When Song Zhi woke up, she felt a splitting headache.
She rubbed her head, subconsciously wanting to act spoiled and tell Xu You, “Sister, my head hurts so much,” like she usually did, only to realize she was back at her own home. The memories of yesterday came rushing back into her mind like a tidal wave.
Song Zhi blinked, the bleak realization dawning on her that she had been abandoned by Xu You.
She opened their chat interface, scrolling back and forth, but she didn’t dare send a message. She was terrified of seeing that dreaded red exclamation mark. In the end, she decided to test the waters. She tapped on the transfer money option, typed in 0.01, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the transaction could still go through.
Thank goodness, thank goodness. She didn’t delete me.
The spark in Song Zhi’s heart flared up with a new hope. Does this mean she doesn’t hate me enough to delete me from WeChat yet?
But she quickly shook her head, refuting her own theory.
Someone like Xu You would only hate you in her heart, she would never do something as childish as deleting a contact. She was never the type of person to burn bridges completely.
A wave of loneliness washed over Song Zhi. How was Xu You doing right now? Should she go and apologize to her? Would she… even want to see her?
The usually bold Song Zhi turned into an absolute coward whenever it came to Xu You.
After hesitating for a long time, she still didn’t dare send a message. What if Xu You had just forgotten to blacklist her? If she sent a message now, wouldn’t it just serve as a reminder?
No way!
Song Zhi decided to give herself three days to build up her courage. She would wait until Saturday to go see Xu You. By then, Xu You should have calmed down, right? Song Zhi thought timidly.
The moment she opened her bedroom door, she saw Tan Yingying pacing back and forth outside. Seeing her come out, Tan Yingying immediately grabbed her hand. “Oh, my darling, you scared your mother to death. Last night you came in looking like you’d lost your soul and shut yourself in your room. I was worried sick.”
Song Zhi forced a smile onto her face. “I’m sorry, Mom, for making you worry.”
Tan Yingying stroked her head. “Xiao Zhi, can you tell Mom what exactly happened? Why were you so heartbroken last night?”
Song Zhi said softly, “It’s nothing, just a sudden bad mood.”
“Doesn’t look like nothing to me,” Tan Yingying saw right through her. “Did you have a fight with Xu You?”
For a second, Song Zhi thought everything had been exposed. Her eyes widened. “Mom, how did you know…”
Tan Yingying smiled. “It’s normal for good friends to fight, but when you do, you have to talk it out. You can’t just resort to a cold war and silent treatment.”
Hearing the words “good friends,” Song Zhi let out a sigh of relief. She nodded. “I’ll go find her, clear things ophthalmic, and apologize.”
Tan Yingying patted her head and said earnestly, “Xu You is the type who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and she hasn’t had an easy life. Sometimes friends just need to be understanding of each other. If something unpleasant happens between you two, you must talk it through. If you let it drag on, the relationship might really not survive in the end.”
Hearing this, Song Zhi nodded frantically to show she understood. “I’ll go apologize to her right now.”
She could apologize, she could say “I’m sorry” countless times, but she didn’t want her relationship with Xu You to drop to freezing point. She didn’t want to give up yet. And she didn’t want Xu You to hate her.
“Mom! I’m leaving!”
She left in such a hurry that she didn’t bring anything. Reason finally kicked in enough for her to message her company and request a day off. Fortunately, because of her usual outstanding performance and dedication to her work, her leave was smoothly approved.
Upon arriving at the hospital, before Song Zhi could even reach the ward, someone grabbed her by the wrist.
She immediately shook the hand off. Seeing that the person grabbing her was Fu Nian, she said in an unfriendly tone, “What are you doing?”
Fu Nian’s face was so dark it looked like a thunderstorm was brewing. “You are not allowed to come here anymore.”
Song Zhi chuckled. “Based on what? Is this hospital owned by your family?”
At that moment, Fu Nian glanced at the bulletin board nearby. Song Zhi noticed a line of small print at the bottom: Sponsored by the Fu Group.
It actually was owned by his family.
Song Zhi quickly shifted the topic. “Move aside.”
Fu Nian: “No.”
Song Zhi stepped back a few paces, scanning the surroundings, and noticed that two bodyguards were actually standing right outside Xu You’s room.
Xu You was being kept under house arrest!
Song Zhi flared up. “What right do you have to do this to her?”
Without even blinking, Fu Nian said, “I am protecting her.” He paused. “Furthermore, Miss Song, if you don’t leave right now, I will have to ask my people to escort you out.”
Seeing that she stood no chance, Song Zhi glared at him and left.
However, she didn’t go far. Instead, she kept examining the perimeter. Xu You’s ward was on the second floor, which wasn’t very high. Moreover, there happened to be a crooked tree whose branches reached right next to the window of Xu You’s room.
Song Zhi’s eyes darted around, she had an idea.
Such an action would be too conspicuous during the day, so she went back to the office to work first. When her coworkers saw her, they asked, “Xiao Song, didn’t you take the day off?” Song Zhi smiled and replied that the matter had been resolved, so she came back.
When night fell and darkness covered the sky, she first crept over to peek at Xu You’s ward. Finding that the two bodyguards were still standing guard, leaving absolutely no hope for the front door, she looped around to the back of the hospital. Rubbing her hands together, she began to climb the tree.
Fortunately, the tree was robust with thick branches, making the climb not too difficult.
With a burst of effort, Song Zhi quietly managed to climb onto the balcony of Xu You’s second floor ward. Unfortunately, Xu You had locked the balcony door, and she couldn’t open it.
Inside the darkness, Xu You suddenly snapped her eyes open.
She looked toward the balcony. It was covered by curtains, but if she hadn’t misheard, someone was out there.
Xu You picked up the fruit knife from the table and walked toward the balcony step by step. She yanked the curtains open, only to find to her astonishment that the person outside was Song Zhi.
Song Zhi had been crouching dejectedly on the floor, but the moment she saw Xu You, she stood up immediately, crossing her hands tightly in front of her, looking incredibly anxious.
It was hard for Xu You to describe her emotions at that moment. She felt as if she didn’t even have the strength left to unlock the door.
The moment the door opened, Song Zhi threw herself into Xu You’s arms, her voice laced with grievance. “I’m sorry, Xu You, I was wrong. Please don’t refuse to see me, and don’t ignore me. Even if you hate me or find me disgusting, you have to tell me to my face. I was so worried about you.”
Xu You’s entire body went stiff.
Song Zhi wasn’t wearing high heels today, so she was currently half a head shorter than Xu You. Xu You could hold her perfectly in her arms.
Closing her eyes, Xu You decided to indulge herself for this one moment. She wrapped her arms tightly around Song Zhi and apologized sincerely, “I don’t hate you. I never have. I was also at fault for what happened yesterday.”
Song Zhi shook her head. “Sister, I’ve thought it through. I know I was too impulsive back then. Let’s take things slow. I’ll still be your friend. If you don’t want anything more, I’ll just be your friend forever, okay?”
Being friends was already the best possible outcome right now, yet Xu You still felt a wave of bitterness in her heart. Ultimately, she nodded. “Okay.”
Just by holding her, Song Zhi could already tell. “You’ve lost weight. Have you not been eating properly?”
Xu You had no intention of telling her about being rushed to the emergency room, so she simply nodded. “I forgot.”
Song Zhi would absolutely not allow Xu You to go hungry. Breaking away from Xu You’s embrace, she said, “Wait here.”
Xu You: “?”
She asked, “What are you going to do?”
Song Zhi pointed at the crooked tree outside. “I’ll climb down and buy you something good to eat.”
Xu You: ?