Chapter 221: A Subtle Change
Although Xu Zhi still didn’t feel sleepy mentally, her body truly couldn’t hold on anymore. After confirming that feeding blood was still effective on the little variant—the glutton—she finally felt at ease, returned to her room, and fell into a deep sleep.
This sleep wasn’t very long. She didn’t fall asleep until close to three in the morning, and when she woke up it was only around eight.
When she opened her eyes, Qi Yanxin was already up. Yesterday, after confirming that heavy fog would descend, she had gone back to the factory and brought home many small mechanical parts that needed manual repairs. Breakfast was simmering in the pot now, and she took the chance to lay the parts out on the table and sort them, planning to start “work” after eating.
When Xu Zhi woke up, she originally intended to get out of bed by herself. She had already tried last night—although her current physical recovery still didn’t allow her to walk like a normal person, moving from the bed to the wheelchair was something she could manage on her own.
However, considering what Qi Yanxin had said before, as well as her own promise, Xu Zhi decided to call her over anyway. But the moment this thought surfaced and she was about to act on it, Xu Zhi ran into her first problem.
These past days, it was almost always Qi Yanxin who initiated conversations. On the rare occasions Xu Zhi spoke first, it was usually right after something Qi Yanxin said. As a result…
She had never once directly addressed Qi Yanxin by name.
Now that she needed to call her, what should she say? Call her by her full name? Wouldn’t that be a bit impolite? After all, the woman had taken care of her for nearly half a month!
But if she called her something else, wouldn’t that be too intimate?
Suddenly, inspiration struck. Xu Zhi thought of how Ye Ran usually addressed Qi Yanxin.
“Sister Yanxin.” What a perfect form of address—familiar yet polite, polite yet close. Yes, that was it!
Even though she had already decided, when the words actually left her mouth, Xu Zhi still felt a little awkward. She couldn’t quite say where that awkwardness came from, but fortunately, even though her voice wasn’t loud, Qi Yanxin heard it immediately and hurried over.
“What’s wrong?” She thought Xu Zhi was feeling unwell somewhere and quickened her steps, but Xu Zhi simply said she was getting up.
“Oh.” The woman let out a breath of relief. “Do you need my help?”
By now, she had gradually figured out that Xu Zhi was a young girl with a very strong sense of pride.
“No.” As expected, Xu Zhi refused. “I called you over just to show you that I can do it myself. From now on, you don’t need to help me with everything.”
Simply put, she wanted to put on a little demonstration.
Qi Yanxin couldn’t help but let a hint of a smile show in her eyes. Right—strong pride aside, this was also a child who could be a bit childish and stubborn at times.
“Alright.” She nodded and stood to the side, ready to watch Xu Zhi’s “performance.”
“But if you can’t manage it, remember to call me. Be careful not to fall.”
Hearing that, Xu Zhi raised an eyebrow. What do you mean, can’t manage it?
A woman cannot be said to be incapable!
At night, she couldn’t control the continuous influx of extraordinary energy into her body, so she simply maxed it out in one go and fell asleep quickly. Once asleep, she wouldn’t feel that “hunger.” Even so, after a night of rest, the vitality she had lost from feeding blood had already recovered quite a bit.
Now it was just getting out of bed. It wasn’t easy, but it was still simple!
Xu Zhi spent only about two minutes completing the great feat of dragging her severely weakened body from the bed to the wheelchair. By the time she finished, a thin sheen of sweat had already appeared on her forehead, but she lifted her chin as if nothing were wrong and looked at the woman standing in front of her.
“See? I told you it wouldn’t be a problem, right?”
Qi Yanxin might have looked like she was just standing by with her arms folded, but in truth, her gaze had been fixed tensely on Xu Zhi’s laborious movements the entire time. Only after Xu Zhi succeeded did she quietly relax.
“Yes, very impressive.” She said. “So from now on, you’ll do it yourself?”
“Of course.” Xu Zhi nodded.
“Alright then.” Qi Yanxin suppressed a smile. “Oh, right—why are you calling me ‘Sister Yanxin’ like Ye Ran does?”
“Uh…” The smug look on Xu Zhi’s face stiffened slightly. “I just saw that she calls you that.”
“Are you the same as her?” Qi Yanxin said seriously. “She’s the neighbor’s kid. You’re my little sister. So you should call me ‘sister.’”
Xu Zhi fell silent for a moment.
If this had been a few days ago, Qi Yanxin probably would have softened the atmosphere at this point, saying something like “we can talk about it later.” But now, she felt that the distance between herself and Xu Zhi wasn’t quite so unfamiliar anymore, and she understood Xu Zhi a bit better. Maybe… she could try?
So the woman gently probed again in a warm voice, “Is that okay? Starting today, just call me ‘sister.’”
Xu Zhi paused. In the end, under the woman’s gentle gaze, she nodded awkwardly, her tone carrying a faint reluctance.
“Okay… sister.”
The woman’s eyes curved with a smile. “Good girl. I made breakfast—do you want some?”
“Yes.” Xu Zhi nodded again.
Well… it couldn’t be helped, right?
Her current body needed food. Qi Yanxin had taken care of her for so long—emotionally and logically speaking, calling her “sister” didn’t cost her anything!
Right? It really couldn’t be helped.
Xu Zhi maneuvered her wheelchair toward the dining table, mentally talking herself into it as she went.
Because they needed to stock up on more food, and because the money she had left on hand was truly limited, the ingredients Qi Yanxin bought this time weren’t very good. But Xu Zhi wasn’t someone who had been raised delicately. She’d already suffered quite a bit up to now—food that tasted a little worse was nothing.
Even though Xu Zhi thought that way, Qi Yanxin was clearly a bit guilty.
“For now we can only eat this. Once the fog clears, I’ll take on more work and buy you something better.”
Xu Zhi’s hand holding the spoon paused. She looked up and said, “No need. By then my body should be better too, and there’s no need to insist on eating good food. Isn’t this fine as well?”
“Anyway, everything needed to nourish my body is already in the medicine.”
In truth, it was all in the extraordinary energy. Now that she was awake, controlling the circulation of that energy through her body worked far better than eating low-grade food.
“How can that be okay?” The woman looked unconvinced.
“You can save on other things, but you’re still recovering. How can you cut corners on what goes into your stomach?”
If it weren’t for the special circumstances, even if she had to scrimp on clothes and food herself, she would never let Xu Zhi eat these things that had almost no nutrition and could only barely stave off hunger.
Xu Zhi didn’t argue further. She knew the woman had already made up her mind—this wasn’t something she could talk her out of with just a few words.
All she could do was quietly calculate how long it would take for her body to recover enough to move freely. After that, once her extraordinary circuits had grown to a certain extent, she could find a way to earn some money. Once she could make money, life wouldn’t have to be so tight anymore.
As she thought this, Xu Zhi suddenly froze.
Because she realized that in her plan, it wasn’t about earning some money, handing it to the woman, and immediately leaving once she recovered…
But about the idea that their life together afterward wouldn’t be so strained.
