Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
What was wrong with him?
What exactly was wrong with him?
An’an gaped at him while he was on the ground, he had never been so pathetic. Why was he like this?
She walked over, wanting to get closer.
But Li Si appeared and pushed her out of the room in a hurry. “Miss An’an, Yan Zi doesn’t want you to witness him in such a state, please stop giving him unnecessary stress.”
Tears sprang from her eyes, the room door was closed and she could no longer see him, though she really wanted to go back inside.
She looked at Li Si with her teary eyes. “His drug addiction is acting up?”
“Yan Zi has been in rehab for the past three months, he has to go cold turkey every single day and we’ve arrived in Miaojiang this time round for his rehabilitation treatment.”
An’an’s heart wrenched in pain. “Can… can I go in to take a look at him, I…”
“No.” Li Si rejected her at once.
An’an’s vision was already blurry because of her tears, she asked while still sobbing pitifully, “Why? I just want to… stay by his side…”
“Miss An’an, even if you stay by his side, what else can you do for him?” Li Si questioned her.
What else could she do for him?
She had no idea either.
“Look, Miss An’an, you are not going to be of any help for Yan Zi, but An Xi is different. An Xi will be to help Yan Zi.
“Miss An’an, returning to our previous topic of discussion, it seems I wasn’t explicit enough the other time. What exactly do you like about Yan Zi? Is it for his good looks, his wealth, or is it because he has protected you all along, just like a father-like presence in your life?”
“Yan Zi is almost approaching 38 years old, he has already protected you for 13 years. I think that’s enough protection, no? Why are you asking for more from him? What he needs is a good wife in his life to give birth to his children, and even if he leaves the world one day, his wife must be able to bring up his children well single-handedly.
“Miss An’an, are you capable of doing that? You clearly can’t. You’re only 18 years old and far too young. Yan Zi is not going to be able to handle you. All I can do is advise you to give up on Yan Zi and stop seducing him with your youth and beauty. You’re only going to bring him more danger. Look what happened yesterday? Because of you, because he was protecting you, he almost died, just because he went to save you.
“There are many eligible men available, Miss An’an, please just look for someone else. Lu Yan is going to get older, while you’re only starting to grow up. Let him go.”
Li Si then pushed the room door open and stepped inside. He slammed the room door in An’an’s face.
An’an stood there, her shoulders began to tremble and she started sobbing.
No.
It wasn’t like that.
Why didn’t Li Si give her a chance to explain herself?
She didn’t know how could she be of any help to Lu Yan and that’s because no one told her how she could help him.
She would be willing to do anything, just for him.
Anything.
She wasn’t being selfish in asking things from him, she wasn’t with him only because she enjoyed the feeling of being protected by him. She just loved him, and that was all.
She loved him.
Was it because she was young and beautiful, and that’s why everything was her fault?
How could they even be so sure that she’d not be able to give up the luxuries in her life to be with Lu Yan, even without giving her shot at it?
No one knew that Lu Yan was the only luxury that she wanted in her life. Without him, everything would be colorless.
In her life, he was the only source of light.
The only one who truly mattered.
She would also be able to play the part as his wife well. She had always wished to give birth to his daughter since a long time ago, but he was reluctant to let her do so.
Oh, he was getting older and she was only starting to grow up.
It was a pity that An’an had arrived at the wrong time, if only she had been born earlier.
If only they didn’t have such a huge age gap, they would be able to get together without any qualms and judgment from others.
Why hadn’t she been born earlier?
…
An’an didn’t leave, she just stood outside the room and waited. Time passed and the door remained closed.
She knew that he was suffering in agony inside the room.
But there was nothing she could do to help him, she couldn’t even stay by his side and accompany him.
When she heard some footsteps, she noticed a pharmacist was walking over.
The TCM1 pharmacist looked at An’an. “Do you know the people inside this room?”
An’an took a moment to reply. “Yes, what’s the matter?”
The TCM pharmacist passed her a book about cordyceps. “Someone came over to find this specific herb but unfortunately, we don’t have it in our medicine hall. It is a rare herb that only grows in the deep mountains.”
An’an took the book and she glanced at the cordyceps. Was Li Si preparing to help Lu Yan solve his drug addiction issues with cordyceps?
“If I head inside the mountains to search for it now, what are the chances of me finding it?” An’an’s eyes lit up.
“Cordyceps are extremely rare and it largely depends on your luck. Even if you head to the mountains to search for it now, it’s likely that you won’t be able to find it.”
“But what if I manage to find it? Even if there’s only a little bit of hope, I won’t give up.”
“But the mountains are currently covered in spikes with the current season. It’s already dark right now, you should probably wait till tomorrow before you start searching,” the TCM pharmacist said.
“I’ll go and find it now.” An’an turned around and left.
…
By the time An’an arrived at the mountains, it was already late at night. She held a torch with one hand and was shining it around, looking for the cordyceps.
But her skin was wounded by the spikes along the way, she started bleeding and it hurt terribly. The spikes and thorns were as tall as her stomach area, there was no way she could avoid them.
The physical pain was bearable for her, An’an lowered her head and continued searching, her only goal in mind was to find the cordyceps.
Howl.
What was that sound? Was it the sound of wolves?
Tears welled up in her eyes, she recalled how Lu Yan had put up a brave fight with the wolves just to save her.
Sniffling lightly, she tried to stop the overflowing emotions. Shaking her head to calm herself, she blinked back the tears. First, she needed to find the cordyceps and bring it back to save Lu Yan.
Time slowly passed and it was getting even later in the night. An’an had gotten deeper into the mountains, she was getting further away from the exit.
But she wasn’t afraid in the least, she was only feeling impatient since she hadn’t found the cordyceps.
It was a rare breed and incredibly difficult to find. Was it destined that she wouldn’t be able to find it and bring it back for Lu Yan?
An’an lifted her head but she suddenly spotted something greenish under a rock.
Was it the cordyceps?
It was!
She had assumed that cordyceps were found in the ground but no, cordyceps were found between rocks.
An’an’s spirits lit up and she ran over to the rock in excitement. But she needed to climb on the top of the huge rock to get the cordyceps.
She could do this. Taking a breath, she held onto the rock and began to climb up slowly.
When she was halfway up, she suddenly lost footing and fell off the rock.
“Ah!”
Her delicate body rolled against the ground and An’an almost fainted because it hurt so much.
But she had no time to waste, she quickly got a grip over herself and continued climbing the rock.
This time round, she did it slowly but steadily. As her sweat seeped through her clothes, she finally reached the top and picked the cordyceps.
Kissing the cordyceps, she couldn’t stop the radiant smile from breaking out on her face. Great! There was finally a way for her to help Lu Yan.
She was going to bring the cordyceps back!
…
When An’an had returned, it was already dawn. She walked in front of her own room door and her vision turned blank, before she fainted.
