After the Sickly Child Differentiates into A - Chapter 62

Wen Jingzhi returned home and began packing a few essentials into a small suitcase tomorrow was the start of winter break, and she planned to take Lin Li back to her hometown.

She still needed to figure out how to phrase things.

As the school day neared its end that afternoon, she didn’t go to pick up Lin Li. Instead, she sent Aunt Li home early and prepared a full table of dishes herself.

By 7:30 p.m., the usual time the girl would have returned, there was no sound of the door opening.

Frowning, she called the girl’s phone, but no one answered.

Her heart inexplicably skipped a beat. She then dialed the driver, who picked up.

“Third Miss?”

“Did you pick up Lin Li?”

“Huh?” The driver sounded confused. “The Old Master said we’re not to fetch the Young Miss for the next few days.”

A wave of unease washed over her. Wen Jingzhi hung up and called Lin Li’s homeroom teacher.

“Has Lin Li left school yet?”

“Miss Wen? Lin Li has taken leave for today and tomorrow. Old Master Wen called to request it.”

Hanging up again, Wen Jingzhi closed her eyes and took a slow breath before heading to Lin Li’s bedroom. Pushing the door open, she found the bed neatly made, as if no one had ever slept there.

The pile of various gifts on the desk seemed unchanged at first glance, but as Wen Jingzhi stepped closer for a better look, her brow twitched slightly the coming-of-age gift she had given the girl was missing.

It was a pair of naturally formed black diamond earrings, one of a kind in the world, with small facets that revealed a galaxy-like oxidation pattern. At the center was a vertical line resembling a pupil, earning them the name “Galaxy Eyes.”

She had bought them for a simple reason: Wen Jingzhi wanted to give the one-eyed girl a new “eye.”

But since Lin Li didn’t have pierced ears, the earrings had remained in their box, placed prominently on the desk.

Now, they were gone.

They could only have been taken by their owner.

A flicker of anger rose within her. Wen Jingzhi went to the wardrobe and pulled it open. Two sets of frequently worn clothes and one set of pajamas were missing.

Enough for no more than three days away from home.

Considering the possible outcome the girl might face, the purpose of taking just these few outfits shifted.

Wen Jingzhi clenched the wardrobe door, her eyes darkening with fury as bloodshot veins surfaced.

After a few steadying breaths, she turned and went back to her own room. Suppressing her anger, she methodically packed her luggage.

At 8 p.m., a rugged SUV came to a stop at the foot of a snow-capped mountain. The door opened, and a slender girl bundled in a thick down jacket stepped out. A burly bodyguard retrieved a small suitcase from the trunk and handed it to her.

“Thank you.” The girl smiled as she took it, waving to both the driver and the bodyguard before heading down a narrow path ahead.

The small dirt trail was blanketed in a layer of snow, smooth and untouched, as if no one had ever walked there.

As the girl passed, she left footprints in her wake.

A snowy breeze swept by, carrying a biting chill, but Lin Li felt her entire body burning up, the corners of her eyes flushed red. Gazing at the winding narrow path ahead, she suddenly paused and looked toward a lonely wooden cabin standing some distance to the right at the mountain’s base. Her eyes curved into a smile.

She was almost home.

The slender girl trudged through the snow, stepping unevenly against the wind. After twelve years, walking this path again, she still remembered every fork clearly.

Standing at the intersection by the field, she turned right and looked at the narrow, snow-white road ahead, coughing lightly.

Following this path would lead her home.

The small wooden cabin grew larger in her vision, drawing nearer.

Brushing the snow off her clothes, the girl stood before the newly replaced wooden door, took out the key given by Grandpa Wen, and unlocked it.

Reaching to the left, she pressed the switch, and the light flickered on.

The glow was warm and soft.

The walls of the small living room had yellowed, and the wooden table in the center was mottled with signs of decay. Standing at the doorway, a scene flashed before her eyes: a little child swinging her legs on a long bench, and an elderly person sitting opposite, smiling freely.

“Grandma,” Lin Li swallowed, suppressing the tightness in her throat, and curved her eyebrows into a smile. “I’m back.”

She placed her suitcase against the wall, stepped inside, closed the door, and walked to the altar. Tilting her head, she gazed up at the portrait of the elderly woman on the wall, her eyes crinkled in a smile. Her lips parted, but before she could speak, a cough wracked her body.

It felt as though she were coughing up her very insides. Only after a long while did she stop, breathing lightly.

“Grandpa Wen and his family have been very kind to me. You don’t need to worry.” The girl pulled over a small wooden stool, sat down, propped her chin in her hands, and looked up at the portrait. “A couple of days ago, Grandpa Wen had someone come to clean the house and change the lock. It must have been lively just the way you like it.”

The light in her left eye wavered, glistening and fractured, as her fingertips brushed over her right eye.

“I’ve lost an eye, Grandma. You won’t despise me for it, will you?”

Her soft voice trembled with a sob. “Maybe in a few more days, I’ll be able to see you, Grandma.”

But I… I’m so unwilling.

I’ve held on until now, not asking for a long life, just hoping to stay by that person’s side for a few more years.

Yet even that wish is denied.

“It was my choice to give up.” This “medicine” no one else could take it.

If she didn’t like it, she would suffer and resist; if she did like it the pain would be even greater.

The one she loved couldn’t be forced to endure such hardship.

“Don’t scold me now,” she said, as if truly hearing the old woman pointing a finger and berating her. Covering her ears, Lin Li laughed. “I’ve found someone I love, Grandma.”

She lifted her head, laughing until tears slid from the corners of her eyes.

“She’s beautiful. Do you remember that crane we saw in the snow that year?”

“With a touch of red and black on its forehead so elegant and striking.”

But it was too far away, spreading its wings and flying off the next moment.

“She’s an amazing actress, and she’s incredible in fights too!”

She’s saved me so many times.

“She might seem cold on the outside, but she’s actually very gentle.”

She’s taken care of me so tenderly all these years.

Once she started talking about that person, the girl seemed to have endless words. After a long while, she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and let out a muffled laugh. “I was so foolish, thinking I didn’t like her.”

How could she not love someone so wonderful?

“But I did something terrible to her.”

Lin Li was filled with regret.

Her birth mother gave her life, then abandoned her in the snowy mountains.

Her grandmother picked her up, gave her a second chance at life, but left her too soon due to illness, “abandoning” her once more.

And that person when she was drowning in sorrow over her broken body, taught her to feel the wind, the frantic beat of her heart, the chill of the snow, pierced through the rain to rescue her, time and again pulling her into an embrace in moments of danger.

She gave her countless new beginnings.

But this time, it was I who “left her.”

This time, whether directly or indirectly, she had bid farewell to everyone, deliberately avoiding only Wen Jingzhi.

“She’ll definitely be sad.” Lin Li’s eyes reddened as she met the gaze of “Grandma” in the portrait. “But it’s alright.”

She has someone she loves, has accepted their confession, and will walk toward a future. without her.

Soon, her sister will forget her and no longer grieve.

The girl suddenly buried her face in her arms, curling into herself.

A tearful voice broke the silence in the cold, desolate room.

“But I’m hurting too.”

And I can’t forget.

I really like my sister.

So much that it’s twisted into something ugly.

I want to hold her, to kiss her.

I want those beautiful eyes to look only at me.

She had resented, struggled, suffered, and felt lost. She gritted her teeth and endured, but she never got the ending she wanted.

She truly couldn’t accept it.

Snow began to fall outside, tapping against the windowpane. The girl suppressed her tears, stood up, and dragged her suitcase into the inner bedroom.

A short while later, she clutched a black box and went into the bathroom. Standing before the mirror, she opened the box and took out a pair of black diamond earrings.

Holding one, she pressed it against her right earlobe and forced the needle through. Blood instantly seeped out, dripping onto her shoulder.

Without a change in expression, she wiped it with a tissue. Seeing it wouldn’t clean completely, she ignored it, picked up the box, and returned to the bedroom, she only intended to wear the one in her right ear.

As the night deepened, the burning sensation inside her grew more intense. After taking a shower, Lin Li returned to the living room and smiled at “Grandma,” saying, “Grandma, see you tomorrow.”

If I wake up, I’ll come to see you.

If I don’t, please come for me.

The next day, Grandma didn’t come for her.

Only pain descended upon her.

It felt as if a raging fire was burning inside her, the flames erupting, piercing through flesh and blood, searing into her nerves.

Her vision blurred, and in her torment, she grew disoriented.

She didn’t know where she was perhaps she had already died, condemned to hell for her shameful desires.

When the pain peaked, she turned her head and vomited blood again and again. When the agony subsided slightly, she passed out, only to be jolted awake by the pain once more.

This cycle repeated, tormenting her relentlessly.

She lost track of day and night, unaware of time.

Though she had willingly given up hope, she gritted her teeth and endured the pain, not even understanding what she was holding on for.

She clung to a sliver of hope, what if she could make it through?

What if, she didn’t have to die?

And so, in that fragile hope, she endured the escalating agony.

It was snowing heavily.

Deep into the night, a slender, tall figure trudged through the blizzard, step by step, approaching the wooden cabin.

She stopped outside the door, her body chilled from the snow and wind, and raised a hand to knock.

No light shone from inside. No one answered.

Annoyed, the woman brushed the hair from her forehead, revealing a cold, exquisite face it was Wen Jingzhi.

She took a deep breath and knocked again.

In the deep, snowy night, cold and desolate, the sound of knocking was swallowed by the storm.

Wen Jingzhi tried the doorknob, it was locked. Then, through the silence, a muffled, agonized cry pierced the wind and snow.

Suppressed, desperate, like a trapped beast, a cry of frantic suffering.

Wen Jingzhi’s expression darkened. She dropped her suitcase, spun around, and kicked, her leg slicing through the snow to strike the door.

Bang!

The wooden door burst open, slamming against the wall.

The agonized cries grew clearer.

Wen Jingzhi strode quickly toward the source of the sound, arriving at the bedroom door. She turned the knob it wasn’t locked.

Pushing the door open, she looked inside.

The girl lay curled in a small ball on the wooden bed, her lips and the pillow stained with vivid, shocking blood. Her left eye was glazed over, empty and lifeless.

Panic and fury surged through Wen Jingzhi’s mind, tearing at her nerves. She closed her eyes for a moment, then strode to the bed, kneeling on it with one knee. Without hesitation, she pressed the girl’s shoulder, turning her face-down onto the mattress. She caught the girl’s flailing arms, crossed her wrists, and pinned them firmly above her head with one hand.

Those cold eyes were dark and dull, a storm brewing within.

The other hand pressed firmly against the back of the girl’s head as she slowly leaned down.

Her crimson lips met the bleeding gland. Parting them, her marking teeth pressed against the fragile gland, biting down hard.

“Hmm…” The girl instinctively struggled, but the hand on the back of her head tightened. Wen Jingzhi lowered her gaze, her expression icy, as a torrent of pheromones flooded into the Alpha’s gland.

The explosion of flames was suddenly quelled by snow, yet the burning sensation lingered.

The vacant left eye suddenly flickered, regaining its spark.

The back of her neck was enveloped by warm lips, the sting of teeth piercing her skin faint, while a familiar scent surged within her.

The girl’s eyes widened abruptly, and she began to struggle frantically.

Sister, it’s sister…

Why is she here?

Sister is marking me!

No!

Sister clearly doesn’t like me, she even accepted that bouquet, so why did she come!

She doesn’t want sister to force herself like this!

Wen Jingzhi’s gaze darkened, her tongue sweeping over the parting seam of the gland, her sharp teeth sinking deeper.

“Ha?” The girl let out a gasp, gritting her teeth as she continued to struggle, only to find she couldn’t move at all.

The marking continued, the pain gradually fading.

No!

“Sister, don’t do this!”

“Please let me go.”

The girl’s weak pleas went unanswered.

As the marking deepened, Lin Li grew more panicked and frantic. Suddenly tearing off her gentle facade, she buried her face in the pillow and cursed.

“Let go!!”

“Wen Jingzhi, are you insane? Damn it!”

“You’re a lunatic! An idiot! Do you even know what this means!?”

“Damn it! Do you know the consequences? Let me go!”

Wen Jingzhi remained unfazed, tightening her grip.

She knew exactly what this meant, and she knew the consequences.

The shadows cast by her long lashes made her eyes appear gloomy and profound she had given the girl a chance.

The snow-like pheromones flowed continuously into her body through the gland, extinguishing the raging fire.

Every cell in the Alpha’s body was tinged with the chill of snow.

Lin Li suddenly began to cough, her eyes red, bloodshot veins appearing. She struggled, occasionally cursing under her breath, occasionally shouting.

The person pinning her down remained unyielding.

She arched her back abruptly, trying to kneel and break free.

“Let me go!”

“Wen Jingzhi!”

“Damn it! Let go! Let go of me!”

“It hurts!”

The sharp teeth clamped onto the gland suddenly trembled and released, lips stained with blood. Wen Jingzhi straightened up, pressing her knee against the Alpha’s slender lower back, forcing her down.

The girl, who had barely managed to rise, was once again pinned tightly against the bed, unable to move. The Alpha, furious, cursed again.

The Omega half-lowered her gaze, looking down at the girl beneath her, her blood-stained crimson lips parting as she spoke, “No swearing.”

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