Author's Note:
Fang: What to do when a child is disobedient? (Anger)
Ji: Waaaaaah?
Chapter 4
At seven o'clock in the evening, the afterglow hung in the sky; if it were any later, it might be swallowed by the stars.
In the villa's attic, the doctor glanced at the temperature reading on the thermometer, then sneered, "Fang Bai, I really don't know why Xia Xia would let you raise her daughter. Do you think Xia Xia would come looking for you in the middle of the night if she knew how you treated Yu Ning?"
The doctor's name is Liao Li, and she is a friend of the original owner and Lu Xia.
Before Lu Xia passed away, the three of them often played together, but after Lu Xia's death, Liao Li had less contact with the original owner.
Liao Li is 27 this year. She was 24 when she met Lu Xia and Fang Bai. Lu Xia was 32 and Fang Bai was 21. At that time, Liao Li was surprised that the three of them, who were so different in age, could get along so well.
But as long as you're having fun, who cares about age?
Liao Li studied abroad for the past few years and only returned to China a month ago.
After returning home, Liao Li was busy with work and didn't have time to visit Ji Yuning at Fang Bai's house.
However, when she was abroad, she called Fang Bai. Each time they video-chatted, Ji Yuning seemed to be in a good mood, so she always thought that Fang Bai treated Ji Yuning very well.
A few days ago, she heard from an old friend that Fang Bai wasn't treating Ji Yuning very well. Liao Li originally wanted to visit Fang Bai's house when she heard the news, but she was held up by a surgery.
I had some free time today, so I called Fang Bai to say I was coming over. But as soon as I got through, Fang Bai told me that Ji Yuning had a fever.
Upon arriving at the villa, Liao Li even considered giving Fang Bai anesthesia.
He was a chubby little guy three years ago! In just three years, Fang Bai has turned him into a skinny monkey! And what the hell is this place?! It's smaller than her toilet!
This is the best treatment Fang Bai was talking about?!
Seeing the situation before him, Liao Li immediately knew that those people were right; Ji Yuning had indeed suffered at Fang Bai's house.
Despite her anger, Liao Li calmed down and examined Ji Yuning.
After the examination, Liao Li became even more agitated. This kid is only 16 years old, but just by looking at him, you can tell that his physical condition is very bad, and his physical age is about 40 years old or older.
Looking at the numerous scars on Ji Yuning's body, Liao Li suppressed her anger and finally discovered the cause of her fever: her wounds were infected.
Liao Li kept staring at Fang Bai as she spoke, trying to see if there was any guilt on Fang Bai's face. She didn't know if Fang Bai felt guilty, but she herself did.
The thought of how much abuse Ji Yuning had suffered over the past three years made Liao Li feel guilty for not giving Ji Yuning enough care.
She trusted Fang Bai too much.
When Liao Li spoke, she had already decided that once Ji Yuning woke up, she would take Ji Yuning away and leave Fang Bai, otherwise she would be letting Lu Xia down.
Fang Bai looked at the person on the bed, putting Liao Li's words out of her mind. In the current situation, she had no mind to pay attention to Liao Li.
Fang Bai said, "Let's start her on an IV drip first."
"Get an IV drip here?" Liao Li said coldly. "This place is too small and cluttered; it's not suitable."
The main problem is that the lighting is too dim.
The light bulb in the attic had been broken for a long time, and the original owner refused to replace it. Ji Yuning could only take a few dollars from her savings and buy a low-wattage bulb to replace it. The brightness was so low that it couldn't even illuminate the corner of the room, let alone allow for vein puncture.
Fang Bai pressed her tongue against the roof of her mouth. Before Liao Li came, she had touched Ji Yuning's forehead with her hand. Her temperature was very high, and she didn't know when the fever started.
If we delay any longer, he might get brain damage from the fever.
Fang Bai bent down to help Ji Yuning up, then sat on the edge of the bed, draped Ji Yuning's upper body over her back, and looked up at Liao Li and said, "Give me a hand."
Liao Li knew that Fang Bai was going to betray Ji Yuning.
Liao Li reacted instinctively and helped Fang Bai successfully move Ji Yuning onto his back.
Even through two layers of fabric, Fang Bai could feel the burning heat of Ji Yuning's body. Without further hesitation, Fang Bai slowly got up and carried Ji Yuning out of the room.
Ji Yuning weighs about 80 pounds. When she carries it on her back, it feels like she's carrying a slightly heavy bag, not really heavy.
Seeing that Fang Bai was so small and carrying someone on his back, Liao Li was afraid that he would drop the person on the ground after a few steps, so she followed closely behind Fang Bai and supported Ji Yuning's back.
Both women were so preoccupied with the question of whether they would accidentally drop Ji Yuning that they didn't notice the person they were worried about quietly opening her eyes.
—
In the afternoon, while Fang Bai was taking a nap, Ji Yuning washed the clothes that were stained with flour.
While doing laundry, Ji Yuning's eyes caught sight of the showerhead. She hesitated for a moment, then closed the bathroom door and took a shower.
Ji Yuning washed every place the woman's hands had touched, removing the woman's scent from her body.
After taking a shower, Ji Yuning went downstairs to do her homework in the gazebo in the yard.
The attic is too dark to study in.
Ji Yuning would often go to the study or living room to do her homework when Fang Bai wasn't looking, but after Fang Bai discovered her behavior one time, the study door was locked, and she was also forbidden from using the living room.
Since then, Ji Yuning's favorite place has been the pavilion in the courtyard. However, since Fang Bai stopped letting her do her homework at home, Ji Yuning often finishes her homework at school.
The task wasn't completed this time because after Fang Bai received the teacher's phone call, he sent someone to pick her up and take her home ahead of time.
The summer wind is warm.
The wind blowing on Ji Yuning felt as cold as winter.
Ji Yuning forced herself to finish her homework, but by the end she felt dizzy and went back to the attic, where she collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.
After falling asleep, Ji Yuning dreamed of Lu Xia.
She rarely dreamed of her mother, but this time, after dreaming of her, she saw her mother's gentle smile and heard her calling her by her childhood name again and again, beckoning her to come to her side. Just as Ji Yuning was about to run over and hug Lu Xia, she suddenly felt a cool, comforting touch on her forehead, making her squint involuntarily.
The cold sensation quickly left her forehead. She hurriedly opened her eyes to chase after it, but saw that where Lu Xia had been standing, a person dressed in a black robe had appeared. Upon closer inspection, Ji Yuning realized that the person was Fang Bai.
Upon seeing her, Fang Bai walked towards her with a smile, his gaping maw filled with fangs.
Ji Yuning wanted to run, but she couldn't move.
Just as Fang Bai was about to bite Ji Yuning, a faint sweet scent broke through the darkness and reached Ji Yuning's side.
Then Fang Bai disappeared.
Ji Yuning followed the direction of the sweet smell, shaking off the demon behind her, and stepped alone into the grassy field full of flower fragrance.
“…”
Ji Yuning lifted her eyelids, realizing she was dreaming.
With a dizzy head, Ji Yuning felt her body swaying from side to side.
She opened her eyes and closed them again. After a few seconds, she lifted her eyelids and saw layers of hair covering her eyes. A few strands of hair fell next to her nose, making her feel itchy.
Ji Yuning raised her hand to try and get her hair away, but she couldn't feel her hand anywhere.
…Fang Bai did indeed break her hand.
Despite having a fever of 40°C, Ji Yuning was "clear-headed" as she thought.
Ji Yuning subconsciously numb the itch around her nose, but after numbing it away, she couldn't bear the heaviness of her eyelids and closed her eyes again.
Ji Yuning's movements were very subtle, and only Fang Bai noticed them.
Fang Bai froze for a second, but continued walking.
Fang Bai couldn't stand the original owner's perfume scent, so she took a shower before her afternoon nap. While the original owner's perfume was unpleasant, her body lotion was quite nice—a light, sweet scent that wasn't cloying or overpowering.
As Fang Bai carried Ji Yuning downstairs, a thin layer of sweat covered his body, and the scent of his body lotion became even stronger.
Fang Bai smelled it, but she quickly focused and carried Ji Yuning to the side bedroom on the second floor.
Wu Mei cleans this room every day, and the bed is very clean and tidy.
Liao Li lifted the blanket on the bed first, and then together with Fang Bai, they put Ji Yuning on the bed.
Wu Mei, who had gone to Liao Li's car to get the first-aid kit as instructed, happened to witness Fang Bai carrying Ji Yuning into a room on the second floor.
Wu Mei was shocked to see Fang Bai carrying Ji Yuning on his back.
Before Wu Mei told Fang Bai about Ji Yuning's fever, she was worried that Fang Bai would ignore her and even say things like, "Let Ji Yuning fend for herself."
But to her surprise, Fang Bai's reaction to hearing that Ji Yuning had a fever was one of unprecedented concern.
“…”
Liao Li took the medicine box from Wu Mei, finished the IV drip for Ji Yuning, turned to look at the person standing by the bed, and said in a low voice, "Come out for a moment."
Fang Bai glanced at Ji Yuning, and seeing that the girl was sleeping peacefully, nodded: "Mm."
The two left the room, leaving Wu Mei inside to keep watch.
Standing in the corridor, Liao Li frowned and said bluntly, "I'll take care of Yu Ning."
Fang Bai was stunned. She hadn't expected Liao Li to make this request. After all, Liao Li had only appeared a few times in the original text, and there was no mention in the text that Liao Li had any intention of supporting Ji Yuning.
This is probably why Ji Yuning didn't have a fever on that day.
Fang Bai had a guess, but still asked, "Why?"
"Why?!" Liao Li repeated in disbelief. "Why do you think I should be at ease? You've abused Yu Ning like this. How can you expect me to feel at ease? How can she survive with you by her side?"
"..."
“I will treat her well from now on. Before…” Fang Bai couldn’t think of a way to cover up the original owner’s tyranny, so she paused, “I was confused before.”
Liao Li sneered: "Confused for three years?"
"…Um."
"Don't say things like that to me, Fang Bai. Yu Ning is Lu Xia's daughter. How could you..." Liao Liyu stammered, and after a few seconds, the words she didn't say turned into a deep sigh, "Let me raise her."
Without the slightest hesitation, Fang Bai said directly, "No."
Although she wasn't entirely confident she could successfully erase Ji Yuning's hatred for the original owner, if Ji Yuning were to live with Liao Li, wouldn't that be tantamount to sentencing her to death on the spot?
"Why not?" Liao Li said indignantly. "Fang Bai, why don't we go to the police station?"