After Setting Me Up With My Ex, The Aloof Alpha Regrets It - Chapter 54

Chapter 54: But She really, Really Missed Shi Li.

Zhu Yunqi moved to the side and mouthed “sorry” to the person in the car.

This is enough.

She said to herself.

She had only wanted to come and look at Shi Li from a distance, even just her back. Now, she not only saw Shi Li but also saw her face. What else could she be dissatisfied with?

But she really, really missed Shi Li.

That crazy longing didn’t stop after she had just one look at Shi Li. Instead, it was as if a few drops of water had been sprinkled into a raging fire, making it burn even more fiercely.

The tendrils of longing seemed to have been watered with a witch’s special growth potion. They instantly grew everywhere, wrapping her heart into a dense, airtight green fruit, making it difficult to breathe.

After a fierce internal struggle, Zhu Yunqi made a compromise: since she had a week in the Mid-Star System, she could come over and see Shi Li every day.

How great.

Thinking like this, she was more motivated to inspect the defense line tomorrow. Who said inspecting the defense line was boring? This mission was absolutely awesome!

Zhu Yunqi, in a good mood, pulled out the Sea Serpent Squad group chat and sent a large red envelope with random amounts of money as she left the base.

After thinking about it, she couldn’t let those gossipy women know the real reason for this red envelope. She came up with a very reasonable excuse: “First day of the mission. Everyone worked hard.”

Hai Yao: ??? Why do I only have 0.9 credits??

Shroud: Thank you, Captain Zhu. It wasn’t hard.

Bone Flute: Captain Zhu is too kind.

Manjusaka: Hahahaha, I got 478. I’m just going to go to a bar. Oh, I’m rhyming.

Rusty Nail: @Hai Yao, you only got 0.9 credits because that’s all you deserve.

Selene: Captain Zhu, we’ll work hard tomorrow, too.

Congratulations to Raven for successfully grabbing 39,062.1 star credits and becoming the luckiest person this time.

Hai Yao: …Raven, I unilaterally declare—you are not worthy of being my roommate.

…

Zhu Yunqi left the mech base in a good mood. She didn’t go to the hotel that the defense line’s control center had booked. She booked a room near the base. The scenery in the Mid-Star System was indeed beautiful. There were very few high-rise buildings as far as the eye could see. They were mostly detached villas and small buildings under six stories. All kinds of flowers and plants could be seen everywhere on the side of the road.

Zhu Yunqi searched the area. Five kilometers away, there was the second largest ranch in the Seventh Star System of the Mid-Star Domain, and also a 4,000-square-kilometer freshwater lake.

She changed into the hotel’s bathrobe and gave her work uniform to the laundry robot. The robot would wash and dry her clothes and deliver them to her room before she woke up tomorrow morning. Then, she tidied up a little and went out to look for food.

Zhu Yunqi spent six days like this. During the day, she would go back to the defense line to check the deployment. In the afternoon, she would return to T9007. Sometimes she would be earlier, pretending to be a passerby and waiting at the entrance of the mech base, or she would verify her identity and walk around inside the base.

Shi Li’s class usually ended on time at 6 p.m. They would go to dinner together and then go back to their hotel. Zhu Yunqi was surprised to find that the hotel Shi Li was staying at was quite close to the one she booked, less than 300 meters in a straight line.

If they were a few minutes late for class, Zhu Yunqi would wait a little longer at the entrance, watching Shi Li get close to the door before quietly slipping away.

On the seventh day, Zhu Yunqi received a call from the sanatorium.

The caregiver responsible for Shi Yu said that Shi Li had called Shi Yu and said she would be coming to the sanatorium to see her next week. She felt that the situation might be a little special, so she told Zhu Yunqi in advance.

Zhu Yunqi thought that since Shi Li had come all the way to the Mid-Star Domain, she would definitely want to see her mom on the way.

“Then please take good care of her these next few days and let her daughter see her mom in a healthy and normal state as much as possible.”

The caregiver repeatedly said, “Of course. I understand even if Ms. Zhu doesn’t have to say it.”

Zhu Yunqi added casually, “If there’s any abnormality, remember to contact me as well.”

As early as when she asked Zhu Shengxi to help her investigate Shi Li, she found out that Shi Li had a mentally disabled mother in a sanatorium in the Mid-Star Domain. During that time, in order to let Shi Li not have any worries and wholeheartedly persuade Wen Yue to cancel the engagement, she also took care of Shi Yu.

It just so happened that Shi Yu’s original caregiver wanted to quit. She then spent a little more money and found an experienced and trustworthy caregiver to continue taking care of Shi Yu.

“There was an abnormality, actually.” The caregiver recalled what happened a few days ago. “Ms. Shi called and said she wanted to persuade her mom to move to another sanatorium.”

“Did she say why?”

“She didn’t. Ms. Shi didn’t mention why she wanted to move, but her tone sounded a little anxious at the time. But her mom wasn’t willing, so Ms. Shi didn’t bring it up again.” The caregiver said everything in detail. “Maybe she wanted a better environment? Everything else is normal, and I haven’t seen any suspicious people.”

Zhu Yunqi didn’t think much of it. She gave the caregiver a few more instructions and told her to get back to work.

She also finished compiling all the mission summaries for her teammates, sent a summary to the person in charge of the defense line’s command center, and returned to the Black Star Belt on time.

…

After the training was over, Shi Li went to see Shi Yu as planned.

The sanatorium was located in the Third Star System of the Mid-Star Domain. As soon as she got off the intergalactic train, she saw large patches of green. The vast, boundless lawns stretched as far as the eye could see. People were happily riding solar-powered two-wheelers on an outing.

Shi Li was surprisingly nervous about seeing her mom. She felt a little of that sentiment of “the closer you get to home, the more timid you feel.”

Shi Li couldn’t describe her feelings for Shi Yu. When she was young, she might have hated Shi Yu and resented why her mom was different from other people’s moms. She had hardly ever experienced the warmth of a family that her peers enjoyed.

Shi Yu started having mental problems when she was in middle school.

Living a life of going to school, working, and taking care of Shi Yu was a constant throughout her entire teenagehood. She had thought about escaping countless times, as if escaping Shi Yu would mean leaving the source of her pain.

But she didn’t. Shi Li didn’t know what she was hoping for. Perhaps deep down, she was still vaguely hoping for love from her mom.

Fortunately, things were finally looking up.

Shi Li let her thoughts wander aimlessly on the lawn of the Third Star System. She didn’t take public transportation. She chose to walk slowly to the sanatorium.

It had been more than a year since she last came here.

There weren’t many major changes in the sanatorium, but the greenery was better, and they had introduced a batch of new healing robots. Studies had shown that fluffy things were more likely to relax people’s minds. Most of these robots were fluffy and designed to look like cute little animals: golden retriever puppies, beagle puppies with big ears, ragdoll cats, black-faced Siamese cats, kiwi capybaras… Shi Li almost thought she had entered a zoo.

Shi Li found a few of them quite familiar. They were made by Lin Xiaonan’s team. Lin Xiaonan had asked her to help make a few modifications at the time.

She found Shi Yu by the fountain.

Shi Yu wasn’t in a wheelchair. She was feeding the fish in the fountain with a few other ladies. And Shi Yu was wearing a dress, which was a rare sight. Ever since she lost a leg in a car accident, Shi Yu’s wardrobe was full of long pants to avoid people seeing that she was using a prosthetic leg.

Shi Li walked closer and heard Shi Yu speaking to the ladies in a boastful tone. “This leg was bought by my daughter. It’s very expensive. It cost 1.2 million!”

The ladies all showed looks of envy. One of the ladies said, “That’s great. My arm has been with me for almost ten years.”

Shi Li went up to her. “Mom.”

Shi Yu’s hand that was feeding the fish paused. A moment later, she put the fish food on the fountain and came over to hug Shi Li happily. “Xiao Li, Mom missed you so much.”

The other ladies also came over one after another, touching Shi Li’s hair for a while, and then her arm. They kept praising her for being beautiful, even prettier than she was in the pictures Shi Yu had shown them.

Shi Yu was very proud.

After talking to the ladies for a while and showing off enough, Shi Yu held Shi Li’s hand and left the fountain. She held Shi Li tightly, as if afraid she would run away without a word.

Shi Li secretly observed her mom. Shi Yu’s condition was much better than the last time she came. At the very least, her whole demeanor had become much more stable. The anxiety and gloom were no longer in her eyes. Instead, there was a little more gentleness. She had even made a few friends.

It seemed that the new caregiver was indeed very good. Shi Li had added the new caregiver’s contact information a while ago and asked her for her resume. She found that the new caregiver not only graduated from the Federation’s top nursing university but also had very rich experience in rehabilitation therapy. Her resume was so outstanding it looked fake. The sanatorium Shi Yu was in was only a mid-level public sanatorium, and they had actually arranged such a talent for Shi Yu.

The new caregiver, whose last name was Zhou, was a kind-looking middle-aged female Beta. She said to Shi Li, “You can make money anywhere. It’s easy to work here.”

Shi Li also asked her how she got paid. The previous caregiver, Ms. Zhang, had left without saying goodbye, taking six months’ worth of salary. Ms. Zhou was so good, her salary would probably be even higher.

But Ms. Zhou said, “She already paid me. Ms. Shi, you don’t have to worry about the salary. When the time comes, I’ll naturally ask you for it.”

Shi Li naturally thought that “she” in Ms. Zhou’s words was Ms. Zhang, and that she had transferred the extra months’ worth of salary to Ms. Zhou before she left.

She could only say, “Then, Ms. Zhou, please remember to ask me for it on time.”

Ms. Zhou said with a smile, “No rush, no rush.”

Shi Li was a little unaccustomed to this. The previous caregiver, Ms. Zhang, liked to get paid in advance. After being with her for a long time, she thought all caregivers were like this. Shi Li understood. She was a working person herself, and all working people hoped that their boss would suddenly give them half a year’s salary in advance for no reason. This was the first time she had met someone like Ms. Zhou, who needed to be chased to get paid.

After walking for a while, Shi Yu was tired, but she didn’t want to go back to rest. Ms. Zhou pushed a wheelchair over and had Shi Yu sit on it. The remote control terminal was connected to Shi Yu’s optical computer, allowing her to control the wheelchair and move slowly.

Shi Li walked beside Shi Yu, and the mother and daughter chatted back and forth. Shi Li shared some interesting things about her work with her mom. However, she was still very careful to avoid any topics related to Alphas.

Ms. Zhou was a few steps behind them. She seemed to be in a daze, but in reality, she was listening with her ears perked up, hearing every word the mother and daughter were saying.

When they walked to the tulip garden, Ms. Zhou suddenly suggested taking a picture of them together.

The mother and daughter happily agreed. The tulip garden was in full bloom. The sun was just right, making everyone feel warm. Shi Li squatted beside Shi Yu’s wheelchair, holding Shi Yu’s hand with one hand and making a peace sign with the other hand by her face. A pair of small dimples appeared on the corners of her lips.

After taking the picture, Ms. Zhou sent the photo to Shi Li and also forwarded it to Zhu Yunqi.

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