Chapter 13: Chu Zhi  

The hospital room fell into sudden silence, making the cicadas’ chirping outside the window even more distinct—an incessant “zhi liao, zhi liao.”  

Shen Zhansi widened her eyes at Su Bao.  

Su Bao blinked back at her innocently before nodding emphatically!  

Shen Zhansi: “…”  

She immediately jumped up, ignoring her dizziness, and rummaged through her clothes in a panic. “Quick! I’ll change right now—you get the car ready. We’re going to find that person!”  

She was absolutely furious! She had to track that person down! How dare they have a name so similar to hers? Why was she the one stuck being the substitute?!  

“Wait, wait!” Su Bao hastily grabbed her. “Changing won’t help! I don’t know where she is!”  

Shen Zhansi froze mid-step, the clothes in her arms nearly crumpled into a ball as she gritted her teeth in frustration.  

With a frustrated toss of the clothes, she pulled Su Bao back down to sit, speaking with grave seriousness. “Tell me everything you know! We’re going to find this person!”  

Just learning she was a substitute had been painful enough—but this was downright insulting. That person even had the same name as her?!  

She was determined to find out how this woman had swooped in out of nowhere, not only overshadowing her but also failing to stay with Yan Qingye—leaving Shen Zhansi as nothing more than a stand-in!  

Seeing how worked up Shen Zhansi was, Su Bao caught her fervor, rolling up her sleeves with a determined nod.  

“Don’t worry! Between the two of us, there’s no way we won’t dig her up!”  

Shen Zhansi grabbed a pen and paper, uncapping it with a tense expression. “Name:  Shen Zhansi . Gender: female. Age?”  

“Uh…”  

Su Bao hesitated.  

Shen Zhansi instantly looked up, eyes wide in disbelief. “That’s where you get stuck?”  

Su Bao’s face flushed red, but she defended herself stubbornly. “How would I know?! I never paid attention to her! Besides, back then, you and I weren’t even speaking! When I first heard people say Yan Yan was close with a ‘ Shen Zhansi ,’ I thought they meant you!”  

Shen Zhansi: “…Fine, skip that. Do you know her major? What year she was in?”  

Su Bao shook her head.  

Shen Zhansi fell completely silent, staring at her in disbelief.  

Su Bao seemed to sense the awkwardness and suggested, “Should we ask Yan Yan?”  

“No!”  

Shen Zhansi immediately vetoed the idea. If they asked Yan Qingye, wouldn’t that reveal she was digging into her past? Given Yan Qingye’s impatient attitude toward her, she might just strangle her on the spot.  

At that thought, Shen Zhansi subconsciously touched her neck—still wrapped in a layer of bandages.  

Su Bao gave her a strange look. “You… don’t actually suspect Yan Yan liked that person, do you?”  

Facing her best friend, Shen Zhansi didn’t hold back, nodding firmly. “I feel like she’s been a bit cold toward me.”  

In truth, it wasn’t just “a bit cold”—it was outright icy. When no one else was around, she could even be downright hostile.  

Su Bao’s expression turned complicated, as if she wanted to argue but couldn’t deny the odd tension between them.  

“Just wait! I’ll call in backup—she knows a thing or two about gossip from every school!” Su Bao’s cheeks reddened slightly, but there was a hint of pride when she mentioned this person.  

Seeing the dreamy look in Su Bao’s eyes, Shen Zhansi had a guess.  

“Your girlfriend?”

“No, no!” Su Bao immediately denied, but after her denial, she added somewhat shyly, “She’s just a really nice senior who takes good care of me.”

Shen Zhansi wore the classic subway grandpa expression—if it were truly just a senior, why was Su Bao acting like this?

The way she looked suggested that if that senior proposed to her right now, she’d nod in agreement without hesitation, then rush off to buy a wedding dress and start planning the ceremony.

“I’ll ask if she’s free. She’s usually very busy,” Su Bao muttered softly while typing on her phone. The moment the message was sent, her gaze became glued to the screen, unable to look away.

Seeing her like this, Shen Zhansi grew even more certain of her suspicions, and her mood turned complicated. Su Bao, who had always been carefree and indulged in nothing but food and fun, had actually developed feelings for someone?

The thought made Shen Zhansi tense up as well. She wanted to see what this so-called senior was like—whether she was good enough, whether she was worthy of Su Bao.

But before Su Bao’s senior could reply, an uninvited guest arrived in the hospital room.

The moment Shen Zhansi looked up and recognized the visitor, her expression darkened instantly.

Logically, she knew there was nothing between Yan Qingye and this person, but just seeing her still put her in a foul mood.

“What are you doing here?” Shen Zhansi asked coldly, staring at Chu Zhi.

Chu Zhi stood there holding a bouquet of flowers, dressed in a pristine white high-end suit with a pink inner lining—an outfit that made her look ridiculously flamboyant.

Her hair had been cut to shoulder length, falling loosely around her, giving her a roguish charm that mixed with her natural sharpness. When she looked at Shen Zhansi, her lips curled into a smirk, as if she had come specifically to stir trouble.

“Heard you got beaten up. I even canceled business plans just to come see you,” Chu Zhi said, casually placing the bouquet on the bedside table.

Chu Zhi’s voice had a unique quality to it—some words sounded half-mumbled, as if she were speaking with something in her mouth.

Shen Zhansi disliked her on sight, not just because of how she was portrayed in the original novel, but also because every real-life interaction with her had been unpleasant.

While she wasn’t as outright malicious as the novel made her out to be, her flippant attitude and reputation as a heartbreaker made her impossible to like.

“You turned down money-making business just to come here for free? Are you out of your mind?” Su Bao asked Chu Zhi with genuine curiosity.

Shen Zhansi shot Su Bao an approving look—now that was the right thing to say!

Chu Zhi paused for a moment before replying, “No money, but plenty of entertainment. As long as I’m amused, that’s good enough for me.”

Shen Zhansi’s face darkened. Wasn’t she the “entertainment” in question?

Su Bao gave Shen Zhansi a look that said, “You’re on your own,” then lowered her head to stare at her phone, waiting for her beloved senior to reply.

Shen Zhansi turned her head away, refusing to engage.

Unfazed, Chu Zhi adjusted her cuffs, took her time sitting down in a chair, and asked with a smile, “So, how’d you get beaten up? Did they just really hate your face?”

“Did they catch the person? If not, you should be careful next time you go out—wouldn’t want another beating.”

Shen Zhansi: “…”

She turned back with a forced smile and said, “If you don’t talk, no one will mistake you for being mute.”

“But if I stay quiet, you’d be too comfortable. And I don’t want you comfortable,” Chu Zhi replied innocently, spreading her hands.

Shen Zhansi gritted her teeth, glaring.

Chu Zhi smirked, utterly unbothered by the hostility.

Shen Zhansi narrowed her eyes slightly and suddenly spoke up, “Seems like you really resent me and can’t stand me. Care to tell me why?”

In the past, although they had disliked each other, they’d tacitly ignored one another like air. But this time, Chu Zhi had gone out of her way to come and mock her—just how deep did this grudge run?

Chu Zhi narrowed her slender eyes. “Are you deliberately provoking me now?”

“Am I?” Shen Zhansi turned to Su Bao for confirmation.

Su Bao shook her head very seriously.

“See? No, I’m genuinely asking in good faith.” Shen Zhansi wore a sincere expression, yet it inexplicably made Chu Zhi feel stifled, her face turning livid with anger.

“How shameless of you to even ask!” Chu Zhi gritted her teeth, her gaze fixed fiercely on Shen Zhansi as if she wanted to tear a piece of flesh from her.

Shen Zhansi shrugged and flashed her a grin.

Whoosh—

As if pushed to her limit, Chu Zhi stood up abruptly, rushed over to Shen Zhansi, and grabbed her collar tightly, her eyes red as she hissed, “It’s all because of you! If it weren’t for you, everything would have been mine!”

Her agitation grew as she tightened her grip on Shen Zhansi’s collar, choking her already injured neck until her face flushed crimson.

“What are you doing?!”

Su Bao didn’t hesitate—she immediately stepped forward to pry Chu Zhi’s hands away. When that didn’t work, she didn’t hold back and kicked her outright.

“Agh!”

Chu Zhi’s face twisted in pain, and she let go of Shen Zhansi’s collar, clutching her waist with a pale face as she turned to glare at Su Bao.

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll cripple my back with that kick?”

Perhaps the kick from Su Bao had cooled Chu Zhi’s temper slightly. Despite the pain whitening her face, she still managed to maintain her composure.

Su Bao rolled her eyes and muttered, “Good riddance if it were crippled,” before immediately turning her attention back to Shen Zhansi, no longer bothering with Chu Zhi.

Shen Zhansi’s vision blurred in and out, the sounds around her fading and surging. Suddenly, she gasped for air, a surge of panic forcing her to ignore the dizziness and strain her eyes open, hazily focusing on Su Bao’s anxious face before her.

“What’s wrong with you?” Su Bao was frantic, quickly pressing the call button. In her panic, she shot Chu Zhi a venomous glare.

Chu Zhi rolled her eyes and waited for the doctor to arrive.

After the doctor examined Shen Zhansi and reapplied her bandages, they simply said there was nothing serious—only to be dragged away by Chu Zhi to tend to her own injury.

Shen Zhansi lay on the bed, her eyes weakly fixed on the ceiling.

For a moment, that same terror from last night—the fear of never returning—had resurfaced.

Her face pale, Shen Zhansi couldn’t understand why she had suddenly felt that way again.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yan Qingye had just received an invitation from Huai City Agricultural University to attend its centennial celebration.

Over the years, Yan Qingye had donated generously to the university, even establishing a Scholarship specifically for students excelling in veterinary medicine. Naturally, as someone who had contributed so much, she was on the guest list for the celebration.

Yan Qingye quietly stared at the exquisitely crafted invitation in her hand, her eyes devoid of any joy.

Everything she had done was for Shen Zhansi.

But that person had destroyed Shen Zhansi from the very beginning!

Her gaze darkened, her chest heaving violently as her face paled.

It was her—she was the one who failed to stop that person from destroying Shen Zhansi’s dreams.  

Yan Qingye lowered her head weakly, her slender neck pale and fragile, like a dying white swan struggling to draw in the faintest breath.  

After persisting for so many years, even she had begun to feel dazed—was everything she did out of love for Shen Zhansi, or had it simply become an obsession she stubbornly clung to?  

She longed for Shen Zhansi to return, yet she also feared the moment she truly did.  

If Shen Zhansi really came back, she would have to face her choice.  

Would she still like her? Could she accept everything Yan Qingye had done for her?  

Yan Qingye looked down at her hands—seemingly delicate and pristine, yet only those who had experienced them knew just how ruthless her methods could be.  

To reach the position she held now, to possess the absolute power and status needed to control “Shen Zhansi,” she had done far too many things that Shen Zhansi might find unacceptable.  

A flicker of emotion passed through Yan Qingye’s eyes—she had even committed the one act Shen Zhansi despised the most.