Chapter 78: On This Last Day Of July That Was Supposed To Rewrite This World’s Plot, Ji Xiao Wants To Confess To Wei Qingyu

The light filled the whole big hospital room, bright but not warm.

An Cen just looked at the four people standing at the door. The two soft locks of hair hanging by her cheeks looked gentle, but they couldn’t soften the stern look on her face.

An Cen said, “Where did you go?”

“We went out to play…” Qi Qi said.

The frown on An Cen’s forehead deepened like a little mountain. She scolded, “You’re a patient right now. Don’t you know that yourself?”

Then she looked at Wei Qingyu, who was standing at the very edge, and added, “And you, Qingyu. Why did you go along with their nonsense? You’ve never been such a willful child.”

Hearing that, Wei Qingyu lowered her head and said, “I’m sorry, Aunt An…”

But before Wei Qingyu could finish, Ji Xiao interrupted, “Doctor An, if you want to blame someone, blame me. I planned everything we did today.”

Qiao Ni also stepped forward to take the blame. “No, it was Qi Qi who wanted to celebrate my birthday and pulled in Senior Ji Xiao and Sister Qingyu. It’s my fault. If I didn’t go with everyone, none of this would’ve happened.”

Hearing that, Qi Qi tugged Qiao Ni’s arm and pulled her behind her. “Doctor An, don’t blame anyone else. It was all my fault. I started it.”

An Cen looked at the four of them, all rushing to take the blame, and she couldn’t help but let out an exasperated laugh.

She crossed her right leg over her left knee, and her tense expression softened a little. “So you guys have each other’s back, huh?”

“Qi Qi, you’re a patient now. You have to know how to take responsibility for yourself, do you understand?”

Qi Qi’s face dimmed a bit when she heard what An Cen said. “That’s exactly why I did it.”

The girl’s voice was a little low and stubborn. Any doctor hearing that would probably get angry.

But An Cen didn’t. She actually quieted down.

She listened to Qi Qi’s words, pressed her lips together without saying anything, and then spoke in a calm voice, “Even so, you still can’t do that.”

Qi Qi looked at An Cen and tried to act cute. “I promise this is the last time, Doctor An. Please don’t be angry.”

Her voice went back to how it usually was, full of energy, like that low tone just now never happened.

An Cen also lifted her head and said seriously, “Of course it’s the last time. From now on, you stay in the hospital until you're fully recovered.”

Qi Qi heard that and unhappily said, “Ah—but… I still want to go to Sister Xiao’s birthday party next week.”

“No.” An Cen said firmly.

“Doctor An, please?” Qi Qi begged again.

The warm yellow light in the room fell on An Cen’s face. Her expression was clearly strict.

Ji Xiao didn’t want her birthday to make things tense between An Cen and Qi Qi. So she quickly said, “Qi Qi, just listen to Doctor An and rest well, okay?”

But Qi Qi shook her head. “But I don’t want to miss your birthday.”

Ji Xiao knew Qi Qi was talking about her planning to confess to Wei Qingyu, so she quickly said, “You can let Qiao Ni livestream it for you!”

Qiao Ni also nodded. “Yeah! You just stay in the hospital, I’ll borrow the best phone and livestream everything for you.”

“We still have lots of chances later. I even have my coming-of-age ceremony next year,” Ji Xiao added.

The light made everyone’s expressions super clear, but also blurred some of the details softly.

No one noticed that a hint of obscure emotion flashed in Qi Qi's eyes after hearing Ji Xiao's words.

An Cen looked at Qi Qi standing at the door, then walked over and stood in front of her. She said to the others, “Alright, you’ve had a long day. All of you go back now. Qi Qi needs to rest.”

Qiao Ni quickly said, “Then I’ll stay and keep watch with her tonight.”

Right after she finished talking, before Qi Qi could say anything, An Cen already said no: “No. You all played the whole day today. If you stay together more, how can anyone rest well? Go back and think about what you did. I’ll stay here tonight.”

Qiao Ni looked a little sad and wanted to say something more, but Wei Qingyu saw that An Cen wanted to talk to Qi Qi alone.

She raised her hand and lightly brushed Qiao Ni’s shoulder, then softly said, “Let’s go. We’ll come back to see Qi Qi tomorrow.”

“Then I’m leaving. Call me if anything happens,” Qiao Ni said, not wanting to go, but still left the room with Ji Xiao and Wei Qingyu.

The quiet hallway didn’t have many people. Qi Qi stood next to An Cen and watched Ji Xiao and the others leave.

The back of her hand hanging by her side had veins popping up.

….

The evening sky was unusually calm, like the moment before a storm comes.

After dropping off Qiao Ni, the car that had been noisy just now became quiet.

Ji Xiao looked at the lively streets outside and said, “I think Qi Qi is recovering well. When we split up just now, she didn’t let those punks catch her.”

“Mm.” Wei Qingyu lightly nodded, like she had something on her mind.

First it was Liu Yue being exposed in front of Ji Xiao. Then it was An Cen. After that came Liu Hu, and the “Mr. Chen” that he talked about.

Wei Qingyu didn’t know if Ji Xiao would start to feel suspicious because of this. But this feeling of keeping her in the dark made her feel guilty.

She still remembered clearly how Ji Xiao protected her in front of An Cen. But in the near future, she would be the one to bring ruin to her family.

“…Ji Xiao.” Wei Qingyu slowly opened her mouth. Her voice was full of struggle.

She wanted to tell Ji Xiao all these things, but she was scared that all the things she had done so far would be wasted.

What she feared more was that Ji Xiao would break things off with her because of it.

Source: http://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5896087
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com please read it there. and check out other stories too.

Ji Xiao didn’t know what Wei Qingyu was thinking and replied with a puzzled, “Mm?”

Wei Qingyu hesitated and said, “That uncle who came to save us just now, his name is Liu Hu. He’s actually my…”

But before she could finish, Ji Xiao gently stopped her. “It’s okay. If you don’t wanna say it, then don’t.”

Ji Xiao knew, if it hadn’t been for the unexpected mess today, Wei Qingyu definitely wouldn’t have let Liu Hu show up in front of everyone.

Liu Hu wasn’t like An Cen or Liu Yue. He wasn’t a teacher or a doctor. He was a bodyguard—someone with real threat.

If Ji Qingyun found out what happened today, he wouldn’t ease up on guarding against the Wei family. He would only get worse.

The fact that Wei Qingyu even thought about explaining was already enough. Ji Xiao didn’t need her to say it before she was ready.

“When you feel like talking, just tell me then,” Ji Xiao said softly.

Wei Qingyu looked at Ji Xiao’s side profile, a bit surprised.

Outside the window, streetlights flew past, dropping one shooting star after another into Ji Xiao’s eyes.

Even many years later, when she thought back to this night, she still felt it was the most beautiful one.

A sky full of stars filled the dark night, and the bright busy streets turned into a blur.

Ji Xiao looked up at her. Her jet-black hair was lifted by the breeze coming in from the car window. It brushed against her shoulder, leaving behind a faint scent of peach brandy.

She was being trusted, unconditionally.

Wei Qingyu gently tightened her grip on her backpack strap and said, “Ji Xiao, after your birthday, I’ll tell you everything about me.”

That also means—I’ll tell you I like you.

Ji Xiao nodded. “Mm. I’ll wait.”

The leaves rustled as they brushed against each other, and the feelings that were ready to burst quietly stirred beneath the peaceful moonlight.

Both girls, sitting side by side, thought they would be the one to speak up first at the birthday party.

….

Time quickly arrived at Ji Xiao’s birthday.

The last day of July.

The sun in the west was still lazily hanging in the sky, and a golden thread stretched toward the distant edge of the city.

But in the backyard of the Ji family’s home, there wasn’t any of that lazy evening feeling. Instead, it was lively and busy.

Even though it was just a small party, right after lunch, Ji Qingyun brought in a professional team to start setting up Ji Xiao’s 17th birthday celebration.

The not-so-big backyard was filled with pretty see-through helium balloons. Twinkling lights were already giving the place a dreamy and fancy vibe under the soft twilight.

The last bit of sunlight shone into the small villa and into Ji Xiao’s quiet room.

On her desk, which was usually full of stuff, someone had cleared a space. In the middle of that space sat a pink box.

Its blue ribbon glowed softly under the light, and the deep pink patterns on the box shimmered, looking very fancy.

That was the handmade box Ji Xiao and Qi Qi learned to make two days ago in the hospital room while watching “The Grand Budapest Hotel”.

Heaven knows how long it took these two Alphas, who were no good at crafts, to follow the tutorial and finally make such a pretty box.

Inside the glass jar, every folded star was carefully kept, and each one had a love note Ji Xiao wanted to say to Wei Qingyu.

Some were childish, but all of them were filled with the heart of the person who made them.

Even in her twenty-some years in the original world, Ji Xiao had never cared about someone this much.

“Click, clack.”

The clear sound of shoes tapping on the floor echoed as the box’s owner stepped out from her closet.

For today’s confession, Ji Xiao, following Qi Qi’s advice, had surprisingly put on a black halter long dress.

The hem fell just at her calves, with two slits running along both sides, showing glimpses of her long legs with every step.

Silver hoops lined both slits all the way up to her cinched waist, making Ji Xiao look powerful and stunning.

After giving herself a quick once-over, she opened a drawer and pulled out the lip gloss she’d borrowed from Qi Qi the other day.

A clay-toned deep red smoothly coated her lips. One gentle press brought out a smudged, tempting kind of beauty that warned strangers to keep their distance.

A breath of heat softly slipped from her lips, leaving a pale mist on the bright window in front of her.

Ji Xiao stood by her window, looking down at the backyard below. The lip gloss in her hand kept turning over and over, full of her nervousness and hopes.

On this last day of July that was supposed to rewrite this world's plot—Ji Xiao wants to confess to Wei Qingyu.

She had already planned everything. She would give her the handmade box after the dinner party, right after Ji Qingyun left, and tell her:

“I like you. Really, really like you.”

"Bzz bzz..."

Right then, her phone on the table started buzzing.

The name “Qiao Ni” popped up on the screen, looking like it was full of excitement and birthday wishes.

“Hey, Qiao Ni, what’s up?”

Ji Xiao answered with an easy smile in her voice. But in the next second, the lip gloss in her hand slipped and fell.

The red glass tube hit the ground with a loud crack, the sharp noise piercing straight through her ears.

On the other end of the call, Qiao Ni’s voice trembled. She was crying, every syllable soaked in pain she was trying hard to hold back.

“Ji Xiao... can you come to the hospital…hurry Qi Qi... she’s in the emergency room.”