Chapter 34: Sigh! The Vines & Capitalism

The moment Li Siheng agreed, he did so with utmost seriousness. His beautiful face scrunched up as he thought hard. But after only a few seconds, he started acting spoiled again, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and rubbing his nose against her cheek.

“I can’t remember,” he said.

Lin Zhiyan tried to dodge, and he immediately looked a little aggrieved.

Lowering her eyes, she asked, “Then do you know where this is?”

Li Siheng slowly widened his eyes and looked around. Then he rested his chin back on her shoulder. His brows furrowed slightly.

“This is where they keep me,” he said softly. “But… it feels different somehow.”

His pupils trembled.

Lin Zhiyan was about to speak when she noticed Zeffi move slightly.

Looking down, she asked, “Are you awake?”

Zeffi showed no obvious reaction. His brows remained tightly knitted.

Was he unconscious but still somewhat aware?

The next moment confirmed her suspicion.

His expression twisted with pain, and his head shifted slightly—not away, but closer to her.

If he were fully awake, he probably wouldn’t be doing that.

As she thought this, a faint pain came from her shoulder.

Startled, she turned around and found Li Siheng with strawberry-red eyes, as though overripe fruit had burst beneath his skin. His tall frame was hunched over, and he was lightly biting her shoulder.

The force wasn’t strong, but his expression was full of accusation.

Lin Zhiyan withdrew her hand from Zeffi’s hair and smacked Li Siheng on the head.

“Cheating.”

Li Siheng blinked with round eyes, then immediately put on an obedient expression.

“I remembered,” he said. “This is my room.”

Then he grabbed her wrist and asked seriously,

“Does that mean I’ve grown up now?”

Lin Zhiyan shook her head.

“No.”

His eyes lowered in disappointment.

“Alright.”

Lin Zhiyan sighed as well.

“If you still can’t remember, then—”

“I can!” Li Siheng interrupted urgently, holding her hand and pressing it against his face. “I really can! I’m thinking right now!”

As he spoke, his gaze drifted upward toward her. His thin red lips curved slightly before brushing against her hand.

Li Siheng didn’t know why he wanted to do that. He only knew that instinctively he wanted to be close to her. To be intimate with her. And… something else.

His thoughts were a mess. His lips parted, his breathing quickened, and a thin sheen of sweat covered his body.

Then he looked at Lin Zhiyan again and saw her raised eyebrow.

Biting his lip, he lowered his head. Blood-stained hair fell across his face.

Lin Zhiyan began, “No—”

“Mnh—”

A soft groan interrupted her.

She froze and looked down.

Zeffi’s features were tightly drawn together, his lips slightly parted. The sound had come from his throat. Looking at the syringe, she realized it was time to push the next dose.

Sorry about that. Got distracted flirting while you were dying.

Without much guilt, Lin Zhiyan pulled her hand free from Li Siheng’s grasp and bent over. A few strands of her hair fell across Zeffi’s face. She could tell he was uncomfortable; his breathing deepened slightly.

She pressed the syringe and slowly advanced it one notch.

“Why is he getting an injection?”

Li Siheng leaned down as well.

The moment Lin Zhiyan raised her eyes, she found his face right in front of hers.

His face, neck, and collar were stained with large patches of blood. His dark gray hair was clumped together by dried blood, and his lips were even redder than the blood itself.

There was a savage beauty about him, mixed with a puzzled expression.

Their noses were almost touching again.

Neither retreating nor advancing, Lin Zhiyan asked,

“What grade are you in?”

“First year of high school.”

After a pause, he added,

“I’ve grown up.”

Lin Zhiyan said,

“Then you remember that you stabbed Zeffi, right?”

Li Siheng’s eyes widened. A few seconds later, he looked away.

“What’s our relationship?” he asked.

She knew he was changing the subject, but she didn’t mind.

Her fingers unconsciously began twirling Zeffi’s hair again, winding it around and around.

“Right now, at least you can communicate. Tell me what happened, and I’ll tell you what our relationship is. How about that?”

“…It’s a secret.”

His expression turned cold.

“I can’t tell you directly.”

Lin Zhiyan smiled and turned her face slightly.

A tiny spark appeared in Li Siheng’s eyes. His throat bobbed as he swallowed.

He leaned closer and lightly kissed her cheek.

Then he pulled away quickly, breathing hard.

“My genetic sequence has some problems,” he finally said. “When I was little, I spent a long time receiving treatment in laboratories. Sometimes my memory gets confused and my thinking regresses.”

Then he hurriedly added,

“But it usually only lasts one or two minutes. Sometimes it’s just a momentary dissociation. This is the first time it’s been this serious.”

After speaking, he stared at her lips again and bit his own.

Lin Zhiyan noticed the implication, but only smiled.

Her fingers absentmindedly traced circles against Zeffi’s forehead.

“Only when you remember who I am does it count as growing up.”

Yet Li Siheng was staring at her hand.

“I’ll help you,” he said.

“I was sick back then. I’m fine now.”

Although he seemed increasingly normal, Lin Zhiyan replied firmly,

“No.”

She had already worked this hard; she had to see things through to the end if she wanted her reward later.

Besides, at this point, Zeffi was practically her bonus payout.

But Li Siheng clearly interpreted her refusal differently.

He stared silently at Zeffi.

The syringe vibrated again.

Time for another dose.

Lin Zhiyan bent down and pushed the syringe.

This time, however, Zeffi seemed noticeably better.

His eyes remained closed, but faint sounds came from his throat. His rigid body relaxed somewhat and unconsciously leaned closer toward her.

Blood loss made people cold.

She wasn’t surprised and continued administering the medication.

Then, without warning, Li Siheng said,

“You lied to me.”

Lin Zhiyan nearly pushed the syringe too far and broke out in a cold sweat.

Are these brothers filming Keeping Up with the Solents or something?

Do they really need all of her attention that badly?

There was hurt in Li Siheng’s eyes.

“You liar,” he said hoarsely. “Why are you ignoring me?”

Wow.

Time really flies.

Several years seemed to have passed already.

Lin Zhiyan sighed inwardly.

Li Siheng looked as though he had suffered an enormous grievance. Sitting on the floor, he pressed close to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

His lips brushed her ear as he muttered endless complaints full of resentment.

“Why isn’t he dead?”

“Why does he have to stay in your arms?”

“He’s always targeted me, bullied me, taken my things. Even you…”

His words were venomous, but the tone was mournful, almost like whispering into her ear.

Lin Zhiyan felt her head splitting in two.

Fortunately, the medication had finally reached its last segment.

She pushed it through successfully.

[Injection complete. Estimated recovery of vital functions within three minutes. Please transfer the patient for advanced treatment as soon as possible.]

Lines of text appeared and disappeared across the syringe.

Lin Zhiyan let out a long sigh.

Li Siheng saw it and, free of all restraint now, leaned forward and kissed her.

When she pushed at his shoulder, he only brushed her lips pitifully.

“You can kiss once you’ve grown up,” he said.

“You still want kisses after growing up?”

“Yes.”

After answering, he pressed another kiss to her lips.

Only a few minutes later, Lin Zhiyan realized that while she intended to keep it brief, she had once again forgotten a simple fact:

She was still human.

Which meant she could be distracted too.

Tears glimmered in Li Siheng’s eyes like diamonds. His face kept drawing her attention back, and he repeatedly tested the waters, extending the moment.

Eventually, she gave in.

As they remained tangled together, she didn’t notice that her fingers had already buried themselves deeper into Zeffi’s hair.

Lin Zhiyan had always had small unconscious habits.

She spun pens during class, clicked pen caps while studying, rolled her eyes around when both hands were occupied, and even when dealing cards at work, her fingers would constantly fidget.

No one had ever pointed it out.

Teachers were usually the only people who noticed such habits, and she had always been one of their favorite students.

So now, while distracted, all the tension and excitement coursing through her found an outlet through her fingers.

She gripped Zeffi’s hair tightly.

Perhaps Zeffi would have stopped her.

But he had no strength left.

His body was cold and heavy, like a corpse sinking beneath the sea, while his consciousness drifted elsewhere.

His awareness floated upward like a balloon attached to a corpse by a string.

Sometimes the corpse dragged it down.

Sometimes the balloon pulled it higher.

He lay in his own blood, the metallic smell filling his senses.

Cold droplets seemed to strike the center of his skull, shattering into countless fragments before flowing through his veins.

The balloon could not carry a corpse forever.

The body began falling.

Falling toward blazing fire.

Then, at the last moment, a strand of silk wrapped around his arm, suspending him above the flames.

Warmth slowly returned.

The balloon filled with air again.

A trace of oxygen seeped into the world that had been sealed away.

Through that thread of oxygen came faint voices.

“…Don’t… let it flow back…”

“…It hurts… come here…”

The voices tangled with memories and consciousness like vines.

Then a long-fingered hand slipped among those vines.

The fingers teased, sorted, and untangled them.

And as they did, everything became organized.

Only then could he finally hear her words clearly.

“Do you know who I am?”

The question seemed almost magical.

Light flowed from her fingertips into the tangled vines.

But even after being untangled, the vine-ball remained a vine-ball.

It still couldn’t speak.

It still didn’t understand.

I don’t know.

Zeffi—or perhaps the vine-ball—thought.

“You don’t know who I am, so you don’t know how to make me like you.”

Her voice carried amusement as her fingers toyed with the leaves.

Why?

The vine-ball didn’t understand.

It only allowed those warm fingers to play with it.

It thought with its leaves.

Who was she?

Who was it?

What was liking someone?

The more it thought, the more tangled it became.

Then another voice appeared.

Not hers.

Not its own.

So whose was it?

Searching for the source, it discovered another vine-ball.

Another tangled cluster wrapped around her other hand.

Only then did it realize there wasn’t just one vine here.

And she had never been speaking to it at all.

The vine-ball—Vine A—felt anger.

That anger drove it to grow.

Its chaotic branches drew together into a single sturdy form.

It wanted to attack Vine B.

It wanted to consume it, strangle it, absorb it, become the only vine here.

Yet no matter how hard it struggled, it could not move.

All it could do was watch her other hand remain connected to Vine B.

Every word she spoke watered that vine like sweet rain.

She hadn’t neglected Vine A.

But it still felt unfair.

Originally there had only been one vine here.

If she had words, they should have been for it.

If she touched anyone, it should have been it.

Its anger grew without limit.

The less nourishment it received, the more fiercely it expanded.

The conversations, the voices, all crashed down around it.

Though it couldn’t understand them, poison slowly formed within its sap.

Her hand continued stroking its leaves.

Then suddenly she withdrew and gave what should have belonged to it to the other vine.

The poison thickened.

And when her touch finally reached one particularly tender part of it, everything reached its limit.

Desire split open its branches.

The poisoned sap burst forth.

Zeffi’s eyes flew open.

Under the light, his pale gray eyes looked like cold crystals.

His gaze drifted blankly to black hair swaying gently.

Then he saw its owner.

Her head tilted back.

Her pale face was flushed.

In the dim yellow light, amidst blood and damp night air, he saw her kissing another version of himself.

Her hand rested on that person’s head.

Yet the warmth was also on his own.

Even the pulling pain belonged to him.

Is that me?

If so, why was he seeing it from this perspective?

If it isn’t me, why does the pain feel so real?

Is he another me?

If so, why is he the one being kissed?

Having just returned from the brink of death, Zeffi couldn’t think clearly.

Instinct alone moved him.

He lifted his head with great effort.

His eyes followed the hand gripping his hair.

Then he raised his own hand and threaded his fingers through hers.

Look at me.

I’m here.

That was all he could think.

The next moment, he felt her fingers stiffen.

Then the imitation that had stolen her kiss was pushed away.

Zeffi saw dark, wet eyes staring back at him.

A cool face touched with confusion.

Moist lips.

Flushed cheeks.

Eyes still shimmering with emotion.

He parted his lips and tilted his head up.

But in the end, he closed his eyes again and slipped back into unconsciousness.

Li Siheng was still somewhat dazed.

Tears clung to the corners of his eyes.

His beautiful face, so similar to Zeffi’s yet more classically Eastern in appearance, remained hidden in the dim light.

Reluctantly, hungrily, he swallowed the lingering taste in his mouth.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Lin Zhiyan looked down in a daze.

One beautiful face below.

Another beside her.

Then she noticed the blood-stained white hair and the way her hand remained intertwined with Zeffi’s.

“Zeffi woke up just now.”

“Why is he holding your hand?”

Li Siheng frowned in disgust.

“That bastard was clearly trying to provoke me. Forcing me to transfer schools while making Ai—”

He quickly glanced at Lin Zhiyan and stopped talking.

She barely noticed.

Instead, she was sinking into despair because she had somehow become used to Li Siheng’s dark, poisonous personality.

Worse, when he acted like this, he was almost as dazzling as Zeffi.

Still, being pretty didn’t give him permission to ruin her plans.

“Looks like you’re fully awake now.”

Lin Zhiyan took a deep breath.

“Let’s go. There are people waiting outside. Tonight I’d like to save some time for sleep.”

Biting his lower lip, Li Siheng said,

“I grew up.”

“…Why are you redeeming the same reward twice?”

“That kiss just now was third-year level.”

His tongue brushed his lips.

“Now it’s university level.”

Then he added,

“And you kicked me. It hurt.”

Lin Zhiyan: “…”

No matter how handsome he was, being this clingy was a problem.

She ignored him.

Looking aggrieved, Li Siheng stood up.

The moment the door opened, security personnel and medical staff rushed inside.

Lin Zhiyan wiped away her sweat.

Her mood immediately improved.

At last.

Harvest time.

She had worked hard all night.

She already knew what reward she wanted.

One million credits.

Five hundred thousand would do too.

Even two hundred thousand was acceptable.

Though if she really got a million…

Couldn’t she just retire and stop studying and working altogether?

Lin Zhiyan fell into deep thought.

It was already late at night.

Aiwen had apparently been sent home.

Li Siheng and Zeffi—one standing, one on a stretcher—were taken away by doctors.

Fortunately, the Solent sisters knew how to treat guests.

The moment Lin Zhiyan stepped outside, a servant guided her to a luxurious guest room.

“Tonight’s situation is rather complicated, and Madam Solent will be occupied for quite some time,” the servant said with a smile. “Please rest here for now. Fresh clothes have been prepared, and we’ve already contacted your teachers regarding your schedule.”

Lin Zhiyan’s eyes lit up.

She knew exactly what that meant.

It counted as attendance.

And tomorrow she didn’t even have substitute teaching duties.

Perfect.

Relieved of all her worries, she showered and changed clothes.

Before going to sleep, she finished off half a cigarette and half a drink.

Then she turned off the lights and went to bed.

Heh heh.

One million!

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Female Body, Male Soul

DramaFemale ProtagonistGender Bender

Read Now →
Not interested