Chapter 53: How Pleasant It Is to Have a Heart-to-Heart Talk with My Sister…

Coincidentally, Bai Yuanzhi was also very eager to know what had happened to Zhou Sier.

“Sister, my matters aren’t important,” Bai Yuanzhi interrupted Zhou Sier’s words and pressed further, “Right now, the most important thing is what happened to you.”

Zhou Sier took a deep breath and said, “To be honest, I don’t really know what exactly happened either.”

Bai Yuanzhi: ???

Zhou Sier began recounting the events of her misfortune:

Actually, Zhou Sier had known for a long time that Luo Jiaojiao and Song Junshu were secretly dating behind her back.

Because of this, Zhou Sier had been extremely careful to avoid any suspicion, maintaining a cautious distance from Song Junshu.

Although at the time, Zhou Sier didn’t understand why Luo Jiaojiao and Song Junshu were hiding it from her.

So that evening, when everyone finished their day’s work and left the laboratory,

Song Junshu suddenly took out flowers, knelt on one knee in front of everyone, and confessed his feelings to Zhou Sier.

Zhou Sier was utterly shocked!

Her first reaction was to turn and look at Luo Jiaojiao.

But—

Luo Jiaojiao was actually leading the crowd in cheering?!

Zhou Sier saw Luo Jiaojiao smiling, clapping her hands, and egging them on, “Ohhh! Say yes! Sier, hurry up and accept Ah Jun! You two are such a perfect match, made for each other! Sier, what are you waiting for? Say yes!”

Zhou Sier didn’t move.

She quietly watched Luo Jiaojiao, her heart churning with turbulent waves.

She didn’t know when her friendship with Luo Jiaojiao had begun to reach its end.

But just that morning, Luo Jiaojiao had helped her buy lunch from the school cafeteria and even remembered to pick the one with the most bean sprouts in the side dish!

Zhou Sier also knew that

with Song Junshu kneeling before her in front of so many people today,

and Luo Jiaojiao leading the cheers for her and Song Junshu in front of everyone,

her friendship with Luo Jiaojiao had already come to an end.

So Zhou Sier asked Luo Jiaojiao, “Do you really think I should accept?”

Luo Jiaojiao’s expression was a sight to behold.

—Her brows were slightly furrowed, the ends drooping, her eyes rimmed red, as if she were about to burst into tears at any moment.

Yet her lips were curved in an exaggerated smile, trembling violently, as though she were overjoyed that the lovers were finally united.

“Jiaojiao,” Zhou Sier asked her again, “Do you really think… I should accept him?”

Luo Jiaojiao couldn’t utter a single word, only managing to squeeze out a smile that looked more like crying.

Song Junshu grew anxious and said to Zhou Sier, “Sier, this is between us! Jiaojiao might just… think I’m not good enough, that I don’t deserve you!”

“Sier, I know I can’t offer you much right now, but… love is blind! I hope you’ll accept me. I’ll treat you well, and we… can improve and grow together in the future!”

“Sier, please say yes! I really… truly, deeply love you!” Song Junshu declared with heartfelt emotion.

Zhou Sier paid no attention to Song Junshu.

She simply stared at Luo Jiaojiao and asked once more, “Jiaojiao, I’m asking you! Do you really want me to accept Song Junshu’s confession?”

Finally, Luo Jiaojiao burst into tears with a loud sob, “Why are you asking me about your own matters?”

“Because you are my closest friend,” Zhou Sier said word by word, “We once swore that even if I found someone I liked in the future, as long as you didn’t agree, I would break up with that person immediately! You said the same thing!”

“So Jiaojiao, do you really agree?” Zhou Sier pressed further.

Luo Jiaojiao bit her lower lip.

Song Junshu frantically signaled Luo Jiaojiao with his eyes.

No one knew exactly what leverage Song Junshu had over Luo Jiaojiao,

but in the end, Luo Jiaojiao bit her lip and said, “I will bless you both!”

At that moment, Zhou Sier’s heart instantly turned cold.

“You… bless us?” Zhou Sier asked in disbelief.

Song Junshu, on the other hand, looked overjoyed. He stood up directly, shoved the roses and necklace into Zhou Sier’s arms, and seemed almost on the verge of tears of joy!

“Sier, thank you so much for agreeing to be my girlfriend!” Song Junshu said happily. “Right now… I must be the happiest person in the world!”

“Sier, thank you for loving me too!”

“Jiaojiao, thank you for your blessing! Sier and I will definitely be very happy and loving!” Song Junshu said joyfully.

The surrounding team members and other clueless passing classmates began to cheer and stir up excitement.

Zhou Sier had wanted to clarify things with Luo Jiaojiao,

but there were too many people around,

so she thought, since she and Luo Jiaojiao lived in the same dorm, she might as well ask her back in their room.

So she gave Song Junshu a cold glance, directly returned the necklace to him, held the bouquet of roses upside down, and turned to leave.

At the time, Zhou Sier naively believed

that by not rejecting Song Junshu outright, she was saving face for Luo Jiaojiao;

and that by refusing the gifts and holding the roses upside down, she could make Song Junshu back off.

Speaking of this,

Zhou Sier regretted it deeply. “I shouldn’t have been so confident back then! If only I had thrown everything away right then and said ‘I don’t agree’… then no one would have misunderstood Song Junshu as my boyfriend, and I wouldn’t have nearly died because of it!”

With that, Zhou Sier let out a long sigh.

Bai Yuanzhi urged anxiously, “Sis, keep going with what happened next!”

Zhou Sier smiled helplessly and continued:

At the time, she had planned to return to the girls’ dorm first and wait for Luo Jiaojiao to come back so she could clarify things with her.

Unexpectedly, Luo Jiaojiao didn’t return that night.

Even by the next day, Zhou Sier still hadn’t found Luo Jiaojiao.

—Luo Jiaojiao and Zhou Sier weren’t on the same campus, and besides, Zhou Sier had to manage the lab and was extremely busy, so she didn’t insist on searching for Luo Jiaojiao.

That night, after Zhou Sier finished her experiments, Song Junshu came to find her.

Song Junshu said that Luo Jiaojiao had asked him to pick up Zhou Sier, and that there were some things best discussed face-to-face among the three of them.

Zhou Sier readily agreed.

And so, Zhou Sier followed Song Junshu into a taxi.

At first, Zhou Sier thought Song Junshu and Luo Jiaojiao might be heading to some night market,

but when the taxi stopped at the entrance of Bilanting Hotel, Zhou Sier began to feel uneasy.

She wanted to leave—

but Song Junshu gestured for Zhou Sier to look up.

Zhou Sier raised her head and saw Luo Jiaojiao standing by the window of a room on one of the floors, waving at her.

Zhou Sier asked Song Junshu, “What are you doing here? Even if you have something to say, couldn’t you say it anywhere else? Why come here? This place is expensive!”

Song Junshu replied, “Jiaojiao said a friend of hers booked a room here but had to leave for something. Since the room is empty anyway, we might as well talk here.”

As he spoke, Song Junshu hesitated, holding back his words.

“What do you want to say?” Zhou Sier asked.

Song Junshu stammered, “Sier, first I have to say, I… I just have this suspicion…”

“Just say it if you have something to say!”

Song Junshu had no choice but to say, “I suspect… I suspect Jiaojiao deliberately found a man to come to the hotel so we wouldn’t feel bad… Maybe she thought that only by doing this, you… you wouldn’t suspect anything between me and Jiaojiao.”

Zhou Sier was stunned.

At that time, Zhou Sier still regarded Luo Jiaojiao as her closest friend.

Hearing this, she cursed “silly girl” and immediately rushed into the hotel.

Song Junshu followed closely behind.

Soon, Zhou Sier found Luo Jiaojiao.

At that moment, Luo Jiaojiao appeared completely naked, with only a towel wrapped around her body.

Luo Jiaojiao stood in the center of the room, coldly staring at Zhou Sier.

Zhou Sier was shocked and rushed over to ask Luo Jiaojiao why…

But before she could finish, she felt a sharp pain at the back of her head,

and Zhou Sier lost consciousness.

Hearing this, Bai Yuanzhi asked Zhou Sier in surprise, “So, is that how you fell from the building?”

Zhou Sier shook her head, “Of course not.”

While unconscious, she smelled a pungent chemical odor, and her mind began to grow hazy…

She struggled to stay conscious,

perhaps due to the drug, she could hear Luo Jiaojiao and Song Junshu talking, but couldn’t make out the words clearly;

She could also sense Luo Jiaojiao changing her clothes, but she had no control over her body…

Zhou Sier felt both anger and hatred.

Although she didn’t know why Luo Jiaojiao was doing this,

since Luo Jiaojiao had gone this far…

The purpose was clear—Zhou Sier was about to face a disgraceful disaster!

So, Zhou Sier desperately recalled the hardships she had endured since birth: her grandmother, who favored boys over girls and was sharp-tongued; her father, who drank, went crazy, and loved to hit people; her mother, who only knew how to avoid responsibility; her cunning and malicious second sister; and her lazy, foolish, gluttonous, and violent younger brother…

After reliving these memories—which she had sworn never to recall again—ten thousand eight hundred times,

Zhou Sier suddenly realized she could move?!

At that moment, Zhou Sier was overjoyed!

She gathered her strength for a long time before slowly sitting up, taking in her surroundings and herself.

—She had been alone in the empty room the whole time, and her clothes had been changed into something so provocative it was almost unbearable to look at.

Zhou Sier felt ashamed, angry, and anxious.

She thought about finding a bathrobe or something to wear and quickly running out to call the police.

But before she could find the bathrobe, the door was pushed open!

Hearing this, Bai Yuanzhi grew frantic, “So? Sister, who pushed you off the building?”

Zhou Sier smiled bitterly, “It was my own carelessness…”

Bai Yuanzhi widened her eyes in disbelief.

Zhou Sier sighed, “I was too panicked at the time. My original intention was to escape through the door and then call the police for help. But wasn’t someone already coming in through the door at that moment?”

“I was still in a state of weakness, my limbs trembling, and my mind, likely affected by the drug, couldn’t think too clearly. I just remembered that when I entered Bilanting Hotel, I had seen Luo Jiaojiao standing by the window, looking down—”

“I had seen it, so I was certain that as long as I stood by the window to call for help, anyone standing downstairs could clearly see me!”

“So I… stumbled and crawled toward the window.”

Whether it was the drug affecting Zhou Sier’s mind and physical movements,

or the low blood sugar from not eating for a long time, combined with the stiffness from prolonged unconsciousness making her movements uncoordinated,

in any case, when she staggered to the window and pushed it open with all her strength,

she lost her balance due to momentum and lunged headfirst out of the window!

What Zhou Sier didn’t expect was,

the man who had entered the room, seeing this scene, must have panicked too. He shouted to stop Zhou Sier, anxiously saying, “If you don’t like it, it’s fine, don’t do this!”

It was too late.

Zhou Sier had already lunged out of the window!

The man behind her seemed to rush over, trying to grab her…

But Zhou Sier had already fallen from the building!

“This is the entire sequence of events,” Zhou Sier said.

Bai Yuanzhi urgently asked, “So you didn’t see who that person was?”

Zhou Sier shook her head firmly. “The room was dimly lit at the time, and outside the window was Bilanting Hotel’s illuminated advertisement sign, the light was particularly glaring. So I couldn’t see him at all…”

Bai Yuanzhi felt somewhat disappointed.

But she asked hopefully, “Then can you recognize his voice?”

Zhou Sier shook her head again. “To me, he was a stranger. But if I were to hear him speak again, I should be able to recognize his voice.”

Bai Yuanzhi nodded, thinking to herself that this explained why her elder sister was willing to settle with Bilanting Hotel;

and why she agreed to adopt the “amnesia” tactic she had suggested as a means to ease tensions and protect herself…

First, she truly couldn’t afford to offend the wealthy,

second, she genuinely needed that compensation for her subsequent rehabilitation and treatment,

and third, from the wealthy man’s words and actions, she could tell that while he might have been lustful, he likely didn’t have murderous intent. If Zhou Sier hadn’t panicked so much at the time and could have talked things out with him properly, she might have been able to escape danger and survive.

It’s just a pity…

Bai Yuanzhi gritted her teeth and said, “Sister, we can’t let that scumbag Song Junshu and that despicable woman Luo Jiaojiao get away with this!”

At the mention of these two names, Zhou Sier was also filled with anger.

“Of course I won’t let them off!”

“However, a gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years.”

“I still need time to think things through carefully, to sort it out… I suffered because I trusted them too much! One was a sister who had shared hardships with me, the other was a key member of my team. I truly never imagined they would team up to betray me!”

Zhou Sier said bitterly, “In the future, I will definitely repay them in kind!”

With that, Zhou Sier asked Bai Yuanzhi again, “Third Sister, tell me more… how did you come to Hong Kong City? You must have suffered a lot along the way, right? Niandi doesn’t have a migration permit for Hong Kong, so how did she get here?”

“And how did Father, Niandi, and Fugui agree to let you two come?”

“Where is Niandi now? Where is she?”

Zhou Sier anxiously threw out a series of questions.

This time,

since there were no outsiders present, Bai Yuanzhi answered each one.

“When I went down the mountain to sell vegetables, I found the letter you sent me at the village committee. I was afraid Second Sister would come up with some evil plan out of jealousy, so I didn’t say anything…”

“What I didn’t expect was that when I returned home after selling the vegetables, Second Sister was discussing with Father about selling me to Eighteen Hollows to marry a fifty-year-old man who had beaten four wives to death, in exchange for a hundred-yuan bride price!”

Zhou Sier was shocked, her eyes widening in disbelief!

Bai Yuanzhi said calmly, “They even started dividing the money. Father said he would take fifty yuan to buy a hundred catties of rice wine to keep at home and drink whenever he wanted, and then buy ten catties of fatty pork to render lard. The rest of the money he would save and spend slowly later.”

“Second Sister said she would take thirty yuan to find a capable wife for Fugui, but since Fugui is still young, she would have the future sister-in-law take over my chores during the day and serve Father at night.”

“When Fugui turns eighteen, she would have the sister-in-law give birth to eight or ten fat sons for him!”

“As for the remaining twenty yuan, Second Sister said she would use it to make two nice outfits. She planned to try and seduce the village chief’s foolish son. If she succeeded, she would have Fugui take over the village chief’s position. Even if Fugui couldn’t become the village chief, he could at least become a village official!”

Zhou Sier was so angry she gasped for breath. “Zhou Niandi! How… how could she be so heartless!”

Bai Yuanzhi closed her eyes briefly.

In her previous life, she had been too busy making ends meet to know anything about the schemes of those three,

and in the end, she fell into their trap…

ushering in a three-year-long nightmare!

“What happened next?” Zhou Sier asked anxiously again. “How did you escape?”

Bai Yuanzhi curved her lips into an ethereal smile. “Since Second Sister found me such a good marriage, I should be grateful, right?”

“After all, I have no skills and nothing to repay her with. I could only think that since Second Sister is two years older than me, such a good thing… should naturally go to her first.”

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy happiness alone while watching my family suffer…”

Zhou Sier stared blankly at Bai Yuanzhi, her mouth agape.

Bai Yuanzhi smiled and said, “So, when Second Sister told me she had arranged a good marriage for me, I happily agreed and even told her—”

“‘That’s wonderful! Once I’m married, I won’t have to work all day long, right?’ Second Sister laughed even more happily than I did and said, ‘Of course not, of course not! Once you’re married, you’ll just wait to enjoy your good fortune!’…”

“So I demanded that the wedding be held immediately!”

“Second Sister and Father were also delighted and immediately sent word to the old man in Eighteen Hollows. The next day, the man came…”

Zhou Sier realized something and couldn’t help but tightly grasp Bai Yuanzhi’s hand.

Bai Yuanzhi whispered, “To prepare for the wedding, I went and bought some meat and wine on credit. After they got drunk, I tied up my second sister, changed her into my clothes, and smeared her face with soot. Then I put on her clothes and hurriedly ran away!”

Zhou Sier gasped sharply.

Bai Yuanzhi said, “Elder sister, you can criticize me now.”

Zhou Sier was taken aback and scolded, “Why would I criticize you?”

“If it were me, I probably would have just run away…”

“But then again, I sent you so many letters over the years, and you didn’t receive a single one?”

Seeing Bai Yuanzhi nod,

Zhou Sier sighed, “So they already know that Mother and I are in Hong Kong City. It’s probably only a matter of time before they come looking for us here. In that case, I think you did the right thing!”

“An eye for an eye!”

“If the second sister hadn’t harbored ill intentions toward you, how could she have brought this upon herself?”

“Ah Zhi, don’t carry any psychological burden. What you did was absolutely right!” Zhou Sier said.

Then Zhou Sier asked many more questions:

Why did you change your name?

How did Zhaodi end up following you…

Bai Yuanzhi first truthfully explained the situation of the fourth sister, Zhou Zhaoer.

When she heard that the fourth sister had swum across to get here, Zhou Sier looked tense;

When she heard that the fourth sister was lazy and wanted to leech off Bai Yuanzhi, and even went to work as a waitress at a nightclub, Zhou Sier frowned deeply;

When she heard that the fourth sister tried to seduce Chen Shuojie but was caught red-handed by his aunt, Mrs. Ming, and later Chen Shuojie packed her off to a closed-off girls’ high school from which she wouldn’t be able to leave for eight or ten years…

Zhou Sier sighed, “We truly owe the Chen Family a debt we can never repay.”

Bai Yuanzhi smiled and then explained why she had changed her name—because she no longer wanted that kind of father, that kind of mother, or that kind of second sister.

She didn’t want to have anything to do with those people anymore.

Since she had already arrived in a new place, she might as well start a new life!

As for why she was called Bai Yuanzhi…

Bai Yuanzhi felt a bit shy but still revealed the reason.

Zhou Sier was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter, “You little glutton! But—your new name is quite nice, easy to say and remember.”

Next, the two sisters talked about matters of the heart.

Bai Yuanzhi asked, “Elder sister, who is the person you like…? Is it Brother Qiao or Brother Jiang?”

Zhou Sier retorted, “Do I have to like someone?”

Bai Yuanzhi was taken aback.

“I once thought I would never marry in my lifetime,” Zhou Sier said sadly. “Look at Father and Mother—what kind of parents are they!”

“So when it comes to the future, I never imagined what marriage would be like, or even having a boyfriend.”

“But—”

Suddenly changing the subject, a faint blush appeared on Zhou Sier’s face.

“Ever since I was hospitalized, I suddenly realized what it feels like to be cared for.”

“Ah Zhi, besides you, only Qiao Sen has been visiting me regularly. You don’t know, he always brings a bouquet of flowers when he comes, and then he talks to me about so many things—the weather, the news, school, friends, celebrity gossip…”

“You don’t understand how terrifying it feels to be alone in endless darkness and loneliness!”

“Thankfully, both of you visited often and were willing to talk to me, telling me what had been happening recently.”

“I was like a little bird fluttering its wings desperately in the darkness, terrified and helpless, not knowing which direction to fly to find the light, yet afraid to stop, fearing that if I paused, I would never wake up again.”

At this point, Zhou Sier’s eyes glistened with tears. “It was you and him… Every time you came to visit me, you would sincerely encourage me!”

“If it weren’t for you, I would never have made it through!”

“As for Qiao Sen, once he leaned by my pillow, crying and saying that the kapok flowers on campus had bloomed and withered, so why hadn’t I woken up yet…”

 

“Ah Zhi, I never knew he cared about me so much! I always thought we were just a little better than strangers. I had no idea he was so worried about me, afraid I might never wake up, or even die…”

“I never imagined that even when I was in that state, he still quietly held onto his feelings for me.”

“So I—” Zhou Sier blushed, nearly unable to continue.

Bai Yuanzhi chuckled. “Before you woke up, I even wondered if the person you liked might be Brother Jiang!”

Zhou Sier paused. “You mean… Jiang Yiming?”

Bai Yuanzhi nodded.

Zhou Sier shook her head repeatedly. “That’s impossible between us!”

“Why?”

Zhou Sier tapped Bai Yuanzhi’s nose playfully. “Haven’t you seen how formidable he is today?”

Bai Yuanzhi recalled Jiang Yiming’s sour expression when he first entered her home and couldn’t help but laugh. “He and Aunt Jiang are definitely mother and son—even their jealous streaks are the same!”

Then she defended the Jiang family. “But they’re both good people.”

After all, the Jiangs were the first to lend Bai Yuanzhi a helping hand when she first arrived in Hong Kong City.

Zhou Sier nodded in agreement. “You’re right, but when it comes to a partner, I either won’t look for one, or I’ll find a good one.”

“In the marriage market, Jiang Yiming’s conditions are indeed good, but that’s not what I want.”

“Besides, with Aunt Jiang’s personality… it’s fine as neighbors or friends, but as a mother-in-law, it would be a disaster! No, no, I couldn’t handle it.” Zhou Sier shook her head like a rattle drum.

Bai Yuanzhi quickly asked, “Big sister, what kind of person do you want then? Someone like Brother Qiao?”

Zhou Sier flushed again. “Stop talking about me! I haven’t figured it out myself yet!”

“But I have to ask you properly—what exactly is going on between you and Chen Shuojie? And that handsome wonton noodle seller… Ah Zhi, are you two-timing?”

Bai Yuanzhi: ???