The sky was already bright with the sun shining directly in the room through the window. It was so bright that she could barely open her eyes. However, Yan lacked the courage to close her eyes again. She was afraid.
She was afraid that if she closed her eyes, she would see the scenes from her dream and hear the repeated mocking at her ears. Even after a night’s worth of sleep, the incident that happened last night bothered her; there was no improvement in her negative mood and she felt more depressed instead.
She quietly lay down for a while before keeping the blanket away and got up from bed. When she walked into the washroom and passed by the mirror, she saw herself still wearing the white cocktail dress, which was gifted to her by Han Qing.
This made her stunned as she just stared blankly at her reflection in the mirror for a long time. After a while, she removed the white cocktail dress. When she had received the dress earlier, she found it beautiful, but now, when she looked at it again, she thought it looked ridiculous. She calmly took a shower, changed her clothes, and checked the balance in her bank account.
Since she had spent quite a lot of her savings to open the shop, she now had only tens of thousands left in her account. It was not a large sum of money, but to Yan, this amount of money was not a small sum either. However, it could’ve been just a drop in the ocean to Han Qing. It’s fine. I will pay a little first. I can keep working hard to earn money and return the balance to him after this.
After packing up, Yan left the room.
“Are you awake?”
“Yan, you are awake? Quickly come and have breakfast.”
Upon exiting her room, the Zhou couple called her over to have breakfast. As Yan was in a bad mood, she had no appetite and did not feel like eating. However, in order not to worry her parents, she approached them and sat down. “Dad, Mom, good morning.”
“Good morning. Yan, I bought your favorite sesame seed cake. Go ahead and try some.”
“Yeah. There’s also some soy milk.”
Mr. Zhou and Luo Huimei were very warm to Yan. Both of them wore smiles on their faces and never mentioned the incident that happened last night.
Yan, whose memories were still intact, naturally remembered how she cried her eyes out while hugging Luo Huimei last night. Now that she recalled about it, she felt that she acted rashly at that time. How could I do such things? I would just make Mom worry for nothing. However, at that time, she was unable to control her emotions at all as she was falling apart.
“Yan, why are you spacing out? Dig in.”
“Alright.” Yan returned to her senses and took a bite of the sesame seed cake. The sesame seed cake, which was usually delicious and crispy, was now tasteless, as though she chewed on wax.
After taking a bite, she put it down and took a sip of the soymilk. Right after she drank the soymilk, she felt that her stomach churned. Immediately, she put down the glass, dashed to the washroom and bent over the sink before she threw up.
“Yan!”
“Yan!”
Upon seeing this, Mr. Zhou and Luo Huimei put down their chopsticks and hurried into the washroom as well. Yan bent over the sink and puked as Luo Huimei walked up to her and stroked her back. “What happened? Are you ravished?”
“I’m fine…” After throwing up her stomach acid, Yan’s face was pale and cold sweat appeared on her forehead due to the discomfort, causing her to look particularly weak.
“You are in such a state but you’re still saying that you are alright? How about I cook you some porridge, so you can have some before going to the hospital for a checkup?”
Yan felt that her stomach was empty—this was because she did not eat much yesterday and took some cake and oily food. After that, she lay down for the entire night and ate some food after she woke up. Therefore, her stomach couldn’t take it and started churning. “Mom, I’m alright. I was just too hungry. I’ll be fine after taking some food.”
Luo Huimei supported her as they walked out from the washroom. Mr. Zhou, who was beside, felt mad yet distressed for her upon seeing her like this. He knew that he would be unable to keep his daughter at home once she was an adult, but when he saw her daughter in such a state due to relationship matters, he had no idea on what to say.
“You should have some rest. I’ll cook some porridge for you. Maybe you shouldn’t open your shop today.”
At first, Yan wanted to agree to this suggestion, but when she thought about the large amount of debt, she immediately shook her head and rejected her suggestion. I need to earn money on a daily basis. How can I afford to not open my shop? “No, I’ll open the shop as usual, but I’ll open it slightly later since there usually isn’t much business in the morning.”
“You stubborn girl, why don’t you listen to me? Fine, the shop will remain open, but you need to rest at home in the morning and let your dad take you to the hospital for a checkup. I’ll go and open the shop.”
“It’s alright, Mom. I’m fine. I’m just hungry. I—” As Yan was about to finish responding, she felt her stomach suddenly churn again and dashed into the washroom.
Upon seeing this, the Zhou couple looked at each other helplessly.
“Later, it’s better for you to take your daughter to the hospital for a checkup.”
“But isn’t she unwilling to go? Rather than forcing her to go to the hospital, it’s better to quickly cook something for her. Look at how she’s puking when her stomach is still empty.”
His words reminded Luo Huimei, who instantly nodded. “Yes, I should go and cook some porridge now.”
After the torturous morning, Yan was finally able to consume a bowl of watery porridge. Once her stomach felt warm, she lay down and touched her stomach, but she still looked sick.
“Your mom went to the shop. Before she left, she told me to take you to the hospital for a checkup if you still feel sick. Yan, how are you feeling now? If you don’t feel well, do let me know.”
Hearing that, Yan smiled wryly, but it was even uglier than a grimace. “Dad, I’m fine. Maybe I ate something bad yesterday, so I feel sick today. Now that I have eaten some porridge, I’ll be fine after a while.”
“Yan.” Mr. Zhou did not leave and he sat by her side instead. “You need to tell me if you don’t feel well. It’s never a solution to keep everything bottled inside.”
Her father cared for her because of the state that she was in last night. Upon having such thoughts, Yan continued to let out a forceful smile. “Don’t worry, I’m alright. Even if I wasn’t fine before this, I will be after this.” She looked determined when she said these words.
Upon seeing this, Mr. Zhou knew that his daughter was heartbroken. However, as a father, he was unable to offer much assistance unlike her mother. Therefore, he only reached out with his hand to rub her head before speaking in a gentle voice, “Alright, you get some sleep first. Let me know if you’re not feeling well. Remember this—no matter what happens, your mom and I will always be by your side.”
Yan closed her eyes and felt some tears forming in her eyes. Soon, Mr. Zhou left. When she heard the sound of the door being closed, she opened her eyes again.
…
In the office of Han Group, after Han Qing completed his tasks in the morning, he was scheduled to have a meeting later. However, due to last night’s incident, he had asked Su Jiu to postpone the video conference to tomorrow. Then, he waited intently for the young lady to come.
Nevertheless, when it was almost the usual time, the young lady was still not seen in the office. Han Qing frowned, occasionally looking at the door of his office. Is she late? Or…
