Her hair was already drenched in her perspiration, even her eyelashes were positively soaked, each cilium glued together by the moisture. Her vision slowly began to blur and lose its focus, but she was unwilling to close her eyes yet.
She did not wish to die so soon, and she was also deathly afraid of dying.
After enduring the endless woes and suffering in her life, she finally found Lu Yi again and had three beautiful children with him. At that moment, all she could think about was that she must not let her children be motherless. She dearly missed them and her beloved husband, Lu Yi.
No matter how excruciating the pain was, she must grit her teeth and endure it. After all, she desperately needed to survive. She still wanted to see Lu Yi and meet her three precious children again. She could not let her young children live without a maternal figure, and she did not wish to leave Lu Yi’s side forever.
It took a Herculean effort for them to be together again. From her past life to her current lifetime, they had been through countless ups and downs together. She thought that finally, everything would be fine now. However, it did not seem so. Could it be that she still could not escape from the destiny of her previous life, and would ultimately be defeated in the face of death?
No. She shook her head furiously in defiance. She did not want to, she could not, and she must not die so easily.
She knocked on the side of the bed again, filling the eerily silent room with her soft, thumping noises, as she desperately called for help.
Drops and drops of the drug entered her bloodstream and coursed through her veins as the clock ticked on, overpowering her entire body and siphoning the life out of her.
She pondered to herself, believing that she would not live for long, even if she made it out of there alive.
Meanwhile, Lu Yi was absolutely thunderstruck, as he fell to his knees. His eyes were completely bloodshot and he seemed to have become greatly emaciated from the shock, even his outfit hung loosely from his gaunt physique.
It was as if a chilling breeze had snuck in his sleeves and whisked away all the warmth and affection from his body.
“Mama… Mama…”
The sound of the wailing child brought him back to his senses. Ye Shuyun also hurriedly ran over, with a pitiful-looking child in her arms. She seemed so small and sickly, her little cheeks were almost sunken into her bones.
“Quickly come over and console your daughter.” Ye Shuyun handed the child in her embrace to Lu Yi, and added, “I’ll check on the other two. Once Xunxun starts crying, they will surely follow suit and begin bawling.”
Xunxun was very fragile and feeble now. Yan Huan had disappeared off the face of the earth for half a month now. Throughout that entire trying period, Lu Yi never had a night of good sleep. Even if he did fall asleep, he would be tormented and plagued by endless horrifying nightmares.
Once, he even believed that he would fall into an eternal slumber, never to wake up from the realm of harrowing dreams. However, every time, Xunxun’s cries would jolt him awake from his constant nightmares.
Both him and his children, especially Xunxun, had become severely gaunt and scrawny from the ordeal. Likewise, everyone in the household had lost a lot of weight and energy from stress.
Half a month had passed since Yan Huan vanished, but they still could not locate or hear any news about her, despite exhausting every effort and means possible. She seemed to have completely disappeared from the world, evaporating without a trace or a trail. It seemed so surreal, not even a breath from her could be detected in the wispy air.
He finally realized the pain and agony that Yan Huan had to go through when he was swept away by the gushing flood years ago. The grief of being separated by death was simply too unbearable and overwhelming to handle, even for him.
Yet, he let her endure the bitter pain and sufferings alone, for two years. Furthermore, Yan Huan had also lost everything she had at that time. What else could she do, other than accept his tragic demise and his stone-cold tombstone?
As for him, he could only silently lower his head to look at his daughter, and gently caressed her sickly little face. He still had these three children with him, who carried his and Yan Huan’s blood in them.
“Don’t be scared.” Lu Yi lovingly kissed his daughter’s little forehead and uttered, “Daddy will never give up on looking for mommy. It’s only been half a month, it’s just a short while. Do you know that I was gone for two years after being swept away by the currents in a flood? But, I’m still alive and well now. I believe that mommy will be the same, she is surely alive somewhere.”
“If we can’t find her in half a year’s time, we will look for her for a year. If not, we’ll look for her for another year, or five, as necessary. Surely, we will find her in the end, right?” As he muttered on, he squeezed his daughter tighter in his embrace, while tearing uncontrollably, obviously heartbroken.
He stifled his cries, but the intense grief and sorrow had long overtaken his cold, emotionless eyes. The feeling was so numbing and overbearing, it was as if the pain was wrenched from every fiber of his body.
“Mama…” Xunxun cried raspily, asking to see her missing mother. For the past two weeks, the word that Xunxun uttered the most was ‘Mama.’ She constantly and repeatedly called for her, searching and asking for her, until she was no longer willing to say or learn any other word. She would only stare at the others with her large, tearful eyes, asking them to look for her mother.
“Hmm, she’ll be back soon. I promise you.” Lu Yi placed his hand on his daughter’s cheek, but he felt something odd when he touched it again. She was still fine just a while ago; why is her temperature abnormal now?
He put his hand on his daughter’s forehead, and felt that it was scalding hot.
Alas, Xunxun seemed to have a fever.
With his daughter in one arm, he dressed himself with the other. Then, he carried Xunxun in her blanket, and hugged her close to his chest.
He opened the door and hastily exited with large strides, with steps bigger and more anxious than anyone else.
Lu Yi’s expression seemed to have darkened significantly and turned ghastly pale. Even through the blanket, he could sense that Xunxun’s temperature was worryingly high. She was burningly hot, almost like a little furnace. She was still fine just now; why did she become so warm suddenly?
Since Xunxun had grown up a little, she did not fall ill so easily anymore. Why did she suddenly become so feverish now?
He entered his car and swiftly called He Yibin, before rushing to the hospital. Since He Yibin saw her growing up, he would know her health better than anybody else.
Meanwhile, He Yibin was anxious like a cat on a hot tin roof in the hospital, as he was sincerely frightened that her fever would cause her some other health issues. After all, Xunxun’s physical state was never the best. She must have fallen ill from the stress of Yan Huan’s sudden disappearance.
She was merely less than a year old, yet she would cry for her mother daily. Everyone who saw this distressing sight simply could not contain their anguish.
When Lu Yi arrived, He Yibin had already made all the necessary preparations.
“Xunxun, come and let uncle examine you. Let’s see where are you unwell.” He Yibin carefully carried Xunxun in his arms, but was immensely flustered when he did so, exclaiming, “Why is she so thin? When she was here for a checkup last time, she was a fair and chubby little one. Even her cheeks were full and squishy. How did she turn so sickly in such a short time? Her little arms are so scraggy, it’s almost like a chicken foot.”
“She won’t drink her milk.” Lu Yi stood helplessly on the side, without being able to do anything. Immense misery and pain gripped his heart, as he pondered to himself. She’s still so young, what else can we do?
