What should have been a proper wrap party night ended abruptly because of Ye Can’s long-overdue period.
After taking Ye Can to the nearest hospital to bandage her wounds, Lin Zixi noticed that besides the scrapes on her palms, Ye Can’s knees were also a total mess. Only then did Lin Zixi realize that Ye Can had truly taken a nasty fall.
Once the nurse finished applying medicine to Ye Can, Lin Zixi took her hand and asked, “Did you do that on purpose? For scenes you can act out later, just use your skills—no need for pointless sacrifices like this.”
Ye Can shook her head. “No.” She hadn’t deliberately done it; it was just that the strange sensation in her lower body at that moment had distracted her, so she’d rolled with it and performed the scene.
With that thought, Ye Can glanced at Lin Zixi. She pressed her bandaged hands to her abdomen, bit her pale lips, and said softly, “Lin Zixi, I think it hurts a little.”
Lin Zixi gazed at Ye Can’s bloodless face and suddenly sensed a vulnerability in her that was different from before. She reached out, gently pressing her palm to Ye Can’s abdomen. “Does your stomach hurt a lot?”
Ye Can nodded weakly, feeling as if a thousand knives or ten thousand needles were shredding her abdomen, blood dripping everywhere.
Ye Can had been highly tolerant of pain since childhood—what felt like a ten to others barely registered as a one for her. So for her, “a little pain” was probably excruciating agony for anyone else.
Even so, Ye Can felt utterly drained. Trembling, she placed her hand on Lin Zixi’s arm. “Can you think of something to make it hurt less?”
Seeing how much Ye Can was suffering, Lin Zixi helped her out of the hospital and rushed to a pharmacy for painkillers, which she promptly fed to her.
Ye Can stared at the blue-and-white capsule Lin Zixi offered, frowning as she let it be placed at her lips. Swallowing down her nausea, she took it into her mouth.
The instant the capsule hit her tongue, Ye Can reflexively spat it out far away.
Lin Zixi looked at the pill now on the ground and turned to Ye Can. “Doesn’t it hurt? Taking some painkillers will make it better.”
Ye Can’s mouth still lingered with the nauseating aftertaste. She scrunched up her face in self-abandonment. “I’m not taking it—it’s too gross. Let me just die from the pain!”
Lin Zixi sighed and held another pill to Ye Can’s lips, coaxing her. “Don’t say such willful things. You’re an adult, not a kid.”
Ye Can spat toward the pill in her hand, turned her head away, and refused to look at Lin Zixi, striking a pose of defiant resistance to the death.
Lin Zixi was at a loss with her. “Fine, if you won’t take it, let’s head back first. How about a bath and some proper rest?”
Ye Can agreed that she really needed to clean up. She nodded, got into Tong Lin’s car with Lin Zixi, and returned to the hotel.
The abdominal pain came in relentless waves, so unbearable that fine beads of cold sweat dotted Ye Can’s forehead. For once on the ride, Ye Can stayed completely silent, leaning against the car window and letting her gaze drift with the dim scenes outside.
Lin Zixi sat beside her, watching the shifting lights outside flicker across Ye Can’s overly pale face in mottled patterns. In the swaying motion, Lin Zixi felt as if she’d entered some mystical moment.
The hazy glow reflecting on Ye Can made this child, who seemed so otherworldly and untouched by mortal affairs, suddenly take on the vibrancy of everyday life.
Everything feels more alive.
The thought flashed through Lin Zixi’s mind. Moments later, she pulled out her phone and messaged Ye Shen, asking about Ye Can’s physical condition—like her first period and menstrual cycle regularity.
Ye Shen knew it all too well. Perhaps due to her poor mental state, Ye Can’s periods were wildly irregular—sometimes months apart, sometimes coming too soon after the last.
Crucially, Ye Can never took her medicine.
She despised the smell of drugs, often letting the pain drag her into dire straits, sometimes even leading to self-harm.
Reading that, Lin Zixi glanced at Ye Can beside her and noted her unusual quietness.
After laying it all out, Ye Shen added, “I’m entrusting Can Can to you, Miss Lin.”
Lin Zixi replied, “I will,” turned off her screen, and looked at Ye Can. “Still hurting?”
Ye Can shot her a glance, her narrow eyes glinting coldly—as if to say, What a stupid question!
Lin Zixi sighed and opened her arms, her expression gentle. “Come here. Let me hold you.”
Ye Can clutched her abdomen, mumbling, “A hug won’t make it hurt less,” but still leaned into Lin Zixi’s embrace.
Lin Zixi wrapped her arms around Ye Can’s waist, holding her close, gently rubbing her lower belly, and resting her chin on her shoulder. “A hug might not ease the pain, but at least it’ll let you know I’m here—you won’t have to endure this alone.”
Lin Zixi’s words were always so soothing, dissipating much of Ye Can’s pain-fueled irritability.
Though delighted inside, Ye Can couldn’t help saying, “You’d just watch me suffer alone, right?”
Lin Zixi leaned down, kissed her cheek, and smiled. “I’ll stay with you and make you feel better.”
Ye Can huffed, burying her face in Lin Zixi’s chest like a petulant child. “Then hold me tighter.”
Lin Zixi replied softly, “Okay.”
She held Ye Can the whole way back, not letting go even at the hotel. Lin Zixi helped her undress, got her into the bathroom, and dealt with the soiled clothes.
With her hands bandaged, Ye Can couldn’t bathe properly, so Lin Zixi washed and dried her, then dressed her in clean clothes.
The whole process left Ye Can feeling awkward, even ashamed—like a newborn infant being tended to by Lin Zixi, scrubbed spotless and tucked into bed.
Lin Zixi didn’t mind the wounds or the bloodstains, handling it all with calm composure.
Lying in bed afterward, Ye Can took a while to snap out of it. Her mind replayed Lin Zixi’s watery tenderness, embracing every part of her.
A belated thought surfaced in Ye Can’s mind: Maybe this is what a mother is?
The feeling was profoundly subtle, lingering even after Lin Zixi emerged from the bathroom.
Ye Can lay there, watching Lin Zixi blow-dry her hair, and tentatively called out, “Mommy?”
Lin Zixi, holding the hairdryer, didn’t catch it clearly. She turned, puzzled. “What?”
Ye Can stared intently and called more earnestly, “Mommy!”
Lin Zixi froze, then burst out laughing. She turned off the dryer, crawled onto the bed on her knees, pinched Ye Can’s face with eyes full of mirth. “What did you just call me?”
Pinching Ye Can’s ear, Lin Zixi leaned in teasingly. “Why are you calling me Mommy?”
Ye Can’s heart raced as she explained, “What you just did for me… it’s like what a mother does for her baby.”
“You didn’t mind me at all, and you were so gentle, so I thought…”
Ye Can grew shy, lowering her head. “Lin Zixi… my mom died when I was little, and I don’t remember what she looked like.”
“But just now, I thought of her again.”
Lin Zixi fell silent for a moment, then pulled Ye Can into her arms, cradling her face against her chest. “Can Can, you’re such a good girl.”
Ye Can wrapped her arms around Lin Zixi’s waist, nuzzling her chest with a smile. “Lin Zixi, if you had your own kid, you’d be an amazing mom.”
Lin Zixi smiled, ruffling Ye Can’s hair. “But giving birth is tough, and one kid like you is already a handful for the family.”
She released the hug, cupping Ye Can’s face with a coaxing grin. “Alright, I’ll make you something sweet soon—no more pain.”
Ye Can clung to her waist, weakly protesting, “Stop saying ‘pain’—it reminds me my stomach still hurts.”
In my twenty hurried years, when have I ever suffered like this? Even death was peaceful, but in this world, I’m tormented every other day.
Damn that Immoral God!
Ye Can inwardly cursed the Immoral God a hundred times over. Lin Zixi gently disentangled herself, smiling. “Okay, okay, no more. I’ll make you some brown sugar water.”
Lin Zixi got out of bed and brewed red sugar water for Ye Can. She cracked open a painkiller capsule, mixed the powder in, and had Ye Can drink it all.
The sweetness must have masked the bitterness—Ye Can eventually sipped the medicated sugar water obediently from the cup.
Watching Ye Can’s compliant demeanor, Lin Zixi couldn’t resist ruffling her hair, thinking, She really is just a kid.
This state lasted three days for Ye Can. After enduring the worst of it, she finally bounced back.
The moment she revived, Ye Can started pestering Lin Zixi about jumping into new work.
Sometimes Lin Zixi thought Ye Can was a total workaholic maniac—even on a hard-earned break, she wouldn’t just spend time with her girlfriend.
But as her girlfriend, manager, and assistant, Lin Zixi was always by her side anyway—no real need for a vacation.
Lin Zixi began sifting through scripts for Ye Can again.
When Ye Shen heard, she sent over a stack, including one proposal with such a stellar cast that even Lin Zixi felt tempted.
It was a project from Guangcan itself. After reading the first three episodes and the outline, Lin Zixi contacted Ye Shen.
Ye Shen didn’t mince words: it was tailor-made for Ye Can, with a top director, Meng Zhiqiu, and Jiang Yue in supporting roles—all to make Ye Can explode in popularity.
Lin Zixi paused. “Meng Zhiqiu and Jiang Yue both agreed?”
Ye Shen replied, “Yes, they’re on board—just waiting for Can Can’s schedule. What do you think of the lineup? Suggest changes if anything’s off.”
Lin Zixi said, “Let me think it over. I’ll discuss with Ye Can and get back to you on which one.”
Ye Shen: “Okay.”
A moment later, Ye Shen added, as if clarifying, “I don’t mean anything else. I just think since Can Can’s in this industry, she should win over more fans.”
“I want her to get more recognition.”
Seeing that, Lin Zixi felt Ye Shen was like a fretting old mom—tough gig.
![Us Outside of Time [Rebirth]](https://i1.wp.com/dobytranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/rebirth.jpeg?resize=151,215 "Us Outside of Time [Rebirth]")
