Song Zhi checked her into the emergency department.
When it was Xu You’s turn, she said, “It should just be a regular fever. Wait for me outside.”
Song Zhi had originally wanted to ask her why she had secretly discharged herself from the hospital without saying anything. Now, Xu You’s evasive attitude made her even more suspicious that Xu You was hiding something major from her. She insisted on going in no matter what.
“No way, I’m going in too,” she said.
Xu You parted her thin lips slightly, seemingly wanting to refuse, but Song Zhi immediately cut in, “You promised you wouldn’t hide anything from me.”
For the first time, Xu You felt the sensation of dropping a stone on her own foot.
She nodded, her tone laced with helplessness. “Alright.”
Once inside the examination room, Song Zhi took Xu You’s hand and walked quickly up to the doctor. “Doctor, she suddenly came down with a high fever tonight, and it still hasn’t gone down.”
The doctor looked up at Xu You, pulled out a thermometer, and took her temperature.
38.7°C.
“It is indeed a fever. Have you been feeling unwell anywhere recently?”
Xu You shook her head. “No.”
Without changing her expression, she added, “I probably just caught a cold.”
The doctor asked her a few more questions before writing out a prescription.
The hospital beds were in short supply tonight, so Song Zhi sat with Xu You on the chairs in the IV infusion room.
Every so often, Song Zhi would touch Xu You’s forehead, looking anxious. “Why hasn’t the fever broken yet?”
Xu You knew exactly why her fever wasn’t going down. Right now, she felt as if her entire body was burning, her mouth was parched, and her strength was gradually draining away.
She turned her head to look at Song Zhi and comforted her softly, “It’s fine. I should be better after resting for a bit.”
“Don’t worry.”
With that, she closed her eyes, seemingly falling into a deep sleep.
Song Zhi couldn’t sleep, so she pulled out her phone to handle some work matters.
By the time she finished, it was already past three in the morning. She looked up and saw that Xu You’s IV bag was almost empty.
Just then, her phone vibrated.
She picked it up to look. It was a news push notification.
The headline looked like it was written by a veteran UC News browser employee. Shocking! The CEO of the Fu Group Was Severely Beaten by an Unknown Person Late at Night and Sent to the Hospital!
The accompanying photo showed Fu Nian, covered in blood, being helped into a car. The background behind him was the Dunhuang Hotel.
Song Zhi was bewildered.
Wasn’t Fu Nian having dinner with Xu You tonight?
Could he have been beaten up after dinner?
That didn’t make sense. Who would provoke Fu Nian for no reason? That man was proud, selfish, and conceited, anyone who crossed him wouldn’t end up well.
Suddenly, Song Zhi recalled the moment she found Xu You. Xu You had stopped her, refusing to let her see the exact situation inside the room.
Add to that the panicked expressions of Xu Jie and Xu Xi before they left…
Song Zhi had an epiphany.
It must have been done by Xu Jie and Xu Xi!
She didn’t even factor Xu You into the equation because her Xu You was in poor health, needing to catch her breath after just a few steps. It was physically impossible for her to beat Fu Nian into such a state.
Such severe injuries could only be the result of a combined assault by the husband and wife!
Although she had no idea why this usually timid couple, who flattered Fu Nian to no end, would suddenly strike him so brutally, she couldn’t help but feel a rush of satisfaction!
That arrogant, posturing guy was finally getting what he deserved!
After her secret moment of celebration, Song Zhi began to think about the deeper implications.
Fu Nian was the type of person who would avenge even the smallest grievance. Having suffered such a huge loss, how could he possibly let the Xu family off the hook?
She didn’t care at all about the survival of the rest of the Xu family, but Xu You was among them.
Fu Nian would definitely take his anger out on Xu You, and might even use this opportunity to force her into marriage.
And what about Xu You? Why had Xu You been trapped in the Xu family for so many years?
From their interactions during this period, Song Zhi knew that Xu You was incredibly smart. Someone like her could easily achieve success with just a little effort and break free from a toxic birth family without any trouble.
If even she could think of this, there was no way Xu You hadn’t.
Then why had Xu You stayed with the Xu family until now?
Song Zhi realized she was completely lost. She racked her brains trying to recall the details of the book she had read before, but found nothing.
The book’s description of Xu You’s family was sparse, merely summarizing her as a pawn in a family alliance marriage, without answering why someone so brilliant would willingly act as that pawn.
Could there be something else she didn’t know?
Song Zhi fell into a rabbit hole of overthinking, unable to figure out the reason no matter how hard she tried.
However, she didn’t have to think about it for long because Xu You’s IV bag had finished running.
The nurse came over to remove the needle, which also woke Xu You up.
After resting for a few hours, her complexion looked much better.
Song Zhi tested her temperature with the back of her hand. It had indeed gone down.
“It’s too late tonight. Why don’t you come stay at my place?” Song Zhi suggested.
In her eyes, the only places Xu You could stay were either the Xu family home or the hospital.
Returning to the Xu family was definitely out of the question now. As for the hospital… Xu You had secretly transferred hospitals, meaning she was definitely keeping something from her. Since the atmosphere right now was so good, she didn’t want to press for answers.
Xu You looked at her and shook her head. “No, it’s too late.”
“Ah? Oh… okay then.”
For a moment, Song Zhi felt a wave of disappointment, she thought Xu You was turning her down.
The next second, Xu You said, “It’s too late, it’ll disturb your parents’ rest. Let’s go to my place.”
Song Zhi would instinctively nod at whatever Xu You said. Only after nodding did she look up with a blank expression. “Can you even get back into the Xu family home?”
This question brought a momentary silence between the two of them.
Xu You couldn’t help but smile. “It’s not the Xu family home. It’s my own place.”
Song Zhi widened her peach-blossom eyes. “Your own place?”
Was it the kind of “own place” she was thinking of?
Wait, wasn’t her Xu You supposed to be a tragic, impoverished young lady of a wealthy family?
On second thought, it made sense. No matter how poorly the Xu family treated her, it wouldn’t be surprising for the eldest daughter of the family to own a property.
It was just that she found it even harder to understand now. Since Xu You had her own place, why did she still live with that pack of vampires? Wouldn’t it be better to just move out on her own?
While Song Zhi was having a mental brainstorm, Xu You’s body suddenly swayed slightly.
The drug Xu Xi had given her tonight also had the side effect of making one’s limbs feel weak. Xu You had thought a few hours of rest would clear it up, but she was still experiencing some lingering effects.
Song Zhi supported her. “Are you alright?”
Xu You shook her head weakly. “I’m fine.”
Song Zhi became even more certain of her theory. Fu Nian’s injuries tonight absolutely, definitely, 100% had nothing to do with Xu You! Xu You was so weak right now; how could she possibly beat a 1.8 meter tall CEO into such a pulp?
She couldn’t help but ask anxiously, “Um… did they accidentally hurt you?”
Xu You fell silent for a brief moment, then let out a soft cough. “No, I stayed out of the way.”
The anxiety weighing on Song Zhi’s heart finally lifted. “That’s good. As long as you’re okay.”
Helping Xu You into the car, Song Zhi returned to the driver’s seat.
She opened the search bar on her navigation app. “Tell me the address.”
“Cloud Bay Residence.”
Song Zhi’s hand typing on the screen paused almost imperceptibly. Cloud Bay Residence.
Th-That’s some serious financial power!
This was an incredibly exclusive neighborhood where every square meter cost hundreds of thousands!
Was the Xu family really that generous? It didn’t fit their style at all… They clearly couldn’t wait to strip a layer of skin off Xu You.
After Song Zhi parked the car in the neighborhood’s parking lot, she opened the door and dashed over to Xu You’s side, showing an extremely eager attitude. “Do you still need me to support you?”
After sitting for a while, Xu You’s body had recovered significantly, and she no longer felt as powerless as before.
She looked at Song Zhi quietly and nodded. “Sorry to trouble you.”
“Why are you being so polite with me?” Song Zhi wrapped her arms around Xu You’s elbow, looking like a curious child. “Where is your apartment?”
Xu You said warmly, “Just follow me.”
When they reached the door, Xu You added, “No one has lived here for a long time, so it might be a bit untidy.”
Once the door opened, Song Zhi saw the layout of the interior clearly.
Two words came to mind, low-key luxury.
Xu You pulled her inside and held up her phone to scan Song Zhi’s face.
Song Zhi blinked and asked, “What are you doing?”
Xu You’s tone was calm. “Adding your face to the lock system so you can come over whenever you want in the future.”
Song Zhi let out an “oh.”
The corners of her mouth were damn near impossible to keep down.
She looked around the living room. Everything inside looked incredibly expensive. As her hand brushed against a piano in the corner, she accidentally let her inner thoughts slip out. “I thought you…”
“Thought what?”
Song Zhi said rather self-consciously, “Were really short on money…”
Xu You raised an eyebrow. Leaning against the piano, she asked, “Why did you think that?”
Song Zhi murmured, “I thought the Xu family was genuinely so stingy that they wouldn’t give you anything.”
Xu You smiled. “So, some people lowered their own standard of living just to save money to spend on me?”
Having her little secret exposed, Song Zhi instinctively stepped forward and covered Xu You’s mouth, stammering, “N-No way!”
Only after saying it did she realize what she was doing. The warmth of Xu You’s breath against her palm made her swiftly retract her hand.
Xu You looked up at her and said unhurriedly, “Is that so? You wouldn’t even treat yourself to a small piece of cake.”
Song Zhi hadn’t expected Xu You to notice that. It was partly the reason, though a bigger factor was that the cake was truly too expensive.
She finally understood why Xu You had ordered so much without even blinking an eye.
It turned out she was a super, ultra-wealthy woman!
With her current meager salary, an insurmountable chasm had opened up between her and Xu You!
“This apartment wasn’t given to me by the Xu family,” Xu You spoke up.
Song Zhi was stunned for a moment, letting out a confused, “Huh? Then…?”
The expression in Xu You’s eyes turned tender. “It was my mother. She left it to me before she passed away.”
Song Zhi hadn’t expected this to be the origin of the apartment.
She had actually mistaken the love of Xu You’s mother for her daughter as something those bloodsucking leeches from the Xu family would give.
“I’m sorry.”
Xu You looked at her. “Why are you apologizing?”
Song Zhi looked down. “I misspoke.”
“Silly.”
Xu You tucked a strand of hair behind Song Zhi’s ear and said softly, “Go get some sleep.”
Just as Song Zhi was about to obediently head into the bedroom, Xu You spoke again. “About changing hospitals… I didn’t mean to keep it from you on purpose.”
“It’s just that I still have some matters I need to handle myself. I’ll tell you everything one by one in the future, okay?”
Her tone was entirely tentative, asking for consent.
Song Zhi deeply wanted to know what Xu You had been up to during this period. She vaguely guessed that Xu You must be hiding a lot of things from her.
But since Xu You had put it that way, she would respect her wishes.
“Okay.”
Song Zhi’s eyes curved into a bright smile. “Then I’ll be waiting for you to tell me.”