When She Stops Being Dramatic

It was as if her body had been reset when she awoke from that nightmare.

She couldn’t tell if she had come from the future, if she had simply gained a set of vivid memories, or if she wasn’t even the person she thought she was.

Chi Yun’er didn’t dwell on it for long. ’Just being alive is a great blessing, so why get hung up on the details? Besides, these extra memories and this healthy body are basically my Golden Finger for this new life!’

How could Chi Yun’er not know what they wanted to talk to her about?

People are creatures who bully the weak and fear the strong. In her past life, she had shown fierce resistance, so no one had ever dared to bring this up.

Of course, Jiang Zishi was the one behind all of this.

This time, he had been the first to notice the softening of Chi Yun’er’s attitude, so he took a huge step forward, using the group to force her to back down.

If this move succeeded, Chi Yun’er would have no choice but to retreat step by step from now on.

Chi Yun’er reluctantly put out the lamp, closed her door and windows, and came out. One of the male educated youths had already given up his seat for her.

She offered a faint "Thank you," and as soon as she sat down, a sly glint flashed in her eyes and she began to cough.

’She was a natural at this. Forget just coughing; she could fool an expert by playing mad, let alone a bunch of amateurs.’

Chi Yun’er’s coughing sounded like she was hacking her lungs out, as if she were terminally ill and about to stop breathing at any second. Just listening to it was enough to make everyone’s throats start to feel itchy!

They couldn’t help but mutter to themselves, wondering if this illness was contagious. It was simply terrifying.

Even if it wasn’t contagious, who could stand living in the same house with all that noise? And they’d heard that people with coughs got even worse at night!

Those who had been ready to back up Jiang Zishi just moments ago, especially the female educated youths who might be assigned to live with Chi Yun’er, now looked grim.

It didn’t last long, maybe half a minute. Chi Yun’er, her face flushed and her eyes glistening with tears, finally caught her breath after a long moment and looked weakly at Jiang Zishi.

"Zishu, what did you want to talk about?"

Jiang Zishi stared at her intently. The young woman’s forehead was beaded with sweat, and her moist eyes were listless with a sickly languor, yet she forced herself to perk up when she saw him looking.

He sighed silently. ’This was still the same silly girl who had grown up with him, so well-protected that she didn’t have a single scheming bone in her body, a truly delicate and fragile thing.’

’How could he have thought her coughing was deliberate?’

Every time she got sick, it always dragged on for a long time.

Her constitution was too weak. Often, the complications were more severe than the illness itself.

Jiang Zishi could only temporarily give up on the idea of having her move out of the side room to live with the others.

Even if he insisted, the others would block it for their own sakes.

Since it was a lost cause, he wouldn’t tarnish the good impression others had of him.

"The weather’s already getting warmer. Why are you still coughing so badly?" Jiang Zishi asked, his voice full of worry and sympathy. "If your cough doesn’t get better by tomorrow, how about I take you to the hospital in town?"

Chi Yun’er pursed her lips and sighed. "Zishu, you know what my health is like. I can’t even eat watermelon or drink cold water in the summer. And after falling into the river for ten minutes... I might as well have lost half my life. It wasn’t far from it."

"I know all too well how important one’s health is. ’Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you.’ I would never joke about someone’s life, but nobody believes me."

"You probably won’t believe this, but I’m not strong enough to push someone. I just don’t have the strength for it. But it doesn’t matter what I say now. Aunt Bian despises me, and you, Zishu, are now bound to marry Comrade Bian against your will."

"I only want you to be happy, Zishu. When you accept someone, you have to accept all of them—the good side, and the jealous, ugly side too."

"A lifetime is a long time. I hope you won’t regret any of your decisions, Zishu."

Chi Yun’er started coughing again, this time from speaking too quickly.

A haze of hatred swirled in her eyes.

She knew how arrogant and unlikable her former self had been. But she was the type to have a sharp tongue but a soft heart; she might have been her own worst enemy, but she had never harmed anyone else’s interests, let alone tried to take a life.

It was Bian Yumin who had deliberately blocked her on the bridge and said some cutting words. Then, just as she got angry and raised her finger to point at her, Bian Yumin had lunged forward, then thrown herself backward over the railing and into the river, creating the illusion that Chi Yun’er had pushed her in a fit of rage!

’Come to think of it, Jiang Zishi and Bian Yumin really are a good match. I wonder what kind of perfect, happy life they’ll manage to have this time, without my contribution as the cannon fodder?’