After Becoming Roommates with an Obnoxious Wealthy Heiress - Chapter 52

Was the look flashing in her eyes heartbreak? Or indignation?

Xu Lian set down his notebook and budged his seat inch by inch toward Zhu Lingyi.

Zhu Lingyi did not look at him, and Xu Lian did not speak. The silent atmosphere between the two was like a small world carved out independently within the noisy, chaotic bar.

Feeling somewhat restless, Xu Lian pushed up his glasses and looked up to steal a few glances at Zhu Lingyi. He cleared his throat. “Ahem, that… are you drinking away your sorrows? Do you want to drink together?”

The hand Zhu Lingyi held her glass with suddenly froze. “All these years, and you still haven’t made any progress.”

With that, she tilted her head back, swallowing the remaining half-bottle of whiskey in her glass in an instant. Her fair, sensual Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as she set the irregular transparent glass back on the table.

As if the alcohol stung her throat, she leaned her head back against the bar sofa after drinking, her arms spread wide across the backrest. With a hazy, slightly drunken gaze, she asked Xu Lian, “How am I?”

Xu Lian choked. He probably hadn’t expected Zhu Lingyi to ask him such a question.

In his eyes, Zhu Lingyi had once lent a helping hand during his family’s most dire crisis; naturally, he believed in his heart that she was a hundred, even a thousand times good.

So, he answered truthfully: “You are the kindest person I have ever met.”

It was unknown which word Xu Lian said, but it actually made Zhu Lingyi laugh repeatedly.

“Kind?” She shook her head while laughing. Did she have even a slight connection to that word?

A certain little “white-eyed wolf” (ingrate) seemed to think she was the most loathsome person in the world. The girl would stay far away from her even while walking, and just riding in the same elevator would make her skin crawl with discomfort.

“Do I look very detestable?”

Zhu Lingyi was slightly tipsy, and her words had become bolder. Being in a bar where the crowd was large and voices were mixed, she wasn’t afraid that someone with ulterior motives might overhear her.

Xu Lian did not answer.

But in the spots where the neon lights of the establishment couldn’t reach, Zhu Lingyi’s face was submerged in shadow. She recalled how she had once teased Qin Shuyue, forced her to do things she was unwilling to do, and even made her kneel.

She watched the pride in those eyes a pride that could never be broken, just like the ancient poem says: “The wind and snow press upon me for two or three years, yet I laugh that the wind is light and the snow is like cotton.”

It was a unique, upright stance that fascinated her so much she could hardly look away. Her dark eyes flickered for a moment, and she muttered to herself in a low voice: “I was just frustrated…”

Qin Shuyue finally managed to pay all the fees.

She felt a sense of relief; the moment the receipt was issued, her heart finally settled. She took the receipt and turned to leave, but was stopped by Dr. Li just before reaching the hospital exit. No matter what Qin Shuyue said or how she refused, he insisted on taking her to the inpatient department to see her mother.

Though Qin Shuyue didn’t want to step foot there, she was constantly worried about her mother. She followed him after all.

As soon as they reached the ward, Qin Shuyue’s face was almost pressed against the glass of the door. Deep worry surged from her heart, and fear filled her eyes. Her gaze remained fixed on the thin figure on the hospital bed a body so frail it seemed almost boneless.

“Mom seems to have gotten thinner again…”

“People who are ill always waste away a bit faster,” Dr. Li suggested. “Are you really not going in to take a look?”

Qin Shuyue’s hand rested on the doorknob; as long as she pressed down gently, the door would open. But her hand was trembling; it seemed exceptionally difficult, filled with hesitation and indecision.

For a long time so long that Qin Shuyue felt her legs go numb she finally snapped out of it. Her hand naturally dropped back down.

She shook her head, just as before. “No…”

Dr. Li, however, saw the fear in her heart. “Can you still not accept it?”

Qin Shuyue lowered her gaze, her voice trembling. “I don’t want to see Mom covered in tubes… I, I feel like she’s in so much pain, so much pain…” By the end, her voice was weak, nearly fading into silence.

Qin Shuyue shook her head in agony. After several years, her memory still remained at the time when her mother was in her prime; she refused to let the diseased and broken body be etched into her mind.

A flash of emotion appeared in Dr. Li’s eyes, but reason quickly took over. “Are you not prepared to give up?”

Dr. Li’s tone wasn’t as stern as the first time; it was softer, carrying a hint of a consultative tone.

Qin Shuyue’s gaze shifted, her eyes seemingly caught in a struggle. She nervously clenched her hands, rubbing them together repeatedly. But in the end, her furrowed brow relaxed, and she shook her head. “I won’t give up.”

“Just what are you doing this for?”

Dr. Li found it truly strange. He had seen so many patients and so many family members; anyone who heard the words “malignant tumor” would face it like a formidable enemy. Even if they came with hope, they usually left in disappointment. No one had ever been like Qin Shuyue—knowing it couldn’t be cured yet still insisting on trying, jumping into the fire.

Her stubbornness was something Dr. Li could not understand. If it were him, he would have given up. After all, one person shouldn’t drag down an entire family, right?

But he forgot that in Qin Shuyue’s “entire family,” only her mother was left.

What for…

Qin Shuyue was stunned when she heard Dr. Li ask her this. What was she doing it for? She shook her head; she didn’t know either. She was just obsessively wishing everything could go back to the way it was.

A happy family, a gentle mother, a kind father, and a grandmother who would always secretly hand her money to make sure she went to school. And herself. The self of the past.

She just wanted her mother to make her a bowl of porridge again, to tie her hair one more time. Was this wish really so big? Then why was it so hard to achieve?

No one knew what she was thinking, and she would never speak these words aloud. Even though she knew all of this was beyond saving, she still couldn’t accept it. Stubbornly, she walked a path of no return.

Qin Shuyue suddenly seemed to have an epiphany. She crinkled her eyes and smiled beautifully. “Dr. Li, Mom will wake up, right?”

Dr. Li sighed. This sentence was identical to the one spoken years ago by the little girl who knelt beneath the operating table, begging him to save her mother.

Back then, she had frantically torn up one “Waiver of Treatment” agreement after another, kneeling in front of the operating room door night after night, praying to every deity in existence. Finally, she had sat numbly in front of her mother whose body was covered in tubes and whose skin was so severely burned that her features were unrecognizable.

She had quietly asked Dr. Li when he walked up behind her: “Doctor, Mom will wake up, right?”

At that time, Dr. Li had shaken his head; he didn’t dare guarantee anything and could only say, “Perhaps.”

Today, Qin Shuyue asked Dr. Li the same question, and he still didn’t know how to answer. After a long silence, Dr. Li finally spoke: “Qin Shuyue, you need to think this through. Once you decide on the surgery, there is a 98% chance your mother will die on the operating table. Even so, you still refuse to give up?”

Dr. Li wasn’t bluffing. This was the probability the hospital had estimated after comprehensively evaluating various metrics. 98% in other words, certain death. The success rate was minuscule.

Qin Shuyue, however, gave a light smile. “If a hundred people do it, won’t two of them survive?”

She still held onto this kind of wishful thinking. Seeing that he really couldn’t persuade her otherwise, Dr. Li could only give up.

“Prepare 350,000 [Yuan] first. Your mother’s situation is special; there can be no oversight with the medical equipment.” Dr. Li pulled out his phone and opened the calendar. “Collect the money within three months. During this period, you must continue to pay the hospitalization fees.”

The corner of Qin Shuyue’s mouth twitched. She had originally wanted to smile, but she found she couldn’t, so she gave up. She stood up and slowly walked toward the elevator. Her back seemed slightly hunched, and the light from the window dragged her shadow out very long as she moved forward inch by inch.

From that day on, Qin Shuyue’s life became even busier. Even during the National Day holiday in October, she was barely off her feet. Because holiday wages were tripled, she had to hold onto the opportunity no matter what.

In just seven days, with the support of two jobs a day, she earned 8,000. During these seven days, in order not to disturb Zhu Lingyi, she even pushed several chairs together in the shop to sleep.

The days were a blur of activity, and Zhu Lingyi’s days were not quiet either.

In the past, during weekends, Zhu Lingyi would wake up and see Qin Shuyue’s back as she worked with the maids on the first floor. Sometimes she would help the maids organize the dormitory or make breakfast for her. Though Zhu Lingyi had a sharp tongue, she would still finish everything on the plate with a look of feigned disgust.

But during these seven days of National Day, she hadn’t seen Qin Shuyue’s shadow.

Great, now she doesn’t even come home? She really doesn’t take me seriously.

Zhu Lingyi gripped her pen tightly, lost in thought.

Knock, knock. Assistant Jiang knocked politely on the door. “Miss Zhu, the finalist list for the school arts festival is out. Would you like to see it?”

Zhu Lingyi gave a soft “Mm.” “Come in.”

Jiang Feiwan pushed the door open and walked in, spreading the list out in front of Zhu Lingyi.

Zhu Lingyi glanced at it as a matter of formality, just as she always did. She was about to tell Jiang Feiwan to take the list away when she seemed to see something. Her expression froze as she stared deeply at the name in the bottom right corner of the list, confirming she hadn’t misread it.

She curled her lips slightly and looked away from the list, glancing up thoughtfully at Jiang Feiwan.

Jiang Feiwan was stunned. She hurried to look down at her clothes. Everything was fine; it was the custom work uniform Zhu Lingyi had tailored for her. She was wearing her necklace and earrings, and she was surely wearing makeup… Uh, why is the boss looking at me with that half-smile…

She felt somewhat terrified and inexplicably guilty, though she didn’t know what she was guilty of.

“Where has Qin Shuyue been these past few days?”

Jiang Feiwan blinked. She thought it was because she hadn’t done something well, but it turned out the boss was just asking about Miss Qin’s whereabouts. As a qualified assistant, she naturally had to be prepared for everything. Predicting the boss’s intentions was the best shortcut to a promotion and a raise.

Jiang Feiwan smiled triumphantly. “Miss Qin has been working at a restaurant and a Hanfu shop these past few days.”

“And at night? Where does she sleep?”

Since Qin Shuyue wasn’t returning to the dormitory at night, could she be staying at a friend’s house?

Jiang Feiwan was taken aback; she didn’t actually know where Qin Shuyue was staying. There was no registration information for Qin Shuyue at nearby hotels or guesthouses. She shook her head. “There is no registration info for Miss Qin at hotels or guesthouses. However, I reasonably guess that Miss Qin should be staying at the shops.”

It wasn’t that her guess was particularly sharp, but rather that after following Zhu Lingyi for years and dealing with a mountain of internal company messes every day, she knew the drill. Zhu Lingyi was a workaholic who never rested until the job was done; as her life assistant, Jiang Feiwan had no choice but to work overtime at the company with her.

Zhu Lingyi had a sofa to sleep on, but Jiang Feiwan wasn’t so lucky. She had to sleep on the hard floor. After sleeping there for several days, her back nearly broke… for several days at work, she was sluggish and lacked energy.

Zhu Lingyi lowered her head, seemingly weighing the likelihood of this being true. “Why?”

After asking this, Zhu Lingyi felt she was being too affected. She gave a light snort and stopped speaking, her gaze slowly moving back to the list. She stared at the name in the bottom right corner for a long time, and as if thinking of something, her eyes flickered.

She handed the list back to Jiang Feiwan and said with a half-smile, “Every year the reward is a trophy plus a 1,000-Yuan dining voucher. How boring…”

Hearing this, a vague suspicion rose in Jiang Feiwan’s heart, but she didn’t dare make a decision for her boss. So, she held the list and stood quietly beside her, listening.

The image of Qin Shuyue diligently cleaning the dormitory flashed through Zhu Lingyi’s mind, and her heart stirred slightly. Changing her tune, she said: “For this year’s arts festival champion, the Zhu Group will provide an additional 100,000-Yuan artistic incentive fund, to be paid directly to their personal account.”

As soon as Jiang Feiwan heard this having developed a deep tacit understanding over the years, otherwise Zhu Lingyi wouldn’t have kept her as a life assistant with a multi-million annual salary she understood her boss’s meaning almost instantly.

Zhu Lingyi, she was.

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