Princess Syndrome - Chapter 131
Chapter 131: Blind
Su Lingyue didn’t think of herself as a crybaby. Otherwise, given the grievances she'd suffered in the past, she would have cried her eyes out. But in the past, whether she had argued with her father or had a falling out with Zhou Shiyu, even if she argued until her face was red, her eyes had never once been red. But now, when she thought about Ji Zhiyi's grievances, she couldn't help herself. She knew that Ji Zhiyi didn't mind, but she did. She felt like she was experiencing all the pain Ji Zhiyi hadn’t voiced as sharp blades were stabbing her, making her hurt, making her unable to stop her tears from falling.
These were all dull, after-the-fact pains. She hadn't been aware of them before, but the more she thought about them later, the more painful they became.
It was all Ji Zhiyi's fault.
Su Lingyue glared at Ji Zhiyi, who was still trying to comfort her. Ji Zhiyi was bewildered and was just about to ask what was wrong when Su Lingyue said, "I'm going to take a shower."
Ji Zhiyi said, "Should I wait outside for you?"
"Why would you go outside? It's not like you haven’t seen it before." Su Lingyue retorted. After she said it, she realized what she'd just said. Her face involuntarily turned red. But she stubbornly refused to admit that she'd said something wrong. The atmosphere was tense. After two seconds of silence, Ji Zhiyi stood next to her with a relaxed expression. Leaning against the sink, she looked at Su Lingyue, her tone seemed to carry a hint of a smile. "Then take it off."
Su Lingyue turned to look at her, enunciating each word. "Fine, I'll take it off!"
She took a deep breath and began to unbutton her shirt, one button at a time. The silhouette of her bra was faintly visible beneath the half-open shirt. She gripped the collar with both hands, just as she was about to pull it down, Ji Zhiyi grabbed her hands.
Su Lingyue's collar hung off her shoulders, exposing her smooth shoulder, her fair skin dazzling in the light. Ji Zhiyi held her hands and stood face-to-face with her, suddenly taking a step forward. She looked at Su Lingyue but didn’t say anything.
Su Lingyue couldn’t help but ask, "What’s wrong?"
Ji Zhiyi said, "Why were you crying just now?"
Su Lingyue’s voice rose. "Because I'm happy!"
Ji Zhiyi just stared at her.
Su Lingyue, being looked at like that, gave up. "You already know, so why are you asking? Are you doing this on purpose?"
Ji Zhiyi looked at her. Her eyes had turned red. She said softly, "I know, but I just, don't dare to think that way."
She had told Jiang Yunlu that she already felt as if fate had been too kind to her by being together with Su Lingyue again. She didn't dare ask for more. So it wasn't that she didn't know, it was just that she didn’t dare.
Hearing her reply, the pain that Su Lingyue had just suppressed returned, even more intense than before, as if she was drowning in it. She suspected that Ji Zhiyi was doing it on purpose, intentionally making her feel pain so she would cry.
She sniffed, and said softly, "Ji Zhiyi."
Hearing her call her name, Ji Zhiyi tilted her head.
Su Lingyue said, "I'm just going to call you Ji Zhiyi! I’m just going to call you that!"
It was an act of wild, spoiled stubbornness. Ji Zhiyi tilted her head and said with a smile, "Okay, okay, you can call me."
Her tone was indulgent.
Hearing the inflections in her single syllable, Su Lingyue's ears tingled. She glared at Ji Zhiyi, put on her clothes, and went into the shower. Ji Zhiyi had just called out, "Lingyue..."
Su Lingyue poked her head out. "If you don't leave, I’ll pull you in with me!"
She looked so fierce and serious, with her flushed face and tear-filled eyes. It didn't really sound credible. But Ji Zhiyi played along. "Then, I'll go out first."
Jiang Yunlu was hosting tonight, so they shouldn't be too late.
Otherwise, she would actually be looking forward to being pulled in with her.
Ji Zhiyi walked to the door, tilted her head, and looked back inside. Hearing the sound of the water cascading down, she returned to her room to change her clothes. By the time Su Lingyue came out, Ji Zhiyi had already changed. She was wearing a beige long dress. As the weather had turned cold, she was holding a coat as she came out. She asked Su Lingyue, "Are you wearing this tonight?"
Su Lingyue said, "Yes."
Then she suddenly thought of something. "If you are having dinner with us and are seen by Zhou Shiyu and them..."
Ji Zhiyi said, "It’s okay."
She lowered her head, "Now that Shen Yuan has already returned, they won't be thinking of us for now."
They were surely busy trying to build a relationship with Shen Yuan.
Ji Zhiyi said, "Besides, now that Sister Yunlu has returned, it would be strange if I didn't show up."
Su Lingyue thought that was true as well.
She asked Ji Zhiyi, "Then how long can Su Qi hold out?"
Ji Zhiyi replied, "Until the new year."
Su Qi would not be able to celebrate the new year this year.
Zhou Shiyu didn’t understand why Dingsheng had suddenly withdrawn its investment. They were willing to bear all the losses. She called Shen Yuan, but it was always Shen Yuan's assistant who answered, saying that Shen Yuan was not around and that she was on a business trip. She said that anything could be dealt with after she returned. She waited until Dingsheng had terminated the contract with them, and had paid the penalty for breach of contract, and she still hadn’t waited for Shen Yuan to return. Knowing that waiting any longer would not be a solution, she immediately took other measures.
Su Qi’s financial resources had been depleted several times, so they could no longer support it. The bank also refused to extend any loans. After several obstacles, the senior management proposed switching to second or third-grade raw materials to reduce costs. They would resume using first-grade materials once Su Qi’s financial situation had stabilized.
It sounded easy, but the second and third-grade materials had long been abandoned. They were not familiar with the suppliers, so they had to check both prices and quality. Zhou Shiyu had been swamped recently. But Zhou Yan, that useless brat, only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun, spending public funds. After Zhou Shiyu found out, she gave him a good scolding. Zhou Yan had come to the company to enjoy himself, not to suffer. He’d already had a hole made in his head by Su Lingyue. Zhou Shiyu hadn't asked for retribution because of him back then. Now Zhou Shiyu was yelling at him again. One time was not representative of all times, so he couldn't hold it in. He argued with Zhou Shiyu and then quit. Zhou Shiyu was so angry that she almost had to go to the hospital.
After arguing, Zhou Yan was persuaded by his friends to apologize to Zhou Shiyu. He brought fruit with him. He also said that his friends knew some suppliers of second and third-grade raw materials. Their prices were fair, and more importantly, they had sufficient stock and were of good quality.
Zhou Shiyu didn't initially believe that Zhou Yan could make friends with anyone good, but after going to check it out, she found that the materials were indeed of good quality. She was a little surprised. Zhou Yan, feeling as if he had done a good job, started walking around proudly, his head held high. Only then did Zhou Shiyu sign the first batch of materials for processing. They were more expensive than normal second and third-grade materials, but they couldn't be compared to the price of first-grade materials.
Zhou Yan was delighted. "Sis, if I said this material was first-grade, people would believe it. The quality isn't bad at all, right?"
Of course, it wasn't bad.
They didn't know it was mixed with first-grade raw materials. How could it be bad? Zhou Shiyu, for once, was nice to him. "The materials are good, but can the supply keep up?"
"It can keep up." Zhou Yan became arrogant again. "The factory manager said that someone had ordered a batch before, but because there was a problem with their company, the materials are still there. We can buy that directly, but it's a little more expensive since it’s a finished product."
Zhou Shiyu said, "A little more expensive is okay. Go discuss it."
Zhou Yan agreed happily. Before leaving, he asked Zhou Shiyu, "Has Shen Yuan returned?"
Zhou Shiyu said, "Yes, I asked her to dinner tonight."
But Shen Yuan had not agreed.
Shen Yuan was sitting in the restaurant. Jiang Yunlu had gone to the bathroom. She had asked to accompany her, but Jiang Yunlu had said, "No need, I can go myself."
She looked at Jiang Yunlu and for a few seconds, she was silent. Once, she thought she was the closest person to Jiang Yunlu in the world. They had talked about everything. They had talked about their lives, their past, their mothers, their suppressed feelings. They were shockingly alike, like another version of herself. It was hard to believe that she would fall for another "herself," but later she had realized it wasn't like that at all.
Even her name was fake.
Jiang Yunlu.
Bai Lu.
At first, she hadn’t been able to combine those two names with the person in her memories. It had always felt disjointed. But the moment she had seen Jiang Yunlu in the hospital room, that familiar feeling had started to grow.
Whether it was Jiang Yunlu,
or Bai Lu,
They were both like the person she remembered, but she didn't know how Jiang Yunlu viewed her. She had assumed that after Jiang Yunlu had been asleep for so many years, her feelings towards her would still be the same as before, but the reality was not what she imagined.
Her phone kept vibrating. Shen Yuan tilted her head and saw the caller ID. She turned off her phone. Then, she turned her head to look outside the window and saw that Ji Zhiyi and Su Lingyue had already arrived.
They were right downstairs.
Su Lingyue asked Ji Zhiyi, "Are my eyes still red?"
Ji Zhiyi said, "It's alright, it’s not very noticeable."
"But it is very noticeable." Su Lingyue had already used powder to cover it up, but it still seemed like it could be seen. She touched the corner of her eye, and it still hurt a little. Su Lingyue was unhappy. "I told you to add more powder before, but you said it was fine."
As she said that, she looked into her small mirror. Ji Zhiyi took her small mirror. "Don't look at it, it's really not noticeable."
Su Lingyue touched the corner of her eye with her fingertip, then turned her head. "I'll believe you this time."
She looked quite generous. Ji Zhiyi smiled and followed her into the restaurant. The staff led them to a private room. Ji Zhiyi pushed the door open and went in. Shen Yuan was sitting inside. Shen Yuan was on a call. She nodded slightly when she saw them. Ji Zhiyi and Su Lingyue then walked over and sat across from her. Shen Yuan said into her phone, "I understand. Have Assistant Qiao send me the proposal."
Then she hung up.
Su Lingyue asked, "Do you have something to do?"
Shen Yuan said, "Nothing, it's the company's annual meeting." She then looked at Ji Zhiyi. "Oh, right. This time, it's the grand annual meeting. Does your new company not have a spot? Do you need me to help you apply for one?"
Ji Zhiyi said, "No need, thank you."
The grand annual meeting was held every three years. It was organized by several large companies. Its purpose, they said, was to connect with others, but it was actually to seek more business opportunities. Although it was organized by several large companies, it also invited new companies, and new companies were also more willing to participate. Ji Zhiyi’s new company was just starting out, and so she didn't have a spot. But Shen Yuan could help her secure an invitation.
Ji Zhiyi had already received an invitation, but the other party had invited Yilin. She had not cut all ties with Yilin yet. It wasn’t appropriate to ask Shen Yuan for a spot.
Shen Yuan understood and didn’t say any more after asking. Ji Zhiyi's phone vibrated. She glanced at the screen and said to Shen Yuan, "Sorry, I need to take this call."
Then, she leaned towards Su Lingyue's ear. "It's my mom calling. I'll be right back."
Su Lingyue nodded and looked around. "Where's Jiang—Sister Yunlu?"
Shen Yuan said, "She went to the bathroom."
After she spoke, she looked at Su Lingyue. Su Lingyue didn’t notice it. Shen Yuan asked, "Did you two have a fight?"
Su Lingyue paused as she was about to drink some tea and immediately looked at Shen Yuan. "No, we didn't." Then, she asked suspiciously, "Why do you ask that?"
Shen Yuan glanced at her eyes. "Nothing."
Su Lingyue was speechless.
She hated people who only spoke halfway!
Then, she thought of something, pulled out her mirror from her bag, and looked at it a few times, asking Shen Yuan, "Is it that obvious?"
Shen Yuan looked at her and asked, "Is what obvious?"
Su Lingyue felt like talking to Shen Yuan would shorten her lifespan!
She said, "My eyes!"
Shen Yuan said calmly, "What happened to your eyes?"
Su Lingyue said, "Can't you see that my eyes are red?"
Shen Yuan said, "I can't see it, I'm blind."
Su Lingyue was at a loss for words.
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