Begging the Female Lead to Let Me, a Salted Fish, Go (GL) - Chapter 6
“Brother Zhang, I’ll go with her today. Oh, did you prepare the things I asked for…?”
Gong Zhi asked Zhang Shan, then took Shen Ying to the garage and drove out.
Shen Ying watched Gong Zhi yawn. The weather today was beautiful. Maybe because of yesterday’s heavy rain, the sky was as clear as if it had been washed, a blue so bright it was almost blinding.
Gong Zhi was clearly not used to it. She took out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, and her originally spirited and pretty face suddenly became cold and aloof.
Shen Ying looked at the skin that was so pale it was almost transparent. Her red lips were like red plums dotted on white snow. This look reminded her of the spoiled, meticulously raised little princess from her memories, the kind of person everyone unconsciously bowed down to.
Because she was inherently favored by the world.
She was the light bestowed by God, but light is also hot and can seriously burn people.
Shen Ying closed her eyes, as if she had been burned.
“What are you looking at me for?” Gong Zhi asked, a curve in her red lips. “Do you think I’m pretty?”
Shen Ying turned away, saying nothing.
Gong Zhi didn’t seem to mind. She pressed down a little harder on the gas pedal, driving the steady business car as if it were a sports car. Indeed, a business car wasn’t suitable for a princess. She would always reveal her original personality in small details.
Perhaps she’s like me. She’s also been reborn.
Shen Ying curved her lips. She wanted to see what this little princess was trying to do by going to such lengths to change Shen Ying’s fate.
“Yes,” Shen Ying said, playing along with Gong Zhi’s words. “You are indeed, stunningly beautiful.”
[Darkness meter: 93]
Gong Zhi: …
She poked the “playing dead” system in her mind: [Your world’s female lead is a bit petty, isn’t she? Can’t someone else be more beautiful or better looking than her? Her darkness meter goes up just for being called pretty?]
The system didn’t know the reason. It tried to comfort Gong Zhi: [Host, this is not my world; this is your world. We are just world repairmen.]
Gong Zhi felt like she was talking to a wall: [Alright, shut up and turn on the GPS. You’re not good for anything else anyway.]
The system, having no other use and forced into the role of a tool, let out a sad whimper and dutifully became the GPS.
With the system’s intelligent guidance, Gong Zhi expertly avoided traffic and arrived at the hospital. She glanced at Shen Ying. “I’m going to park. You go up first. Text me when you get there…” Gong Zhi paused, a bit hesitant, and then added, “If you don’t want to, I can wait for you down here.”
Shen Ying shook her head. “We’re going to be in contact a lot in the future. It’s better for my mom to see you early and have some peace of mind.”
Gong Zhi nodded, noncommittally. “Okay, text me when you arrive.”
Then, Shen Ying looked at Gong Zhi with a serious expression. “I have a question. I never told you which hospital, so how did you know?”
Gong Zhi froze. She had become so used to using the system that she hadn’t considered this.
She stiffly turned her head to look at Shen Ying, her face expressionless as she spouted nonsense. “Since you signed a contract, I had to have someone look into you… Right, my assistant already looked up your information and sent it to me this morning.”
“That was very fast,” Shen Ying smiled, not questioning further.
“You’re a student at A University’s School of Economics and Management, you were the top scorer in the province on your college entrance exams, and this year, your core subject scores were…” While talking, Gong Zhi frantically poked the system, reciting the information it had found, afraid that Shen Ying wouldn’t believe her.
Shen Ying listened quietly, a thoughtful look on her face, before finally giving a meaningful smile. “The boss has a great memory, to remember my information so well. I almost thought the boss had some interest in me and was paying too much attention.”
I miscalculated!
Including her previous life, Gong Zhi was over forty years old. She had never felt so embarrassed. She felt like she was going to claw a hole through the floor of the car. Luckily, she was wearing sunglasses, so her expression couldn’t be seen.
She replied calmly, “Of course. You’re the first person I’ve personally signed, so it’s only right to pay extra attention.”
Shen Ying nodded. “Then I’m grateful for the boss’s high regard.”
With that, she opened the car door and walked away. Gong Zhi leaned her head out the window and called after her, “There’s a fruit basket in the back of the car. Take it with you.”
Shen Ying looked back at Gong Zhi with a puzzled expression but took the full, high-quality, and expensive-looking fruit basket as instructed.
Gong Zhi watched Shen Ying disappear before slamming her forehead against the steering wheel a few times. “That was so embarrassing!”
[Host, you spoke very well and perfectly,] the system said, foolishly comforting Gong Zhi. [You didn’t get a single piece of data wrong.]
“What kind of human can say things so accurately right off the bat?! It’s not like I’m using a USB to copy and paste memories,” Gong Zhi whined, covering her face. “I can never show my face again.”
From behind a wall, Shen Ying quietly pulled her head back. She saw Gong Zhi hitting her forehead and covering her face and couldn’t help but laugh softly.
She then touched her mouth, making her lips into a straight line, and walked up with the fruit basket. No matter what Gong Zhi thought, she was indeed paying an excessive amount of attention to Shen Ying. Why else would she remember her grades so clearly?
As for Gong Zhi’s motive…
Shen Ying lowered her eyes. In her previous life, Gong Zhi was a spoiled fool—naive, stupid, malicious, and cruel.
In this life, she seemed to have changed a lot and had some hidden agenda concerning Shen Ying. But for now, Shen Ying thought, Gong Zhi could provide money and protection, something Gong Yi couldn’t. Following Gong Zhi was a much better option than following Gong Yi. At a time when she was at her weakest, temporarily allying with Gong Zhi seemed like the best choice.
Shen Ying thought deeply as she made her way up.
Hospitals are always filled with the smell of disinfectant.
The roads in her memory were once blurry, but Shen Ying found she still knew them so well that she could recall every turn even with her eyes closed.
Shen Ying’s steps became slower. Images flashed before her eyes. Sometimes it was the memory of her mother’s haggard but lively smile from the day before. Other times, it was the memory from her past life of her mother’s gray, lifeless, and withered face.
The two images constantly shifted before her. Shen Ying didn’t even dare to move forward, afraid that everything she was seeing was just a hallucination, a dream.
“Xiao Shen, you’re here. Are you here to see your mother again?”
A nurse walked toward her and smiled. Shen Ying smiled back and whispered, “My mom… how is she doing?”
“The patient’s vitals are stable, and she’s in good spirits today,” the nurse said. She walked over to Shen Ying and, seeing her overly thin and pale face, felt a pang of pity. She lowered her voice. “Xiao Shen… I heard from the head nurse that the medical and hospitalization fees… they can’t be delayed any longer…”
She looked at Shen Ying with concern, seeing her look a bit dazed. She was very worried. They all liked this kind, filial girl. Shen Ying always carried a deep sense of fatigue, only forcing herself to be cheerful when she was with her mother.
Nurses in hospitals saw many people like this. To pay for expensive medical care, they would work themselves to death, earning every penny, but they were afraid of worrying their loved ones, so they had to smile and endure their negative emotions.
Many people, unable to bear this physical and mental torture, chose to run away, giving up on themselves or… on their family members.
But this girl in her early twenties had endured it all. They watched her get thinner and her dark circles get darker, yet she always smiled.
They had even secretly helped with a donation. Shen Ying had tearfully written down everyone’s names, contact information, and the money they donated. The young nurse still remembered the girl bowing deeply to them and saying, “Thank you, I’ll definitely repay you all.”
But human help was limited, and a hospital was not a charity.
Shen Ying looked at the nurse’s worried eyes and lowered her eyes. “It’s alright. I’ll pay off all the outstanding fees today. Don’t worry… thank you.”
As she said this, her voice choked up. She remembered this nurse. She had donated a whole month’s salary to her. And in the end, when her mother passed away, it was this nurse who helped her, who was on the verge of a breakdown, handle her mother’s funeral arrangements.
The young nurse was surprised. The outstanding fees weren’t a small amount. Just yesterday, she had seen the girl looking so worried, but now…
She looked at Shen Ying’s face, which was still very pretty despite the hardships, and at the obviously expensive fruit basket in her arms. A thought suddenly crossed her mind. “You… you have a great future ahead of you. Don’t do anything foolish!”
Shen Ying smiled, tears welling up in her eyes, but she held them back. “No, I won’t do anything foolish. I just…” She sniffled and looked up at the ceiling, holding back her tears. “I just… met a kind person. Once I graduate, I’ll work for her and pay her back.”
The young nurse, remembering that Shen Ying was a top student from A University, felt a sense of relief, though still half-believing. “Oh, that’s good.”
“Then I’ll go in now,” Shen Ying said, gesturing toward the room.
The young nurse quickly stepped aside.
Shen Ying stared at the door. She took a deep breath and pushed it open.
There was a glass pane in the door that reflected the sunlight outside. In that moment, it was as if she was walking into the light.
“Mom, I’m here to see you.”
[Darkness meter: 89]
The system timidly poked its head out: [Why did the female lead’s darkness meter drop? Did something good happen?]
Gong Zhi let out a little chuckle. She felt a tickle in her nose, so she sniffled and took a sip of her goji berry tea. [She saw her mom. How could she not be happy?]