Chapter 12: Su Bao

Just as Shen Zhansi was still caught in her thoughts, she suddenly heard the sound of her hospital room door opening, accompanied by Aunt Zhang’s voice speaking with another woman.

Listening to the other woman’s voice, Shen Zhansi paused for a moment, her brows slowly furrowing. The voice seemed unfamiliar, yet it carried a sense of familiarity.

“Shen Zhansi, where are you?”

The newcomer called out without any hesitation, her voice loud and clear.

A look of surprise suddenly appeared in Shen Zhansi’s eyes. Forgetting what she had been thinking earlier, she quickly stepped out of the bathroom. As she looked at the familiar yet strange woman, a genuine smile spread across her face, her joy evident in her eyes.

“Su Bao!”

The visitor was none other than her once best friend!

Su Bao was momentarily taken aback by Shen Zhansi’s radiant expression, then stepped forward to scrutinize her closely. “What’s going on with you? You’re injured, yet you look so happy?”

Aunt Zhang stepped out to give them some privacy for their conversation.

Shen Zhansi looked at Su Bao, who stood about 1.63 meters tall, dressed in a sweet outfit that suited her well. Her doll-like face still bore a hint of baby fat, making her appear even younger.

It seemed that Su Bao hadn’t changed much over the past ten years.

“I’m only happy to see you,” Shen Zhansi replied with a sincere smile, pulling a chair for Su Bao to sit down. She then asked, “Did you finish your shoot?”

“Yeah,” Su Bao nodded in response, still looking at Shen Zhansi with a hint of suspicion. “Did you take the wrong medicine today? Why are you smiling at me so brightly?”

Shen Zhansi: “…”

Several big question marks quickly floated through her mind. Had she really treated Su Bao poorly in the past?

“Well, you might not know, but my memory only goes back to when I was seventeen,” Shen Zhansi winked at her, smiling innocently.

To her, Su Bao now resembled a big, plump sheep. If the twenty-seven-year-old Shen Zhansi couldn’t get Su Bao to open up, then the seventeen-year-old Shen Zhansi surely could.

She had that kind of confidence.

Confidence in their friendship.

Sure enough, when Su Bao heard her say that her memory only went back to seventeen, surprise washed over her face. She couldn’t help but get up and touch the bandage on Shen Zhansi’s head, exclaiming, “Just this little wound has such a big impact?”

Shen Zhansi nodded seriously.

The impact of a small injury wasn’t much.

But the heart was significant.

“You’re not trying to trick me again, are you?” Su Bao quickly became wary, her suspicious gaze scanning Shen Zhansi from head to toe. “What’s going on? Did you have a falling out with Yan Yan? Are you using this trick again?”

“…”

“？？？”

The old Shen Zhansi had indeed pretended to have amnesia to fool Yan Qingye!

Shen Zhansi felt like her heart was about to burst. What on earth had she been doing back then?

“Really, you can ask Yan Qingye if you don’t believe me,” Shen Zhansi said, her face calm and her heart steady.

“Oh…”

Su Bao still wore a skeptical expression.

Shen Zhansi: “…”

She maintained her composure on the outside, but inside, she was gritting her teeth. How many ridiculous things had she done in the past that even someone as innocent as Su Bao didn’t believe her?

“Really, I still remember when you took the math exam. For the third multiple-choice question, you chose C, and you even came to me to check the answers!”

“If I hadn’t stopped at seventeen, after all these years, I wouldn’t remember such trivial matters!”

Su Bao’s already big eyes widened even more, resembling a hamster.

She dug into her distant memories and recalled that there had indeed been such a moment, as she had panicked for quite a while when her answer differed from Shen Zhansi’s.

“You really have lost your memory!” Su Bao exclaimed, “It’s true, some things shouldn’t be said or done lightly, or one day, they might actually come true!”

Shen Zhansi: “…”

Those weren’t her actions; she didn’t acknowledge them.

Moreover, what a double standard! Some people shout every day about wanting to get rich, yet they never see it happen!

It only seems to manifest in bad things.

“Don’t rush to lament. How do you think my relationship with Yan Qingye has been over the years?” Shen Zhansi directly shifted the topic, as she had so much she wanted to know!

“Hmm? You just lost your memory, and you’re already noticing something?” Su Bao’s eyes widened.

What did she mean? Did she really know something?

Shen Zhansi was overjoyed and quickly grabbed her hand, asking, “Why do you say that? Did you notice something?”

Su Bao’s hand was gripped tightly, and her startled expression showed she was taken aback by Shen Zhansi’s excitement. She hesitated before saying, “It feels a bit strange.”

“You and Yan Yan both seem very strange.”

“How so? Tell me in detail!” Shen Zhansi struggled to suppress her overly excited emotions.

“Hmm… It’s just that you suddenly became a bit arrogant. For a long time after the college entrance exams, you didn’t reach out to me. When I tried to contact you, your attitude was very cold, and when you looked at me, it was like a Deity looking down at an ant.”

Clearly recalling that period, Su Bao grew more agitated as she spoke. Finally, she kicked Shen Zhansi in frustration, exclaiming, “How dare you! You looked at me like that, making me unable to eat for a whole day!”

“…”

Shen Zhansi didn’t dodge, taking the kick head-on. She sighed softly, feeling somewhat weary.

She was unwilling to admit that person was her.

“What about Yan Qingye? What’s strange about her?”

Su Bao’s anger gradually subsided, her brows furrowing as she hesitated before saying, “It’s not just you; I feel like Yan Yan has also suddenly changed into a different person, full of thorns.”

“… Isn’t that just how she is now?”

After all, the current Yan Qingye gave Shen Zhansi the impression of being prickly all over, treating her as a substitute and coldly isolating her from her world.

“Mm-hmm!” Su Bao nodded repeatedly, her expression somewhat bitter. She felt that her friends were all changing behind her back, growing up, while she was left alone like a child.

“So how much do you know about my relationship with her?” Shen Zhansi asked.

Su Bao pouted, “Not much. I had a falling out with you for quite a while, and since we weren’t in the same school, I mostly heard about your matters from others.”

“I only suddenly found out that you two were together.”

Upon hearing this, Shen Zhansi fell silent for a moment before softly asking, “Then how did we reconcile later?”

How ridiculous had it been back then? Shen Zhansi knew Su Bao’s temperament; she was soft-hearted and rarely truly angry. For her to take the initiative to cut ties, it was easy to imagine how far things had gone.

“Later, Yan Yan brought you over, and you apologized to me. I softened for a moment and forgave you.” Su Bao said this with a pout, still looking angry.

Shen Zhansi remained silent.

Fine.

So, this friendship with Su Bao had actually been mended thanks to Yan Qingye.

Wasn’t she treating herself as a substitute? How could she do so much?

Shen Zhansi furrowed her brows tightly. This Yan Qingye not only had to maintain their relationship in the eyes of others but also had to do the same for friendships. What was her purpose? Was she afraid that Shen Zhansi’s solitary and peculiar nature would affect her image?

“However, it’s really strange that you two have been married for so many years and still haven’t had a wedding,” Su Bao said, stroking her chin.

When Shen Zhansi heard this, she didn’t feel particularly surprised. She had already guessed from the wedding photo on the bedside table that if they had wedding photos, who would hang up a certificate photo?

So, even though Yan Qingye treated her as a substitute, she was unwilling to give her a wedding.

Shen Zhansi tightly grasped her blanket, her expression tense, nearly grinding her teeth in anger!

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. How had the Yan Qingye she knew changed into this?

And she was so shamelessly willing to be a substitute!

“Su Bao, do you know who Yan Qingye was close to before she got together with me?” Shen Zhansi nearly spat this question through clenched teeth.

“Who else was she close to…”

Su Bao stroked her chin in thought, her little face scrunched up, clearly trying hard to recall. Suddenly, her eyes lit up, and she nearly jumped up in excitement!

“I got it! I remember someone!”

“Who? Exclude Chu Zhi!”

“Who said it was her? It’s someone else! I vaguely remember they were quite close during freshman year!”

Shen Zhansi clearly became excited, but at the same time, she felt unusually tense. She swallowed hard, her voice taut as she asked, “Who is she? What’s her name? What does she look like? Do you have a photo?”

With a series of questions, it was evident how Shen Zhansi felt.

Her hands clenched into fists. She wanted to see who this person was that was worthy of making her a substitute!

“I didn’t see what she looked like clearly, but she seems to have a connection with you. Your names are quite similar; both are Shen Zhansi.”The difference is that you use the character for ‘thinking’ (思), and she uses the character for ‘elegant’ (斯).””

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