The Mad Beauty and the Sick Young Lady [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 10

People tend to soften, especially when they feel cared for.

Su Li was pressed onto the bed and had her face washed by Jiang Zhuoye. As she drank her milk, she watched Jiang Zhuoye cut the sandwich into small pieces, use a fork to pick them up one by one, and then feed them into her mouth.

Su Li silently accepted the feeding. She wanted to say she could do it herself, but seeing Jiang Zhuoye’s serene and gentle profile, she swallowed her words.

They were both Omegas, and girls at that. Female friendships often defied logic, and now Jiang Zhuoye had rescued her and was treating her so kindly. It seemed better not to reject her good intentions too much.

Jiang Zhuoye quickly finished feeding her the sandwich. After watching Su Li finish her milk, she carried the tray away, only to return a moment later with a cup of water and a pill.

“This is an inhibitor.”

Su Li was so used to taking medicine that it was almost a conditioned reflex. Seeing the pill, she instinctively reached out to take and swallow it, but then something occurred to her, and her eyes flickered.

“Could I see the pill box?”

Jiang Zhuoye stared at Su Li for a few seconds, then slowly curved her lips and sighed mournfully:

“Oh, my dear, you really are sensitive.”

Su Li’s face flushed. She was about to explain that she didn’t mean anything by it, and certainly didn’t distrust her, but Jiang Zhuoye had already turned and left the bedroom for the outside.

Su Li sat motionless on the bed. Fortunately, Jiang Zhuoye returned in a few seconds, holding a strip of pills.

Su Li saw that two pills were already missing from the strip; it was indeed an Omega inhibitor. She then feigned casualness, compared the appearance of the pills, and handed the strip back.

“Thank you… I wasn’t trying to doubt you…”

Jiang Zhuoye raised a hand.

“Stop. Take your medicine, and then go back to sleep.”

Su Li obediently took the pill, placed the cup on the bedside table, lay down, and pulled the quilt up to her chin, leaving only her large eyes exposed.

Jiang Zhuoye leaned closer, as if checking if Su Li was properly settled, and gently tucked in the corner of her quilt.

Su Li’s eyes were wide as she stared at Jiang Zhuoye.

Jiang Zhuoye couldn’t help but smile, her smile bright and warm.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Su Li blinked. She had a pair of peach blossom eyes that didn’t match her pale, sickly complexion. Her eyes were always watery, arguably the most brilliant part of her face, drawing people in, making them want to look at her forever.

Seeing the somewhat distracted look on Jiang Zhuoye’s face, Su Li spoke softly:

“Thank you for rescuing me today. But… I want to know, how did you know I was at that clubhouse?”

The atmosphere instantly grew heavy. The air seemed to solidify, without a single ripple.

Jiang Zhuoye’s expression barely changed, but a trace of distance suddenly flashed in her eyes and on her brow.

Su Li almost thought she had angered the other party, and slowly began to feel afraid.

After a while, as Su Li, scared, had stacked her feet together, Jiang Zhuoye spoke:

“It was a coincidence. Yesterday, I was also at that clubhouse discussing business with someone. I saw you walk in, and then I felt the leakage of a top Alpha’s pheromones. I felt it was inappropriate, so I took people and rushed in.”

Su Li understood immediately.

“I almost forgot, you’re also a top Omega. If you were close, you couldn’t possibly be unaffected. So that’s how it was what a coincidence.”

Jiang Zhuoye nodded and smiled.

“Yes, quite a coincidence. And that night, we were probably the only two top Omegas in that clubhouse, which is why our reaction was the strongest.”

Su Li nodded seriously, showing a look of remorse.

“It’s really all my fault. If only I hadn’t followed Ying Feiyan. I knew there was something wrong with Ying Feiyan’s character, but I thought she would at least respect our families’ dignity and wouldn’t do anything to me. I never expected her to actually… I’m sorry.”

Jiang Zhuoye reached out and stroked Su Li’s hair, comforting her gently.

“This is not your fault.”

As Su Li thought about it, she said with a touch of sadness:

“Actually, she really wasn’t like this before… I don’t know how to look at her now…”

Jiang Zhuoye sat by the bed, her voice as gentle as a spring breeze.

“Tell me, how did you two meet?”

Su Li automatically fell into recollection and began to describe slowly:

“The year I turned sixteen, Ying Feiyan’s whole family came to visit ours…”

Infatuation in youth can happen so easily.

That afternoon, Su Li was doing homework in the study. Ying Feiyan was sent by her family to the study, sat beside Su Li, and, with easy familiarity, helped her correct her mistakes.

Perhaps the sunlight was just right, falling on Ying Feiyan’s cheek, making her look timeless and profound. Su Li remembered that moment.

And perhaps spurred by it, Su Li differentiated into an Omega just a few days later.

Because her body was too weak to withstand the shock of Omega differentiation, Su Li was confined to bed for a month.

During that month, Ying Feiyan came to see her almost every few days to talk to her, giving the reason that she “thought you’d be lonely recovering at home by yourself.”

Su Li had few friends. Ying Feiyan was an unexpectedly wonderful intrusion into her life, and her tender concern deeply touched Su Li’s heart.

She was infatuated for eight years just like that.

Su Li wasn’t weak willed when it came to love. During the summer break after her college entrance exam, she confessed her feelings to Ying Feiyan, but the answer she got was, “I’ve always seen you as a little sister.”

Later, during university, Su Li persistently showed Ying Feiyan her feminine side, trying to make her realize that she had grown up and matured, and was no longer just a “little sister.”

By the fourth year of university, Ying Feiyan finally accepted Su Li’s pursuit.

Now, having just graduated, Su Li was planning to marry the love of her life. Unfortunately, everything was shattered because of a dream.

When she spoke of her high school confession, Su Li’s eyes were already moist. Talking about how thoughtfully she had prepared gifts for the other person during university, and how she once fainted from a high fever on the way to the other person’s school, Su Li’s tears streamed down, and she finally couldn’t continue.

“That’s truly moving,” Jiang Zhuoye sighed softly from the side.

Su Li silently cried, and then heard Jiang Zhuoye say:

“But I haven’t seen her love for you.”

Su Li froze for a moment, unable to refute.

“And your feelings for her, rather than love, are a false illusion interwoven with extreme dependence and self-admiration/self-pitying sentimentality.”

Su Li looked up, teary-eyed, and asked Jiang Zhuoye:

“Do you know what love is?”

Jiang Zhuoye shook her head.

“Hard to say.”

Su Li wiped her tears, straightened her face, and counted on her fingers, one by one:

“Do you know what it feels like to wake up at five in the morning on a snowy day, just to tread out the words ‘I love you’ in the snow on the sports field for her? Do you understand what it feels like when your heart acts up and you almost faint from pain because you see the other person with a potential romantic interest? You don’t know anything, so how can you say my love is false?”

Jiang Zhuoye’s expression was calm, her beautiful face unperturbed.

“What you’ve described still doesn’t go beyond the scope of self-admiration/self-pitying sentimentality. I believe you don’t actually love her you merely love the version of yourself that is brave enough to pursue that love.”

Su Li was stunned.

She instinctively felt that Jiang Zhuoye was right, but rationally, she was unwilling to admit it.

In truth, even someone who is perpetually confused will clear up a little at certain moments.

Su Li had thought before about what her feelings for Ying Feiyan had been like over the past year. She had chased the other person’s silhouette for so long that even when they were finally together, she still felt like she was looking at a back, never experiencing the true joy of being in a relationship.

She was always feeling insecure, always being cautious, and always wondering if she hadn’t fulfilled her duties as a girlfriend, or if she wasn’t a model partner.

The energy focused on Ying Feiyan herself had, conversely, become very little.

Jiang Zhuoye called it self-admiration… perhaps it was. Su Li no longer wanted to delve into it.

She bit her lower lip and then said:

“It doesn’t matter anymore. All I feel for her now is hate.”

Recalling last night’s incident, Su Li now felt only loathing for Ying Feiyan.

Ying Feiyan had actually disregarded her feelings and attempted to mark her that was not the action of a civilized person at all! Su Li had only one feeling at the time: she had been truly blind!

Jiang Zhuoye agreed.

“Hating her is better than loving her. Hate is always a more intense emotion than love.”

Su Li felt the statement was a little strange, but drowsiness overtook her, and she promptly fell asleep.

Even as she was almost completely asleep, Jiang Zhuoye heard Su Li mumble a few sounds from her pillow.

“Hate… is tiring…”

Jiang Zhuoye looked at Su Li’s gently trembling eyelashes and stroked her hair.

“No, hate keeps one alive.”

Su Li indeed stayed in the hotel for another full day. Under Jiang Zhuoye’s meticulous care, she quickly returned to normal.

The next morning, Jiang Zhuoye personally came and saw Su Li off into a private car, which drove her back to the Su family residence.

The Su household was in an uproar. The head of the family, Su Ruxiang, the matriarch, Li Zhenzhen, her elder brother Su Li, and her elder sister Su Meng, were all gathered around the table, debating fiercely.

The subject of the debate was what punishment should be given to Su Li for staying out all night!

They had originally decided on a year of grounding, plus other disciplinary measures, but as soon as Su Li arrived at the door in the private car, Li Zhenzhen rushed up to hug her child, weeping with joy:

“Wuwuwu, my precious Li Li, you mustn’t scare Mommy like this again! Mommy promises you anything you want from now on, just please don’t spend the night at someone else’s house, it’s too scary! Wuwuwu!”

Everyone else:

“…”

In the end, they gave Su Li a token, minor punishment a one month grounding.

Su Li was happy with this. In fact, she also wanted some time at home to recuperate, carefully sort out her emotions, and also paint oil paintings and update her serialized comic.

Things should always be done one by one.

During her grounding, Su Li continued to wake up on time, eat well, rest well, and seize every opportunity to paint.

The serialized comic, posted on Weibo, gained a two-digit following after a period of time, and the comments also reached two digits, making it look quite lively.

And the painting Su Li had done long ago, inspired by her dream of Jiang Zhuoye, was finally completed. She didn’t plan to keep the painting and called an auction house to have them collect it for an internal auction.

Primarily, she had too many paintings. She was very satisfied with this one, so she wanted others to appreciate it even more. Putting it on the auction house website might allow more people to see it.

At a place like an auction house, many works by famous artists don’t sell. For an unknown amateur artist like Su Li, there might not even be anyone bidding.

Su Li only put it out for display, thinking she would withdraw it if it went unsold after a while. Unexpectedly, during a network bidding session a week later, the painting was bought at a high price.

Two anonymous clients kept bidding, fiercely driving the price up, and the one with the highest bid won in the end.

Su Li inexplicably received a large sum of money and felt dazed. Was this a sign from heaven that she was destined to become a painter?

Su Li herself was quite pleased with the title of “Beautiful Artist.”

After checking her bank account, she opened her tablet and continued watching Jiang Zhuoye’s movies.

These days, whenever she had free time, she would definitely watch Jiang Zhuoye’s movies, TV series, or variety shows.

She had developed an intense interest in Jiang Zhuoye as a person.