Chapter 12: Her Lover, the Deceiver

The call had been made from Zhen Yan’s phone. When Jia Hua tried calling again, she found the phone was already switched off. Frowning, Jia Hua walked out of Old Street and hailed a taxi to the location the man had sent.

“Young Miss, there’s an ambulance parked right in front of your destination. Can you get out here? It’s just a short walk, not far at all, right there,” the taxi driver said, stopping the vehicle and pointing to a shop ahead named “Body-Strengthening Stress Resistance Chamber.”

“Alright, thanks.” Jia Hua paid and got out. She arrived just as a man in a suit finished talking to a doctor in a white coat. The doctor returned to the ambulance, the back doors closed, and it drove off.

As the nurse closed the rear doors, Jia Hua, with her excellent vision, swept her gaze inside. There was no one on the stretcher.

Seeing the suited man about to head back into the shop, Jia Hua strode up to him. “Hello. Can I ask where Zhen Yan is now?”

The man looked at Jia Hua as she approached. “Are you Jia Hua? Hello, I’m the manager of this stress resistance chamber, Qin Xiao. I was the one who called you earlier.”

Jia Hua gave a simple nod. “Where is Zhen Yan?”

Qin Xiao’s face showed difficulty, his tone full of apology. “I’m sorry. Just after I sent you the location, Miss Zhen woke up. She took her phone back and insisted on leaving.”

Jia Hua met Qin Xiao’s eyes. “Do you have surveillance footage?”

“Yes, follow me this way.” Qin Xiao promptly nodded and led Jia Hua to pull up the footage of Zhen Yan in the pressure resistance room.

Sitting in the chair, Qin Xiao used the mouse to scroll through the timeline. He tilted his head and told Jia Hua, “Based on our testing, Miss Zhen is capable of entering B-rank or lower pressure resistance rooms for appropriate physical conditioning.”

On the monitor screen, the footage showed Zhen Yan exiting the B-rank resistance room and then entering the adjacent A-rank room.

Pointing at the screen, Qin Xiao said, “Miss Zhen came at noon. Most of our staff were on their meal break and didn’t notice her leave the B-rank room and go into the A-rank one.”

Qin Xiao fast-forwarded through the footage. A series of images related to Zhen Yan played before them: staff discovering Zhen Yan missing from the B-rank room, dragging her unconscious form out of the A-rank room, running to get Qin Xiao, Qin Xiao using Zhen Yan’s phone to call Jia Hua, and finally, Zhen Yan waking up, snatching back her phone, and forcing herself to leave.

After the footage finished, Qin Xiao turned to Jia Hua. “Is there anything else you need to know? We will fully cooperate. As for that A-rank chamber, we’ve decided to lock it up. No one will be allowed inside ever again.”

Jia Hua’s brow furrowed slightly. She nodded and turned to leave, but Qin Xiao stopped her briefly.

He pulled a business card from his pocket and offered it to her with both hands. “This is my card. If you find Miss Zhen and she needs to go to the hospital, just call the number on this card. Our establishment will cover the medical expenses.”

Jia Hua took the card and nodded. “Thank you.” She then left the facility.

In the surveillance video, she had seen Zhen Yan’s legs trembling as she walked out of the resistance room.

A minor, not even an adult yet, actually dared to enter an A-rank stress resistance room. It seems she has no fear of death.

Jia Hua pulled up a map on her phone and followed the route home. She passed by An City No. 2 High School and realized this stress resistance chamber wasn’t far from school. So, the “something” Zhen Yan mentioned on Friday was probably coming here to train her body.

No wonder she was flushed and had taken a shower. The chamber likely forced out a whole body of sweat, making a shower necessary.

Jia Hua walked along the road home, her eyes scanning here and there. If she could find her, fine. If not, so be it.

As she passed the alley where she had once fought four people at once, she spotted someone sitting against the wall from the corner of her eye. Looking closely, she saw it was Zhen Yan leaning against the wall.

Jia Hua didn’t soften her footsteps. She walked up to Zhen Yan and crouched down. “What are you sitting here for?”

Zhen Yan’s eyes slowly focused. She looked at Jia Hua. “Got tired from walking. Taking a sit.”

Jia Hua discreetly checked her over. Zhen Yan’s jacket and pants were smudged with quite a bit of dust. Glancing to the side, Jia Hua saw a banana peel lying near the wall not far from Zhen Yan.

Jia Hua raised an eyebrow, guessing about seventy to eighty percent of what had happened.

“I just came from the stress resistance chamber,” Jia Hua said directly.

Zhen Yan lifted her eyes to look at Jia Hua and gave a simple response. “Oh.”

Jia Hua stared straight into her eyes, speaking seriously: “Are you looking to get yourself killed?”

Zhen Yan lowered her gaze. “No. Just curious.”

“Why did you enter the A-rank chamber? Your body can’t handle it,” Jia Hua asked.

Zhen Yan leaned back against the wall and met Jia Hua’s gaze. “I wish it could handle it.”

A stubborn kid, refusing advice. Jia Hua considered herself not one for lecturing; if she wouldn’t listen, so be it.

She changed the subject. “Are you going home now?”

Zhen Yan shook her head.

Jia Hua stood up and looked down at Zhen Yan’s upturned eyes. Nodding, she said, “Alright. Then you can just keep sitting here.”

She turned and left directly, quickly disappearing from the alley, leaving behind a lonely Zhen Yan and the banana peel that had caused her fall.

Zhen Yan’s gaze remained fixed on the alley entrance, lips pressed tightly together.

Was Jia Hua really not going to care about her anymore?

Sitting in this atmosphere of self-pity, Zhen Yan arrived at a conclusion.

Jia Hua truly didn’t like her at all anymore.

This conclusion made Zhen Yan sadly withdraw her gaze and lower her head. Her back against the gray-white wall, she wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her forehead on her knees.

She didn’t know how much time passed before a rustling sound came from in front of her. Zhen Yan looked up, and Jia Hua’s face suddenly appeared before her eyes.

Jia Hua turned around, crouched down, and rummaged through a large supermarket shopping bag. Seeing Zhen Yan lift her head, Jia Hua smiled. “You’re awake? Let’s have lunch together.”

She pulled out two chocolate bars and handed them to Zhen Yan. “Try this, it’s pretty good.”

Zhen Yan didn’t reach for the chocolate. Instead, her gaze fell on the entire bag of snacks Jia Hua had bought.

“This is your lunch?” Zhen Yan asked.

Jia Hua laughed. She pulled the bag into the space between them and opened it wide, revealing vacuum-sealed packages of various chips, spicy strips, a few bottles of soda, and the most nutritious items were probably the two chocolate bars in her hand.

Zhen Yan: “…Why didn’t you go home to eat?”

Jia Hua: “My moms went to a wedding banquet. I’m home alone; couldn’t be bothered to cook.”

Zhen Yan looked down at the snack bag on the ground, a glint of laughter in her eyes. “You mean you can’t cook.”

Jia Hua shrugged, not bothering to explain that she actually could cook. After all, the original owner couldn’t. She shouldn’t act too abnormal.

Jia Hua shared half the snacks with Zhen Yan, then sat down right there on the ground across from her. “If you don’t want to go home, I won’t either. Come on, come on! I discovered this one chip is super, super delicious. Hurry, try it. I bought a ton of food; it’s enough for lunch for both of us.”

Jia Hua was enthusiastically sharing when Zhen Yan spoke in the next second: “Come eat at my house.”

The words left Zhen Yan’s mouth before her brain caught up. After saying it, she pursed her lips. “I mean, Auntie Hui’s birthday feast at your place was so generous. My grandma has always wanted to invite you over for a meal at our house too. If you don’t want to—”

Jia Hua cut her off. “Let’s hurry, I’m starving!”

Jia Hua tossed all the supplies back into the shopping bag. Carrying the bag in her right hand, she used her left to pull Zhen Yan to her feet, then headed toward the Old Street where they lived.

Being pulled along, Zhen Yan stared at the back of Jia Hua’s head the whole way. The corner of her mouth curved up slightly. She overturned her previous conclusion and arrived at a new one.

Jia Hua still liked her, a little bit at least.

They hadn’t walked long before Jia Hua found the walking position uncomfortable and released Zhen Yan’s wrist. The two walked side-by-side back to Old Street. Reaching the base of Zhen Yan’s apartment building, it suddenly dawned on Jia Hua that she hadn’t brushed her teeth or washed her face yet…

“I’m gonna take this bag of snacks home first. I’ll come to your place for dinner later. Bye!” Jia Hua waved her hand and slipped away as if her feet were greased.

After brushing her teeth, washing her face, and grabbing a bag of fruit from home, Jia Hua went to Zhen Yan’s house to mooch a meal.

Thump, thump. Jia Hua bent her fingers and knocked on Zhen Yan’s rusty iron door. It was soon opened.

“Huahua’s here! Grandma is so happy to see you!” Grandma Zhen smiled as she welcomed Jia Hua inside.

Grandma Zhen handed Jia Hua a carton of milk. “It’s been over a year since you last came by. Glad you’re finally willing to visit again.”

Bumping into someone on the road versus specially coming to play at home were two different things.

Jia Hua briefly reviewed the memories. The last time the original owner forced a meal at Zhen Yan’s, they were out of soy sauce. When Zhen Yan went to buy some, the original owner took the chance to sneak into Zhen Yan’s room to rummage around. She wanted to see if Zhen Yan had received any love letters from Omegas. She found no love letters, but she did find a diary. Quickly flipping to the most recent entry and reading from the back forward, the latest page read: 【I super hate Omegas. I only like Alphas. I want to marry an Alpha as my wife, not an Omega!】

Flipping back a few pages, every page said: 【Hate Omegas】

The original owner felt as though she’d been struck by lightning. She put the diary back and stormed out, slamming the door. She’d never gone to Zhen Yan’s home again. However, she clung to Zhen Yan even more fiercely. Before, she only targeted Omegas around Zhen Yan. Now, Alphas were included too.

Review over. Jia Hua’s smile became even brighter.

As long as she didn’t admit it, no one would know. Besides, it was all the original owner’s doing, not hers.

Jia Hua smiled lightly. “Grandma Zhen, schoolwork has been really busy lately, so I haven’t been able to come. You’re not blaming me, are you?”

Grandma Zhen waved her hands happily. “No, no, Grandma likes you too much to blame you! How could I? Just remember to visit often from now on~”

Just then, the kitchen door opened. Zhen Yan, who had been unseen until now, emerged wearing an apron and carrying a dish. Head lowered, she said, “Time to eat.”