The Sickly Girl Becomes a Scum Alpha - Chapter 35

The driver was startled by Chu Ci’s condition. “What happened to the Little Mr. Chu?”

Jian Sui’s face looked even paler than Chu Ci’s, but in this crisis, her mind remained abnormally calm and sharp, far beyond a normal person’s.

“She likely caught a chill. I’m taking her to the hospital.”

Closing the car door, Jian Sui spoke with icy composure. She didn’t wait for the driver, instead sliding into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. The tires screeched against the pavement, leaving the driver standing in place, barely able to process the sight of the car vanishing into the distance.

Butler Sun had just walked out, catching a glimpse of the departing vehicle. “Why did the Young Mistress leave again?”

“Uh…” The driver scratched his head. “The Little Mr. Chu caught a chill and went to the hospital.”

“Oh.” Although Butler Sun wondered why they hadn’t called the family doctor, Chu Ci had always been willful and disliked others questioning her. He didn’t ask further.

The car sped like lightning through the traffic. With her other hand, Jian Sui grabbed her phone and called Jiang Xun.

Fortunately, she had saved the contact information during Chu Ci’s last hospitalization. She hadn’t expected to use it again so soon.

Jiang Xun picked up quickly.

Jian Sui described Chu Ci’s current condition rapidly and accurately. “I’m bringing her to the hospital now. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Understood. I’ll be waiting for you at the emergency entrance.”

Jiang Xun didn’t understand how the Chu Ci she had seen at noon was suddenly at death’s door, but there was no time to think. She immediately ordered the lane cleared and stood at the entrance with her team.

The luxury black car was almost a blur, overtaking others with dangerous precision through the thickening evening rush hour. Jian Sui’s face was as calm as stagnant water.

Upon reaching the hospital, she parked with surprising stability. Tearing off her seatbelt, she watched Jiang Xun’s team wrench open the back door. She exited the car immediately, following the gurney carrying Chu Ci step for step. She was so calm, yet she forgot to even close her car door.

Inside the elevator, Jiang Xun checked Chu Ci’s vitals, her brow furrowed into a tight knot. She looked up at the nurse beside her. “The patient’s organs are failing rapidly. Prepare for emergency resuscitation immediately.”

Without a moment’s delay, the second the elevator doors opened, Chu Ci was pushed straight into the operating room.

Jian Sui was shut outside. The blood-red characters lit up above the door, casting a glow on her ghastly pale face. She stood like a statue, motionless, staring through the door at the person inside.

Every second felt like an eternity of torment. Jian Sui didn’t know how long she had been standing there until a nurse handed her a cup of water, bringing her back to her senses. Her hard exterior cracked, and the panic she had temporarily compartmentalized surged back like a tidal wave, threatening to drown her. Her heart raced as if it might explode, and her strength vanished in an instant; she couldn’t even hold the cup.

The nurse helped her sit on a bench. Before she could even settle, the doors opened.

Jian Sui stood up instantly, looking at the cold-faced Jiang Xun. Despite her efforts to restrain herself, her voice trembled uncontrollably. “How is Chu Ci?”

“Critical condition notice. You are her wife; you need to sign it.”

That thin piece of paper felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. Jian Sui’s hands shook so violently she couldn’t take it. For a moment, she couldn’t even process the meaning of the words.

Jiang Xun glanced at Jian Sui, shoved the paper into the hands of the nurse beside them, and turned back inside.

The nurse had seen many such situations. “This represents a critical situation, but we will do our best to save the patient…”

The nurse’s words were gradually drowned out by a sharp ringing in Jian Sui’s ears. However, her logic forced itself back into place. She took the pen from the nurse. “I’ll sign.”

For the first time, Jian Sui found her own name difficult to write. One hand held the pen weakly while the other gripped her wrist to steady it. Every stroke was a struggle, the handwriting slanted and distorted. When the final stroke was finished, she lost the last of her strength and let the pen slip from her hand.

The nurse took one copy and the pen, leaving Jian Sui leaning against the white wall, clutching the other copy.

Her eyes were vacant, staring at the floor in front of her. Even her breathing became faint. After a long while, she looked down at the words on the paper.

She couldn’t see anything clearly; her vision blurred instantly. Belated tears fell like a broken dam, splashing drop by drop onto the floor.

Her body slid down the white wall. Jian Sui curled up in the corner between the bench and the wall. There was no sound. Her heart, which had been racing enough to explode, now felt as if its last drop of blood had been squeezed out, leaving only a suffocating agony.

[Ding! Torment and Abuse progress +20! Current score is 32/100. Host, please keep up the good work!]

Inside Chu Ci’s mind, which no one could hear, a crisp notification sounded followed by a brief sigh.

Jiang Xun, staring at the heart monitor as it flattened into a straight line, was about to order another round of resuscitation when she saw a faint heartbeat reappear. Her spirits instantly rallied.

This was destined to be a long, unsettled night.

When the light above the operating room finally went out and Jiang Xun opened the door again, the sky outside was as dark as ink.

Jian Sui stood up abruptly but didn’t dare to step forward.

“She’s out of immediate danger for now,” Jiang Xun said, removing her mask.

The breath Jian Sui had been holding finally escaped. She watched Chu Ci being wheeled out. She wanted to step forward but realized she had held her posture for too long; her legs were numb and wouldn’t obey. She only avoided falling by grabbing the bench.

“Thank you.”

Her voice was ragged and hoarse, but Jian Sui felt as if she had come back to life.

As Chu Ci was transferred to the ward, Jian Sui followed closely.

Chu Ci lay on the bed under a white blanket. It was hard to tell which was whiter—her face or the bedding. Her long, delicate eyelashes lay motionless against her pale skin, devoid of life. An oxygen mask covered half her face. Her arm lay atop the blanket with an IV needle inserted, cold medicine flowing through her blue-tinted veins into her body.

The monitor tracking her vitals ticked rhythmically. She looked like a fragile porcelain doll full of cracks. Everything was desperately pumping the hope of life into her, yet it couldn’t keep pace with the rate at which it was fading.

Jiang Xun stood beside Jian Sui at some point, also quietly watching Chu Ci. Unlike Jian Sui, her eyes were full of scrutiny and confusion.

“Was it because she caught a chill this afternoon…”

Jian Sui’s voice was very low. Jiang Xun almost missed it.

“A chill? That was part of it. Her situation is very complex. When I saw her at noon today, her condition was quite stable. There’s no logical reason it should have deteriorated like this in one afternoon.” This was the reason Jiang Xun was so baffled. Although the Chu Ci at noon had appeared weak, it shouldn’t have been related to a rapid deterioration. How could this happen in just a few hours?

“You saw her at noon today?” Jian Sui knew Chu Ci and Jiang Xun wouldn’t meet without a reason.

Jiang Xun nodded. “She couldn’t hold on and had me give her a nutritional injection.”

Upon hearing this, Jian Sui felt as if a needle had been driven into her heart. Her face paled even further. So, Chu Ci’s condition had already been that serious without her knowing. Yet, she had let Chu Ci brave the rain to go to court. It must be because of her affairs that Chu Ci had become like this.

Looking at Chu Ci on the bed, she wished she could trade her own life for hers.

Chu Ci woke up during the late hours of the night. Jian Sui was the first to notice. Jiang Xun, who had also been keeping watch all night, rushed over to check her vitals.

Waking up without knowing what had happened, Chu Ci stared blankly at the ceiling.

Why was she in the hospital again?

Similarly, Jiang Xun was now even more confused than she was.

A bizarre deterioration followed by an even more bizarre improvement—every illogical aspect of Chu Ci’s condition was challenging Jiang Xun’s twenty-plus years of medical knowledge. Aside from a “medical miracle,” she could think of no other explanation.

The only person not confused was Jian Sui, who had been pushed to the doorway. Riddled with internal torment and self-reproach, she watched Chu Ci through the glass of the door, not daring to get closer.

Jiang Xun examined Chu Ci’s body thoroughly and found no abnormalities. She replaced the oxygen mask with nasal tubes, then waved everyone out. When they were the only two left in the ward, she couldn’t help but speak.

“Can you give me a rational explanation?”

Chu Ci looked at her with clean, bewildered eyes. “Hmm?”

Jiang Xun sat in a chair. “Or maybe you can tell me how you managed to sabotage yourself into this state in a single afternoon?”

“I didn’t feel anything unusual,” Chu Ci spoke the truth. “I actually felt like my working state this afternoon was pretty good. My mind was clear and my body felt light. I just felt a bit sleepy in the car on the way home. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I was here. What exactly happened to me?”

Jiang Xun listened to the description and fell silent for a moment. “Have you ever heard of a ‘terminal lucidity’?”

“…You’re joking, right? I’m fine now, aren’t I?”

Although her body had returned to that heavy, weak state, Chu Ci didn’t quite believe Jiang Xun’s words. She had lasted so long at death’s door in her previous life, and her situation in this life was much better. How could she have reached “terminal lucidity” so easily?

“I want to know the answer to that more than you do,” Jiang Xun saw Chu Ci’s reaction and realized she wouldn’t get any answers from her. She stood up. “Never mind. Although you’re out of immediate danger, the rate of deterioration is unprecedented. I suggest you stay in the hospital for treatment. It might give you a few more days.”

“Stay in the hospital for treatment?” Chu Ci felt like she was dreaming back to her previous life where the hospital was her home.

“Of course. This kind of rapid deterioration can occur at any time. The hospital is the safest place. After all, Jian Sui won’t be there to get you here this fast every time.”

A miracle can happen once, but no one dares to bet on a second time. Jiang Xun didn’t think Chu Ci would be that lucky again.

“No, I can’t stay.”

Chu Ci finally saw the notification in her mind. The progress had jumped by twenty points. Jiang Xun’s assessment was likely true. As for why she was still alive, it was likely because Jian Sui was by her side when she was dying; a bug in the system must have credited her lost health points against Jian Sui’s presence, successfully triggering a workaround.

This bug was somewhat invincible—as long as she was near Jian Sui, a rapid drop in health would trigger the bug and grant progress, which could then be exchanged for more health. Tsk, how is this different from jumping back and forth across the threshold of the Underworld?

But this also proved that while she looked like she was in danger of dying at any second, as long as she managed the bug well, she wouldn’t die.

In that case, the hospital served little purpose. It was safer to be bound to Jian Sui’s side.

Having worked out the logic, Chu Ci refused more firmly. If she were in the hospital and Jian Sui wasn’t by her side, she wouldn’t be able to trigger the bug. Wouldn’t that mean she was a goner?

Furthermore, judging by the current situation, if her true condition leaked out, the people in the Chu family alone would make her die faster and drag Jian Sui down with her. So, staying in the hospital was a definite “no.”

Chu Ci’s attitude raised Jiang Xun’s suspicions. “You’d better give me a reason. Your life is almost over; what could possibly be so important that you don’t have time for a hospital stay?”

Facing Jiang Xun’s suspicion, Chu Ci couldn’t exactly say she needed to “exploit a bug.” she had to use another reason.

She looked at Jiang Xun calmly. “I’m destined not to have much time left. You know that too. There’s currently no way to treat me, right?”

Jiang Xun acknowledged this with silence.

“To be honest, if the news of my critical condition spreads, I will die even faster. You should know that.” Since the Jiang and Chu families had been acquainted for years, Jiang Xun knew the Chu family situation. Chu Ci didn’t hide it.

“But you don’t have long to live anyway, so why care about that? Even if the Chu family abandons you, I can afford to treat you,” Jiang Xun understood the facts but didn’t understand the motivation.

“Even so, what about Jian Sui? I dragged her into this quagmire of the Chu family. Even if I’m gone, she needs to be able to walk away unscathed. I have to leave her a way out to prevent the Chu family from taking their anger out on her after I die. If I’m just stuck in a hospital, I won’t be able to do anything.”

Chu Ci’s point was valid. This was exactly what Chu Xiong and Zhao Zhu were capable of. Seeing as Chu Xiong was already blaming Jian Sui for Chu Ci’s mistakes, Jian Sui wouldn’t have a good end once Chu Ci died. Not to mention Zhao Zhu, who hated Chu Ci but was too cowardly to do anything, only taking it out on Jian Sui in small ways—she would be even more unrestrained.

Jiang Xun thought for a moment. “Then divorce her now. Send her far away, and then you can stay here and focus on your treatment. Wouldn’t that work?”

As expected of the purely rational Jiang Xun, the suggestion was quite constructive. Chu Ci was momentarily stunned and couldn’t help but consider it.

Seeing Chu Ci fall silent, Jiang Xun used her limited emotional reserves to ponder. “Can’t bear to?”

Chu Ci lowered her eyes. she knew Jiang Xun meant she couldn’t bear to be separated from Jian Sui. But in reality, what she couldn’t bear to lose was the slim chance of staying by Jian Sui’s side to complete the progress and return to her own world. She still wanted to go back to see her parents; she didn’t want her soul to scatter in this foreign world.

A bitter, self-deprecating smile touched the corners of her mouth. “I suppose so. I’m quite selfish, aren’t I?”

For her own sliver of hope, she was disregarding Jian Sui’s safety. She knew the longer Jian Sui stayed in the Chu family, the more likely she would be targeted later, and with little time left, it would be difficult for Chu Ci to leave Jian Sui a powerful enough force to rival the Chus.

In the end, it was selfishness.

Jiang Xun, however, mistook it for the “inability to let go of a loved one” she had hypothesized. She frowned. “You humans with your complex emotions. Such a hassle.”

Chu Ci was now trapped in internal torment. “Yes. I can never take care of myself and I keep dragging others down. Jian Sui has a happy home and parents; she shouldn’t be burdened by me. If something happens to her because of me, what would her parents do?”

Thinking of how the original host had destroyed the peaceful life of Jian Sui’s family of three in the novel, Chu Ci didn’t want to hurt Jian Sui again because of her own stubbornness. Her own parents would suffer from losing her, and wouldn’t Jian Sui’s parents feel the same?

What Chu Ci was saying now was beyond Jiang Xun’s range of comprehension. All her emotional processing ability had been spent on the previous “can’t bear to.” Looking at Chu Ci now, she didn’t know what to say. She could only shake her head, intending to go out and let Jian Sui persuade Chu Ci to stay for treatment.

“I’ll consider it.”

As Jiang Xun was about to leave, Chu Ci’s suppressed voice came from behind.

Jiang Xun hadn’t expected Chu Ci to see reason on her own. She turned back and nodded in approval. “That’s right. Get a divorce early, focus on treatment. I can still take care of you.”

Hearing this, Chu Ci winced in pain. “Stop talking. Just go out.”

“Fine. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Jiang Xun believed she had talked a life back from the edge of a dead end and was quite satisfied with her performance. She walked to the door and pulled it open with a light step, only to run straight into the bloodshot eyes of Jian Sui, who was leaning against the wall.

Before Jiang Xun could open her mouth to persuade her, Jian Sui grabbed her by the collar and dragged her away.