Yan’s eyes reddened, and a wave of sourness rose in her heart as she rushed over to hug her mother.
“It’s good that you came.” Her mother patted her back. After not seeing each other for so many years, their reunion made her mother’s eyes redden as well. As they came out of the hug, Yan looked at her mother with her reddened eyes. “How… is Dad?”
“After the emergency rescue last night, the doctors said that he needed to be under observation for 48 hours. If he survives these 48 hours, he shouldn’t have trouble recovering, but…”
“48 hours…” Listening to these words, Yan felt faint. Isn’t that a total of two days? How did he get so badly injured? “Then, where is he right now? Can I go visit him?”
Yan’s mother shook her head. “I can bring you over to the intensive care unit, but the doctor is limiting visits. Our relatives came over this morning, so you just have to make do with standing beside me and looking at him from outside.”
“Okay.”
On their way to the intensive care unit, her mother frowned suddenly. “There seems to be a strange smell; what smell is that?”
Yan was focused on her father, and she didn’t smell anything strange, so she shook her head in response. However, her mother’s gaze landed on her at this moment, and she seemed to notice a major discovery. “H-How could you come to the hospital looking like this, Yan?”
As the two of them had not met for many years, her mother had been too emotional to pay attention, but now she came to notice that Yan had arrived in her pajamas. Moreover, her pajamas were stained and her hair was a rat’s nest.
“Mom? What’s wrong? Let’s go see how Dad is doing.”
Her mother stopped in her tracks and considered it briefly. “If your father was awake, and you visited him in this state, he might just faint from anger.”
“What’s wrong with me?” Yan asked.
“Look at how messy your hair is! Even a chicken’s coop wouldn’t compare to it! Besides, the sour smell I mentioned earlier…” Yan’s mother stepped closer and sniffed at her, then backed away with a look of disgust. Staying far away from Yan, she continued, “Tell me, how many days has it been since you last took a shower? There’s a stench coming from your body; are you sure you didn’t cause anybody to faint from it on your way to the hospital?”
Yan was rendered speechless. Staring wordlessly at her mother, she lowered her head weakly. Despite not seeing each other for so long, her tongue is still as sharp as ever. Am I really her biological daughter?
“Thank goodness you have not visited your father yet. With this smell… you’d wake your father up, then make him faint again.”
“Mom!” Yan stomped her feet anxiously. “Can you stop making fun of me? Dad is still lying in the intensive care unit!”
Hearing that, her mother rolled her eyes at her. “Huh, so you do know he is lying in the intensive care unit too. If he wasn’t lying in the intensive care unit, would you have come back?”
“I—”
“You can’t visit him anyway. I think you should just follow me home and clean yourself up first. Look at how dreadful you look; how embarrassing.”
“But I’m already here! You could at least let me have a look at Dad! Mom, I’m begging you; just let me take a peek at him, then I’ll go back and wash up!”
In the end, Yan’s mother brought her to visit her father. Standing outside the intensive care unit, she stared at the person lying on the bed through the window and felt like crying.
“D*mn old man; how could you be so careless while driving? Getting in a car accident at your age, you’ll be a laughing stock if people knew about it.” As she spoke, her tears fell.
Seeing her cry, her mother wiped away tears from her own eyes as she patted Yan’s shoulders. “You silly girl, your father is already in the intensive care unit, yet you’re calling him names. You really are a heartless brat.”
The mother and daughter hugged each other as they started bawling. Approximately ten seconds later, Yan’s mother wiped away the tears on her face and chided Yan, “That’s enough; it’s prohibited to be loud in the hospital. Our crying sounds are too loud; it’ll only disturb your father. If you want to cry, you can cry at home, and wash up while you’re at it.” With that, she pushed Yan away, a look of extreme disgust on her face.
Yan was speechless. My mother, ladies and gentleman!
Afterward, she followed her mother home. Standing at the door, her mother took out the keys and unlocked it as she spoke, “You might not have come home all these years, but I’ve kept your room clean for you. Now that your father has been hospitalized, you should just move back in. Your clothes are still there; although five years have passed, you seemed to be thinner than before, so you should still be able to wear them.”
Creak. The door opened and Yan followed her mother inside. Looking at the familiar furnishing in her home, the feeling of crying that had gradually faded came back to her in strong waves. Before her tears could fall, her mother turned around and slapped the back of her head. “Hurry up and take a bath, and take your shoes off too—I just mopped the floor yesterday.”
Yan became speechless again, and the tearful feeling she had vanished with the slap to her head. With a gloomy expression, she entered the bathroom.
“Where are your clothes? Are you planning to walk around nude?”
“Mom, will you even let me into my room in my current state?” Yan retorted.
“Well ,that’s true.”
Rolling her eyes, she lifted her head to look at herself. Seeing her reflection, she jumped in fright and took several steps back. With a horrified expression, she stared at the unkempt woman in the mirror. Is that… me? How did I turn out like that? Still looking at her reflection in the mirror, her pale lips quivered as her trembling hand touched her face. Her hair was a rat’s nest; her eyes were swollen and puffy; her lips were dry and cracked; her skin was dull and lifeless—she looked like a hag living in the mountains.
No, a hag from the mountains would look better than her; after all, a beautiful environment would bring out a person’s beauty, and the water in the mountains was clean and purifying. That was unlike herself—it was ridiculous how ugly she looked. How will Han Qing fall for me if I look like this? To think I dared to pity myself; what a joke.
Han Qing could not see her, and even if he did, he would not feel sorry for her. She had passed her days in increasing squalor; it was no wonder that people had stayed away from her like she was some kind of strange beast when she was outside. Even her mother had been disgusted by the odor coming from her body. Is it vexing to live like that? She had not looked in the mirror recently. Looking at her dreadful appearance all because of one man, she suddenly felt that it was utterly ridiculous.
Yan had been beside Han Muzi for a very long time; when Han Muzi broke up with Ye Moxuan, Han Muzi was heartbroken for a long time, but she never allowed herself to fall into such a dreadful state. But what about her? Falling into this state all because her unrequited love came to an end, she would be the butt of jokes if people knew about it.
Turning on the shower, she took off her clothes and washed with hot water until she was clean. From today onward, I can’t continue like this. A person’s life is long, and there are many interesting things in life. Love is not a requirement in life, and neither is a man.
