The Mad Beauty and the Sick Young Lady [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 34

Jiang Zhuoye came out of the bathroom and saw Su Li sitting blankly on the bed.

“Li Li, why do you look unwell? Does something hurt?”

Jiang Zhuoye quickly walked to the bedside and bent down to ask with concern.

“Ah…”

Su Li did not look at her. Instead, her body turned away, and she only muttered something meaningless.

Jiang Zhuoye felt strange and reached out to touch Su Li’s hair:

“What’s wrong?”

Su Li remained motionless, but her head subtly shifted to the side, avoiding the fingers Jiang Zhuoye had extended.

While Jiang Zhuoye was still in a daze, Su Li suddenly lay down, pulled the quilt up to her chin, half-closed her eyes, and said calmly:

“I’m suddenly a bit sleepy. I’m going to sleep first. You go do your business. Thank you for visiting me.”

Jiang Zhuoye subconsciously blurted out:

“I’m on leave, I don’t have anything to do.”

Su Li had already closed her eyes, her brow slightly furrowed, her breathing steady, as if she were inviting sleep.

Jiang Zhuoye slowly sat down on the chair by the bed and casually picked up her phone, only to see the screen turn black as the battery died, reflecting her own face.

She spoke in a very low voice, as if talking to herself:

“I… I’ll stay with you for a little while longer.”

Su Li lay there calmly, her face pale, her skin thin and translucent, and her hair color lighter than usual, spread out on the pure white pillow, giving her an ethereal, elven quality.

Her eyeballs were clearly moving beneath her eyelids, indicating she wasn’t asleep, yet she was unwilling to open her eyes to look at Jiang Zhuoye.

Even a fool like Jiang Zhuoye sensed that something was wrong.

The only possibility was that there was an issue with the phone, but her phone had just run out of battery, and she hadn’t brought a charger or power bank.

She could only sit futilely on the chair, hoping that perhaps Su Li would tell her what had happened.

Unfortunately, Jiang Zhuoye sat for ten minutes, and Su Li remained lying there calmly, her breathing even, her eyelashes subtly fluttering, only turning over once in the interim.

Seeing that sitting any longer wouldn’t yield an answer, Jiang Zhuoye stood up, tightly clutching her phone, preparing to leave.

Before turning away, she was seized by an impulse, reaching out and gently stroking Su Li’s soft, cool hair on the back of her head twice.

Su Li didn’t dodge this time, only her eyelashes trembled slightly.

Jiang Zhuoye gently rubbed her fingertips together, then unconsciously brought her hand to her nose to smell it, catching a familiar, faint scent of orange.

She gave a bitter laugh and said in an extremely low voice:

“Then I’ll go now. Call me if you need anything.”

Su Li was facing the other side, her back to Jiang Zhuoye, her body rising and falling steadily with her breath, seemingly not hearing her at all.

Jiang Zhuoye walked out and closed the door.

Su Li suddenly opened her eyes, lying sideways on the bed without moving, her fingers inside the quilt tightly gripping the bedsheet.

She could hardly describe her feelings when she saw that memo.

It was as if she had suddenly been struck on the back of the head by a heavy hammer, making her whole body ache but bringing her to her senses, yet it also felt like the Sword of Damocles, long anticipated, had finally fallen.

Shattering all the illusory sweetness, without mercy.

While Su Li was pretending to sleep just now, her mind was filled with chaotic questions. She asked herself:

Why did I forget that Jiang Zhuoye should be the female lead of the entire world, blessed with the best luck and resources? Why would she get so close to me, a cannon fodder who is about to die?

How was I misled by appearances? Why was Jiang Zhuoye so good to me before, so illogically kind, making me feel warm and dependent, and the timing just happened to be right after my broken engagement?

Although the whole thing started with me giving her the car, everything that followed was entirely controlled by Jiang Zhuoye.

Su Li slowly traced the timeline and realized that every time she encountered danger, Jiang Zhuoye would appear.

At the club, when Ying Feiyan released her pheromones toward me, Jiang Zhuoye happened to descend like a god, saving me and taking me to a hotel to spend a day and a night together. From there, our relationship progressed rapidly.

But Su Li had never carefully considered: How could it be such a coincidence?

The same thing happened at the friends’ gathering. Jiang Zhuoye also showed up at the party Ying Feiyan was supposed to attend, and she specifically confronted Ying Feiyan for my sake, making me feel touched and trust her.

And then, eating barbecue at a food stall. There are so many food stalls in the city, and it wasn’t a holiday that day, yet Ying Feiyan happened to come over to deliver roses…

Su Li’s capacity for thought was limited she simply didn’t know how to analyze these events. Before, she had just followed her feelings without thinking deeply, but now, upon a brief review, these events were all permeated with traces of behind the scenes arrangement.

Even…

Su Li thought a little conspiratorially, were Jiang Zhuoye and Ying Feiyan always appearing in tandem, all mere coincidences?

Jiang Zhuoye said she would sue Ying Feiyan, but so much time has passed, and the court hearing hasn’t begun yet. Is this real?

What was the ultimate goal of the schedule memo that read, ‘Using the artwork as a breakthrough, make her dependent on me’?

As a chill ran down Su Li’s spine, her heart slowly began to ache.

Under the bedsheet, she gripped the third button of her patient gown. The heartache was too intense she tore the button off and tightly squeezed it in her palm, enduring the pain it caused without letting go.

The pain in her palm was completely incomparable to the pain in her heart.

Su Li closed her eyes, curled up in the quilt like a shrimp, and tears slowly fell from the corners of her eyes.

Perhaps she was naturally ill-fated… unworthy of genuine friendship, and even less worthy of… being moved.

This morning, seeing Jiang Zhuoye, who was bathed in sunlight, gentle and beautiful, feeding her lotus seed soup, the feeling was too strong for Su Li to ignore.

Her heart raced erratically, her mouth felt dry, her cheeks warmed, her pupils dilated, her eyes were filled only with the person in front of her, and a smile unconsciously appeared at the corners of her lips.

Su Li had initially thought she shouldn’t have feelings for Jiang Zhuoye.

But upon seeing that schedule reminder, Su Li suddenly felt that having feelings was better.

This way, the impact would be deeper and more painful when she saw the truth, and she would remember it better.

With only a year and a half left of her life, Su Li didn’t plan to waste it on someone without genuine feelings. She slowly wiped away her tears and began to recall the contents of her bucket list, sending a message to Li Zhenzhen:

“Mom, haven’t we been on a family vacation for a long time? The New Year is coming up, how about the whole family going on vacation?”

After Jiang Zhuoye returned home and charged her phone, she deliberately checked it for a long time but found no unusual messages.

She sat in the study, with the broken bowl taped together sitting in front of her, utterly bewildered.

She could no longer worry about how to distance herself from Su Li in the future. Her mind was entirely focused on why Su Li’s attitude had suddenly done a one hundred and eighty degree turn.

Jiang Zhuoye went to the hospital again the next morning at the same time, only to find Su family’s Aunt Zhang standing at the door. Aunt Zhang calmly told her:

“The Third Young Miss said she doesn’t want to see outsiders and wishes for quiet recuperation. Miss Jiang, please go back. This is your thermos from yesterday.”

Jiang Zhuoye was stunned for a long time. She took the thermos from Aunt Zhang and glanced into the hospital room through the narrow window on the door.

Due to the angle, she couldn’t see anything, only the sight of the dry, desolate winter trees outside the hospital room window.

Jiang Zhuoye lowered her head and slowly walked away with the thermos, without any unnecessary persistence.

Su Li was discharged that afternoon. The first thing she did after being discharged was to arrange a meeting with Ying Feiyan, accompanied by Guan Jingxian.

She had no other intention; she just wanted to figure out one thing: whether Ying Feiyan and Jiang Zhuoye were colluding privately.

Ying Feiyan had been detained for several weeks and was now out on bail by her father, confined to the Ying family property and a small surrounding area.

Reporters and paparazzi constantly lurked around the vicinity. The shocking news of a wealthy family heir becoming a detainee was highly sought after by the media.

Unfortunately, Ying Feiyan’s social circle seemed to be quite poor, as few people came to visit her. The paparazzi gradually thinned out, leaving only a few struggling entertainment reporters who had no other sources.

Fortunately, their luck changed. They photographed a luxury car entering the Ying family neighborhood, and two beautiful women stepped out. One of them was weak, pale, and petite none other than Ying Feiyan’s former fiancee, who had caused quite a stir earlier!

The paparazzi rushed forward excitedly, their microphones and cameras quickly going to work. Several of them nearly shoved their microphones into Su Li’s mouth, asking questions volubly:

“Are you Ying Feiyan’s ex-fiancée, Su Li?”

“Was your breakup due to her forcing you into estrus? Does Ying Feiyan have any other violent behavior?”

“What kind of person is Ying Feiyan in your eyes?”

Guan Jingxian and two bodyguards helped to fend off the reporters, and some servants from the Ying family also came out to wave the reporters away. Su Li covered her head and quickly walked into the Ying house, with the bodyguards following her in.

Ying Feiyan was sitting directly opposite the main entrance in the living room.

Her eyes were fixed on Su Li, filled with blatant hostility and hatred.

Ying Feiyan had lost a lot of weight. Although she had clearly groomed herself and applied makeup, the dark circles and signs of a haggard face were impossible to conceal with cosmetics. Her skin condition had also worsened, and even her hair had thinned.

Su Li pretended not to notice these changes, sitting down on the sofa with a stern face and getting straight to the point:

“What exactly happened between you and Jiang Zhuoye?”

Ying Feiyan let out a cold laugh, full of hatred:

“Why should I tell you? What is your relationship with me?”

Su Li slowly sat down on the sofa, her posture composed:

“You and I have the relationship of a victim and a defendant. If you answer well, I will consider reducing the compensation I demand.”

Su Li had originally intended to sue Ying Feiyan along with Jiang Zhuoye. They had already jointly submitted the lawsuit, and the court was processing it. Of course, she was just saying this casually and had no intention of reducing the compensation Ying Feiyan didn’t deserve it.

“Ha… ha ha ha… A fallen phoenix is worse than a chicken, even you are bullying me now. Didn’t you love me for eight years? You change your expression faster than flipping a book…”

Ying Feiyan laughed maniacally.

“I consider those eight years to be a waste. Please answer my question properly.”

Su Li replied calmly.

“I don’t know what you want to ask. Jiang Zhuoye and I have absolutely no relationship. If there is one, then I am the victim! Me!”

Ying Feiyan suddenly became agitated, stood up, and strode toward Su Li.

The two bodyguards immediately stepped between the two, blocking Ying Feiyan.

Ying Feiyan locked eyes with Su Li through the gap between the two bodyguards, and then her demeanor suddenly softened:

“Li Li, the fact that you came to see me today means you still like me, doesn’t it? You still can’t let go of me, can you? Li Li, I actually like you the most too. Whatever went wrong between us can be resolved, can’t it… ”

Su Li raised a hand and said with annoyance:

“If that’s all you can say, then there’s no need for me to stay here.”

She stood up to leave, but Ying Feiyan suddenly called out to her:

“You want to know about Jiang Zhuoye, right?”

Su Li turned back.

Ying Feiyan’s lips curled into a smile, and her eyes gradually deepened. The previous pretense of madness disappeared, and she displayed some of the flair she had as a general manager before:

“Jiang Zhuoye? She is very manipulative. You probably don’t know, but my family’s investigation found that she sends money to a private detective agency every month, hiring their best detective. The subject being photographed, I suspect, is either me or you, but even during the time I was under house arrest, she was still employing that detective and had regular call records with them. I have evidence of all this. If you need it, I’ll send it to you. Li Li, I’m doing this for your own good. Don’t associate with that person anymore… she is more dangerous than me.”

Su Li softly exhaled, nodded, and without saying another word, turned and left.

Ying Feiyan looked at the slowly closing door, let out a cold laugh, and her expression was extremely complex.

Meanwhile, Su Li got into the car, returned to the Su family home without speaking a word on the way, lay back on her bed, and stared at the ceiling until evening.

The next day, Su Li and Li Zhenzhen set off first for Phuket Island, planning to spend a few months there to get through the winter.