, then pitifully huddled against her.

The person behind stiffened, then burst into laughter—strange laughter. Her teeth caught the fragile skin on Shi Qingyi’s shoulder and bit down gently. “So, you knew. You knew, and you still abandoned me? You knew I’ve always been ruthless for what I want, didn’t you?”

Whether in the past or now.