After Redeeming the Female Lead, I Faked My Death and Escaped - Chapter 26.2

“Emergency treatment?” Gu Qingzhu murmured, repeating the words. “Why? What happened to her? What’s the date today?”

Why was Ying Xu in emergency treatment?

What had happened?

Was she still trapped in a dream, not yet awake?

Then what was all this around her? What was that pain just now?

She lowered her eyes, looking at her arm. Outside the window, a blizzard raged.

An uncontrollable thought surfaced in Gu Qingzhu’s mind.

If she jumped from here whether it was a dream or not.

Wouldn’t everything just end?

Until, in her ear, Assistant Lu gathered her courage: “Miss Ying… found out about your, relapse. The doctors said her condition is very serious.”

“So,” she whispered, “do you want to go see her? Qingzhu?”

Gu Qingzhu’s dark, brooding eyes suddenly lifted.

In that moment, all the blood in her body turned ice-cold.

Ying Xu opened her eyes.

A blinding white filled her vision.

[Host. The female lead is currently stable. Congratulations, you’ve successfully saved yourself from mortal danger.]

What kind of taunt was this?

Ying Xu remained silent. She lay on the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling until her eyes ached, then finally closed them.

Even after collapsing completely, she had retained a faint awareness. The Gu family’s staff acted swiftly, rushing both of them to the hospital.

Throughout the process, Ying Xu remained acutely conscious, but her body experienced sudden cardiac arrest. After a prolonged struggle in the emergency room, she was finally wheeled back to her ward.

The servants contacted Shan Qiaoyun, and this time, even the Beta’s expression was far from relaxed. She stayed outside the ward the entire time, and every word she exchanged with the doctors was heard clearly by Ying Xu.

“If the resuscitation fails.”

“Survival would be a miracle, but if there are minor complications, we can actually accept that.”

Complications were acceptable.

The life was Ying Xu’s, how dare Shan Qiaoyun say such a thing?

Just how, how could she be so arrogant?

Having brushed with death, Ying Xu’s resentment toward everything reached its peak.

It wasn’t just Shan Qiaoyun. Every time she closed her eyes, the lingering whisper of the Omega calling “Xu Ying” echoed in her ears.

But this time, even Ying Xu couldn’t bring herself to say the words she once had, that if Gu Qingzhu was truly so attached, she should just go find Xu Ying herself.

Wasn’t this how the Omega had acted all along? And yet, it was Ying Xu who had stopped her from pursuing her devotion.

In the silence, Ying Xu finally sat up slowly.

Outside the ward, someone had been monitoring her condition, which was precisely why Ying Xu deliberately drew their attention.

The door opened, and a nurse asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ying Xu’s voice was hoarse. “I’d like to speak with Madam Shan.”

This hospital was under the Sheng family’s name practically a fiefdom of its own.

Shan Qiaoyun’s words had reminded Ying Xu once again that in this world, those with power could kill, whether through public opinion, “accidents,” or even with a heart full of sincerity.

This time, Shan Qiaoyun didn’t put on her usual ostentatious display.

Yet the moment the Beta laid eyes on Ying Xu, she let out a long sigh.

“Miss Ying,” Shan Qiaoyun said, “you’ve had a hard time.”

Only in front of Shan Qiaoyun could Ying Xu reveal a fraction of her true self.

Calmly, she asked, “How is Qingzhu? Is she alright?”

“The wound has been stitched up.” After a brief pause, Shan Qiaoyun added, “Twice.”

Twice?

“After regaining consciousness, she struggled to leave and tore the stitches in the process.” Shan Qiaoyun sighed, looking utterly exasperated. “If Miss Ying’s greatest virtue is devotion, Qingzhu’s would probably be endurance.”

The stitches had been tight, yet a casual “tore them” glossed over the agony of the ordeal.

What kind of virtue was endurance?

Ying Xu had no intention of pitying Gu Qingzhu.

But in Shan Qiaoyun’s words, that suffering might as well not have existed. This same cold, detached superiority had been directed at Ying Xu just days ago.

“Which ward is she in?” Ying Xu asked again, her voice heavy. “I want to see her.”

Shan Qiaoyun arched a brow. “Miss Ying must be aware of how unsavory your reputation is right now. If you approach Qingzhu at such a time, and if someone with ulterior motives spins it”

Now that she no longer needed to beg, Shan Qiaoyun’s tone had regained its usual haughtiness.

“I just want to see her,” Ying Xu murmured. “Even if it’s just a quick glance from the shadows.”

Hearing the pleading note in Ying Xu’s voice, Shan Qiaoyun sneered inwardly.

Ying Xu’s earlier harsh words had driven Gu Qingzhu to the brink, leaving Shan Qiaoyun shut out for an entire week, even her days at the company had been miserable.

If she had known it would come to this, why had she acted so recklessly before?

Shan Qiaoyun’s disdain for Ying Xu grew, but the reason she had waited here was precisely to “discuss” this matter with her.

Only when the Alpha once again parted her lips to plead did Shan Qiaoyun finally respond with affected reluctance.

“Rather than this matter, Miss Ying should perhaps pay more attention to Qingzhu’s condition,” Shan Qiaoyun said. “Qingzhu is a kind person. If anyone else had saved her, she would be deeply grateful. But if it were Miss Ying”

Gu Qingzhu would most likely feel so “guilty” that she might be driven to seek death again.

Hatred might perhaps transform into love, but guilt mixed with schemes and deceit would only push people further apart.

Ying Xu thought Shan Qiaoyun wanted her to return to the Omega’s side, just like the woman’s unrestrained threats during their last trip to the main city.

But this time, the Beta said: “Therefore, I hope Miss Ying simply doesn’t appear at all.”

“Let it be as if someone else had saved Qingzhu.”

Don’t appear.

For a moment, Ying Xu didn’t even understand the woman’s words.

Who did Shan Qiaoyun want to have “saved” Gu Qingzhu?

How could the Omega possibly believe such a lie?

Frowning, Ying Xu thought she must have misunderstood. But just then, Shan Qiaoyun glanced to the side: “Xiao Lin?”

The next second, someone pushed the door open. “Sister Shan!”

The Alpha’s voice was bright and lively, brimming with an indefinable cheerfulness. As she approached the two, Ying Xu’s breath caught.

The newcomer was unusually tall, also dressed in a hospital gown, her long hair loose. Her face bore an uncanny resemblance to Ying Xu’s, with a strikingly prominent teardrop mole under her right eye. Standing side by side, the two were nearly indistinguishable except for minor details.

This resemblance seemed to please Shan Qiaoyun immensely.

Watching Ying Xu’s face pale in stunned disbelief, the woman looked as if she had just tasted the most delicious dessert, her satisfaction palpable. “Qingzhu will be staying here for a short while until she recovers. During this time, Xiao Lin will be learning all about Qingzhu’s preferences from you, Miss Ying.”

“As for you, Miss Ying,” Shan Qiaoyun’s tone carried a hint of approval, “you’ve done very well these past few years. Thank you. The compensation Qingzhu mentioned will be paid to you at half the original amount by Qinghong, and your contract with the company will be terminated accordingly.”

“Congratulations,” she said with a smile. “Miss Ying, you’re free now.”

Free.

How ironic those words sounded in this moment.

Ying Xu had always believed that Shan Qiaoyun indulged Gu Qingzhu’s madness and enabled her recklessly not just because the company needed Gu Qingzhu, but also because the woman harbored genuine pity for her an instinctive act.

Only upon hearing the woman’s arrogant words did Ying Xu suddenly realize that, in Shan Qiaoyun’s eyes, neither she nor Gu Qingzhu truly mattered.

Their relationship, to the other woman, was likely nothing more than a tool needing power to function to generate profit.

So, whatever Gu Qingzhu needed, she would be given.

Ying Xu stared at the face so eerily similar to her own.

The Alpha seemed curious about her, offering a shy smile an instinctive gesture, yet one Ying Xu would never display.

“I understand,” Ying Xu said, forcing a faint smile, her disgust for all of this reaching its peak. “I’ll do my best to teach Miss Lin everything I know, and once this is over”

“I’ll leave Qingzhu.”