Chapter 46: Crazy Woman

Chi Xiyu heard from several close girlfriends that Professor Mai had written a letter of recommendation for Lin Yiwei’s study abroad exchange.

Her initial reaction was confusion, followed by a surge of nameless anger, because Lin Yiwei hadn’t personally told her this news; she had heard it from elsewhere. Weren’t they best friends? Why was Lin Yiwei leaving without consulting her opinion? Chi Xiyu had finally opened up and made real friends—were they all fake?

Moreover, Lin Yiwei had been noticeably distant with her recently, and Chi Xiyu xiyu felt a sense of betrayal. After class, she stopped Lin Yiwei in her tracks: “I heard you’re going to England?”

“Yeah.”

“Why so sudden?”

“I’ve always wanted to go to the Royal College of Art in London. Now that there’s an exchange opportunity, I naturally want to seize it.” Lin Yiwei responded calmly, not wanting to provoke Chi Xiyu but also not wanting to appease her as she had in the past. “Professor Mai said my grades are solid.”

“No, how can you just leave?” Chi Xiyu got irritated seeing Lin Yiwei’s indifferent demeanor. “You can’t leave!”

“Why?”

“Why? Why do you even need to ask? I’ve already considered you my best friend! I tell you everything, I even invited you to my home. How can you just decide to leave?”

Upon hearing this, Lin Yiwei really wanted to laugh.In the perception of Chi Xiyu, everyone around her—the members of her sisterhood group, even the teachers and classmates at Feige Academy—seemed to revolve around her. She was the center of this world, a figure admired by all.

She couldn’t understand that her followers and sisters had their own independent will, desires, life plans, and goals. No, all their plans should revolve around her!

“You didn’t even tell me about such a big thing, Lin Yiwei! What do you take me for?”

Lin Yiwei tried to soften her tone as much as possible, not to please her but to avoid a rupture: “Xixi, I’m sorry for not informing you in advance. But… I’m not your boyfriend; we are just friends. It’s normal not to tell you immediately.”

Chi Xiyu couldn’t accept the sudden assertiveness of Lin Yiwei, who had always been submissive and deferential to her in the past.

“Lin Yiwei, I told you that you can’t leave! Absolutely cannot leave!” Chi Xiyu angrily declared. “Whether the academy approves your trip abroad is my business! Just wait, I’ll go find Professor Mai immediately and see if you can leave”

Lin Yiwei suddenly grasped her wrist. Although slightly irritated, Lin Yiwei recalled Xie Bo’s advice not to conflict with Chi Xiyu, to prevent unnecessary trouble.

“Sorry, Xixi, as a good friend, I should have told you first, but going to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts is my dream, my everything that I strive for. Please, let me go,” she said with humility, but Chi Xiyu remained unyielding.

Chi Xiyu made it clear that she couldn’t let her go.

“Are you still controlling me?”

Witnessing the lively scene, Xu Qianxi was ecstatic. “Xixi, I’ve been telling you all along, she’s not a good person, a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Now you see who’s really on your side, right?”

Chi Xiyu’s cheeks flushed as she glared at Lin Yiwei.

“She’s right! You’re not really making friends with me sincerely; you’re just using me!”

Lin Yiwei couldn’t bear it anymore: “Chi Xiyu, are you even qualified to talk about sincere friendship? Aren’t you making friends to satisfy your desires, whether it’s condescending charity toward me or showing off to everyone how ‘kind’ you are; or even asking me to seduce your fiancé… Who is really using whom here? Do you deserve to talk about making sincere friends? Do you know how pretentious you are?”

With these words, a stir erupted. Chi Xiyu’s image as the privileged, wealthy young lady was shattered by Lin Yiwei’s remarks.

“Oh my! She actually asked Lin Yiwei to seduce Xie Bo?”

“No wonder the relationship among the three of them was so delicate during that time”

“Chi Xiyu thought she was acting in a palace drama.”

Onlookers whispered and gossiped among themselves.

Chi Xiyu’s anger flared up, and she raised her hand to strike. Lin Yiwei swiftly caught her hand, then promptly slapped her hard, causing Chi Xiyu to stagger and nearly fall.

She covered her face, looking at Lin Yiwei, who had once been as gentle as a lamb but had now transformed into a wolf, unable to believe it.

“You… dare to hit me?”

Lin Yiwei responded firmly: “I’ve tolerated you for a long time; you’ve gone too far in bullying others.”

She couldn’t bear it anymore.

This slap was for herself, and also for Lin Xie.

As Chi Xiyu was about to explode in anger, Lin Yiwei pushed through the crowd and made a swift escape.

…

Chi Xiyu seemed rather fake; discussions about her hypocrisy had long been happening on the campus forum, Talktok, but the posts would often get deleted by administrators within half an hour of being posted.

Now, with a member of the “sisterhood” boldly exposing Chi Xiyu’s true colors, Talktok spent the whole day judging and mocking her—

“Finally, someone speaks the truth; it’s so satisfying to hear!”

“The word ‘pretense’ was practically tailored for Chi Xiyu; it’s just that no one dared to say it before.”

“No way! No way! Does she really think everyone likes her and admires her?”

“Hilarious, her sisterhood; how many are genuinely for her?”

“I still think hitting someone is wrong.”

“Such a saint; clearly, Chi Xiyu started the fight; she’s gone too far.”…

Chi Xiyu scrolled through the forum, reading the anonymous users’ evaluations of her, feeling her anger build until her vision blurred, nearly causing her to faint.

She hurriedly grabbed her phone and called her father, Chi Youhuai: “Dad, there’s a girl at school causing trouble for me; I need you to help get rid of her! She even wants to study abroad in England; she can forget about that! Dad! I need you to make her drop out immediately!”

On the phone, Chi Youhuai interrupted her before she could finish: “Chi Xiyu, it’s a critical time; calm down! Someone trespassed into the basement during the ball that night, and I still have to clean up that mess for you. Lay low for a while; I don’t have the energy to deal with your school affairs. Focus on preparing for your Christmas art exhibition.”

“What’s there to prepare? Someone else is doing it for me,” Chi Xiyu muttered. “I just need people to show up; even my speech is being written by Professor Mai.”

“The kids can’t be taught! Both you and your brother are hopeless! How did I end up with children like you?” Chi Youhuai angrily hung up the phone.

Chi Xiyu reluctantly put down her phone, realizing her father wouldn’t help, so she had no choice but to go to the hospital to find Chi Xicheng.

Chi Xicheng was staying in a luxurious private room at the private hospital, exempt from attending school.

During his recovery, their father didn’t mention anything about needing to work hard, just nagged at him for looking at people like Xie Bo and their annoying words. He actually enjoyed this leisurely lifestyle, playing games, watching TV, browsing the internet at the hospital every day, and sometimes his friends would sneak in a few girlfriends to keep him company; life was quite enjoyable. Therefore, for the time being, Chi Xicheng was too lazy to bother with Xie Bo anymore; revenge could wait.

His sister tearfully complained to Chi Xicheng about how Lin Yiwei had betrayed her, how she was getting along with Ye Anning in private, and even how Lin Yiwei had hit her…

Chi Xicheng focused on playing games, his mind not paying attention to her complaints, finding them bothersome.

“Bro, you have to help me! Get rid of her chance to study abroad no matter what.”

“You should talk to old man about that,” he replied, skewering a cherry with a toothpick and popping it into his mouth, the burst of juice filling his mouth. “I don’t have that kind of power.”

“Dad’s been mad at me lately, and he won’t listen to me.” Chi Xiyu tugged at his sleeve, acting cute and pleading, “Can you help me? Pretty please, bro!”

“Can you please stop?” Chi Xicheng was annoyed by her constant pestering. “I’m a patient here, recuperating; I have no interest in dealing with your nonsense. Figure it out yourself.”

Chi Xiyu, feeling deflated, tossed her phone aside. “Then give me Yunhui’s number!”

Chi Xicheng lazily tossed the phone back to her. “Find it yourself.”

…

Lin Yiwei suspected that Chi Xiyu wouldn’t give up easily but didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

That night, a few troublemakers arrived at the convenience store, casually strolling through the aisles, tearing open snack packages, eating a few bites, scattering chips and shrimp crackers on the floor, and then grabbing beers and sodas, shaking them vigorously before opening the caps, allowing the gushing water to drench the shelves.

They acted as if they were in a world of their own, shouting and causing a commotion like a bunch of lunatics. Customers in the dining area, seeing these youths go wild, feared trouble and hurriedly paid their bills and left.

Lin Yiwei pulled out her phone and dialed 110, but one of the youths swiftly grabbed her phone from behind.

“Thinking of calling the cops? There’s no way out.”

With that, he forcefully hurled her phone against the wall, shattering the screen into darkness.

Even in this situation, Lin Yiwei remained calm and asked in a steady voice, “What do you want? There are surveillance cameras here; none of you will get away if I report this.”

“Bro, just got out of the station a few days ago!”

One young man with green-dyed hair said arrogantly, kicking over the shelf in front of him, scattering the goods all over the floor.

Lin Yiwei casually took out a sharp fruit knife from the cabinet and walked out towards them, “Get out!”

“Hey, we didn’t mean to cause trouble for you, but you’re actively seeking it,” several young delinquents surrounded her, “What, you want to shed blood in front of us? Come on, greet us here.”

Lin Yiwei, afraid of what they might do, held the knife and slowly retreated. The delinquents seemed to intentionally scare her, closing in on her in a circle with malicious smiles on their faces.

It wasn’t until she was backed against the wall, with no way to retreat, that she trembled slightly with the knife in her hand, “What do you want to do?”

“What do we want to do? We want to mess you up!”

The young man with green hair said, reaching for the fruit knife in Lin Yiwei’s hand. In the next moment, Lin Yiwei let the sharp blade fall on her left arm, making a cut.

With a swift motion, the thin fabric of her maid outfit was cut open, and blood gushed out, dripping down her arm.

The young men looked at each other, bewildered by her unexpected move.

“Aren’t you leaving yet?”

Lin Yiwei looked at them fiercely, then made another cut on her arm, seemingly unaffected by the pain, until her black and white maid outfit was soaked in blood.

She had a fierce smile on her face, pointing the knife at her neck artery, “Aren’t you leaving yet? Do you want to wait for me to die here today, where the police investigation will catch up with each of you!”

“I swear! She’s crazy!”

The young man with green hair lost his arrogance, looking at her with a panic-stricken expression, “She’s a madwoman!”

“Bro, we, we shouldn’t mess with her. Breaking the store will only get us a few days in trouble. If something really happens to her… we might end up with a criminal case!”

“It’s none of my business! Don’t involve me!”

A young man, scared, ran out of the convenience store in panic. The young man with green hair cursed a few times, also afraid of trouble, and fled.

Lin Yiwei’s fierce smile disappeared from her face as she held her blood-drenched arm in pain, returning to the counter to find some bandages for herself. Although she controlled the force and only caused a superficial wound, seeing blood was excruciating.

The computerized voice outside the door welcomed customers, and Lin Yiwei quickly stood up, thinking they had returned, hastily grabbing the knife, only to be met with Chu Ang’s astonished gaze.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

Chu Ang saw the mess in the store, the bloodstains on the floor, and quickly rushed to Lin Yiwei, “What happened? How did you get hurt? Who did this? I’ll take you to the hospital!”

“It’s nothing,” Lin Yiwei said lightly, “I did it myself, the wound is shallow, just to scare them off. If I knew you were coming, I wouldn’t have resorted to this, I would have waited for you to help me drive them away.”

Chu Ang looked at her injured arm with distress, “I’m sorry, I should have come earlier, really sorry.”

“Never mind, who could have predicted this,” Lin Yiwei even managed to smile, “Did you see the expressions on those delinquents just now? I understand now, as long as I’m not afraid, it’s others who are afraid…”

Chu Ang tenderly held her injured arm. Although the wound wasn’t deep enough to require stitches, there was blood.

He made her sit down, took out bandages and Yunnan Baiyao from the first aid kit, and silently bandaged Lin Yiwei’s arm, “Doesn’t it hurt?”

“I’m not afraid of pain,” Lin Yiwei shrugged, “I’m not afraid anymore.”

“Lin Yiwei, be my girlfriend,” he trembled as he held her hand, chewing on the words he had been unable to say thousands of times until this moment, blurting out, “Let me protect you, okay.”

“Are you here today to confess your feelings to me?”

Chu Ang paused, shaking his head. “Confessing was a spur-of-the-moment idea. I came here for another reason.”

“Then, tell me, what do you want from me?”

“Chi Youhuai approached my father.”

Lin Yiwei’s heart skipped a beat as she suddenly recalled the conversation with Xie Bo, where he mentioned that Chi Youhuai believed Chu Ang was the one who entered the basement disguised as a werewolf. At the time, she was in a haze of fever and preoccupied with her brother’s safety, so she hadn’t thought much about it.

“What did he say? Did he cause trouble for you?”

Lin Yiwei clutched Chu Ang’s sleeve tightly, causing the fabric to wrinkle visibly as she became visibly tense.

“So, the person who entered the basement that day was actually you.” Chu Ang looked at Lin Yiwei. “I’ve been curious. Why would a girl like you infiltrate Chi Xiyu’s and Xie Bo’s circles? You had another purpose, investigating something, right?”

“It was indeed me,” Lin Yiwei didn’t deny. “But due to some misunderstanding, Chi Youhuai mistook that person for you. It wasn’t me who said it.”

She didn’t want to betray Xie Bo, but Chu Ang could easily deduce that besides the vindictive man, who else would orchestrate such a malicious prank?

“So did Chi Youhuai confront you about it?”

“He did come to me.” Chu Ang looked at her. “I didn’t betray you; I made up an excuse to brush him off.”

“You’re a professional detective. I was afraid he might be wary of you and cause trouble.”

“Don’t worry, with my father around, he can’t touch me.”

Lin Yiwei remembered Chu Ang once saying that while his family might not compare to the Xie family, they were on par with the Chi family. Therefore, Chi Youhuai wouldn’t dare to do anything to him easily.

“At this point, don’t you plan to tell me the truth?”

Chu Ang came this time to ask Lin Yiwei for an answer. He didn’t want to be left in the dark.

“Knowing doesn’t change anything, Chu Ang.”

“Knowing will allow me to help you!” The young man was eager. “You’ve left me worried sick these past few days! Especially when Chi Youhuai approached my father. I was truly afraid that something might happen to you!”

“Don’t worry, I won’t get into trouble, but you’d better not get involved in this matter anymore.”

Lin Yiwei knew Xie Bo’s temperament. Since she had chosen to trust him completely, she couldn’t leave herself a second way out.

Otherwise, she couldn’t bear to think about the consequences.

“Chu Ang, I won’t tell you.”

“If you won’t, I’ll investigate it myself.”

“Whether you investigate or not is your business. As for your proposal just now, my answer is no.” Lin Yiwei said indifferently. “I can’t be your girlfriend.”

Chu Ang’s heart shattered. The rejection mixed with pity and tenderness towards her made every part of him feel like it was being minced and stuffed into dumplings, boiling in a pot of hot water.

“Do you dislike me? If you dislike me, why do you still want to be in contact with me?”

He wasn’t the type to pester, but he didn’t want to give up. He had never liked anyone this way before, unable to resist fighting for himself.

“You said before that you would use all available resources around you, and I am one of them, aren’t I? Tell me, and I’ll help you!”

Lin Yiwei shook her head. “Chu Ang, I’ve already promised Xie Bo.”

As Chu Ang heard this, something inside him seemed to break apart both physically and emotionally.

Rifts, pain so vivid.

“What did you promise him? What did you promise?” His hazel eyes injured, Chu Ang gazed at Lin Yiwei. “Do you know who he is?”

“I’m well aware.”

“Do you know he’s in a marriage? He can’t give you a future.”

“I don’t need him to give me a future.” Lin Yiwei gritted her teeth, intentionally provoking him. “Xie Bo is sending me abroad for studies. He can make me formidable, never to be bullied, become a renowned artist, and earn a lot of money… That’s the future I want, and only he can give me that.”

Lin Yiwei’s words completely shattered Chu Ang’s filter of her.

The beautiful, pure girl who fed stray cats in the winter afternoon sun…

Perhaps, he had never truly understood her.

That exhausted, shattered, scarred version of her, he knew nothing about.

“I’m sorry for my abruptness.” Chu Ang straightened up, surveying the mess in the shop, helping her lift a few collapsed shelves. “I won’t disturb your life anymore.”

Lin Yiwei watched him leave, the tall figure of 1.85 meters appearing weary and despondent in the evening sun.

She sighed lightly.

If… if none of this had happened, if they had met on a normal university campus, if he still passionately pursued her, Lin Yiwei wondered if she would have accepted him.

Good family background, a simple personality, wholeheartedly in love with her, and a kind-hearted man… Besides not having feelings for him, there was nothing to make her refuse him.

Forget it, she didn’t want to think about it.A good guy like Chu Ang… she couldn’t bear to harm.

…

At night, as the elevator door opened, before Xie Bo could step out, a cat-like bundle agilely leaped into his arms.

He looked down to see Lin Yiwei rushing over, tightly embracing her slender waist, closing his eyes, cheek pressed against his chest.

Her warm, moist breath against him.

Xie Bo furrowed his brow.

“I told you not to come to the Ramon Apartments recently. It’s not very safe here.”

“The mountain is too far, and taxi fare is too expensive. There’s no public transportation, so I can only come here to find you.”

He tried to pull her away.

Lin Yiwei stubbornly clung to him, like an unpeel able plaster. Forcing her off would make him uncomfortable, so he acquiesced to her remaining close, pouring himself a glass of water by the island.

“You haven’t called me?”

“My phone is broken, and my hand is also injured.”

Xie Bo thought she was joking.

“Then how come you’re not dead yet?”

“A broken hand won’t kill me; it just hurts.” She faux-cried, cuddling up to him. “Oh, it hurts, Xie Bo, it hurts.”

Xie Bo was amused by her act but wouldn’t reciprocate with hugs and kisses. He just smirked.

“Why do I feel so happy?”

“Because your conscience was eaten by dogs.”

He walked into the room to change, while Lin Yiwei still clung to him, not letting go.

Xie Bo had been stuck to and relied upon by girls before, thinking he hated that feeling, but…He enjoyed the feeling of Lin Yiwei leaning against him at this moment, like raising a small cat that would come running and rub against him after work, giving him a sense of happiness, and a lot of it.

“What are you doing?” He tossed his clothes onto the bed, then turned to ruffle her hair. “Is there glue on you?”

“I thought you were sending me away. Can’t I hold onto you a bit longer? I won’t be able to hug you in the future.”

“Really?” Xie Bo forcibly pulled her back, smiling. “I just like seeing you on top, what should I do?”

He happened to be grasping her left wrist, and Lin Yiwei screamed in pain.

“Xie Bo! Ah, it hurts…”

“Always faking injuries; a light touch and you’re in pain. Are you made of cat material?”

Removing her outer jacket, he noticed blood seeping through her white undershirt on her arm.