Chapter 51
“…What Gu Ximian said before, she really meant it that way, didn't she?”
While waiting at the police station, Ling Jing suddenly spoke up: “That… she’ll be with you in the future.”
They had already left the hospital. Zhuang Chi’s gland was meticulously bandaged, and they had just arrived at the police station by car not long ago. Gu Ximian had gone in first, seemingly to discuss something.
She and Ling Jing were waiting outside to be called. Neither of them had been speaking, so when Ling Jing suddenly dropped such a line, Zhuang Chi was momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
“…Don’t overthink it.” In the end, that was the only response she could give. Zhuang Chi shook her head. “In that situation, it’s normal for her to want to comfort me. She’s always been a very good person…”
“Comfort…” Ling Jing repeated slowly, her face scrunching up in disapproval. “But Gu Ximian’s expression looked so serious then. Don’t you think so?”
“…”
Unable to answer immediately, Zhuang Chi was silent for a long while before saying softly, “…I’m not saying she wasn’t serious, just that it’s best if no one takes that kind of seriousness to heart right now.”
“Guilt, gratitude, a sense of responsibility—that statement was likely based on any one of those three, or perhaps all three, but it definitely didn’t come from love.”
“So don’t overthink it. Those words don’t count. Just forget you heard them, and don’t bring it up again. Don’t make her feel further that she needs to do this. It’s not something that can be described with ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’.”
“Gu Ximian said that because she’s a very good person, but that doesn’t mean she has to do it. Besides…” Zhuang Chi paused, lowering her gaze, “…besides, I don’t want her like that either.”
She absolutely did not want Gu Ximian to feel indebted to her, and she certainly didn’t want Gu Ximian to “compensate” her in this way. After all, this wasn’t a clean transaction of money and goods. Zhuang Chi had no such intentions to begin with; she didn’t want to make things so complicated.
Ling Jing listened in a daze, nodding as if she only half-understood. “…Mm, although I didn’t completely get it… I understand. I won’t bring it up again.”
Zhuang Chi gave her a reassuring smile, and the two tacitly changed the subject. After chatting idly for a while, a police officer came and called Zhuang Chi away. By the time she finished giving her statement and came out, more than two hours had passed, and Ling Jing was no longer there.
The police told her she could leave for the night. They had spent the entire evening going from the hospital for a medical check-up to giving their statements. It was now late at night. Zhuang Chi stood at the entrance of the police station, looking at the pitch-black sky outside. She wanted to check the time but belatedly realized her phone was still with Gu Ximian.
“It’s already past twelve. I had Ling Jing go back first, or she wouldn’t have made the dorm curfew. I also saw Olivia… but let’s forget about her for today.”
The voice came from behind her. Zhuang Chi turned around to see Gu Ximian standing there, holding out her phone. “Here. You should probably let everyone know you’ve been rescued, right?”
“Oh, thanks.” Zhuang Chi took it and saw an explosion of messages from the past few days, so many that just looking at them was exhausting. As she scrolled through them, she suddenly remembered something important. “Sorry, I have to call my family first…”
She said this and hurriedly went outside to make the call. The person on the other end seemed very emotional, and Zhuang Chi kept trying to console them, but it didn’t seem very effective. Gu Ximian watched her from a distance, not looking away even after Zhuang Chi finished the call. She just watched as Zhuang Chi walked back to her side, looking dazed and a little lost, and said, “…I heard from my mom, are they in Jin City right now?”
“Mm,” Gu Ximian nodded. “They were notified after the case was filed. They arrived yesterday.”
“…Did you help arrange things for them?”
“Mm, this happened because of me, so of course I should at least offer some compensation.” Giving an affirmative answer, Gu Ximian gestured towards a car parked not far away. “Get in. It’s time to see your mothers.”
Zhuang Chi got into the car in a daze. She watched as the driver skillfully drove to a luxury hotel. Her two mothers were pacing anxiously downstairs. The moment she got out of the car, she was pulled into a tight embrace by both of them, making it hard to breathe for a moment. It was Gu Ximian who helped ease the situation.
A series of emotional exchanges followed. Both of her mothers were very expressive people. Zhuang Chi knew she must have caused them a great deal of worry these past few days, and she felt terrible herself. In the end, it was only because it was so late that her parents managed to stop their tears, repeatedly urging them—meaning her and Gu Ximian—to go back and rest early. It was unclear what exactly had happened between them these past two days, but Gu Ximian seemed to have become very familiar with her parents. Both of them clearly liked Gu Ximian very much, their words filled with a similar care and affection as they showed towards her.
Watching her parents’ figures as they kept looking back, Zhuang Chi’s heart settled a little more. She turned to Gu Ximian and said, “Thank you. My mothers must have been a lot of trouble for you.”
“…I already said it was a matter of course, you don’t need to thank me.” Gu Ximian, however, frowned slightly upon hearing this and quickly changed the subject. “Your family is made up of a Beta and an Omega, huh? That’s quite rare.”
“It is pretty rare,” Zhuang Chi agreed, then gave an uneasy laugh. “…So the probability of me differentiating into an Alpha should have been quite low… I don’t know if you could call it lucky.”
Even though she suspected in her heart that the main reason for her differentiation was to fit the plot, her two moms didn’t know that. They had been genuinely happy for her for a long time after learning she had differentiated into an Alpha. This made her biggest worry, upon learning her gland was damaged, how to break the news to her parents. Fortunately, her mothers were incredibly kind and considerate people. They only felt heartache for her and showed no negative emotions like disappointment.
As she thought about this, she belatedly noticed that Gu Ximian hadn’t responded. Zhuang Chi turned to look and realized from Gu Ximian’s slightly dim expression that her last sentence could be misinterpreted. She had meant that she never wanted to be an Alpha in the first place, but in the current context, it could easily be understood as self-deprecation about the current state of her gland. Panicking, Zhuang Chi quickly explained, “I wasn’t talking about what happened this time! I’ve been thinking that for a long time, I’m not lying.”
Gu Ximian gave a low “mm,” but her expression didn’t seem to ease much. Another two hours had passed. It was late at night, and there were barely any people on the streets. Zhuang Chi saw a gust of cold wind make Gu Ximian shiver, and the equation “night + cold = bad mood” instantly formed in her mind. She immediately suggested, “W-we should leave here first, right? It’s so late now, we should go back and rest.”
“…Yes.”
Hearing the affirmative response, Zhuang Chi had just breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Gu Ximian turn to look at her and say in a very casual tone, “Then let’s go back to my place?”
“…Eh?”
“I said, let’s go to my place to rest for the night.” Gu Ximian explained again to the frozen Zhuang Chi, then lit up her phone screen to show her the time. “It’s long past the dorm curfew. You can’t go back, can you?”
If I explained and apologized very earnestly to the dorm manager afterward, maybe it would still be possible to wake them up and have them let me in.
Even after she was already sitting in Gu Ximian’s home, Zhuang Chi was still thinking about this.
…Sigh, at this point, I should stop thinking about these useless things. Zhuang Chi silently exhaled, trying to calm her restless mind. The process of staying over at Gu Ximian’s home had gone more smoothly than she’d imagined. Gu Ximian lived alone in a large house, and it wasn’t like she had to spend time alone with Gu Ximian as she had worried… The housekeeper had properly arranged a spare room for her, and she had now washed up, changed into pajamas, and was ready for bed.
The brand-new pajamas were, of course, provided by Gu Ximian. They felt very high-quality, soft and comfortable to wear. The only downside was that they seemed to be the same style as Gu Ximian’s own pajamas, just in a different color, making them look very much like a couple item.
Alright, stop thinking about such things. Zhuang Chi reeled her wandering thoughts back in and turned to more serious matters: washing up had taken quite a bit of extra time because her bandaged gland couldn’t get wet, and this experience felt familiar.
Wasn’t it just like when her hand was injured before? Zhuang Chi thought, raising her hand. The wrist that had been scratched three times by Xiao Ying had already healed. With the help of the medicine Gu Ximian provided, it hadn’t even left a scar. Only the shocking image of the torn flesh remained in her memory.
…And now I’m injured again, Zhuang Chi thought. It’s only been a little over a month since school started, this frequency really feels a bit…
The theory she had previously discarded—“interfering with the plot leads to injury”—resurfaced. Her injury this time was exceptionally severe compared to before. Was it because the changes she had caused to the plot at that banquet were so significant…?
It’s all just guesswork. Zhuang Chi felt a little discouraged and lowered her hand again, feeling that the current information was still insufficient to draw a definite conclusion. But she buried a seed of concern in her heart. After all, it really hurt this time.
…Following this line of thought, if she confessed that she was the author, causing a major distortion in the plot… what kind of injury would she suffer then? It felt like it could be even more severe than this time.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Zhuang Chi’s nerves tensed up reflexively, only to realize a moment later that she was no longer in that villa. The person outside the door wouldn’t be Lily.
A voice soon came from outside the door. It was Gu Ximian, her voice muffled as it came through: “Are you asleep?”
Zhuang Chi’s heart, which had been racing from the lingering shock, now sped up for a new reason. She stared straight at her door, so inexplicably nervous that even her breathing slowed.
…Alone time, Zhuang Chi thought. Here it comes.
Gu Ximian entered the room and closed the door, but she didn’t walk further in, just stood by the door.
…Oh no, they really are the same style of pajamas, Zhuang Chi thought. And Gu Ximian had clearly just showered; her whole aura was very relaxed, completely different from when she was outside… Alright! Stop looking!
As if fighting for control of her own body, Zhuang Chi squeezed her eyes shut and silently took two large steps back. Since Gu Ximian didn’t seem to intend to sit, she felt it would be rude to sit down either, so she remained standing and asked, “W-what is it? Did you need me for something?”
Stuttering as soon as she spoke completely exposed the fact that she had no composure at the moment. Zhuang Chi bit her tongue in frustration and heard Gu Ximian say softly, “…Don’t be nervous. I just have a few things I want to say.”
“I’m sorry.”
She started with an apology. Gu Ximian bowed her head to her, her tone solemn. “No matter what, you suffered this undeserved disaster because of me, so I must apologize to you no matter what.”
“I’m sorry, I… was too rash.” Gu Ximian said in a low voice, clenching her fists slightly. “…If I hadn’t rashly accepted the invitation, none of this would have happened. I took the plot too lightly before. I should have thought of this possibility sooner. At that time, I…”
…Took the plot too lightly. Zhuang Chi repeated silently, unable to describe the feeling in her heart. Well, this incident was so bizarre and had caused such a huge commotion, it was understandable that Gu Ximian would think it was the plot.
In any case, it was a good thing that Gu Ximian was paying attention now. It wouldn’t be good if she really maintained that mindset of “knowing something is wrong but deliberately jumping in just to see what happens next.” She sighed softly and responded first, “…Alright, I accept your apology. You can raise your head now.”
Seeing that Gu Ximian looked like she was about to say more, Zhuang Chi cut her off. “Let me say this first: don’t think about giving me any sort of huge compensation for this, neither material nor spiritual. And that thing you said at the hospital… don’t bring it up again. You don’t need to go that far.”
Gu Ximian froze, stopping mid-sentence. Zhuang Chi understood and sighed again. “…This wasn’t your fault to begin with. You and I both know very well that under those circumstances, we made the best and most correct choice. I was just a little unlucky, that’s all. It has nothing to do with you, Gu Ximian. You… you shouldn’t take the blame on yourself.”
Zhuang Chi was right, Gu Ximian thought. What they did back then was the best and most correct choice. She had always been very clear about this.
And she was equally clear that this conclusion was only valid because it was based on the premise that Zhuang Chi would never abandon her.
If Zhuang Chi hadn’t gone out to lure them away, the final result would likely have been both of them getting caught by Lily. For Gu Ximian, that was the case, but for Zhuang Chi, she clearly had the option to “abandon Gu Ximian and escape alone.” There was a very high probability she could have gotten away unscathed and wouldn’t have had to suffer like that.
Gu Ximian had always been a very rational person. Since she was young, she had always made her own choices, easily discerning which path was the most “correct.” This time was no exception. In that small, confined room, when faced with a choice, Gu Ximian’s rationality operated as usual. Just like every time before, she followed her reason and made a choice, leading to this result.
But Zhuang Chi wasn’t like that. She didn’t choose the path that was best for her.
That’s why Gu Ximian couldn’t let it go. Sometimes she would wonder if it was just Zhuang Chi’s character setting or a plot arrangement, but every time she looked at Zhuang Chi after finally rescuing her, Gu Ximian would think: How could it possibly be because of some setting… How could it?
Very rarely, Gu Ximian couldn’t properly express this feeling. Even after mustering the courage to come to Zhuang Chi’s room late at night, her words were still jumbled after the apology, never quite getting to the point. It was very similar to how she was at the hospital. When Gu Ximian said those words, they had practically slipped out. It was a strange feeling. It was hard to say if she was truly thinking about taking responsibility or something else at that moment. The only thing she could be sure of was that when she thought back on it now, she felt no regret.
But Zhuang Chi had rejected her, Gu Ximian thought. How could she describe her current mood? She could understand the meaning behind Zhuang Chi’s words and knew very well that she was saying them out of consideration for her. But, whether it was because she wasn’t used to the taste of rejection or something else, her heart just couldn’t become clear as expected. It was so strange. Whenever it involved Zhuang Chi, Gu Ximian always seemed to be unable to figure out what she was thinking.
Gu Ximian never liked being indebted to others. Since Zhuang Chi had blocked all the compensation measures she wanted to propose, she could only think of other ways.
“…Alright,” Gu Ximian conceded. “Then we won’t talk about compensation.”
Not compensation, just an equal exchange.
Since Zhuang Chi had chosen her over reason, then from now on, Gu Ximian would also place Zhuang Chi above reason. This would be an equal exchange that no one could find fault with.
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