Diagnosis: Friend [Rebirth] - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Outside the ward, the bloodstains on the floor had been cleaned up by the nurses.

Jian Wenxin looked at the girl standing with her head bowed in a posture reminiscent of being punished, and spoke cautiously: “You said you and that girl had only met a few times, and your relationship wasn’t deep…”

Jiang Qing glanced at the blood on her cuff. “Yes. I’ve told the police officers everything in detail, and you heard it just now as well.”

The implication was that she didn’t know why Gu Yining had suddenly gone mad either.

Did that brick actually damage Gu Yining’s brain?

At the time, Jiang Qing’s attention had been entirely on Gu Yining’s injured head. Now, thinking back on it, Gu Yining’s demeanor at that moment seemed as if she had known her for a very long time; she was so afraid of Jiang Qing leaving that she stubbornly locked her in her arms.

Gu Yining had said: I missed you so much…

That familiarity mixed with grievance almost led Jiang Qing to a bold suspicion.

A hand patted her shoulder, preventing Jiang Qing from dwelling on that thought. She heard Jian Wenxin say: “She has suffered a heavy blow to the head, and her condition is very unstable, especially after seeing you. For the sake of that student’s health, I suggest you do not see her for the time being.”

Jian Wenxin’s words were very reasonable. Jiang Qing nodded. “Teacher, I understand.”

Gu Yining was very far from being calm right now. Had it not been for that timely sedative, she could have agitated herself to death.

Jian Wenxin touched the girl’s startled face and noticed two drops of blood still clinging to her neck. After the doctor took the student into the ward, Jiang Qing had gone to the restroom to wash the bloodstains off her body. Having experienced so much in one day, she was likely shaken and hadn’t noticed the two drops on her neck.

Pulling out a wet wipe, Jian Wenxin said softly: “Don’t move, there are two drops of blood on your neck.”

Once the blood was wiped clean and the wipe was tossed into a nearby trash can, Jian Wenxin turned to ask her: “Do you want to go back to school now?”

Jiang Qing couldn’t see her anyway, and since the student’s family had arrived, going back to the dormitory for a good sleep was the best thing for Jiang Qing to do.

The girl nodded slightly. “I’ve caused you so much trouble all morning, Teacher. I’m truly sorry, and thank you very much.”

The two walked toward the elevator side by side. Jian Wenxin chuckled and tapped the girl’s forehead. “You didn’t tell me about such a big matter before. If the police hadn’t come looking for me, I wouldn’t have known you were so capable.”

She remembered something else: “Did you know Ms. Zhou before?”

Jiang Qing shook her head.

Jian Wenxin: “Then you’d rather look for her than me? You don’t trust your teacher?”

“Of course not, Ms. Jian. I just didn’t want to trouble you.” At the end of the day, Jian Wenxin was just a teacher, and Jiang Qing didn’t want to drag her into such a complex mess. “Ms. Zhou said before that if I had difficulties I could find her. I happened to have a difficulty, so I went to her.”

Her logic was indeed that of a student. Jian Wenxin added: “Jiang Qing, if you encounter any situation in the future, you can tell me. Don’t say anything about it being a ‘trouble’ anymore.”

The girl nodded obediently, her two shallow dimples faintly appearing. “I understand. Thank you, Ms. Jian.”

Amidst the peak of public outcry, another student injury incident occurred at No. 9. With multiple bullying incidents overlapping, this injury acted like a fuse that ignited public opinion. Large-scale protests broke out frequently; long lines of protesters outside No. 9 and the City Bureau of Education caused massive traffic jams.

A provincial-level department established a special investigation task force. Two days later, an official announcement was released: multiple bullying incidents were confirmed, but the rumors of several students dying were false. Several victimized students had been hospitalized for treatment and assigned psychological experts. The principal of No. 9 and several school leaders had been dismissed, with a deeper investigation ongoing.

Aside from this widely known news, another minor event occurred in Anhe City: The Gu Group had found their young daughter, Gu Yue, who had been lost for over a decade.

In a beautifully landscaped private hospital, Mrs. Gu, the head of the Gu family Gu Shao, his daughter Gu Xi, his son Gu Lang, and Zhou Xuening sat around the hospital bed. Old Mrs. Gu shed tears tremulously, looking with a smile at the girl who looked seventy to eighty percent like her daughter.

Ever since Gu Yue went missing, her daughter Gu Ke had been consumed by grief, her health declining until she passed away a few years later. Now, looking at this well-behaved granddaughter, the joy of recovery and the pain of losing her daughter mixed in Old Mrs. Gu’s heart, manifesting as a choked-up name: “Yueyue.”

The girl was stunned for a moment, then a smile appeared on her face. She shifted carefully on the bed, pressing her cheek against the old lady’s chest, answering obediently: “Grandma.”

Glimpsing Gu Xi rolling her eyes at the foot of the bed, Gu Yining smiled even more brightly. She reached out to hug the old lady’s waist and began to sob: “Grandma… I missed you so much…”

Her obedient and pitiful appearance earned her a great deal of tenderness from the old lady.

It’ll kill Gu Xi with frustration!

It wasn’t until Zhou Xuening reminded them of the injury on the girl’s head that the old lady let her go. She introduced the people in the room one by one: “This is your uncle, Gu Shao. If you have any difficulties in life or want anything, you can ask him.”

Gu Yining: “Hello, Uncle.”

The old lady pointed to Zhou Xuening: “This is your uncle’s girlfriend. She has been taking care of you these past few days. Successfully finding you this time is also thanks to her.”

Gu Yining gave the woman a sweet smile: “Hello, Auntie Zhou.”

The old lady then pointed to the girl who was looking down and picking at her nails: “This is your uncle’s daughter, Gu Xi.”

Gu Yining rushed to answer: “Hello, Sister Gu Xi!”

The girl immediately stood up, her face puffed out with anger like a pufferfish, turning red and white. “I’m younger than you!”

Gu Yining let out an “Ah,” tilting her head helplessly toward the old lady, then lowered her head, biting her lip and whispering “I’m sorry.”

The old lady placed her hand on Gu Yining’s. She laughed. “Yueyue, Gu Xi is one month younger than you; you don’t need to call her sister.” She turned to the girl. “Xixi, your sister is sick, don’t yell at her.”

Gu Xi huffed and sat down crossly.

Gu Yining’s injury required quiet rest, so after a brief ten-minute exchange with the Gu family, she was left alone in the ward again. She sat cross-legged on the bed, staring blankly at the dark green leaves outside the window.

Since waking up in the hospital again that day, Gu Yining gradually realized this wasn’t a dream, but rebirth.

She had been reborn.

Before the rebirth, she had taken a fall; after the rebirth, she had taken a brick to the head. The Jiang Qing who held her then wasn’t a hallucination born of long-term yearning, but a living, sixteen-year-old Jiang Qing.

She touched her face in the mirror over and over. She looked up and asked Zhou Xuening, who was supporting her: “Auntie Zhou, is Jiang Qing here? When is she coming to see me?”

Zhou Xuening’s body stiffened for a moment. She looked at the girl with focused intensity and a nervous smile: “She’s in class. She’ll come to see you when the weekend comes.”

Gu Yining understood; Zhou Xuening was afraid she was having another episode.

When she had embraced Jiang Qing while covered in blood, everyone present thought she had been bashed into a mental breakdown. Looking back, Gu Yining also felt her behavior at the time had been a bit terrifying. She stalled Zhou Xuening’s suggestion of a transfer and stubbornly waited for a whole weekend.

Jiang Qing didn’t come.

D*mn it, did Jiang Qing really take me for a lunatic?

Later, she was transferred to a private hospital to recuperate, and until now, Jiang Qing hadn’t even given her a phone call.

The girl rested her chin in her hands. Outside the window, the green shifted gently. The blocks of color changed positions with the wind, and the varying shades of green vaguely pieced together Jiang Qing’s general likeness.

The leaves were swaying, and the people were swaying. The swaying made Gu Yining’s heart itch, as if a silk thread were being pulled from a cocoon.

She missed Jiang Qing so much. She desperately wanted to see her.