Cold Dependence - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Qi Wenxi always thought that even until the day she stepped into her grave, her life would still be as dark and stagnant as dead water.

Probably just

Alone, growing old in solitude.

Until she met that ferocious ancient creature with a gaping mouth revealing forty-eight sharp, jagged teeth, she always thought this way.

***

“Xixi, come to Mommy, the camera uncle is going to take our family portrait.”

“Mommy, I want Mommy to hold me.”

Qi Wenxi let the auntie fix her little dress, then reached out with a sweet, childish voice, wanting her dearest Mommy to hold her.

The elegant lady had to bend down to gently pick up little Wenxi, walking to her husband and the old man, holding tiny Wenxi in the middle.

“I have to say, the little princess of the Qi family is just too beautiful. Her smile is like a little angel, so photogenic.” The uncle holding the camera looked at little Wenxi in the lens, sincerely praising her.

“Grandpa loves Xixi the most.” The stern-looking old man sitting in the front center, hearing someone praise his little granddaughter, immediately beamed with joy, took little Wenxi from her mother’s arms, placed her in the middle, and asked the photographer to take another picture.

In short, tiny Wenxi was the pearl held in the palm of the Qi family, loved by everyone who saw her.

The printed photo was framed with an intricately carved border, hung on the family’s wall, with Grandpa, Daddy, Mommy, and her all smiling happily.

She had a family that made people very envious.

With parents who cherished her and a grandfather who doted on her, she was supposed to stay with them forever.

Until that photo, except for herself, everyone else gradually faded into black and white.

This sweet dream was suddenly as if burned by a great fire, becoming broken and incomplete, along with everything in her memory, all shattered into dust.

Daddy… Mommy… Grandpa… where are you…

Don’t leave me alone, please.

But no matter how desperately she called out, no one responded to her.

Around her was the pattering sound of rain, seeping through the window, dripping endlessly.

Inside the room

A woman with an extremely haggard face seemed to be drowning, struggling to breathe, her hands tightly gripping the edge of the bathtub.

Until she reached her breaking point, her body’s survival instinct made her sit up suddenly from the cold water, perhaps another thirty seconds, and she might have truly drowned in her own bathtub.

Qi Wenxi opened her unfocused eyes, looking around, her hollow gaze unsure where to settle.

Her body was cold, her skin purple from the icy water.

She had actually fallen asleep in the bathtub and had a sweet yet melancholic dream.

She wiped the tear stains from her face, got up from the cold water, took a nearby towel, and silently wiped the water droplets from her body, then quickly put on clothes, glancing at the wall clock and the calendar marked with symbols on the shelf.

The 23rd.

Her thoughts drifted far away because of this date, the bottles and jars of medicine on the table unable to soothe her suppressed heart.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

It rang for a long time, so she had to press the answer button.

“Wenxi, I’m already at the coffee shop across from Anyuan Road. Where are you?”

The voice on the other end was her aunt’s warm greeting.

Obviously, her somewhat muddled brain took a few seconds to realize what was happening.

A trace of weariness appeared on Qi Wenxi’s indifferent face, but after a moment, she answered the other’s question.

“I’m at home,” she replied.

“Okay, okay, no rush. It’s raining today, so take your time on the road. I’ll wait for you at the shop and treat you to coffee,” the woman said with a smile, then hung up.

“…”

Qi Wenxi stared at the disconnected phone. After a long time, she looked up at the rain outside the window.

The rain seemed to have no intention of stopping, and the only thing that could make her aunt go out early for a meeting on a rainy day was probably just one thing.

And it could only be that thing.

She irritably ran a hand across her forehead, sighing. In fact, that day she hadn’t agreed to meet or anything.

Fifteen minutes later—

In the coffee shop sat two women, one elegant and affluent, the other a young woman dressed simply and low-key, her face a bit pale.

“Wenxi, this is cosmetics that Yunrong sent back from abroad, specially for me to give to you.” The woman handed a beautifully packaged box to Qi Wenxi.

Qi Wenxi glanced at it but didn’t take it, instead calmly telling the other, “If you have something to say, just say it directly.”

At the same time, Qi Wenxi refused the drink menu handed by the waiter, clearly not wanting to stay long.

The woman saw this but didn’t say anything, instead smiling at the waiter and ordering two cups of Geisha coffee.

“Yes, ma’am,” the waiter nodded respectfully and left.

“It’s like this: a few days ago when I called you about something, you were teaching, so I hurried to meet you during your break since it’s convenient for you.”

It wasn’t a few days ago; it was yesterday. Her aunt called her while she was teaching, indirectly hinting at wanting money again.

“Recently, the economy hasn’t been good, and our family’s business has been affected. Some funds are still frozen and can’t be accessed, which you know. Yunhan has a girlfriend now, and they’re at the stage of getting engaged. The girl’s family is quite prominent. By the way, I’ll have Yunhan bring his girlfriend to meet you, his sister, sometime…”

The woman smiled, glanced at Qi Wenxi, and quickly added.

“And it’s like this: for the betrothal gifts, our side has to contribute a bit. It’s not much, but with everything added up, our family is short about one hundred fifty or sixty thousand yuan. Wenxi, can you lend some to your aunt now so Yunhan’s engagement can be settled? Otherwise, I’ll keep worrying.”

The elegant woman’s face was full of worry, anxiously looking at Qi Wenxi, pleading for her help.

Qi Wenxi stayed silent. She had already lent money to her aunt multiple times before, and she really didn’t want to continue this pattern of borrowing without repayment.

“Auntie, not mentioning the distant past, do you remember the eighty thousand you borrowed from me last time?” Qi Wenxi asked her.

“Wenxi, this time I really have no choice but to borrow from you again. If it weren’t for my useless son, how could I put aside my pride to ask you for money? Yunrong has sent money from abroad too,” the woman explained unhurriedly, knowing her niece couldn’t refuse her.

Because of the “curse” she carried.

They were Qi Wenxi’s only family left in this world.

Seeing Qi Wenxi remain silent, the woman continued pleading, “Xixi, as parents, we all want our children to be happy. It’s just a matter of that money. If Yunhan’s engagement falls through, I, as his mother, can’t get past this hurdle.”

Qi Wenxi looked, knowing full well that once the money was given, it would never come back, but… in the end, her heart softened.

She took out her bank card from her purse and placed it on the table.

“There’s twenty-two thousand in here,” Qi Wenxi told her aunt, meaning for her to take it and that this was all she could give.

The woman’s joy at seeing the bank card faded instantly when she heard the amount Qi Wenxi mentioned.

She was not at all satisfied with only getting twenty-two thousand from her.

“But this, this isn’t enough, Xixi, this isn’t nearly enough,” the woman said, her face troubled.

“This is all I can give you. I can’t afford more. You should know my fixed salary,” Qi Wenxi calmly refused.

“I know that, but didn’t your parents leave you money? And didn’t Grandpa transfer part of the inheritance to your name, including that villa? We all know about it. You don’t need that money now, so you should—”

The woman was about to continue reasoning, but the suddenly dark, gloomy look from the woman in front of her sent a chill down her spine, and she wisely shut her mouth.

She picked up the coffee in front of her to ease the atmosphere.

“Oh, Xixi, I was just being a bit blunt. Don’t take it to heart, no other meaning.”

“If you have nothing else, I’ll leave now.”

Qi Wenxi stood up to leave.

“Hey, Xixi, Wenxi… Qi Wenxi, stop right there!! I just said a few words, so what? Oh, now your wings are tough, huh? Don’t forget who took you in back then. If it weren’t for us, someone like you, a jinx, even an orphanage probably wouldn’t want you…”

The elegant coffee shop was filled with the woman’s hysterical shouting, loud enough to make other customers look up and stare at the woman in the aisle labeled a “jinx.”

Qi Wenxi swallowed hard, her lips tightly pressed, closing her eyes to hold back her emotions.

After a moment, she turned around and walked back to her aunt.

The woman, seeing Qi Wenxi suddenly return, was about to speak but felt uneasy under her gaze, instinctively looking away to avoid eye contact.

But in the end, Qi Wenxi didn’t do anything to her. She just took out some cash from her wallet, placed it next to the steaming coffee, and coldly told her selfish aunt, “I don’t owe you a cent. I don’t want to lend that twenty-two thousand anymore.”

With that, she decisively took back the bank card from the table.

The woman, seeing her so resolute, was so angry she couldn’t hold the coffee cup steady. The hot coffee accidentally spilled on her leg, scalding her, and she screamed immediately. Angrily staring at Qi Wenxi’s departing figure outside the window, she muttered under her breath.

“This damn girl, such bad luck!…”