The Sickly Girl Becomes a Scum Alpha - Chapter 47

Chu Ci truly did not know where those two trees were. Nor did she know that the tree planting in this school followed a specific pattern by class; after all, according to the timeline, the original host and her group had graduated many years ago. The trees were likely quite large now, so she could only venture deeper to search.

Cao Xi and Jian Sui were already out of sight, let alone Bai Qingqing. Chu Ci walked into the woods alone, wandering aimlessly.

She couldn’t help but mock her own stupidity. She knew nothing and moved so slowly. Even if the original host had left something at the tree, the others would surely find it long before she did. By the time she arrived, the “loquats would be cold.” What was the difference between this and just waiting back at the start?

Thinking this way, Chu Ci decided not to exert herself further. She would cross that bridge when she came to it.

She turned around sluggishly and began to stroll back.

Yet, for some reason, the further back she walked, the thicker the trees seemed to get. Looking at the increasingly mottled and rusted plaques on the trunks, she finally realized something was wrong.

Great. I’m lost.

The trees overhead blotted out the sun, with only occasional slivers of light piercing through. Even though it was daytime, it felt like an illusion of night. Chu Ci suddenly recalled the school’s brochure: the bio-garden led directly to the back mountain, featuring rich natural vegetation and a preserved primitive landscape…

In other words, a deep, primeval forest.

The more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. Chu Ci quickly turned around again, her heart racing. Am I really going to end up a casualty of a school tour today?

As she hurried her pace, her legs felt weak, and she nearly stumbled. She hurriedly grabbed a nearby tree to steady herself, her palm turning red from the friction against the rough bark.

As she stood up and steadied herself, she looked up and saw a plaque right before her eyes.

[Chu Ci]

What was the saying? You can wear out iron shoes searching in vain, only to find it by chance without effort.

She never expected to stumble upon it like this. Chu Ci looked closer at the plaque, and on the tree right next to it, it read: [Bai Qingqing].

There was no mistake. Looking at these two loquat trees—which looked somewhat out of place among the tall timber—it was certain these were the ones planted by the original host and Bai Qingqing.

Chu Ci circled the trees twice but found nothing unusual. She looked around; no one else had found their way here yet.

Marveling briefly at her luck, Chu Ci decided to see if these two trees held any secrets before the others arrived. If the original host had left a “pit” for her, she’d better find out sooner rather than later.

There was nothing on the trees or the immediate surroundings, and the plaques looked identical to the others. Chu Ci shifted her gaze to the ground. That was the only place left to hide something.

Without any tools, she squatted down, picked up a branch, and began prodding the soil. The ground was soft, and she soon dug a small hole. Just as she was about to dig deeper, the branch hit something solid.

There really is something?

She grew more diligent, poking away with the small branch until she unearthed a palm-sized, rectangular iron box. The surface was so rusted the original design was gone, but fortunately, there was no lock. With a bit of effort, she pried it open.

Ignoring the dirt on her hands, Chu Ci looked at the contents. The box was small, but the contents were even more sparse: a single blood-stained surgical form.

Carefully avoiding the dried black bloodstains, Chu Ci unfolded the sheet.

[Gland Removal Surgery]

Name: Bai Qingqing

Surgeon Signature: Jiang Xun

Patient/Guardian Signature: Chu Ci

Chu Ci froze. So the legend that Bai Qingqing had dug out her own gland was a rumor; the one who actually performed the surgery was Jiang Xun—who was a mere student at the time—and the one who signed for it was the original host, an unrelated minor…

“So you haven’t forgotten after all. Were you just pretending because you didn’t want Cao Xi and Jian Sui to know?”

Bai Qingqing’s voice rang out from behind, startling Chu Ci. She whirled around to see Bai Qingqing standing a short distance away.

Suppressing her shock, Chu Ci tried to remain calm. She refolded the surgical form and put it back in the box. “Why did you bring up these trees on purpose?”

Taking the offensive, Chu Ci—knowing nothing—counter-questioned her. Both the cover-up of the rumor and this irregular surgical form proved that this was a secret belonging to the three of them, one they never wanted outsiders to know. For Bai Qingqing to lure people here knowing the secret was buried was exceptionally strange.

Bai Qingqing leaned against a tree, staring at the iron box in Chu Ci’s hand. “I thought you truly forgot our agreement.”

Agreement?

Chu Ci’s heart skipped a beat. She snapped the box shut. “Is that so?”

Speak less, make fewer mistakes. She threw the question back as if she didn’t believe Bai Qingqing’s answer.

Bai Qingqing walked over from the tree and gripped Chu Ci’s hand, tightening her hold on the iron box. “It’s been a long time. You’ve changed so much that I truly felt uneasy. You were willing to help me remove my gland back then, and you promised to help me take back everything in the Bai family that belongs to me. But look at you now… you have Jian Sui by your side…”

Bai Qingqing gripped Chu Ci’s hand, pressing closer. Chu Ci had to step back until her back hit the loquat tree. There was no more room to retreat.

“You got married without a word. So what am I to you? What does the promise you gave me mean? Chu Ci, this is unfair to me.”

A calm interrogation. Bai Qingqing’s hand reached out to touch Chu Ci’s face. “For six years, I’ve lived like a ghost that can’t see the light of day, while you continue to live happily as the Great Miss Chu. I chose this, and I accept it. But now, are you going to break even your final promise?”

That hand moved across her face like a slithering snake. Listening to this old grievance, Chu Ci felt her head throb. The original host really wasn’t a good person. This wasn’t a “pit” left behind; it was the Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon. Why make such reckless promises?

Wait. The original host likely didn’t make a reckless promise. In the novel, though Bai Qingqing’s rise to power was glossed over as being easy, how could it be that simple for an abandoned child? So, the original host was behind it all along?

But the original host likely didn’t help out of the goodness of her heart. Judging by how she ruthlessly drove Bai Qingqing to her death later to seize the Bai family, a complete plan of “the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind” emerged. It was a terrifyingly calculated long game.

Chu Ci’s mind whirled. Do I agree? She had to weigh her own capabilities. She couldn’t even handle the Chu family yet, and now she had to take on the Bai family? Do I refuse? In this deep forest, given Bai Qingqing’s “yandere” attributes, she might be sacrificed on the spot.

Gritting her teeth and adopting the mindset of “surviving one day at a time,” Chu Ci chose to play along.

“I’m not breaking our agreement. It’s just that this matter cannot be known by anyone. You were too reckless today.” After a moment of deciding, she maintained a calm facade. After scolding Bai Qingqing for her impulsiveness, she didn’t forget the “carrot and stick” approach. “Of course, I am also at fault. I’ve been too busy lately and neglected you.”

Bai Qingqing looked at her suspiciously, seemingly evaluating the credibility of her words.

Just as the two were in a standoff, the crisp sound of a breaking branch shattered the stagnant atmosphere. Chu Ci immediately looked over and saw Jian Sui standing there, frozen in shock. Beside her was a horrified Cao Xi.

Chu Ci belatedly realized how close she was to Bai Qingqing. Bai Qingqing’s hand was still on her face…

I’m doomed!

In an instant, Chu Ci felt her reputation as an “unfaithful person” was set in stone. She hurriedly dodged Bai Qingqing’s hand and shoved the iron box directly into her grasp. “You guys…”

Chu Ci felt her CPU was about to burn out. Explanation? With “seeing is believing” and the evidence of “catching them in the act” (?), how could she explain? No explanation? She was a married woman; wouldn’t that just confirm she was having an affair?

Before Chu Ci could find an angle for an explanation, Bai Qingqing stepped back airily. “Since the tree is found, let’s head back. Lunchtime is almost here, and we still need to visit the new cafeteria.”

Having said that, Bai Qingqing walked right past Jian Sui with the iron box.

The remaining three were left in an atmosphere even more bizarre and oppressive than before. Jian Sui stared at the freshly dug pit on the ground, lost in thought. Chu Ci was racking her brain for a lie since she couldn’t tell the truth. Cao Xi stood between them, her eyes darting back and forth, looking at Chu Ci with gritted teeth and at Jian Sui with extreme caution.

“Caught in the act,” a honeymoon affair—what kind of human suffering was this?

Just as Chu Ci was about to form a coherent thought, Jian Sui retracted her gaze with equal calm. “Let’s go.” She turned and walked out.

Chu Ci and Cao Xi looked at each other. That’s it?

Cao Xi felt her brain’s processor wasn’t powerful enough. She had seen countless melodramatic “catching the cheater” scenes, but she had never seen one this calm and waveless. It was eye-opening. Well, not the first time; Jian Sui had been this calm on the wedding night too, but Chu darling hadn’t actually cheated then! Cao Xi’s train of thought drifted into the stratosphere.

But Chu Ci already had a rough guess.

As expected, the major plot nodes in the original novel were the real deal. For instance, until the very end when they perished together, Jian Sui never once fell for the original host. In all the “blood-drenched angst,” the original host’s infidelity was the thing that hurt Jian Sui the least. Of course, the original host bringing a mistress to humiliate Jian Sui was a separate matter.

In short, for someone you don’t love, what damage can an affair do? You just didn’t like them to begin with.

For a moment, Chu Ci couldn’t quite describe the feeling of being faced with the fact that Jian Sui didn’t like her at all. It should have been a relief, but for some reason, it felt complicated. Perhaps her internal sense of morality just couldn’t accept being misunderstood as a cheater.

Everything seemed to make sense now. Chu Ci walked out, not forgetting to pat the dazed Cao Xi.

If the atmosphere was explosive when the four entered the campus, it became strangely eerie and stifling after they left the bio-garden. Bai Qingqing and Jian Sui walked faster and waited at the entrance. Chu Ci, supported by Cao Xi, walked slowly, resting twice before finally exiting.

The Principal and his team were already waiting. This time, they had brought Segways that could move freely through the campus, which finally saved Chu Ci’s life. Riding the Segways saved time and prevented the stiff atmosphere from lasting too long.

By the time they reached the cafeteria, it was lunch hour for the students. The students were dressed in expensive custom uniforms, looking perfectly groomed. While they didn’t need to run to the cafeteria to fight for a place in line, they were still at a high-energy age, and some were chasing each other around.

Someone nearly collided with Chu Ci, who was in the lead. However, the students involved didn’t even stop to look; they darted away, shouting an apology over their shoulders: “Sorry!”

“Hey, you little brat!” Cao Xi was startled and rolled up her sleeves to school the kid. Jian Sui also subtly retracted the arm she had used to shield Chu Ci.

Chu Ci didn’t notice Jian Sui’s move. She held Cao Xi back. “Forget it. They’re just kids; they’re all like that.”

“Those are ‘bear kids’! We weren’t like that when we were in school!” Cao Xi said with certainty.

The faces of the school leaders behind them went blank for a moment. They looked at Chu Ci, then Cao Xi, and finally Bai Qingqing. Right, not like that. Why would you bother with chasing and playing? You people just committed assault and arson and were generally lawless.

This little interlude didn’t change much. They stepped into the cafeteria. The newly renovated facility was clean and organized, fully prepared to be a new-style automated cafeteria. Once the final installations were complete, it would be ready for use.

“Currently, the middle and high school sections are separate, with a total of about two thousand students. Four cafeterias have been established; this is High School Cafeteria A…” The Principal explained the school’s situation, though no one was really listening.

Cao Xi couldn’t stand the current vibe and tried to change the subject. “Chu darling, look! This cafeteria—it’s completely different from our time!”

She had hoped to lighten the mood with a bit of nostalgia, but as she looked around, she couldn’t see a single trace of the past. The Principal wiped his sweat with a sheepish laugh. “The school cafeteria was rebuilt; it is indeed a bit different from before.”

Nostalgia failed. Chu Ci breathed a sigh of relief and quickly got down to business with the Principal. “So one cafeteria serves about five hundred students. How many chefs are there? How many cuisines?”

The Principal was well-prepared with the data needed for the new project and answered each question. In this elite academy, although the number of people served was far fewer than in an ordinary school, the difficulty was not low. Since students ordered à la carte and each meal was custom-made—unlike the “big pot” meals of a standard school cafeteria—the menu logic would be much more complex.

Once the business talk started, Cao Xi shut up. Finally looking like they were conducting an official inspection, the photographers hurried forward to take several shots.

Reviewing the footage, a photographer noticed that the distance between Chu Ci and Jian Sui was growing. From the intimate arm-linking at the start to now standing on opposite sides.

As a media professional, he had a hunch: if these photos were released, the first thing people would notice wouldn’t be the public welfare project between the Chu and Bai Groups, but rather “Chu Ci’s Marriage on the Rocks.”

Strange. They were fine just a moment ago. Should I use these photos or not?