The Hotpot Restaurant
The filming location had been arranged in the school’s largest lecture theatre. All several hundred seats were filled with students, and a delegation of city officials occupied the front row.
During the interview, Ji Feifei recounted her battle against her illness, tears welling in her eyes.
“It really is difficult to keep going. Whenever I feel like giving up, I think of my family and friends. As long as I remember that there are still so many children in this world suffering from illness, I find the courage to continue. I can’t give up hope. I have to survive and become an example for them!”
Thunderous applause erupted several times throughout the hall. In the comments section of the livestream, netizens continuously cheered Ji Feifei on.
“Sending Fei-baby hugs!”
“Don’t cry, Fei-baby! Mummy loves you!”
Ji Bai stood expressionlessly beside the curtain at the edge of the backstage area, watching her.
There were countless people in the world suffering from haemophilia, yet Ji Feifei alone had managed to become famous, turning herself into an inspirational internet celebrity with over a million followers.
It was not merely because she was young.
She also understood how to market herself. She frequently filmed creative short videos for Douyin, singing and dancing to cultivate a bright, cheerful and positive public image.
Ji Bai silently took out her phone and snapped a photograph of her sister during the interview.
Just then, a member of the television crew waved at her.
“Come and touch up your makeup. You’re about to go onstage!”
Several makeup artists rushed over with powder puffs and began patting at Ji Bai’s face.
The host announced, “Next, we will invite Ji Feifei’s younger sister onto the stage. Let’s hear how she views her sister’s journey of battling against illness.”
A staff member ushered Ji Bai into the brightly lit studio.
The intense lights made it difficult for her to open her eyes, and she instinctively raised a hand to shield them.
The host asked her to sit beside her sister.
Unlike Ji Feifei, who appeared composed and spoke with easy confidence onstage, Ji Bai was visibly uncomfortable beneath the spotlights.
She looked out at the audience of several hundred people and nervously took one deep breath after another. She appeared a little clumsy, yet rather adorable.
In a casual, conversational tone, the host asked Ji Bai, “I heard that you donate blood to your sister?”
Before Ji Bai could answer, Ji Feifei immediately cut in.
“She does, but only occasionally. Every time, Bai Bai cries and throws a tantrum like a little child.”
The host raised her voice in surprise. “Oh? It seems your little sister still hasn’t grown up. She even cries and makes a fuss. In that case, do you volunteer to give blood to your sister?”
At last, they had reached this question.
In her previous life, Ji Bai had spoken honestly. She had said no—that she was not willing.
Countless netizens had then cursed and attacked her, calling her cold-blooded and heartless, saying she did not deserve to be Ji Feifei’s younger sister.
Even the students at school had united to isolate her.
Ji Bai glanced at the tears shimmering in her sister’s eyes and said calmly,
“No. I don’t want to give her my blood.”
As expected, the entire hall erupted into an uproar.
The students whispered among themselves, while her parents in the front row urgently gestured at her, telling her to speak properly.
“I don’t want to give her my blood because having blood drawn genuinely hurts. Every time afterwards, I feel dizzy. Sometimes it lasts for an entire afternoon, and sometimes all night. Even the next day, I’m still exhausted and listless.”
In the far-left corner of the audience, Xie Sui was leaning back in his seat, dozing off.
His homeroom teacher had forced him to attend the interview.
The teacher’s original intention had been to make these hopeless students learn something meaningful. However, despite Ji Feifei’s tearful retelling of her moving struggle against illness, they remained completely unmoved.
Some played games, while others slept.
When Ji Bai began speaking, Xie Sui gradually woke up. He opened his eyes slightly and looked towards her.
The girl’s features were delicate and defined, and her skin was as pure white as freshly fallen snow. She reminded him of a small, seemingly harmless creature hidden deep in a forest.
Yet a faint sharpness lurked within her dark eyes.
He became slightly more alert and watched her intently.
Ji Bai continued, “If it were possible, I would rather take my sister’s illness in her place. I believe I would face my fate directly and work hard to overcome it.”
Ji Feifei’s lips twitched.
Ji Bai continued, “When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. When you battle monsters, you must take care not to become one yourself. I hope everything will get better, and I also hope my sister will become a better person.”
The officials seated below the stage nodded one after another, looking at Ji Bai with approval.
The students whispered among themselves.
“I don’t completely understand it, but it sounds really profound.”
“Ji Bai is usually so quiet. It turns out she isn’t as dull as she looks.”
As Ji Feifei listened to the hidden meaning behind Ji Bai’s words, her expression darkened.
The host said, “What a kind-hearted girl. You would rather endure your sister’s suffering in her place. I believe that as long as the two sisters work together, you will certainly defeat the illness. By the way, as your sister’s most loyal supporter, why do you so rarely appear in the public eye—”
Sensing that the conversation was moving in an unfavourable direction, Ji Feifei suddenly interrupted.
“My sister is rather introverted and doesn’t like speaking much. She was already very reluctant to come onstage today, so let’s not make things difficult for her. Actually, I have another inspirational story I would like to share with everyone.”
Ji Feifei successfully seized the camera’s attention again, while a staff member escorted Ji Bai offstage.
Although her time onscreen had been brief, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
She was in no hurry.
Ji Bai took out her phone and opened her sister’s Weibo account.
Ji Feifei’s latest post was a backstage selfie.
In the photograph, she was pouting cutely and smiling. Because she was wearing makeup, she appeared healthy and radiant.
“I’m about to go on the programme. I’m feeling just a tiny bit nervous! Everyone, please cheer me on. Love you all! [Finger heart]”
Naturally, the comments were filled with praise.
“I really love your optimism and cheerfulness.”
“Fei-baby is so adorable!”
“Keep going, Fei-baby! We’ll always support you!”
Ji Bai scrolled down.
At the bottom of the popular comments, there were a few less noticeable replies.
“When you battle monsters, you must take care not to become one yourself. I feel as though Ji Feifei’s younger sister’s words had another meaning.”
“Are you overthinking it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but I feel like things aren’t that simple.”
“Shrug.”
…
That evening, Ji Bai’s best friends insisted on celebrating her first television appearance.
Each of the girls wore a little white dress and had dressed themselves like pure and innocent maidens.
However, Ji Bai knew that the moment they rolled up their sleeves and sat down to eat hotpot, they would chew on bird’s-eye chillies until they howled from the heat, completely abandoning any concern for their image.
The group entered the most popular hotpot restaurant outside the school.
It seemed they had arrived too late.
The restaurant was completely full, without a single available table.
The food at this restaurant was excellent, and it was difficult to find another place with a similar flavour. The girls were visibly disappointed.
Just then, Yin Xiaxia nudged Ji Bai with her elbow and whispered, “That table against the wall inside—it’s Xie Sui and the others.”
Ji Bai raised her head and immediately spotted him.
He was wearing a thin black crew-neck sweatshirt and had pushed up his sleeves while pouring sesame oil into his dipping bowl, exposing a section of his long, pale forearm.
A silver ring shaped like an elongated leaf sat on the index finger of his left hand.
Xie Sui had a wild personality, yet he often wore delicate little accessories, such as that silver leaf ring.
There were also his earrings and keychains…
They were all small objects with a distinctive style.
Xie Sui had an almost abnormal fondness for exquisite objects, while simultaneously being impossibly particular about them.
In short, he was unpredictable, temperamental and extremely difficult to get along with.
The boys also noticed Ji Bai.
“Isn’t she the girl who appeared in the interview today?”
“Weren’t you playing on your phone instead of watching? How do you still remember her?”
“What else were my eyes made for except looking at beautiful girls? Of course I remember someone that pretty.”
The boys discussed them quietly.
Naturally, the girls were also discussing the boys.
Both sides possessed the particular reserve of teenagers and felt too embarrassed to approach one another.
Cong Yuzhou, who was sitting beside Xie Sui, took the initiative to speak.
“There aren’t any seats left. Why don’t you come over and sit with us?”
Usually, when the girls were together in their own little group, they feared absolutely nothing.
At this moment, however, every single one of them instantly became terrified.
They crowded around Ji Bai and whispered like a flock of tiny pigeons.
“What do we do? They invited us over!”
“I’m not going! They’re really vicious when they box! I—I’m scared.”
“But if we refuse and embarrass them, will they beat us up?”
Xie Sui leisurely finished mixing a bowl of minced-garlic dipping sauce before glancing at the girls nearby.
Among the crowd, his gaze immediately found Ji Bai.
She was wearing a neat, proper white shirt, buttoned all the way up to her throat. The tight collar revealed only a section of her pale neck.
Her skin was exceptionally white—so white that it seemed a single light pinch would make it turn completely red.
The fabric of her shirt was thin, and because of the sweat, it faintly clung to the colour and contours of her skin.
Ji Bai kept her head lowered, clearly doing everything possible to avoid his gaze.
It did not seem like embarrassment.
Rather, it appeared that she was deliberately avoiding him…
That only drew Xie Sui’s attention further.
A smile tugged at his lips.
“Little classmate, are you refusing to give me face?”
Ji Bai sensed the dangerous aura emanating from his pale-brown eyes and replied softly, “No…”
“Then come and sit down.”
Ji Bai was certain that he had not phrased it as a question.
It was an order.
He had always been like this.
His desires were intense, his personality stubborn, domineering and selfish. No one dared go against his wishes.
Seeing that the girls looked as though they were about to cry, Cong Yuzhou laughed and tried to ease the atmosphere.
“Little sisters, we attend the same school. Come and sit down. Stop dragging your feet. We’re eating hotpot, not eating you. What are you afraid of?”
Ji Bai said quietly, “They’re… afraid of getting beaten up.”
The girls behind her desperately wanted to kick Ji Bai in the backside, one after another.
What did you eat growing up to become this painfully honest?
Now they really were going to get beaten up!
Xie Sui turned and looked at his expectant friends.
He rolled his neck slightly and said,
“Come and sit down. Don’t make me say it a second time.” Although a hint of amusement spread from the corners of his eyes, his voice was icy cold.
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