Chapter Twelve: Why Are You So Kind to Me?

I awkwardly explained, “I’m here to see my friend; she lives here.”

The security guard gave me a once-over, clearly doubting that someone like me could possibly know a resident of Bi Jiang Luxury Court.

I pulled out my phone and called Ji Leqing, telling the guard, “Wait a moment, I’ll have my friend come down.”

“Leqing, are you home? I’m at the main gate of Bi Jiang Luxury Court.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be packing up and leaving? So soon?”

I forced a bitter smile. “Yeah, something unexpected came up.”

I heard the sound of a door closing on the other end.

“Wait there, I’m coming down.”

After hanging up, I stood there feeling embarrassed.

I tried to straighten my clothes awkwardly, doing my best to look less disheveled.

The guard didn’t leave either, waiting with me for Ji Leqing to come out.

“I’m here. How did you end up like this?” Ji Leqing was first surprised and then frowned. “Did you get robbed on your way back?”

“Miss Ji, so this gentleman is your friend after all. I apologize for the trouble,” the guard said, bowing obsequiously.

“Hmm, this doesn’t concern you anymore,” Ji Leqing replied dismissively, expertly taking the items from my hand. She noticed my hands were burned.

Her gaze was complex as she looked at me but said nothing, simply motioning for me to follow her upstairs.

As we passed the guard, I caught a fleeting look of disdain on his face.

He probably assumed I was some freeloader living off others. I was used to it by now.

Once upstairs, I stood awkwardly by the sofa, unable to sit down.

Ji Leqing placed my things on the table and looked at me curiously. “Are you being punished? Why aren’t you sitting?”

“I... I’m dirty. I don’t want to soil the sofa.”

“Go straight down that hallway, turn left at the end, and the guest bedroom is on the right. The bedroom has a bathroom; go take a shower first.”

“There are clean towels in the bathroom cabinet. You came so suddenly, I didn’t even prepare anything for you.”

“I’ll go buy you some clothes to wear first, then I’ll come back to tend to your wounds.”

Her tone was resigned yet tinged with exhaustion.

“I just told you your body can’t withstand any stress, and you go and get yourself hurt like this. You really are something, Jiang Jian.”

“Xu Zhixia’s words are law, but you just ignore me. I’ve come to realize you’re my punishment.”

“Sorry, I…”

“You should be sorry for yourself. What good does apologizing to me do? Go wash up already. Sigh.”

I found the guest bedroom Ji Leqing described. Though called a guest room, it was more like a presidential suite in a hotel.

Spacious, well-lit, with an open-air balcony adorned with several potted plants, a tea table, and two chairs.

After showering, the burn on my hand throbbed painfully.

The back of my hand was tolerable, but the palm had started peeling, showing faint signs of ulceration.

Wrapped in a towel, I lay on the bed. The mattress was soft yet supportive, even better than the Simmons mattress at Xu Zhixia’s villa.

Curious, I lifted the sheet to check the label and looked it up on my phone.

A Haston mattress? It cost two million?!

I shot up from the bed. This wasn’t just a mattress; it was like lying on a pile of money!

The thought that I would be living here felt surreal.

I must be the cheapest thing in this entire place.

Suddenly, a familiar cramping pain gripped my abdomen. I curled up tightly, desperate to ease the torment.

Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead. Gritting my teeth, I clenched my arms until my knuckles turned white.

The pain was excruciating!

Why did I get stomach cancer? Why could those who trample on sincerity live so prosperously?

It’s unfair. So unfair!

Ringing filled my ears; veins bulged on my forehead as my breathing became painful.

Dark shadows swirled before my eyes, and I couldn’t tell if it was me or the world spinning upside down.

“Ugh!”

After dry heaving, I struggled to my feet and staggered into the bathroom, vomiting into the toilet.

I hadn’t eaten much today; only sour bile filled my stomach.

Some splashed into my nose, stinging and bringing tears to my eyes.

“Ugh—”

I don’t know how long passed before the pain finally subsided, when even the sour bile was gone.

Exhausted, I collapsed beside the toilet and took a long while to gather myself before standing.

Looking into the mirror, I saw myself—tears, snot, and saliva smeared all over, disheveled and miserable.

I washed my face, rinsed my mouth with water cupped in my hands, and finally left the bathroom.

Remembering the medicine Ji Leqing gave me in my pocket, I poured a glass of water from the tea machine in the room and swallowed a pill, hoping the pain wouldn’t return today.

The coming days would likely be more painful. If the attacks kept happening, I feared I might not die from the disease but from my own desperation.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Jiang Jian, may I come in?”

“Y-yes, come in.”

As I spoke, my throat felt as if I’d swallowed shards of glass. Frequent vomiting must have burned it badly.

Ji Leqing entered carrying several shopping bags, placing them on the table.

“If they don’t fit, just make do. You haven’t eaten today, have you? I’ll cook something for you.”

After setting the bags down, she closed the door and stepped back out.

Inside the bags were jackets, shirts, shoes, socks, and... underwear.

Two sets in total to alternate. I glanced at the tags; all were high-end brands I usually only dared to look at, never buy.

I’d have to pay her back for this.

I’d lost a lot of weight recently, so the clothes hung loosely on me. If it were before my illness, they’d probably fit perfectly.

Ji Leqing’s kitchen was open to the living room. I could hear the clatter of cooking utensils but no trace of oil smoke.

I was homeless now, taken in by Ji Leqing, who went out of her way to care for me.

“Leqing, I remember you can’t cook. Let me do it.”

I rolled up my sleeves and moved to help.

Back when we first started the company, Jian Xia didn’t have an office building—just a tiny apartment.

Ji Leqing, Zhao Xinze, and I were three fresh graduates with nothing but naive enthusiasm.

To save on takeout, we bought groceries and cooked in the cramped kitchen, barely three or four square meters.

Ji Leqing couldn’t cook. She once forgot a pot of eggs on the stove until the bottom burned through.

Once, she stir-fried green beans so badly the three of us had to rush to the emergency room for gastric lavage. Zhao Xinze even praised her cooking.

Praise aside, no one ever let her near the kitchen again.

Ji Leqing glanced at me. “Western food is so awful, if I don’t learn to cook, I’ll starve to death.”

“You look exhausted. You must have thrown up from the pain again. Go sit on the sofa for a while. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

After a pause, she added, “Don’t worry, you won’t be going to the emergency room for gastric lavage this time.”

So she remembered that incident—I thought she’d forgotten.

“Leqing, why are you so good to me?”