PANT - Chapter 65
Chapter 65
When Su Tianxue woke up again, it was already evening.
She opened her phone for a glance and saw that although there had been work-related calls, they had all been answered.
Shi Ning must have handled the issues for her.
When Su Tianxue got up and pushed open the door, Shi Ning was wearing oven mitts and taking a freshly baked heart-shaped cake out of the oven.
Su Tianxue looked at it.
The cake was indeed heart-shaped.
It was just a burnt, blackened cake, that’s all.
But seeing Shi Ning’s eyes and the invisible dog tail wagging behind her, Su Tianxue couldn’t bring herself to say anything discouraging.
Shi Ning: “How is it, Wife? I’ve got some talent, right?”
Su Tianxue: “Yes, you do.”
A little, but not much.
Shi Ning admired her own work for a while, but knowing full well the thing was inedible, she ordered takeout instead.
Su Tianxue sat on the sofa, feeling languid.
It was only when she looked outside that she realized it was already dark.
She was rarely this idle, but right now, she didn’t find the state uncomfortable.
Su Tianxue picked up her phone and first replied to the messages she had missed while she’d slept the clock around.
As she was clearing her notifications, she discovered that Su Wanxing had sent her nearly twenty messages in a row.
Su Wanxing: ?????
Su Wanxing: ??????????
Su Wanxing: Are you and Shi Ning really getting married??
Su Wanxing: Sis!
Su Wanxing: Sis.......?
Su Wanxing: Okay, I get it.
Su Wanxing: Sister, if she’s not good to you, or if she bullies you, you have to tell me.
Su Wanxing: [Fist][Fist][Fist]
Su Wanxing: I’ll always be on your side!
Seeing this, Su Tianxue looked up and asked Shi Ning, “Did you tell Su Wanxing?”
Shi Ning was dealing with the blackened heart-shaped bread. “Tell her what?”
Su Tianxue raised her hand and wiggled the sparkling ring on her finger.
Shi Ning grinned and raised her own hand. Only then did Su Tianxue realize that, with the mitts off, Shi Ning was also wearing a ring.
It was a matching one to hers.
Shi Ning was a little smug. “What do you think? It’s pretty, right?”
It was pretty, Su Tianxue thought, just very conspicuous.
The kind of conspicuous where her finger would probably glow while walking in the dark, making her the number one target for robbers.
Having never worn a ring before, Su Tianxue looked down at the one on her hand. Although it felt a little strange, she twisted the band but didn’t take it off.
“Did you tell Su Wanxing… about us?”
Hearing Su Tianxue’s question, Shi Ning savored her words, breaking them down.
Us.
From now on, she and Su Tianxue were truly an “us.”
Shi Ning couldn’t help but smile. “What about us?”
She deliberately pretended not to understand and walked over to Su Tianxue.
Su Tianxue looked at her, too lazy to bother.
But Shi Ning was determined to make Su Tianxue talk. She sat down beside her and tilted her head. “Wife, what about us?”
“Is it about us battling for three days and three nights, or about you begging me to stop just now, or—”
“Oof.”
Shi Ning was unceremoniously stepped on by Su Tianxue.
Her flirtatious foot had become a pig’s trotter.
She yelped in pain.
Su Tianxue knew exactly how much force she had used and knew even better that Shi Ning was just acting. She didn’t feel the slightest bit of pity.
From now on, she had to hold her ground and not let this woman get her way every single time.
Seeing Su Tianxue’s reaction, Shi Ning had no choice but to confess.
“Are you talking about us getting together, about me proposing to you? I didn’t tell her.”
Su Tianxue found that strange. “Then why did she ask me?”
Shi Ning: “I didn’t tell her…”
“Ahem.”
She had merely announced it to the entire world.
Shi Ning presented her phone to Su Tianxue with both hands, in a gesture of offering.
Su Tianxue took it, confused.
Shi Ning prompted her, “Take a look at your Moments.”
Su Tianxue used Shi Ning’s phone to open Moments. Her latest post was a photo.
In the photo, her hand and Su Tianxue’s were tightly clasped, and Su Tianxue’s hand wore a diamond ring.
Shi Ning had even added an impassioned caption: YES, I DO.
…...
No wonder Su Wanxing knew.
Shi Ning rubbed her nose and said in a small voice, “Now open Weibo.”
Su Tianxue did as she was told, tapping the Weibo icon and going to Shi Ning’s profile.
Shi Ning, who previously had no Weibo account and no followers, had gained nearly half a million fans overnight.
Her Weibo verification was utterly ridiculous.
It was a single line of text.
Su Tianxue’s sweetheart.
She had only posted one thing.
The picture was the same one.
But the caption was much more audacious than the one on her Moments.
@ShiNingV: I have a wife, do you?
Su Tianxue clicked into the comments and realized that Shi Ning’s initial post probably got no attention, so the woman got annoyed and had her company’s accounts repost it.
After all, the reposts were a long list of various official accounts.
They all used the exact same caption.
“Wow! Congratulations to CEO Shi and her wife on a long and happy life together!”
The Shi Group’s official account, ever so generous, had even started another prize draw.
With that, everyone knew that Shi Ning had started a Weibo account and was showing off her relationship.
Her shameless post had successfully provoked public outrage.
@DontTellMeToGoHome: I don’t have a wife, but your wife is about to become my wife! Damn it!
@GoliathInElysium: Someone, there’s a person showing off their love life over here! Guards, drag her away for me!
@ILoveSweetsDontMindMe: More, please. I can take it.
Some people in the comments were discussing why she was only posting a picture of the diamond ring now, after being married for so long. Others said the ring didn’t look that great and probably wasn’t very expensive.
Shi Ning didn’t reply, but netizens became her mouthpiece, firing back at the critics.
“What does it have to do with you whether she wears a diamond ring or not?”
“You’d best mind your own business when it comes to beautiful women!”
“This ring is worth several years of my salary, my god, and people are still mocking it?”
Su Tianxue noticed a sarcastic comment that had been liked many times.
@GoOnSlapMyFace: Why is it always Shi Ning showing off their love? Sister Su never reacts at all. I feel like Sister Su doesn’t even like Shi Ning.
Su Tianxue glanced at it. It had nearly a thousand likes.
At that moment, Su Tianxue felt it was a great pity that Weibo hadn’t developed a downvote function.
If it had, she would definitely be downvoting it right now.
Seeing Su Tianxue’s solemn expression after looking at Weibo, Shi Ning grew uneasy.
She asked, “Wife, are you unhappy?”
Shi Ning: “If you don’t like this, I won’t post anymore in the future.”
She just couldn’t contain her joy and wanted to show off to the whole world.
She, Shi Ning, really had a wife!
Su Tianxue: “No.”
She reassured Shi Ning, “I’m not unhappy.”
Shi Ning looked at Su Tianxue’s still-icy face and fell silent for a moment.
This didn’t look like she was happy, either.
Su Tianxue handed the phone back to Shi Ning, then picked up her own and fiddled with it for a while.
Shi Ning still didn’t know what was happening.
Until she heard Su Tianxue call her: “Check Weibo.”
Puzzled, Shi Ning opened Weibo but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
There was no gossip or news in the new trending topics worth her attention.
Su Tianxue: “...Check your reposts and who you’re newly following.”
Shi Ning first clicked on her reposts and saw that amid a chorus of screams, an ID called Cosmic Traveler had posted: Yes, I do.
She looked at the starry sky avatar, clicked on it, and found that this person had followed her.
Besides following her, all their other follows were astronomy-related bloggers.
Shi Ning was surprised. “Is this you?”
Su Tianxue nodded. “I registered it back in university. I don’t use it much.”
Su Tianxue asked for help, “Can you tell me how to get verified on Weibo?”
Shi Ning taught her everything she knew.
A short while later, netizens discovered that Shi Ning was following a new person named Cosmic Traveler.
When they clicked on the profile, they saw that the user’s Weibo verification was also just a single line.
“She is in my universe. Verification: Shi Ning’s wife.”
Su Tianxue also did something that Shi Ning hadn’t expected.
She actually replied to that malicious comment.
@GoOnSlapMyFace: Why is it always Shi Ning showing off their love? Sister Su never reacts at all. I feel like Sister Su doesn’t even like Shi Ning.
@CosmicTravelerV replied: Face slapped, you’re welcome.
When the other netizens saw it, they all started screaming.
Shouting that they were shipping it so hard.
Shi Ning picked up her phone and took a screenshot.
Su Tianxue: “What are you doing?”
Shi Ning said with a straight face, “I need to preserve the evidence of your love for me.”
Su Tianxue: …...Idiot.
After messing around for a bit, the takeout arrived.
While eating, Shi Ning kept stealing glances at Su Tianxue.
Through the billowing steam of the hot congee, Shi Ning finally confirmed it.
The person before her was her sweetheart.
And the person she would walk hand in hand with for the rest of her life.
Yes.
An idea popped into Shi Ning’s head.
“Wife, let’s go look at wedding dresses again someday.”
Su Tianxue’s hand, which was spooning congee, paused slightly. She hadn’t forgotten the wedding dress that had been torn to shreds, its diamonds scattering everywhere.
Su Tianxue: “What for?”
Shi Ning: “After a proposal, there has to be a wedding.”
She wanted to make up for everything she owed Su Tianxue.
Whether it was the tenderness her parents owed her in childhood.
Or the tenderness the world owed her as an adult.
She would make up for it all.
The wedding, too.
Su Tianxue took a sip of congee. It was a little hot, and she stuck her tongue out slightly. “We just got engaged, and you’re already rushing to get married?”
Anyone who didn’t know better would think Shi Ning was trying to meet a DDL.
Shi Ning pouted. “Don’t you want to, Wife?”
Su Tianxue hummed thoughtfully. “It’s not that.”
She mused, “But shouldn’t we be in the dating phase right now?”
Shi Ning smiled. “I thought that every day with you, I’m in love.”
Su Tianxue put down her spoon. “Are you planning to talk like this from now on?”
Shi Ning cupped her face. “What’s wrong, Wife? Don’t you like it?”
Su Tianxue looked at Shi Ning. She was like a puppy that expressed affection anytime, anywhere, never stingy with her words.
Su Tianxue lowered her gaze. “I like it.”
Shi Ning being like this gave her the feeling of being resolutely chosen from beginning to end.
It was just… a little unfamiliar, and a little overwhelming.
The lights in the room came on, warm and cozy, shining out from the house and dispelling the darkness.
After they finished eating, Su Tianxue was in charge of clearing the table.
Shi Ning made a call to Fei Yue.
When the call connected, Fei Yue’s voice sounded extremely cold.
“Hello, who is this?”
Shi Ning: “It’s me, Shi Ning.” She added, “Su Tianxue’s wife.”
The cleaning cloth in Su Tianxue’s hand froze on the table.
Was this person going to introduce herself to everyone from now on by saying, “Oh, by the way, Su Tianxue and I are officially getting married”?
Su Tianxue glanced at Shi Ning and mouthed, “Speakerphone.”
Shi Ning walked over to Su Tianxue, took the phone from her ear, held it flat, and turned on the speaker.
Fei Yue’s voice came through.
“Shi Ning?”
She sounded puzzled as to why Shi Ning would be calling her.
Shi Ning glanced at Su Tianxue and cleared her throat. “Miss Fei, sorry to bother you.”
Fei Yue: “It’s no bother.”
Shi Ning: “I wanted to ask, what’s Shen Qingtang’s current situation?”
Fei Yue: “I’ve temporarily placed her somewhere.”
After saying that, Fei Yue paused and asked Shi Ning, “Would you two like to see her?”
Shi Ning had no desire to see Shen Qingtang.
But she was a little curious about where Fei Yue had placed her.
Even though Su Tianxue had explained the details of her contact with Fei Yue yesterday, Shi Ning still couldn’t be one hundred percent sure how Fei Yue would treat Shen Qingtang.
At the very least, in Shi Ning’s eyes, Shen Qingtang was, for all intents and purposes, Fei Yue’s fiancée.
Even if that engagement began with a lie.
The legal proceedings hadn’t started yet—Ye Wanlan was handling that—so Shi Ning thought it would be good to see Shen Qingtang’s current state before she was arrested.
If Shen Qingtang was doing relatively well, she’d have to think of a way to spice up her life a little.
If Shen Qingtang was doing poorly…
Well, that would be truly gratifying.
Shi Ning wanted to go herself, but she still had to see what Su Tianxue thought.
She looked at Su Tianxue.
Su Tianxue nodded.
Shi Ning: “We’ll go. Meet tomorrow?”
Fei Yue: “Okay.”
Just as Shi Ning was about to hang up, she heard Fei Yue say her name.
“Miss Fei, is there something else?”
Fei Yue paused, then said softly, “I’m very sorry about what happened before.”
“What happened?”
“I didn’t know Shen Qingtang’s objective. I saw her as my benefactor, and as my fiancée, she used a lot of my influence to do things that harmed you. I’m very sorry.”
What a rare sight.
So this cold, stone-faced monster Fei Yue could actually say so many words in one breath?
How strange, it was like a miracle.
Shi Ning felt that this matter couldn’t really be blamed on Fei Yue.
Fei Yue was also a victim.
In a way, Fei Yue was the type to repay a drop of kindness with a gushing spring.
However, something suddenly flashed through Shi Ning’s mind.
Now that the truth was out, Fei Yue knew that the person who saved her back then was Su Wanxing, not Shen Qingtang.
Then—
Could it be that the storyline was now going to converge with the original plot?
If that was the case, wouldn’t Su Wanxing be caught in the vortex of seven Alphas again?
Oh, well, at least she, one of the former Alphas, had already broken away from the plot.
Shi Ning spoke into the phone, “If Miss Fei truly feels sorry, could you answer a question for me?”
Fei Yue: “Of course.”
Shi Ning: “May I ask what you think of Su Wanxing?”
Fei Yue was taken aback for a moment.
She spoke her mind: “For so many years, I’ve been looking for her, and I’m very grateful for her help that time.”
When it came to this topic, even Fei Yue became more talkative.
“However, after the incident with Shen Qingtang, I realized…” Fei Yue paused. “From today on, I will treat Su Wanxing as my own little sister. If she runs into any trouble, I will help her with all I have.”
Shi Ning, the sister-in-law, was not pleased. “Su Wanxing is my sister-in-law. If anything happens to her, I will of course step in. I don’t need your help.”
Shi Ning emphasized, “Legally speaking, she’s my sister now.”
Su Tianxue, the actual older sister, remained silent.
Was this really something worth arguing about?
Worried that Shi Ning would continue to argue with Fei Yue for another half an hour, she spoke into the phone, “Thank you.”
“Hanging up,” Su Tianxue said first.
Fei Yue hummed in agreement.
In the end, she still said sorry one more time.
Shi Ning could tell that Fei Yue probably had her own set of principles, and what Shen Qingtang did had violated them, causing her to feel guilty.
Thinking of this, Shi Ning couldn’t help but look forward to seeing what Shen Qingtang would look like tomorrow.
From what she could see, Fei Yue didn’t seem like the soft-hearted type.
The next day, the two of them got up early, ate, and drove to the location Fei Yue had given them.
The location was a sanatorium.
It was very remote, in the mountains in the suburbs.
It was a two or three-hour drive from the city.
Shi Ning drove the whole way, watching as the surrounding scenery became more and more desolate and barren.
She wondered, why did Fei Yue put Shen Qingtang in this sanatorium?
After a long drive, they finally arrived. Looking at the sanatorium before them, which had a rather nice architectural style, Shi Ning blinked.
Was Fei Yue this kind?
This sanatorium looked very legitimate, not at all like the horror scenes that had appeared in Shi Ning’s mind during the drive.
No pitch-black rooms.
No Silent Hill-style decor.
This place looked particularly sunny, and the trees were lush and green, looking very fresh and pleasant.
Shi Ning couldn’t help but think that when she got old, she could retire in a sanatorium like this with Su Tianxue.
They didn’t have kids anyway, and they weren’t planning on being supported by anyone.
When they were too old to walk and couldn’t travel the world anymore, she and Su Tianxue could become old ladies together, leaning on canes, walking under the sunset, being helped out by caregivers every day to bask in the sun together.
Seeing Shi Ning lost in thought, Su Tianxue nudged her arm.
“What are you thinking about?”
Shi Ning opened her mouth but didn’t say what had just been on her mind.
She couldn’t very well say she was just thinking about what Su Tianxue would look like when she was old.
People always loved to describe their partner’s youthful beauty, adoring every ray of light on them, but when Shi Ning thought of that moment just now, she suddenly felt that even if this moon were to dim, even if Su Tianxue’s full head of black hair turned white…
This beautiful woman might not walk with a straight back anymore, and sometimes she might even be hunched over, needing someone by her side.
Her cheeks would have the wrinkles of time.
Even so.
Even so.
Shi Ning thought that when that time came, she would still love Su Tianxue as she did at the beginning.
And every wrinkle, every trace of time on Su Tianxue’s body, would be proof of their love.
Getting old was good, too.
There was no need to be afraid of getting old.
Shi Ning had originally thought that someone like her would probably party until her late thirties, and when she couldn’t party anymore in her forties, she could just depart from this world in an extreme sports accident.
There was nothing to be attached to, anyway.
She had seen all the sights she wanted to see.
But now, she had an attachment.
Su Tianxue was still standing by her side. How could she not live a good life?
Shi Ning held Su Tianxue’s hand tightly and squeezed it. “Wife, we’ll always be together and happy, right?”
Although Su Tianxue didn’t understand why Shi Ning suddenly had such an epiphany…
She was willing to accept every one of Shi Ning’s sudden moments.
So Su Tianxue squeezed Shi Ning’s hand back and answered with two words, full of conviction.
“Of course.”
“Ahem.”
A soft cough came from behind them.
Shi Ning, holding Su Tianxue’s hand with their fingers intertwined, turned around to look.
Fei Yue was standing right behind them, looking a little awkward.
As for why Shi Ning was able to read the emotion of awkwardness from Fei Yue’s seemingly unchanging features, it was all thanks to her experience from spending so many days with Su Tianxue.
Understanding one ice cube helped her understand all the ice cubes in the world.
Shi Ning: “...What a coincidence, Miss Fei.”
Fei Yue: “It’s not a coincidence.”
Su Tianxue: “She asked us to meet her here.”
Shi Ning: Neither of these two gets my joke!
Shi Ning: “Miss Fei, when did you arrive?”
Fei Yue: “……”
Shi Ning: “Alright, you don’t have to say it.”
She was certain that Fei Yue had heard almost everything she had just said to Su Tianxue.
Right.
Fei Yue led them inside.
Shi Ning asked curiously, “Miss Fei, why did you bring Shen Qingtang here?”
Fei Yue had her hands in her pockets, her high heels steady on the ground.
She didn’t stop walking as she answered Shi Ning’s question, her head held high and chest out, striding forward with a spirited, confident air.
Fei Yue’s sharpness was veiled. “You’ll know in a moment.”
Seeing her like this, Shi Ning for a moment thought she and Su Tianxue were a bit alike.
Shi Ning shook her head, warning herself that there could never be two identical ice cubes in this world.
Her brain must have short-circuited just now.
As they followed Fei Yue inside, they gradually passed through the sun-drenched areas and arrived at a more secluded building.
From the outside, this building looked no different from the others.
But once inside, one would realize it was a whole different world.
Within that block of floors, everything was so quiet and oppressive that it felt hopeless.
Not a single person made a sound.
Not even a hint of struggle, not a single cry of pain.
Only silence.
Absolute silence.
Shi Ning observed the rooms.
Every room was pure white, so white it was flawless, as if it were a kind of absolute purity.
And it was precisely this absolute pure white that could create an extremely strong sense of oppression.
The staff coming and going were also dressed all in white, wearing masks and hats. They only nodded at Fei Yue without speaking, pushing their carts along.
The sounds of the carts and footsteps were probably the most distinct sounds here.
These two sounds, by their own power, broke the silence in this blank, unnerving space.
But it didn’t make things feel any better.
The sound of the wheels rolling across the smooth floor was harsh and unpleasant, only making one think of some kind of eerie screeching.
It was agonizing.
Under these circumstances, even Shi Ning was a little afraid to speak.
It felt like if she said anything, even if she controlled her volume, it would sound exceptionally loud.
Shi Ning, who was already afraid of things like ghosts, clung tightly to Su Tianxue.
Fei Yue looked at her, a puzzled expression in her eyes.
Su Tianxue explained, “She’s scared.”
Shi Ning argued, “I-I’m not scared.”
If it weren’t for the fact that her voice sounded extremely weak and tinged with panic, Fei Yue might have actually believed her.
Fei Yue looked somewhat intrigued. “I didn’t know Miss Shi was so…”
For a moment, Fei Yue really didn’t know how to phrase it.
Timid?
But that seemed a bit offensive to Shi Ning.
From Fei Yue’s judgment, Shi Ning didn’t seem like a woman who would like to be described with those two words.
Su Tianxue habitually stood in front of Shi Ning, just like she had in the dark secret room.
Su Tianxue: “She’s always like this.”
Su Tianxue asked, “What is the condition of the patients in the rooms here?”
Fei Yue: “Nothing much, mostly patients with mental issues.”
Fei Yue said it lightly, but Shi Ning knew things couldn’t be that simple.
The place where Shen Qingtang was being held was at the end of the corridor.
The same white room.
The same oppressive atmosphere.
When the door creaked open, Shen Qingtang was curled up in a corner.
Everything in the room was white.
Shen Qingtang’s clothes were, too.
She was barefoot, hugging her legs, her hair a mess, and she was constantly muttering to herself, but it was impossible to make out what she was saying.
Fei Yue explained, “After I took her away that day, I found she had severe addiction symptoms and mental problems, so I brought her here first. I’ve also discussed it with the police, and we can temporarily keep Shen Qingtang confined here while awaiting trial.”
Shi Ning’s first reaction was, “If it’s confirmed that she has mental problems, doesn’t that mean she can escape legal judgment to some extent?”
Hearing this, Fei Yue actually smiled.
“I think she might prefer to stay in prison.”
Shi Ning looked at Shen Qingtang.
Shen Qingtang had a bite guard in her mouth.
Fei Yue: “The staff noticed she had suicidal tendencies. To prevent her from harming herself and ensure her safety, she was fitted with this device.”
Shen Qingtang would choose to commit suicide?
Shi Ning couldn’t figure it out.
She took a step forward, walking over to Shen Qingtang.
Only when she got closer did she notice that Shen Qingtang’s wrists and ankles were bound with extremely thin, hard-to-see chains.
Because the chains were made of a special material, they didn’t make strange and loud metallic clanking sounds when Shen Qingtang moved.
This, in turn, made one feel even more uneasy.
In the extreme silence, the sound of clanking chains might, at times, even bring some comfort.
As Shi Ning got closer, she could hear Shen Qingtang’s voice clearly.
“It wasn’t me. It wasn’t me.”
“I’m not crazy, I’m not crazy at all.”
“Why did you lock me up?”
“No! No!”
She looked up, saw Shi Ning, and reached out to shove her violently.
The chains stopped her.
Shen Qingtang’s hand couldn’t even touch Shi Ning’s shoulder.
“Save me—”
At that moment, Shi Ning saw a deep plea in Shen Qingtang’s eyes.
“Save me—”
To make someone like Shen Qingtang cry out for help…
Shi Ning couldn’t imagine what had happened to her here.
Fei Yue probably saw her confusion and explained, “In the few days she’s been here, we haven’t done anything else but let her stay in the room alone.”
“Perhaps the condition of the surrounding patients isn’t very good, so it has affected her.”
Fei Yue said nonchalantly, “Even a normal person would go crazy in this situation.”
“Not to mention, she wasn’t normal to begin with?”
What Fei Yue didn’t say was that before Shen Qingtang woke up, she had already injected a powerful addictive substance into her system.
She had found the remaining drugs Shen Qingtang had bought and hidden at home and injected them all into her at once.
Shen Qingtang was already a bit overly excited in her sleep, and after waking up, she was even more uncontrollable.
Of course, that wasn’t the hard part.
At that moment, Shen Qingtang could still indulge in the hallucinatory effects of the substance.
Experiencing a whole new world in a psychedelic state.
The real suffering came when the drug’s effects wore off, and the craving for pleasure swept over Shen Qingtang’s brain, controlling her nerves and body.
She became a puppet of the drug.
She would do anything for another hit.
At night, this place that was quiet during the day would be filled with agonizing wails.
It was as if countless resentful spirits were all floating out.
In this pale white room, they passed through the walls to claim Shen Qingtang’s life.
Shen Qingtang had harmed many people in her life.
But she had never had a nightmare.
Her conscience was clear.
She was born in the mud. If she didn’t work hard, wasn’t ruthless, and didn’t fight for what she wanted, then who in this world would fight for her? Who would get it for her?
She had nothing.
She could only rely on herself.
So, along the way, if she accidentally hurt someone, Shen Qingtang would absolutely not regret it.
The path of winner-takes-all is always paved with bones.
If you don’t step on corpses, how can you ascend the throne and build a fortress?
Shen Qingtang considered herself smart.
She and Wang Yue came from the same place.
Same mother, different fates.
Her mother was skillful. She reformed and followed a big shot, a male Alpha, and the big shot treated her like a daughter.
At first, that’s what Shen Qingtang thought.
Later, when she grew up, she learned from conversations between her mother and the man that this “daughter” was not that kind of daughter.
Her mother was able to get away because she had long ago sold her to the man as a sweet treat.
As for Wang Yue, she grew up in that kind of place, and everyone who saw her said that she could only follow in her mother’s footsteps and enter the same line of work.
But Wang Yue refused.
Wang Yue envied Shen Qingtang, envied that she had a home.
So Shen Qingtang smiled.
She said, “A-Yue, let’s swap lives.”
A-Yue agreed.
Shen Qingtang made a deal with the big shot, trading A-Yue for herself, and made it so A-Yue had no memory of it, letting the man do as he pleased with her in her dreams.
The man probably saw Shen Qingtang’s ambition and cunning, so he supported her. With his help, Shen Qingtang got the means to change her face.
From then on, she was Wang Yue at the club, a person who walked in the shadows.
She was also the innocent Shen Qingtang, the most popular person at school.
As for Wang Yue—
Shen Qingtang thought that Wang Yue probably never knew, even until her death, that the happy family she thought she had was just a facade.
The son and daughter she cherished were that man’s children.
The husband who was so loving to her every day was just a gambler who had been paid off.
Wang Yue was content being a housewife at home, never knowing that after she fell asleep, the man who pushed open her door was someone she had never even met.
Shen Qingtang didn’t feel she had wronged Wang Yue.
She and Wang Yue started at the same line, but she won.
And the upright, normal life that Wang Yue wanted, hadn’t she given it to her?
She never regretted it.
Nor did she regret pushing Wang Yue, this golden cicada, out at the last moment to take the blame for her.
But why—
Why was it that after being locked up here, Shen Qingtang always felt that Wang Yue was watching her from somewhere in the room?
The white bed she slept on would be covered in blood every night.
Along with the appearance of blood, her ears would be filled with Wang Yue’s terrified screams and pleas for mercy.
Everything, all her sins, replayed in Shen Qingtang’s mind over and over.
She clearly hadn’t done anything wrong, so why were these people coming for her?
If she wasn’t ruthless…
The one who got hurt would be her.
Shen Qingtang wanted to escape. If she committed suicide, she might be able to go to a hospital and find a chance to run. Who knew that before she could bite her tongue, she was discovered and fitted with a bite guard.
When she cried out to Shi Ning for help, Shen Qingtang’s mind was still not clear.
But slowly, she saw Shi Ning’s face clearly.
And at that moment, her whole body stiffened.
She thought, if Shi Ning was here, then Su Tianxue was here too.
She didn’t want Su Tianxue to see her like this.
So Shen Qingtang curled back into the corner again.
She turned her back to them, facing the wall.
At that moment, an idea formed in her mind.
Maybe, just maybe, Su Tianxue could save her!
So, feigning madness, she used her fingernails to write Su Tianxue’s name on the white wall, muttering, “Su Tianxue, Su Tianxue.”
Like someone with a deep obsession.
Shen Qingtang was gambling.
At least she and Su Tianxue didn’t have any deep-seated hatred between them. Seeing her like this, Su Tianxue should be moved, right?
Who knew that Shi Ning’s voice would come from behind her.
Shi Ning: “Wife, she’s calling you.”
Su Tianxue hummed coolly. “Let’s go.”
They had seen her, so they could go.
Hearing Su Tianxue’s reply, Shen Qingtang’s hand movements paused.
Shi Ning quickly walked away, following the departing Su Tianxue. Fei Yue didn’t follow, but instead strode over to Shen Qingtang.
She looked down at Shen Qingtang from above.
Fei Yue’s voice was like a snake, slithering across the pale white walls.
“Shen Qingtang, stop trying to find a way out. No one will save you from here.”
“The moment you decided to deceive me, you should have expected today.”
Shen Qingtang trembled. “Fei Yue, kill me, please? Kill me?”
Fei Yue lowered her eyes. “Don’t you think death is too easy for you? I’m helping you overcome your addiction. You should be thanking me.”
She, Fei Yue, was not some fool who would let herself be used as a weapon.
What Ye Wanlan couldn’t find through official channels, she could.
So, she still had ten thousand ways to torture Shen Qingtang.
She would make this woman die in her own despair.
When Shi Ning and Su Tianxue walked out of the building and stood in the sunlight again, Shi Ning felt completely healed by the sun.
Ah!
She loved the daytime!
Fei Yue followed them out and said to the two of them, “My mother will be returning to the country soon. My family, the Feis, will be hosting a banquet, and I would like to invite you both to grace us with your presence. I wonder what you think?”
“I want to take this opportunity to make some things clear to others.”
Shi Ning understood Fei Yue’s meaning.
Su Tianxue looked at Shi Ning, indicating that she would follow her lead.
So Shi Ning accepted Fei Yue’s invitation.
Right now, she had no idea that at that banquet, something major would happen that would change her relationship with Su Tianxue.
As she drove away from the sanatorium, Shi Ning looked back one more time.
She didn’t know why Shen Qingtang had ended up like this.
But she was certain that all of this was just Shen Qingtang reaping what she had sown.
She thought of when she went to see Wang Yue, how haggard she was after learning of her family’s death.
She wondered if Wang Yue was doing okay now.
Could leaving be considered a release for her?
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