So I Had No Choice But to Stop Being the White Moonlight – Chapter 12

What an Idiot.

The night was silent. A beam of moonlight slipped through the closed window and fell upon the bed, clear and bright.

Shi Jinlan sat on the bed with a placid expression, an old, yellowed book resting in her hands. Her long hair cascaded smoothly over her shoulders, stirred only slightly by the breeze from a turned page after a long while.

The closed door was pushed open and then shut again. Chi Qian, having washed her hands, pulled over a small stool and sat by the bedside.

Following Chi Qingyan’s instructions, Chi Qian was now to begin the task of massaging Shi Jinlan’s legs every night before bed.

“I’m starting, then,” Chi Qian said in a lighthearted voice.

She had been working in the pharmacy all afternoon and hadn’t had a chance to speak with Shi Jinlan.

Now was a good time to build up some goodwill, and she was full of motivation.

Shi Jinlan, however, remained silent, her gaze complicated as she looked at the shadow that fell over her.

Her legs had no feeling; she couldn’t sense the other woman’s warmth the way her hands could.

This is actually a perfect condition for slacking off, Shi Jinlan thought. Yet this person remained diligent, her nimble hands kneading her legs. The contrast between the scar-covered skin and those fair, slender hands was stark.

The quiet night always bred a multitude of thoughts. The open book in Shi Jinlan’s hands had not been turned for a long time.

Her gaze rested on Chi Qian, and that voice, filled with complex regret, overlapped with the present.

“But Yuan Ming is not Miss Shen.”

Who is Yuan Ming?

Shi Jinlan habitually marked information she didn’t know with a question, but her thoughts were pulled back by the soft yet resolute smile Chi Qian gave when she looked at Chi Qingyan.

It seemed that many things became much simpler when you worked backward from the answer.

That was why she was afraid of her, why she was so full of fear and trembling¹ in her presence, terrified of doing something wrong.

In that single instant, Shi Jinlan’s confusion suddenly cleared.

The strangeness she had sensed from Chi Qian these past few days could actually be replaced by a single word.

“Like.”

This was a word that had never existed in Shi Jinlan’s world.

In her world, feelings were the most useless things. Marriage wasn’t for love; it was simply for two already powerful conglomerates to form a union between the strong², consolidate capital, and expand their territory.

The benefits brought by liking a person were far too few compared to those brought by a union between the strong—so few as to be nearly nonexistent.

Sometimes, a high-ranking leader could even cause irreparable losses to their enterprise because of “like.”

The education Shi Jinlan had received since childhood told her that those in power had no need for such things.

It was their greatest taboo.

Besides, could feelings of like really develop for someone you had only known for a few days?

Wasn’t the idea of to fall in love at one sight³ just a term fabricated by writers and scholars for their love stories?

“After you cure her, she will definitely leave.”

Old Mister Chi saw through such an obvious truth.

Even after Old Mister Chi had explained it to her, why did she still speak that way in the end?

What an idiot.

Shi Jinlan felt a strange, dull ache in her chest. It returned whenever she recalled the conversation she had overheard at noon.

Her fingers, holding the book, gently rubbed against the page. Faintly, a trace of displeasure showed between Shi Jinlan’s furrowed brows.

She forced her gaze back to the page, calmly and with restraint trying to comprehend the explanations that were somewhat obscure and difficult for her.

The shadows of the trees outside swayed the light within the room, and the scabs on Shi Jinlan’s calves looked like shadows cast upon them.

Black flames burned within the light. Chi Qian was already trying her best to ignore them, but she was still affected by Shi Jinlan’s constantly changing flames.

That clammy chill would intensify and fade, recklessly lashing against Chi Qian’s hands.

Compared to the intense hatred she had felt last night, the coolness now was much gentler. Yet, at certain moments, it was like a real flame, emitting a scorching heat that would leap up and sear her.

Is Grandpa’s book really that hard to understand? How can it make someone’s emotions get like this?

The power of medicine to torture people—its reputation is not an empty one⁴.

Chi Qian lamented silently, her fingers moving slowly along Shi Jinlan’s leg.

Bypassing the healed scabs, her hands traveled over smooth and supple skin. Though still pale, it couldn’t hide the naturally slender bones of these legs.

Such beautiful legs. I can’t let them get swollen and deformed.

She figured it would take some time to get rid of these scars. She would have to go find Grandpa and get some scar-repairing ointment.

And, she could use the excuse of applying ointment to…

Chi Qian was scheming so hard that a smile was about to overflow from her eyes when she looked up and met a pair of icy ones.

Startled, Chi Qian’s hand, which was kneading Shi Jinlan’s leg, couldn’t help but squeeze a little harder.

Fortunately, Shi Jinlan’s legs had no feeling right now. She just stared at Chi Qian expressionlessly, her eyes devoid of emotion, containing only an endless coldness.

Chi Qian had no idea how long Shi Jinlan had been watching her like this; she only felt as if those eyes were trying to dismantle her and see right through her.

Did she see what I was just thinking?

Feeling like a thief with a guilty heart⁵, Chi Qian couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. “Wh-what is it?”

“Time’s up,” Shi Jinlan said coolly, taking in Chi Qian’s entire reaction.

Chi Qian glanced at the clock on the wall out of the corner of her eye. It was indeed time, and she had even gone a little over.

As if to prove her innocence, she immediately took her hands off Shi Jinlan’s legs and returned to her usual friendly distance. “Shall we sleep, then?”

“Mn.” Shi Jinlan closed the book in her hands. Watching Chi Qian’s series of actions, her voice remained cold.

After Chi Qian got into bed, she turned off the room’s light, and the entire space fell into darkness and silence.

Light filtered through the curtains and landed on Shi Jinlan’s face. Her raven-feather lashes fluttered a few times, and then she opened her eyes.

The moon couldn’t illuminate the whole room. In Shi Jinlan’s line of sight to her left lay a small, dark shape.

Chi Qian slept in a cramped position, curled up against the wall as if trying to give as much space as possible to the other person.

Is it… so that I can sleep well?

During the day, Shi Jinlan had sized up the bed. It was large enough for two people; in fact, for girls of their size, it could even sleep three.

Yet even so, she insisted on sticking to the wall, sleeping with hands and feet bound⁶.

Can she even sleep soundly like that?

Shi Jinlan didn’t know where all this curiosity was coming from. She abruptly retracted her gaze and closed her eyes again.

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The sun rose slowly from the sea, and bright sunlight spilled across the island.

The sound of the wind and the chirping of birds intertwined, yet they didn’t disturb the morning’s tranquility in the slightest. Lush green trees swayed outside the window, casting dappled light and shadows. Shi Jinlan slowly opened her eyes.

The dim room of the previous night was refreshed by the daylight, and tiny dust motes floated in the sunbeams.

She silently realized that even in the Shi household, where she had a strictly quiet sleeping environment, she had never rested as well as she had in this house where sound carried everywhere.

Some of the pain in her body had subsided, leaving a rare feeling of ease.

Shi Jinlan subconsciously glanced to her left, only to find that the person who had been sleeping against the wall was long gone.

The quilt she had used was folded neatly and placed at the foot of the bed, and her own quilt seemed to have been tucked in again by someone.

Her gaze paused for a moment before being quickly withdrawn.

Shi Jinlan sat up in bed expressionlessly and changed from her pajamas into her day clothes.

Chi Qian’s absence didn’t affect Shi Jinlan in any way. Or rather, the person had already arranged everything before she left.

The dress she had washed yesterday was dry and laid out on the wheelchair. A single portion of breakfast sat on the dining table in the main hall, kept warm under an overturned bowl.

It was the first time Shi Jinlan had seen such a primitive method.

She unhurriedly lifted the bowl to find a pile of golden little piggy custard buns.

What childish things.

Shi Jinlan stared at the group of little pigs for a long while. She watched their smiling faces, which, due to their simple construction, had formed a variety of different expressions, and she suddenly let out a small laugh.

Things really do resemble their owner.

“You’re up.”

The smile at the corner of Shi Jinlan’s eye had yet to fade when a light, cheerful voice came from behind her.

Chi Qian was back.

She was carrying a bulging bag and walked mysteriously up to Shi Jinlan. “Grandpa went off the island for a house call today, and I saw this on my way back from seeing him off—”

As she spoke, Chi Qian placed her bag on the table and began searching for something inside.

Shi Jinlan watched Chi Qian’s form, calmly retracting her earlier smile as she waited to see what kind of “surprise” she would be given.

“Ta-da!”

Chi Qian provided her own sound effects as she pulled a mobile phone out of the bag. “I thought you might need this, so I bought one for you. I heard it even has a satellite phone function.”

Listening to Chi Qian, Shi Jinlan accepted the phone she was handed.

The brand-new box felt heavy in her hand. …It was indeed a surprise.

Shi Jinlan hadn’t expected Chi Qian to bring her something she needed so badly right now. Her eyes held surprise, along with some other obscure, unreadable emotions. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Creaak—”

Just as Chi Qian waved at Shi Jinlan, the courtyard’s half-closed gate was pushed open from the outside.

She looked up toward the courtyard and saw two police officers in uniform walk in.

Their leather shoes tapped against the courtyard’s concrete floor. They first surveyed the yard before locking their gazes on the two people in the main hall. “Hello, we are officers from the Xiaoyu Island Public Security Bureau. We’ve received a report and need you to cooperate with our investigation.”

Heavy clouds were pushed over by the wind, instantly blocking the sun from half the sky.

Shi Jinlan’s hand touched the wheel of her chair. Her vigilance had never once been lowered.

It was at that moment that Chi Qian stepped forward, blocking her.

“You are my patient. I won’t let them take you away.”

Chi Qian’s voice was firm and decisive. The sunlight fell upon her, shimmering like gold.

Shi Jinlan was enveloped by her shadow, and her hand, gripping the wheelchair tightly, suddenly froze.

She had never imagined that one day, she would be protected by someone standing in front of her.

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