Copycat - Chapter 21
Chapter 21
◎Escape◎
Zhou Ziyan grabbed her bag and turned to leave. Wen Jiao yanked out the needle from her left hand and rushed after her barefoot, grabbing her arm. “Ziyan.”
She stopped in her tracks. Wen Jiao said in a low voice, “Let me explain. That’s not what I meant.”
“I’m just afraid… that I’m no longer capable of giving you the life you used to have.”
The two of them stood frozen in that posture—one ahead, one behind—for over ten seconds. Zhou Ziyan turned around angrily. “What kind of life are you talking about? Isn’t it just waking up, eating, and sleeping? It’s not like I can’t work. Do you think I’m some kind of parasitic dodder plant that can only live by absorbing nutrients from you?”
“I’ve never thought of you that way,” Wen Jiao replied in a deep voice.
“But that’s exactly what you’re thinking! And also, you still have half a bottle of antibiotics you haven’t finished! Can you please care about your health a little?!”
Wen Jiao was momentarily stunned, then suddenly smiled and slowly released her trembling fingers from Zhou Ziyan’s arm.
Zhou Ziyan crossed her arms, her face still showing traces of anger.
Wen Jiao quietly looked at her and suddenly said, “I’m sorry.”
Since they met, this was the first time Wen Jiao had seriously apologized to her.
Zhou Ziyan froze for a moment, pursed her lips slightly, and her tone softened. “Don’t say such foolish things again in the future.”
“If you ever think that way again, I will leave you and go to a place you’ll never find me.”
Zhou Ziyan threatened fiercely, trying to look tough. “So you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
Wen Jiao raised four fingers, swearing she’d never do it again. Zhou Ziyan sighed and set her bag down. “You haven’t finished today’s IV yet. I’ll go get the nurse on duty to put the needle back in.”
“Wait,” Wen Jiao said. Zhou Ziyan looked at her, puzzled. “What?”
“Let me borrow the hair clip on your head.”
In the high-end VIP ward, it was so quiet you could hear the faint sound of medicine dripping into a vein.
The nurse, clutching her stomach, rushed back from the restroom. When she saw the lump under the white blanket on the bed and the IV still dripping, her tense heart finally relaxed and she let out a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, Miss Wen hadn’t woken up.
After the surgery, General Manager Ren had specifically instructed them to keep a close watch on Miss Wen. No discharge was allowed without his permission.
In addition, GM Ren had told them to lock away the patient’s personal belongings, including her cellphone and other communication devices.
Luckily, nothing happened during her shift and the patient hadn’t run off. The nurse assigned to monitor her let out a breath and sat at a distance from the bed, keeping an eye on the IV level. When she noticed the drip was going too fast, she walked toward the bed.
After a few steps, she adjusted the purple controller to slow the drip speed.
Her movements were a bit too strong. The plastic tube swayed slightly with her hand, and the needle seemed to shift a bit.
The nurse paused, growing suspicious. She tested, “Miss Wen?”
No response.
Remembering GM Ren’s instructions, she quickly pulled back the blanket. Underneath—no one. Only a spare blanket of the same color.
The blanket had been intentionally rolled into a long, human-like shape to buy time.
She quickly pulled out a note from her pocket—the one left by the head nurse—and dialed the number written on it.
The call connected almost immediately.
“GM Ren, Miss Wen is gone.”
Following the instructions from the voice on the phone, the nurse looked toward the cabinet and saw the broken lock. Her tone turned grim. “…The lock’s been pried open too.”
On a snowy night, with the cold wind howling, two figures walked hand in hand across the snow-covered ground. Snowflakes swirled down from the sky, melting into cold droplets as they touched the warmth of their cheeks.
Look closely and you’d see frost gathering on their eyelashes.
Zhou Ziyan blinked with difficulty, her cheeks flushed red beneath the scarf from the freezing wind. She leaned closer to her girlfriend’s ear and asked, “How much farther?”
Wen Jiao pointed to a sign not far away, partially hidden in an alley—completely inconspicuous.
As they pushed open the door of the inn, a wave of warm air hit them. The narrow hallway had a front desk on the right, where a plump woman sat staring at her phone. She glanced up when the door opened. “Staying here?”
The lighting inside was dim, the floor worn and dusty. To the west was a mahjong room. The east side was unclear—door locked tight but lights on and occasional voices heard from within.
The boss lady wasn’t exactly polite. As soon as the two girls entered, cheers and clattering tiles echoed from the next room.
Zhou Ziyan shrank back timidly behind Wen Jiao. Wen Jiao squeezed her hand tightly in reassurance and pulled out two red banknotes from her wallet, speaking like a regular: “We need a room.”
The boss lady turned on an old desktop computer. “Only one room left—king-sized bed. Fifty per night. Deposit, one hundred. There’s hot water and Wi-Fi.”
“Both of your IDs, please.”
“We left in a hurry, didn’t bring our IDs,” Wen Jiao said calmly. The previously indifferent boss lady finally raised her eyes and scrutinized the two girls standing in front of her.
The one speaking wore off-brand clothes, her lips pale—clearly unwell. The other clutched a suitcase and hid behind her companion, peeking out with one eye, looking shy and anxious.
They were both rather good-looking.
The boss lady closed the registration page, crossed her arms, and lowered her chin. “No ID, no room.”
Zhou Ziyan tugged at Wen Jiao’s sleeve, worry written all over her face. They’d passed many inns on the way. This was the last one in a ten-kilometer radius. If they failed here, they’d have to sleep on the street.
To avoid being tracked by Ren Jinggen’s people, they had shut off their phones and couldn’t use their IDs. They had walked the entire way, searching for a place that didn’t require registration. Wen Jiao patted her girlfriend reassuringly and silently placed another red bill on the counter. The boss raised a brow.
Two bills.
Three…
……
“Just one night,” the boss lady finally said. She pulled out a stack of IDs from the drawer, picked two at random, scanned them for check-in, and used photos for facial recognition. “Room 104. That’s our best one.”
She handed the key card to Wen Jiao, who passed it to Zhou Ziyan and said gently, “You go in first.”
Zhou Ziyan nodded and dragged their suitcase down the dark, narrow hallway. Only when the door closing sound echoed did Wen Jiao look back toward the front desk.
The boss lit a cigarette. Smoke quickly filled the cramped space, stinging the nose. Wen Jiao remained calm and placed more money on the desk.
This time, it wasn’t bill by bill—but stack after stack.
The boss squinted dangerously, exhaling a puff of smoke. “What do you want?”
She was over forty, had run in rough circles in her youth, a phoenix tattoo spreading across her right arm. Now slightly overweight, but her eyes were still sharp.
Wen Jiao’s gaze landed on the open drawer—her intentions clear.
The boss flicked her ash and was about to ask what trouble this girl had gotten into when she paused—meeting those calm, cold eyes.
“You don’t look like someone who’d get in trouble,” she muttered.
In her youth, the boss had seen all kinds of people—she had a sharp eye.
But she only said half of what she was thinking.
This girl didn’t look like the type to cause trouble. But if she did, it’d surely be something serious enough to shake a city.
Wen Jiao stared at her, silent.
After a moment, she slowly said, “You don’t dare to do business with me?”
The boss was stunned, then burst out laughing. “Big mouth for someone so young.”
She took a drag of her cigarette and exhaled a ribbon of smoke. “Don’t be fooled by how cautious I am now—when I was young, I was wild. Back then I was just as pretty as you, and the guys chasing me could line up from East Gate to West Gate…”
Wen Jiao listened quietly through the swirling smoke.
After a brief trip down memory lane, they returned to the topic.
The boss snuffed out her cigarette and grew serious. “Little girl, it’s not that I don’t dare to do business with you—it’s that I don’t need to. Judging by how you two talk and carry yourselves, you’re likely from well-off families. I don’t know what trouble you’re in or why you insist on staying at a shady inn like mine. Stay if you must, but it’s best not to get involved in anything shady.”
Wen Jiao frowned slightly. The boss waved dismissively. “I won’t argue with you. It’s late. I’m closed for business. Talk to your friend. If you really need something, come back at 9 a.m. tomorrow.”
She picked out one 50-yuan bill from the pile and pushed the rest back. “This is the regular rate for one night. Keep the rest.”
“If you really need me, I’ll do business with you.”
“Thank you.”
Wen Jiao accepted the kindness.
Though the boss lady claimed this was the best room in the inn, it was barely ten square meters. Just enough for a shower, sleep, and internet.
Wen Jiao opened the door. Zhou Ziyan had already changed into pajamas. She was squatting on the floor, cheerfully humming a tune. Her light green camisole just barely covered her hips.
Her swan-like neck tilted forward slightly, and from the doorway Wen Jiao could see her hands. She had applied fake nails—beautiful but a little long—so her movements were slightly clumsy as she folded clothes from their suitcase.
No-label jeans, casually stitched sweaters, obviously fake snow boots—nothing matched the appearance of a delicate girl who had never done manual labor.
Sensing the door open, Zhou Ziyan looked up. When she saw it was Wen Jiao, her eyes lit up. “Wen Jiao!”
“You’re back!”
She raised her hand with the sweater still in it. The loose threads got caught on the rhinestones of her nails. Zhou Ziyan struggled to free herself, then waved excitedly at the girl standing in the doorway—completely carefree.
Wen Jiao’s eyes dimmed. She walked over and took her hand. “Stop folding. Toss all of this. We’ll buy new clothes at the mall tomorrow.”
“Huh?” Zhou Ziyan blinked.
“Aren’t we going back to K County tomorrow?”
“No rush. Go shower first.”
“I’ll head out for a while after. I’ll be back later tonight.”
“Okay.” Zhou Ziyan nodded. She trusted Wen Jiao’s plans. She never questioned them. She just needed to follow—like always.
The bathroom curtain was drawn. Wen Jiao silently hung a clean towel on the door handle. Only after hearing the sound of water did she put on her bag and leave.
Zhou Ziyan couldn’t turn on her phone, and the inn had no computer. Bored, she stared out the window at the snow. But it quickly grew dull, so she started tidying up their luggage again.
The bed looked clean, but she couldn’t get comfortable lying in it. So she sat on a chair and leaned against the table, waiting for Wen Jiao to return. She unknowingly fell asleep.
Late at night, the inn’s door creaked open. A figure, covered in snow and cold air, returned. In the darkness, a dim yellow light glowed inside a small room, waiting for her.
Wen Jiao quietly closed the door. Zhou Ziyan was facing her, fast asleep at the table. As she walked closer, she could even hear her slow, even breathing.
Wen Jiao set down her bag, lowered her gaze, and looked at her girlfriend’s allergy-red calves, then the rough texture of the bed sheets.
She pulled a clean blanket and a new pillow from her bag. The coral fleece blanket was icy cold from the freezing air, so she went into the bathroom and used the hairdryer to warm it up before laying it over the mattress.
The girl asleep at the table didn’t stir. Wen Jiao gently picked her up and placed her on the side of the bed closest to the heater, wrapping the blanket around her curled-up body.
Her beautiful lashes trembled slightly, but soon she fell back into deep sleep.
In her dream, she was walking on hard, icy ground for a long time when she suddenly slipped and fell into a cave.
When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by a warm yellow glow. A burning campfire lit up the pitch-black cave. The cave’s native was a talking bear—adorable-looking, though with a cold expression—who questioned why she had intruded.
Zhou Ziyan hesitated, then said, “I was about to freeze to death. Can you let me stay for a while?”
The bear looked indifferent, but was actually quite easygoing. It snorted but ultimately didn’t drive her away.
Even with the campfire, the winter cold was too much for a human. Her eyes lingered on the bear’s seemingly warm fur. She said again, “Little bear, I’m really cold. Can I hug you?”
She walked over on her own. The large bear, reluctantly, let her hug it.
Exhaustion surged from deep within her body to her eyelids. She closed her eyes. Half-dreaming, half-awake, the little bear gently hugged her back, wrapping her small figure in its warm fur and shielding her from the invading cold.
On this lonely icy island, the girl and the bear fell asleep in each other’s arms.
Sunlight streamed in, shining on the two embracing figures. Wen Jiao opened her eyes. Her girlfriend was still sound asleep. She leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead—cool lips, a brief touch—both precious and restrained.
The girl was wrapped in a warm blanket, curled up on the pillow. Her small face was pale but flushed, sleeping soundly and motionless through the night.
Wen Jiao stared at her lover’s sleeping face, lost in thought.
She had once imagined she might fall in love someday, but after witnessing her sister Wen Yilian and Ren Jingheng’s divorce, and enduring endless arguments, she had eliminated love from her life plan.
Never did she expect someone would barge into her well-ordered life so recklessly.
According to her original plan, she would graduate college and join an investment bank to become a finance professional. After earning enough money, she would leave City A and move to a mild, spring-like town, sponsoring underprivileged girls who couldn’t afford education, writing code quietly, and living out the rest of her days alone.
Her fingers brushed the girl’s soft hair, tucking the strands away from her eyes. Her gaze was softer than ever.
Her plan had been disrupted—but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. In the second half of her life, she would have someone to accompany her and live together in that beautiful little town.
B Province, Commercial Tower.
Zhou Ziyan held Wen Jiao’s hand cautiously, checking the surroundings to make sure no one was looking for them, and the two of them entered the luxurious commercial tower.
Seeing familiar brand logos and the bustling crowd, Zhou Ziyan was a little surprised.
B Province was inland and not as developed as the coastal City A, but the provincial capital’s economy was not bad. Many nationally recognized corporations had been founded here from scratch.
“Wanna check that place out?” Wen Jiao pointed to the luxury section in the center. Zhou Ziyan pursed her lips, afraid of hurting her girlfriend’s pride. She gently said, “I don’t really like luxury goods—they’re kind of wasteful.”
Wen Jiao: “…”
Zhou Ziyan then earnestly began criticizing the evils of consumerism. Wen Jiao listened in silence for a while, and finally, as her words got more far-fetched, she unzipped her backpack and held it up in front of her.
The bag was full of cash.
Zhou Ziyan’s eyes widened: “When did we get this much money?!”
Wen Jiao calmly held her hand and led her toward the luxury store. Zhou Ziyan’s eyes lit up when she saw the new clothes and bags inside, but she awkwardly cleared her throat, remembering what she had just said. Wen Jiao chuckled and said, “Last night.”
Zhou Ziyan whispered, “You used the bank card. Won’t your father find out?”
“He won’t.”
The two entered a store. A professionally dressed sales associate quickly approached. But after looking Zhou Ziyan up and down, she rolled her eyes and turned to her coworkers inside: “Not taking this one. Someone else can if they want.”
Zhou Ziyan frowned, her hand pausing on a fabric. She rarely shopped in this brand’s physical stores—her wealthy friends thought it was too mainstream. Besides, every time new items were released, the brand would send them directly to her house.
“Let’s go,” Zhou Ziyan tugged Wen Jiao’s hand, wanting to leave. But Wen Jiao tightened her grip and shook her head.
“You,” Wen Jiao pointed at the most inexperienced-looking girl inside, “help us.”
The intern was stunned but quickly came over, smiling warmly: “Hello! You’re looking for show pieces, right? We just got some in from last month’s Dior show. Feel free to try anything you like.”
Wen Jiao and Zhou Ziyan followed her inside. The saleswoman who first approached clicked her tongue and mocked, “Figures. Newbies have no sense. No wonder she hasn’t made a single sale since joining.”
The intern smiled awkwardly, pretending not to hear, and continued enthusiastically introducing the new collection.
Zhou Ziyan’s eyes lit up when she saw a cold-brown cashmere coat. The intern quickly said, “Great eye, miss! That’s the finale piece from this year’s Dior show. The cold brown really suits your skin tone. Would you like to try it on?”
Zhou Ziyan nodded. The intern helped her put it on and squatted to fasten the black leather belt at the waist.
The belt emphasized her slim waist, and the cold brown made her skin look even fairer—elegant and feminine.
The intern’s eyes sparkled.
Even though she was wearing plain brown loafers, Zhou Ziyan still looked stunning.
The intern fetched a pair of black knee-high boots, and once paired, the whole outfit exuded noble elegance. She sincerely said, “Miss, this outfit is perfect for you.”
Zhou Ziyan admired herself in the mirror and then walked over to her girlfriend, holding her hand. “Don’t I look good?”
Wen Jiao gently squeezed her hand as Zhou Ziyan circled her, playfully asking, “Pretty or not~?”
Wen Jiao chuckled softly, “Very pretty.”
They tried on more outfits. Zhou Ziyan had a naturally balanced figure—everything looked good on her. She radiated confidence and energy, proving the eternal truth: women never get tired of shopping.
The earlier saleswoman sneered, “What’s the use of looking good if you can’t afford it? Don’t even check the prices, just try things on. Xiao Li, get the ladies some water—at least they’ll leave full from that.”
The intern took the clothes back with a forced smile, about to return them to the racks.
“Wrap them up.”
The intern froze and looked up.
The two customers were dressed plainly, with no jewelry. Aside from their exquisite faces and tall builds, they didn’t look like people who could afford exclusive runway items.
She thought she’d misheard and leaned in: “Sorry, miss—what did you say?”
Wen Jiao pointed to all the items Zhou Ziyan had tried on: “Wrap everything up. Have them delivered to the hotel I specify.”
The intern’s eyes lit up, and she hurried to pack the items.
After payment, she looked at them as if they were saviors.
At the entrance, Wen Jiao passed the rude saleswoman. She looked at the woman’s nervous eyes and asked calmly, “What’s your employee ID? How long have you worked here?”
“Do you treat every customer like this?”
The saleswoman’s face turned red as she glanced bitterly at the intern, who had done in one day what she couldn’t do in months.
Zhou Ziyan tugged Wen Jiao’s sleeve. Wen Jiao turned and saw her shaking her head. She gave up on lodging a complaint and left without saying more.
Dressed in their new clothes, the two attracted many glances. They passed a piano on the first floor, and Zhou Ziyan cheerfully played a tune while Wen Jiao used her new camera to take pictures.
By the time most of the cash in the bag was gone, they had nearly visited every store.
Carrying several shopping bags, they sat on the outdoor lounge chairs in front of a milk tea shop, sipping warm red date tea.
Snow fluttered down. Red lanterns swayed in the cold wind. People hurried by, carrying New Year’s goods.
Zhou Ziyan looked a bit down.
Wen Jiao noticed and clinked her cup with hers. “What’s wrong? Not happy?”
Zhou Ziyan shook her head. “I’m not unhappy. I just realized something.”
Wen Jiao looked at her. “What is it?”
Zhou Ziyan gave her a helpless smile: “Nothing, let’s go back.”