I Am The Third Party (GL) - Chapter 37

I don’t know when consciousness slowly returned.

My eyes narrowed, then slowly opened.

Clear sunlight.

And…

huh?

Why does it smell like sea breeze?

My consciousness gradually cleared, and I saw snow-white gauze curtains overhead. The four thin pillars of the large bed were tied with apricot tassels.

Black and white landscape sketches covered the walls, and a bouquet of white lilies stood in a polychrome porcelain vase on the birchwood table.

The door gently opened, and a blonde maid walked in, carrying a stack of clean laundry. She started at the sight of me, then called out in delight.

But she spoke in a foreign language I couldn’t understand.

A moment later, a woman in a snow-white dress entered.

She sat down beside the bed and gently stroked my cheek, her fingertips feeling slightly cool.

I saw a pure white ribbon tied around her wrist.

Asta.

I closed my eyes.

Xiao Xuewu…

“Xiao Yu, you’re awake.” Her voice was soft, but filled with joy.

I closed my eyes and said nothing.

She was silent for a while, then asked me, “You are worried about Qi Xi, right?”

I nodded.

I heard her sigh lightly, “She is lucky and escaped.”

I curled my lips, then returned to normal, closing my eyes and ignoring her.

She was silent, and after a while she asked the maid to push a wheelchair, carried me to the wheelchair, and pushed me out.

It was sunny outside, and the fishy smell of the sea breeze hit me in the face.

Xiao Xuewu covered me with a blanket and pushed me slowly on the beach.

“Where is this?” I looked blankly at the blue ocean not far away.

Once, I also stood on an ocean, but I took only one step forward and fell into a deep blue hole, and there was no way back. I was like this, and so was Xiao Xuewu. “Helsinki, the capital of Finland.” So that’s how

I was , I had arrived at her base camp. Xiao Xuewu smiled and said to me, “You’ve been lying down for so long. Let me take you out for some fresh air before we eat, okay?” I lowered my eyes, answering a question that didn’t seem to be relevant. “Will Qi Xi be okay?” She paused for a moment, then said, “She’ll be fine.” “Where’s Yan Sinan?” She walked over to me, squatted down, and took my hand. “Xiao Yu, that’s her fate.” Fate? What is fate? And what is my fate? Haha, no matter what happens, they always say it’s fate. 

I breathed a long sigh of relief at the sea beneath the blue sky. “Okay.” —————- Xiao Xuewu was very rich. 

Her wealth was beyond my comprehension. We ate with Enola’s glassware and sat on Altech’s birch sofas. She put on the necklace she had given me in the VR greenhouse garden again. It was a Kalevala necklace with an eagle engraved on it. 

As Xiao Xuewu put the necklace on my finger, she said, “Xiao Yu, I hope you’ll be happy and as free as an eagle.” I looked up at the sky. Freedom? Haha. I’m afraid I’ll never have that in this lifetime. Xiao Xuewu was very good to me. She made all sorts of pastries for me, including Karelian pies. I then realized that Breeze in City A was also her property. 

She took me to the South Pier Square to watch sailors unload crates of mackerel from the boats and salt them. In a small shop nearby, tapestries hung, and a cloth spread on the floor was filled with ceramic jars and clay figurines.

A freckled young man was wielding a Finnish knife to attract customers. Xiao Xuewu pulled me to the other end of the square and pointed to a bronze statue of a young girl in the distance. “That’s Amanda,” she said. I stared blankly in the direction she pointed. A group of children were playing around the statue. 

Xiao Xuewu added, “There’s a University Student Hat Festival here on April 30th. It’s really lively. You’ll definitely enjoy it.” “Hmm…” I nodded woodenly, and she led me away again. A few days before Christmas, we went to Kairo Island in Nantari, where there’s a theme park called “Dream Valley.” I don’t watch many cartoons, and “The Fatty Family” is one of them. 

I still remember my particular fondness for the plump, hippo-like Moomins and the lonely fisherman. “Come, pet them,” Xiao Xuewu said with a smile, taking my hand and placing it on the Moomin doll’s belly.

The puppeteer waved at me friendly, then patted her own chubby belly. Seeing the Moomins’ adorable face, I couldn’t help but smile. “Xiao Yu,” Xiao Xuewu pursed her lips, looking deeply at me, “you’re finally smiling.” I lowered my head, saying nothing, only gently shaking my head. “It’s okay.

Just remember, I’ll always be good to you.” Really? I turned to look at the castle perched on the distant hill. Perhaps. I’d long lost the ability to judge what was good and what was bad, what was right and what was wrong. Every June, Xiao Xuewu took me to the island of Seurat for the Midsummer Festival. 

We’d take a boat, and from afar we could see the golden pillars draped with garlands. The massive windmill atop them whirred, its weather vane swaying from side to side. Walking down the forest path, we were surrounded by a variety of handicraft workshops. 

There were old ladies spinning flax with spindles, and aunties wrapping bread dough with mackerel. A young man crouched nearby, weaving small animals with straw. Xiao Xuewu bought me a sleeveless dress with colorful vertical stripes, saying there would be a bonfire wedding that evening, and I needed to wear Finnish folk costumes for dancing. At the ceremony, the groom crowned the bride with a pomegranate wreath. 

The orange-red light of the bonfire danced on Xiao Xuewu’s fair face. She said to me, “Xiao Yu, I hope you’re happy.” “Yes,” I nodded, lowered my head, and said nothing. Am I happy? Perhaps. I can’t count how many years have passed, but I only know that this month’s fifteenth is my thirty-third birthday. Xiao Xuewu climbed a ladder and removed the top tier from the thirty-three-tier cake. She held it in front of me and smiled softly, “Xiao Yu, happy birthday.” I smiled faintly and stepped forward to blow out the candles. 

Xiao Xuewu came over and kissed me on the cheek. “May the Lord be with you, my fairy,” she asked. “Where do you want to go today?”

I thought for a moment and said, “Two years ago, it was the library?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Last year, it was the aquarium?”

“That’s right.”

“Then let’s go to the botanical garden today.”

Xiao Xuewu smiled, hugged me, and stroked my hair. “Okay.”

At that moment, I probably never imagined that this would be the final turning point in my life.

It cost me the expensive and comfortable life every woman desires, and the freedom I had bought at the cost of Xiao Xuewu…

—————–

The greenhouse at the botanical garden was filled with a variety of flowers, including lovely little raspberries.

The temperature was perfect, and the roses were blooming beautifully.

I was looking up at the tallest fir tree in the garden, its branches reaching into the sky, its branches spreading out in a boundless green.

Suddenly, I spotted a small bird’s nest in a bush.

My heart warmed, and I wanted to take a picture of it.

But Xiao Xuewu was holding her DSLR.

I turned, and my waist-length curly hair and floral dress flew up, drawing a graceful arc in the air.

“Asta, look, there’s a…”

My eyes fell on the tall, dark figure beside Xiao Xuewu.

A leaf had fallen.

Qi Xi was still so arrogant, so insolent.

Except for the dull look in her eyes when she looked at me.

That look was stupid.

I walked over slowly, stopped beside Xiao Xuewu, stood on tiptoe and gently kissed the corner of her mouth.

“Xuewu, give me the SLR, I want to take a picture of the bird’s nest in the book.” I raised my hand and pointed at the tall giant redwood.

The surprise in Xiao Xuewu’s eyes disappeared in an instant. She casually took out the camera and handed it to me, put her arm around my waist, and smiled at me dotingly, “Here you go.”

I pursed my lips and lowered my head, holding the camera and walked over to Qi Xi, smiling faintly, “Long time no see, Miss Qi.”

“Xianyu–” Qi Xi stretched out her hand and tried to grab me like crazy.

I hurriedly jumped forward two steps, “Sorry, I need to take a picture now, please go back quickly.”

“Xianyu, listen to me, I know you didn’t do that, come back with me.” She wanted to run up to catch me, but was stopped by Xiao Xuewu.

Xiao Xuewu called for someone to come, and several tall bodyguards came out and restrained Qi Xi.

I raised my camera and pointed it at the Bird’s Nest. “Xuewu, you’ll let Miss Qi go home, right?”

Xiao Xuewu’s lips curled. “Of course. Xiaoyu, just focus on taking pictures.”

I smiled. “I’ve taken note of your promise.”

“Yes.”

I clicked the shutter button.

Qi Xi, hurry up, leave Finland, and return to China.

That’s all I can do…

Unfortunately, I underestimated Xiao Xuewu.

One night, I was awakened by a nightmare. Xiao Xuewu wasn’t in bed.

Where had she gone?

I searched the vast house for her, finally finding a faint glow in the basement where the wine was stored.

The veins in my forehead began to throb, the taste of bl00d filled my mouth, and a sharp pain washed over me.

Following the faint light, I slowly made my way down to the basement, finding the source of the light behind the moved wine rack.

A small door in the wall stood open, and the sour, reeking smell of bl00d wafted from within.

Xiao Xuewu, wearing the silk nightgown she’d worn to bed and a bathrobe, stood with her back to me.

There seemed to be someone across from her.

There was a rustling sound of iron colliding, and I recognized it as the sound of chains and handcuffs clashing.

“Asta,” I called softly.

The iron in the secret room clanged, and the man was struggling.

“Xiao Yu?” Xiao Xuewu’s body stiffened, and she immediately put her arm around my shoulders and led me out. “Why are you here? Go back to bed and lie down. What if you catch a cold?”

Clank, clank, the iron clashed even louder.

“Who is that?” I asked.

She hurried to get me out. “It’s someone unimportant. You don’t recognize him.”

I smiled and said, “Oh.”

The next second, I bent down, slipped under her shoulder, and ran into the secret room.

In the dim light, I saw the person tied to the wall, and tears streamed down my face.

How could someone who once smelled so good now be covered in rottenness and bl00d?

I didn’t care about the bl00d stains and pungent odor on her body and held her tightly in my arms.

“Xiao Yu,” Xiao Xuewu called from behind me. “Go back.”

I shook my head. “I love her.”

Xiao Xuewu sighed deeply.

She said, “Xiao Yu, perhaps you’ve forgotten. You’ve always been good to me.”

I sneered, gently wiping the stains off Qi Xi’s face with my sleeve. Her dark eyes, still bright, stared straight at me, trying to draw my soul in.

Xiao Xuewu spoke slowly, “Xiao Yu, as long as you stay by my side, I don’t want you to like me. As long as you stay by my side, I will let Qi Xi return to China, not expose her money-making methods, and even forgive him for killing my father. I can even help her regain the throne of Group 17.”

I looked up to ask Qi Xi, his mouth full of bl00d.

Xiao Xuewu looked at me. “Xiao Yu, come back.”

I hugged Qi Xi and buried my head in her chest. “Asta, I love her.”

Raising my chin, I asked her, “Do you understand what it means to love someone?”

Xiao Xuewu’s smile froze instantly, and she froze in place, petrified.

At this moment, I knew in my heart that among the three of us, one of us would have to compromise.

And the result of compromise is: one person is destined to be sacrificed.