Chapter 17: Falling Ill (Extra Update 22)
Long Qinxin fled the basement in a panic. She returned to the bedroom on the second floor and threw herself onto the bed where Lu Zhiyin had slept for two months.
She wasn’t worried that Lu Zhiyin would escape. The basement could only be accessed via a wooden ladder to the ground. Lu Zhiyin, unable to use her legs, couldn’t climb up, especially after not having eaten enough for two months.
“Zhiyin, Zhiyin… my Zhiyin…”
Grabbing the bedsheet beneath her, Long Qinxin rubbed her face on the quilt, her nose still seemingly filled with the lingering faint scent of her Zhiyin.
The image of the girl crying reappeared in her mind. She had once said she would protect her, but now look at her state…
Long Qinxin dared not look at Lu Zhiyin’s face, dared not recall how she had saved her back then.
Long Qinxin stayed like this on the bed for a whole morning. Only when she started to feel hungry did she stagger downstairs.
Her mental state was not good due to the conflicting emotions in her heart.
While eating breakfast in the living room, she suddenly remembered that Lu Zhiyin hadn’t eaten for two days.
“…”
Putting down the food in her hand, Long Qinxin stood up. She went to the kitchen cabinet and took out milk and bread.
She put the milk and bread into a basket, then used a rope to lower the basket with the food into the basement.
She dared not go down herself to see Lu Zhiyin.
“…”
Long Qinxin hesitated for a long time in the kitchen. She found a fruit knife and sat by the stove, playing with the shiny object.
It wasn’t particularly sharpened, so the fruit knife wasn’t very sharp, but it could still easily take a life.
Long Qinxin touched the blade with her fingertip, imagining the scene of the sharp blade entering flesh.
It must hurt a lot, right? Long Qinxin seemed not to have been stabbed by a knife before, she couldn’t imagine the pain.
Now, she only felt an indescribable sense of guilt. She hadn’t fulfilled her promise. Should she be punished?
“…Mm…”
Using the blade of the fruit knife, she cut a line of blood on her thumb. The pain made Long Qinxin let out a small “Mm.”
The wound stung, but it didn’t hurt much, as she hadn’t used much force.
However, this probably wouldn’t alleviate her guilt, but Long Qinxin knew that self-harm was meaningless, so she didn’t plan to continue.
She put the fruit knife in her pocket, intending to see if Lu Zhiyin had eaten.
Returning to the entrance of the basement, Long Qinxin looked down. The basket containing the bread and milk was still in its place, and the food inside had not been touched.
“Zhiyin? Eat something.”
She picked up a steel pipe and knocked on the ground of the kitchen, shouting loudly at the same time.
There was no response from the basement, and Long Qinxin felt inexplicably flustered.
She dropped the steel pipe from her hand and hurriedly climbed down the ladder.
Looking around the basement, she didn’t see Lu Zhiyin at first glance. For a moment, she thought Lu Zhiyin had miraculously escaped. Anger and panic filled her heart, and she took out the fruit knife from her pocket.
She gripped the handle of the fruit knife tightly, looking at the melted wax fragments on the ground, and then quickly deflated like a leaky ball, losing her sharpness.
What could she complain about? She had treated her poorly from the start. How could she blame her for escaping?
Long Qinxin turned around. Just as she was about to return to the ground, she saw a white figure in the dog house next to the ladder.
Mm… the small house she bought for Lu Zhiyin was indeed a dog house for large dogs. She didn’t think much about it when she bought it, just thinking about doing things as harshly as possible. Now, she felt it was inappropriate.
Making someone live in a dog house was a bit too much.
“Zhiyin?”
Softly calling Lu Zhiyin’s name, Long Qinxin walked slowly to the dog house. She bent down, and what met her eyes was indeed Lu Zhiyin, curled up into a small ball.
The naked girl had her eyes closed, seemingly asleep. Her white hair was scattered around her, seeming to form a blanket for warmth.
However, this blanket was likely not warm.
Long Qinxin noticed that Lu Zhiyin’s skin had an abnormal flush. She reached into the dog house and touched Lu Zhiyin’s forehead.
“…She has a fever…”
The girl’s forehead was hot to the touch, and Long Qinxin felt a bit dazed.
It was inevitable that she would get sick. Lu Zhiyin hadn’t eaten well for so long, her immunity had severely dropped, and her body was extremely weak. Long Qinxin still stripped her and threw her onto a cold metal bed frame. How could she not get sick?
“…Mm… Mm hmm…”
The girl made some meaningless sounds in her mouth and slowly opened her eyes.
Her vision was blurry, but she recognized the person in front of her at a glance.
“Classmate Qinxin…?”
Her limbs were a bit weak, and it took Lu Zhiyin a while to slowly crawl out of this humiliating dog house.
She looked at the basket of food not far away.
“Are you here to bring me food?… Mm, thank you.”
Forcing a smile, Lu Zhiyin slowly crawled to the basket.
She tried to sit up, but failed. It wasn’t until Long Qinxin helped her up.
“…”
In silence, not knowing what to say, Lu Zhiyin’s smile made Long Qinxin feel ashamed.
“Or is it not for me? Ah, then forget it, I don’t care.”
Long Qinxin didn’t reply, so Lu Zhiyin didn’t touch the food. Her mind was a bit hazy due to the fever, but she still remembered to please Long Qinxin.
Isn’t having a fever actually a good thing? Lu Zhiyin noticed Long Qinxin’s expression; she seemed a bit guilty.
Feeling guilty was good. It meant she hadn’t completely turned evil. If this continued, she would eventually be released.
Thinking this, Lu Zhiyin touched her constantly aching abdomen.
“No, it is for you…”
Taking the milk, Long Qinxin inserted a straw and placed the milk carton in Lu Zhiyin’s hand.
She then picked up a whole piece of bread and cut it into slices with the fruit knife.
“Thank you.”
Thanking her again, Lu Zhiyin slowly sipped the tasteless milk.
She slowly finished the milk and turned to look at Long Qinxin.
“I’m still very sorry about what happened this morning…”
Lowering her head, Lu Zhiyin apologized sincerely.
She was referring to the incident of begging for mercy.
“I clearly said that… you could do whatever you wanted, but I couldn’t do it.”
After her words, Long Qinxin seemed a bit lost.
While Long Qinxin was lost in thought, Lu Zhiyin took the fruit knife from her hand.
Then, Lu Zhiyin cut her own wrist.
“Classmate Qinxin, can you forgive me? Let this be my atonement…”
The sharp pain in her wrist made Lu Zhiyin slightly more alert.
She smiled at Long Qinxin, showing the wound on her wrist.
The smell of blood in the air brought Long Qinxin back to her senses. She looked at the smiling white-haired girl, her pupils constricted. She snatched the fruit knife from Lu Zhiyin’s hand and then covered the wound on Lu Zhiyin’s wrist.
The warm blood in her palm made Long Qinxin’s heart a mess.
“You’re sick…”
Long Qinxin thought, Lu Zhiyin was indeed sick, both physically and mentally, and she herself was the cause of it all.
Her eyes darkened, and Long Qinxin began to tend to the wound on Lu Zhiyin’s wrist.
