Shen Wei smiled. Whatever it was that she planned on doing, she certainly wouldn’t tell Gong Hengjin, so regardless of how loud Gong Hengjin yelled, it would all be for naught. However, Cheng Xi wasn’t so hard-hearted. When she turned around to glance at Gong Hengjin, she saw clearly that the previously refined, pretty, and frail girl had changed into a haggard woman with a wan and sallow mien.
Gong Hengjin cursed Shen Wei despondently. “Shen Wei, you’ll receive retribution for your behavior!”
With Shen Wei’s personality, even if she had already walked away from Gong Hengjin, she couldn’t stop herself from turning around and replying. “Feh, if there’s anyone who deserves retribution, it’s you. Give it some time. Your largest hurdles are still ahead of you.”
Her tone was ice cold.
Gong Hengjin trembled, still looking at her desperately.
After that, neither Cheng Xi nor Shen Wei dwelled on the subject because they saw Lu Chenzhou at that moment, and he also saw them. His car immediately pulled up by the roadside.
Cheng Xi grabbed Shen Wei’s hand and slowly walked over, but when the car was only a few steps away from them, something unexpected happened. Gong Hengjin rushed forward and desperately latched onto Shen Wei. “Don’t go! Please, help me make things clear to him. Make him go away! I’m begging you! I regret my actions now, is that enough?!”
“What are you doing? Scram!” Shen Wei angrily tried to shake her off, but even though she was angry, her fear was visibly apparent. Cheng Xi thought that Shen Wei was just afraid for her baby, so she went forward to stop Gong Hengjin as she told Shen Wei, “Get in the car. I’ll talk to her first……”
But before she could finish speaking, Shen Wei suddenly took a few steps back and started screaming. “Aaaaaaaah!”
Her voice was so shrill that Cheng Xi and Gong Hengjin both jumped up in fright. Gong Hengjin took advantage of Cheng XI’s shock to break free, but Shen Wei continued to scream. She crouched down, grabbed her head in agony, and then quickly hugged herself, her expression clearly etched with fear, vexation, and helplessness.
At first, Cheng Xi thought that Gong Hengjin might have accidentally hit Shen Wei’s stomach, but her extreme behavior soon proved that theory wrong. Her next best guess was that Shen Wei’s emotional agitation had triggered another mental breakdown for her. In an attempt to calm Shen Wei down, Cheng Xi rushed over and hugged her. “Shen Wei, Shen Wei, calm down. You’re safe.”
But Shen Wei just continued to scream in terror, squatting down and hugging her head.
Ceng Xing and the others had just gotten into a car and were about to drive off, but when they saw the situation, they quickly ran back out again. Two of the male colleagues supported the bewildered Gong Hengjin, and the other two jogged up to Cheng Xi and Shen Wei. “What’s the matter? What happened?”
Cheng Xi actually didn’t know. All she did was hug Shen Wei tighter, preventing her from harming herself. Cheng Xi anxiously lifted her head and noticed that the commotion that Shen Wei was causing had grabbed the attention of everyone by the door. Most of the people who hadn’t left yet were now all crowding around them, pointing and staring from the side.
This was very detrimental to Shen Wei’s mental state.
Cheng Xi was just about to say something when her eyes met Lu Chenzhou’s. He was still standing by the side of the car, just a few steps away from them. Even after Ceng Xing and the others had rushed here from all the way over on the other side of the plaza, he was still standing at his original location, just looking at them nonchalantly.
Cheng Xi’s heart trembled. She retracted her gaze, and urgently said to Ceng Xing, “The car’s right there. Get her into the car first!” And then she tried to placate Shen Wei again. “It’s fine. Let’s leave this place first, alright?”
The others tried to lift Shen Wei and support her as they moved her towards the car, but Shen Wei refused to budge. Because she was pregnant, they didn’t dare use too much force, and the situation was caught at a standstill.
Gong Hengjin was very scared. As Fu Mingyi’s ex-mistress, she naturally knew that Shen Wei had once gone insane, and if she went crazy again…… She ground her teeth, shook off the people holding her, and while everyone else’s attention was focused on Shen Wei, she quickly ran off.
No one could be bothered to stop her. After letting her go, they all came over to help Cheng Xi.
But what was more people going to do when they had an uncooperative pregnant woman to handle?! Cheng Xi didn’t anticipate that this would happen when they had merely arranged to get a meal together, and she was completely exasperated. When she realized that they wouldn’t be able to calm her down anytime soon, she could only say, “Gong Hengjin already ran away. Shen Wei, are you really going to do this? Are you really going to oppress her even as you torment yourself? Are you really going to watch your enemy leave in joy and you yourself remain in sadness? Are you really going to be like this?”
Strangely enough, these words actually did pacify Shen Wei, and she slowly calmed down and regained her sanity, her tight grip faltering.
Cheng Xi took this opportunity to move Shen Wei into the car.
Since having too many people around could be detrimentally stimulating, Cheng Xi thanked her colleagues who had helped her and then closed the door.
The world was finally quiet once again. Lu Chenzhou also got into the car, but just as he was just about to start the car, Shen Wei suddenly cried out, “Don’t go!”
Cheng Xi looked over and saw that Shen Wei was still rational, but her body seemed to be paralyzed with fear as she was uncontrollably trembling violently.
Cheng Xi patted Shen Wei’s back, trying her best to soothe her. “It’s fine. Don’t be afraid.”
“Is she really gone?” Shen Wei asked timorously.
“Yes.”
Shen Wei’s had an ambivalent expression, as if she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. She slowly turned around as she stretched her arm out towards Cheng Xi.
There had been too many people around them, so only now did Cheng Xi notice the scratches on Shen Wei’s arm. It had been moderately warm these past two days, and while Cheng Xi had draped a jacket around herself, Shen Wei was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt, allowing Cheng Xi to clearly see a long, long laceration crawling up Shen Wei’s jade-like arm, revealing a few skeins of blood.
But at least it was just a superficial injury. Cheng Xi was about to console Shen Wei again when she noticed Shen Wei’s face go pale and her shivers intensify. “Cheng Xi, I need to get out of the car and go to the hospital.”
Cheng Xi immediately noticed that Shen Wei’s emotions were off-balance. Shen Wei wasn’t a squeamish person, and this light wound from Gong Hengjin’s fingernails should have been far from enough to make her turn ashen.
Cheng Xi clutched her hand tightly. “What’s the problem?”
Shen Wei was close to tears by now. She retracted her hand, and with trembling lips, she stuttered, “Gong Hengjin…… She may have contracted AIDS.”
This single sentence sent Cheng Xi reeling in shock, and even Lu Chenzhou, who was sitting in the front and pretending to be an innocent bystander, was left open-mouthed in shock.
……
Ceng Xing and the others were still worried and hadn’t gone far as a result. They were just waiting quietly by the side, carelessly tossing out random reasons and half-baked theories for the whole debacle.
But before they could guess the right reason, however, they saw the tightly shut car door suddenly open. Cheng Xi then emerged as she helped her friend out of the car with an ugly expression on her face.
Ceng Xing quickly rushed over. “Is everything fine?”
Cheng Xi nodded. “It’s nothing. Thank you for all your help. Have fun tonight.”
And then she walked Shen Wei towards the hospital.
Ceng Xing glanced at Lu Chenzhou. He hadn’t actually left the car, and was just sitting inside it with a disdainful face. Ceng Xing turned around and said to the rest of his group, “You guys go first. I’ll head over later.”
They were all colleagues, and since Shen Wei’s state of mind was clearly out of sorts, they were worried that Cheng Xi wouldn’t be able to handle it herself. Thus, nobody argued against Ceng Xing.
The rest of them separated into two parties accordingly.
By then, Cheng Xi had already brought Shen Wei inside to seek treatment. Thankfully, there were actually still some doctors around, and Cheng Xi was actually familiar with one of them.
She dragged Shen Wei in front of him, and succinctly explained the situation. The doctor said, “AIDS is usually transmitted through blood and other bodily fluids. So if you were only scratched, and haven’t had contact with the other party’s blood or body fluids, then you shouldn’t have been infected.” [1]
“But she was scratched until she bled. Is that still fine?”
“Usually, yes.” The doctor’s words made Cheng Xi and Shen Wei relax, but as a precaution, Shen Wei still took a blood test.
While Shen Wei was getting tested, Ceng Xing found Cheng Xi in the lobby. Shen Wei had gone inside to get her blood drawn, whereas Cheng Xi and Ceng Xing waited for her outside.
“Why is she getting her blood drawn?” Ceng Xing asked curiously.
Cheng Xi didn’t respond. At this point, her brain was a mess, and her vague guesses at what had transpired left her truly frightened.
Ceng Xing was still rambling on. “Is that the kind of man you like? Someone who just watches from afar even after seeing you get in trouble?”
Just then, in her line of sight, a familiar pair of legs appeared, with bright leather shoes covering the feet. Cheng Xi lifted her head and saw the “innocent bystander” slowly walking towards them.
But Ceng Xing felt like he hadn’t said enough. He stared right back at Lu Chenzhou provokingly as he continued, saying, “He’s cold towards others and emotionless toward you. What’re you trying to get from him? Money? I have money too.”
Cheng Xi had no energy to respond. “…….”
1. More precisely, HIV is what’s transmitted, and AIDS results as a consequence.
