Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Oh please! Over my dead body will I ever beg you!”
“We shall wait and see then,” Chi Rui’er sneered nonchalantly.
Xu Jingwen carried her purse and walked towards the door. She broke out into cold sweat, and her hands trembled uncontrollably.
“Finally, your withdrawal symptoms are showing,” Chi Rui’er gloated as she burst into evil laughter while seated on the couch.
Xu Jingwen supported herself against the wall, feeling as if her body had been infested with a million bugs.
Such a feeling was, in fact, worse than death.
She had a growing desire for a whiff of drugs to relieve her symptoms.
She looked back at Chi Rui’er and staggered towards her. “Give it to me, quick!”
“Oh, weren’t you just being an obstinate little lass moments ago? Why have you come begging me like a dog now?” Chi Rui’er sneered, chuckling loudly.
Xu Jingwen was trembling uncontrollably from head to toe as her burning need for relief compelled her to kowtow to Chi Rui’er. “Sis Rui’er, please save me. Please, I’m dying,” she pleaded while on her knees.
“Save you? Why do I have to save you when you refuse to obey me?” said Chi Rui’er, putting on a nonchalant and unsympathetic front.
Xu Jingwen’s initial animosity vanished instantly as she continued to plead eagerly, “I’ll obey you and abide by your instruction. I’ll do everything you tell me to, will that do?”
Xu Jingwen was on the verge of losing her sanity as she struggled to curb her drug addiction.
“I can give you some dope, but you’ll first have to sign an agreement.”
Xu Jingwen would have never resorted to begging her if not for her drug addiction, which was ultimately caused by Chi Rui’er. In fact, she hated the latter to the core and never planned to do as she instructed, let alone sign an agreement.
Xu Jingwen got up from the ground and roared in a moment of pique and exasperation, “It’s all your fault, vicious wretch! You cunning and relentless woman! Since you’ve caused my life to be reduced to this, I won’t allow you to live in peace either! We’ll perish together!”
Xu Jingwen then rushed forward to grab Chi Rui’er. However, the latter shielded herself with her arms and said, “What are you trying to do?”
“You were the one who caused me to become like this!” Xu Jingwen had been completely consumed by her anger. She tugged onto Chi Rui’er’s hair and dragged her onto the ground with all her might, completely disregarding the fact that the latter was pregnant.
Chi Rui’er was completely susceptible and helpless to the sudden attack because of her huge baby bump, which caused her to lose most of her agility. To make matters worse, there was no one else at home since the servants had gone to the market.
Thus, she decided to temporarily give in before planning her next move, “Let go of me, I’ll give you some dope.”
However, Xu Jingwen was enraged beyond her rationality at this point.
She stomped her foot angrily onto Chi Rui’er’s abdomen, causing the latter to shriek in pain and clutch her gut while trying to sit up straight.
Xu Jingwen was snapped out of her convulsions and back into reality by Chi Rui’er’s sudden loud shriek. She came to her senses and hurriedly zoomed out of the house upon realizing the situation.
Chi Rui’er was in immense pain and broke out into cold sweat. She then quickly gathered up all her might and dialed the emergency hotline to call for an ambulance.
By the time Gu Dongcheng arrived at the hospital, Chi Rui’er was already in the delivery room.
She had given birth to a premature baby boy.
There was actually still a month and a half to go before her estimated due date.
The newborn was immediately placed in an incubation tank due to the fact that his lungs were still yet to be fully developed and would require further treatment to induce lung development.
Chi Rui’er did not sustain any medical complications since she had delivered via natural birth.
She could get out of bed right away.
She stood by the glass of the incubation room, staring at her premature child being attached to an incubator. She began to feel a strong resentment against Xu Jingwen upon seeing her child suffer as he struggled to breathe.
However, she did not realize that all of these would not have happened if she had not plotted to control Xu Jingwen in the first place.
Although she had given birth to the child, she somehow could not feel a strong motherly love for him. Perhaps it was because she was aware that the child did not belong to Gu Dongcheng. However, she did feel a little guilty for causing her child’s premature birth.
“Why were you so careless as to trip and fall?” Gu Dongcheng chided.
“You think I wanted that?” Chi Rui’er retorted. She did not tell Gu Dongcheng that Xu Jingwen was the cause behind it all because she knew that he would definitely pursue the matter. When that happened, Xu Jingwen would spill the beans about the misdeeds Chi Rui’er had done to her, without a doubt.
Things would become worse should that happen.
It seemed she could only take the blame for now.
——
In an attempt to keep her child, An Xiaoning spent a huge sum of money to contact a gynecological professor, who agreed to try his best to help her, though there were no promises.
An Xiaoning would have to inject herself daily with a single dose of tocolytic[1: A type of medicine used to suppress premature labor.], which she could get administered at the hospital or by herself.
She also had to attend regular gynecological checkups and remain sedentary in bed throughout most of her pregnancy.
An Xiaoning noted down the professor’s instructions and instructed Mei Yangyang to collect the tocolytic syringes from the hospital so she could inject them herself at home.
Mei Yangyang then proceeded to inject a dosage of tocolytic into An Xiaoning according to the doctor’s instruction. Due to the fact that it was her first time performing an injection, Mei Yangyang could not help but feel overwhelmed with nervousness.
An Xiaoning watched as Mei Yangyang injected her with the syringe and reassured the latter that she would get better with more practice.
She then saw the news report about Chi Rui’er’s premature labor as soon as she turned on the television after laying down in bed.
Reminded of the fact that Mei Yangyang had once read Chi Rui’er’s fortune, An Xiaoning said, “Do you still remember the first time we met? You were manning a fortune-telling stall and I gave you a set of birth characters to read, after which you accurately predicted that the person would have two children.”
“Yes, I remember that. What about it?”
“That set of birth characters belongs to Chi Rui’er. She’s already had an abortion once previously.”
Mei Yangyang gasped in shock before answering, “Oh, so it belongs to her. She’s destined to have a hard life though. Although she will be married, her marriage unfortunately would not last. The child she aborted was a boy too. But I remember clearly that the son she has now will live…”
An Xiaoning quickly put her index finger over her mouth and shushed Mei Yangyang, “Don’t say it out loud. Let’s just keep it to ourselves. The child is innocent though. I hope he will grow up peacefully.”
“I hope so too, but no one can deny fate. Sis, are you still planning to invest in the movie now that you have to remain in bed most of the time?” said Mei Yangyang while putting a cotton gauze over the needle hole on An Xiaoning’s arm.
“Of course I am. I’m only going to be an investor, there’s no need for me to be on set every day. Besides, I can’t allow you to spend all your time taking care of me. You’ll have to live your own life too.”
“But I just want to accompany you. It won’t be nice if I leave you at home alone every day, especially since you have to rest and recuperate at home.”
“No worries. This is a chance I’m giving you. You ought to cherish it. Besides, it won’t take too long to film a movie. I’ll discuss this matter further with Jing Tian when I see him.”
“Knock, knock!”
Mei Yangyang stood up to answer the door.
“Mr. Gu Beicheng would like to see Missy,” reported 006.
Mei Yangyang turned and said to An Xiaoning, “Sis, Mr. Gu is here.”
“Let him come upstairs.”
Mei Yangyang proceeded to go outside the room.
Not long after, Gu Beicheng appeared at the door of her room.
It had been quite some time since they last met.
Gu Beicheng had since had a change of hairstyle — he had gotten a fresh cut of fringe, which made him look even more dashing.
He walked towards An Xiaoning and bent forward to have a look at her. “Let me see, did you lose weight since the last time?”
“Losing weight is a tall order for me, alright?” An Xiaoning said with a grimace.
“Liar, you obviously lost a lot of weight. Have you been starving yourself? You really want to become just skin and bones?” Gu Beicheng chastised as his brows furrowed into a frown.
