Chapter 63: Long Qinxin’s Change (1)
When Long Qinxin arrived outside Lu Zhiyin’s hospital room, Lu Zhiyin was leaning against the wall, lost in thought.
She heard footsteps outside the room but instinctively assumed Leng Qingqiu had returned, thinking no one else would visit, right?
That’s how it should be, she thought. She wasn’t close to Zhu, and her relationship with Qin An was that of a bully and a victim. Long Qinxin had always been obedient to her.
“Leng Qingqiu, are you back?”
She called out towards the door without thinking.
There was no response, and the footsteps grew closer. Lu Zhiyin sensed something was off.
The person approaching didn’t seem to be Leng Qingqiu. Although Lu Zhiyin found Leng Qingqiu annoying, Leng Qingqiu wouldn’t ignore her like this.
Well… unless she was angry.
A wave of confusion washed over her. Could it be a doctor?
As Lu Zhiyin was lost in thought, Long Qinxin opened the door to the room.
“Classmate Zhiyin…”
Her expression was complex. Long Qinxin didn’t want to hear that name from Lu Zhiyin’s mouth.
“…Long Qinxin…Classmate Qinxin?”
The unexpected arrival caught Lu Zhiyin off guard, and she blurted out Long Qinxin’s full name.
“…Yes…it’s me.”
Being called by her full name made Long Qinxin’s mood sink even lower.
“You…why are you here?”
Lu Zhiyin’s voice trembled as she looked Long Qinxin up and down.
She was wearing a light pink dress adorned with cute patterns, carrying a rather large white bag. Her hair was styled in her usual twin-tails, but without any hair clips.
Long Qinxin had seemingly dressed up for the occasion.
“…It’s the weekend today, no school. I missed you, Classmate Zhiyin, so I came to find you.”
Long Qinxin’s dejected tone was evident in her words. She clenched her fingers tighter.
Long Qinxin took a step and slowly walked to Lu Zhiyin’s bedside, quietly gazing at the girl on the bed.
The girl’s face was no longer as pale as it was two weeks ago; there was some color in it. She seemed to be doing well.
“I didn’t…”
Lu Zhiyin remembered she hadn’t asked Long Qinxin to come. Just as she was about to ask, Long Qinxin reached out and covered her mouth, cutting off her words.
“I know you don’t want me here…”
Her eyes darkened, and Long Qinxin, tightly covering Lu Zhiyin’s mouth, looked at the girl’s eyes, filled with surprise.
“…”
Lu Zhiyin remained silent. She should have struggled, but the metallic taste on her tongue left her unsure of what to do.
Warm blood flowed from between Long Qinxin’s fingers, trickling down Lu Zhiyin’s jaw and onto her blue and white hospital gown.
Lu Zhiyin could feel the blood flowing on her skin. It wasn’t her blood. Whose it was… was obvious.
Lu Zhiyin’s panicked eyes quickly calmed. She gazed into Long Qinxin’s eyes and gently shook her head.
Her white hair swayed slightly, and stray strands brushed against Long Qinxin’s wrist.
Long Qinxin finally let go. She needed to talk to Lu Zhiyin. She had covered her mouth earlier because she didn’t want Lu Zhiyin to question her.
She should be the one questioning Lu Zhiyin.
“What happened to your hand? You should go find a nurse to bandage it quickly.”
More than why Long Qinxin was there, Lu Zhiyin was more concerned about the wound on Long Qinxin’s hand.
She didn’t particularly like Long Qinxin, but she always felt a sense of guilt towards her and didn’t want to see her hurt.
Grabbing Long Qinxin’s wrist with her left hand, Lu Zhiyin carefully examined Long Qinxin’s palm.
In her palm were several crescent-shaped wounds, likely from fingernails digging in. The wounds weren’t deep, and not much blood was flowing.
Seeing the shape of the wounds, Lu Zhiyin breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s quite alright…”
“It’s not alright at all.”
Shaking off Lu Zhiyin’s hand, Long Qinxin clenched her fists. She raised her head and stared intently at Lu Zhiyin’s face.
Long Qinxin’s unusual behavior made Lu Zhiyin feel uneasy. She had a bad feeling.
At the same time, she remembered that Leng Qingqiu had only gone out to buy breakfast and should be back soon.
“You… Mmph…”
She withdrew her left hand, which had been let go, and Lu Zhiyin was about to ask Long Qinxin to leave when her mouth was covered by Long Qinxin again.
“Come with me. Don’t stay here anymore.”
It was a statement, not a question. Long Qinxin no longer wanted to seek Lu Zhiyin’s opinion. Asking would be futile; Lu Zhiyin wouldn’t go with her.
“…Mmph…Ha…No, I have to stay here.”
Grabbing Long Qinxin’s wrist with her left hand, Lu Zhiyin struggled with great effort to break free.
“Why? Do you like Leng Qingqiu that much?”
Her gaze shifted to Lu Zhiyin’s slender neck, and Long Qinxin gritted her teeth.
She started to imagine if she were to grip that slender, clean neck, would Lu Zhiyin comply? But she couldn’t, and shouldn’t resort to force with Lu Zhiyin.
She shouldn’t become the same as Leng Qingqiu.
“…Huff…Huff…No, I don’t like Leng Qingqiu.”
Shaking her head, Lu Zhiyin didn’t understand why Long Qinxin suddenly brought up Leng Qingqiu.
“…”
Remaining silent, hearing Lu Zhiyin’s denial, Long Qinxin no longer wanted to trust her unconditionally.
“You’re lying to me.”
Taking out her phone and opening the album, she threw the phone at Lu Zhiyin.
“…Ouch…”
The phone hit Lu Zhiyin precisely on the temple. She cried out in pain and then carefully picked up the phone Long Qinxin had thrown from beside her.
“…”
Hearing Lu Zhiyin’s pained cry, Long Qinxin simply watched her speechlessly. She really wanted to express her concern and apologize to Lu Zhiyin. But an inner voice told her she couldn’t be weak any longer.
Being constantly weak would only lead to being deceived.
“…This…Where did you get this from?”
Holding the phone and seeing the content in the album, Lu Zhiyin’s breath hitched. She hadn’t expected Long Qinxin to have a video of her and Leng Qingqiu in an intimate situation.
“…Why? Didn’t you say you didn’t like Leng Qingqiu? Why would you do this with her?”
“I…”
“You want to say you were forced, right? Then why didn’t you resist! You looked like you were enjoying yourself in the video!”
Staring intently at Lu Zhiyin, her fingernails dug into her flesh, and the piercing pain blurred Long Qinxin’s vision.
She hated being deceived.
“…I…I…”
Lu Zhiyin was flustered by Long Qinxin’s intense questioning and struggled to find words. She didn’t know how to explain.
“…I couldn’t resist…”
After a long pause, she managed to blurt out that sentence.
“Then why didn’t you come with me? If you couldn’t resist, couldn’t you run away? Why… why is it… you clearly treat me so much better than her, yet you’re willing to stay by her side.”
Her voice laced with tears, Long Qinxin wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
“…”
The girl’s tears plunged Lu Zhiyin into silence.
She felt a bit flustered.
It was true that she had deceived the younger girl’s feelings, and it was true that she was keeping Long Qinxin hanging on. But if she didn’t do this, she wouldn’t be able to go home…
Lu Zhiyin was not good at communicating with people, and the current situation left her at a loss on how to explain.
“I’m sorry…”
In the end, all she could do was apologize sullenly.
