For a period of time afterward, as if by tacit understanding, even though the two of them still appeared close, physical contact rarely occurred between them again.
When applying medicine to Zhao Chuji again, Yu Yao was already able to look straight ahead without her eyes wavering.
Although Zhao Chuji still looked nervous, her demeanor never showed any abnormality again.
By the time they reached the second semester of their second year of high school, the scars on Zhao Chuji’s body had almost completely faded away, leaving only a few faint marks, and her company had also begun to gradually run on the right track.
The person who resembled white jade had shed her final flaws, appearing increasingly gentle, refined, and dazzling.
Almost everyone who saw Zhao Chuji would praise her beauty.
At school, she was the undisputed school beauty; she won the national first prize in the physics competition and could be admitted through exemption to any higher education institution she wished to attend in the country.
During reporter interviews, she became an instant viral sensation on the internet due to her appearance.
However, she did not respond to any of the clamor.
In the hearts of her classmates, she was extremely low-key and polite to others.
It seemed that anyone could chat with her for a few sentences, but she did not have any particularly close friends.
Upon entering the second semester of the second year of high school, Zhao Chuji began to frequently request leaves of absence, yet the number one spot in the grade rank always remained under her name.
Yu Yao did not know about the matter of Zhao Chuji frequently taking leave.
Zhao Chuji’s luck was getting better bit by bit; she no longer encountered accidents or crises at any time or place, and no longer needed Yu Yao’s constant company.
Zhao Chuji’s time differentials were also calculated very precisely; the leaves of absence she picked were all during the times when Yu Yao was away on business trips.
Zhao Chuji had even specially found a person in her own company to pose as her guardian, showing up from time to time to sign her leave slips.
Yu Yao’s charity organization gradually gained a very large reputation.
Her personal influence was not particularly massive, but her charity organization seemed to possess a certain kind of “metaphysics…
Once a person with improper intentions received assistance from her charity organization, they would reveal their true colors not long after.
Moreover, this organization did things with openness and transparency; even the expenditure of a single bottle of mineral water was publicly disclosed, becoming for a time one of the most trusted non-governmental charity organizations.
Yu Yao felt a double burden of pressure.
She saw many kind-hearted people, regardless of gender…
Some girls, clearly tight on money themselves, would nevertheless save money every month to donate, wanting to buy sanitary pads for girls in the mountainous areas.
An old cleaning lady with hair as white as frost and a worn-out handkerchief donated money that consisted of both bills and coins, saying she wanted the children in the mountainous areas to study more.
A little boy grew a head of jet-black long hair, saying he wanted to donate it to make a wig for those older sisters who suffered from severe illnesses…
Yu Yao did not want to let down this precious trust.
Recently, an emerging film and television type of company had, for some unknown reason, taken a fancy to her charity organization, promising to donate a large sum of money to her every year.
If it were not for the fact that the other party appeared fully sincere, saying that the chairman had specially given instructions, and the funds had already been transferred over, Yu Yao would even think this was a romance-scam slaughterhouse.
The arrival of this sum of money relieved Yu Yao’s urgent need, and she used this money to do more things to help people.
In order to better implement the application of the fund, Yu Yao took “X” and ran around all over the country, naturally loosening her companionship toward Zhao Chuji.
She felt that Zhao Chuji would understand her: after all, Zhao Chuji had always supported her career and was herself extremely kind.
She did not know, however, that whenever she went out, a certain point of red light inside the doll on her backpack would quietly light up; every single one of her business trip routes was thoroughly known to Zhao Chuji.
At the end of May, Yu Yao received another file.
Inside the file was a loan application, and the applicant was an incomparably familiar name Xiao Qin.
The foundation had relevant regulations: for some shops or enterprises that fell into financial difficulties, once the other party exhibited behavior that assisted women’s employment, the foundation would, after investigation, lend the other party a sum of money interest-free to help them tide over the difficulty.
Not knowing that Yu Yao was the responsible person behind the fund, Xiao Qin’s wording in the application was extremely polite and humble.
She put her cards on the table, explaining clearly that her credit was not very good, making it very difficult to borrow money from lending platforms and banks because she had previously been an internet celebrity, loved vanity, and had sold harmful weight-loss pills.
She narrated her childhood: her mother disliked the poverty of the family and abandoned her; her father was actually very good to her, but she also disliked that her father could not provide her with a superior material life, so she stopped studying after graduating from high school and left her hometown…
She spoke of how she had once met a lonely little girl; recalling her childhood experiences at that time, she had guided that little girl with a few sentences in the live-stream room, never expecting that the little girl would deliver her whole true heart to her from then on.
Regrettably, she still failed that little girl.
But the little girl pulled her back at the final moment, enabling her to have money to save her father when he suddenly fell ill, and to return to her hometown to open a milk tea shop.
She knew the tastes of the big cities; the milk tea shop used solid materials and possessed an excellent taste, so business was very good.
The people employed inside her shop were also all girls who worked part-time while studying or had difficult families, helping several children pay their tuition fees.
“I originally wanted to open a branch shop, but when construction was halfway to completion, Sister Zhang in the shop encountered a car accident. The perpetrator fled and was not found. I lent the money to her for surgery, leaving no money to settle the remaining payment for the branch shop…”
This was the reason for Xiao Qin’s loan application.
Xiao Qin guaranteed in the application that she would definitely return the money within one year, and even actively promised that she could add a portion of interest.
Yu Yao knitted her brows tightly, finding it difficult to make a choice for a time…
Emotionally, she hoped that Xiao Qin had truly turned over a new leaf and was running the milk tea shop down-to-earth; yet remembering Xiao Qin’s past criminal record, she could not help but feel somewhat suspicious.
She showed Xiao Qin’s application to “X,” and “X” was likewise hesitant and undecided.
The two of them agonized back and forth, and still decided to quietly go investigate Xiao Qin’s recent situation.
Xiao Qin’s hometown was not far from Haicheng, taking only five or six hours by car.
The two of them rushed the time, planning to set off by night, investigate well the next morning, and they could come back in the afternoon.
With the arrival of summer, the rain fell continuously; clearly the evening was still clear weather, but upon entering the night, it suddenly started to rain heavily.
However, a itinerary that was already planned was not easy to change; Yu Yao could only face Zhao Chuji’s disapproving eyes, waved her hand reassuringly, and went out the door braving the heavy rain.
Looking at Yu Yao’s departing back, Zhao Chuji lowered her eyes with a heavy gaze.
This was already not the first time.
She did not know why either; clearly she had prepared herself in her heart not to excessively pay attention to Yu Yao, but every time she was left at home alone by Yu Yao, her heart could never help but feel anxious and irritable.
Zhao Chuji disdained her own excessive possessiveness in her heart, yet she swiftly finished writing her homework, lay on the bed, and proficiently took out her earphones…
The sound of water inside the earphones was very loud; the place where Yu Yao was located was still raining heavily.
“Hey! I say, with such big rain, it would actually be fine if I went over alone. Why did you have to follow along as well?”
The voice of “X” came clearly from the receiver, carrying a few hints of banter: “Could it be, you still have lingering affection for that Xiao Qin?”
“I just want to see it with my own eyes, considering it an explanation to the past.” Yu Yao sighed.
In reality, she wanted to give the original body an explanation, but she had no way to say it out loud.
“Then what if she has really changed for the better?”
“X” was indeed worthy of being born from a private detective background, and the question asked was also extremely gossipy: “Will you happen to fall in love with her again, and rekindle the old flame with her…”
“No!”
Yu Yao answered almost without a thought.
She did not understand why she was so decisive either, but her inner heart was incomparably certain: she would not fall in love with Xiao Qin.
The two of them afterward chatted about other work again; after arriving at the destination, they found a guesthouse and checked in.
Listening to the opposite side of the earphones gradually quiet down, Zhao Chuji tightly gripped the quilt, the ink color swirling deep within her eyes…
She actually went to find Xiao Qin this time!