Chapter 1 I Don’t Want Lu Yunchuan Anymore

Her throat was dry and hoarse. Her head ached unbearably. Her body felt like it was sinking into a quagmire, endlessly descending. Ye Qingtao abruptly opened her eyes. A strange room met her gaze, with peeling walls and a broken window frame. An old wooden desk stood by the window, and a water glass and various odds and ends were placed on the bedside table. It was afternoon, the sun hadn’t set yet, but the room was perpetually shrouded in grayness due to its north-facing orientation. A calendar with a Hong Kong-style female star’s portrait was pasted on the wall, displaying the date: December 31, 1988. Ye Qingtao’s pupils constricted. Had she time-traveled?

A high-speed train collision had resulted in numerous casualties, overwhelming the emergency room with patients. The hospital urgently summoned elite doctors from various departments for reinforcements. As the youngest chief physician in the neurosurgery department of the Capital Hospital, Ye Qingtao, with her exceptional medical skills, naturally had to step up. The accident was devastating, with a constant stream of patients being brought in. She had worked for two days and nights without rest, even going to the bathroom and drinking water only during brief moments between surgeries. Her nerves were stretched to their limit. After completing her 30th surgery, she was about to leave work, but before she could even take off her white coat, she collapsed. She thought she had died of exhaustion, but when she opened her eyes again, she found herself in this unfamiliar place.

Memories that didn’t belong to her flooded her mind. The sheer volume of information caused a throbbing pain in her already aching head. Ye Qingtao clutched her head, her body contorting in agony, the numerous minor wounds on her body also sending waves of excruciating pain. She accidentally kicked over the chair beside the bed, the chair crashing to the floor with a loud bang. The door was abruptly flung open, and a middle-aged woman dressed in plain clothes, her face etched with worry, rushed in. Zhu Guihua stood by the bed, her hands trembling. Seeing Ye Qingtao clutching her head, her face contorted in pain, her heart sank. Her orange peel-like face crumpled, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Qingtao, wake up, get better! I can’t lose you!”

Zhu Guihua was a woman who never backed down, she had been strong all her life, but she had given birth to such a lovesick daughter. Her daughter was tall and beautiful, smarter than most, but she had always been infatuated with Lu Yunchuan. She even brazenly declared that she would marry him when she grew up. Whenever another girl got close to Lu Yunchuan, Ye Qingtao would become like a fighting cock. At best, she would argue with them, at worst, she would fight them directly. Sometimes, she would be dragged by her hair against the wall and slapped, sometimes she would be trampled underfoot. Her body would be bruised and battered; her face scratched. During these times, Lu Yunchuan would just stand by and watch coldly. If Ye Qingtao won, she would grin at him, seeking his approval, if she lost, she would cry and beg for his comfort, but Lu Yunchuan would only sneer. “Useless thing, you can’t even win a fight, what good are you?”

It was obvious to everyone that Lu Yunchuan was not good to her, he even disliked her. He would casually give away the scarves and gloves she had spent a long time knitting to others, throw away the gifts she carefully selected in the trash. He would give the soup she had painstakingly cooked and the food she had made to others, even feeding it to dogs. He would read aloud the letters she wrote to him as if they were jokes. Ye Qingtao’s dignity had been trampled underfoot by him, she was treated like a lapdog, called upon at his whim. Zhu Guihua hated him with all her heart, she had tried to persuade her daughter in private, but to no avail.

Ye Qingtao opened her eyes again, her beautiful peach blossom eyes shining with an unsettling light. It was only then that she realized she wasn’t simply time-traveling, she had entered a time-travel romance novel, becoming the female supporting character Ye Qingtao, who was madly in love with the male lead. She had been licking Lu Yunchuan’s boots for over a decade, doing countless crazy things to marry him. When she learned that Lu Yunchuan had brought a girl back from the countryside, rented her a room, and took care of her with utmost tenderness, even introducing her to others as his girlfriend, she completely lost it. She had seen the girl once, she was delicate and beautiful, looking pitifully vulnerable. Ye Qingtao went completely mad, first threatening to kill herself, forcing her parents to propose to Lu Yunchuan’s family, and after being rejected, she climbed onto the roof and jumped in front of everyone. She did such a crazy thing, becoming the laughingstock of the residential compound, but it didn’t win Lu Yunchuan’s heart, instead, he became even more disgusted with her. After her jump, she was seriously injured and spent half a month in the hospital, draining the family’s savings. The doctor said she was beyond saving, asking the family to take her home and let her fend for herself.

Just now, when she was clutching her head, her face contorted in pain, Zhu Guihua thought she was having a deathbed vision. “Mom, don’t cry, I’m fine.” Ye Qingtao said weakly, her voice hoarse, her whole body aching like it was falling apart, even speaking was difficult. Zhu Guihua sat by the bed, holding her hand, looking at it again and again, gently touching the wound on her head. “Are you really okay? The doctor said you, said you…” Zhu Guihua choked on her words, tears streaming down her face, afraid that her precious daughter would be gone. “I’m really okay, Mom, I’m so tired, I want to lie down and rest for a while.”

After sending Zhu Guihua away, Ye Qingtao picked up the small mirror on the bedside table, lifted the gauze on her forehead and looked at it. A deep, gaping wound, if not treated properly, would definitely leave a scar. Minor abrasions all over her body, her left elbow dislocated. The original owner had been so cruel to herself for that scumbag! Ye Qingtao touched the wound with her fingertips, the pain made her gasp.

“If only I had my medical kit!” Ye Qingtao sighed. A silver medical kit appeared out of thin air. She expertly opened it, her face lighting up with joy as she saw the contents. This wasn’t just any medical kit, it was the new medicine she had developed over the years. Some of the formulas had been patented and bought by pharmaceutical companies after testing, and were now in the process of mass production. Advertisements for the new drugs were everywhere on TV, and the pharmaceutical companies were overwhelmed with orders. She was supposed to receive a hefty share of the profits once the drugs were released. But now, she was gone before she could even see the money.

Ye Qingtao re-dressed and bandaged her wounds, expertly setting her dislocated left arm. She used her latest medicine, which could stop bleeding, promote healing, and speed up recovery. This new drug had been tested and proven to be thousands of times more effective than any skin-healing ointment on the market. She stroked the medical kit and softly said “collect,” and it vanished as if it had never been there. It seemed she had gained a space after transmigrating, and even her medical kit had come with her, a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

Ye Qingtao was about to continue exploring the space when there was another knock on the door. Hesitant footsteps approached. He stood by the bed, silent for a long time, then sighed heavily. “Qingtao, I just came back from Lu Yunchuan’s house. Lu Chunmin doesn’t agree to your marriage yet.” “But it’s okay, I’ll buy some gifts and go to their house tomorrow. If it doesn’t work the first time, I’ll go twice, if it doesn’t work twice, I’ll go three times.” “If I go enough times, they’ll see my sincerity, and they’ll agree eventually!”

The man’s heavy voice echoed, and Ye Qingtao opened her eyes again. The man in front of her had gray hair at his temples, he was only in his 40s, but he looked like an old man in his 60s, worn down by life. In recent years, state-owned enterprises had been undergoing restructuring, and the machinery factory where Ye Yongjin worked was becoming increasingly bleak, with more and more workers being laid off. He was a skilled worker, but he was honest and upright, and never flattered or cajoled, so he had offended many people. Lu Yunchuan’s father was the one who disliked him the most, and if it weren’t for the factory’s need for him, he would have been laid off long ago. He had always been at odds with Lu Chunmin, and now, for the sake of his daughter, he had come to their house with a face full of shame. He knew that Lu Chunmin looked down on her and would never agree to this marriage. Even if he went, he would only be scolded and ridiculed, and his back would be stabbed. But he went anyway.

Lu Yunchuan’s family not only humiliated him, they first made him kneel and kowtow, then they scolded Ye Qingtao for being a toad who wanted to eat swan flesh, saying that she wasn’t good enough for their son, and finally they kicked him out in front of everyone.

Ye Qingtao’s face turned icy, and she said word by word, “Dad! I don’t want Lu Yunchuan anymore!”