Chapter 80
by Need_More_SleepChapter 80: Scratching
“Hey, brat. Come here.”
Gloria, sprawled across the entire couch, beckoned to Mi Xiaoliu.
Mi Xiaoliu didn’t move. She stood behind the bedroom door, peeking through the crack as she watched Gloria silently.
“Come here. I’ll give you money.” Gloria waved a ten-mira bill in the air.
Successfully lured, Mi Xiaoliu approached.
She glanced at Gloria, then cautiously reached for the money—still wary after the last time Gloria had grabbed her wrist and farted on her.
This time, Gloria was up to no good again. She pulled the bill back. “Not so fast. I’ll give you this, but you have to do one thing for me. Deal?”
Mi Xiaoliu retracted her hand and shook her head.
“Tch. Fine, twenty mira.” She pulled out another bill. “Relax, it won’t be anything bad.”
After a brief hesitation, Mi Xiaoliu nodded. She took the money—enough for twenty steamed buns—while keeping a wary eye on Gloria’s expression.
“Good girl. No refunds now that you’ve accepted.” Gloria tapped her chin, then pointed at Mi Xiaoliu. “Give me a hundred mira.”
Mi Xiaoliu’s hand froze mid-air. Slowly, she tried to return the twenty mira.
“I said no refunds.” Gloria pushed it back, then smirked. “Tell you what. Lend me your kitten for two days, and I’ll forget about a hundred mira.”
Reluctantly, Mi Xiaoliu pulled a hundred-mira note from her wallet and handed it over.
No way. He actually gave it? Is he stupid?
Gloria was stunned.
A normal person would’ve bolted with the twenty mira by now.
“Just messing with you. Scram.” She snatched her twenty mira back, spun Mi Xiaoliu around, and gave her a light kick on the butt.
Life’s four great pleasures: smoking, drinking, binge-watching dramas, and bullying Mi Xiaoliu.
Even though their feud had long since cooled, tormenting this kid had become a habit. There was something endlessly amusing about his timid reactions.
People called her rebellious and troublesome, but honestly, a kid this obedient was way more exhausting. She even asked permission before drinking yogurt—the yogurt the old lady bought for her in the first place.
“Aren’t you going back yet?” Heli walked over, brushing the dust off Mi Xiaoliu’s backside. “Wouldn’t you rather return to your rich-girl life?”
“What do you think a ‘rich girl’ is like in your head?” Gloria sat up cross-legged. “Daintily holding her skirt while admiring flowers? Slapping poor people with wads of cash? Sorry, I’d rather be a deadbeat, train my powers so I don’t become ‘kidnapping bait,’ and wait to inherit the family fortune.”
“See? That’s what not to be. Don’t learn from her.” Heli patted Mi Xiaoliu’s head.
“Mmm.” Mi Xiaoliu nodded.
Gloria, red-faced, hurled a pillow at them.
“Not that I don’t have any ambitions.” Gloria interlaced her fingers, her expression darkening. “For example… killing that man with my own hands.”
Heli nodded solemnly. “Itachi Uchiha?”
“Thud.” Another pillow flew.
As revenge, Gloria made sure Mi Xiaoliu didn’t get to study in peace. Just as the girl was reciting “Friends have come from afar,” Gloria cut in with “First, torment their hearts, exhaust their muscles, starve their bodies.”
By the time Heli tested Mi Xiaoliu’s memorization, she had actually recited it wrong. Gloria nearly died laughing.
This weekend, Heli didn’t take Mi Xiaoliu to the psychologist—the doctor had family matters to attend to, so they rescheduled.
After morning lessons, Heli brought Mi Xiaoliu to the hospital to visit Yiwen. Though Heli didn’t particularly like the boy, visiting an injured classmate was a reasonable request.
Reasonable, Heli thought.
But she did suspect Yiwen had bribed Mi Xiaoliu with snacks to earn this visit.
When Mi Xiaoliu entered the ward, Yiwen was lying in bed, bored out of her mind watching TV. Raven, who had been keeping her company, had left to wash Yiwen’s clothes—just missing them.
“Two more days of treatment, then I’m out. I’ll teach you tennis then.” Yiwen smiled, but her expression stiffened when she noticed Mi Xiaoliu staring fixedly at the pastries on the bedside table.
This heartless brat. If she weren’t immobilized, Yiwen would’ve pummeled him with tiny fists.
When Mi Xiaoliu looked at her pleadingly, Yiwen deliberately ignored her. Suffer!
“Tennis? With freshly reattached bones? Keep dreaming.” The nurse changed her IV with a huff.
“I won’t use my left arm.” Yiwen flexed it slightly, wincing at the lingering pain.
“How’s the girl I brought in?” Yiwen asked.
She often forgot Mi Xiaoliu was present and slipped into the ESP officer talk. Luckily, nothing classified was mentioned—and she trusted the boy not to overthink or gossip.
“Not great. Her light sensitivity was already at X-ray levels.” Even a black blindfold might not fully block it. “After that trip outside, her vision’s probably unsalvageable. Plus, she’s been moody lately.”
Then again, leaving the blindfold on without surgery was practically the same as being blind anyway.
Mi Xiaoliu turned toward the nurse.
“Her family?” Yiwen asked.
“Unreachable since they found out she had Dark Element.” The nurse’s tone was matter-of-fact.
This was common in hospitals. Amid the relief of rescue, despair over medical bills and terminal diagnoses drowned out everything else. If you couldn’t handle the gloom, nursing wasn’t for you.
As much as they pitied Beibei, the hospital wasn’t a charity. They couldn’t foot the bill for every sad case.
Especially when she brought it on herself.
Yiwen propped her chin on her hand. “Can I see her?”
Her own family ties were strained, but she was confident her mother wouldn’t abandon her—even with Dark Element.
“I’ll check. But let’s switch your IV first.” The room had to be kept dim, with minimal reflective surfaces. Even transparent IV bags were hard to monitor.
Police had visitation privileges, though.
So Yiwen wheeled her IV stand along, leading the light-sensitive Mi Xiaoliu to meet the stubborn vigilante who refused to betray the girl in black.
Even Mi Xiaoliu’s glasses had to be confiscated.
In the faint light, a machine resembling a hair steamer sprayed warm vapor over the bedridden girl. Not ordinary vapor—this was palliative therapy for Dark Element patients.
Beibei scratched at her skin intermittently.
Palliative, not curative.
But it could buy her five or six more years.
The room was dark. Without decent night vision, you’d struggle to make out shapes. Mi Xiaoliu clung to Yiwen’s sleeve for guidance.
When Yiwen sat beside her, Beibei tensed, tilting her head and reaching out to touch Yiwen’s arm—a lingering reflex from being deceived before.
To someone blind, reality was Schrödinger’s cat.
Maybe the nurse who just changed her IV had left. Or maybe she’d faked the sound of departure and was still there, staring with eerie intensity.
Maybe this wasn’t a hospital at all. Maybe the rescue was staged, the treatment a ruse, and she was still a prisoner.
Or worse—maybe she’d always been imprisoned, from the moment she contracted Dark Element. Maybe that was why her family never came.
For her, all possibilities were equally real.
“Don’t be scared. I’m not here to hurt you.” With Mi Xiaoliu present, Yiwen couldn’t reveal she was a cop. “I’m from the next ward. Call me Yiwen. I just wanted to talk.”
“Ordinary people don’t just visit suspects.” Beibei smirked, proud of catching the lie.
“Sure, think of me as ordinary.” Yiwen shut down further speculation before Mi Xiaoliu overheard anything. “Just here to chat. No interrogations. I’ve got time to kill.”
She tugged Mi Xiaoliu’s sleeve. “Brought a friend too. This is Mi Xiaoliu.”
Mi Xiaoliu, ever uncooperative, stayed silent—though her gaze fixed on Beibei, despite barely seeing her.
“He’s… not much of a talker.” Yiwen laughed awkwardly, then smacked Mi Xiaoliu’s butt. “Say hello.”
Huh. Surprisingly nice feeling. Small but soft—Wait, no! Why am I complimenting a guy’s butt?!
Meanwhile, Sasha was mentally cursing Yiwen in every language she knew.
“Hello.” Mi Xiaoliu said.
“Hi.” Beibei’s smile, for the first time, was genuine.
I know your name now, Princess.
But why call you a boy?
She relaxed, chatting with Yiwen about trivial things. Mundane, yes—but for someone in her position, even idle chatter was a luxury.
Princess (???) remained silent, though that was nothing new.
What was odd was Beibei’s constant scratching—hardly ladylike.
“Skin bothering you? Want me to call the nurse?” Yiwen reached for the call button.
“It’s fine. They said the itch means the vapor’s reacting with the Dark Element. If it stops, that’s when I should worry.” Beibei said it plainly, as if discussing the weather. “Can you turn off the nightlight? My eyes are starting to hurt.”
“Sure.” Yiwen nudged Mi Xiaoliu. “Go turn it off.”
Silently, Mi Xiaoliu moved toward the light—only to pause and stare at her right hand.
She’d accidentally brushed against the therapeutic vapor.
Now, Mi Xiaoliu scratched at it, puzzled.