Chapter 12: Chapter 12 Compassion and Sympathy for Him
Qiao Zhiyi arranged the flowers in the vase and chatted with her for a while.
Wang Shulan didn't ask any more about why Shi Jingzhou hadn't come, but just repeated her old tune, telling her to never mistreat herself no matter what she did.
"Mom, don't worry about me, I know what to do," Qiao Zhiyi said as she handed her mother a slice of apple, "Our good days are still ahead of us."
Wang Shulan smiled, looking through her as if seeing her deceased husband, "If your father were still here, seeing you like this now, he would surely be content. He never wished for you to be extremely rich, only that you would be happy. Zhiyi, a person should first take care of themselves, then others."
"Mhm, I remember," Qiao Zhiyi said, looking down as she ate her apple.
She would be happy.
She would also make sure her mother and brother had good lives.
Qiao Zhiyi didn't leave until Wang Shulan grew tired.
She went downstairs and then doubled back to use the restroom.
"Such big news as being pregnant, are you sure you won't tell Park Bom?"
"Why tell him? It might not even be his."
The moment she heard that voice, Qiao Zhiyi stopped in her tracks while opening the door.
It was Bai Yue.
"You still like Shi Jingzhou, don't you? Didn't you say his face was no longer bearable to look at?"
"Heh, as ugly as Shi Jingzhou looks now, only a blind person would like him. I used to drool over his good looks. Now I don't want to glance at him even once."
The disdain in Bai Yue's tone was clear, no need to see her face to know her expression.
Qiao Zhiyi was surprised to hear such words from Bai Yue's mouth.
If she despised him so much, why keep up an appearance of deep affection?
"Then why do you keep going to see him, acting like you're harboring lingering feelings?"
"A man I've discarded can't be picked up by someone else. Whether it's Shi Jingzhou or Park Bom, if they've ever been associated with my name, Bai Yue, they belong to me."
Qiao Zhiyi furrowed her brow.
After they left, Qiao Zhiyi came out of hiding.
So, affection could be feigned so naturally.
She had thought Bai Yue's feelings for Shi Jingzhou were genuine, but it turned out...
Why doesn't she become an actress? She'd certainly win an Oscar.
With Shi Jingzhou's disfigured looks, even if his family were wealthy, it would be difficult to find someone who genuinely wanted to spend a lifetime with him.
For some reason, she felt a faint sense of pity for him.
She walked outside and saw Bai Yue go to the gynecology department with a friend.
Back at Pu Garden, she noticed Shi Jingzhou's car already parked in the garage.
The words Bai Yue had said weighed slightly on her spirits.
Inside the house, Shi Jingzhou sat on the couch with his legs crossed, looking at his computer. He glanced at her, "Where did you go?"
"The hospital," Qiao Zhiyi replied, taking off her coat and heading to the kitchen.
Uncle Xiang wouldn't let her help and brought some washed fruit to the living room.
Qiao Zhiyi was absent-minded, glancing at Shi Jingzhou's face from time to time. What kind of explosion had ruined his face this way?
If he hadn't been disfigured, would Bai Yue be his wife?
Was his disregard for Bai Yue because he didn't want to burden her, so he intentionally treated her coldly?
"Why are you looking at me?" Shi Jingzhou caught her scrutinizing gaze, his eyes filled with too many strange things.
Qiao Zhiyi quickly looked away, grabbing a banana and peeling it hastily before taking a bite.
She ate too quickly and choked.
Flustered, she covered her mouth and forced herself to swallow.
Shi Jingzhou's eyes narrowed, he set down the computer, his gaze dark and piercing, leaving Qiao Zhiyi nowhere to hide.
She mechanically ate the banana, bite after bite, her mouth bulging.
"Qiao Zhiyi, could you possibly look any uglier?" Shi Jingzhou couldn't stand it anymore.
How could a woman eating look so graceless?
Qiao Zhiyi covered her mouth until she swallowed it all, then burped and quickly stood up, making a tactical retreat, "I'm going to the kitchen."
"Stay right there!"
"…"
Qiao Zhiyi's body reacted faster than her mind.
"Turn around."
Clutching the hem of her garment, Qiao Zhiyi slowly turned around.
This man was terrifying, always looking as though he wanted to devour someone.
Even in such a state, his temper was still so foul. Once her mother's illness was cured, she definitely wouldn't submit to his tyranny.
"What did you mean by the way you looked at me just now?" Shi Jingzhou sat leisurely, waiting for her explanation.
If he hadn't seen it wrong, her gaze held pity and sympathy.
Heh, she actually dared to look at him with such eyes, simply asking for death.
Qiao Zhiyi wanted to bite her lip, but upon touching the spot he had bitten, she immediately released it.
In his presence, she truly couldn't stand up straight.
"Nothing," she said, not looking into his eyes.
His eyes were poisonous, inescapable in his presence.
If his face hadn't been ruined, and coupled with those eyes, he could have made countless women fall for him.
Shi Jingzhou crossed his arms and watched her with a cold gaze, "I'll give you one last chance."
It was a blatant threat.
All the pity and sympathy she had felt for him before had gone to hell, fed to the dogs.
How could anyone feel a shred of sympathy for someone with such a terrible character and temper?
The saying that someone pitiful has a hateful side wasn't wrong at all.
"I just think that God is too jealous. You could have had everything beautiful, but he took it away. If your face hadn't been disfigured, you would have married a very beautiful and graceful, gentle and virtuous wife. Not someone as plain as me."
Qiao Zhiyi wouldn't feel a tinge of other emotions for him ever again.
This person, simply wasn't worth it.
Bai Yue wanted to play him, and he deserved it.
Shi Jingzhou narrowed his eyes, not believing a word of her sincere speech.
Before this sudden sentiment, who knows what she had filled her mind with.
From the initial acquiescence to the covert resistance later on, she was definitely not a submissive person.
"Plain and unremarkable?" Shi Jingzhou murmured these words, his gaze settling on her chest.
Qiao Zhiyi instantly understood what he meant and quickly crossed her arms over her chest, both embarrassed and annoyed, yet she had nowhere to hide.
Shi Jingzhou hummed lightly, "Since you understand, you'd better behave and not play any tricks on me."
Qiao Zhiyi's scalp tightened, feeling still too green.
The people she had met before were never like Shi Jingzhou, never had such strong presence and oppressive feeling, not even teachers had ever made her feel such pressure.
She wanted to be a tiger, but in front of him, she was just a lamb under the tiger's claws.
He said let go, and he let go; he said eat, and he would eat.
If resistance was impossible, then adaptation was the only choice. Once used to it, it would be less unbearable.
In the evening, Shi Jingzhou still lay on the bed as before, waiting for her to change his dressing.
Every time Qiao Zhiyi saw those scars on his back, she was curious what he had done to acquire so many scars.
"How did you get these wounds?" Qiao Zhiyi was afraid of him, but she was also very curious.
What kind of explosion had ruined his face?
How did he get this new injury?
No normal person could have so many scars.
Shi Jingzhou, with his eyes closed, said, "Don't ask about what you shouldn't know."
Qiao Zhiyi: "..."
It was her who had spoken out of turn.
The person who gave him that cut should have been more ruthless, to have killed him would have been much better.
As a widow, she could have inherited the estate, spared herself decades of struggle, and become a young and wealthy widow. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Lost in delightful thoughts, she didn't notice the force of her hands.
Upon hearing a "hiss," she realized what she had done, but by then she was already flipped over, her back slamming heavily onto the bed, her panicked eyes met by that fierce face.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone