Irreversible - Chapter 37

Chapter 37: A Pitiful Scoundrel (Part 2)

For the 0820 Gu Xizhou, revenge was not as simple a matter as “sending Su Nanfeng to prison.”

Ever since her senior year of high school—when Su Nanfeng struck a pedestrian while drunk driving, leaving them hemiplegic, only for Su Tianyu to use money to make the trouble vanish and send Su Nanfeng into the military to evade accountability, Gu Xizhou understood that relying solely on the law and the social system would never grant her the justice she deserved.

After years of humiliation, she had learned one vital lesson from Su Nanfeng: the best way to destroy a person is to uproot their very foundation.

Su Nanfeng’s foundation for committing evil without legal consequence was the massive Su Group; therefore, Gu Xizhou would take it for herself. Su Nanfeng’s most cherished possession was her sister’s care and trust; therefore, Gu Xizhou would dismantle that bond bit by bit until her enemy was abandoned by all.

As for those fair-weather friends…

Heh, once she successfully grasped power, what bond couldn’t be dissolved?

She wanted Su Nanfeng to experience everything she had endured back then: no one to trust, no one to care, no one to notice—violated, toyed with, living like a lonely island. Only when Su Nanfeng suffered the same wounds, tasting a humiliation a hundred times deeper and a regret that would last a lifetime, would it truly be considered revenge.

Simply letting Su Nanfeng die would be far too easy on her.

To complete this plan, Gu Xizhou deliberately approached Su Zhiyi, suppressing her disgust for the girl’s “hypocritical” kindness and staying by her side for many years. Since that first dinner date, opportunities for Gu Xizhou and Su Zhiyi to work together increased.

Su Zhiyi was strikingly beautiful and possessed superior status; wherever she went, suitors followed like a migrating school of fish. She was naturally good-tempered; if someone asked for her contact information to her face, she never refused. However, when those people actually tried to ask her out, they invariably received a rejection.

On the eve of New Year’s Day during their freshman year, Gu Xizhou and Su Zhiyi went out together for a speech event and encountered a university student who asked for Su Zhiyi’s contact details. Later, while eating, Gu Xizhou saw Su Zhiyi decline the student’s New Year’s invitation, politely state she wasn’t looking to date, and then proceed to delete the contact from both ends.

Gu Xizhou asked curiously, “Since you don’t like that person, why did you exchange contact info with her in the first place?”

Su Zhiyi looked up from her phone, somewhat surprised.

Gu Xizhou wore an apologetic expression. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. I just have sharp eyes and a bit of curiosity…”

Su Zhiyi smiled, thoughtfully forgiving the awkwardness. “Ah, it’s fine. It’s not like it’s a secret.” She put her phone away and gave Gu Xizhou a faint smile. “There were so many people present. She was brave enough to come up and ask; it wouldn’t be right to embarrass her publicly.”

“If it were me, and I asked someone I was interested in for their number in front of a crowd only to be rejected, I would definitely turn bright red. So, it’s better to reject them privately.”

Su Zhiyi was a well-bred, dignified young lady from a prestigious family. Gu Xizhou understood that this was her true nature, yet she still internally dismissed it with one word: “Hypocritical.”

The demon’s sister was a hypocritical angel. She defined Su Zhiyi once again to reinforce the image in her heart.

Despite her internal turmoil, Gu Xizhou’s face remained neutral. After a moment, she asked, “Actually, her conditions are quite good—superior looks, President of the Student Union at A-University, and she seems responsible. Perhaps you could give it a try.”

Su Zhiyi looked up at her, appearing quite startled. “Are you going to urge me to start dating, too?”

Gu Xizhou answered without thinking, “Not exactly. I just feel that youth is so precious, you could date someone as a way to spice things up.”

Su Zhiyi understood and replied slowly, “Since we know youth is so precious, we should spend even more effort on our studies. ‘If one does not work hard in youth, one will grieve in vain in old age,’ right?”

Gu Xizhou admitted she was amused. Her eyes curved as she looked at the other girl with a smile. “So you don’t plan on dating right now?”

Su Zhiyi nodded. “Mhm.” What was the point of dating? It was better to do things that were meaningful to society.

Gu Xizhou acknowledged this, sitting before her and watching her intently with calm eyes. “Then, is it just that you aren’t dating now, or do you plan to never date for your entire life?”

Su Zhiyi blinked, thinking for a while before answering, “I haven’t really thought about that question.”

Gu Xizhou pressed further, “If you met the right person, would you date them?”

The question was ambiguous and subtle. Su Zhiyi sat up straight and countered, “What defines ‘the right person’?”

Gu Xizhou weighed her answer. “From a worldly perspective, it would be an Alpha whose pheromones match yours and whose family background matches yours.”

This premise piqued Su Zhiyi’s interest. She propped her chin on one hand, leaning against the table with a smile as she looked at Gu Xizhou. “And from a non-worldly perspective?”

Gu Xizhou sat poised in her armchair, legs crossed elegantly. “That would be someone who resonates with you on a soulful level. Alpha, Beta, Omega… gender doesn’t matter. As long as you feel comfortable being with them, happy doing anything together, and never bored even when talking about nonsense.”

“You are willing to share everything with them and spend the idle moments of the rest of your lives together. I think that is the right person.”

A spark of light flickered in Su Zhiyi’s eyes as she looked at Gu Xizhou with a strange intensity. “That’s rare. You sound like you don’t mind same-sex relationships or things like that at all.”

Gu Xizhou smiled faintly. “Our club works with youth peer support. Haven’t we learned something from those bullied children? Regardless of gender, liking someone is just liking someone—there is no hierarchy of high or low. Soulful pleasure is the highest experience of life, isn’t it?”

Su Zhiyi nodded in agreement. “Indeed, it is.”

Gu Xizhou knew her words had pleased the other girl. She let out a light laugh and brought the topic back. “So, if you met someone like that, would you want to date them?”

Su Zhiyi pondered deeply for a good while. “If I met an ideal type like that, of course I would want to.”

Gu Xizhou gave a teasing smile. “So you do have an ‘ideal type’ after all. Does that mean the people you’ve rejected so far simply weren’t your ideal type?”

Su Zhiyi: “…”

She fell silent, her ears turning hot, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Gu Xizhou saw the girlish bashfulness and teased her on purpose. “Then, can you tell me what kind of person you like? If I encounter someone similar, maybe I can keep an eye out for you.”

Su Zhiyi suppressed the heat in her cheeks, turning a bit flustered and angry. “Why are you asking that? You only know your ideal type when they actually appear. How am I supposed to describe someone I’ve never met?”

Gu Xizhou understood. “I see. If you fall for someone in the future, that person will definitely be your ideal type.”

Su Zhiyi couldn’t help but burst out laughing. Looking at Gu Xizhou’s teasing gaze, she said snappishly, “Gu Xizhou, I’ve realized it now—you are very good at sarcastic teasing.”

Gu Xizhou smiled but didn’t say anything, her eyes curving into crescents.

After that, they didn’t discuss the topic again, though they maintained a tacitly close connection.

During the winter break, under the arrangement of her mother Su Tianyu, Su Zhiyi took an internship as an office clerk at a subsidiary company. Gu Xizhou, through subtle probing, discovered where she was going and found a part-time job at a cake shop near that company.

One day at noon, Gu Xizhou was delivering an order to Su Zhiyi’s company, and the two happened to run into each other in the corridor. At the time, Su Zhiyi was carrying a large stack of documents. Seeing Gu Xizhou in a beret with upright rabbit ears, coming out of an office empty-handed, she was shocked. “Gu Xizhou?”

Gu Xizhou wasn’t actually surprised, but she feigned a look of amazement. “What are you doing here?”

Su Zhiyi explained softly, her eyes crinkling, “I found a part-time job as an intern here.”

Gu Xizhou’s expression looked confused. “Here? Shouldn’t it be a hospital?”

Su Zhiyi smiled without further explanation. She greeted her and adjusted her documents. “I’m still in the middle of work, I should go get busy.”

Gu Xizhou knew her personality well; she didn’t act like a stereotypical “gentleman” or overstep by trying to help carry the files. She simply pumped her fist in a silent “Add oil” gesture.

When she came back to deliver another order the next day, Gu Xizhou asked for Su Zhiyi’s workstation and specifically brought her a cake she liked.

When Su Zhiyi returned to her desk and saw the little cake, she understood almost instantly whose hand it came from. She took a moment to send Gu Xizhou a message: “You shouldn’t have spent the money! Let me transfer it back to you!”

She tried to send the money directly to Gu Xizhou’s account; she didn’t feel right accepting a gift from her for no reason.

Gu Xizhou’s reply came in the evening: “Don’t mention it. Treating you to afternoon tea.”

Gu Xizhou saw the incoming transfer but didn’t send it back immediately. The next day, she bought a chubby little penguin plushie and placed it on Su Zhiyi’s desk along with another cake. She sent Su Zhiyi a message: “I’m working part-time at the ‘Dianyue’ shop downstairs. The cake is a staff benefit.”

“I don’t actually like eating cake—it’s Su Nanfeng who likes it. This shop’s flavors are very good; I thought you should try them. Don’t transfer money to me again. If you do, I’ll buy a whole pile of plushies and stack them on your desk.”

Su Zhiyi: “…”

She stared at the text on the screen with a helpless expression. After a long while, she bit her lower lip and sent a “Cat sighing.jpg” over. “Gu Xizhou, I’ve found that you’re a bit bossy.”

Gu Xizhou replied with one sentence: “Yes, I am bossy.”

She was righteous, unrepentant, and intended to persist.

Su Zhiyi had no other choice. After finishing her work, she returned to her desk, opened the exquisitely packaged red velvet cake, and took a spoonful. A trace of sweetness spread across her tongue. Su Zhiyi thought absentmindedly that once or twice was fine, but if this continued for the entire break, she would definitely gain weight.

Ah, whatever, forget it, she thought. I’ll burn the extra calories when I get home. Right now, it’s sweet afternoon tea time!