QTIMP -Chapter 210 Character Persona – Fool (Part 6)

Si Qiu’s body had been well conditioned by medication. Although she could feel that her injuries were quite serious, she still woke up around noon the next day. Occasionally, fish swam past in the deep, dark sea.

Fortunately, she hadn’t been eaten as food. The only problem was the intense pain all over her body, so strong that she almost cried out. It was only when she sensed the water-repelling pearl that she reacted in time and closed her mouth tightly.

She looked around, and after gradually adapting to the pain in her body, she slowly began to swim upward. Pain always seemed to stretch the perception of time.

She had no idea how long it took her before she finally broke through the surface of the water.

She was now in pain, exhausted, and starving. In her consciousness, within the survival system, she selected a card with an image resembling a lifebuoy like those on fishing boats.

After taking it out, she broke it, and a lifebuoy instantly appeared on the sea surface. With its buoyancy, she was able to conserve much more energy.

She quickly took out medicine from her spatial storage, swallowed one pill, drank half a bottle of water, and then ate a few of the rice balls she had previously received as rewards.

Looking at the increasingly scorching sun, she felt somewhat discouraged. Why couldn’t the system just reward her with a boat? Drifting like this in the sea—wasn’t death only a matter of time?

Perhaps due to internal injuries from the impact when she fell into the sea, the medicine couldn’t heal her immediately even though she had taken it. She now had a slight fever and felt dizzy and disoriented.

At that moment, a huge white ship cut through the waves in the distance. A man stood on the deck, facing the sea breeze.

Not far behind him, two men had their hands tied behind their backs and were kneeling on the ground.

“I didn’t expect that cowardly Michel would actually dare to do something this big. Looks like I underestimated him. Alright, dispose of these two.”

The two men had their mouths gagged. Hearing this, they only shook their heads in terror.

A burly man in a black suit directly pulled out a gun and fired two shots into their heads. Then two more people came over, threw the corpses into the sea, and began cleaning the blood off the deck.

At that moment, chaotic sounds came from the stern of the ship.

The man slightly turned his head. The gun-cleaning man inserted his weapon into his waist, turned away briefly, and then returned after a moment.

“Captain, the infrared radar detected someone ahead. A speedboat has already been sent to bring them back.”

The man didn’t pay much attention. He turned to head back into the cabin.

Elias glanced in the direction where the commotion was coming from, somewhat absentmindedly looking toward the crowd.

His gaze shifted—and at the entrance to the cabin, he saw Si Qiu wrapped in a large bath towel. Her face was pale, but her eyes were moist and bright. Her skin looked bleached from soaking in water, yet her wet clothes clung to her body, outlining her curves.

In Si Qiu’s eyes, the man walking toward her had silver-white hair tied back neatly, fair skin, light-colored lips, and pale blue eyes that carried an endless indifference.

However, his gaze lingered on her for an extra two seconds.

Then he walked straight into the cabin without stopping. The burly man behind him, Karl, exchanged a glance with Theodor standing behind Si Qiu, then followed him inside as well.

Elias’s appearance seemed to restore the others’ senses. After he left, they collectively shivered.

Theodor quickly brought Si Qiu via elevator to a suite on the upper deck.

When the door opened and Si Qiu stepped inside, a full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows made it clear she was not being imprisoned. It was a normal room.

It looked like a presidential suite in a hotel—calm, grand, and elegantly decorated, with mostly natural materials. The wooden parquet floor was covered with handmade wool carpets.

The walls were upholstered in velvet texture, and the space included a wine cabinet, bar counter, dining table, sofa, and bookshelf.

Walking barefoot on the floor didn’t feel cold at all—instead, it eased the drifting, unsettled feeling she had experienced at sea.

Theodore brought her to the bathroom, pointed at some baby products and a stack of clothes, introduced them one by one, and then left.

Si Qiu really wanted to say she couldn’t understand what he was saying. But the person had already left—fortunately, she roughly understood the meaning.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Her mother had said that no matter when, she should never mistreat herself.

So Si Qiu picked through the items, filled the bathtub with water, dropped in a rose-scented bath bomb, and leisurely soaked herself in a hot bath.

She touched her forehead—it was still a little warm—so she took some medicine again. After soaking herself until she felt soft and numb all over, she got up and washed her hair again.

She picked up the hair dryer and dried it to about sixty or seventy percent.

Then she took skincare products and applied them all over her body, from head to toe. Her skin, which had been soaked by seawater until it was about to swell, was carefully treated.

Finally, she returned to her usual dewy, glowing appearance.

She put on the prepared long pants and short-sleeved top beside her, opened the bathroom door, and walked out barefoot.

As soon as she came out, she noticed a man sitting at the bar counter. His silver-white hair immediately revealed his identity.

After hesitating for a moment, Si Qiu trotted over and sat on the high stool across from him.

She placed both hands folded on the counter, her silver bracelet lightly tapping the surface with a soft sound. Resting her chin on her hands, she looked up at him from below.

“Are you drinking alcohol?” Her voice was clear and soft—neither overly sweet nor cold.

Elias held the wine glass with his slender fingers. The amber liquid inside swayed gently. The sight of her pale, delicate arms resting on the counter stirred a faint, restless itch within him.

At her words, he downed the wine in one gulp, hiding the involuntary swallow in his throat.

He set the glass down and studied her. “How old are you?”

Hearing his fluent Chinese surprised Si Qiu. She had assumed he wouldn’t understand her at all.

“Twenty-one. I’ll graduate from university next year,” she said, her voice gradually lowering as she spoke.

Her mother would never see her graduate anymore.

Elias poured himself another small amount of wine. “You look like you’re underage.”

Si Qiu immediately shifted attention. “Is that a compliment or an insult?”

Her question made Theodore laugh. In an instant, his dangerously beautiful and seductive appearance dazzled her eyes.

But unlike others who looked at her beauty with the usual disgust or inappropriate desire, he showed none of that reaction.

Si Qiu didn’t mind his coldness and continued talking to herself. “Drinking alcohol without eating anything first—won’t that make you feel uncomfortable?”

Elias set down his glass. His lips, now slightly more flushed than when they first met, parted slightly. “Are you hungry?”

She immediately sat up straight and nodded quickly: “Mm-mm!”

Elias stood up, took her hand from across the bar counter, and led her around it toward the dining area.

At the same time, he instructed, “Karl, go prepare a meal.”

The person standing at the door nodded and left to handle it.

Si Qiu tilted her head at him. “If you have something to ask, you can just ask me directly. I’m very stupid—if you don’t say it clearly, I won’t understand what you mean.”

She was telling the truth. In the past, when people made indirect sarcastic remarks, she never realized they were aimed at her. Only after others explained it to her did she finally understand.