TIMO - Chapter 50
Chapter 50
Fu Zhao never thought she would hear the name Shi Nan from Fu Wanqing's lips.
She had originally thought that on all of Nanke Island, she was the only one who knew Shi Nan, bearing everything about Shi Nan and her alone.
So, when Fu Wanqing said that name, she still felt a trace of disbelief. And when that name was connected to the identity of "her fiancée," she found it even more incredible.
It was raining that day too. Perhaps due to the location, the fine rain was hazy and the tree shadows were mottled, but the sun, with a half-disc of golden light, was still hiding behind the mountain, peeking out quietly. The shimmering golden light was like a silently leaping flame, reflecting on the tombstone before her, casting a bizarre and motley play of light and shadow.
Fu Zhao knelt before the tombstone, soaked by the sudden rain. Her clothes were slowly dampened by the fine drizzle, clinging uncomfortably to her body. But her greatest discomfort came from her knees, which had been kneeling on the ground for so long they had gone stiff and numb, beyond the point of pain.
She could feel the strength draining from her entire body, her body temperature dropping.
But she was stubborn back then, not understanding why her mother, who had always doted on her, would refuse to agree only to this one thing-breaking off the engagement. She couldn't figure it out, so she could only resist in what she considered a childish way.
Besides the already deceased Gu Shubai, she had no other way to negotiate with Fu Wanqing.
The rain didn't fall on her for long before it stopped.
She looked up and realized the rain hadn't stopped; rather, a black umbrella had appeared above her head. Fu Wanqing, dressed in a black shirt, was standing beside her, staring at the photo on the tombstone of a young Gu Shubai smiling cheerfully. Her tone was calm.
"This is the first time you've come to see Shubai since you turned eighteen, and it's to break off an engagement?"
Fu Zhao closed her eyes, letting the rain that drifted in from under the umbrella fall on her. She felt a little dizzy, but she still forced herself to muster some strength. "Yes, Mother. I need to break off the engagement."
After turning eighteen and still not having differentiated, Fu Zhao knew that her fate as a lifelong Beta was sealed. So she hadn't come to the cemetery again, nor had she dared to see Gu Shubai again.
"Since you returned to Nanke Island at fourteen..." Fu Wanqing's gaze shifted to Fu Zhao, her eyes lowered to look at her. "You've almost never opposed anything I've arranged..."
"That's because..." Fu Zhao interrupted Fu Wanqing, a little agitated. Her body swayed unconsciously a few times, and it took a long while before she recovered enough to continue speaking. "Your other arrangements, Mother, were all good things for me."
"Only this one isn't."
"How do you know it isn't?" Fu Wanqing sighed softly, moving the umbrella a little more toward Fu Zhao. "I'll ask you one more time, is there someone you like?"
"If that's the case-"
"No." Fu Zhao quickly interrupted Fu Wanqing again. Her fingertips were white from clenching her fists, and her lips were pressed so tightly they had also turned pale. "I don't have anyone I like... It's just that marriage, you can't possibly do it with a complete stranger."
"A stranger?" Fu Wanqing asked in return, her eyes rippling as she looked over. "As far as I know, you and the Shi family's daughter were junior high classmates. You don't know each other?"
It was as if a clap of thunder had exploded overhead, blasting Fu Zhao's mind into a complete blank.
Heedless of her stiff, wooden knees, she subconsciously tried to stand up. But her sore, aching knees failed her. Instead, she stumbled and fell back to her knees on the ground, a piercing pain shooting through them once more.
"The Shi family's daughter you mentioned, which Shi family is it?" Her voice trembled slightly.
Her vision began to blur, and the noise in her ears grew louder. Liquid trickled down from her forehead along her brow bone, cool and damp-she couldn't tell if it was sweat or rain.
Vaguely, she saw Fu Wanqing's expression become urgent as she walked over and put an arm around her shoulders.
Her last bit of strength began to dissipate. The hazy, fine rain mixed with golden light drifted in her vision, as if adding a golden mist filter to everything she saw. She struggled to open her eyes, clutching Fu Wanqing's arm and refusing to let go, speaking word by word, "What... What's her name?"
Fu Wanqing seemed to sigh and spoke the name.
"The young lady of the Shi Corporation, Shi Nan."
It was as if that disc of golden light hiding behind the mountain had splashed over her, or as if the rain falling on her face had drifted over gently, carrying the damp, cool evening breeze from the mountains.
That day, she heard the name from Fu Wanqing's lips. She even wondered if Fu Wanqing had learned the name Shi Nan from somewhere and was using it to trick her into leaving the cemetery.
But it was real.
Shi Nan really was her fiancée.
Everything that happened afterward made her feel this sense of reality.
That day, she felt she was probably the luckiest person in the world.
But every day after Shi Nan said the words "break off the engagement," she felt that to have and then to lose was probably the most regrettable thing in the world.
No, that wasn't right. That thought must be wrong.
Because she had never had it in the first place.
To have and then to lose... to lose and then to regain-neither of these situations had ever happened to her.
Another nightmare.
Fu Zhao's eyes flew open. Her rapid breathing pulsed in her ears. The memories that surged up in her dream were so real that every time she woke up, her heart pounded ridiculously fast, and it took a while for it to calm down.
These past few days, whenever she closed her eyes, old memories would flash through her mind.
Sometimes they would pop into her head suddenly, and other times they would appear in the form of nightmares.
Just like the dreams she had during her differentiation, these dreams and memories were incredibly real. She was no longer an observer, but an active participant in the memories.
Fu Zhao stared blankly at the quietly swaying chandelier on the ceiling. As these memories resurfaced, she felt that her previous memories of being a university student village official were becoming unreal instead.
It felt like a lifetime away. She was slowly becoming the Fu Zhao of this story.
She almost believed she was that Fu Zhao, and that her previous ordinary, mundane life was the long dream she had been having.
"Awake?"
A gentle voice sounded in her ear, followed by the touch of a soft, silk handkerchief on her forehead. The cold sweat that had beaded on her skin while she was dreaming was wiped away with a light touch.
"Did you have a nightmare? Drink some cold water."
Fu Zhao came back to her senses and looked toward the voice. Fu Wanqing was sitting by her bed, her face a little weary, but she still placed the back of her hand against Fu Zhao's forehead, as if checking her temperature.
Fu Zhao quickly propped herself up and took the water Fu Wanqing was about to give her. She took a large gulp, and the cool, clear liquid sliding down her throat relieved the dryness that had risen from her heart.
"I'm fine." She looked at Fu Wanqing, who was looking back at her, still in a bit of a daze. After all, waking up suddenly to see the person from her dream standing before her made it hard to distinguish whether this was a dream or reality. "Am I... dreaming?"
"Pfft-"
A loud laugh erupted beside her. Fu Zhao followed the sound and, sure enough, saw three people sitting in a row on the hospital room sofa. Ye Er was sitting primly on the very end. A short distance away, Jiang Wenqing wore a sour expression as she stared at the book in her hands. And on the other end was Kong Weiyan, sprawled out and lounging on the sofa, idly scrolling through a tablet.
Without looking up, Kong Weiyan said, "You've asked that every time you've woken up these past few days. My ears are getting calluses."
"Fu Zhao, you're really not dreaming. This is all real. However..." She drew out the last word, her tone leisurely. "Compared to that, I think there's something else you should be more concerned about. When you opened your eyes and saw the four of us here, didn't you sense anything?"
Jiang Wenqing casually tossed the book in her hands to Ye Er. "Like why Ye Er is here?"
Ye Er caught it smoothly and looked over quietly, the light in his eyes flickering slightly. The meaning he wanted to convey was self-evident.
Fu Wanqing gently patted her head and smiled.
Fu Zhao froze. Her gaze swept over the four of them, finally circling between Ye Er and Fu Wanqing. Her mind was in a daze, and with a hint of disbelief, she asked about the one thing she had wanted to do most recently.
"Can I... go see Shi Nan now?"
"Add a few more layers."
Fu Zhao felt the tightness on the soft flesh at the back of her neck. Looking at Kong Weiyan's impatient face, she couldn't help but add a few more words of caution. "What if I can't control it-"
"You won't." Kong Weiyan stuck the last isolation patch on Fu Zhao's neck and rolled her eyes dramatically. "I've already put three layers on you. Besides, Doctor Liu has already examined you and confirmed you can control the release of your pheromones before allowing you out of the room. And Shi Nan's pheromones have been stable for a few days. Don't worry. If something still happens, I'll eat these isolation patches."
"I guarantee it."
"Alright, alright, just get in there."
The words had barely left her mouth when a strong force pushed her from behind. The door in front of her opened, and before she could react, she was shoved inside, coming face to face with the person lying quietly on the hospital bed directly ahead.
"Bang-"
The door behind her slammed shut with a loud noise, startling her out of her daze.
The curtains of the floor-to-ceiling window were drawn open, revealing swaying tree shadows outside. Dappled sunlight slipped through the gaps in the leaves, casting brilliant golden beams straight into the hospital room.
The person on the bed was so beautiful she didn't seem real, lying quietly with her eyes gently closed.
She was wearing the same hospital gown as Fu Zhao, neat and tidy from head to toe. Her originally shoulder-length hair had grown a little longer and rested smoothly on her shoulders, fanned out on the pillow, clearly having been meticulously groomed.
After lying in bed for over ten days, her skin seemed to have grown even paler, translucent and fair. Her lips had a natural, moist sheen, her complexion was rosy, and her features were beautiful. She didn't look like someone who had been bedridden for many days.
Shi Nan hadn't woken up yet.
Even though they had run several checks and said everything was fine, she still hadn't woken up.
Fu Zhao stared in a daze. It had only been a little over ten days since she'd last seen her, but the Shi Nan before her felt somewhat unfamiliar. This was the person who had appeared countless times in her dreams and memories these past days, yet seeing her in the flesh after more than ten days felt like a lifetime had passed.
There were too many things accumulated in her mind, so that for a moment, seeing Shi Nan in front of her, she felt a little lost.
She walked over, sat down in the chair by the bed, and tucked in the corner of Shi Nan's blanket. Just then, she noticed the medical wristband on Shi Nan's wrist. It was pink, probably to differentiate between the genders.
The words "Abnormal Heat" were marked on it in large characters.
The wrist under the band seemed much thinner, making the sleeve cuff look empty.
Fu Zhao felt a pang of sadness watching her, and her eyes even began to burn. She lowered her gaze to hide the moisture in her eyes. After thinking long and hard, she spoke her first words to Shi Nan in a long time.
"The doctor said that when people are in a coma, they can still react to familiar voices, and it might help them wake up faster. I know Auntie Shi has probably told you a lot these past few days, but maybe it's just a coincidence, you know? Maybe my voice is familiar to you too. Maybe you'll wake up the moment I come to see you..."
Shi Nan didn't react. She lay in bed, her breathing light, as quiet as the sleeping beauty from the fairy tales she had heard.
Fu Zhao took a deep breath and continued, "Actually, I've been wanting to see you ever since I woke up. Even though they said I couldn't leave, I couldn't help but think about what I would say to you when I finally saw you..."
"Should I first blame you for leaving without a word? Or should I first agree to turn that sculpture back into an engagement gift?"
"Should I be thankful that nothing happened to you, or thankful that I managed to keep you here once again..."
At this, she couldn't help but lower her head and smile. "Or maybe I should blame you first... blame you for leaving in such a hurry that you didn't even take the gift I gave you. Didn't you say you couldn't sleep well without hearing my pulse?"
Her dry voice grew choked, taking on a faint sob. The burning in her eyes intensified until she could no longer hide it. "You liar. You obviously haven't heard my pulse these past days, and now you've been sleeping for over ten days, and so soundly at that. I... I'm talking to you, and you're still ignoring me..."
Fu Zhao couldn't hold it in any longer. She reached out and grasped Shi Nan's wrist. A tear that had been welling in her eye fell, landing in Shi Nan's palm. "But before all that, maybe I should tell you something that... might not be very good news for me..."
"I differentiated into an Alpha, Shi Nan."
To be honest, this was the thing that had flustered her the most these past few days.
She had become a gender she had never imagined for herself. Her strength had increased significantly, and the gland in her neck would heat up from time to time, reminding her of this crucial fact. The susceptibility period that would one day come also made her feel agitated and uneasy, to the point where she couldn't think during the day or sleep at night.
She began to miss the time when she could comfortably be a Beta. That had been the best thing for her.
But now, there were many things she couldn't control. The innate energy of an Alpha, and the emotional instability of someone who had just completed differentiation, made her sit and brood over these things all day long. Her mood could be completely different from one second to the next.
It was all strange and terrifying.
"Actually, I still can't accept the fact that I've become an Alpha, but I don't dare tell anyone else. They're already busy enough. What time do they have to worry about someone who only differentiated at twenty-two?"
She looked at the person on the bed quietly listening to her complaints, her eyelashes slightly curled, her face gentle. She watched her silently, voicing the things she had feared most these past days, her tone growing more choked. "If... if only I didn't have to be an Alpha. I really don't want to be an Alpha. I'm so scared of that feeling of losing control, and I can't imagine myself becoming like that..."
Just as she finished speaking, as if her monologue had finally received a response, as if someone could finally understand her recent vexation and the panic buried deep in her heart, the wrist she was holding in her palm moved. Then, a warm, soft touch with a gentle strength came over her hand, as fair, pink-tinged fingertips clasped her palm.
Their fingers intertwined.
Stunned, she raised her head. A pair of beautiful, tea-brown eyes met hers. The eyelashes trembled slightly, a soft, moist light flickering within them. The quiet person suddenly came to life, and the warmth in her palm reminded her of this tangible reality.
Shi Nan had really woken up.
Then, the person before her watched her quietly for a moment before pulling the corners of her lips into a comforting smile. She spoke softly, her voice much lighter, and squeezed their intertwined hands with a little force, as if to console her.
"I will be responsible for you, Fu Zhao."
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