Chapter 85: She Kept Saying “Shouldn’t,” Yet Never Once She Mentioned “Don’t Like”  

Wei Qingyu dared to ask that question not out of impulse.  

She once thought Ji Xiao’s sudden change in attitude toward her was because Chen Linji met her that night without her knowing, like at the vending machine in the hospital before.  

But after quietly observing and asking around these days, she found no trace of Chen Linji meeting Ji Xiao.  

She thought she had found the right answer, but the door she opened was still a dead end.  

The moss-covered dark corridor blew out her hope and brought her heavy despair.  

Wei Qingyu really couldn’t figure out why Ji Xiao’s attitude toward her changed like this.  

She kept saying “shouldn’t,” yet never once she mentioned “don’t like.”  

Wei Qingyu felt there must be something hidden behind it, something holding Ji Xiao back, stopping her from accepting that she liked her and from facing the fact that she was liked in return.  

“What’s the point of asking that question?” After a long silence, Ji Xiao finally asked back.

Maybe she was already used to Ji Xiao hiding behind cold avoidance, Wei Qingyu still spoke bluntly, “I don’t believe what Qi Qi said before she died was just empty words.”  

Her voice was calm and firm. In her turquoise eyes was the pressure that only an S-class Omega carried.  

Ji Xiao couldn’t help but recall the cold wind blowing on the bridge the day Qi Qi died, and that mouthful of blood she spat as punishment.  

Special relativity says when speed reaches the speed of light, time stops.  

But that only means stillness. No one can reverse the ending already written in fate’s book.  

A fragile life trying to fight the rules of this world will only be caught easily by it.  

Maybe Ji Xiao really was an unlucky gambler, losing Qi Qi and not daring to gamble on Wei Qingyu again.  

The window frame held the silent night, and the unmoving clouds stayed quietly at the upper left corner of the window, watching the heartbreaking scene about to unfold inside.  

Ji Xiao’s fingers, held under Wei Qingyu’s hand, clenched slightly, wrinkling the bedsheet.  

She looked at Wei Qingyu, her voice bitter, “This world doesn’t stop working just because you don’t believe in it. Instead, it punishes you for going against it.”  

“Wei Qingyu, I’m doing this for your own good.”  

Wei Qingyu frowned when she heard that.  

Countless emotions surged and crashed inside her.  

Those words that sounded like concern only made her feel deep rejection.  

“Hah.”

A soft laugh sounded beside Ji Xiao’s ear.  

Wei Qingyu leaned down, blocking the round light above. In her turquoise eyes was a chilling cold that reached the heart.  

“You’re doing this for my own good?”  

“For my own good?”  

The girl’s voice was rushed, trembling with loss of control.  

Ji Xiao felt the painful grip on her wrist tighten, and redness filled the eyes above her.  

Like emotions suppressed too long suddenly ignited, Wei Qingyu leaned in close, staring straight at Ji Xiao as she demanded, “Ji Xiao, what exactly do you know that makes you say that? You’ve never seen my future, so what gives you the right to say you’re doing it for my good?!”  

Wei Qingyu's slightly uncontrolled voice slammed into Ji Xiao's heart, creating a hole in her heart.

Their touching skin passed each other’s warmth. Ji Xiao seemed to sense Wei Qingyu's sorrow and helplessness through the wafting scent of mint.

She was blindly in love with the very person who wanted to abandon her.

Ji Xiao’s lips moved. She wanted to tell Wei Qingyu that she had seen the future, that she must end up with Jin Nanfeng.  

But just as she barely got out the word “I,” a sharp pain twisted in her chest.  

Her heart, heavy with grief, felt like it was crushed by an unseen force. Blood flow stopped, and it clenched tight.  

Ji Xiao’s face twisted in pain. The veins on her hand bulged as she clutched her chest, her body curling up uncontrollably. The pain was so strong she couldn’t make a sound.  

“Ji Xiao, what’s wrong with you?”  

Wei Qingyu, who was just moments ago drowning in her own emotions, suddenly came to her senses. She quickly let go of Ji Xiao’s wrist and bent down to check on her.

But before Wei Qingyu could get close, Ji Xiao coldly raised her hand to block the help reaching toward her. She forced a calm tone and said, “I’m fine.”  

As she spoke, Ji Xiao pressed a hand to her chest and slowly propped herself up.  

She knew the rules of this world wouldn’t allow her to reveal any spoilers, not unless she wanted to die.  

Wei Qingyu saw Ji Xiao’s stubbornness and unwillingly pulled back her hovering hand.  

Even though Ji Xiao had pushed her away, Wei Qingyu still couldn’t ignore her. Looking at Ji Xiao’s pale lips, she asked, “You really don’t look fine. Should we go to the hospital?”  

Through the mirror behind Wei Qingyu, Ji Xiao also saw how pale her own face had become.

The girl’s tightly furrowed brows were not something she could fake. Ji Xiao knew Wei Qingyu was truly worried about her, but she couldn’t feel happy about it. A feeling she couldn’t explain tangled in her heart.  

Ji Xiao bit her lip hard to make the blood flow back. In just a few seconds, the color returned.  

Then she slightly curved her lips and showed a faint smile to Wei Qingyu. “I’m really fine.”  

As she spoke, Ji Xiao picked up the ointment Wei Qingyu had used the most earlier and said, “Thank you for helping me apply the medicine today. I’ll keep this. From now on, I’ll do it myself. I won’t bother you with the massage either, I’ll ask Aunt Wu. It’s late, you should go rest. The experimental class has heavier work than the parallel class.”  

Wei Qingyu knew Ji Xiao needed rest and that she shouldn’t press further, so she nodded. “Alright, rest well then.”  

After packing up the medicine box, she turned to the door. But just as her hand touched the doorknob, she turned back once more and looked deeply at Ji Xiao.  

The light was soft, her lips parted slightly, and she left a gentle, “Good night.”

But even after the door closed, Ji Xiao still didn’t respond.  

She just sat at the edge of the bed, lips tightly shut, watching the door open and then close. Watching Wei Qingyu’s thin figure disappear from sight, the small room suddenly felt empty.  

The dull pain spread slowly through Ji Xiao’s body, even sharper than before.  

The veins on her left hand bulged as she pressed against her chest. The soft fabric under her palm was clenched into deep folds, and her thin shoulders were trembling.  

Ji Xiao could feel the hollow Wei Qingyu had just carved in her heart growing larger, but she had no choice except to endure it.  

Even though she was cherished by the person she liked, she still pushed that hand away.  

Even though she heard her soft, hopeful “good night,” she still stayed silent.  

Round tears dropped from Ji Xiao’s eyes, mixing with the unspeakable heartache, and flowed into the dark field of her heart that she didn’t know when it started to dim.

The night grew darker, and a scornful laugh came from the silent room.  

Ji Xiao curled her lips bitterly, her eyes full of mist made from tears.  

She thought, she really deserved it, she brought it on herself.

….

The howling winter wind drove away the laziness of autumn.  

A lone yellow leaf hung on the branch, letting out a heart-tearing but faint “crack.”  

At last, unable to bear the weight, it fell from the tree.  

Winter quietly replaced autumn like that, covering the city with cold wind.  

“Miss Ji, what do you think?” the woman who had been standing behind Ji Xiao, doing her hair, asked.  

Bored, Ji Xiao looked up from her phone and glanced at herself in the mirror.  

Her smooth black hair was coiled up at the back of her head, and two curled strands were purposely left on both sides of her cheeks, taking away her girlish air.  

Although Ji Xiao couldn’t see any difference from before when the woman said she’d make her hair more delicate, she still nodded. “Okay.”  

Sitting on the sofa beside them, Ji Qingyun accurately pointed out the highlight of Ji Xiao’s hairstyle. “This curl looks better than the last one.”  

The woman nodded in agreement. “Yes, Miss Ji’s face shape is already perfect. The last curl looked a bit unnatural and made her seem less delicate.”

Ji Xiao felt a bit uneasy seeing the affection between Ji Qingyun and the woman in their eyes and brows.  

She cleared her throat lightly and stood up. “Then I’ll go change into the dress.”  

Ji Qingyun quickly nodded and told the person beside her, “Alright, Xiao Liu, go with the Young Miss.”  

There were always banquets held in the upper circles. On Thanksgiving Day, Old Wu, who held quite a position in City A, hosted a winter banquet, and Ji Qingyun was among the invited.  

Since it was the weekend, Ji Xiao was inevitably pulled along by Ji Qingyun.  

But this time, Ji Xiao didn’t bring Wei Qingyu with her.  

The warm light in the fitting room shone over Ji Xiao’s head. She watched the soft fabric fall over her body, her expression lonely.  

Wei Qingyu had gone to the library early in the morning as usual. Ji Xiao hadn’t seen her even until she left that afternoon, and she felt a bit empty inside.  

The high-end store’s fragrance carried a light floral scent, yet the mint scent in her memory quietly drifted up on its own.  

Standing in front of the mirror, Ji Xiao watched as the clerk pinned a delicate brooch onto her.  

Unbidden, her mind brought up the scene from earlier this year when she helped Wei Qingyu put on that rose brooch.  

She knew she should learn to let go, but she still couldn’t help herself.

“What’s wrong, Miss Ji? You don’t like this brooch?”  

The clerk didn’t know Ji Xiao was lost in thought. She only saw her standing still in front of the mirror and thought she didn’t like the brooch she picked.  

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.

Hearing that, Ji Xiao quietly came back to her senses. She looked at the small white flower on her chest and shook her head. “No, it’s pretty.”  

“What flower is this?” Ji Xiao asked.  

“It’s a Tumi flower,” the clerk answered.  

When she heard that word, a ripple appeared on Ji Xiao’s calm face.  

She took her bank card from her handbag and handed it to the clerk. “Swipe it, I’ll buy it.”  

Like a delicate scavenger, she collected these meaningless yet deeply meaningful things in her lonely world.  

The clerk’s face brightened at once, and she respectfully took Ji Xiao’s card. “Alright, Miss Ji.”

Ji Xiao knew the commission from that brooch could match the clerk’s one-month salary. Seeing the joy even shown in her back, Ji Xiao curved her lips and smiled a little.  

Such plain happiness was really nice. She wished that after her family went bankrupt, she could be like that too.  

The sunset outside the window grew dim. Sitting in the car, Ji Qingyun couldn’t help but remind Ji Xiao again, “Xiaoxiao, the invitation to tonight’s banquet didn’t come easy. You must do well later, understand?”  

Ji Xiao nodded. She knew what to do in such occasions.  

Ji Qingyun patted Ji Xiao’s hand. “Xiaoxiao, you should also start caring about the company. Your father’s company will be yours in the future. You must attend these social gatherings often. You’ve already differentiated, so you can start learning now. Actually, starting this year is already a bit late. After all, our family isn’t what it used to be. Once I merge with Qingyu’s family company, your responsibility will be heavier.”  

Hearing Ji Qingyun’s words, Ji Xiao knew arguing was useless, so she only nodded along perfunctorily.  

Ji Qingyun didn’t know what his betrayal would bring him in the end, but Ji Xiao did.

Now it could be said she had entered the original timeline. Her life had been kept safe during the free year before, but she didn’t know if something else would happen now that the real story began. Ji Xiao drew a question mark in her heart.  

She really couldn’t imagine how the present Wei Qingyu would dig out her gland, how she would kill her.  

There were too many unknowns, yet also many known clues.  

The male and female leads’ first meeting, the stop, the broken arm, meeting again, feelings growing? Then everything was safe and sound.  

Qi Qi passed away, to continue life, she suffered, and coughed up blood.  

Looking at the retreating roadside greenery, Ji Xiao felt as if many threads leading to the right answer were held in her hands, but she didn’t know how to string them together. She felt she was about to see through this world’s rule, but each time she was always a bit short.  

In the end, she was still unwilling.  

Unwilling to hand over the person she liked to someone else, yet afraid of the punishment this world would bring.  

If this matter were only about herself, Ji Xiao wouldn’t mind fighting to death.  

But if it would drag Wei Qingyu in, she really didn’t dare.  

“Miss Ji.”

While she was thinking, a polite voice came. Ji Xiao then noticed they had already arrived at the hotel where Mr. Wu held the Winter Banquet.  

The attendant opened Ji Xiao’s car door and looked at her respectfully. Ji Xiao slightly nodded and stepped out, lifting her skirt.  

Lights even brighter than the last banquet lined the whole path. Guided by the attendant, Ji Qingyun led Ji Xiao into the first-floor banquet hall.  

Ji Qingyun’s status in City A was not to be underestimated. As soon as the father and daughter entered, many people came with wine glasses to flatter them. Ji Xiao even saw some classmates she knew from school, standing beside their parents.  

While Ji Qingyun chatted freely among the guests, Ji Xiao wasn’t interested in any of this. After nodding slightly to those familiar classmates, she quietly stood aside and looked around the grand hall.  

Just then, as if receiving some kind of sign, she looked through the crowd toward a small champagne tower not far away.  

Golden light cast a hazy glow over the luxurious hall.  

In her sight, Jin Nanfeng, dressed in a sharp suit, was standing together with Wei Qingyu, who should’ve been at the library. 

Amid the graceful laughter and talk around them, the boy’s hand slowly slid through the girl’s hair, his jade-white fingers tangled with the dark strands.