"When you get to the other side, if you see Qin Leyan, remember to tell her. The person she risked her life to kill is still alive."
A sharp blade tore through skin and flesh as blood streamed down.
In a daze, Su Miaoyi felt everything around her slow down.
The only thing ringing in her ears were the two words: "still alive."
Before the dagger could cut her veins and slit her throat, Su Miaoyi frowned, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.
She shot her hand up, knocking aside the hand holding the dagger.
She lunged forward, then immediately spun and kicked out at the man.
The man was unprepared and only managed to block her leg with his arm, but he still stumbled back a few steps.
After steadying himself, a hint of amusement crept into his eyes. "Interesting."
Su Miaoyi advanced, every one of her attacks aimed at his vitals.
Every strike was meant to kill.
But he was too strong, and she wasn’t strong enough.
She felt her body couldn’t keep up with her reflexes.
The force of each blow never matched what she calculated in her mind.
The man pinned her against the wall, and as she broke free, she elbowed him in the ribs.
The man winced in pain and retreated.
Su Miaoyi quickly counterattacked, but her body failed to keep pace with her reflexes, and he exploited another opening.
The man simply threw her.
Su Miaoyi hit the ground and rolled over once.
Just then, police sirens wailed.
The man’s forward steps halted. He looked at Su Miaoyi, chuckled, and said, "You’re very interesting. I hope you’re a little stronger the next time we meet."
With that, he turned and walked out of the alley.
Su Miaoyi tried to get up and chase him, but she couldn’t.
It felt like every bone in her body was broken.
An excruciating pain shot through her.
Even her head was throbbing with pain.
’I didn’t hit my head, so why does it hurt so much?’
She watched the man disappear at the mouth of the alley, but still couldn’t get up.
Gradually, her vision began to blur.
After a while, footsteps approached.
She struggled to open her eyes to see him.
Shen Yanzhou was injured, his left arm stained red.
His white shirt sleeve was soaked in red.
He knelt beside Su Miaoyi. "Su Miaoyi, are you okay? Su Miaoyi?"
Su Miaoyi looked at him, and her last bit of consciousness sank into darkness.
...
「Two days later.」
"She’s awake, she’s awake! Quick, call the doctor! Miaomiao is awake!"
Su Miaoyi opened her eyes, and the first thing she heard was Ge Yu’s voice.
She watched Ge Yu, who was both laughing and crying.
"Miaomiao, Miaomiao?" Ge Yu called out to her.
Su Miaoyi felt as if all her consciousness and memories were flooding back into her head. Sensation gradually returned to her limbs. She frowned, and after a moment, she called out, "Auntie."
Ge Yu replied, "Your uncle went to get the doctor. He’ll be here any second. Just wait a bit. Don’t fall back asleep, okay?"
Su Miaoyi: "Mm."
After the doctor’s examination, he said that since she was awake, there shouldn’t be any major issues. If they were still worried, however, they could schedule a CT scan to be sure.
Cheng Yong scheduled the CT scan.
Su Miaoyi sat up, leaning against the headboard. Every part of her body ached with the slightest movement.
Her thighs, hips, ribs, arms, neck...
Su Miaoyi touched the gauze on her neck.
Ge Yu poured her a glass of water. "You scared me to death these past two days. How could something like this happen? If I had known, I wouldn’t have let you leave the house that day. What a terrible coincidence that the assailant was right where you went for your interview."
Su Miaoyi drank half a glass of water, then continued to take small sips.
She had been unconscious for two days.
During that time, it was as if she’d had a very long dream.
But she couldn’t remember what she had dreamt at all.
The contents of the dream faded, leaving only darkness.
"Luckily, the police arrived in time. The doctor said if the cut on your neck had been any deeper, it would have hit a blood vessel." Ge Yu’s voice was filled with lingering fear.
"Auntie, don’t worry. I’ve got luck on my side." Su Miaoyi patted her hand.
Ge Yu squeezed her hand and sighed, saying nothing.
Su Miaoyi said, "Auntie, you and Uncle have been here for two days. What about the family business?"
"What business? Business isn’t as important as you are," Ge Yu said. "When I got the call from the police, I nearly died of fright."
Su Miaoyi said, "Don’t worry. I’ll be fine."
Ge Yu was silent for a moment before saying, "Miaomiao... that friend of yours from a while ago, the one who came to our stall to buy vegetables..."
Su Miaoyi thought of Zhuang Yanzheng. "What about him?"
"He came yesterday," Ge Yu said. "They called him Captain Zhuang. Said he’s from the municipal bureau."
Su Miaoyi didn’t say anything.
"Was this incident related to him? Did someone want to get revenge on him, so they went after you...?" Ge Yu asked.
"Auntie, that’s not it," Su Miaoyi said. "It has nothing to do with him. I was just unlucky."
Ge Yu looked like she wanted to say more but held her tongue. Her lips moved several times, but in the end, she just said, "As long as you know what you’re doing. No matter what, you have to be careful."
"Okay, I know," Su Miaoyi said.
...
That afternoon, Shen Yanzhou came by.
His arm was in a sling across his chest.
It seemed he was hospitalized as well.
"Heard you were awake. Came to see how you are," Shen Yanzhou said.
"Thank you for that day," Su Miaoyi said. "How’s your injury? Is it serious?"
"It’s nothing serious. A few stitches, getting some IV fluids, and taking the chance to be lazy and rest for a few days." Shen Yanzhou sat down in a chair. "You could call it a rare vacation."
"If it weren’t for you that day, I’m ninety-nine percent sure I would have died there," Su Miaoyi said.
"Not necessarily. It seemed like he didn’t want to kill you in the end," Shen Yanzhou said.
Su Miaoyi looked at him.
’The man had indeed changed his mind before he left, deciding not to kill her. But at the very beginning, he really had wanted her dead.’
Shen Yanzhou glanced at the gauze on her neck. "Then again, maybe he did want to kill you at first."
Su Miaoyi said nothing.
"Can I ask what happened back then?" Shen Yanzhou looked at her.
Su Miaoyi still said nothing.
There were two knocks on the hospital room door.
A moment later, the person outside pushed the door open and entered.
Su Miaoyi saw Zhuang Yanzheng walk in with a fruit basket. "Heard you were awake. Brought you some fruit."
"Thank you, Captain Zhuang."
Zhuang Yanzheng put the fruit down and looked toward Shen Yanzhou. "You’ve injured your arm, so you shouldn’t be eating fruit. That’s why I didn’t get any for you."
"I injured my arm, not my mouth," Shen Yanzhou said.
Zhuang Yanzheng looked at him, then plucked a grape and held it out. "Here, eat up."
"Get lost," Shen Yanzhou said impatiently.
"Such a nasty temper." Zhuang Yanzhou popped the grape into his mouth. "Your temper is clearly worse than mine, yet everyone thinks *you’re* the nice one. Keep up the act."
"Feel free to try it yourself," Shen Yanzhou said.
"I’ve been keeping it real since I was a kid," Zhuang Yanzheng said.
Shen Yanzhou couldn’t be bothered to respond.
Su Miaoyi looked between the two of them and asked, "So, you two are close?"
"Don’t know him."
"We’re not close."
The two of them spoke at the same time.
Su Miaoyi raised an eyebrow, suppressed a smile, and said nonchalantly, "Oh."