CSGM - Chapter 105
Chapter 105: Doing What Must Be Done
The light and shadow from the streetlamps illuminated bright red drops of blood spreading across the concrete road.
Ren Zhi had seen two figures locked in a fierce struggle from her apartment, and now she had rushed to the scene.
The fight was over. Security guards had pulled the two apart, and the Peeping Tom was clutching a guard's hand, wailing hysterically.
He was howling something about "millions."
Comparing the severity of their conditions, Chu Xi looked like the one who had lost the fight.
But judging by their expressions, the other man was the one who had been utterly defeated.
His expression was one of complete collapse, tears of desperation streaming from the corners of his eyes.
He had borrowed money to buy that drone! He was planning to sell it secondhand to recoup his losses!
She's a lunatic!
A psycho!
The Peeping Tom glared at Chu Xi, his eyes practically splitting with rage. His feet kicked at the air, but the security guard held him fast.
Drip, drip.
On the other side, the air was deathly still, as if sealed off from the commotion behind them, until Ren Zhi broke through the silence.
"Chu Xi, you…"
She knelt on the ground and reached out to wipe the blood from Chu Xi's nose. Chu Xi hadn't yet recovered from the brawl; like a raging wildfire that couldn't be instantly extinguished, the fury in her eyes when she looked up made Ren Zhi's heart lurch.
It was like seeing a vicious wolf, fresh from tearing into its prey, suddenly lock its eyes on her. The surging aggression and menace in that green-tinged gaze struck directly into her own.
For a moment, Ren Zhi was instinctively frightened.
Chu Xi stared at her, and the air seemed to freeze for two seconds.
The lingering rage and ferocity in her eyes made Ren Zhi's mind go blank.
Perhaps, in the time it took to see the fight from her window and rush downstairs, Ren Zhi had imagined countless times why Chu Xi was fighting and what she would look like.
She was still imagining it the second before Chu Xi looked up.
In her mind, it wasn't a particularly vicious or menacing image.
But the moment Chu Xi lifted her face, the completely unexpected frenzy and fierceness left her stunned.
Honestly, Ren Zhi was scared.
But more than that, she was shocked.
It was as if an expression that had no business being on Chu Xi's face was branded there, and it was startling.
Chu Xi moved her fist toward the pocket of Ren Zhi's pajamas. As her fingers uncurled, some blood smeared onto the plush fabric.
The next second, Chu Xi's eyes rolled back, and she collapsed limply to the ground.
Her right hand was a bloody mess. The knuckle of her ring finger was twisted at an unnatural angle, a shocking sight. Ren Zhi's breathing quickened, and she immediately called for a doctor.
Seeing her on the phone, the Peeping Tom started screaming, "Call the police! I want to call the police!"
But after his outburst, when he saw a guard actually preparing to call the police, he snapped out of it and grabbed the guard's leg, begging him to stop.
"Don't call! Please, don't! We can settle this privately, we don't need the police! I'm not hurt, I'm fine! Brother, I don't want to make a big deal out of this."
He knew enough about the law to realize that if the police got involved, not only would he not get his money back for the drone, but he'd also likely end up in jail.
He had just been talking tough.
The guard glanced at Ren Zhi, who gave a slight nod. "Then settle it privately," he said.
A celebrity brawl wasn't a good look for anyone, so there was no need to escalate it.
When Ren Zhi learned that the man, whose face was now swollen on one side, had been trying to secretly film her in the shower, her composure instantly crumbled.
The vulgar, insulting unpleasantness of it all was nauseating, even if the crime itself hadn't been successful.
She looked down at Chu Xi, whom she was cradling in her arms after she'd fainted, and an indescribable feeling washed over her.
The Peeping Tom picked up the shattered remains of his remote and drone and slumped to the ground, the despicable glee he'd felt earlier now completely gone.
Ren Zhi told the guards to take the man who had snuck into the complex to the security office to wait.
The family doctor arrived quickly and saw the person still lying on the ground-
It was a good thing it was dark and the high-end complex was sparsely populated; no one had seen their boss sitting on the ground, cradling someone in her arms.
The doctor performed a few basic checks on Chu Xi right there on the ground. As they lifted her right hand, Chu Xi frowned and woke up.
The doctor said, "I was just about to say she likely fainted from respiratory alkalosis due to extreme agitation. She would have woken up on her own shortly."
"Hiss…" Chu Xi's eyelids fluttered. Her vision sharpened from a dim haze until she could see Ren Zhi's face.
Why does my hand hurt so much…?
It felt like a knife was dicing her hand into pieces. She lifted her right hand for a look, then immediately lowered it.
-Best not to look. It hurt more after seeing it.
Her brain rebooted. Suddenly remembering something, she sat up and looked around, asking Ren Zhi:
"Where's that guy?"
"In the security office," Ren Zhi replied.
Chu Xi quickly used her swollen left hand to fish around in the pocket of Ren Zhi's pajamas. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she pulled out a tiny, blood-soaked chip.
The drone's chip was made of much tougher material than its casing and wasn't easily destroyed. Fearing the data would survive, she had pried it out while smashing the drone.
She handed it to Ren Zhi.
"Don't lose this. Destroy it."
I don't know if he recorded anything. Destroying it is the safest option.
The family doctor examined her right hand, his face twisting into an expression that said it was too gruesome to look at. "You need to get to a hospital immediately," he said without delay.
"Oh, okay." Chu Xi agreed. The next second, she pushed herself up from the ground.
She could feel that the pain in one of her fingers was almost uncontrollable. She hoped she wouldn't end up crippled.
If she got to the hospital quickly, they could probably save it.
She said to Ren Zhi:
"That guy was trying to film you. Go deal with him. Remember, destroy the chip. Don't give it back to him."
But Ren Zhi said:
"I'm going to the hospital with you. I've already called Xiao Ju to bring the car."
She looked at the shards of plastic and metal embedded in Chu Xi's hand. Many were lodged deep in the flesh, and she didn't dare try to remove them. Just looking at it was painful and impossible to ignore.
Chu Xi gently touched the area above her left eye, which was swollen nearly shut, and sucked in a sharp breath.
I must look pretty ridiculous right now… like one of those big-eyed frogs, right?
"Do you have a mirror?" she asked.
"No, but you can use my phone screen."
Ren Zhi held out her phone so Chu Xi could see her reflection in the dark screen.
Seeing her current sorry state, Chu Xi curled her fingers and scratched her nose. What a mess.
"Are there sunglasses, a mask, and a hat in the car? I'll need to borrow them."
"Yes. Are you hurt anywhere else?"
"I'm fine. It's just my hand that needs saving," Chu Xi said, her right hand trembling from the pain.
Now that she was coming down from the adrenaline rush that had sent her into a frenzy, the pain seemed to intensify.
Ren Zhi had told her it was an emergency, so Xiao Ju had driven like her life depended on it to get there as fast as possible.
The two of them got into the back seat. When Xiao Ju saw Chu Xi, her jaw nearly hit the floor. She was completely shocked.
"Sister Xi, you- you… what happened to you?"
"Got in a fight," Chu Xi replied, putting on the mask Ren Zhi handed her with one hand.
She looked up and saw Ren Zhi's pained expression, then broke into a sunny grin.
The message was clear: Don't worry, it's nothing.
Her left hand was pressed against her abdomen, and Ren Zhi could tell something was wrong there, too.
She reached out, gently pushing Chu Xi's hand aside. "Let me see," she said softly. "What happened here?"
She lifted Chu Xi's shirt and saw a large, dark bruise on her left side.
"You…" Ren Zhi began urgently, then stopped. After a pause, she continued in frustration, "If you couldn't beat him, why did you charge in? You should have called for help."
Chu Xi didn't like hearing that.
"I could beat him. I didn't train for nothing. You should have seen the other guy-he's in much worse shape than I am."
Ren Zhi gritted her teeth. "Then you're an idiot. Why didn't you just snatch the drone? Why did you have to smash it with your bare hands?"
"I was in a hurry. I was afraid he'd already recorded something and would upload it. It was you he was filming…"
Chu Xi trailed off and sighed.
Ren Zhi heard her murmur:
"It was you, Sister…"
Even if Ren Zhi wasn't worried, Chu Xi couldn't help but worry for her.
As she spoke, Chu Xi's thoughts returned to the Peeping Tom's vile actions.
She clenched her jaw, and her voice turned vicious.
"If I hadn't been so focused on getting that drone, I would have beaten him so badly he'd be picking his teeth up off the floor!"
Xiao Ju, who was driving, felt her back stiffen.
There was a murderous aura in the car!
Chu Xi glanced over and saw Ren Zhi staring at her, unblinking. Her expression was strange, one Chu Xi had never seen before.
"Did I scare you? I got a little carried away."
She had gotten carried away. If the Peeping Tom appeared in front of her right now, Chu Xi felt she would start fighting him all over again.
She wouldn't stop until he was on his knees begging for mercy. He needed to learn a harsh lesson about the consequences of his shameless, vile voyeurism.
He wouldn't dare think of it again for the rest of his life!
Daring to have lewd thoughts about Ren Zhi? The very idea made Chu Xi's teeth ache with anger.
Ren Zhi looked at her, her expression full of guilt.
Her mind kept replaying the scene she'd witnessed from her window: Chu Xi, like a mindless beast, rolling on the ground and trading blows with the Peeping Tom.
And the moment she'd seen the raw fury in her eyes, as if the very concept of 'calm' had been completely severed from her.
For some reason, Ren Zhi felt a poignant ache in her heart.
The blatant, fierce protectiveness Chu Xi had shown-that passion-enveloped her like the fine, dense rain falling outside the car window, seeping into her very soul.
A strong, undeniable intuition surfaced in her heart-
Chu Xi wouldn't do this for anyone else.
And no one else would do this for her.
At least, she had never experienced anything like it before.
Mutual, unique, specific, serendipitous… these were the wondrous elements that wove the threads of fate between people.
She shifted slightly, leaning gently against Chu Xi to get a clearer view of her injured hand.
"Your hand…" Ren Zhi began, her voice laced with worry.
"It hurts a little, but the bleeding has mostly stopped. We'll have it looked at in the hospital." Chu Xi lifted it for a look. After a quick wipe with an alcohol pad, it didn't look as horrifying as it had when it was dripping with blood.
But the wound was still a mottled mess of blurred flesh, with fragments still sparsely embedded in it. She couldn't put any pressure on it, or a blood vessel might burst and it would start bleeding again.
Catching the pale, frightened look on Ren Zhi's face out of the corner of her eye, she quickly lowered her hand to her lap, hiding it from view.
"Never mind, don't look. I think one of my fingers is broken. I'll have the doctor check it at the hospital."
It was that serious?
Even Xiao Ju, who was driving, winced just hearing it.
"What about your nose? It was bleeding earlier. Is the bridge broken?" Ren Zhi asked, reaching out to gently feel it, careful not to cause more pain.
She was overcome with guilt. If it weren't for her, Chu Xi would never have gotten into a fight and been injured this badly.
She had acted on impulse, recklessly smashing a piece of machinery with her bare hand.
Before tonight, Ren Zhi had never imagined someone would go this far for her-would completely lose control for her sake.
After tonight, the psychological impact would stay with her for a long, long time.
She never would have imagined it would be Chu Xi-the most rational, calm, and composed person she knew.
Chu Xi raised a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose, then boasted:
"Heh, this nose is all-natural. It's fine, I'm not disfigured."
The bridge wasn't caved in, and the bone wasn't broken. Natural human bones are pretty tough.
As long as the swelling around her eye went down, her pretty face would be fine.
A faint crease appeared between Ren Zhi's brows. Her mood was the complete opposite of Chu Xi's, and a flicker of guilt showed in her eyes.
Chu Xi patted her head. "What are you thinking about? Don't look like that. I'll be fine once I get this treated at the hospital. Why do you look like your house was just robbed?"
Chu Xi thought she had performed a great service, after all.
Maybe Ren Zhi was just moved.
But… wasn't she just doing what had to be done?
Who could stand by while their friend was being secretly filmed in the shower by some creep?
She tried to guess what Ren Zhi was thinking and said:
"The security in your complex really needs to be strengthened."
"It does," Ren Zhi agreed.
Then she added slowly, "Don't be so impulsive next time. What would you do if you were seriously injured?"
Chu Xi countered, "It was an urgent matter. I had to do something."
"Weren't you afraid of getting your brains scrambled?" Ren Zhi shot her a look, trying to scare her.
"Uh…" Chu Xi's expression froze. She actually looked scared.
Right, that would be pretty serious…
She seemed to have forgotten to protect her precious brain during the fight.
Luckily, it hadn't been injured.
The thought had only just occurred to Chu Xi, and she felt a wave of relief.
They say you don't hit someone in the head when you fight. It seemed that was the Peeping Tom's only redeeming quality.
She took Ren Zhi's advice to heart and amended her previous statement.
"Okay, next time, if it's for someone else, I'll call for help first. But if anyone tries to mess with you, it's still my duty to step in."
Ren Zhi froze.
"Why… am I different?"
Chu Xi smiled and said in a casual tone, "Because to me, you've always been a different kind of friend."
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