Chapter 4

Yi Xianzhou bent down, tapped her knuckles against the table, and leaned closer to look at her. “Are you all right?” she asked softly.

Jiang Shiyi struggled to raise her head. Her delicate face had turned deathly pale, and it was obvious that she was forcing herself to endure tremendous pain. “I…”

Before she could finish speaking, her body suddenly felt weightless as someone swept her off her feet and lifted her into their arms. Startled by the unexpected sensation of being raised into the air, Jiang Shiyi instinctively wrapped both arms around Yi Xianzhou’s slender neck, bringing their bodies close together.

As she swayed in her arms, Jiang Shiyi instinctively struggled a little, her eyes widening. “W-what are you doing?”

At the same time, everyone around them immediately turned to look, causing Jiang Shiyi’s face to flush red.

Yi Xianzhou continued holding her securely. Lowering her gaze, she looked at Jiang Shiyi with a slight frown. “What else do you think I’m doing? Stop moving. I’m taking you to the hospital.”

Jiang Shiyi had no choice but to fall silent, like a cat flattening its ears in submission.

Then, after briefly informing Sui Ziyue, Yi Xianzhou turned and carried Jiang Shiyi out of the restaurant under everyone’s watchful eyes.

After settling Jiang Shiyi into the front bailiantales.compassenger seat, Yi Xianzhou chose the nearest hospital and drove straight there.

As the scenery slowly slipped past on either side, Jiang Shiyi’s pain grew increasingly unbearable, and more sweat broke out across her forehead. All she could do was grit her teeth and force herself to endure the agony coursing through her body. She no longer had the energy to say anything more to Yi Xianzhou.

About twenty minutes later, Yi Xianzhou parked her car in a hospital parking lot and took Jiang Shiyi inside to register for a consultation.

Illness had struck her with the force of a collapsing mountain. Waves of spasms gripped Jiang Shiyi’s stomach, leaving her drenched in cold sweat from head to toe. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she might be summoned to report to the King of Hell at any moment.

After a series of examinations, Yi Xianzhou finally learned what had happened. Jiang Shiyi had been eating irregularly for a long time. Sometimes she would binge-eat, while at other times she would go an entire day without eating or drinking anything. Over time, this had caused her stomach condition to flare up again.

After listening to the doctor’s instructions, Yi Xianzhou collected the prescribed medication and fetched a cup of warm water. She then sat down gracefully beside Jiang Shiyi and said, “Take your medicine first. You should feel a little better afterward.”

The lights in the hospital room were bright and harsh. Yi Xianzhou looked cool and reserved yet unfailingly courteous, exuding the refined, gentlemanly air of a true gentlewoman.

At this point, Jiang Shiyi had no energy to wonder whether this woman was good or evil. She simply thanked her, obediently took several pills from her hand, placed them in her mouth, and swallowed them with the warm water.

That medicine was seriously potent.

Even after she had swallowed [Read on BaiLianTales]it, the strange, unpleasant taste still lingered stubbornly in her mouth and throat.

Unexpectedly, at that very moment, a slender hand appeared before her, holding out a crystal-clear piece of candy.

“I’ve taken this medicine before. It tastes pretty awful, so I went to the front desk and asked for some candy,” Yi Xianzhou explained.

Jiang Shiyi couldn’t help freezing for a moment.

To be fair, if it weren’t for the longstanding grudge between them, Jiang Shiyi might even have thought that if she were attracted to women, this woman surnamed Yi would absolutely have stolen her heart.

What an actress! This woman surnamed Yi was unbelievably good at putting on an act! She was practically a real-life Yue Buqun, the perfect hypocrite.

But the taste lingering in her mouth was genuinely unbearable. Left with little choice, Jiang Shiyi shamelessly accepted the candy from Yi Xianzhou and popped it into her mouth.

Yi Xianzhou then looked at her and reminded her, “The doctor said you came in early enough, so there’s nothing seriously wrong. I know you may have been feeling troubled lately, but you really mustn’t keep eating irregularly. Remember to eat three meals a day at regular times, and try to take better care of yourself.”

Jiang Shiyi still felt as though someone had peeled a layer of skin off her entire body. Weak and exhausted, she gave a bitter smile. “I’d like to maintain a regular routine too, but right now, I really can’t manage it.”

Remembering all the fierce arguments and hostility surrounding Jiang Shiyi online, read the original at bailiantales.comYi Xianzhou asked, “Is it because of that recent scandal?”

Jiang Shiyi turned her eyes toward her. “You know about it?”

Yi Xianzhou nodded. “Mm.”

Oh, right. She was her editor, so of course she would know about it. What a pointless question.

But Jiang Shiyi didn’t know what else to say. She merely pressed her lips together. Ever since she was little, it seemed she’d been destined to attract petty, malicious people who caused trouble for her.

Yi Xianzhou lowered her eyes. “That’s simply how things are online. Most people aren’t mature enough to distinguish right from wrong. They’re quick to believe whatever they hear, and that’s how rumors snowball out of control. Unfortunately, there’s not much anyone can do about it.”

As they discussed the subject, Jiang Shiyi couldn’t help looking at Yi Xianzhou, her emotions suddenly growing complicated.

She suddenly realized that Yi Xianzhou was rather frightening. Back when Jiang Shiyi had been subjected to online harassment, Yi Xianzhou had been one of the people adding fuel to the fire. Yet here she was now, appearing before her like some righteous gentlewoman and calmly lecturing her about these very things.

At that moment, Yi Xianzhou glanced at the time and said, “Get some proper rest first. Your health is more important. You can revise the manuscript tomorrow. As for me, I won’t disturb you any longer. I’ll take my leave.”

“All right. Take care.”

After watching her leave, Jiang Shiyi couldn’t spare the energy to think about anything else. She frowned again, wincing from the pain.

At the same time, she remembered what the fortune-teller had told her. How frightening. He had warned her to pay attention to her digestive health, but she hadn’t taken it seriously. Who would have thought something really would go wrong?

So that fortune-teller really was quite accurate.

Heavens. Where on earth was she supposed to find a woman she could drag off to marry? Worse still, what if she ended up with someone like Yi Xianzhou, a smiling tiger whose thoughts and intentions were impossible to read? Wouldn’t she be completely doomed?

No. She needed to take this seriously and screen her candidates carefully.

After thinking it over for a long while, Jiang Shiyi struggled to open the matchmaking section of the Yuncheng Forum and created a new post. In the subject line, she typed, “Seeking a Marriage Partner. Women Only. No Romance, Just Sharing a Life Together.” Then she added a paragraph to the body of the post:

“I’m twenty-seven years old, don’t smoke, drink occasionally, and sometimes go clubbing, but I have morals and no bad habits. Since I have absolutely no interest in romance, I’m just looking for someone who can be a marriage partner and live a good life together, like friends. Oh, and I hope you’re a woman too (men, please don’t contact me, thank you for your cooperation). If you’re interested, send me a private message. Come rain or shine, Your Majesty will be waiting for you 24/7.”

After finishing all that, Jiang Shiyi tossed her phone aside and sighed.

–

After leaving the hospital, Yi Xianzhou drove home.

Yuncheng was beautiful in the evening. Sunset clouds burst across the horizon and gradually spread outward, painting vast stretches of sky in brilliant, fiery colors. Their glow fell on the glass facades of towering buildings, coating them in a dreamlike shade of orange. The whole scene looked as though it had been taken straight from a beautifully composed film.

Once home, Yi Xianzhou contacted a housekeeping company to arrange for someone to help pack her belongings. Then she thought again of her elderly grandmother, who desperately wanted to see her get married.

Ever since her relationship with her ex had fallen apart, she’d completely lost faith in romance. She had no desire to fall in love again and had even developed something resembling post-traumatic stress from the experience.

If she simply let nature take its course, her grandmother would probably never get to see her “settle down” in this lifetime. Perhaps she really should follow through with her earlier idea—

Find a woman who was equally uninterested in romance, register their marriage, and fulfill her grandmother’s wish. Ideally, she could arrange everything before her grandmother’s milestone birthday and give her a pleasant surprise.

The question was, where could she find someone like that?

After turning it over in her mind, Yi Xianzhou suddenly remembered the forum with a matchmaking section that Sui Ziyue had recommended.

Without hesitation, she downloaded the app.

Just as Sui Ziyue had said, it really did have a matchmaking section. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of posts were from people looking for romantic partners they could eventually marry. Very few were simply searching for someone to share a life with.

Perhaps she would have to make a post herself and see what happened.

But just as she was about to create one, she glanced up and noticed a post titled, “Seeking a Marriage Partner. Women Only. No Romance, Just Sharing a Life Together.”

The post stood out from all the others, and its requirements happened to match hers perfectly. No matter how she looked at it, this was an opportunity she couldn’t afford to miss.

Yi Xianzhou raised her eyebrows, feeling a slight twitch at her temple. Without another word, she opened the post and began reading it carefully.

After finishing, she found the arrangement even more appealing. How rare! It wasn’t every day that she came across someone who shared her outlook so completely. She couldn’t shake the feeling that an opportunity like this might never come again.

Once she had finished reading, Yi Xianzhou immediately sent the author a private message. “Hello. I saw the post you just made, and I’m very interested. May I ask how I can contact you?”

Not long afterward, a notification sounded on her phone.

Yi Xianzhou opened it and Read on BaiLianTales found that the other person had replied, “Add me on WeChat: MissJ2019.”

She picked up her spare phone, opened WeChat, and entered the account name into the search bar.

An account with a fierce-looking leopard as its profile picture and the nickname “Draw Your Sword” immediately appeared on the screen.

How interesting.

After sending a friend request, Yi Xianzhou noticed that the other person hadn’t responded yet. She set her phone aside and went to the bathroom to wash her hair and take a shower.

When she came out, Yi Xianzhou poured herself a cup of warm water and walked across the soft carpet to her study. She had just turned on her computer to check her emails.

As Yi Xianzhou was typing away at the keyboard, the spare phone beside her suddenly vibrated.

She pressed Enter one last time, picked up the phone, and saw that the woman calling herself “Draw Your Sword” had accepted her friend request.

Yi Xianzhou smiled and sent the first greeting. “Hello?”

“Draw Your Sword” replied with a smiling emoji. “Hello there.”

Yi Xianzhou noticed that the woman’s tone seemed quite gentle and perfectly normal, nowhere near as intimidating as her fierce profile picture and confrontational nickname suggested. Smiling, she asked, “What should I call you?”

On the other side of the internet, Jiang Shiyi wasn’t ready to reveal her real name yet, so she replied, “Just call me Fruit. What about you?”

Yi Xianzhou didn’t know whether Fruit was her real name or an alias, but she understood that by avoiding her full name, the other woman was trying not to reveal too much personal information.

After giving it some thought, Yi Xianzhou replied, “What a coincidence. You can call me Pancake.”

Draw Your Sword: “…”

Draw Your Sword: “Pancake and Fruit?!”

Yi Xianzhou: “Exactly. See? Aren’t we meant to meet?”

Draw Your Sword: “Miss Pancake, you’re so funny. Do I look like my 2Q is only twenty-five?”

Draw Your Sword: “*IQ.”

Yi Xianzhou hadn’t expected this woman to be so amusing. She was actually rather entertaining.

She replied, “I wouldn’t dare suggest that. Someone with an IQ of twenty-five couldn’t possibly type replies so fluently. No, wait, they probably wouldn’t even know how to use a phone. So my preliminary estimate is that your IQ must be at least 250.”

Sitting cross-legged on a cushion, Jiang Shiyi finally found herself struggling to keep her composure. She had spent her entire life running her mouth, insulting people left and right, and had never met her match in a battle of words. People had even given her the nickname Poppy Flower. Yet she’d actually been defeated by this Pancake?

Draw Your Sword: “All right, let’s get down to business. Are you a woman?”

Yi Xianzhou: “Absolutely. One hundred percent genuine.”

Draw Your Sword: “? No picture, no proof. I don’t believe you.”

Yi Xianzhou: “Then shall we have a video call?”

Jiang Shiyi hesitated. Mainly because that man who had pursued her for both her looks and her money had left her deeply traumatized. Now, no matter what she did, she felt compelled to keep something in reserve to protect herself.

Draw Your Sword: “My [unauthorized copy]phone’s camera is broken. What terrible timing. I’ll send you a photo instead.”

Yi Xianzhou didn’t press the matter. “All right.”

A little while later, Draw Your Sword sent over two photos in quick succession.

The woman in the pictures had short hair, a round face, a flat nose, dust smudged across her cheeks, and a large mole beneath her chin. She was wearing a blue T-shirt and looked as though she’d just finished hauling bricks at a construction site.

She looked vaguely familiar.

If Yi Xianzhou remembered correctly, she’d seen this exact image on an AI research forum before. It wasn’t even a photograph of a real person. It had been generated by an AI enthusiast.

Ha. It seemed Miss Fruit was exceptionally cautious.

Yi Xianzhou: “So you work in construction?”

Draw Your Sword: “That’s right. I spent the whole day working under the blazing sun and only earned two hundred yuan. I’m exhausted. I also have two elderly family members to support. I’m seriously about to lose my mind.”

Yi Xianzhou didn’t expose the lie. She simply watched the performance unfold.

Yi Xianzhou: “That sounds exhausting.”

Draw Your Sword: “What about you? Where’s your photo?”

Yi Xianzhou browsed through a few options and sent an AI-generated photo of her own.

The picture showed a gentle, demure-looking young woman wearing an oversized T-shirt, her hair tied in a ponytail, earnestly tightening screws at a workstation in a factory.

Draw Your Sword: “Is this you?”

Yi Xianzhou: “It’s me. I tightened a hundred screws today, and my hands are practically crippled. I’m planning to make myself some instant noodles in a bit to get a little extra nourishment and stabilize my mental state. Then I’ll get back to work tomorrow.”

Draw Your Sword: “That sounds exhausting.”

After sending the message, Jiang Shiyi couldn’t help grumbling inwardly: There’s always someone more cunning than you. This Pancake really isn’t an ordinary pancake.

Just then, a news notification suddenly popped up on her phone. The headline read:

Hua Yi Plays Dead After Scandal; Fans Say They Regret Supporting Her.

Jiang Shiyi rolled her eyes and let out a derisive laugh. After thinking for a moment, she forwarded the article to “Amid the Clouds.” “By the way, what do you think about this recent incident?”

After all, this person might become her future marriage partner. Sooner or later, they would have to see what she actually looked like. If the other woman turned out to be one of her haters, wouldn’t that make her want to die?

She might as well test the waters now. If Amid the Clouds also disliked her, she could eliminate this candidate early, collect herself, sort out her feelings, and move on to chatting with someone else. That way, she wouldn’t have to deal with any unnecessary heartache later.

Yi Xianzhou opened the link and saw countless people viciously attacking Jiang Shiyi in the comments, as though they couldn’t wait to drag her down from her pedestal and trample her into the dirt.

After giving it some thought, Yi Xianzhou replied, “I don’t know the whole story, so I won’t pass judgment. However…”

Draw Your Sword: “However, what?”

Yi Xianzhou carefully chose her words. “I don’t think she’s the kind of person who would do something like that.”

Draw Your Sword: “Why?”

Yi Xianzhou: “She puts a great deal of effort into every video she makes, always striving for perfection and never cutting corners. She’s something of a perfectionist, and she doesn’t feed people toxic inspirational nonsense just to attract views. That shows she takes her work seriously. Besides, I’ve read her magazine columns. Stories can be fictional, but it’s impossible to completely conceal the author’s own thoughts and values reflected between the lines. I don’t think she’s the kind of person who would deliberately do something immoral.”

Jiang Shiyi had originally only wanted to find out whether the other woman was one of her haters. She hadn’t expected that not only was she not a hater, but she was actually on her side. For a moment, Jiang Shiyi was completely taken aback.

Draw Your Sword: “You’ve even read her columns?”

Yi Xianzhou: “I have. I’ve read all of them. They’re very well written.”

For some reason, as Jiang Shiyi read those messages, she felt an unexpected stinging sensation in her nose.

Her impression of Amid the Clouds improved dramatically, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

What a wonderful person. Observant, appreciative of other people’s work, so gentle and understanding. She felt like a ray of sunshine. People really were different from one another. As for this Amid the Clouds, Jiang Shiyi genuinely admired her.

Unlike that Yi Xianzhou, who was like a heartless robot. All she ever did was stab Jiang Shiyi in the back, like posts spreading damaging rumors about her, and nitpick everything she wrote. All she knew how to do was tell her to rewrite, rewrite, rewrite! She was nothing but a complete moron…

Meanwhile, Yi Xianzhou, who was holding her phone, suddenly sneezed out of nowhere.