Imperfect Desires

"Stop. Stop it, Xiu! What the hell is wrong with you?!" 

It was 7 in the morning, the sun was rising up. But inside the huge bathroom, Xiu was standing before the mirror. She looked like she was about to die. Her face was deadly pale, her lips were dry, her eyes were watery and swollen. 

She kept rubbing her eyes as she kept asking herself, "Why is the water not even stopping now?" 

While Nora didn't notice, Xiu had spent the whole night going back and forth from the bathroom. She had been throwing up again even though her stomach was empty. Her stomach was hurting now. She was also hungry but didn't dare to eat.

She washed her face with cold water and came out. But seeing how Nora was still sleeping peacefully, she didn't disturb her. She was planning on leaving first. She walked out of the room.

The house wasn't as quiet as she had expected. All the maids were already busy with their work. Xiu stopped a familiar maid and asked, "Is Weird un... I mean Mr. Xin is awake?"

"Which one?"

"Xin Zimen," Xiu corrected herself, and seeing the maid nod in reply, she went on, "Where is he?"

"Master's in the study," informed the maid politely and gestured towards the study door at the end of the hallway. Xiu nodded her head and smiled thankfully at her. 

Originally, she was gonna ask the maid to just inform everyone that she's leaving but considering how kind Xin Zimen had been with her, she decided to drop that idea. She curled her fingers slightly and knocked at the mahogany door. 

While she was contemplating whether to knock again or not, the door opened but since Xin Zimen was on the call he only looked at her fleetingly and beckoned her inside with his hand. Xiu followed him in.

"Let's talk about it later," Xin Zimen said this on the phone and hung up the call. "So, little one, why are you up so early?" He turned around to face her but stopped talking. He stepped closer to her and leaned down to look at her face with a scowl. "What's wrong with you?" He lifted his hand to touch her forehead. "You have a fever? Why didn't you say so?"

"I... I don't..." Xiu tried checking herself but since her whole body was burning up, she couldn't really tell it. 

Xin Zimen pushed her towards the recliner. "You sit here. Let me call the doctor for you and..." he was trying to remember what else he needed. "Oh, let me ask someone what else I need to do."

"But I was here to..." she watched him sprinting off in a hurry while her voice lowered, "Tell you that I'm about to leave." Xiu sighed out heavily as she shook her head. She was feeling sick why was he panicking? It kind of amused her a bit. She wanted to lean back and sit comfortably but she felt something was under her. She got up slightly to take out whatever was under and frowned to see the book that had been under her.

//Behind The Red Curtains

Xiu was gonna put the book down but reading the title, she didn't. Since Xin Zimen was taking long to come back, she decided to read why this novel was in his study since looking around, she only saw thick books related to business and stuff. This was the only novel and it really piqued her curiosity.

//This book is dedicated to my dear daughter who won't be able to read it now. But I hope wherever you are, you're happy. You'll be missed.

Xiu didn't think anything as she shuffled to the next page.

//"Death; A tragedy we call the end.

Life; A tragedy we call the journey."

// (January 14th)

Xiu was about to turn the page when she stopped and came back to the same page. She read those lines over and over again. The more she read, the more it seemed like she had seen it somewhere. Familiar, it seemed very familiar.

All of a sudden, she fished out her phone and opened the photo gallery. Last time when she solved the riddle, the answer was 'tombstone'. But when she went to the tombstone of Carina Novell, she found nothing. However, she had taken a photo of the tombstone as a precaution. Because she wanted to deeply think about the link between the tombstone and the password of the mystery box that she had.

She placed the phone and the book side by side as she read out again, "Death; A tragedy we call the end. Life; A tragedy we call the journey... It's the same thing." It was indeed the same thing. The same words were engraved on the tombstone and the same were written here.

However, before she could think it over...

"Why are you so late?" She looked up to see Xin Zimen reprimanding the woman beside him. "I called half an hour ago! Why you doctors are so lazy?!"

"Zimen, will you shut up? What's the hurry?" The woman beside him was wearing a maroon tracksuit and looked fed up with Xin Zimen's complaints. Xiu could see they were quite close since Xin Zimen shut up. "Now, tell me who's the patient?"

"Use your eyes," he retorted and pointed towards Xiu. "Can't you see her sitting over there?!"

When the woman turned to look at Xiu, her brows raised significantly in surprise before she passed her professional smile to Xiu and went to her side. 

"I really am fine," Xiu tried to speak but Xin Zimen didn't give her a chance.

"Yes, and pigs can fly as well." Xiu gaped at his dry humor while the other woman rolled her eyes at him. "I knew something was wrong with you. Even last night, you looked really sick but I didn't want to pry."

The doctor who was examining Xiu glared at Xin Zimen and said, "Stay quiet! Let me examine her condition first." Xin Zimen stood silently at the side. After she was done examining Xiu, she looked at Xin Zimen and spoke again, "I believe you asked someone to make porridge for her?" 

"Oh, I completely forgot." He had indeed asked someone to cook something light for Xiu when he had gone down. "I'm gonna get it." He hurried away again leaving only the doctor and Xiu inside his study.

"What should I call you?" 

"Xiu... I'm Bai Xiu." 

"So Bai Xiu, tell me since when are you having trouble with sleep?" Her voice was as clear as water without any ripples. Her voice was so pleasant that Xiu thought she could hear it for the whole day without getting tired of it.

Xiu bit her lips before answering, "It's been a few days." She answered honestly without hiding anything now. "Yesterday night, I went out drinking with friends and passed out for a few hours but when nausea woke me up, I couldn't go to sleep again. I thought I threw up because of drinking heavily but even after having a proper meal, I threw up again. I took a sleeping pill to calm my brain but it wasn't as helpful as I thought it'd be."

The woman with black hair and black eyes listened to all the details before she replied, "You know sleep is very important for health." Xiu nodded her head. She understood that more than one could even imagine. "Our body can't handle this much stress and running around without a night of proper sleep. I guess that's the reason why you've been throwing up. Also, you're taking way too much stress. Which is also not good for health."

"It's nothing serious, right?" she suddenly felt like asking that question. In her previous life, she had ignored her health for far too long.

"Not for now," replied the kind doctor. As she packed up her medical box, she looked at Xiu curiously before asking, "What is your relationship with Xiao Zi?" 

"Huh? Who?"

"Xin Zimen? Who is he to you?"

"Oh... No one. I mean we know each other but there is no relationship."

"Then why is he worried about you so much?" Xiu raised her brow in question. "I haven't seen him like this since..." She stopped herself from saying any further before smiling at Xiu. "Take care of yourself. I'll leave your prescription with that worrywart."

"Doctor!" Xiu called out from behind. 

"Hm?"

"I don't even know your name..."

"Zhao Huan," she answered.

"Thank you, Dr. Zhao." Xiu looked awkward as she added, "And sorry, you had to make this trip early in the morning because of me."

Zhao Huan shrugged her shoulders saying, "It's alright. It's rare for my brother-in-law to call me. And that too asking for help! I almost got a heart attack." She laughed out before leaving a confused Xiu in the room alone.

"Did she say... Brother-in-law?" Xiu wondered out loud. "Shucks! She's Weird uncle's relative?!"