Chapter 13: The Sick Child

◎Mom is just your hallucination… Mom doesn’t love you◎

“Excuse me, are you Mr. Pei’s…?”

The young woman who had suddenly raised her hand was halfway through speaking when her face turned pale. She clasped her hands to her throat and froze in place.

A nurse, who recognized the woman as the one who had been waiting outside the emergency room, immediately stepped forward. She gently patted the woman’s back to help her catch her breath, then turned to explain to Dr. Gu Jiasheng, “Doctor Gu, this young lady came with Mr. Pei. She’s the one who rescued Mr. Pei from the river.”

Dr. Gu Jiasheng recalled that when Mr. Pei had been rushed to the ER, there was indeed a young woman with tear-streaked cheeks who had accompanied him the whole way.

If she was only a Good Samaritan, there was no way she would have stayed by the door to the emergency room for so long, crying so sorrowfully. She must be someone familiar with Mr. Pei!

“In that case, please sign here. The sooner the surgery starts, the better!” Dr. Gu Jiasheng anxiously handed the critical notice to Xue Huiyu.

Xue Huiyu opened her mouth, but once again, she couldn’t speak a word. However, realizing she could still write, she grabbed the pen. But as soon as she began to write, the first stroke she made turned into a radical for a character, and she felt like her body had been frozen in place. She couldn’t write a single word.

She couldn’t reveal her identity. It wasn’t that she couldn’t reveal she was someone who had returned to life after death, but rather… she couldn’t reveal that she was Xue Huiyu! Even if she tried to write her name backwards or use homophones, she would be stopped.

But… was there any point in not letting her speak or write?

Her friends and family would surely recognize her face… After all, it had only been three and a half years…

Could it be that she was supposed to complete her revival mission with someone else’s face?

“Miss? Miss?” Seeing that Xue Huiyu was trembling and hadn’t written anything yet, Dr. Gu Jiasheng frowned and urged her. Reluctantly, Xue Huiyu crossed out the radical and painstakingly wrote the name “Shen Xue.”

“Shen Miss?” No one would make such a mistake with their name, and the radical for “grass” was far from the radical for “water.” Dr. Gu Jiasheng found her signature strange.

Since signing the critical notice was such a serious matter, Dr. Gu Jiasheng carefully asked, “Could I verify your ID?”

Xue Huiyu, who had signed with a false name, nervously shook her head. “Sorry, my bag fell into the river when I was rescuing him… My ID and phone were in it…”

Just as Xue Huiyu was awkwardly lying and feeling her excuse was too clumsy, she was interrupted by the arrival of Zhou Qihua, Pei Wenyu’s secretary, who rushed into the ER, looking pale after hearing the news of the accident.

Seeing a familiar face, Xue Huiyu quickly stepped forward to meet him.

She had so much she wanted to say to Zhou Qihua, especially about how Pei Wenyu’s car had been tampered with, leading to the accident. She had witnessed the criminal’s appearance, and if they could catch the culprit, they could trace the mastermind behind it…

But she saw him walk past without even glancing at her, heading straight toward Dr. Gu Jiasheng.

Had Zhou Qihua forgotten her after three and a half years? Was it because she looked so disheveled now?

Or… had he simply not recognized her?

A sense of foreboding gradually crept up on Xue Huiyu as she stood frozen in an awkward position.

Behind her, Dr. Gu Jiasheng, as if seeing a lifeline, hurried to Zhou Qihua and asked him to add his signature behind the critical notice that Xue Huiyu had already signed.

When Zhou Qihua saw the name “Shen Xue” already written, he asked, confused, “Dr. Gu, who is this Miss Shen?”

Zhou Qihua didn’t recognize this Miss Shen?!

Following Dr. Gu’s gesture, Zhou Qihua saw a completely unfamiliar young woman standing behind him.

Her eyes were bloodshot, her face pale and colorless, and her makeup had all smudged. Her appearance was rather ordinary—one of those faces that seemed vaguely familiar but was easily forgotten.

What was even stranger was her clothing. She was soaked through, wearing a turtleneck sweater that was completely out of season. The loose white sweater was stained with blood, and she was also wearing wide-legged woolen pants, which didn’t fit the weather. Her wet hair clung messily to her face, making her look extremely disheveled.

Seeing Zhou Qihua stare at her with no recognition, Xue Huiyu’s growing unease intensified…

Could it be… could it really be…?

Her palms started to sweat. She trembled, denying her own fears.

Suddenly, a dizzying wave of vertigo hit her. Everything around her blurred, and the blackness creeping into her vision felt like a spider’s web slowly overtaking her sight. Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier…

This was bad… Could it be that something had happened to Pei Wenyu?

Her first reaction was to worry about Pei Wenyu, and as the darkness consumed her, Xue Huiyu fainted on the spot.

“Miss Shen! Miss Shen!” After Xue Huiyu collapsed, the nurse rushed forward to lift her from the ground.

“She’s burning up! Miss Shen has a fever!” The nurse said urgently. “I had just advised Miss Shen to get checked out, but she said she didn’t have money, so she refused. She’s been anxiously waiting outside the emergency room, and now she’s developed a fever—her wound must have become infected with river bacteria! Even the strongest body can’t handle this!”

After learning that Miss Shen Xue was Mr. Pei’s lifesaver, Zhou Qihua stopped questioning why she had signed Mr. Pei’s critical notice. In his own hurry, he said, “How can we treat Mr. Pei’s lifesaver so negligently… Mr. Pei is a VIP, and she should be treated as one too. The Pei Group will cover all her medical expenses. Please arrange a full-body check-up for her immediately and put her in a single VIP room. We must ensure that Mr. Pei’s lifesaver is safe and sound!”

Since his mother left with his father that morning, Pei Yuqi had never felt that time was moving so slowly. The house felt so quiet…

It was the first time he had seen his mother.

His father had never mentioned his mother in front of him, and he was never allowed to enter his mother’s room or her dance studio. But he had seen her in the photo albums.

His mother was beautiful—this was the only thing that remained in his memory.

For him, the word “mother” was completely blank, a name that could never be mentioned in front of his father.

But now, his dead mother had returned, her body passing through walls and suddenly appearing in front of him.

Only he could see her. His father couldn’t.

He was scared, he was angry, he pretended not to see her, but his mother immediately saw through him.

Compared to the beautiful impression he had of her, what he felt more was her gentleness.

His mother was different from his cold and stern father. His mother’s gaze was very gentle. Her voice was very gentle…

Pei Yuqi was at a loss for words. The only word that came to mind was “gentle.” But he felt that one word couldn’t fully describe how wonderful his mother was…

He thought about his mother while eating, while reading his fairy tale book, while playing with blocks.

His mother would surely praise him when she saw how high he built the blocks!

Last time, she had said he was amazing!

If his mother saw him eating today, she would definitely praise him too!

Because today, he ate all the carrots he hated so much!

He finished his breakfast, lunch, and dinner completely, and he should grow tall, right?

He wanted to grow tall enough so his mother wouldn’t be ashamed of him!

Though he always instinctively bit his fingers, since his mother had scolded him for it last time, he had worked hard to control the bad habit all day, fearing that he might swallow germs and get sick.

He couldn’t get sick and make his mother worry!

Then he would study hard, to be a smart child his mother would like!

But… why hadn’t his mother come home yet…?

The story of The Little Mermaid wasn’t finished… He had fallen asleep halfway through last night…

The Little Mermaid had agreed to the sorcerer’s deal, trading her voice for human legs, and she could only become truly human if she married the prince… Otherwise, she would die and turn into foam on the morning of the prince’s wedding.

Pei Yuqi couldn’t understand the words, so he just looked at the pictures, trying to guess the plot. But the last picture showed the Little Mermaid turning into foam…

The Little Mermaid had saved the prince and even gave up her tail and beautiful voice just to see him on land. Why didn’t the prince end up with the Little Mermaid?

Pei Yuqi, holding the fairy tale book, couldn’t understand and waited for his mother to come back to finish the story for him. But then he thought, could his mother’s sudden appearance in front of him have been some kind of exchange?

Pei Yuqi couldn’t help but worry about his mother’s late return, and this restless anxiety led to a serious case of insomnia.

He fought the urge to bite his fingers, clenching the corner of his blanket as he tossed and turned in bed, waiting, but still, his mother did not return.

Eventually, unable to bear it any longer, Pei Yuqi, exhausted, drifted into a half-sleep in the early morning.

The next morning, he suddenly jolted awake, not even bothering to put on his slippers, as he searched frantically around the room for his mother.

Nothing.

Maybe Mom went to supervise the nanny!

Excitedly, Pei Yuqi ran downstairs, searching each room one by one for his mother.

Still nothing.

Not giving up, he ran to the third floor, where his father had forbidden him to go, searching for his mother.

Both his father and mother were nowhere to be found.

They had said they’d be back soon… why hadn’t they returned yet?

“…Mom…”

After a long silence, his throat felt dry and it was difficult to speak, but he managed to force out a word. More and more tears gathered in his eyes, swirling with feelings of hurt.

“…Mom…”

Big liar!

Mom is a big liar!

Seeing Pei Yuqi on the third floor, Zheng Huiwen, who had been sneaking around in the wardrobe, turned pale. She grabbed his clothes and yanked him downstairs.

“Stay in your room and don’t run around!”

The door slammed shut, and Pei Yuqi was forcefully pushed into the bedroom. He curled up into the corner of the room, his small body shrinking further away.

The room was eerily silent, but he heard countless voices speaking in his mind.

Why, after Mom appeared, was he hearing them again…?

He anxiously bit his nails, trembling uncontrollably.

“Mom is just an illusion…”

“Mom doesn’t love you…”

The voices grew louder and louder. Terrified, he clutched his ears and whimpered, banging his head repeatedly against the wall, trying to force the annoying voices out of his mind.

Mom, Mom, help me… Mom… Mom…

“Shut up! Be quiet!”

Zheng Huiwen, who had just received a call from Xia Lanzhi informing her of Pei Wenyu’s car accident the night before, covered the phone with her hand and opened the door to yell at Pei Yuqi. However, he seemed not to hear her, frantically pressing his ears and banging his head against the wall.

Although Pei Yuqi’s room walls were padded for safety, there were no sirens outside, yet he was still having an episode.

She quickly took a syringe from her pocket, grabbed Pei Yuqi’s arm, and pinned him to the ground before injecting him.

Expecting him to pass out like he usually did, she was shocked when Pei Yuqi struggled violently, causing the needle to go deeper into his skin. In panic, she quickly removed the needle and saw that it had bent.

Normally, there would be no mark from the injection, but now the needle hole was red and swollen, even bleeding.

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Pei Wenyu would be in the hospital for a while and she could stop the bleeding and reduce the swelling without being noticed. But the next moment, Pei Yuqi, who had been quiet for a few seconds, suddenly began convulsing! His face turned unnaturally red!

This scared Zheng Huiwen!

The temperature in his body was unreasonably high, something she had never encountered before!

She quickly reported the situation to Xia Lanzhi, who, instead of not caring about Pei Yuqi’s condition, was now in a panic: “What are you waiting for?! Take him to the hospital right now! Pei Yuqi cannot die! If something happens to him, you’re finished! You’ll never see a penny!”

Xia Lanzhi’s sudden concern for Pei Yuqi wasn’t out of a change of heart, but because Pei Wenyu had suddenly become a major shareholder in the Pei Corporation!

They had thought he was a useless person, but who knew he would inherit the Pei Corporation, a secret they had been keeping for so long!

Most importantly, if Pei Wenyu died, all the inheritance would go to Pei Yuqi! A three-year-old child could easily be manipulated. Once the assets were secretly transferred, it would be easy to handle an orphaned child, right?

But if Pei Yuqi died too, the inheritance would go to the Pei family’s side, and even Xue Huiyu’s share would be snatched away! This could not happen!

Xia Lanzhi would never allow money that was about to flow into her pockets to slip away because of some small problem!