Chapter 35: Good Intentions Go Awry
The dream was sticky like a swamp. I couldn’t recall what happened in it, only that I felt exhausted.
When Lu Zhiyin opened her eyes again, Leng Qing Qiu hadn’t woken up yet.
She slept soundly, her movements exactly the same as when she fell asleep, with almost no changes.
Leng Qing Qiu hadn’t covered herself with the blanket; it was left only for Lu Zhiyin. They had slept on the same bed for a night, but nothing intimate had happened, which made Lu Zhiyin breathe a sigh of relief.
She slowly sat up, leaning against the head of the bed. With slightly blurry vision, she looked at Leng Qing Qiu’s face. Her expression was very calm; she probably wasn’t dreaming.
Lu Zhiyin reached out and touched her back. Her hand felt a little wet and sticky, which was the cold sweat that had already dried.
She envied Leng Qing Qiu’s sleep quality. Last night, the pictures Leng Qing Qiu had shown her had prevented her from sleeping well.
Fortunately, she didn’t have to go to school today, so it didn’t matter if she was energetic or not.
As her vision gradually cleared, Lu Zhiyin touched her forehead.
“I’m not burning up anymore… but I still feel a bit dizzy.”
She thought her illness was almost gone.
Looking around the room, she searched for her wheelchair.
Last night, Leng Qing Qiu had carried her to the bed, so the wheelchair was still by the computer desk, quite a distance from the bed.
“…It’s a bit far…”
She looked at the wheelchair, then at Leng Qing Qiu’s face beside her, and her own hand.
After a night, the wound had basically dried. Although it still ached faintly, she should be able to get off the bed and return to her wheelchair on her own, right?
She had to do something. She couldn’t rely entirely on Leng Qing Qiu to take care of her. After all, she still had to conquer this murderer…
Thinking this, Lu Zhiyin carefully climbed out of the covers. Her movements were very small, partly to avoid waking Leng Qing Qiu, and partly to avoid accidentally bumping her wound.
She was still a little afraid of pain.
“There’s nothing else much I can do. I’ll try to make breakfast and wash the clothes I changed out of yesterday.”
She murmured to herself, and Lu Zhiyin climbed off the bed in a comically awkward posture.
She should be grateful that Leng Qing Qiu’s bed wasn’t very high, otherwise, she probably wouldn’t even be able to get off it.
After getting off the bed, she slowly made her way back to her wheelchair and tried to use her hands to grip the wheels.
There was still pain, but it wasn’t as severe.
“Hoo…”
Breathing a sigh of relief, Lu Zhiyin slowly turned. She walked to the bedroom door, pushed it open, and left the bedroom.
Heading towards the kitchen, as she remembered it, she also turned on all the lights along the way.
And after she left the bedroom, Leng Qing Qiu, who had been lying on the bed, also opened her eyes.
She hadn’t been sleeping deeply. Although Lu Zhiyin had been careful not to make any unnecessary noise, the sound of the wheelchair moving had woken Leng Qing Qiu.
As someone who often killed people, she considered herself somewhat alert.
Getting out of bed, Leng Qing Qiu didn’t put on shoes, stepping barefoot onto the cold ceramic tiles. This would minimize the sound of her footsteps.
Silently leaving the bedroom, Leng Qing Qiu was a little curious about what Lu Zhiyin was trying to do.
Ultimately, she couldn’t help but worry about her childhood friend.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhiyin, completely unaware of Leng Qing Qiu waking up, was opening the refrigerator door. The ingredients inside were still as plentiful as ever, with all kinds of meat readily available.
However, the ingredients Lu Zhiyin could handle were instant noodles and eggs.
She had cooked noodles for Leng Qing Qiu last time. As expected, it would be noodles again this time.
Taking out two eggs and a bundle of instant noodles, Lu Zhiyin placed the ingredients on her lap and walked to the stove.
She picked up the iron pot and struggled to rinse it with tap water.
After all, she didn’t know what Leng Qing Qiu had cooked in this pot before, so she had to wash it thoroughly before she could feel at ease.
Thinking this, Lu Zhiyin felt a bit weak.
After a simple rinse of the pot, Lu Zhiyin began to fill it with water.
As more water entered the pot, the pot became heavier.
Her hand holding the pot handle bore immense pressure. The wooden handle pressed against the wound on Lu Zhiyin’s palm, causing her unbearable pain.
It was at this moment that she realized she had been overconfident.
Last time she cooked noodles, she hadn’t used the pot to collect water; instead, she had used two bowls to pour water into the pot.
“…How am I getting dumber…”
As she lightly chided herself, Lu Zhiyin tried to pour some of the water out of the pot.
“Hiss…”
However, before she could act, her hand gave out first.
The iron pot slipped from her grasp, and along with it, half a pot of cold water was spilled all over her. The iron pot rolled onto the ground with a clatter.
The instant noodles and eggs placed on her lap were not spared either, scattering all over the ground.
Both eggs were broken, their shells, yolks, and whites mixed with the cold water on the ground. It was a terrible mess.
“…Ha… ha…”
With no energy to spare for the things on the ground, Lu Zhiyin’s left hand trembled uncontrollably.
The wound on her palm, which had basically dried, was reopened by the pot handle, exposing pale pink flesh, a shocking sight.
“What are you doing?”
Just then, Leng Qing Qiu appeared at the kitchen doorway.
She had arrived at the wrong moment; she hadn’t seen Lu Zhiyin taking ingredients out of the refrigerator, only saw Lu Zhiyin standing by the sink and heard the sound of the iron pot hitting the ground.
Leng Qing Qiu’s abrupt appearance made Lu Zhiyin even more embarrassed.
She turned around, looking helplessly at Leng Qing Qiu, who had just woken up but showed no signs of weariness.
“I… I’m sorry…”
Her first words were an apology, and then she began to explain.
“Um, I wanted to… make you breakfast, but… my hand hurts too much, I couldn’t hold on to it, so… I messed it up…”
Her voice grew weaker, and her head drooped lower.
Lu Zhiyin felt distressed. She had originally wanted to help, but she had only made things worse.
She started to feel like a complete failure and a sense of inferiority arose in her heart.
Besides inferiority, there was also panic.
She was afraid that Leng Qing Qiu’s favorability towards her would decrease. Going home was already a distant prospect, and if her favorability dropped further, she truly didn’t know what to do.
Clutching her wrist, Lu Zhiyin hunched her shoulders.
“Um… I’ll clean this up. I’ll also compensate for the damage I caused… Please, don’t be angry…”
She apologized again.
“…”
Leng Qing Qiu looked at the white-haired girl in front of her, who was soaked from the waist down, and felt a bit dazed.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but her childhood friend seemed to be becoming more timid.
She walked slowly towards Lu Zhiyin, touched Lu Zhiyin’s shoulder, and lifted Lu Zhiyin’s head.
“It’s fine. I’ll handle this. You go back to your bedroom and change your clothes.”
Glancing at Lu Zhiyin’s panicked eyes, Leng Qing Qiu shook her head. She wouldn’t get angry over trivial matters like this.
“You can choose whatever you want to wear. Don’t be shy.”
Saying this, Leng Qing Qiu bent down and picked up the iron pot from the ground.
