The Sickly Beauty Gives Up Struggling [Rebirth] Chapter 196

Li Rong vaguely felt that his new deskmate had something against him.

For example, when his pen accidentally fell to the ground and rolled over to Cen Xiao’s side, Li Rong bent down to try and retrieve it. When he realized he couldn’t reach it, he glanced at Cen Xiao and said coldly, “Excuse me, could you move?”

But Cen Xiao acted as though he hadn’t heard him. He wasn’t wearing earphones or daydreaming—he simply didn’t even pretend to respond.

Li Rong felt a flicker of anger. To him, this was just another example of the hostility between Blue Pivot and Hongsuo.

He had no interest in the Hongsuo Research Institute. However, because of his parents’ connections, he was automatically assumed to be a member of Hongsuo’s future talent pool, which brought him a lot of trouble—Cen Xiao being one of them.

The position where the pen had fallen was also particularly awkward. If Li Rong insisted on retrieving it, he’d have to crawl under the desk and stretch his hand across Cen Xiao’s legs.

There was no way he would do something so beneath his dignity.

So, Li Rong scoffed lightly, shifted his gaze coldly, distanced himself stiffly from Cen Xiao, and simply pulled out another pen.

The pen that had fallen remained there until the end of the day, untouched.

This was just one of the small frictions between them. There were countless similar incidents, and Li Rong became absolutely convinced that Cen Xiao hated him. Conveniently, he didn’t particularly like Cen Xiao either.

However, perhaps because of Cen Xiao’s hostility, Li Rong unintentionally began associating more closely with the Hongsuo crowd. Over time, he became the de facto center of the group.

Soon, nearly everyone at school knew about the irreconcilable tension between Li Rong and Cen Xiao. Only Yang Fenfang stubbornly believed that sitting together would improve their relationship—much like those parents who believe that a forced bond will eventually grow into affection.

Things could have continued this way indefinitely. Li Rong and Cen Xiao could have gone on as parallel lines—one at the top of the class, the other at the bottom; one admired by everyone, the other unapproachable.

But the Luyinxu incident was like an unexpected collapse.

At first, it was just a small stone that fell. No one could have foreseen that it would escalate into an uncontrollable landslide.

The news of Li Qingli and Gu Nong’s suicide spread, and Xiao Muran completely broke down.

She had been off her medication, cultivating new hobbies. Every day, she spent time with Madam Han Jiang, attending exhibitions, drinking tea, discussing historical anecdotes and artifacts. The past, it seemed, had faded away with time, leaving only vague remnants.

But the moment Li Qingli died, Xiao Muran realized that her wounds had never truly healed. They had only gone numb, festering beneath the surface.

Now, the sharp and sudden pain ripped those wounds open again. The long-buried torment and years of repression came flooding back, and Xiao Muran couldn’t bear it.

Cen Qing’s cold indifference to the situation became the final spark for Xiao Muran’s suspicion.

She no longer trusted Blue Pivot, or even her own parents. To her, they were all people who could sacrifice emotions for profit.

“Cen Qing, what role exactly did you play in all of this?” Xiao Muran’s bloodshot eyes were filled with anguish, her voice hoarse.

“Now that the evidence is conclusive and it’s clear that Li Qingli’s drug had issues, you’re asking me what role I played? Have you lost your mind?” Cen Qing shot back angrily. No one likes being falsely accused, and he was no exception.

“He wouldn’t! He couldn’t! He would never harm anyone!” Xiao Muran screamed, collapsing into despair.

“Then go tell them! Tell the people on the streets! Tell the furious victims! Tell all the netizens!” Cen Qing shouted, his emotions spiraling as he pointed toward the front door.

Xiao Muran clearly couldn’t do that. She collapsed onto the bed, staring blankly out the window, her pain manifesting in muffled sobs.

Tears streamed down her face. Outside, crows cried mournfully, yet the bustling streets paid no attention to this sorrow.

Cen Xiao watched coldly as the Cen family descended into chaos because of the Li family. Finally, he broke the silence after the argument: “What about Li Rong? Is he dead too?”

No one answered. No one even seemed to care who Li Rong was.

Cen Qing rubbed his temples in frustration and said to Cen Xiao, “Go stay at the Jian family for a few days. Your mother’s condition won’t improve anytime soon.”

But Cen Xiao didn’t go to the Jian family.

Nobody cared about what happened to Li Rong. Even the media reports only mentioned that Li Qingli and Gu Nong had committed suicide out of guilt. There was no mention of Li Rong at all.

Cen Xiao eventually found out that Li Rong had been taken to the hospital and was still unconscious.

So he went to the hospital.

He didn’t know how he was supposed to feel. Everything that had happened felt like a dream.

That seemingly happy and peaceful family, which to him had always been out of reach, had collapsed—shattered into fragments, a mess of venom and congealed blood.

He didn’t know if Li Qingli and Gu Nong had really committed suicide out of guilt, nor did he care.

He realized that the only thing he cared about was that Li Rong was still alive.

He had once hoped, countless times, to tear off Li Rong’s arrogant mask, to shatter his cold exterior, to force him to feel his pain, to let him experience the chill of the abyss.

But now that it had actually happened, Cen Xiao felt no joy.

He tried to dig up memories of the grievances he had suffered, to fill the emptiness left by the Li family’s downfall. But in the end, all that remained was a void.

Images of Li Rong as a child surfaced in his mind—willful, vibrant, delicate, like a fragile flower.

There weren’t many people by Li Rong’s bedside.

The Li family was busy handling the aftermath of Li Qingli and Gu Nong’s deaths, fending off the relentless waves of media and paparazzi. Friends and colleagues, afraid of being implicated, were scrambling to distance themselves from the Li family.

The tide of anger from the public hadn’t yet subsided, and even the other patients in the ward pointed fingers at Li Rong.

Li Rong was transferred from the ICU to a regular ward in less than a day—not because his condition had stabilized, but because there was no money to pay for further care.

Cen Xiao looked at that pale, beautiful face.

He was no longer like a fledgling soaked by rain that could still shake off the dampness and take flight. Li Rong seemed truly lifeless now.

His breathing was so faint it was barely noticeable; his chest hardly moved. There was no struggle on his face, as if he were trapped in a dream he had no intention of waking from.

His hand dangled weakly by the side of the bed, his skin so pale that even his veins seemed to have faded.

It was as though all traces of life had irreversibly drained from his body.

How could someone so proud accept the reality of falling from grace and being trampled by the masses?

The family member of the patient in the next bed walked by, holding a cup filled with hot water. After glancing at Cen Xiao, he couldn’t resist making a snide comment. “Oh, you know him? He’s the kid of those two heartless drug peddlers.”

Cen Xiao ignored him, but the man seemed emboldened. “If you ask me, good people never live long while scourges linger for centuries. Some people are alive just to waste medical resources.”

Cen Xiao finally shot him a cold look. The next moment, he punched the man square in the face, then kicked him into the bedside cabinet. Pots, bowls, cups, and towels scattered onto the floor.

The people in the ward gasped in shock, uncertain of what to do.

Cen Xiao’s gaze was dark and menacing as he looked down at the man, whose face was now streaming with blood. “Are you looking for death?”

Although Cen Xiao was young, his clothes and demeanor made him seem completely out of place in this ordinary public hospital ward.

The man wiped the blood off his face, his eyes flickering with fear as he looked away. After considering his options, he decided not to fight back.

Truthfully, he had no connection to the Li family. He had just been overwhelmed by the tedium of caregiving and needed to vent his frustration. Li Rong had seemed like an easy target—someone he could insult without consequence.

He hadn’t expected that, even now, someone would still defend the Li family.

Cen Xiao wiped his fingers disdainfully with a tissue, using his icy glare to scare off a nurse who came over to investigate. Then he knelt beside Li Rong’s hospital bed and carefully grasped Li Rong’s hand.

Seeing Li Rong in this state, he felt no satisfaction—only fear.

Fear that this person would truly slip away. Fear that Li Rong would vanish from his life forever.

He wanted to lift this dying fledgling, but it seemed like the bird itself had given up.

Why are beautiful things always so fragile? It’s as if the slightest touch could shatter them. They can’t withstand the sun, nor the wind. Even if they vent their emotions, they wither so easily, as if to spite you.

Such fragile things must be carefully protected—placed under the strongest glass dome, nourished with the finest cultivation fluids—so they can grow and flourish safely.

To protect someone like this requires power and wealth. Cen Xiao didn’t have enough of either yet.

His gaze trembled as he stroked Li Rong’s cold fingers, his eyes filled with possessiveness and undisguised affection. “Be my rose. Just live well first.”

Li Rong was unaware of everything. His breathing remained faint, and under such inadequate medical conditions, prolonged unconsciousness could cause permanent brain damage.

Cen Xiao rose slightly, tucking Li Rong’s cold hand under the blanket. Then, extending a finger, he lightly touched Li Rong’s pale, cracked lips.

He wanted to taste Li Rong—to know his flavor—but… that would have to wait. He wanted Li Rong to give in willingly.

Cen Xiao didn’t linger long in the hospital room. Shortly after he left, several senior doctors arrived to conduct a comprehensive consultation for Li Rong.

Following the consultation, the nurses pushed Li Rong back to the ICU, where he was hooked up to the best equipment and given the most expensive care available.

The family member in the next bed watched, dumbfounded, as the hospital shifted from neglecting Li Rong to treating him like a treasure that held their future.

All of this was because of that young man who had just visited.

Who was that?

The man shivered, touching his bloodied nose nervously. Thank goodness he had only made a few snide remarks. If he had actually bullied Li Rong, would he have been in serious trouble by now?

Li Rong, being young, began to recover in the ICU. In that environment, his body slowly started to heal.

Doctors patrolled his room every day. The medicine and equipment used on him were repeatedly checked and verified.

All of this was powered by an endless flow of money.

However, the details were tightly sealed. Even when Li Rong eventually woke up and was transferred back to a regular ward, no one mentioned how much his treatment had cost or who had paid for it.

In the office of the Blue Pivot District Three President, Cen Qing slapped Cen Xiao hard across the face.

“Are you insane? What are you doing getting involved with the Li family’s affairs? Did we need you to pay for their medical bills? Under whose name did you pressure the hospital?”

Cen Xiao tasted the blood in his mouth and lightly licked it away with his tongue. Coldly, he replied, “Yes, I’m insane. And I can be even crazier.”

He didn’t care about the family’s interests, the reputation of District Three, or his parents’ feelings.

What he cared about was the primal joy he felt when he heard that Li Rong had regained consciousness.