Sheng Qingshan remained in a leaning posture and did not move.
That kiss. Could it even be called a “kiss”? Many federations have the cheek-kissing greeting; it is merely a common social etiquette, unmixed with desire, and siblings may even express affection in more intimate ways.
A kiss, a touch, proves nothing; it is only about affection.
Yet, their culture had no such custom.
Sheng Qingshan slowly straightened up, creating a safe distance between them.
She did not respond to Sheng Yunshu’s words. The warmth in her eyes faded, replaced by a gaze of scrutiny.
She did not like having intimate contact with others.
Even if that person was her sister.
Sheng Yunshu was her sister.
Sheng Qingshan was absolutely certain of this.
In her view, kissing a forehead was a way for family members to express love. A mother can kiss her daughter, and she could kiss her sister; it only represented the affection of an elder toward a junior.
But Sheng Yunshu’s actions just now clearly crossed that boundary.
Sheng Qingshan did not miss a single subtle expression on her face, from her flushed cheeks to her fervent gaze. Everything about it made Sheng Qingshan feel a sense of familiarity.
Unease surged within her. She stood straight and stepped back two paces.
“Rest. I still have things to process; I will come to keep you company tonight.”
She left too decisively, causing Sheng Yunshu to fall into the abyss before she could fully savor that hint of sweetness.
The warmth of her fingertips still lingered on her neck. The overly quiet hospital room left Sheng Yunshu in a state of immense loneliness and panic.
Did she say the wrong thing? Or was it because of that kiss? But she only touched her face. Clearly, she had kissed her too, and even helped her apply medicine; why was it not okay even to touch her? Why leave her behind? Why be so angry?
Is it because she is Sheng Yunshu, not Ji Xi?
Even knowing she should not have this thought, Sheng Yunshu could not help but swap herself with Ji Xi.
If it were Ji Xi lying here today, if Sheng Yanzhou had hurt Ji Xi, if the person kissing her were Ji Xi…
Every hypothesis pointed to the same answer. Sheng Yunshu stared at the ceiling and suddenly laughed.
No wonder Sheng Yanzhou wanted to kill her upon hearing that sentence. Indeed, she could not accept the truth either.
Even after so many years, she was accustomed to watching her love for her. But now, she was dying soon; even without Sheng Yanzhou, she would not live long. Why could she not just comfort her?
Agreeing to marry was because she could not be with the person she loved in this life, so she could give marriage as a gift to someone who was dying.
But would even a non-intimate touch make her feel repulsion?
Sheng Qingshan, you are truly detestable.
Sheng Yunshu cried until her heart ached. She threw the small rabbit doll onto the floor, raised her left wrist to awaken her neural link, and called Sheng Qingshan.
The other party hung up.
Sheng Yunshu bit her lip and kept calling.
The second call went through.
Afraid of hearing those words from her, Sheng Yunshu spoke first:
“What did I do wrong? Do you find me disgusting? Yes, that is exactly what I meant! That is exactly what you think! You can be disgusted if you want. Sheng Qingshan, I will not divorce you. I will die using the name of your partner! In the future, the descendants of the Sheng family will not know you had a sister you raised for over thirty years. They will only see my name written beside yours, and it is we who will be worshipped at the ancestral rites! I will not divorce you, never!”
A burning pain rose in her throat. Sheng Yunshu breathed rapidly, gasping for air as she swallowed her tears.
“If you do not want to hold me, then do not. There are plenty of people in the world who want to hold me. Who do you think you are? I do not care about you. I do not care!”
Having said what she wanted, Sheng Yunshu immediately hung up, blocked Sheng Qingshan, and disconnected the neural link from the network.
Perhaps the commotion in the ward was too loud; the medical assistance robot detected the abnormality, pushed the door open, and saw Sheng Yunshu leaning her head against the side of the bed, dry heaving. It immediately stepped forward to handle the situation while notifying the doctors and nurses.
After cleaning up the oozing blood, the doctor gave a few instructions, picked up the stuffed toy from the floor, dusted it off, and placed it beside the bed.
Sheng Yunshu told them all to leave. She did not want to see anyone right now.
Once she was alone in the ward, Sheng Yunshu tilted her head and looked at the dull doll, her eyes bloodshot.
The rabbit still smelled like Sheng Qingshan.
She smelled that scent and wanted to cry again.
“I do not want you,” she said to the rabbit, her voice muffled in the plush fur. “She does not want me either. We are both unwanted.”
The doll could not speak, but its wrinkled ears pressed against Sheng Yunshu’s face like a clumsy embrace.
After discovering she had been blocked, Sheng Qingshan did not return to the hospital, only making sure others took good care of her.
She had no time to ponder when Sheng Yunshu developed such feelings for her. A group of lawbreakers had gathered at an abandoned factory in the Old District to research chemical weapons, and an accidental explosion had occurred. Fifty-one people were already dead; it counted as a major accident.
The explosions were still ongoing, and as a member of the Security Council, she had to arrive on-site to command.
When Sheng Qingshan arrived at the Old District, the air was filled with a stinging scorched smell and the sour stench of chemical reagents. The red and blue warning lights of the anti-explosion robots flickered in turns among the ruins. Thick smoke billowed, and figures were barely visible.
Her hovercar had just landed at the temporary command post when the Minister greeted her with a grave expression: “Officer, the situation is worse than expected. The underground pipe network in the Old District is complex, and the equipment is outdated. Robots cannot effectively conduct rescue operations. The explosion has already spread to the two adjacent blocks. The confirmed death toll has risen to seventy-three.”
Sheng Qingshan strode toward the command platform, her brows locked in a frown: “Where is the Public Security Department?”
“The Old District is not under their jurisdiction. Minister Lin only sent one squad. Because the source of the explosion is uncertain, they only let the robots go in; the other team members are all in the safe zone.”
Sheng Qingshan’s eyes turned cold: “If they do not go in, have them save the wounded! They were not brought here to stand around and watch a play!”
“The cooling system of the reactor has completely failed.” The technician pulled up the internal thermal imaging of the factory. “The temperature of the three reactor units on the east side continues to rise. A third explosion is expected within two hours. The yield… will be at least double the first two.”
Sheng Qingshan stared at the constantly changing heat map:
“Have the residents within three kilometers been evacuated?”
“Evacuation is complete. But there is a private hospital to the northwest of the factory with seventeen critically ill patients who cannot be moved.” The technician pulled up the hospital’s location information. “The hospital building structure is old and lacks explosion-proof capabilities. If the third explosion occurs, the entire building will be razed to the ground.”
The command post was silent for a moment.
Transferring seventeen critically ill patients within two hours, in an Old District where traffic was already paralyzed, was an almost impossible task.
But it was not a task that had to be completed.
Old District, critically ill patients—giving up was the most rational choice at the moment.
But when Sheng Qingshan saw three children on the list, she resolutely took off her coat, revealing the tactical suit underneath.
“Connect me to the hospital’s internal communication,” she said, while picking up the neural interface from the command console and clipping it behind her ear.
“Officer.” The Minister’s eyes were full of disapproval. “You should remain in the rear; you cannot put yourself in danger. Furthermore, we should focus our energy on people of more value.”
“No one is qualified to measure the value of life.” Sheng Qingshan put on her protective gear, her eyes sharp as she looked at her. “You cannot, and neither can I.”
“Have the medical drone fleet stand by on the hospital roof. I need the hospital’s architectural structure diagram, the patient list, and the nearest escape route.”
Her voice was not loud, but no one dared to refute her again.
Within three minutes, all data was gathered on her neural terminal. Sheng Qingshan scanned it quickly, divided the seventeen patients into three groups based on transfer priority, and mobilized six medical transport drones and four anti-explosion robots to form an escort formation.
“You remain at the command post and synchronize on-site data every ten minutes.” She activated the scanning function of her tactical goggles and walked toward the hovercar. “If I lose contact, the Minister will take over command.”
The hovercar skimmed at a low altitude over the burning ruins, and outside the portholes, the sky was filled with flames.
Sheng Qingshan leaned against the seat, closed her eyes, and the details of the transfer route ran rapidly through her mind.
The neural link suddenly vibrated.
She looked down. It was a system notification reminding her that Sheng Yunshu had removed her from the blacklist.
At the same time, there was a message:
“I am sorry.”
Sheng Qingshan stared at that message for two seconds before immediately switching the neural link to mission mode, blocking all message interference.
When the hovercar landed on the hospital roof, the drone fleet was already in place.
Sheng Qingshan jumped out of the car, walked quickly toward the roof entrance, and contacted the person in charge inside the hospital:
“I am Security Council member Sheng Qingshan. From now on, the hospital’s transfer operations are under my total command.”
“Received, Officer.”
In the hospital, Sheng Yunshu waited until evening but Sheng Qingshan did not come. The messages she sent also vanished into the void.
Sheng Qingshan had probably blocked the news; from the moment of the accident until now, no one had come to see her.
She lay on the bed, all movements requiring robot assistance. Because of the injury in her groin, she could not even sit up; she could go nowhere.
That night, she had three nightmares.
The first was about Sheng Yanzhou.
She dreamt about that day again, but this time, Sheng Yanzhou did not only sever her artery, she also scarred her face. Sheng Yunshu woke up screaming in terror.
The second was still Sheng Yanzhou.
She dreamt that Sheng Yanzhou had won everyone’s love, including Sheng Qingshan’s. For the sake of Sheng Yanzhou, they humiliated her in every way. Sheng Qingshan even threw her hand away without mercy, calling her disgusting, only to take Sheng Yanzhou’s hand and softly ask her what she wanted to eat today. Sheng Yunshu woke up covered in cold sweat.
The third was Sheng Qingshan.
This dream was very peaceful; Sheng Qingshan was just facing away from her. No matter how much she called out, the other person did not respond, moving further and further away until her back could no longer be seen.
When she woke up this time, the sky was already dawning.
Sheng Yunshu could not sleep anymore, so she had the robot clean her up and change her into clean clothes.
After everything was done, Sheng Yunshu opened her neural link, clicked on their conversation box, and sent her another message:
“You did not come last night. You lied to me, but I also made you angry. Let us call it even, alright?”
“Are you up yet? What did 01 make for breakfast today? Can you take a photo and show me?”
“Sister, you said you liked pancakes before. When I am better, I will make them for you, alright?”
“Sister, is the bruise on your hand better? Did you apply medicine? Do not leave it alone; it will hurt.”
“Sister, will you come at noon? I feel my arm is much better; I can eat by myself.”
“Sister…”
Sheng Yunshu rubbed her tears onto the little rabbit’s head:
“I know I was wrong. Please talk to me, alright.”
But there was still no response from the other side.
Sheng Yunshu had never encountered this situation. She regretted doing that yesterday.
Knowing Sheng Qingshan did not like her, why would she do something like that?
She would never mention it again; she did not want to be thrown away.
When the nurse came to change her dressing, Sheng Yunshu asked if there were any strong drugs that could help her get out of bed immediately.
How would the nurse dare to use them on her? She insisted that this was the most effective treatment and told her to wait patiently, saying she would be better soon.
Sheng Yunshu did not believe her; there must be better medicine, but Sheng Qingshan would not let her use it.
The doctors and nurses did not care what she said. Before Sheng Qingshan spoke, no one dared to use drugs on her recklessly.
Sheng Yunshu had no choice. She lay on the bed, wanting to contact friends to transfer hospitals, but as soon as she opened her neural link, a news push popped up:
[Major Explosion in the Old District: Security Council Member Sheng Qingshan rushed to the scene to command and was heroically wounded.]
Sheng Yunshu’s head buzzed, the color draining from her face. She quickly tapped on the news.
“Sheng Qingshan councilor rushed to the scene immediately after the explosion occurred and personally entered the core area to command the rescue. Before the third explosion, she successfully organized the transfer of seventeen critically ill patients in a private hospital in the Old District, ensuring the safe evacuation of all trapped personnel in the area.”
“According to on-site staff, Councilor Sheng had her arm slashed by explosion fragments during the evacuation process and is currently receiving treatment at the Federal Hospital. Her injuries are not life-threatening.”
“Councilor Sheng demonstrated extraordinary courage and responsibility in the rescue operation. The committee has applied for the Federal Highest Honorary Medal for her.”
The photo in the news showed Sheng Qingshan wearing a tactical suit, holding a child of five or six years old.
Sheng Yunshu zoomed in on the photo and could clearly see a hideous scar on her upper left arm, still oozing blood.
Looking at that scar, Sheng Yunshu felt as if she were suffocating, and her vision blurred.
She is always like this.
Always like this.
Sheng Qingshan, why can you not cherish yourself a little?
At 5:37 PM, the ward door was pushed open.
Sheng Yunshu heard the sound and thought it was the nurse coming to deliver food. She closed her eyes, her voice raspy: “I am not hungry. I will not eat.”
“If you do not eat, how will your body recover?”
Sheng Yunshu opened her eyes abruptly!
When she saw Sheng Qingshan place a snack on the nightstand and then sit down by the bed, tears rolled down again.
Sheng Qingshan simply assumed she was still struggling with yesterday’s matters and pulled out a tissue to wipe her tears:
“It is fine. We will not talk about it anymore.”
Yet Sheng Yunshu reached out from under the quilt, grabbed her wrist, and looked at her with tears in her eyes:
“How is your injury? Is there more besides your arm? Why did you not get treated? Sheng Qingshan, when will you cherish yourself? You, do you not feel pain?”