Marrying the Short-Lived, Maniacal Eldest Miss for Good Fortune 45

Chapter 45

“Mom, let me take care of my sister. You go and rest for a while…”

Lin Qingwan placed the hot congee by the bedside and carefully touched the forehead of the sickly young lady on the bed with the back of her hand.

The fever had subsided, but her complexion had not improved. She was relying on the continuous drip to inject a little bit of life into her.

The bedroom was so quiet that only the heavy sound of the medical equipment could be heard.

Lin Lan gave Lin Qingwan a deep look, stood up, and placed her warm hand on her shoulder, patting it.

Just as she was about to leave the bedroom, the frail young lady on the bed suddenly moved.

She lifted her eyelids, looked at the woman’s departing back against the light, and her lips moved silently.

She struggled to sit up, her eyes wide, trying to make the world a little clearer. But the sharp pain in her hand made her fall back onto the pillow with a low moan of pain.

Lin Lan’s steps paused. She immediately returned to the bedside to check if the needle on the back of her hand had shifted.

The young lady slowly raised her head and looked at the needle connected to the IV drip in confusion.

Lin Lan was right there, and next to her stood a tearful… Wen Qianxue?

“Mom!”

She struggled to raise her head, trying to get closer to the woman she had been thinking about day and night, and asked with a trembling voice, “Are you here to pick me up?”

Mom, Mom…

Mom had left some things in a bank trust, to be given to her after she finished her college entrance exam.

The lawyer had said that it was Wen Qianxue’s last wish, left solely for Miss Lin Shuxing, and even Lin Lan had no right to decide.

But as the distance closed, the layer of mist slowly dissipated, and she finally saw the overly young face in front of her.

It wasn’t Wen Qianxue, but her biological daughter, Lin Qingwan.

“It’s you…”

Lin Shuxing forced herself to look away, her mind a mess. She felt that her voice was also floating outside her body, weightless, and she didn’t know where it would land.

Lin Shuxing’s gaze searched the bedroom with difficulty and subconsciously asked, “Where’s Fang Yi?”

She still remembered, remembered… Fang Yi’s voice.

Why isn’t she here?

Lin Qingwan paused, held Lin Shuxing’s hand, and said gently, “She’s fine. She came back with Wang Quan. Now…”

Before Lin Qingwan could finish, Lin Shuxing had already closed her eyes and said tiredly, “I know. You can go.”

She leaned against the soft pillow. Just turning over had used up all her strength. She gasped for a moment before she recovered and continued, “I’m going to rest. I still have an exam tomorrow.”

“…”

Lin Qingwan twisted the corner of her clothes anxiously, tears falling drop by drop. She said in a small voice, “Sister, I’m sorry…”

Lin Shuxing coughed and interrupted her coldly, “I don’t want to pursue this now. We’ll talk after I finish my exam.”

She was so tired now, and her whole body ached. She had to conserve her energy to get through this long night.

There was only a shallow river left to cross before the college entrance exam. She had no energy to be angry.

Lin Qingwan asked with a trembling voice, “Sister, shall we go abroad together? Mom has already agreed. As long as you’re willing…”

In Lin Shuxing’s current state, even getting out of bed was a problem, let alone taking the college entrance exam.

The young lady under the soft blanket did not move, as silent as if she were already asleep.

Lin Lan gently patted Lin Qingwan’s shoulder, signaling for her to go out with her. She softened her tone and said to the young lady on the bed, “Rest well. I’ll arrange everything else.”

Lin Shuxing still didn’t speak. She only spoke stiffly just as they were about to close the main door:

“Ms. Lin, I must go to the exam tomorrow. This is a notice, not a discussion.”

Lin Lan frowned. “What are you throwing a tantrum for?”

Lin Shuxing propped herself up, her pale cheeks as white as translucent jade in the faint light. “I’m not throwing a tantrum. I don’t accept your arrangements. Is that not okay?”

Lin Lan replied, “No.”

She waved her hand, and the servants filed in, eagerly operating the most expensive instruments to check the young lady’s condition.

They skillfully wiped her sweat and changed the IV drip. The doctors in white coats recorded the data.

Everyone was watching her, but not a single person’s eyes truly held her shadow.

The young lady’s pale lips trembled. “Let Fang Yi come and see me.”

The woman did not answer, just held Lin Qingwan and left against the light, leaving behind a light sentence, “Take good care of her.”

The halo of light dissipated bit by bit. She left just like that, just like when she was a child, leaving her to others.

“I don’t need you to take care of me. I can take my own medicine. I am not your accessory, Lin Lan.”

“I’ve been preparing for so long. I don’t need you to support me. I’ve long been prepared to leave. I’m already an adult. I don’t want to live under someone else’s roof forever. I don’t want you to make decisions for me!”

Although everything seemed to be the same as before after her identity was exposed, Lin Shuxing knew clearly, how could it be the same?

This was the place where she had grown up, but it was not her home.

The young lady’s eyes turned red. She fumbled around the bedside but couldn’t find her phone.

The needle was pulled out, and a few drops of bright red blood fell on the pure white quilt. The medical staff cried out in alarm and clumsily held down the restless young lady.

Lin Shuxing struggled weakly and could only lie on the bed, her dry voice almost a roar.

This was the first time she had lost her composure like this, baring her fangs at the Lin Lan she had once admired infinitely, like an injured little beast.

“Lin Lan, you’ve never cared about what I think.”

“If my biological mother were here, she would never treat me like this!”

…

In the dead silence, Lin Qingwan felt the hand Lin Lan was holding tighten, her bones creaking.

Suddenly, Lin Lan let go, stood on the spot in silence for a moment, then turned and strode towards the girl who was surrounded by white.

The people looked at each other, and fearfully made way.

Lin Lan hated it when others defied her, and this person was the daughter she had carefully raised for eighteen years.

Lin Qingwan was shocked. She knew Lin Lan’s temper very well and hurriedly followed to stop her. “Mom, don’t be angry!”

Lin Lan shook off Lin Qingwan’s outstretched hand, roughly cupped the young lady’s face, and questioned sharply, “I’m doing this for your own good. Don’t you know your own physical condition?”

“Can you stand up now? Can you leave those medicines and instruments? How will you survive without the Lin family?!”

Lin Lan took a deep breath, her chest aching. Noticing the young lady trembling in her palm, her voice also lowered, revealing a helpless despair.

She asked, “Are you doing this childish act to get back at me, Lin Shuxing?”

Her hands were even harder than Fang Yi’s. The calluses on her index finger scraped her cheek, and it quickly turned red.

The deep sea in Lin Lan’s eyes finally surged into a monstrous vortex. At such a close distance, Lin Shuxing could clearly see that her eyes were also slightly red.

The young lady was stunned for a moment, as if she were scared. A thousand words were stuck in her throat. She could only bite her lip and cry silently.

At this moment, she was like a broken glass doll. The light of her tears reflected too much unwillingness and grievance, but at this moment, she was trying her best to cover up the sharp fragments.

Lin Lan closed her eyes, wiped her tears with her sleeve, and said forcefully:

“You are my daughter for a day, you are my daughter forever. Don’t let me hear such words a second time.”

“…”

After Lin Lan and Lin Qingwan left the room, the moment the door was closed, the young lady’s suppressed tears gushed out.

The bowl of freshly cooked congee was smashed on the floor. Smack!

Mixed with the young lady’s suppressed sobs, it was hard to tell for a moment whether it was the porcelain bowl or the heart that had broken.

The materials of the old villa were extremely exquisite. The warm wood was enough to block out most of the noise, including the young lady’s despair and anger. In the end, only a faint layer floated out through the cracks, indistinct.

The butler, waiting outside, let out a low sigh. She still remembered that this bedroom of Lin Shuxing’s had been designed by Lin Lan and Wen Qianxue together back then.

…

In a dark room on the first floor.

A red incense stick burned with a wisp of white smoke. Shui Wuding’s dark green eyes flickered in the darkness.

The main door was pushed open a crack. Shui Wuding raised her eyebrows and said doubtfully, “What took you so long? I was about to go and get you.”

Canceling an engagement was much more troublesome than making one. If one party proposed to break it off, they would suffer a backlash.

In Lin Shuxing’s current state, she couldn’t take any stimulation, so it was naturally impossible for her to participate personally.

They could only trouble Fang Yi a little, to bear it alone, and to soak in some protective herbs in advance to minimize the damage.

But when Shui Wuding looked up, what she saw was Lin Qingwan in a white dress.

“Shui Wuding,” Lin Qingwan called her gently, her face without a trace of a plastered smile, replaced by a gentle sorrow between her brows.

“How did my sister get so sick? Can you help her? Seeing her in so much pain, I’m also very sad…”

She placed a hand on her chest, her sparkling eyes gazing at Shui Wuding, and pleaded sincerely, “Please, no matter what method, I am willing to bear my own mistakes.”

“…”

She undoubtedly looked very much like her mother. At this moment, her gentle and sorrowful appearance was even more so.

It was as if time had turned back, and an old friend was standing before her again.

Shui Wuding’s vertical pupils stared at her for a long time before she let out a low sigh. “Don’t worry. She will be fine. It’s not time yet.”

“Duan Ruoxi will replace Fang Yi and share Lin Shuxing’s illness.”

“Share…?”

“Yes. This has nothing to do with you. You should go and rest too.” Shui Wuding was unwilling to say too much, waved her hand, and tried to send the young lady out.

Lin Qingwan raised her face and asked, “Why let Duan Ruoxi replace Fang Yi? Is it because Fang Yi is unwilling?”

“The conditions are very strict. Not just anyone can be replaced,” Shui Wuding frowned. “Besides, it was Duan Ruoxi who was prepared from the beginning…”

Duan Ruoxi was very short on money. She was different from Fang Yi.

She had many lives on her hands. Few in this line of work could have a good end. She had also signed a life-and-death contract. If something happened to her, the Lin family would be responsible for taking care of her younger sister for the rest of her life.

The melancholy between Lin Qingwan’s brows deepened. She asked softly, “How can one transfer illness? Will it be very harmful to Miss Duan…”

Shui Wuding’s vertical pupils blinked slowly. “The recipient’s spiritual orifices must be fully opened to ‘receive’ a part. The process of transferring luck is irreversible.”

“Of course, Duan Ruoxi is willing. It’s just a part. We will do our best to ensure her safety.”

She paused, trying to find an excuse for her conscience. “We will take good care of Miss Duan. This is just a fair transaction.”

Take good care of her.

Lin Qingwan’s hair fell lower and lower, her fingers tightly intertwined.

Shui Wuding’s brow twitched. She looked up at the clock on the wall.

Fang Yi had been gone for too long. To avoid any accidents, it was best to go and get her back.

Although Fang Yi’s bond with Lin Shuxing was too deep, even Shui Wuding felt a little pity.

But pity was pity. As a high-level cold-blooded animal, she was never soft-hearted.

This was already the best choice after weighing the pros and cons.

Shui Wuding smiled and put her arm around Lin Qingwan’s shoulder, leading her out and coaxing, “Don’t worry too much. Just leave this kind of thing to the adults to handle.”

But the young lady suddenly asked, “We’ve seen you since we were little, right? Shui Wuding.”

Shui Wuding’s smile paused. She tried to change the subject with a forced ease. “Yes. It’s thanks to me that I correctly calculated the location to find you.”

“No, before that,” the young lady grabbed Shui Wuding’s clothes, forcing her to stop.

“You are a snake, Shui Wuding. I still remember you.”

“The lotus pond, my sister and I…”

Lin Qingwan asked with a trembling voice, “She took my illness, didn’t she?”

The smile on Shui Wuding’s face completely disappeared, her pupils shining with a faint light in her cascading hair.

For the sake of merit and cultivation, she should not have done these things against the heavens.

But she had once promised Wen Qianxue that she would protect her daughter no matter what.

And it was so coincidental that the two children were switched.

Lin Shuxing’s fate was auspicious, and she had just happened to take Lin Qingwan’s place.

A carrier who completely believed in them, a carrier who could withstand the disaster.

It was simply a sacrifice sent to them by the heavens.

Besides, since Lin Shuxing’s fate was so strong, she might not be able to overcome the illness—

Eighteen years ago, they had mistakenly continued a bond, and from that moment on, their fates were completely exchanged and changed.

Lin Shuxing had originally had a life-threatening calamity in her childhood, but it was avoided because of the exchange of identities.

She should have died long ago. Now it was just an equivalent exchange.

At least, at least, in this big gamble, Lin Shuxing was still alive, and they still had a chance to win.

Shui Wuding suppressed the strange guilt in her heart, raised her hand, and randomly ruffled Lin Qingwan’s hair, lowering her voice. “Don’t overthink it, Xiao Wan. It’s not your fault.”

Lin Qingwan shook her head and spread her palm, covering her heart. “I can feel it, her pain…”

So the throbbing of the heart was real. They had once shared the same fate.

Sister, my sister who is not related by blood.

The connection between us is stronger than anyone else in this world.

Don’t leave, don’t even think about leaving.

Let me compensate you, compensate for my sin, compensate for my love…

Lin Qingwan’s gentle eyes darkened. She took Shui Wuding’s hand and, in just these few seconds, made a decision that was almost the same as Lin Lan’s.

As long as her sister could be happy, anyone could die.