After Differentiation, My Arch-nemesis Thinks I’m Fragrant - Chapter 33

Shu Youzhan stopped asking around about Zhao Qinglan. She studied in silence, endured beatings under Shu Yu’s hand in silence, and welcomed the various exams of a mundane life… It felt as though her days hadn’t changed much. If she had to say something was different… “Mom, do you remember this?

What is it? A doll? A plushie? Why would she give me this?”

On Saturday, Shu Youzhan was wearing a shirt printed with playing card patterns, sitting on the white wool rug in her room. Her designer grey jeans hugged her long legs, and her toes rested against the edge of the bed. She blankly picked up the gift list from when she was five years old, pointing at the name of the gift Zhao Qinglan had sent, feeling perplexed.

Just this? This had to be recorded in the ledger too? Was this doll made of solid gold or something? Shu Youzhan racked her brain but couldn’t understand why Zhao Qinglan would give her such a gift. On the contrary, Wei Shuangchi, who had sat down beside her on a whim to flip through old photo albums, leaned over to take a look and quickly recalled something:

“You don’t remember?” “When you were little, you had a doll you especially loved. You were at an amusement park and your mother thought you were being too noisy and annoying; she won it for you at a ring-toss stall just to coax you.

As it turned out, you liked it incredibly much—you had to hold it to sleep every night…” “During the Mid-Autumn Festival, some relatives brought their children over as guests. They played with your toy behind your back and accidentally dropped it into the pond. Even after it was fished out, it couldn’t be washed clean.

You cried for days; nothing could comfort you. During those few days, Qinglan came to play with you, but you ignored her entirely.” “A month later was your birthday. She specifically went to that amusement park to buy an identical one for you. She gave it to you on your birthday, but you were so stubborn back then; you just felt it wasn’t the same, and since it wasn’t given to you by your mother, you threw the box aside as soon as you opened the gift…”

Shu Youzhan listened, stunned. It felt like she was listening to a story about herself from another world. Because of Wei Shuangchi’s excellent upbringing, she had almost become accustomed to maintaining basic politeness in front of others. Even when she was angry or furious, she wouldn’t use foul language like a street hoodlum during a fight.

Hearing about this version of herself—infantile, rude, and unable to cherish someone else’s heart—she felt it was hard to look at. Moving her lips, she sat up straighter and touched the name of the gift written on the list, saying softly: “I… did Zhao Qinglan and I have such a good relationship before?” Was it so good that they visited each other frequently? Wei Shuangchi gave her a strange look and shook her head:

“Your memory…” Just as she was about to speak of the past, Wei Shuangchi thought of something. Her gaze drifted toward the window, watching the shadows of the trees swaying against the glass in the wind. After a long while, she finally spoke:

“Actually, there was a chance for the Zhao and Shu families to ease their relationship before. When you and Qinglan were just born, her biological Omega mother did indeed bring her over during the New Year…” “When you were little, you were especially clingy toward beautiful people, and you didn’t understand much back then.

The first time Qinglan came over, you hugged her and wouldn’t let her leave. you insisted she come back the next day and waited expectantly in the living room. I had no choice but to call them and ask.” “Anyway, the two of you really were like sisters back then.” Hearing this description, Shu Youzhan felt uncomfortable all over.

Sisters… That was hardly necessary. She coughed lightly and shifted the topic: “Really? How come I don’t remember at all? In my impression, she always seemed to dislike me?” Wei Shuangchi looked at her with a beaming smile:

“Is that so?” Shu Youzhan nodded vigorously. Wei Shuangchi sighed helplessly: “That must have been after her biological mother passed away.” At this reminder, blurred memories of funeral scenes appeared in Shu Youzhan’s mind. But those were too fragmented, and it felt as if something was warning her, making her unwilling to look back; it seemed some unpleasant things had happened. Wei Shuangchi’s voice rang out at that moment:

“Back then, you asked every day, ‘Why isn’t Sister coming? I want to go find Sister to play…’ Later, I really took you there a few times, but then you weren’t willing to go anymore.” “It seemed to be around the second or third grade of elementary school. You stopped asking about Qinglan. When I saw her again during the New Year that year,

I felt the child’s personality had changed a lot. She wasn’t as cheerful as before; it was as if she kept everything hidden in her heart.” “She still sent you a gift every year. It’s just that in the following years, I don’t know what happened to you,

but you just grew to dislike her more and more. As for friends, you’d change to a new batch every time you went to a new school, yet I never saw you be good with Qinglan again.” Shu Youzhan lowered her head, flipping through the gifts in her hands.

The young Zhao Qinglan had always sent her strange things. After the doll, there were dresses, flowers, and the like—things that sounded like what any little girl would like. However, regarding the memories associated with these gifts, Shu Youzhan had no impression at all. She just thought somewhat wistfully… So, they had once been close.

They had once been intimate and shared everything. But what exactly happened later to make them become like this over the years—unable to speak without disagreeing, and ready to fight at the slightest provocation? Though it was still the years of her youth, looking at the stacks of gift lists in her hand, Shu Youzhan felt as if she had accidentally touched the cold river of time, watching countless fine grains of sand slip through her fingertips.