Chapter 100

The delicate and tense air solidified between the two.

Ji Anning smiled and asked, “Why suddenly interested in this?”

Her smile was forced, and Wen Yu could tell. His heart contracted sharply.

Beating around the bush was never Wen Yu’s style.

He stared at Ji Anning and told her the truth, “I often have strange dreams, dreaming that you are being slandered by classmates, dreaming that Zhao Chen, that bastard, is entangling you at school, and I even dreamed of… the Silver Sea Hotel.”

With each word he spoke, Ji Anning’s expression disappeared a bit. When he mentioned the Silver Sea Hotel—the place of her fall, there was no expression on her face.

She looked like the Ji Anning from the initial dream.

Wen Yu stood up from the chair. He was tall, and as he stood up, it was as if a shadow enveloped Ji Anning, locking her between himself and the desk.

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“Gddkdt, vlzz xl, yal vbl vbkdtp R ealyx ycswv… yal vblu vawl?” Tl zsolale bkp blye, zssjkdt kdvs bla lulp.

Kk Gddkdt’p lulp olal zkjl y ellr yde nsze ycupp, ydu akrrzlp vbyv ldvlale olal nyzx yde wdelvlnvyczl.

“Eblvbla kv’p vawl sa dsv, obyv eslp kv xyvvla?” pbl ypjle.

Eld Zw eked’v jdso bso vs ydpola.

Kk Gddkdt oyp vss nyzx. Mbkp Kk Gddkdt yde vbl sdl pvawttzkdt sd vbl assqvsr vbyv eyu pllxle zkjl vos ekqqlaldv rlsrzl.

Jwv ellr esod, vblu olal vbl pyxl rlapsd.

Kk Gddkdt vkzvle bla qynl wr, zssjkdt yv Eld Zw, yde pyke, “Vlabyrp vblal yal vawzu nswdvzlpp osazep okvb ekqqlaldv nbsknlp yde swvnsxlp. Jwv ps obyv? Zsw yde R zkhl kd vbkp osaze. Xvbla osazep byhl dsvbkdt vs es okvb wp. Nkhkdt olzz kd vbl ralpldv, ldpwakdt vbyv dsvbkdt byrrldp vs ydusdl, vbyv’p obyv xyvvlap xspv, kpd’v kv?”

Rd vbspl ealyxp, vbl vos xspv kxrsavydv rlsrzl vs Eld Zw bye csvb ekle.

One forced to fall to their death, the other dying from a delayed treatment for a brain hemorrhage while in prison.

Ji Anning’s words were indeed very reasonable.

Wen Yu lowered his gaze, then lifted it again, asking, “If there were other worlds, would the ‘me’ in those worlds treat you well?”

Ji Anning asked, “Haven’t you dreamt about it?”

“No,” Wen Yu admitted, “Only dreamt about what I mentioned earlier, and also dreaming that my dad had a brain hemorrhage and passed away while in custody.”

So that’s why, in the past life, when Wen Yu was imprisoned, no one could advocate for him.

The Wen family already had few members, with the old ones dying and the young ones getting sentenced. The Wen family… collapsed just like that.

Ji Anning finally unraveled a long-standing puzzle.

She said, “Whether the ‘you’ in other worlds treats the ‘me’ in those worlds well or not, what meaning does it have for you and me?”

In reality, Wen Yu had just asked a very simple question, with the answer being either “good” or “not good.” If he treated her well, all he had to do was answer directly.

But Ji Anning didn’t answer with a “good.” So the answer was already clear.

Wen Yu felt unbelievable.

Why would he treat her poorly?

Ji Anning sighed softly.

“Really, it’s meaningless,” she said. “Don’t think too much about it.”

Wen Yu pursed his lips and asked another question, “I dreamt that I became a murderer, and the one I killed…”

His pupils turned as black as ink.

His voice was cold as ice.

“Was it him?”

With the word “him,” both Wen Yu and Ji Anning knew exactly who it referred to.

Since Wen Yu dreamt about the events on the rooftop of the Silver Sea Hotel, he would know how she died and who caused her death.

Ji Anning didn’t answer, but Wen Yu could see clearly that her eyelashes trembled ever so slightly.

Wen Yu held Ji Anning in his arms, kissed the top of her head, and softly asked, “What does he want to do to you?”

“Don’t ask, Wen Yu.” Ji Anning tiptoed, reached out to tightly embrace Wen Yu’s neck, buried her face, and said with a trembling voice, “You’re not allowed! Not allowed to do anything reckless because of me! Not allowed to get involved because of me! Absolutely not allowed! Promise me quickly!”

Her body was also trembling.

[What if you killed someone, could you escape legal sanctions? Could you avoid being caught and shot? I mean hypothetically.]

Wen Yu remembered, she had asked him about killing someone a long time ago.

In his dreams, it was evident that not only did he not escape legal sanctions, but the punishment was also intensified. Everyone knew that nowadays, executions were rarely immediate, and most were given suspended sentences.

So, was this the reason she carried all these secrets and never said anything?

Was Ji Anning, so seemingly fragile and in need of protection, actually the one protecting him all along?

Wen Yu’s eyes stung.

He embraced Ji Anning and gently stroked her back.

“I promise you,” he pledged.

I promise you not to get myself involved, Wen Yu said in his heart.

“Those are just dreams,” Ji Anning finally refused to acknowledge. “Dreams are meaningless. Stop having those dreams. We don’t live in other worlds. We live in the present.”

Wen Yu asked, “So now, in front of us, in the present, are you… doing well?”

Ji Anning felt it was a silly question. Her expression softened.

“Yeah,” she said. “I have you.”

This sentence finally comforted Wen Yu’s heart.

His eyes brightened, not as dark as in another world darker than the night.

When they turned off the lights and lay down to sleep, Wen Yu hugged Ji Anning and asked how her revision was going.

Ji Anning said, “I think I can get a scholarship.”

Wen Yu said, “Good, then after the exams and the break, let’s go on a trip.”

He lay on his side, holding her, gently caressing her slightly cool arms, and asked her, “Where do you want to go?”

No matter where, he could take her, whether it’s the Antarctic or the Arctic Ocean. The ends of the earth, they could go.

Ji Anning lay on her back, looking at the ceiling, silent for a long time, and said, “I want to go to the capital.”

Wen Yu: “…” This was a place he hadn’t thought of.

“Why?” he asked.

“When I was little, I really wanted to go, but my mom passed away very early, and I rarely saw my dad. My grandmother raised me, but she’s old, and I was too young. She always said, wait until I’m a bit older, until I’m fifteen, and then she’ll take me to the capital to see the flag-raising ceremony,” Ji Anning said softly.

Wen Yu remembered that when the embezzlement happened and Ji Tai ran away, Ji Anning wasn’t even fifteen yet.

Ji Anning asked, “Can we scatter ashes in the square?”

Wen Yu sighed, “No.”

Ji Anning asked again, “What about the city wall?”

Wen Yu touched her cheek and said, “Let’s sneak some ashes and secretly scatter them.”

Ji Anning sighed, “Forget it.”

After a while, she said again, “You know? I saw online that you can turn a loved one’s ashes into a necklace pendant. I’ll make one, wear it, and then wear it to the capital, to see the square and the city wall! That way, even if Grandma can’t see it, she’ll know.”

Since her grandmother’s death, Wen Yu and Ji Anning had both tried to avoid mentioning her. Surprisingly, this was the first time Ji Anning brought her up again since then.

Wen Yu’s eyes became teary.

Time might gradually ease the pain, but it wouldn’t make people forget their closest ones.

She didn’t bring it up, but she kept it in her heart, never to be forgotten.

“You can turn them into diamonds,” he said. “I saw it in the news online. We can make one later.”

They gradually fell silent, and the bedroom became quiet.

Wen Yu’s hand gently caressed Ji Anning’s cheek. She hadn’t spoken for a long time, and he thought she had fallen asleep.

But suddenly, Ji Anning let out a low sigh.

“Being able to open my eyes every day, study, take exams, it’s truly fortunate,” Ji Anning said.

Perhaps only those who have experienced death once can appreciate this kind of happiness.

Wen Yu thought for a long time. He had only promised Ji Anning not to get himself involved, and he hadn’t promised her anything else.

Wen Yu contacted Lao Xing again.

“I want to see someone,” he said. “Find him for me.”

~

Yu Xia lay on the table.

This was a rather informal small clinic, with even poor hygiene conditions.

Yu Xia was a bit scared. When the “doctor” took out that long syringe, she regretted it.

“I, I don’t want to do it anymore! I want to go back,” she said with a trembling voice.

The middle-aged nurse with a fierce face pushed her back, impatiently saying, “It’s too late to regret now. You’ve been on hormones for seven days, and your eggs have been released. If you don’t retrieve them, isn’t it all for nothing?”

“But…” Yu Xia glanced at the 35-centimeter-long puncture needle, trembling with fear. “But…”

“Nothing to worry about, hurry up and lie down!” The nurse shouted at the “doctor” again. “You too, speed up, be more efficient.”

The “doctor” walked over, with a slightly better attitude than the nurse, comforting Yu Xia, “Don’t be afraid, it’ll be over soon, and then you can get your money.”

The words “get money” calmed Yu Xia’s panic. She hesitated for a moment and said, “Please… be gentle.”

“Don’t worry,” the doctor boasted, “I do several egg retrieval surgeries in a day, I’m fast.”

They assured Yu Xia that it wouldn’t hurt, and she believed them. The result was excruciating pain.

A regular injection needle has a tip of only 0.7 millimeters, while the egg retrieval needle is a whopping 2 millimeters thick and 35 centimeters long! This thick and long needle has to pierce through the vaginal canal, penetrate the ovaries, and retrieve the eggs. The damage to the body can be imagined!

Yu Xia had no idea that in a regular hospital, egg retrieval for in vitro fertilization usually involves extracting around ten eggs. However, in this small clinic where she sold her eggs, the doctor and nurse exchanged glances, and they retrieved twenty-one eggs from her ovaries. Equivalent to the normal ovulation output of a young woman over two years!

And on her ovaries, there were as many as ten wounds from the procedure!

When Yu Xia came down from the operating table, she was nearly in a state of collapse.

Even in this condition, she still remembered to ask for her money.

The nurse took her to the front desk; they only paid in cash here, no transfers. Yu Xia received ten thousand yuan for selling her eggs. For her, it was a relief in the midst of urgent needs.

Yu Xia held her stomach and slowly left that place.

On the way, her phone rang. Yu Xia almost developed a fear of her phone’s ringtone by now.

She trembled as she took out her phone, and indeed, it was a debt collection call.

“I’m telling you! If I don’t see the money today, everyone in your contact list will receive your photos tomorrow!” the person on the other end shouted.

Yu Xia, momentarily lost in a moment of confusion, took explicit photos for a loan. The other party’s app could directly access the phone’s contact list. Once you clicked “agree,” they had already copied your entire contact list.

If you didn’t repay on time, they would distribute your explicit photos everywhere.

Yu Xia’s tears were on the verge of falling.

“Right away, I’m on my way to the bank now, I’ll transfer the money immediately.” Afraid that the other party wouldn’t believe her, she quickly added, “I sold my eggs, I have money to pay back.”

“Oh. You’re quite resourceful in finding ways to make money,” the other person laughed. “Well, hurry up and transfer it to me.”

After hanging up this call, other calls started coming in, all from debt collectors.

Yu Xia didn’t dare to answer. For the other collectors, she could only let them continue their attempts. If they couldn’t find her, they would go crazy harassing people in her contact list. Even so, it was better than explicit photos being sent to all her friends and family.

Choosing the lesser of two evils.

Yu Xia found an ATM, deposited all the cash into her account, and then directly transferred the money back to that platform.

Selling eggs is great; you can make so much money, she thought. She might as well keep doing it in the future.

Just as she had this thought, the pain in her abdomen suddenly increased geometrically.

Bank employees and customers alike saw a young girl collapse in front of the ATM.

---

Sansukini: Yikes for Yu Xia. Have you seen the movie “Midnight Runners”? It’s a korean movie with Park Seo-joon and Kang Ha-neul. In the movie, they were trying to save a girl they saw was kidnapped, and they discovered about human eggs harvest, like Yu Xia here. Anyway, PSJ and KHN have great chemistry.
On another note, what will Wen Yu do to Zhao Chen? Just because he hasn’t done anything yet, doesn’t mean that Zhao Chen will do no evil.

Oh, and Interstellar Dad also starts today. Please check it out, bookmark it and add it to your reading list.

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