Chapter 36: No Dissatisfaction
Ye Zhibai put the ring on and quickly clenched her fist, instead of keeping her fingers straight,
To avoid recalling those fond but unpleasant memories.
Now that she had received the ring, Ye Zhibai figured it was time to leave.
After all, she and Lin Zihan weren’t particularly close. At the moment, they didn’t even have any common topics to talk about.
Ye Zhibai used to be poor, but now she was rich.
Lin Zihan used to be rich, but now she was poor.
Even if they tried to exchange stories about poverty, there was no way to relate to each other.
But until Ye Zhibai finished the last sip of her drink, She still hadn’t found an opportunity to slip away!
Ye Zhibai said I want to leave.
But she’s staring at me!
Guang Yu replied, What are you looking at?!
Lin Zihan had bought a drink but wasn’t drinking it at all.
She’s just playing!
Her drink sat between her and Yè Zhǐbái, not serving as any kind of barrier.
Though Lin Zihan’s body couldn’t cross over,
Her gaze, directed at Ye Zhibai as if she were observing some rare animal, wouldn’t budge.
And she wasn’t saying anything to ease the awkwardness either.
What are you staring at?!
Even if you’re observing rare animals, you still have to buy a ticket!
Ye Zhibai felt extremely uncomfortable.
There was no other choice—if you don’t speak, then I’ll have to!
Luckily, Ye Zhibai had always been good at finding topics to talk about.
As Guang Yu would say, she was a conversation genius.
After a quick observation of Lin Zihan,
Ye Zhibai grew confident.
This time, smart little Zhibai would perform steadily.
Ye Zhibai asked, “Is your eye alright?”
“!?”
What am I even saying?!
Her eye isn’t all right!
I wasn’t finding a topic—I was picking a fight!
Guang Yu was halfway through her second drink.
She shook her head repeatedly, having long expected Ye Zhibai’s “steady performance.”
——Used to it by now.
Lin Zihan blinked her right eye in a daze at Ye Zhibai’s question.
She didn’t seem to expect such a direct question from Ye Zhibai.
But that was all.
Slowly, she raised her left hand to cover her left eye, which was hidden beneath thick, golden bangs.
Ye Zhibai figured she must be feeling sad.
So, she quickly added a couple of sentences in a calm tone to patch things up.
“What I mean is… how’s the treatment going? Is there still a chance of recovering your vision?”
In reality, though Lin Zihan had many mixed emotions, She wasn’t that upset!
Suddenly, Lin Zihan sat up straight, facing Ye Zhibai directly.
She slowly lifted her golden bangs, revealing the black eye patch hidden underneath.
While showing the eye patch, Lin Zihan smiled and answered the question.
“Mm-hmm, my right eye’s fine~ but my left eye is probably blind. Ye Zhibai did Zhijun tell you about this?”
“Yeah… she told me about your experience.”
“Geez! You see, Zhijun, talking about all that—what’s the point?”
Lin Zihan said as she let her bangs fall back down, the silky golden strands once again covering her left eye patch.
She even waved her little fist symbolically, expressing dissatisfaction toward Ye Zhijun, even though she was the one who always got beaten up.
“Ye Zhibai should be happy and carefree, right? Hearing about my situation must’ve brought your mood down, huh?”
“Not really…”
“Does that mean you’re in a good mood?!”
“No.”
Then what do you expect me to say?!
Good mood, bad mood—neither is right. Should I cry to make you feel better?!
Although the topic was a bit heavy, it did manage to break the ice between them.
Lin Zihan bent her legs slightly, staring at her shoes, tapping the tips of her little white sneakers together.
She didn’t want to talk about her eyes,
But with Ye Zhibai, it felt like she could.
“As for my eye, it’s good that it went blind. It’s my fault—during that time, my mom cried every day, so I cried every day too. What do they call that? Emotional chain reaction! Before I knew it, I cried my eyes blind, hehe… Ye Zhibai, don’t you think I deserved it?”
“Nobody wants to cry; most of the time, it’s just helplessness.”
“Pfft… Ye Zhibai, you’ve become quite knowledgeable since waking up.”
“Let’s not talk about me, let’s talk about you.”
Lin Zihan clasped her hands together.
She suddenly looked up at the sky. Though she was talking about herself, her indifferent expression made it seem like she was discussing something trivial.
Calm and unbothered.
“The doctor said my condition is quite rare and complicated. To fully recover would require at least 20 years of observation, and even then, there’s no guarantee it can be cured. Even if it is, my vision probably won’t be what it was. The worst part is that over those 20 years, the costs of treatment and examinations will keep piling up.”
Her tone finally grew a little heavier.
“Ye Zhibai, I don’t know if Zhijun told you this, but the expenses for my eye treatment were covered by your family, the Ye family. Hehe… I’m useless and broke, and I’m grateful to your family! And to you, Ye Zhibai! But… if we keep relying on the Ye family for the next 20 years, I think… my mom might have a mental breakdown. Ye Zhibai, do you understand? She’s a very proud person. Every time she takes money from the Ye family, she comes home and cries her heart out.”
Lin Zihan said a lot today.
These were things she usually kept buried in her heart, things she didn’t want to talk about.
But for some reason, when facing Ye Zhibai, she just wanted to say a bit more.
Ye Zhibai took a moment to process, but she understood.
Guang Yu, on the other hand, didn’t: Ye Zhibai, I don’t get it. What’s the conflict between pride and taking money? Doesn’t having money make you more proud? Look at me—when you give me money, I can buy drinks and feel super proud!
Didn’t I explain before? There’s the concept of not eating food given out of pity.*
[*” Not eating food given out of pity (嗟来之食, jiē lái zhī shí)”: A classical idiom from Chinese history that refers to the rejection of charity or help offered in a condescending or pitying manner.]
Oh… right, 200 million.
“……”
Never try reasoning with a god.
You can’t outwit the heavens.
Lin Zihan spoke of that time, and even she laughed bitterly.
Lin Zihan continued, “One eye doesn’t mean I can’t see. I think that sacrificing my left eye in exchange for a peaceful future, for my mom not having to cry every day, was completely worth it! So, I told the doctor very clearly, that I gave up on treatment~”
“!”
“Well… although my mom firmly disagreed and refused to sign the papers, what could she do? My legs were my own. Luckily, back then, I wasn’t one to submit to life easily. I had a rebellious personality, so I could just hide! If they couldn’t find me, who could treat me? Haha… In the end, we missed the treatment window, so even treatment was useless. My mom had no choice but to accept it and just live her life. Long pain is worse than short pain,* and after that, she started her flower shop and cried much less. That’s why I say, life is all about smiling more! This, I call, a great victory!”
[*” L ong pain is worse than short pain (长痛不如短痛, cháng tòng bù rú duǎn tòng)”: A common Chinese saying meaning that it’s better to endure short-term hardship to avoid prolonged suffering. It emphasizes accepting short-term discomfort for a better long-term outcome.]
A great victory?
This… is victory?
Ye Zhibai’s slender hand, holding the empty bottle, trembled.
After hearing the whole story, she didn’t feel well at all.
At that time, Lin Zihan… was only in middle school, right?
She was able to make such a decision, gambling with her eyesight.
Suddenly, a strand of golden hair swept past her eyes.
It was Lin Zihan, who suddenly stood up.
She crouched in front of Ye Zhibai.
She smiled brightly, playfully shaking her head from side to side As if trying to cheer Ye Zhibai up.
“Ye Zhibai, don’t be sad! Why did you suddenly go silent… Ah… I knew this would happen, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you, but…”
Lin Zihan slowly stood back up.
Her scarlet right eye swept across the boundless sky, unrestrained.
Finally, it settled back on Ye Zhibai’s blue eyes.
“But… I have no complaints about my current situation. Because, even with just this one eye, I can still see all of Ye Zhibai, completely and clearly.”
