Chapter 79: Fate 

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.

The sun was barely hanging on the edge of the sky. The golden light drooping on the mountain felt like the day was already over.

In the quiet hospital hallway, messy footsteps echoed. Ji Xiao and Wei Qingyu rushed to the emergency room door.

Ji Xiao didn’t even have time to change her heels. The thin heels hurt the soles of her feet.

But she didn’t stop to rest. She looked at Qiao Ni, whose eyes were red, and asked, “How is Qi Qi?”

“The doctor said, it’s not looking good.”

Qiao Ni forced the words out. Every syllable felt like a chunk of her heart was being dug out.

“How can this be? Didn’t they say the surgery was a success? Didn’t they say she was recovering well?” Ji Xiao couldn’t believe it. These days, she went to fold stars with Qi Qi every day and never saw anything wrong.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what happened.” Qiao Ni shook her head, voice choked. “She suddenly became like this. I don’t know…”

Wei Qingyu quickly went to hold Qiao Ni. Her palm gently patted her back and comforted her, “It’s okay. Maybe it’s just a small accident. She’ll come out soon.”

Qiao Ni looked at Wei Qingyu with teary eyes, nodding her head bit by bit, her big bow bouncing slightly.

“You sit too,” Wei Qingyu gently tapped Ji Xiao’s arm, telling her to sit down.

Ji Xiao forced herself to stay calm and sat. But on this hot summer day, the seat under her felt cold.

She hoped it was really like what Wei Qingyu said, just a small accident, not life-threatening.

But the uneasy heart in her chest told her things weren’t that simple.

Time ticked by second after second. The quiet hallway felt frozen.

Qi Qi’s mom held Qiao Ni’s mom’s hand tightly, saying nothing.

Qiao Ni leaned on Wei Qingyu’s shoulder. The pretty bow behind her head drooped down.

No one spoke. At this moment, comforting words didn’t work at all.

All the reasons that should’ve brought peace kept rolling around in their hearts, but none of them could feel at ease.

Finally, the blinding red light above the emergency room turned green. In the hallway, the sound of the automatic doors opening and closing echoed.

Under everyone’s lifted gaze, An Cen walked out of the operating room door, like an angel bringing hope.

Or maybe like Hades bringing death.

An Cen took off her mask in front of everyone, showing a dark, heavy face.

She shook her head and said, “Sorry, everyone. It’s not looking good.”

Like saying something very hard, An Cen paused before speaking in a heavy voice, “We used the most active treatment plan, but we still couldn’t stop the changes in one part of Qi Qi’s gland. The lesion removal failed…”

“There’s not much time left for Qi Qi.”

An Cen’s words dropped like a death sentence for Qi Qi.

Qi Qi’s mom collapsed into the chair behind her. Qiao Ni’s tears, which had stayed in her eyes all this time, finally burst out.

Ji Xiao couldn’t believe what she heard. She quickly walked up to An Cen and said, “Doctor An, you… what do you mean? What do you mean not much time… what do you mean the lesion removal failed… didn’t they say the surgery was a success? How could this happen, how… that’s impossible.”

Wei Qingyu quickly stopped Ji Xiao. “Ji Xiao, calm down first. Let Aunt An finish talking.”

The girl’s voice was unusually calm. It pulled Ji Xiao out of her emotional state right away.

Ji Xiao also realized she had overreacted. She lowered her head and said, “Sorry, Doctor An.”

An Cen shook her head and said, “I know no one wants to face this, but we still have to stay strong. My team and I are doing our best to keep Qi Qi alive. She still wants to see you all one more time. There are things she wants to say.”

As she spoke, An Cen looked at Ji Xiao and Wei Qingyu, who were closest to her. “Ji Xiao, Qingyu, Qi Qi wants to see you two first.”

The changing room leading to the operating room was even quieter than the hallway. The green walls that should’ve been calming now felt unbearably heavy.

Ji Xiao listened to the sounds of machines around her while putting on the white protective gown that smelled faintly of disinfectant.

She walked through a hallway. Inside that closed room, Qi Qi lay on the hospital bed.

She had already been moved off the operating table. Her thin body was full of tubes.

She leaned against the raised bed and gave Ji Xiao and Wei Qingyu a pale smile.

Just like before, but withered a lot.

Qi Qi: “You’re here.”

“How did this happen… how could it be so sudden?”

Ji Xiao held back the tears in her eyes, trying hard to keep her voice calm.

But every syllable still trembled.

“I’m sorry, I lied to you,” Qi Qi’s voice was weak, barely louder than the machines around her. “Do you still remember the day you came holding that box? What Doctor An said about the 0.01?”

Ji Xiao nodded.

“That was the closest I got to being cured. After that, it started going downhill,” Qi Qi said, forcing a small smile.

But when Ji Xiao heard that, she froze.

Her heart felt like someone had grabbed it hard. The pain made her mind go blank.

All those days she spent talking and laughing with Qi Qi, was it all just an illusion she was forcing.

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.

Was she also forcing herself in front of the aunts and Qiao Ni?

Qi Qi looked at Ji Xiao and slowly raised her hand, still clipped with the blood oxygen monitor. “Did you bring lipstick?”

“I did.” Ji Xiao nodded and quickly took out the lipstick Qi Qi gave her from the side pocket of her dress. She asked, confused, “What do you need it for?”

Qi Qi raised her hand and weakly took the lip gloss, her soft voice carrying a bit of picky attitude. “I don’t really like this color, but it’s the only one we have now.”

The bright light in the center of the room was harsh. Ji Xiao stood there, stunned, watching Qi Qi, with Wei Qingyu’s help, take out the gloss.

That pale lip color was brushed with a fresh terracotta red, and right away, her weak look changed.

But Qi Qi didn’t stop.

In Ji Xiao’s gaze, she dipped her finger in the gloss and dabbed it on her cheeks.

That lovely flush Ji Xiao had seen so many times before appeared again on Qi Qi’s colorless face, like magic.

At that moment, all the little things Ji Xiao hadn’t noticed these past days came rushing into her mind.

Before the water park, Qi Qi “pretended” to be sleepy. Even though they were in a hurry, she still calmly put on lipstick again.

And that weird talk between them the night Doctor An caught them…

“You knew from the start your condition wasn’t good, didn’t you?” Ji Xiao looked at Qi Qi and asked softly.

She had never said anything this heavy before.

So heavy, like it was tied to a huge stone. Every word scraped its way through her tight throat, trembling with pain.

While she was happily getting ready to give Wei Qingyu a confession gift, the plot had already crept in around her.

From the moment July’s trumpet sounded, all the way to the final day.

Ji Xiao watched Qi Qi nod in front of her, and it felt like a knife cutting through her heart.

She thought she had changed the plot, but the plot crushed her with reality.

“Sorry… I ruined your birthday today,” Qi Qi gripped Ji Xiao’s hand with effort. “I might… might not get to see you and Qingyu together…”

Ji Xiao’s tears started to well up.

That sudden wave of hopelessness wrapped around her, choking her.

She finally understood why that day Qi Qi almost got into a fight with An Cen just to attend her birthday.

She also understood why Qi Qi risked sneaking out of the hospital to help Qiao Ni celebrate her birthday while still recovering.

Qi Qi had already sensed her life was running out. So she was doing all she could to help others complete their dreams.

Qi Qi then held Wei Qingyu’s hand on the other side and said, “Qingyu, I know all the stuff our Sister Xiao did in the past wasn’t human… but, but I can feel it, she’s changed. She’s not who she used to be. You must treat her well. Don’t be fooled just because she’s an S-class Alpha. She’s actually really dumb… She only knew to drag me along to buy you a whole box of suppressants, but didn’t even know how to say ‘I like you’…”

Qi Qi’s voice was so weak, yet she was still thinking of her friends.

Even someone as calm as Wei Qingyu couldn’t help the redness in her eyes after hearing that.

Qi Qi let out a soft breath, turned her head a little, and looked at Ji Xiao. “Sister Xiao, this is all I can do for you. You must take good care of Wei Qingyu. I can’t be with Qiao Ni anymore, but you two better be happy. Or else, believe it or not… I’ll come back and haunt you. On Ghost Festival, I’ll be the first one to charge out from the underworld and stand right next to your bed.”

“Sister Qi… what are you saying…” Ji Xiao couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. They poured out of her eyes. “I don’t believe it. You’ll get better. This is just temporary. You’re not going to leave like this…”

Ji Xiao held tight to Qi Qi’s hand, which was slowly turning cold. She had never thought life and death could be this close to her.

All around them, the machines kept beeping. All these high-tech things she didn’t understand still couldn’t pull her best friend back from the edge of death.

Is it really impossible?

Could it really be impossible?

Ji Xiao looked at the clock on the wall. The shortest black hand was inching closer to the number twelve.

Suddenly, she seemed to remember something. She wiped her tears and choked out, “Qi Qi, really, listen to me, just hold on a little longer, okay… just make it through tonight. August… once August comes, there will be a change, I swear! Really, really…”

“Sister Xiao…” Qi Qi looked at Ji Xiao and weakly shook her head.

But Ji Xiao refused to give up. She held onto the last bit of hope, kept repeating “really,” “trust me,” and walked quickly toward the operating room door.

….

A few lonely stars hung in the night sky.  

The soft wind brushed past the river under the bridge, bringing a chill to the girl’s face.

Ji Xiao wandered aimlessly down the road the five of them had walked many times before.  

The words from her talk with An Cen kept echoing in her ears.

“Let’s give it a try. But Ji Xiao, don’t get your hopes up too much.”

“Yes… for the past month, Qi Qi’s been asking us to hide it from you all, even her mom. She hid it well. Qi Qi didn’t want to make you sad, and she’s been doing her best in treatment.”

“But we had tried everything: surgery, medicine, None of it treated the root cause. This is a mutated gland disease we’ve never seen before. It’s tricky. Every time we think we are succeeding, it comes back.”

“And even if we keep her alive today, the days ahead will be full of pain. She’ll be stuck in bed, getting wounds cleaned, taking pills on schedule… nothing else. For a proud Alpha, that’s torture.”

….

The clock tower in the distance shone brightly under the night sky.  

The hour, minute, and second hands were about to meet again at the Roman numeral "XII."

Ji Xiao stood on the bridge, looking at the world of neon lights far away.  

Her golden-orange eyes held both greedy longing and crushed despair.

The wind brushed the loose strands of hair by her face.  

She knew what that mutated gland disease is called, one even An Cen couldn't fix.

—Fate.

From across the river came the loud roar of a sports car’s exhaust, so annoying.  

At the same time, the bell marking the start of a new day rang out.

Ji Xiao looked at the carefree men and women in the car.  

Her phone buzzed in her pocket.

Right then, a mouthful of blood burst from her lips, carried by a fire burning deep in her chest.  

It was bright red. And extremely desolate.