“Has she ever experienced what it feels like to have every bone in her body broken?”
“Does she worry about being bought as a sex toy after she differentiates?”
“Does she know how sticky blood can be?”
As the words fell, a deathly silence filled the dining room.
Sheng Jiazhen’s legs went weak, and she collapsed back into her chair, her lips trembling, unable to utter a single word. Sheng Jiuyuan also looked away, his eyes filled with unbearable pain.
The color slowly drained from Sheng Qingshan’s face. She reached out, wanting to help wipe the blood off the other’s face, but was dodged.
“Perhaps you shouldn’t have sought me out in the first place.” Sheng Yanzhou curled the corners of her lips. “I won’t let her go. I only want to kill her.”
“Sister, you don’t have two younger sisters, and you never will.”
She repeated it once more, then pushed Shiyun away, no longer caring how the three of them would react.
Upon returning to their shared living space, Sheng Yanzhou had the smart butler deliver ointment, then half-knelt in front of Shiyun, looking up to let her apply the medicine.
Shiyun remained silent while applying the ointment. When Yanzhou attempted to kiss her, Shiyun pulled back slightly and glanced at her coldly.
“Those words just now: were you saying them for me to hear?”
Sheng Yanzhou’s movements paused. She took Shiyun’s hand and pressed it against her cheek. “Then, will you feel sorry for me?”
Hearing this, Shiyun turned her head away. Her fingertips gently caressed the wound, but under Yanzhou’s expectant gaze, her fingertips pressed forcefully against the reddened skin, her eyes carrying bone-deep hatred.
“You deserve it.”
“Sheng Yanzhou, you deserve to have no one love you.”
The sharp pain was clear. Sheng Yanzhou took Shiyun’s wrist and brought it to her lips, her canine teeth gently biting into the skin. Her muffled voice carried a laugh.
“I don’t need their love. Having you by my side is enough.”
The wheelchair swayed. The delicate, fair wrists were restrained against the armrests by a belt, unable to break free. Like before, she was forced to sink into the depths.
Hospital.
When Sheng Qingshan arrived, Sheng Yunshu had already been transferred to a general ward.
Outside the door, a few people were guarding the room; they were the ones Sheng Qingshan had arranged to secretly protect Sheng Yunshu. After gaining a detailed understanding of what had happened, she told them to apply for a bonus through the secretary before pushing the door open.
In the ward, only a medical assistance robot was busy working. Sheng Qingshan walked inside, pushed open the half-ajar door, and her gaze met Sheng Yunshu’s, who was sitting on the hospital bed.
“Sister.” Sheng Yunshu’s head was wrapped in bandages. Seeing her arrival, her eyes curved into crescents. “That driver was driving while fatigued and did not see me. Thankfully, my face is fine; otherwise, he would have had to pay until he went broke.”
“You do not need to cover for her.”
Sheng Qingshan checked the wound and, ensuring it was not anything serious, sat on the edge of the bed. “What happened was her fault. I will make her compensate you.”
Seeing her lie exposed, Sheng Yunshu pursed her lips. “No need.”
She lowered her head, looking at the scrapes on the back of her hand, her voice softening. “Really, no need. She is right to hate me.”
The day she learned of her own origin, Sheng Yunshu had investigated her biological parents.
They were a middle-class family, a loving couple who had conceived her shortly after marriage; they were everyone’s idea of a match made in heaven.
But tragedy struck quickly. Her mother was startled and gave birth to her prematurely; her father died in a car accident while driving his wife and daughter to the hospital for a check-up.
She survived under her parents’ protection, only to be stolen away and have her identification tag swapped with the newborn Sheng Yanzhou in the observation room.
From that moment on, their lives took drastically different paths.
Looking at the photos of her biological parents in the file, a strange feeling welled up in Sheng Yunshu’s heart, and tears flowed uncontrollably.
She could understand Sheng Yanzhou.
If it were not for Sheng Qingshan, had she known her true heritage after growing up safely, she would have hated too; she would have hated those people from back then, hated the Sheng family, and hated that she did not die in that car accident with her loving parents.
It was only that fate favored her, allowing her to gain everything she wanted from Sheng Qingshan.
“This has nothing to do with either of you!”
Sheng Qingshan’s voice was tinged with anger. She could not understand why both of them liked to take the blame upon themselves.
“You were just born back then, could not even speak, yet you were forced into the grudges of the previous generation. What did you do wrong? She can hate you and loathe you, but she should not have laid a hand on you. You can feel guilty towards her, but you should not be finding excuses for her after being hurt!”
If Sheng Yanzhou wanted money or power, Sheng Qingshan would satisfy her within her capabilities.
If Sheng Yunshu wanted a stable life, Sheng Qingshan did her best to maintain the status quo.
But it could not always be one person holding a grudge while the other conceded time and time again.
There would always be a time when she could not be in two places at once.
If one day, Sheng Yunshu truly died at Sheng Yanzhou’s hands, how was she supposed to face it?
One was a younger sister she had raised and cherished for over thirty years; the other was a biological sister who had struggled and crawled through life for thirty years. Sheng Qingshan could not choose between them.
Because of Sheng Yanzhou’s temperament, Sheng Qingshan could not suppress her; that would only force her into a mutually destructive path.
She needed Sheng Yunshu to toughen up.
She knew that Sheng Yunshu tolerated Sheng Yanzhou’s abuse out of guilt and a desire not to make things difficult for her.
But this would only make Sheng Yanzhou more brazen.
After hearing Sheng Qingshan’s words, Sheng Yunshu hesitated. “No need, right? She and I rarely cross paths, and she just says a few words; there is no need to make such a scene.”
Although Sheng Yanzhou had a venomous tongue, it was still cleaner than the insults from the people online. Sheng Yunshu could accept it.
“But in the shadows, she would drive you to your death.” Sheng Qingshan took a deep breath, looking at her. “Yunshu, if you are choosing this way of handling things out of concern for me, then I can tell you clearly: I do not need it.”
“I do not need you to do anything for me.”
These words caused Sheng Yunshu’s eyes to redden instantly.
“Yes, it is all my fault! I should have just bullied her arrogantly like before and ignored everything!” Sheng Yunshu pulled the pillow from behind her and threw it at her. “Leave! I do not want you to care! Leave!”
Sheng Qingshan caught the pillow and placed it back. Fearing she might injure herself, she hurriedly stood up and held down her hands, saying in a low reprimand, “Sheng Yunshu!”
The struggling stopped. Sheng Yunshu looked up at her, tears falling in large droplets. “I hate you. I almost died, and you do not even care if I am in pain. You only know how to lecture me, and you were mean to me. I do not want to talk to you ever again. Why does it matter to me if you are tired? You megalomaniac!”
This was not the first time Sheng Qingshan had heard these words. She was not deeply moved, but seeing her face covered in tear tracks still made her heart ache.
Releasing her wrists, Sheng Qingshan pulled out a few tissues to wipe the tears from her face.
Although Sheng Yunshu was still complaining, she did not dodge while her tears were being wiped away.
When she finally stopped crying, Sheng Qingshan wanted to sit back down and talk to her properly, but her wrist was seized.
“Hold me.” Sheng Yunshu raised her arms; her voice still had a nasal tone, but her attitude was firm. “You were mean to me just now; I feel terrible; I want you to hold me.”
Sheng Qingshan did not move. “You are how old now and you want a hug? Do you not know anything about maintaining boundaries?”
“What boundaries?!” Sheng Yunshu tugged at her wrist, pulling her downward.
“Do you even have a partner? You are always avoiding this and that; who cares which omega you hug? Besides, you call me ‘little sister’ every other breath; when your little sister needs you, you start ignoring her again?”
“…”
Perhaps emboldened by her injuries, Sheng Yunshu was not letting anyone off the hook.
Sheng Qingshan was silent for a moment before bending over, careful to avoid her injuries, and pulling her into an embrace.
Sheng Yunshu immediately hugged her back, her hands gripping the clothes on her back tightly, tilting her head to nuzzle against her neck.
“Does your body hurt? Is your head still dizzy?” Sheng Qingshan stroked her long hair, her voice softening.
“It hurts!” Sheng Yunshu whimpered softly. “It would have been fine if you had just done this earlier instead of saying those things that make people angry! You are so annoying!”
Worried that she might strain her waist, Sheng Qingshan simply sat on the bed, letting her lean against her.
“I did not want to lecture you; I just wanted you to learn to protect yourself; after all, I cannot be by your side every moment.” Tucking her hair behind her ear, Sheng Qingshan patted her shoulder. “There is no need to keep enduring it; you cannot bully her.”
Based on her observations lately, in no aspect could Yunshu ever actually bully Yanzhou.
But clearly, Sheng Yunshu had not realized that.
“Then I will just move in with you, so she will not be able to find me and cause trouble anymore.”
Sheng Yunshu had only said it offhandedly, but Sheng Qingshan thought about it and decided it was feasible, immediately telling her to have her manager pack her things and have them delivered over.
“Eh?” Sheng Yunshu sat up from her arms, eyes wide as she looked at her. “I am moving in with you?” So there were no concerns about boundaries now?
Sheng Qingshan did not understand why her reaction was so large. “We are not staying in the same room; is that a problem?”
“Oh… then, let us do that. Whatever you say.” Sheng Yunshu’s speech was a bit stammering, and her face grew hot.
“Yunshu, why is your heart rate so fast? Are you feeling unwell?”
“Nothing! You are not allowed to look!”
Before Sheng Qingshan could check her pulse, the door was knocked. Turning her head, she saw it was Ye Lingyun.
The other party signaled for her to come over.
Sheng Qingshan nodded, tucked the quilt around Sheng Yunshu, and stood up to leave.
Once she was sure Sheng Qingshan had left, Sheng Yunshu kicked the blanket, her face covered in a red flush.
She could not explain why she was so agitated, but just the thought of living with Sheng Qingshan made her feel like she was burning up.
Ye Lingyun did not take her to the office, but instead arrived at a conference room filled with hospital specialists. On the large screen, a dynamic waveform chart was looping.
Sheng Qingshan looked at Ye Lingyun. “What does this mean?”
Ye Lingyun pushed a report toward her. “Qingshan, what I am about to say might be hard to accept, but please stay calm.”
A bad premonition arose in Sheng Qingshan’s heart. She picked up the report and began flipping through it, as Ye Lingyun’s voice sounded:
“Based on full genome sequencing and pheromone lineage analysis, after repeated confirmation, we have determined that Yunshu suffers from a rare genetic disease: Pheromone Gene Chain Dissociation Syndrome. With current medical standards, there is no way to intervene, much less cure it.”
From the moment Ye Lingyun received that report, she had notified the hospital director. The most authoritative experts in each field had gathered here, and after repeated confirmation, they had delivered Sheng Yunshu’s death sentence.
“Pheromone Gene Chain Dissociation Syndrome…” A look of confusion flashed across Sheng Qingshan’s eyes. “What is that?”
Ye Lingyun explained patiently: “This disease is not hereditary; it appears perhaps once in hundreds of thousands of people. The incubation period is very long, with no symptoms, but once diagnosed, it is already at the terminal stage.”
She pulled up another sample: a string of dense genetic coding.
“Exon segments 19 through 23 already show high-frequency fracture peaks. There is no way to repair it or stop it. Preliminary estimates suggest that in five months, the DNA double helix will naturally dissociate.”
No one in the room dared to speak; they did not even dare to look into Sheng Qingshan’s eyes.
“What nonsense are you spouting?” Sheng Qingshan threw the report back and looked at her friend, her tone urgent. “Her body has always been healthy; she passes her annual check-ups with no issues. How could she possibly have this disease?”
“Routine exams do not include cerebrospinal fluid chip screening.”
Ye Lingyun had also watched Sheng Yunshu grow up; she could understand how Sheng Qingshan felt. She sighed, “Qingshan, there are only three hospitals in the entire Federation with this diagnostic equipment. There can be no mistake.”
“Five months is just an ideal figure. Before the gene chain completely dissociates, she may suffer severe infections due to white blood cell depletion, ultimately dying of bone marrow failure combined with multi-organ system collapse.”
“Spend more time with her while you can. You can apply for euthanasia medication at any time.”