Giving You Dawn And Dusk - Chapter 18

By the time Zhao Xuning finished making her rounds and came over, it was already past ten.

She was not on the night shift tonight, so after finishing rounds, it was her personal time. She came to check on Xu Qingzhu, and if there were no problems, she would go home.

Inside the ward, Xu Qingzhu was resting with her eyes closed. Hearing footsteps, she opened her eyes. When she saw it was Zhao Xuning, she revealed a weak smile. “You’re here.”

Zhao Xuning nodded. “Are you feeling better?”

“Much better.” Xu Qingzhu sat up.

Their relationship was not particularly close. Xu Qingzhu was close with Bai Weiwei. The two of them had been high school classmates and university roommates.

They had known each other for many years. As for Bai Weiwei and Zhao Xuning, they had met online. The two of them played the same co-op game.

For a while, every other sentence out of Bai Weiwei’s mouth had been “my online friend.”

Later, Bai Weiwei had suffered from acute gastroenteritis and was taken to the hospital. After she was admitted, her attending physician happened to be Zhao Xuning. Then Bai Weiwei saw the messages she had sent her on the phone Zhao Xuning had left in the ward, and the two unexpectedly met offline.

And so they became friends in real life.

After graduating, Bai Weiwei did not inherit the family business and instead became a manager.

She was so busy with work that she had no time to play games, and barely any time to flirt with Zhao Xuning either.

As for Zhao Xuning’s feelings toward her, they seemed to be just so-so.

But Zhao Xuning was far too reserved. Neither Xu Qingzhu nor Bai Weiwei could quite guess what she was thinking.

When Bai Weiwei had been hospitalized before, Xu Qingzhu had stayed in the ward to take care of her, and that was how she had met Zhao Xuning.

Whenever she occasionally came to the hospital, Bai Weiwei would always remind Zhao Xuning to take care of her. After going back and forth like that, they naturally became familiar.

As for Zhou Yi’an’s matter, Xu Qingzhu had indeed asked Zhao Xuning.

Because when Liang Shi accidentally played that voice message, Zhao Xuning had also been there. After Liang Shi and Bai Weiwei left, Zhao Xuning had made a special trip back and asked Xu Qingzhu whether she knew about Liang Shi and Zhou Yi’an’s relationship.

Xu Qingzhu did know a few things. For example, Liang Shi had once said to Cheng Ran, “Fuck Zhou Yi’an. A toad trying to eat swan meat.”

At the time, Xu Qingzhu had not known what had happened. She had only searched the name online but found nothing.

Hidden-gender individuals regularly received injections. Only those close to them knew their gender. After applying to the National General Bureau to become a hidden-gender person, they would receive state protection, and no information related to their gender would appear online.

Correspondingly, the application process for becoming a hidden-gender individual was extremely troublesome, and it required an expense of twenty million.

So at present, there were not many hidden-gender individuals in the country.

Most hidden-gender individuals liked people of the same gender, but because they feared public criticism, they chose to pay a high price to hide their gender.

Zhou Yi’an was a typical example.

Once someone became a hidden-gender individual, the state would step in to protect them, shielding them from public attacks.

After Xu Qingzhu told Zhao Xuning the truth, she asked, “Does Zhou Yi’an like Alphas? Or rather, does she like Liang Shi?”

Zhao Xuning paused, then only gave an ambiguous answer. “The answer is exactly what you’re thinking.”

That counted as a reminder to Xu Qingzhu.

That was why Xu Qingzhu had gone to Liang Shi’s ward.

Originally, she had wanted Liang Shi to help her.

Although she did not really want to ask, her mother’s phone call had put her in a difficult position, so she still went to see Liang Shi.

But she ended up hearing some unpleasant things.

She roughly heard what Liang Shi’s mother had said.

She had also heard the argument between mother and daughter, so her emotions had collapsed a little.

Fortunately, at the final moment, she had stopped herself.

How could she depend on Liang Shi?

That was Liang Shi.

Although… she did not seem much like Liang Shi.

“Still thinking about Liang Shi?” Zhao Xuning’s words pulled Xu Qingzhu’s drifting thoughts back. She was dazed for a moment, then pressed her brow with one hand. “No.”

Then she changed her answer. “Yes.”

“Has her matter with Zhou Yi’an been confirmed?” Zhao Xuning asked.

Xu Qingzhu nodded. “I called her. I roughly know now.”

“That’s good.” Zhao Xuning paused, pulled over a chair, and sat down. The buttons of her white shirt were fastened meticulously all the way to the top. Her long hair was tied up casually. Then she unhurriedly took off her glasses, revealing the tear mole beneath the corner of her eye. The glasses frame was held between her fingers, and she spun it casually a few times. “You asked me to come because you still want to know about Liang Shi, right?”

“Mm.” Xu Qingzhu did not deny it. “You said before that Liang Shi showed symptoms of amnesia, right?”

“Yes. When she first woke up, she did show some symptoms of memory loss. I arranged a brain CT for her, but the results showed no problems at all. Her intelligence and physical condition haven’t declined.” Zhao Xuning said, “But she has also been very abnormal these past few days. It’s as if… she suddenly became a different person.”

“You’ve known her for a relatively long time. What do you think the reason is?” Xu Qingzhu asked.

Zhao Xuning shook her head. “Although I know her, we aren’t close.”

She was not very willing to get involved with someone like Liang Shi.

Who in their circle did not know that Zhao Xuning and Liang Shi did not get along?

That person had been arrogant and domineering ever since elementary school, claiming territory and forming cliques. She was a pure little tyrant. Relying on the fact that she had two older brothers above her and that her family was wealthy and powerful, she had acted without restraint. Back then, the Liang family had been even more powerful than it was now and could be considered a prominent wealthy family in Haizhou City’s upper circles.

After so many years, the Liang family had also declined.

But Liang Shi’s personality still had not changed.

It had even grown worse.

Only… after she was kidnapped once when she was young, Liang Shi at that time had also shown some strange symptoms.

Sometimes, when she slept in class and suddenly woke up, she would say, “I’m not me. Who am I?”

Muttering like a lunatic.

However, everyone privately thought that it was because she had been kidnapped, so her mind had become somewhat unclear.

It was said that the other little girl who had been kidnapped came back and remained unconscious for two months. After that, she never spoke again.

Back then, Zhao Xuning had not known that person was Xu Qingzhu.

Zhao Xuning had always been cold by nature since childhood. She had good grades and did not like interacting with people. When she was in school, many people thought she was pretentious.

Besides, she had a fairly decent face. Every few days, someone would send her love letters, which drew quite a bit of jealousy.

Everyone began differentiating between the ages of fifteen and eighteen.

Before fifteen, no one knew what gender they would become.

Even so, many people still began feeling the stirrings of first love before fifteen.

In middle school, a girl Liang Shi liked gave Zhao Xuning a love letter. After school, Liang Shi brought people to block Zhao Xuning’s path.

The two even made an appointment to fight.

That day, both of them ended up injured, but Zhao Xuning had the upper hand. From then on, Liang Shi stopped provoking Zhao Xuning.

Zhao Xuning had always looked down on Liang Shi.

Or rather, she did not have much respect for these second-generation rich kids who relied on family money to act lawlessly.

So Zhou Yi’an was also included among the people she disliked.

“But she really is very different from before,” Zhao Xuning said honestly. “She suddenly became polite, humble, gentle, and even a little approachable.”

After a moment of silence, Xu Qingzhu said, “Is it possible that this isn’t Liang Shi?”

“I considered that possibility, but I checked all the surveillance footage after she was admitted to the hospital, and I verified her blood type and DNA. Everything proves that she is Liang Shi.”

“What other reason could make her personality change overnight?” Xu Qingzhu asked. “Have there been similar cases?”

“There have been cases before. Some were transferred to secret state organizations for research and locked up for decades. Others were later proven to be people who simply made a sincere change from the heart, though they were usually stimulated by a major event.” Zhao Xuning paused. “Which kind do you think she is?”

Xu Qingzhu shook her head. “I don’t know.”

After a moment, Xu Qingzhu thought of something. “That day, when I was in heat, she wanted to forcibly mark me. I pushed her hard, and her head hit the wall. It made a very heavy sound. Could it be related to that?”

“It could be. But I checked her already. There’s no blood clot in her brain pressing on the nerves, so it doesn’t really look like amnesia. Still, it could also be caused by other factors.” Zhao Xuning said, “Tomorrow, I’ll give her another full-body examination.”

“Will she agree?” Xu Qingzhu asked.

Zhao Xuning’s hand, which was spinning her glasses, suddenly paused. She said firmly, “The current her will.”

“But…” Zhao Xuning paused. “Isn’t the current her good?”

“She’s very good. So good it feels unbelievable,” Xu Qingzhu said.

“Then why care so much?” Zhao Xuning said. “Whether she is a prodigal who returned or someone who suddenly came to her senses, as long as she’s good enough now, isn’t that fine? Sometimes, people shouldn’t be too obsessed with answers.”

Xu Qingzhu suddenly smiled. “You’re right.”

After Zhao Xuning left, Xu Qingzhu lay in bed and thought over everything again and again.

After a long time, she sent Liang Shi a message.

[I lost control earlier. I’m sorry.]

//

Liang Shi only saw the message when she woke up the next day. She replied:

[It’s fine.]

Then she went downstairs to buy breakfast and carried it up to the tenth floor to eat with Xu Qingzhu.

The two of them had a very quiet breakfast.

Liang Shi had no intention of mentioning divorce either.

She had already tried. Any text message to Xu Qingzhu related to divorce would be blocked by the system. Yesterday, the system had even appeared briefly to warn her not to keep wasting effort.

There were no shortcuts to winning someone over.

She gave up.

After breakfast, Liang Shi politely declined Zhao Xuning’s suggestion that she undergo a full-body examination. She insisted on handling her own discharge procedures, then asked Xu Qingzhu whether she wanted to be discharged too.

Zhao Xuning happened to come over and said that Xu Qingzhu could be discharged, but after returning home, she still had to rest quietly and observe her condition carefully for two days before moving around normally.

So Liang Shi also handled Xu Qingzhu’s discharge procedures.

On the way home, Xu Qingzhu sat in the passenger seat without saying a word the entire way, once again returning to that distant, unapproachable manner.

The vulnerability and distance from last night seemed to have vanished without a trace.

The two of them were like strangers.

When the car drove near Yunding Building, Liang Shi’s phone suddenly rang.

The soothing light music made Xu Qingzhu open her eyes. She looked at Liang Shi, who was driving. “Pull over, or should I hang up for you?”

Liang Shi said, “See who it is.”

She did not dare abruptly ask Xu Qingzhu to answer it.

The original owner’s phone was like a ticking time bomb. Who knew when it would explode?

Even answering it herself made her heart pound with fear, let alone letting Xu Qingzhu answer.

Xu Qingzhu glanced at it. It was Xu Qingya.

Only then did she answer and turn on speaker.

Xu Qingya said over the phone, “Sister Liang Shi, what are you doing? Let’s discuss something.”

Liang Shi looked at Xu Qingzhu, who only mouthed silently at her: Focus on driving.

Liang Shi coughed lightly and tried to sound normal. “What is it?”

“The hotel is too cold and lonely,” Xu Qingya said. “Can I stay at your house for a few days?”

Xu Qingzhu refused decisively. “No.”

“Ah? My sister’s there too?” Xu Qingya sounded somewhat regretful, then said, “I’m asking Sister Liang Shi. I’m not asking you.”

“I have the final say,” Xu Qingzhu said.

Xu Qingya gave a cold huff. “I’m going anyway. I’m already at your front door right now. Hurry up and come back.”

Xu Qingzhu: “……”

Liang Shi felt helpless and could only say, “Then wait there for a while. Your sister and I will be there soon.”

After hanging up, Xu Qingzhu said, “I’ll handle my sister’s matter. You don’t need to worry. After we get back, I’ll move into the easternmost room on the first floor and pay you rent at market price. My father isn’t in good health, and the company has run into some problems now, so I temporarily can’t divorce you. But when the time is right, we’ll divorce then, all right?”

Before Liang Shi could respond, Xu Qingzhu said, “During this period, I hope that in front of my family, you’ll still act the same as before. If you can pretend, then keep pretending.”

Liang Shi: “……”