Chapter 54: Second Death
After Qin An confessed her feelings, Lu Zhiyin stayed at Long Qinxin’s apartment for another week.
Long Qinxin seemed to be in a competition with Lu Zhiyin, not visiting her at all, nor even sending a message.
Lu Zhiyin lived off Qin An for a week.
During this week, Qin An truly put her words into action. Not only did she sincerely apologize to Lu Zhiyin and prepare various daily necessities for her, but she also tried to apologize one by one to those she had bullied at school. Using her father’s influence, she provided financial compensation to the bullied individuals and made every effort to find stable jobs for their families.
The reason most people are bullied is often poverty, and Qin An was addressing this issue.
Because of her actions, her reputation at school improved considerably, and she became known as a great philanthropist and savior to many impoverished individuals.
“…”
Lu Zhiyin observed all of this, but she didn’t comment on Qin An’s actions. She could see that Qin An was on the right path, but Lu Zhiyin was not happy.
This was because Qin An, on the right path, might not have a terrible ending.
“Ha…”
With a sigh, Lu Zhiyin maneuvered her wheelchair onto the balcony.
In her dream, she had confirmed her progress with the deities. After being mercilessly ridiculed, a deity informed her that she had indeed completed the攻略 of the three female leads.
Qin An’s way of expressing affection was indeed rather reserved.
“…I can’t wait any longer…”
Holding the fruit knife that Long Qinxin had given her, Lu Zhiyin closed her eyes and rubbed the blade with her fingertips.
She could no longer endure such an excessively boring life. She couldn’t wait any longer for Long Qinxin’s parents to die.
Lu Zhiyin couldn’t endure a single day with her disabled legs.
She sat on the balcony for a long time. During that time, Qin An knocked on the door once, but Lu Zhiyin did not open it to let her in.
Lu Zhiyin simply sat by the balcony.
Lu Zhiyin couldn’t quite remember how many scars she had, but she was sure her current body was not perfect.
She was emaciated, her skin unnaturally pale, and her long gray hair was dry and unkempt.
Qin An had been taking care of Lu Zhiyin, but a person’s condition couldn’t be completely restored in just one week.
Time slowly passed, and the sun began to set. Just as Lu Zhiyin was about to fall asleep in her wheelchair, the apartment door opened.
“…”
Even without turning around, Lu Zhiyin knew who had opened the door.
It was undoubtedly Long Qinxin. Qin An did not have a key, and she couldn’t enter unless Lu Zhiyin opened the door.
“Qinxin?”
Lu Zhiyin asked symbolically, unable to contain her excitement.
To Long Qinxin, it sounded as if Lu Zhiyin was admitting her mistakes and was happy that she had returned.
“…Mm…”
Unlike Lu Zhiyin, Long Qinxin was not happy at all.
Lu Zhiyin had been lying to her, and her urging Long Qinxin to take care of her parents was merely a way to find Qin An.
Long Qinxin watched her parents suffer from illness in bed every day, which tormented her.
Over the past week, this torment had become unbearable, until this morning when her parents begged her to end their lives.
Upon hearing her parents’ plea, Long Qinxin surprisingly felt a sense of relief? She thought she had gone mad, but she still complied with her parents’ wishes.
She had her parents undergo euthanasia.
“…I’m back…”
Her voice was unusually low. Long Qinxin didn’t expect Lu Zhiyin to respond, nor did she know whether she should tell Lu Zhiyin the news of her parents’ death.
What would the hateful, disliked Lu Zhiyin do? She would probably mock her.
Long Qinxin knew she would likely never receive Lu Zhiyin’s love, but she couldn’t let go anymore. It seemed Lu Zhiyin was her only hope in this world.
She slowly walked to the sofa and lay down.
“…Welcome back.”
An unexpected voice reached Long Qinxin’s ears. She sat up abruptly, a hint of surprise and joy in her eyes.
She still held onto some hope for Lu Zhiyin.
“…”
Lu Zhiyin fell silent again, fixated on the sitting Long Qinxin.
Long Qinxin looked even more haggard than on the day they last met, with heavy dark circles under her eyes and cracked lips, indicating she hadn’t rested well in a while.
There was a hint of redness in the corners of her eyes, revealing her deep sorrow.
Lu Zhiyin did not want to think about what she had been through.
“Is there anything you want to say to me?”
Hiding the fruit knife beneath her, Lu Zhiyin slightly closed her eyes.
“…I… I don’t know…”
Long Qinxin hadn’t sensed anything amiss and truly didn’t know what to say.
“Is that all? Then, goodbye… no, see you never again.”
As she finished speaking, Lu Zhiyin pulled out the fruit knife.
Long Qinxin stood up. She instinctively thought Lu Zhiyin was going to stab her with the fruit knife, but she was wrong.
Lu Zhiyin forcefully slit her own throat with the fruit knife.
A thin stream of blood spurted out, hot blood splashing onto Long Qinxin’s face and clothes.
Lu Zhiyin’s vision was tinged with red as she looked at the stunned Long Qinxin, whose face was covered in blood.
“…”
She felt little pain; her mind was foggy, her vision flickering in and out. Within moments, she was plunged into darkness.
This was Lu Zhiyin’s second death, and it was somewhat different from what she had anticipated. The pain was not intense, and it was short-lived. Of course, her consciousness also faded much faster than she expected.
She didn’t get to see Long Qinxin’s despair. Before Long Qinxin could recover from her shock, Lu Zhiyin lost consciousness.
As her blood flowed out, the girl’s frail body slumped down. The fruit knife fell from her hand, its blade hitting the ground.
With the crisp sound of the blade striking the ceramic tile, Long Qinxin snapped back to reality.
“…What… why…?”
Lu Zhiyin’s suicide was a bolt from the blue for her, an unexpected and unbearable tragedy.
Her legs felt weak, and Long Qinxin collapsed. She reached out towards Lu Zhiyin’s corpse, her mouth opening, but she could barely utter a word.
She had lost three of the people she cared about most in a single day. An inexpressible grief washed over her like a tide.
Her heart felt like withered wood, and the girl’s blood was like countless torches. As the girl’s blood dripped, Long Qinxin’s heart was ignited and then turned to ash.
Her mouth tasted bitter, and her vision blurred with warm liquid – she didn’t know if it was blood or tears.
Lu Zhiyin did not witness the scene she had envisioned, but events had unfolded as she had hoped.
Long Qinxin was plunged into despair.
She knelt on the ground, crawling on her knees towards Lu Zhiyin’s wheelchair.
She carefully lifted the girl’s corpse from the wheelchair and held her in her arms.
The girl’s body was still slightly warm, giving Long Qinxin a fleeting thought that Lu Zhiyin might still be saved.
She immediately called for an ambulance. By the time the ambulance arrived downstairs, the girl’s body had completely cooled down.
Long Qinxin’s heart, turned to ash, lost its last bit of warmth.
She tightly embraced the girl’s lifeless body, motionless.
