If Hua Shu had been shocked by Liu Fengying's improved appearance, the affectionate tone with which she addressed her made her freeze. In all the time they had known each other, Liu Fengying had never once addressed her by her first name, so how had she suddenly started using a pet name? Hua Shu was beginning to fear that Liu Fengying had been replaced by someone else.
"…Liu Fengying, do you remember what phone model I had last year?", Hua Shu decided to test the so-called Liu Fengying standing before her. She was certain the real Liu Fengying would know the answer because she had often handed her that phone to watch funny short videos. Hua Shu resolved that if the Liu Fengying in front of her didn’t answer within seconds, she would immediately call the police.
"Are you talking about the phone you kept in a ladybug case? I think it was an OP 12. Why are you suddenly bringing it up?", Liu Fengying was taken aback by her deskmate’s abrupt change of topic. While this wasn’t entirely out of character for Hua Shu, who often jumped quickly between subjects, Liu Fengying had sensed her deskmate was deeply curious about what had happened to her and expected her to press for an explanation.
Hua Shu breathed a sigh of relief, seeing that Liu Fengying had answered her question correctly. She believed the chances of someone disguised as Liu Fengying knowing such an insignificant detail as the model of her phone were almost nonexistent. So, the Liu Fengying before her was indeed the real one.
However, she felt a little embarrassed to share these thoughts with Liu Fengying. Wouldn’t it make her seem paranoid? Still, Hua Shu firmly believed her theory wasn’t entirely far-fetched. Not only were the physical changes striking, but the psychological ones Liu Fengying had undergone were unusually significant for the short time she had been away from school. Moreover, based on what Hua Shu had heard about Liu Fengying’s father, he seemed the type of man who could lock Liu Fengying away and replace her with someone who would do whatever he wanted, ensuring his position as the leader of the company left by Liu Fengying’s mother would remain unthreatened. Yet, she was aware that most people wouldn’t immediately jump to the worst-case scenario.
"Well, I just remembered that a newer version of it was recently released, and I wanted to ask for your opinion on whether I should buy it… Anyway, let’s leave that for another time. Now tell me, what happened…", Hua Shu ultimately decided to conceal her true intentions behind the question she had asked Liu Fengying.
Although she didn’t think Liu Fengying would mock her, Hua Shu had subconsciously started wanting Liu Fengying to see her in the best possible light, perhaps because of a sense of inferiority triggered by her perfection. Exceptionally beautiful, with an enviable figure and the demeanor of a royal sister, Liu Fengying seemed to Hua Shu like the embodiment of the person she had always wished to be.
‘She really is a scatterbrain…’, Liu Fengying thought, gazing at Hua Shu. She couldn’t tell if Hua Shu had always been like this and she had never noticed, or if she was simply more absent-minded that morning than usual.
Hua Shu’s messy hair and wrinkled clothes that morning also contributed to the label Liu Fengying had mentally placed on her. Sure, Hua Shu’s doll-like features like her delicate frame, ginger hair, and large eyes that resembled a sunlit autumn field, blended perfectly into a strikingly attractive whole, but at that moment, she looked like a doll that had spent an hour tumbling in a washing machine.
“…Alright.”, Liu Fengying finally said, her preconceptions about Hua Shu preventing her from probing deeper into the meaning behind her question.
So, it could be said Hua Shu avoided being labeled as paranoid. But at what cost? If she had known that this episode would reinforce Liu Fengying’s image of her as scatterbrained, she would probably have been more upset than if the situation she was trying to avoid had occurred.
Liu Fengying found it a little odd that Hua Shu suddenly relaxed just as their conversation was about to reach its peak. For a moment, she wondered if she had missed something in their interaction. However, thinking that Hua Shu’s mental detours wouldn’t have much bearing on her own future, she chose to let it go and began recounting the story she had prepared to explain her transformation.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“So, I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, even though the result might seem almost magical. I just tried some traditional treatments last week from a newly founded company. For now, they’re still studying the effects of the products they’re developing, but I heard they plan to launch them on the market in a year, two at most…”
Hua Shu didn’t know what to make of Liu Fengying’s explanation. Everything she knew about traditional medicine came from movies, where it often had miraculous effects. But surely that couldn’t apply to real life—if it did, what would be the point of hospitals?
“Are there really traditional treatments that effective? If so, why hasn’t anyone heard of them?”, Hua Shu asked after realizing that Liu Fengying was completely serious. She didn’t think Liu Fengying had any reason to lie to her, but her explanation seemed far too unscientific.
“They don’t exist now, but apparently, they did in the past. From what I understand, the recipes for these traditional treatments were discovered in some manuscripts from the time of the Qīnglóng dynasty, which ruled about 3,000 years ago…” Liu Fengying had no trouble adding extra details, as she already had a fairly complete story in mind about the origin of the traditional treatments she wanted to promote.
“Huh? Was there really such an archaeological discovery? Why wasn’t there any news about it? Plus, if someone finds an artifact of historical value, aren’t they obligated to hand it over to the state?”, Hua Shu was skeptical of the information Liu Fengying had provided.
If the treatments Liu Fengying had taken hadn’t yet shown results, Hua Shu would have thought she had fallen victim to a scam. However, since they had clearly worked, Hua Shu began to suspect that Liu Fengying might have been tricked into taking some risky treatments based on nanotechnology or other sci-fi-level technologies.
‘Whatever experimental drugs they might be, it’s impossible for them not to have side effects. Maybe I should try to convince her to go to the hospital as soon as possible for a thorough check-up…,’ Hua Shu thought, her concern for Liu Fengying growing.
Although Liu Fengying didn't know how far Hua Shu's assumptions had gone, she was quite certain from her questions that the chances of Hua Shu believing her story were slim.
‘How have I not noticed until now that she’s this perceptive? Maybe it’s because I’ve never seen her so passionate about a subject? Well, I could take it as a compliment that I’ve managed to capture her interest so intensely, but in this situation, it’s only going to cause me trouble…’, Liu Fengying wasn’t particularly pleased with how things were unfolding. If Hua Shu kept trying to poke holes in her story, the chances of others around them doubting her narrative would increase significantly. If that happened, would there still be any chance to steer the rumors about her recovery in the direction she wanted?
“ShuShu, with so many celebrity news stories out there, who even pays attention to an archaeology report?”, Liu Fengying discreetly winked at Hua Shu; she knew that without Hua Shu’s cooperation, there was no way to manage this situation smoothly.
Since their friendship wasn’t close enough for them to understand each other at a glance, Hua Shu didn’t immediately grasp what Liu Fengying was trying to communicate, so Liu Fengying then subtly gestured with her eyes toward the rest of the class so Hua Shu could see that everyone else was staring at them.
“……”, Hua Shu froze for a moment when she turned her gaze in the direction Liu Fengying had indicated. Because she had rushed into the classroom and then focused entirely on Liu Fengying, she hadn’t noticed until now how strangely everyone else was behaving.
Hua Shu wasn’t particularly happy at that moment. Not only did she feel uncomfortable being the center of attention, but she also realized that Liu Fengying was most likely lying to her in an attempt to spread false information about her recovery. Since two of the things Hua Shu found most irritating were being used by someone and being taken for a fool, she probably would have snapped if anyone else had put her in this position, except for Liu Fengying, the only person she was close to in the entire school and someone she knew was going through a difficult time.
Besides, Liu Fengying looked stunning that morning; when Hua Shu turned back to her and met her remorseful gaze, she not only couldn’t bring herself to frown at her, but she even started to feel flattered.
'Damn it. When a girl is that gorgeous, she can really get away with anything…’, Hua Shu finally decided to play the role of the knight rescuing the princess by going along with Liu Fengying’s story. However, for making her compromise her principles, Hua Shu figured Liu Fengying should remain indebted to her for a long time, at least until the school year was over.