After My Death, I Became a Heartless Madman - Chapter 68

Song Shizhou’s injuries weren’t too severe. She was transferred from the emergency ward to a regular one, and the doctor in charge assured her that she was mostly fine. A mild concussion wouldn’t cause significant harm, though the recovery period might be a bit long. If she was worried, she could stay in the hospital a little longer.

Ms. Chen was deeply concerned about Song Shizhou’s condition and immediately decided to extend her hospital stay.

Xiao Zhao hadn’t initially known about Song Shizhou’s injuries. It was only after seeing the news report about the explosion that she realized something might have happened. When her tentative call to Song Shizhou went unanswered, it dawned on her that her boss might actually be involved in the incident.

Xiao Zhao was terrified.

“Boss, are you okay? How could there suddenly be an explosion? If I’d known it was this dangerous, I never would’ve suggested you attend the Flower Gala.”

Song Shizhou chuckled, not planning to explain her conflict with Feng Yu to Xiao Zhao.

“That’s stretching it a bit, isn’t it? The Flower Gala and the explosion aren’t related. It’s not like you could’ve predicted this.”

“I’m fine. I’ll be back at the studio in a few days. So, how’s it going? Have you been working hard as the manager?”

Xiao Zhao quickly replied,

“Of course, Boss! I’ll send you the sales figures from the past few days. After you won that newcomer award at the Flower Gala, orders exploded the night the news broke. Business has been amazing lately.”

Along with the sales report came a news article, its cover featuring a photo of Song Shizhou chatting with Master Zhao. The caption read, “…”

The studio had been open for half a year, its performance lukewarm until now, when it finally showed signs of skyrocketing. Song Shizhou was quite pleased, and Xiao Zhao, with the pride of an early investor, cheerfully added,

“At this rate, we’ll be opening a branch soon.”

Song Shizhou smiled.

“That’d be impressive.”

After hanging up, Xiao Zhao sent a long message detailing the fun happenings at the shop. Meanwhile, someone behind Song Shizhou couldn’t resist pressing against her neck, the warm scent of osmanthus tinged with possessiveness. Song Shizhou turned her head.

“Getting upset because I’m ignoring you to chat with someone else?”

Miss Bai bit her lip and nodded honestly.

Song Shizhou pinched her cheek.

“And what should you do about that?”

Miss Bai nestled against her like a small animal.

“Reflect on myself.”

Song Shizhou hummed in approval, smoothing her hair.

Bai Ruowei wasn’t some paper cutout, these little habits of hers wouldn’t change overnight. But Song Shizhou had a knack for correcting bad behavior. When Xiao Bao was six months old and prone to food aggression, a firm but gentle talk had put an end to it.

She combed through the long strands of hair, the delicate fragrance of night-blooming cereus drifting over, almost like a reward.

The silky white locks tangled around her fingers, a thousand threads of longing and impatience.

Miss Bai’s restless pheromones gradually settled. Her lips brushed against Song Shizhou’s ear, her tone faintly resentful.

“Xiao Zhou! I think you’ve gotten really good at interrupting my casting.”

The sulky tone made Song Shizhou laugh. She turned, hooking Bai Ruowei into a kiss.

The kiss wasn’t deep, but the person chased after her lips with several loud smacks, the crisp popping sounds making Song Shizhou’s face flush slightly.

Bai Ruowei rested her head on her shoulder and spoke in a breathy voice,

“Shizhou, if you’re opening a branch, can I be your manager?”

Song Shizhou raised an eyebrow, choosing the obtuse angle between A and B,

“Eavesdropping on my conversations, huh, Miss Bai? Alright, tell me, how should you be punished?”

Those pale green eyes trembled slightly. Bai Ruowei hadn’t expected this person to be so shameless and momentarily had no retort, burying herself in her embrace instead.

The one who should be punished was Song Shizhou, yet she was the one throwing herself into her arms wasn’t that just walking into a trap, asking for trouble?

But in front of Song Shizhou, Bai Ruowei couldn’t help but want to walk right into that trap.

Satisfied, Song Shizhou twirled a strand of her long hair between her fingers.

“You want to be my manager, are you trying to start an office romance?”

Bai Ruowei nodded.

“I want to be with you every day.”

As she spoke, those pale green eyes darkened, her tone laced with unmistakable determination and temptation.

Around her neck was a delicate chain. Gold, such a gaudy thing, seemed out of place on Bai Ruowei, yet this chain was so fine, and Bai Ruowei so pale, that the slender links draped over her fair skin didn’t look vulgar at all instead, they accentuated a certain allure, a hint of sensuality.

Song Shizhou stared for a moment, feeling like she’d seen it somewhere before.

Bai Ruowei arched her back slightly, exposing more of the necklace.

The emerald pendant had been warmed by her body heat. Only when Song Shizhou hooked a finger around the chain did she realize, it was the one she had given Bai Ruowei in her office at the Council.

She didn’t pull hard, but the necklace was fastened too tightly. With just that slight tug, the thin chain pressed into the gland at her neck. An Omega’s gland was far more sensitive than an Alpha’s, and that composed face instantly flickered with a dazed expression.

“Shizhou, promise me this, won’t you? Don’t you want to see me every day? There’s still so much I haven’t told you.”

Song Shizhou smirked, a hint of mischief in her eyes.

“Wishful thinking.”

A sharp pain shot through the fingers tangled in her hair. She glanced down Bai Ruowei had bitten her hard last night, and the teeth marks on her ring finger still hadn’t faded.

She was a very vindictive person.

“I’ll consider letting you be my manager, after you’ve proposed to me a hundred times.”

A hundred proposals for anyone else, it would be nearly impossible. But for Miss Bai, it was almost sweet.

Finally, she could express all that pent-up love without restraint, bringing to life the countless proposal scenes she’d imagined in her mind.

Even if they were in a hospital, they truly had spent a blissful time together.

The day of discharge was fast approaching. When word got out that Song Shizhou was leaving the hospital, Sun Mengchen and Su Ziqing came to visit.

Seeing the two of them, Song Shizhou was genuinely surprised.

Little Sun should have been busy with the Flower Ball affairs, and Su Ziqing was supposed to be studying abroad by all logic, neither of them should have been here.

Lying in her hospital bed, Song Shizhou asked,

“Qingqing, didn’t you go abroad? Why are you back so soon?”

Su Ziqing opened her mouth, ready to launch into a lengthy explanation, but Sun Mengchen cut her off.

“Ziqing’s school is on break, so she came back to the country for a month’s rest. When she heard about your injury, she rushed right over.”

“Yeah, yeah, Shizhou, I heard there was a huge explosion at Dongheng Mountain. Shizhou, your assistant told me you were unconscious for over ten hours. Were your injuries very serious?”

Her voice was full of concern.

The hospital room smelled of disinfectant, but beneath that sterile scent, there seemed to be a sweet fragrance, a blend of osmanthus and night-blooming cereus.

Su Ziqing remembered the scent of Song Shizhou’s pheromones, just as she remembered Miss Bai’s. Knowing that Song Shizhou and Bai Ruowei had reconciled, she wasn’t surprised to detect Miss Bai’s pheromones in the room. But the osmanthus fragrance seemed sweeter than before.

“So fragrant…”

Several oranges sat on the bedside table. Song Shizhou instinctively reached for one but fumbled it. Su Ziqing picked it up for her, catching a glimpse of her slightly embarrassed expression.

That question of Su Ziqing’s perhaps only Song Shizhou could answer it.

Of course, the osmanthus scent had grown sweeter and more alluring, because Miss Bai had been marked as her exclusive Omega.

A faint blush rose to Song Shizhou’s cheeks as images of Bai Ruowei’s relentless, elaborate marriage proposals over the past few days flashed through her mind.

Calling them “proposals” was generous, they were more like outlets for Miss Bai’s unrestrained passion. Now she understood what this woman got up to when bored. The R-rated scenes made her grip the sheets tightly.

No, she mused inwardly, Miss Bai still wasn’t behaving. She still needed to be tamed.

The room fell into silence. After a pause, Sun Mengchen hesitated before speaking.

“Shizhou, I want to apologize to you.”

“If I hadn’t insisted on going to the temple that day, you wouldn’t have run into that person wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“I should have just dragged you away from there.”

The words sounded familiar to Song Shizhou.

Hadn’t Xiao Zhao said something similar to her recently?

She paused, then chose to respond to Sun Mengchen with similar words.

“Mengchen-jie, no one could have predicted what would happen. It was Sister Yu who tried to kill me, I don’t blame you.”

The calmness with which she spoke of the feud with the Song family made Su Ziqing’s hand, still holding the orange, freeze momentarily.

But Song Shizhou acted as if nothing had happened.

“How is Sister Yu doing?”

Sun Mengchen hesitated.

“Not dead, but apparently badly injured.”

Song Shizhou nodded.

Her entanglement with the Song family spanned years, it wasn’t something that could be resolved overnight, nor could it be settled with mere injuries or a couple of lives. But now, Song Shizhou no longer wanted to dwell on it.

She had found something far more interesting to occupy her time, something that made her unwilling, unwilling to waste another moment on pointless revenge.

Like smoothing Bai Ruowei’s ruffled feathers.

Song Shizhou paused, feeling an unexpected lightness in her chest.

Perhaps this was the relief that had eluded her for twenty years.

Su Ziqing set the mangled orange on the table and laughed, steering the conversation elsewhere.

“Fine then, Song Shizhou! You don’t tell me anything, am I just an outsider to you?”

“Your other mother is actually Chairman Chen Ting? Oh my god, this is literally the biggest news in the Inner City!!!”

Sun Mengchen nudged her sharply,

“Keep it down, this is a hospital.”

Perhaps realizing she shouldn’t be shouting in a hospital room, Su Ziqing immediately made a zipping motion across her lips.

Song Shizhou replied,

“Given Madam Chen’s sensitive position, I haven’t publicized our relationship.”

Su Ziqing let out an embarrassed “oh,”

“Anyway, Auntie Chen has finally found you. From now on, Madam Song Lanyi won’t dare bully you anymore.”

Song Shizhou smiled faintly,

“She never dared to begin with.”

Several oranges sat on the bedside table. Su Ziqing had tried peeling one but made a mess of it, juice staining her hands.

Just then, a nurse came in for rounds, and Su Ziqing borrowed a fruit knife from her.

Like all profit-driven industries, VIP patients were the hospital’s top clients. Even if Su Ziqing wanted to eat a whole platter of spicy chicken here, the nurses would do their best to accommodate.

The Flower Nation Conference spanning nearly half a month hadn’t ended because of the explosion. Sun Mengchen needed to return to handle matters there. After saying goodbye to Song Shizhou, the spacious room was left with just the two of them.

Despite her usually carefree demeanor, Su Ziqing was surprisingly skilled with knives. The fruit knife spun deftly in her hand like a gangster’s switchblade from mafia movies.

Soon, a perfectly peeled orange was divided into eight neat segments, the rind adorned with intricate carvings.

She handed the orange to Song Shizhou,

“Thank you.”

Su Ziqing smiled,

“Shizhou, no need for thanks between us.”

Though the scent of osmanthus was unmistakable, she hesitated before asking,

“Have you decided to be with Miss Bai?”

Song Shizhou nodded.

Su Ziqing murmured an “oh,” momentarily at a loss for words.

She’d thought her greatest rival would be Feng Yu or some yet-to-appear wealthy heiress, believing Song Shizhou wasn’t one to forgive easily. Yet after everything, she’d still ended up with Bai Ruowei.

Su Ziqing clenched an orange segment, its juice bursting between her fingers,

“Alright then, Shizhou, I wish you happiness.”

“I did try to drive a wedge between you and Sister Yu before, but I actually understand her.”

The girl gave a small smile that sent chills down one’s spine,

“She was too impatient, that’s why she lost her footing in this battle.”

Song Shizhou chuckled, finding the words oddly familiar.

It seemed everyone she met said something similar.

Except one person.

Perhaps the Inner City was inherently mad. She turned to gaze at the skyscrapers outside towering concrete monoliths where beneath the glamour lay a bone-chilling indifference.

Here, it was survival of the fittest. Everyone was raised with this doctrine.

But she and Bai Ruowei thought differently.

She shook her head.

“Su Ziqing, love isn’t a battlefield.”

Su Ziqing froze,

“Love isn’t a battlefield?”

“But doesn’t everything in this world require fighting for?”

Yet seeing Song Shizhou’s earnest expression, Su Ziqing suddenly felt disoriented.

“Perhaps I really don’t understand emotions, but at least by my side, in the Inner City, or rather in this world, many people share the same thoughts as me.”

Song Shizhou smiled,

“It’s fine, it doesn’t matter.”

These words, these matters, held no importance to the current Song Shizhou.

Because as long as one person in this world thought the same way she did, that was enough.

In the evening, Miss Bai came to pick her up. Seeing the plate of elaborately cut oranges by the bedside, she couldn’t help but pick one up,

“Why aren’t you eating them?”

Song Shizhou handed her a knife.

Bai Ruowei smiled,

“Oh, so you were waiting for me to peel it for you.”

She pushed the small knife back,

“Silly, you don’t need a knife to peel an orange.”

Miss Bai peeled the orange with refined elegance. Her slender fingers worked deftly, and soon a plump, peeled orange appeared before Song Shizhou,

Not a single drop of juice stained her fingers.

Miss Bai wore a dark green suit jacket, a shade deeper than the color of her pupils, yet it made her appear even more extraordinarily noble.

She used the small knife to cut the orange into segments and brought them to Song Shizhou’s lips,

“Bai Ruowei.”

She suddenly called her name.

Miss Bai responded with a hum,

“Someone said we shouldn’t be together.”

Miss Bai smiled and hummed in agreement.

Her smile was radiant yet languid, perhaps due to the days spent entangled with Song Shizhou, her beauty carried a hint of alluring charm,

“The person who said that must be insane.”

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