Chapter 13: She! Is! Just! Plain! Wicked!

Zhang Mingfang followed behind Lin Wanjia, practically glued to her side as they entered the adjacent courtyard.

Once the door clicked shut, she dropped her playful grin. Her expression turned solemn as she asked, “How have you been feeling lately? Any trouble with eating or anything else?”

Lin Wanjia was busy wiping the table. Hearing this, she shot the doctor a look of weary familiarity. “The same as always. It’s exactly the time when I can’t keep anything down, so why are you even asking? What, is a gastroenterologist looking to switch careers to OB-GYN?”

Zhang Mingfang’s face darkened. “You know perfectly well that’s not what I’m asking about. Sometimes I really want to tell Little Su Ye, just so she can convince you to terminate this pregnancy.”

Lin Wanjia gave a cold, faint laugh. “This is my body. My choice.”

“Then can you at least cherish that body? If the child is gone, you can always have another, but you—”

“I don’t want to find someone else to marry. It’s disgusting.”

“…”

“And I don’t want to waste any more time on a surgical table. Surely you don’t want me undergoing extra surgeries either, do you?”

Zhang Mingfang found herself utterly speechless.

She often found herself at a loss before Lin Wanjia’s twisted logic, yet she couldn’t stop herself from repeatedly trying to challenge it, desperate to force her to face reality.

It was so difficult.

Choosing to yield, she leaned in closer. “Fine, Wanjia. I’ll support whatever decision you make.” As she spoke, she wrapped her arms around the other woman’s waist, gently leaning her head against her back. “When you feel helpless, at least you have me. You can always ask me for help.”

Lin Wanjia paused, her hand gently pressing down on Zhang Mingfang’s. “Fine,” she said softly. “I’ll ask you.”

*

In the small, silent room, the sound of medicine dripping from the IV bag was exceptionally clear. Drip. Drip. It held a rhythmic, almost magical quality that brought a sliver of peace.

Su Ye held the hand receiving the infusion. Even encased in her warmth, the hand remained slightly chilled. Because the woman hadn’t eaten all day, her fingertips were pale, almost translucent.

Over the past few days, she had seen Yue Huan exhausted to the point of silence, and she had seen the reliable version of her who proactively took charge of everything. She had seen her dazed and lost, and she had seen her grit her teeth while carrying Su Ye to the hospital despite her own shock.

Su Ye never expected to see such a fragile side of Yue Huan so soon—as if the woman might shatter at the slightest touch.

She just lay there, perfectly still. For the first time in days, she was resting quietly.

And for the first time, Su Ye was caring for someone who might disappear at any moment. The memory of those hands vanishing earlier still left her heart pounding with lingering fear, terrified that…

Su Ye’s strength gave out, and she slumped against the edge of the bed, her chin resting gently on her arms. “Get better quickly, okay?” she murmured.

“Get better soon. Don’t just vanish suddenly, the same way you appeared. Please.”

“Stop scaring me.”

Heaven only knew how terrifying it had been to watch a person materialize out of thin air and tumble right in front of her bike. What was even more frightening was that just a second before, Su Ye had truly prayed to the heavens for a relative. The speed and manner in which the universe had answered that prayer was so beyond expectation that Su Ye had nearly convinced herself she was having a psychotic break and had hallucinated hitting someone.

But she hadn’t. A bicycle couldn’t kill someone—not even one traveling at high speeds. At most, she would have only hurt herself.

She had spent all this time convincing herself she had simply seen it wrong. After all, a person couldn’t just condense out of thin air. But this morning, Yue Huan’s hands had vanished right before her eyes, exactly like that day. It forced her to believe the truth—

Even if the old saying goes that “no spirits are allowed to exist in this modern era,” Yue Huan truly seemed to be some kind of spirit. A spirit that had come specifically for her.

Since you came for me, don’t leave so easily, alright?

Su Ye shifted upward, gently leaning over the woman’s body. She buried her face in the covers, leaving behind a few damp streaks of salt.

“Don’t go. Whatever you do, don’t go. I’m begging you.”

As dusk fell, Zhang Mingfang came by to change the IV bag. She strictly instructed Su Ye to call her when the infusion was nearly finished. She’d be right next door, adding that if Su Ye didn’t want to walk over, she could just holler from the courtyard.

Zhang Mingfang winked. “Though your Sister Wanjia might hit you for the noise.”

Using Sister Wanjia to pressure me again!

Su Ye felt like baring her teeth at the woman. She waved her hands, shooing her out of the room. “I’ll come and call for you with the utmost respect, alright? But only for today, since I need your help!”

Zhang Mingfang poked half her head back in. “It’s not just for today. This infusion is a three-day course.”

“Get out! Don’t push your luck!”

The doctor vanished into the other courtyard, her laugh ringing out like a clanging bell. Su Ye was so annoyed she almost wanted to drag the person on the bed upright.

It was all her fault! If she hadn’t gotten sick, Zhang Mingfang wouldn’t have had the chance to bully her. How hateful!

But when she turned back, the person whose fever had slightly subsided looked so haggard and still hadn’t woken up. Her anger instantly evaporated.

Su Ye reached out to gently touch the pale face. Her fingertips met a layer of cold sweat. Startled, she quickly grabbed some tissue and wiped it away.

She went ahead and wiped the woman’s entire face and neck. Then, she reached under the hem of her shirt to check her body—another layer of sweat.

She let out a long breath, a sense of joy bubbling up belatedly.

Sweating was good. Sweating meant the fever was breaking. This person, who had looked so pale she might shatter, was finally going to be okay.

Su Ye laughed, though she felt a bit clumsy and flustered. She squeezed the woman’s hand, then pinched her cheek, suddenly not knowing where to put her own hands. Her eyes grew hot and rimmed with red, and before she realized it, a single tear slid down her face.

It was followed by a string of tears born from the relief of surviving a disaster, patter-patter, falling into her palm.

She haphazardly wiped her eyes and turned around, sniffing as she tucked Yue Huan’s blanket in tighter.

Now that she was finally sweating, she had to stay covered. It wouldn’t do to catch another chill now.

But a hand kept trying to crawl out, struggling against her efforts to tuck the blanket. Su Ye, annoyed, lightly slapped the hand and snapped through her sobs, “Can’t you just behave? Get better already!”

The hand finally turned obedient. Su Ye grabbed it, stuffed it back under the covers, and wrapped the blanket around her a few more times to ensure the heat stayed trapped around the patient.

Only then did Su Ye breathe a sigh of relief.

Wait… Did she just move on her own?

She turned to look. The woman was staring at her with an incredibly wounded, submissive expression. As her temperature dropped, those eyes had regained some clarity. She looked at Su Ye, appearing very aggrieved.

Yue Chengqi spoke in a hoarse voice, “Why are you crying again? I’m not going to die… don’t cry…”

“Why couldn’t you use this bit of ‘fragility’ when you were arguing with me last night?”

If she hadn’t mentioned the argument, it might have been fine. But the moment she did, Su Ye’s temper flared.

Su Ye stood by the bed, hands snapping to her hips. “You have the nerve to bring that up? You were so smug last night, weren’t you? Leaving me with that ‘cool’ silhouette as you walked away! Tell me, where is the bathhouse?”

“So cool! So impressive! And then you went and gave yourself a high fever! You spent the whole day burning up! How glorious! So glorious that we’ve lost a whole day’s profit!”

Yue Chengqi looked even more wronged.

Yet, amidst the indignation, she felt a strange sense of familiarity. This was exactly how she used to get scolded as a child when she was caught secretly flipping through one of Su Ye’s handwritten books.

That was one of the few times Su Ye had ever truly scolded her. The only other time was in middle school when she skipped class to buy snacks at the supermarket and was caught red-handed by Su Ye, who happened to be passing by.

That scolding… it had been so effective that for the rest of her life, even during the most useless career guidance classes in university, she had been a permanent resident of the front row, never daring to skip a single minute.

It was just that the current Su Ye was still quite young. Her scolding lacked real venom; instead, it betrayed her lack of confidence. Moreover, seeing her scold someone while being unable to stop her own crying was actually quite cute.

Yue Chengqi coughed twice. “Su Ye, if you keep scolding me, how am I supposed to get better?”

Su Ye froze for a second, her willow-thin eyebrows shooting up. “Well, aren’t you something, Yue Huan! You’re actually trying to pin this on me? Let me tell you, I definitely earned less money today because of you, and I’ll be earning less for the next few days too. This is all being added to your debt! Don’t even think about leaving until you’ve paid it all back!”

Yue Chengqi gave a warm smile. “Alright. I won’t leave. Is there any water?”

“I’ll go get some.”

Su Ye grabbed the cup and turned away. Her shoulders began to shake slightly—a silent tremor. Yue Chengqi watched her, her heart softening.

She really was lucky. Even after such a disastrous turn of events, she got to be with the person who treated her best. She had even wondered: if she had encountered Yue Wenfeng instead… she would have been finished. Their already strained mother-daughter relationship would have only become more tense.

There wouldn’t have been a single improvement.

However, while she was drifting in and out of consciousness earlier, she thought she had heard Su Ye say something.

Something about “appearing suddenly.”

Was she talking about her?

Does Su Ye… know something?

Yue Chengqi narrowed her eyes to observe her, but the young girl didn’t seem particularly special, aside from having a lot of tears. When Su Ye returned with the water, she was acting quite arrogant, placing the cup down and immediately looking the other way.

Is she still angry?

Yue Chengqi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Before she could speak, an incredibly loud and familiar female voice barged in from outside. “Little Su Ye! Let me see if your little relative is feeling any better.”

A face that was very familiar yet looked much younger suddenly enlarged before her eyes. The bright, radiant smile made Yue Chengqi dazed for a moment. The words “Grandma Zhang” nearly slipped out of her mouth.

Fortunately, she suppressed it, only managing a strangled “Zhang…”

When she had first arrived in this era, the clinic on Weian Road she had thought of was the one run by the woman standing before her.

Zhang Mingfang, “Grandma Zhang.” She had never married, never had children, and had spent her life running that clinic alone.

Yue Chengqi had always believed that such a good person would live to be a hundred and surely go to heaven. In her childhood ignorance, while getting a shot at the clinic, she had even mentioned this to her.

At the time, Zhang Mingfang had simply shaken her head. Leaning against her desk and watching Yue Chengqi try to do homework while receiving an injection, she had said softly, “That’s not necessarily a good thing. You’ll understand when you grow up.”

“Perhaps a shorter life is actually a blessing.”

Yue Chengqi had been eight years old then. She hadn’t understood, but she had remembered. Even after all these years, she still hadn’t figured it out.

Yue Chengqi hadn’t expected to run into her here, let alone a version of her that was so cheerful and lively. That smiling face was something she had never seen on the older version of the woman.

I suppose this is a form of fate.

She swallowed the rest of her words and offered a refined smile. “Hello, Doctor Zhang.”

Zhang Mingfang was delighted. “Little Su Ye, I knew you were good to your big sister. You already introduced me? Little Yue Huan, do you know what my name is?”

This question was a bit outside the script.

Yue Chengqi gave an awkward smile.

She truly didn’t know her name yet.

Zhang Mingfang let out a cold snort. “Su Ye, did you just call me ‘Sister Zhang’ again, huh?”

Su Ye, who hadn’t said a word the entire time but was now taking the blame for everything: “…”

Yet, she could only nod. “So what if I did? I’ll call you Sister Zhang if I want to!”

“Ha! You brat!” Zhang Mingfang ground her teeth, but because there was a guest present, she merely hummed. “I won’t bicker with you for now. I’m here to check on the little relative. Little Yue Huan, remember this: this girl is the type who would sell you off and make you count the money for her. You’d better stay far away from her.”

“She! Is! Just! Plain! Wicked!”