Diagnosis: Friend [Rebirth] - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Gu Yining transferred to No. 2 High School during the second semester of her sophomore year.

During that time, No. 9 High School was engulfed in a turbulent wave of public controversy. Even students who didn’t usually discuss social news knew that a severe bullying incident had occurred at No. 9. Multiple students had committed suicide by jumping off buildings; parents held up signs and blocked the school gates, joined by people from all walks of life seeking justice for the deceased. The crowd was massive, surrounding the school so tightly that not even water could trickle through.

It was during this very period that Gu Yining was recognized and brought back by the Gu family.

Gu Yining was energetic, optimistic, and had an excellent personality. Many people once commented, “She truly is a young lady raised by the Gu family.”

But she wasn’t raised by the Gu family. From the time she learned to babble to her sixteenth year, she had never received a single drop of nourishment from them. She was like a tenacious blade of grass, growing upon ruins, in the mire, and on parched earth. Through the wind and rain, she became even more dazzling, blooming into flowers that others envied.

She was too radiant, too brilliant, always full of drive, charging forward and looking ahead with a smile. Jiang Qing rarely asked about her past and would occasionally forget that she had, in fact, suffered a great deal.

The family that “adopted” her was not a good one. After they had a biological son, they never treated Gu Yining as family, but rather as a servant they had bought. No. 9 High School was very close to her “home,” yet Gu Yining chose to live at the school.

Jiang Qing walked down the stairs absentmindedly. The dazzling sunlight hit her temple, startling her and making her nearly trip.

…Before Gu Yining was found by the Gu family, before she transferred schools, had she also suffered through bullying?

Jiang Qing gripped the book in her arms tightly, her fingernails scraping the cover and leaving a small mark. She felt a bit dejected, and also worried—dejected because she couldn’t follow her plan to stay away from her, and worried for the Gu Yining who hadn’t yet grown strong and powerful.

With her mind in a mess, Jiang Qing walked forward soul-lessly. Just as she was about to head down the steps, a girl’s voice came from the side: “Hey!”

Jiang Qing looked toward the source of the sound.

Under a lush tree, a girl sat cross-legged on the tree planter. Her shoulder-length hair was thick and smooth, like a waterfall of ink. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand, looking up at the dazed girl on the steps. “Watch where you’re going.”

Jiang Qing walked down the stairs and stood before the girl.

The girl looked up at her and, for some reason, started giggling. “What is it?”

Jiang Qing sat down in the empty spot beside her and reached out her hand. “Hello, I’m Jiang Qing. Thanks for the tissue earlier.”

The girl stared at her face for a moment, an untimely deathliness flickering in her dark pupils. After a long while, she raised her hand and gave Jiang Qing’s palm a light slap. “Tan Baozhu.”

The brick was a bit hard against her seat, so Jiang Qing adjusted her position as she spoke: “Was that you crying in the restroom just now?”

Tan Baozhu curled her lips into a smile, but there was no mirth in her eyes. Her long lashes dragged her eyelids upward as she leaned closer to the strange girl. “Suspecting I was being bullied?”

Jiang Qing said nothing.

Tan Baozhu watched her quietly, her lips twitching. “If someone bullied me, would you help me get revenge?”

She leaned in very close. Her makeup was too white, making her look a bit like a paper funerary doll. Her cool breath hit Jiang Qing, and a chill crawled up Jiang Qing’s spine; she instinctively shrank back a little.

Tan Baozhu started giggling again, her head and shoulders shaking with the laughter, only to stop completely in an instant—like a puppet that had been paused, motionless. Her damp, gloomy gaze stuck to Jiang Qing. “What exactly do you want?”

“I…” Jiang Qing lowered her head, her gaze unconsciously falling on Tan Baozhu’s small leather shoes. “When I was coming downstairs, I heard them say they were looking for Gu Yining. Do you know who Gu Yining is? Do you know where she is?”

“I know.” That sticky gaze finally dispersed, returning to normal. “Gu Yining is my girlfriend.”

?

???

????!!!

What?!!!

The girl’s confusion and shock fell into Tan Baozhu’s eyes. She shrugged, educating Jiang Qing with quite a bit of pride: “Don’t be surprised. This is called ‘lesbian,’ which means a girl likes a girl. Do you understand what that means? It’s a woman and a woman…”

Tan Baozhu started rambling for some reason, and Jiang Qing quickly cut her off: “I understand, I know, you don’t need to say more.” What she cared about was something else. “Why is Gu Yining your girlfriend?”

Tan Baozhu tilted her head, her neck making a cracking sound. “You like her.”

Jiang Qing: “…”

Jiang Qing: “No, I don’t know her.”

According to the timeline, she truly didn’t know Gu Yining at this point. “I just heard them say that and felt they might bully her. If you know her, you could give her a heads-up.”

Tan Baozhu stared at her. “You want to save her.”

Without waiting for Jiang Qing to answer, Tan Baozhu spoke to herself: “Does a person like her even need someone else to save her?”

She swept a glance over the girl’s clothes—cheap canvas shoes, school uniform pants, school jacket, and a T-shirt inside that had been washed until it was white. “You can’t even save yourself, yet you want to save her?”

The girl uncrossed her legs. “A person like Gu Yining does not need someone else to save her.”

Jiang Qing remained silent.

She was right. Gu Yining didn’t need anyone to save her; it was always she who saved others.

Just like their first meeting.

It was also during this sophomore year. Winter had already set in, and a cold wind whistled through the streets. Jiang Qing, wearing a thick scarf and huddled inside her cotton coat, was returning to school from the city library.

While passing through a park, Jiang Qing found someone lying on the steps by the river. They were filthy; looking closer, she realized it was an injured person. Jiang Qing leaned over to look.

She didn’t know where the injury was, but the person’s face was covered in blood. Eyeballs pressed beneath heavy eyelids rolled slightly, meeting Jiang Qing’s gaze. Jiang Qing was startled and fell back onto the steps, her heart racing. When she looked again, those eyes had closed.

She summoned her courage to step forward again. “Sir, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

The person on the ground groaned in pain several times, sounding like a cry yet also sounding like they lacked the strength to cry. There was no one around, and Jiang Qing didn’t dare get too close. The fresh blood on the man’s face layered over old bloodstains—shades of red that made him look like a ghost.

She looked down at the time; it was almost time for evening self-study. If she delayed further, she would be late. This was a park where many people usually passed by, but because the weather was exceptionally cold today, it seemed deserted. Perhaps someone would come along in a bit.

Jiang Qing fled the scene in a panic, her steps faster than usual. Within a few minutes, she had left the park and reached the main road. Her heart beat with a heavy weight that made it hard to breathe. She watched the seconds on the red light; she could cross the street soon.

The green light flashed, but the girl didn’t cross. She turned around and sprinted back the way she came, arriving at those steps shortly after.

A girl wearing a bright red padded jacket was crouching on the ground, shouting: “Help! Is anyone there? Someone is hurt!”

Her voice was exceptionally piercing, clear even from dozens of meters away. Through the hazy mist, she seemed to spot Jiang Qing and stood up to wave at her. “Someone is hurt here!”

Jiang Qing ran over. The girl was ecstatic, her breath coming out in hot white puffs. “Wow, my luck is too good! I see you after just the first shout. Do you have a phone? We need to call an ambulance.”

Jiang Qing handed her the “brick” phone.

The ambulance was called. Gu Yining gave the address and specific location, mentioning characteristic buildings. After hanging up, she made another call to the police.

Jiang Qing took back her phone, looking worried: “If his family won’t pay for him, or if he doesn’t have a family, will they make us pay for the ambulance? Will they make us go with him?”

Gu Yining’s tone was firm: “That’s impossible. We’re just students passing by. Why would they make us go!”

She persistently called out to the injured man: “Sir! Sir! Can you hear us?” The man moved, and Gu Yining followed up excitedly: “Sir, you’re hurt! What exactly happened to you?”

Glimpsing the school jacket under Jiang Qing’s coat, Gu Yining said: “Oh, you’re from No. 2.” Then she thought of something. “Are you heading to evening self-study? It’s okay, you go first. I’ll wait here and explain things to them when they arrive.”

The person inside the tattered padded jacket had a face purple from the cold, but her smile was brilliant. Her eyes under the streetlamp were bright and warm.

The shadows of the trees swayed. Jiang Qing stood up, reaching out to touch the patches of light dancing on the planter tiles. The bright, piercing spots of light hopped onto her arm, then suddenly jumped behind her.

She turned around slowly like a sea otter. In her lowered field of vision appeared a pair of red canvas shoes and red school uniform pants. It was a student from No. 9.

She took half a step back. Before she could see the person clearly, her “I’m sorry” was already out of her mouth. Her gaze followed the red uniform upward to find a beautiful girl. The girl’s hair was tied in a high ponytail, her face a mix of curiosity and confusion.

Her voice was crisp, like a can of fruit soda waiting to be opened, carrying the unique vigor of youth: “Oh, you’re a student from No. 2.”

Jiang Qing froze on the spot.

Her lips parted slightly as she stared at the person before her without moving.

The details that had been hazy in her memory reappeared—her eyes, her nose, her lips, her eyelashes, her chin, her silhouette, and the small movements she made when curious.

This was the sixteen-year-old Gu Yining.

It had only been a few days since her rebirth. Yet her experiences before being reborn felt like a dream, gradually becoming distant and unreachable; the car accident felt like something from a long time ago.

And she… it felt like she truly hadn’t seen Gu Yining for a very, very long time—as if several lifetimes had passed.

She didn’t want to admit it.

But.

She missed her very much.