Chapter 85
"Got you?"
Qi Jin spoke these words very softly, yet they were like a heavy stone, crashing into Shi Ye's (who had just returned from Su Xiao and whose mind was still buzzing) tangled thoughts with a "plop," splashing up an even bigger wave of bewilderment.
Arrest? Who's arresting whom? How? By nearly crushing my wrist? In this situation, who looks more like the one being hunted?!
Shi Ye shook her aching, numb left wrist, where several clear purplish-blue finger marks had appeared. She looked down at herself—she was still wearing Su Xiao's light blue shirt and jeans, but the clothes were noticeably looser, and the jeans were a bit longer. She raised her hand to touch her face; the texture was familiar, yet it carried a hint of strangeness, like a long-awaited reunion. The feeling was extremely eerie, as if her soul had left her body and returned to the wrong body, even though this body was theoretically hers.
“…So,” she licked her slightly dry lips, trying to sort out the situation, her gaze falling on Qi Jin, who was still leaning against the wall opposite her, his eyes a kaleidoscope of emotions, “could I understand it like this: Mr. Qi, you have such keen insight and sharp eyes that you saw through my ordinary (fake) intern exterior to my extraordinary (not really) inner essence, and then, using some mysterious power—or simply your amazing strength—you…stripped off this borrowed 'skin' of mine?” She paused, then added, “In a physical sense, you almost really did.”
Qi Jin seemed to finally snap out of her dazed state. She watched Shi Ye rubbing her wrist, saw the familiar expression on her face, tinged with speechlessness and a hint of sarcasm, and noticed the dry humor and...irresistible charm that emanated from her words.
It's real. It's not a dream. It's not a trap. It's her. It's that Shi Ye who would complain, who would keep a cold face while her mind was racing with comments, who would push her away before the explosion, and then disappear for so long... only to reappear in such a bizarre way.
The euphoria, like a belated tsunami, violently assaulted her heart, which had been frozen for five years. But what followed was an even more turbulent anger, lingering fear, and... grievance? Yes, a huge, indescribable grievance.
Five years of careful observation, a heart nearly shattered during the explosion, the torment and doubt of facing a "resurrected" yet unfamiliar body, and the dreaded mental breakdown caused by the "familiarity" surrounding Su Xiao these past few days...
All her emotions swirled together, stuck in her throat, burning her eyes, yet she didn't know which to release first. Finally, it coalesced into a suppressed, raging question uttered through gritted teeth:
"……where have you been?"
"Huh?" Shi Ye was taken aback, not keeping up with this leap of thought. "Where did I go? I..." She pointed to herself, then to her surroundings. "Wasn't I always here? Going to work, coming home, feeding the cat, being cornered in the alley by you..." At this point, she suddenly remembered the system, the mission, and that series of unbelievable experiences. "Wait, this is a long story, and it might be a bit... supernatural?"
She tried to organize her thoughts, but found it impossible to explain. How could she say it? "Hello, I didn't die. I was bound to a garbage system and transmigrated into the body of a villainous female supporting character. My mission was to matchmake you and Lin Xiaoyu, but the mission failed and the world collapsed. I came back under a different identity to continue hiding, but you forcibly 'recognized' me, and the original owner disappeared because of it?"
She herself couldn't believe the story! It sounded more like the ramblings of a mental patient having an episode!
Qi Jin watched her face shift and become unpredictable, her expression hesitant and unspeakable, and his resentment and anger burned even brighter. She suddenly straightened up, took a step closer, and her voice trembled slightly from suppressed emotion: "Can't you say it? Or... was it all a carefully orchestrated play? Watching me act like a fool, feeling sad and doubtful towards an empty shell, and then going crazy over another shadow you played... was that fun, Shi Ye?"
She practically screamed the last three words, carrying all the resentment and pain that had accumulated over the past five years.
Shi Ye was stunned by her aura and the pain in her words. She looked at Qi Jin's red eyes, her tightly clenched fists with white knuckles, and the wrinkled cashmere sweater she was wearing, which looked like it hadn't been changed all night. Suddenly, the emotions that had been isolated and suppressed by the system burst forth like a flood, violently overwhelming the remaining barriers and surging over her.
Heartache. Sharp, unexpected heartache.
And there is also a belated, heavy sense of guilt.
Although it wasn't her intention, and although she was also powerless to resist, Qi Jin had indeed endured too much in the past five years, and in the period after the explosion... because of her (or rather, the people surrounding her).
“It wasn’t a play.” Shi Ye’s voice lowered, carrying a rare seriousness and weariness. “Qi Jin, I didn’t mean to lie to you. At least… not in a way that would hurt you.” She tried to explain, but found her words inadequate. “Some things… I don’t know how to explain, and even if I did, you might find it hard to believe. But I can tell you, it was me who pushed you away before the explosion. It was me who came back as Su Xiao, trying to find a way… well, to do something. That ‘resurrected’ Shi Ye wasn’t me, but now… it seems she’s gone too.” She recalled the scene of the original owner’s disappearance, and a strange feeling welled up inside her.
Qi Jin stared intently into her eyes, trying to find traces of a lie, but saw only a chaotic sincerity and an equally profound weariness. Shi Ye hadn't lied. Or rather, what she said was the "truth" within her understanding.
That "resurrection" moment... gone? Qi Jin recalled the fading, blurry figure she'd glimpsed out of the corner of her eye at the alley entrance. What strange change had occurred in this world without her knowledge?
Countless questions swirl around, but at this moment, the most important answer seems to have become clear.
It's her. It's always been her.
This realization caused Qi Jin's extremely tense nerves to relax suddenly, followed by a feeling of exhaustion and a stronger urge to grasp something to confirm the truth.
Her gaze fell on Shi Ye's swollen wrist, and the anger in her heart was instantly replaced by more complex emotions. She subconsciously reached out her hand, as if to touch it, but froze halfway, and finally just stiffly turned her gaze away, her voice muffled: "...Hand, go to the hospital."
Shi Ye glanced at her mangled wrist, then at Qi Jin's awkward expression, and her urge to complain resurfaced: "Now you're worried? That grip just now, I thought you were going to set my bones, lady! And that change of expression—one minute you looked like you were going to eat me alive, and now you're all alluring about my wrist? Mr. Qi, shouldn't you retake your emotional management course?"
Of course, she didn't dare say it aloud; she just mentally bombarded the screen with thoughts. Aloud, she simply hummed in agreement, a hint of self-deprecation in her voice: "We should go check, just in case it's really broken. But before that..." She glanced at the increasingly curious stares from the passersby, "Should we go somewhere else? Like, in your car? Or somewhere where we won't be filmed in the street as a 'violent scene in a wealthy family'?"
Qi Jin also realized that the environment was inappropriate. She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the emotions still churning in her chest, and regained some of her usual cold and hard exterior, but her eyes were still fixed on Shi Ye, as if afraid that she would disappear again in the blink of an eye.
"Come with me." She turned around and walked quickly towards the other end of the alley where she had parked her car. She walked a few steps, but then subconsciously slowed down, as if waiting for Shi Ye to catch up.
Shi Ye rubbed his still throbbing wrist and resignedly followed. As he walked, he continued to mentally rant: "What is this? A friendly medical invitation after a (failed) kidnapping? The procedure is all wrong! And what about my identity? 'Su Xiao' suddenly disappeared without a trace? 'Shi Ye' reappears from the dead? Social death and a medical miracle happening simultaneously? System! System, are you dead? Give me some hints! What's the new update to the survival mission?!"
The system remained silent, while the progress bar in Shi Ye's mind, which was forcibly linked to the system, remained steadily at 100%, radiating a calm and collected aura of "not worrying about debts and not being afraid of boiling water."
Walking to the car, Qi Jin opened the back door and glanced at Shi Ye.
Shi Ye resignedly got into the car, still pondering how to explain his sudden disappearance to the "Tracing Light Space." Qi Jin got into the car from the other side and briefly instructed the driver: "Go to Dr. Chen's private clinic and treat the external injuries first. Notify the clinic to clear the area."
The car drove away smoothly. In the cramped back seat, two people sat side by side, a fist's width apart, yet it felt as if an entire battlefield still shrouded in smoke was separated between them.
Silence. A suffocating silence.
Shi Ye stared at the rapidly receding street scene outside the window, her mind a jumbled mess. Qi Jin, meanwhile, turned his head to the side, his gaze fixed on Shi Ye's profile. Watching that familiar silhouette flicker in and out of the car window's light and shadow, a profound sense of unreality, of loss and regaining, still enveloped her, mixed with lingering anger, deep-seated heartache, and a... almost greedy, yearning to confirm more details.
She suddenly spoke, her voice low: "The way you feed a cat, the way you flick a pen with your toes, and..." She paused, "...the way you scrape your thumb with your left index finger."
Shi Ye was taken aback and turned to look at her: "What?"
“Your habit.” Qi Jin’s gaze fell on her left hand, which hung naturally at her side. “Su Xiao has it too. Exactly the same.”
Shi Ye: "..."
She looked down at her hands, and unconsciously, her left index finger scraped the side of her thumb.
Damn. It really is. A little action she herself didn't even notice.
So Qi Jin recognized her based on these things...? That's some kind of insane observational skill! She's practically a voyeur... Oh wait, isn't she one? Those photos and diaries...
Shi Ye's expression instantly became quite interesting.
Qi Jin watched the changing expressions on her face, seemingly guessing what she was thinking. A faint, almost imperceptible blush crossed his face, but it was quickly covered by deeper emotions. She turned her head to look ahead, her voice even lower, trembling with a suppressed, almost sobbing tone:
"I've been looking for you for so long."
"I thought it was really... gone."
All of Shi Ye's complaints instantly got stuck in his throat.
She looked at Qi Jin's tense profile, at her slightly trembling eyelashes, and felt the thick, overwhelming sadness and the vulnerability of loss and regain that permeated the carriage.
The wall in my heart collapsed with a crash.
All that remained was a bittersweet, warm, and unfamiliar torrent, surging and washing over her newly "returned" and somewhat bewildered soul.
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