The Mad Beauty and the Sick Young Lady [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 38

After the cabbage worm dropped onto her foot, Su Li felt as if she had suddenly become nature’s darling. In the season of spring blossoms, she encountered small birds flying straight towards her and brightly colored butterflies.

Su Li would see the new variety of flowers she had picked from her small home garden every day when she went out for a walk, and she would stop to admire them.

This day, she was admiring the flowers in her own yard, holding a sketchpad and drawing them, sketching the tree from different angles front, back, left, and right.

Suddenly, she sneezed.

The beautiful red petals on the tree fluttered down, pushed high into the air by the airflow. Su Li quickly stabilized herself and tried to capture the scene with her pen.

“Be careful of pollen allergies in the spring.”

A voice came from behind her.

When Su Li turned her head, it was Jiang Zhuoye.

Jiang Zhuoye was wearing a pink knit top and a white long skirt, her long hair was gently draped over her shoulders. Her appearance was more… non-threatening than before, and the look in her eyes had changed a lot.

Su Li only glanced at her, turned back, and prepared to walk back into her house.

A soft, sweet voice said from behind:

“Hello, I am, Jiang Zhuoye.”

Su Li stopped, looked back at the person, and was very confused.

Jiang Zhuoye’s eyes seemed to be shining. She stood in the middle of the path without moving forward, a natural smile on her face, and introduced herself again:

“I am an actress and currently live in building 15. We are neighbors.”

Su Li couldn’t quite figure out what this was about, her brows slowly furrowed, and suspicion appeared in her eyes, but she still didn’t want to speak.

Jiang Zhuoye continued:

“I just wanted to remind you that spring has arrived, and people’s constitutions might change. New varieties of flowers can easily cause pollen allergies, so you might want to keep a little distance.”

Su Li couldn’t help but ask:

“Are you suffering from amnesia?”

Jiang Zhuoye chuckled softly:

“No. I just thought I’d get to know you again.”

Su Li stood stunned for a moment, then turned around, walked into her door, closed it, and automatically locked it.

Jiang Zhuoye, who was shut out, did not show any signs of sadness; instead, she was visibly excited.

Su Li was willing to talk to her!

This was the first time Su Li had spoken to her in such a long time! Su Li must still care!

Jiang Zhuoye walked briskly to the spot where Su Li had been standing and sniffed the tree of flowers.

She was very happy. Getting a response from Su Li was an unexpected delight, which was enough to make her happy, much better than she had expected.

Jiang Zhuoye slowly walked back to her own villa.

Su Li looked down from her room and saw Jiang Zhuoye’s retreating back, pouting her lips.

It was spring now, and she had a major item on her bucket list to do.

She called someone:

“Hello, when are you free? How about tomorrow morning, at…? Okay, thank you for your trouble.”

The next morning, Su Li arrived on time at the agreed location. It was the best forest park in the province, and it was the season when the flowers were blooming, so there were many tourists.

Su Li stood at the entrance waiting. After a short while, Zhu Qiyu walked over, holding a bouquet of fresh flowers and carrying a huge camera bag on her back.

Su Li was here for a photoshoot. She planned to take a set of beautiful photos while her illness was not too severe, which her family could use to remember her later.

Zhu Qiyu was not only a doctor but also a photographer. Su Li had seen the photos she took, and from a painter’s aesthetic point of view, they were quite good, so she had arranged to take photos together today.

For the photoshoot, Su Li was wearing a small floral print dress, a veil on her head, and relatively heavy makeup. She looked different from her usual pure and innocent style, appearing pretty and cute.

Zhu Qiyu’s eyes were full of admiration. She handed over the flowers, and fearing that Su Li wouldn’t accept them, she added:

“Props for the photoshoot, hold onto them, don’t lose them!”

Su Li pursed her lips and held the bouquet. She and Zhu Qiyu entered the forest park together and tried to take some photos in areas with fewer tourists.

Zhu Qiyu frowned as she checked the photos. She had a straightforward personality. Now, dressed in a tracksuit and carrying a camera bag, her sunny, assertive aura was evident, and quite a few girls were already sending admiring glances her way.

While checking, Zhu Qiyu said:

“The flowers are blooming alright here, but there are too many people, making it hard to adjust positions. Let’s walk further inside.”

The two continued to walk further in. This was a mountain trail. After a few steps, Su Li felt tired and slowed down. She apologetically called out to Zhu Qiyu:

“Could we… take a rest?”

Zhu Qiyu:

“Of course, we can. Let’s sit in that pavilion over there for a while.”

Zhu Qiyu reached out, intending to support Su Li’s arm, but Su Li subtly turned her body, gently patted her chest, pretending to take a deep breath, and then smiled, saying:

“Okay, I’ll try a little harder.”

Zhu Qiyu’s outstretched hand missed its target. She touched her camera and smiled, then followed Su Li again.

The two sat in the pavilion to rest. Zhu Qiyu took out a pile of snacks and handed them to Su Li one by one.

Su Li looked at the snack bags, and her thoughts involuntarily drifted back to a long time ago, when Jiang Zhuoye was recommending chips and cola to her on the beach.

Snacks back then seemed tastier, and things she had never tried always felt novel.

But looking at these now, Su Li didn’t want to touch them. She politely waved her hand.

Zhu Qiyu unwrapped the snacks and ate them with relish, saying while she ate:

“I know your illness requires diet control, but you don’t have to be so strict. When was your last check-up? How are your indicators?”

Su Li had a full body check-up after returning from her trip. The doctor forced a smile in front of her, then whispered to Li Zhenzhen behind her back. When Li Zhenzhen came back into the room, her eyes were red, and Su Li understood.

Perhaps the predetermined fate in the original novel was hard to change she was a character destined to die young, and her struggles now could not change anything.

There was no need to tell a new friend about this, so Su Li smiled and said:

“I’m not too sure. I just follow what my family tells me.”

Zhu Qiyu smiled and changed the subject.

Suddenly, a team of people carrying cameras emerged from the nearby hillside, surrounding a few slender and elegant figures in the middle.

This group was from a local official news program, working on a special feature about the forest park, and they had invited a few celebrities to support the event.

Photographers were setting up tripods to shoot the surrounding scenery, and there was also a drone for aerial photography.

The drone captured two young girls in the pavilion, whose outstanding looks and demeanor quickly attracted inquiries from the director’s team:

“Who can go interview those two tourists?”

Interviewing tourists was usually the job of a dedicated reporter, but at that moment, the reporter had just gone to the restroom, and no one on the team spoke up.

The director asked again, and then a soft and unexpected voice came:

“I’ll do it.”

Su Li hadn’t noticed that several people were approaching her. She was just admiring the beautiful scenery around her, smelling the floral fragrance in the mountains, feeling her heart clear and expansive.

Behind her, a familiar gentle voice suddenly sounded:

“Hello, beautiful lady. I am a guest on the city TV station’s New Viewpoint program. May I ask you a few questions?”

Su Li’s body trembled. She felt as if the whole world was out of sync. Was she hearing things? Why did the voice behind her sound so much like Jiang Zhuoye?

She slowly turned her head. Sure enough, it was Jiang Zhuoye herself, squinting her eyes, smiling very gently, with bright, shining light in her eyes.

Jiang Zhuoye was even holding a microphone, looking quite professional.

Su Li didn’t know what expression to make. She subconsciously frowned and whispered:

“Is this a reality show recording?”

Jiang Zhuoye repeated again:

“Beautiful lady, we are staff from the New Viewpoint program, and I am a program guest. We would like to interview you. Is that okay?”

Why was she using the honorific “you” (nin) now… Su Li started getting goosebumps.

The sunny and handsome Zhu Qiyu leaned over and smiled, naturally raising her arm to shield most of Su Li’s body. It looked unintentional, yet it was secretly an assertion of claim.

She spoke to Jiang Zhuoye:

“If you have any questions, you can ask me. We are together. She is quite shy and doesn’t like talking to strangers.”

Su Li shot her a grateful look. Zhu Qiyu winked, mouthing the words “leave it to me.”

Jiang Zhuoye stood to the side, watching the two interact, and soon found it hard to maintain her smile.

Her mood was very complex, but she didn’t show it on her face. She turned the microphone to Zhu Qiyu and began the interview.

The program’s cameraman nearby quickly set up the camera angle and filmed the whole process. Zhu Qiyu intentionally or unintentionally shielded Su Li next to her, trying to keep Su Li out of the shot as much as possible.

In fact, Su Li didn’t care about being on camera, but she didn’t want to appear in the same frame as Jiang Zhuoye, so she kept hiding behind, making sure the camera basically couldn’t film her.

Jiang Zhuoye systematically asked some questions arranged by the director’s team, mainly about the scenery of the forest park, the purpose of coming to the park, whether they liked the current state of the park, and if they had any suggestions.

Zhu Qiyu was generous and poised, with a sunny, bright smile, coupled with sincere yet humorous words, making her a model tourist.

Jiang Zhuoye, the guest reporter opposite her, also gave a stunning performance, interacting with the tourist smoothly, with an elegant smile and a wonderful atmosphere.

The cameraman thought to himself while filming, “This is solid. We have good program material.”

The questions were basically over when Jiang Zhuoye suddenly changed the subject and asked:

“May I ask, what is your relationship with this young lady?”

Zhu Qiyu was stunned for a moment. She subconsciously looked back at Su Li. Su Li was also confused, not knowing what to say, her eyes wide.

Zhu Qiyu turned back and smiled, saying:

“We are just friends.”

Jiang Zhuoye suddenly turned the microphone to Su Li:

“Then, young lady, did you have a good time today with your… friend?”

Su Li had been wondering what was coming, and when she heard this question, she immediately showed a brilliant smile:

“Of course I had a good time! My friend is so good to me, her photography skills are first rate, and the scenery here is so beautiful. I’m especially happy!”

A flash of melancholy crossed Jiang Zhuoye’s eyes. She turned her head and smiled at the camera:

“It seems everyone is very happy… That’s really wonderful.”

The cameraman looked at Jiang Zhuoye in the lens and felt something was off. Why did that smile look as if she were about to cry?

Jiang Jiang: (Singing) I’m glad you’re happy, you don’t need to explain the details to me.