Giving You Dawn And Dusk - Chapter 6

The ward was very quiet. Xu Qingzhu was drinking water in small sips.

Her posture as she drank was elegant. One look was enough to tell that she had received proper etiquette training. Her beautiful swan-like neck stretched slightly, revealing an exceptionally graceful line, and sunlight danced across her skin.

It was a very beautiful scene.

Liang Shi stared without realizing it, lost in thought, until Xu Qingzhu finished drinking, twisted the cap back onto the bottle, and placed it on the cabinet. Those cold eyes swept over her. “What are you looking at?”

Liang Shi: “……”

She awkwardly withdrew her gaze.

Liang Shi was not someone skilled with words. Even after spending several years in the entertainment industry, she had still maintained the habit of coming and going alone.

If not for her good acting skills, she truly would not have been able to survive in the entertainment industry.

She had always believed that getting along with people meant exchanging sincerity for sincerity.

So when Sun Chengcheng had shown goodwill toward her back then, she had not been overly guarded. She had never expected to be set up instead.

Thinking of those things, Liang Shi’s mood sank as well.

For a long time, neither of them spoke.

In the end, it was Xu Qingzhu who broke the silence. “After I’m discharged, I’ll have a lawyer prepare the relevant documents. I won’t take a single cent of your assets. As for what you…”

She paused, her voice becoming even colder, though it sounded as if she were forcing herself to remain calm. “As for the Liang family’s help to the Xu family…”

A loud, hurried ringtone suddenly rang out, interrupting Xu Qingzhu’s words.

Liang Shi looked at her first, then belatedly realized that it was her own phone ringing.

Liang Shi: “……”

This ringtone was truly awful.

She took out her phone, covered the receiver, bowed slightly, and said to Xu Qingzhu, “Sorry.”

Then she looked at the screen. It was Cheng Ran.

“Hello.” Liang Shi answered the call and deliberately lowered her voice. “What do you want?”

Cheng Ran’s end was a little noisy, but her voice still came through clearly. She was very loud. “Where are you?”

“At the hospital,” Liang Shi said.

Cheng Ran frowned. “I’m at the hospital too. How come I haven’t seen you? Or…”

She paused, then quickly guessed, “You’re not in your own ward. You’re at Xu Qingzhu’s?”

Liang Shi glanced at Xu Qingzhu with a somewhat guilty conscience, then immediately said with a righteous expression, “Yes.”

“What are you doing? Bearing a bundle of thorns to ask for forgiveness?” Hearing this, Cheng Ran teased her in a careless, roguish tone. “Then I’ll go to Xu Qingzhu’s now and take a look while I’m at it.”

“Don’t come,” Liang Shi refused.

“What’s wrong? I can be considered Xu Qingzhu’s friend too, can’t I? She’s sick, and I can’t even visit?” There was not the slightest room for negotiation in Cheng Ran’s tone. “I’m already here. I can’t just leave without doing anything. Why are you resisting so much? Don’t tell me… you really want to be a good lover?”

After saying that, she laughed to herself. “Oh, come on. Who doesn’t know what the other is like?”

“Cheng Ran.” When Liang Shi called her name, there was a warning hidden in her tone.

But Cheng Ran did not care. “I’m almost there. Come out and meet me.”

After she finished speaking, the call was hung up.

Liang Shi looked at the phone screen with a frown. Then she looked at Xu Qingzhu again and discovered that Xu Qingzhu had already turned onto her side and was no longer looking at her.

Worried that Cheng Ran would come to Xu Qingzhu’s ward and say something that might provoke Xu Qingzhu, Liang Shi immediately said to Xu Qingzhu, “A friend came to see me. I’ll leave first.”

Xu Qingzhu did not respond.

“If anything happens, press the emergency bell,” Liang Shi said. “Or call me. Your phone is by the head of the bed. I charged it for you. Also…”

Liang Shi glanced at the phone, which had a matching couple phone case with her own phone. Lowering her eyes, she said, “I restored all the data for you. There’s no password, so you can set one yourself. Also, I deleted all the copied data, including the USB drive that stored your information. I’ve already destroyed it. From now on, I won’t touch your phone again, and I won’t invade your privacy.”

After the original owner had taken Xu Qingzhu’s phone, she had copied all the data onto a USB drive. While waiting outside just now, Liang Shi had remembered this matter. She had gone outside to find a phone repair shop and rushed to finish handling it. While she was at it, she had also been afraid Xu Qingzhu would feel disgusted by the old phone, so she bought her a new one.

“There’s also a brand-new unopened phone. If you don’t want to use the old one, you can insert your SIM card into the new phone and use that instead.” As Liang Shi spoke, she already heard the click-clack of high heels in the corridor. She guessed it was Cheng Ran.

Other than her, there probably was no one else who would stride around a hospital in sky-high heels.

Liang Shi immediately made a long story short. “Take good care of yourself. I’m leaving first. I’ll come see you later.”

After saying that, she hurried out of the ward.

And the instant she walked out, Xu Qingzhu, lying on the bed, opened her eyes.

She had not been asleep.

She had heard everything Liang Shi said.

Moreover, ever since childhood, her hearing had been good. She had also heard everything Cheng Ran said over the phone.

Not only that, she had also heard all the frivolous and dismissive things Liang Shi had said about her to other people in the past.

She had simply never said anything.

Because the Xu family had been on the verge of bankruptcy. It was Liang Shi who had married her and injected a substantial sum of money into the Xu family, thereby preserving the company. So, knowing she owed them, she had swallowed her anger every time.

Moreover, she had feelings for Liang Shi.

In her impression, Liang Shi had always been that girl who, even after being kidnapped, had bravely searched for a way to survive and encouraged her to escape together. She was not supposed to be like this now—cynical, spoiled and willful, dissolute by nature.

But memories did not change. People did.

Liang Shi was no longer the way she had been in Xu Qingzhu’s memories.

While lying on the bed and suffering through the torment of her heat, Xu Qingzhu had finally come to recognize that clearly.

Even if Liang Shi now said that she would not hurt her, repeatedly promised her, and even showed some improvement in her actions, Xu Qingzhu would no longer trust Liang Shi.

She only wanted to divorce Liang Shi.

Then she would enter the company and help her father. She had an MBA degree. It was just that her father had always worried about her health and had never allowed her to interfere with company affairs.

As Xu Qingzhu was thinking this, her phone vibrated slightly.

[Mom: My precious Zhuzi, has your little sister contacted you?]

Xu Qingzhu frowned. [No.]

Xu Qingzhu had a younger sister named Xu Qingya. She was fifteen this year and had just started high school. She was in adolescence and somewhat rebellious.

Before Xu Qingzhu got married, Xu Qingya often argued with their parents at home, and Xu Qingzhu had been caught in the middle as the mediator.

When Xu Qingzhu got married, Xu Qingya had cried her heart out and promised her that she would obediently listen to their parents from then on.

That promise had lasted four months.

At least, this was the first time since Xu Qingzhu’s marriage that her mother had contacted her to ask about Xu Qingya’s situation.

She replied: [No.]

[Mom: Yaya and your dad quarreled again. Your dad threw away all of Chen Zhengxuan’s merchandise and even tore up the posters in her room. She got so angry that she ran away from home. Your dad’s stubborn temper flared up too, and he froze her cards. She should contact you. When that happens, take care of her and try to persuade her.]

Xu Qingzhu: [Okay.]

She was physically and mentally exhausted right now, but she still forced herself to gather the strength to call Xu Qingya.

No one answered.

She called again, but it had already turned into a busy tone.

When she returned to the screen, her mother had sent another message.

[Are you and Ah Shi getting along well?]

Xu Qingzhu’s finger rested on the screen. For a moment, she did not know how to reply.

A clear tear fell onto the pillow.

She typed: Mom, I plan to divorce Liang Shi.

Before she could finish typing, a message appeared at the top of the screen.

[The Liang family is powerful, and they helped us too. Treat Ah Shi a little better. She may have been spoiled since childhood and has a bad temper, but she isn’t a bad child.]

Xu Qingzhu: ……

That was because none of you had seen her vicious side.

[Mom: The company doesn’t seem to be doing very well lately. Every time your dad comes home, he looks exhausted. As long as the two of you are doing well, that’s enough.]

Xu Qingzhu deleted everything she had typed.

Thousands of words turned into a single one: [Okay.]

**

Meanwhile, on the other side, Liang Shi saw Cheng Ran.

Cheng Ran had a head of brown, wavy hair and wore a tight hip-hugging mini skirt. Her makeup was heavy, very similar to the makeup on the original owner’s face when Liang Shi first transmigrated over.

From far away, Liang Shi could already smell the pungent perfume. She fanned her nose with her hand, secretly thankful that she had not allowed Cheng Ran into Xu Qingzhu’s ward.

“Let’s go,” Cheng Ran said. “Let’s take a look at Xu Qingzhu.”

“No need.” When Liang Shi refused, she put some distance between them. “She’s asleep.”

Hearing this, Cheng Ran turned back to look at her, her face full of suspicion. “Liang Shi, since when were you this considerate?”

Liang Shi: “……”

“All right, fine. I won’t touch her, okay?” Cheng Ran said. “Do you have to go this far? You’re guarding against me like I’m a thief.”

Liang Shi pressed her lips together and called her seriously. “Cheng Ran.”

She felt that it was necessary to make things clear with Cheng Ran.

If she continued to get mixed up with someone like Cheng Ran, it would be impossible for Xu Qingzhu not to misunderstand her.

But right after she spoke, her phone rang again. It was an unfamiliar number.

She turned her back and answered. “Hello?”

A wronged voice came from the other end of the call. “Sister Liang Shi.”

Liang Shi: “……”

Who was this now?

The original owner’s habit of not saving people’s names was truly terrible.

“Is my sister by your side?” Xu Qingya said. “If she is, avoid her first.”

Liang Shi: “……”

And who was her sister?

“Sister Liang Shi?” Xu Qingya called tentatively. “Is my sister with you? Are you two at the villa?”

Liang Shi reacted.

This should be Xu Qingzhu’s younger sister.

Liang Shi coughed lightly. “We’re not together. What’s the matter?”

Xu Qingya said angrily, “Good that you’re not. Otherwise, I’d get tattled on again. Sister Liang Shi, can you give me fifty thousand yuan? Don’t let my sister know about this. My dad froze my card, and I have nowhere to stay right now.”

When Liang Shi had been working on film crews in the past, she had seen too many rebellious teenage girls run away from home. So at this moment, she was very calm and only asked, “Where are you now?”

“Yunding Building.” Xu Qingya reminded her, “You’re not allowed to tell my sister about this.”

Liang Shi did not agree immediately. “I’ll go over to find you now. Find a place and stay there.”

Xu Qingya was clearly very familiar with her and trusted her very much. “Okay.”

After hanging up, Liang Shi was thinking about how to handle this matter when Xu Qingzhu’s voice came from behind her.

She called coldly, “Liang Shi.”

Liang Shi turned around and saw her standing at the doorway, her face pale.

She asked, “Did Yaya contact you?”

Liang Shi: “……”

A moment later, she answered without the slightest hesitation, “She did.”