Chapter 55: Loss of Control
The manager at the end of the corridor, sensing something was wrong, immediately walked towards the room with the service staff.
Lan Lubai glanced sideways and gave the manager a meaningful look. The experienced manager understood and stopped, not approaching further.
The atmosphere in the room was tense. The woman in the light purple dress stood up. Although she didn’t understand what was happening, she recognized the founder of Dejade, especially since two prominent figures—the Chief Judge and Executive Officer of the Independent State of Yi Meng, known to everyone—were standing outside the door.
She smiled at Xue Xun: “Then you two talk, I have something to do, so I’ll leave first.”
Xue Xun ignored her.
Walking to the door, her smile brightened, her gaze sweeping over Zhu Yiqiao and Lan Lubai.
“Chief Judge Zhu, Executive Lan, goodbye.”
Zhu Yiqiao had no impression of this person, but Lan Lubai, whose family had been in business for generations, knew that she was the daughter of the Pei family. A few days ago, news of the Pei family’s intention to arrange a marriage for their daughter had caused a stir, and almost all the families in Xi He City had expressed their interest to the Pei family.
Therefore, Lan Lubai guessed that the Pei family daughter and this business newcomer were probably discussing this matter.
After only the two of them remained in the room, Xu Zhou, who had been expressionless, finally showed a hint of emotion.
“Who are you?”
Xue Xun’s face was cold, not backing down. She seemed to laugh out of anger, her long red curly hair swaying with her movements.
“You’re asking me who I am?”
Xu Zhou’s gaze was cold, her black hair and black eyes like an unsheathed black blade.
“Shouldn’t I ask?”
Being treated so coldly by the lover who had once been so reluctant to part with her, so caring and doting, Xue Xun’s eyes grew redder and redder.
She said, “Before I answer your question, you answer mine first. Are you planning to marry Miss Pei?”
Lan Lubai, standing at the door, was extremely surprised.
This was the first time she had seen Xue Xun like this since she knew her—angry, disappointed, sad, lonely, and helpless, yet holding back her tears.
Zhu Yiqiao was also silent.
Lan Lubai asked softly, “Yiqiao, should we leave first? Let them talk.”
Zhu Yiqiao: “Mm.”
Just as she finished speaking, Xu Zhou retorted coldly,
“What does it have to do with a stranger like you?”
“Stranger?” Xue Xun’s lips twitched, the smile not reaching her eyes. “What if I said it does?”
The door closed from the inside, blocking all gazes and sounds from the outside. Lan Lubai frowned, puzzled, and turned to ask her friend, who had entered the closing command.
“Yiqiao, what’s the relationship between them?”
Suddenly remembering something, Lan Lubai’s eyes widened: “Could she be Xue Xun’s…”
Zhu Yiqiao didn’t answer, looking sideways at Ming Fei.
“What’s wrong?”
Ming Zaozao, who was holding her hand, also looked up and asked, “Mommy, what’s wrong?”
Being asked by both mother and daughter, Ming Fei explained softly, “I’m fine, just didn’t expect them to know each other. I just met Xu Zhou at school yesterday.”
Lan Lubai said meaningfully, “Whether they know each other or not is hard to say.”
The identical birthmark made Ming Fei’s thoughts chaotic. She didn’t quite understand Lan Lubai’s answer, her mind frequently wandering back to the petal-shaped birthmark.
There were no two identical leaves in the world.
But due to various factors… perhaps identical birthmarks could exist.
So, it wasn’t that strange. Ming Fei thought to herself.
Because they were worried about Xue Xun, they didn’t leave Dejade, waiting for her in another room on the same floor. Lan Lubai asked the service staff to keep an eye on the room where Xue Xun was and inform her immediately if anyone came out.
The wait wasn’t very long.
After watching cartoons for half an hour, Ming Zaozao fell asleep. Just five minutes after she fell asleep, Xu Zhou left the room. Xue Xun followed a few steps behind, but didn’t follow Xu Zhou, instead going directly to the room where her friends were.
As soon as she entered, she seemed to be holding back a lot of anger, her flamboyant red hair almost bristling. Seeing Ming Zaozao sleeping on the lounge bed, she lowered her voice.
“Xu Zhou is an idiot!”
She walked towards the three of them, sat down by the window on the right, and finished the tea Lan Lubai poured for her.
Zhu Yiqiao asked, “Xu Zhou is her?”
Xue Xun didn’t hesitate: “Mm.”
Lan Lubai’s voice was laced with a smile: “That’s great, you finally found her.”
Xue Xun looked out the window: “But she doesn’t remember me.”
“It’s normal that she doesn’t remember, otherwise, why would she look at you like a stranger? If she remembered you, she would definitely hug you the moment she saw you, like in the movies, overjoyed at finding you again.” Lan Lubai marveled at her own words. “Right, Yiqiao?”
Chief Judge Zhu, cold and aloof in everyone’s eyes, hummed in agreement, as if to comfort the dejected person in front of her.
“Mm.”
Lan Lubai continued, “Don’t worry, and don’t be sad, she will definitely remember you.”
From beginning to end, Ming Fei was completely confused. She could only deduce from these fragmented words that Xue Xun and Xu Zhou did know each other, and that Xue Xun had been looking for Xu Zhou, but Xu Zhou didn’t remember her.
The lingering fragrance of tea calmed Xue Xun’s heart slightly.
She rested her chin on one hand, her beautiful eyes narrowing slightly: “I’ve been looking for her for so long, from the moment I transmigrated eight years ago until today, and I never gave up. But she, not only did she forget me, she’s also… on a blind date with someone else!”
These words cleared the fog, and the speculation in Ming Fei’s heart finally dissipated.
She thought, having transmigrated eight years ago meant that Xu Zhou also came from the apocalypse, a transmigrator like them. The universe was vast and full of wonders, an identical birthmark… should just be a small probability event that happened by chance.
And, an identical birthmark didn’t mean anything.
The four of them chatted for a while longer, mostly Xue Xun and Lan Lubai talking, while Ming Fei quietly acted as a qualified listener, and Zhu Yiqiao went to the side to deal with work matters halfway through.
After Xue Xun’s mood improved, Lan Lubai asked her,
“You two were in there for so long, didn’t you tell Xu Zhou your identity?”
“No.”
“Huh?”
“She wouldn’t believe it, I’ll take it slow.”
Xue Xun suddenly changed the subject: “Speaking of which, I have to thank Xiao Fei. I saw your group photo on your public account and realized that she was in the Independent State of Yi Meng.”
Her tone was light and cheerful, but when she actually saw the group photo this morning after waking up, her hands trembled, her vision blurred, and as tears fell, her phone slipped from her hand.
The search that had lasted for nearly three thousand days and nights had finally come to an end.
Ming Fei said sincerely, “You’re welcome, it’s fate between you two.”
These words made Xue Xun laugh, her smile as flamboyant and bright as usual.
“Mm, fate.”
Suddenly, heavy snow covered the entire city of Xi He. By the time Zhu Yiqiao finished her work, Ming Zaozao had also woken up. The five of them had lunch together. During the meal, the sky was dark and gloomy, like spilled ink.
It was already two o’clock in the afternoon when they returned to the villa.
Perhaps because she had been drunk last night, Ming Fei was drowsy. She started feeling sleepy and weak as soon as they returned to the villa, and her head was also a little dizzy. She didn’t linger, told Ming Zaozao, and went upstairs for a nap.
Ming Zaozao was full of energy, playing happily in the living room with 008 and 0619.
When Zhu Yiqiao came downstairs, she saw Ming Zaozao holding the apple-green camera. After the intelligent prompt sounded, she took a picture of the gift Ming Fei had recently bought for her.
“Wow~” Ming Zaozao said crisply, “Auntie, look at the picture Baby took.”
Zhu Yiqiao sat next to her: “Okay.”
After Ming Zaozao shared the recent photos of her gifts, Zhu Yiqiao looked into her grape-like eyes and pinched her chubby cheeks.
“Are there any other photos?”
“Yes!” Ming Zaozao said proudly. “Pictures of Mommy, taken by Baby!”
“Can I see them?”
Ming Zaozao nodded repeatedly: “Of course!”
After saying that, she generously handed the apple-green camera to Zhu Yiqiao. As Zhu Yiqiao looked through the photos, Ming Zaozao explained in a childish voice,
“This is Mommy reading~”
“Mommy caught a big fish, so amazing!”
“Mommy is playing chess, Baby is protecting her.”
…
“This is… Mommy smiling at Baby.” Ming Zaozao also smiled. “Mommy is happy, so Baby is happy too.”
After carefully looking at every photo taken by the camera, Zhu Yiqiao asked something Ming Zaozao didn’t understand.
“Zaozao, can you send me a copy of these photos?”
“Why does Auntie want them?”
Why indeed?
When she first saw this camera in Hui Fu Garden, she knew it was for Ming Zaozao to take pictures of Ming Fei. At that time, she hadn’t been in the mood to look at the photos, and had only glanced at the camera briefly.
But now, she took the initiative to look, to ask for them, to take them to heart.
After some thought, she replied, “Because I like them.”
Ming Zaozao said happily, “Baby likes them too!”
“Then is Zaozao willing to send me a copy?”
Ming Zaozao tugged on her pigtails, seemingly struggling. It wasn’t until 008 reminded her that a new cartoon was about to start that she finally nodded resolutely.
“Okay, only for Auntie. Because Baby likes Auntie too, and Mommy likes Auntie too.”
“Can Auntie do it herself?”
Ming Zaozao stood up, still shorter than the newly transplanted potted plant in the garden: “Baby doesn’t know how to do it, Baby is going to watch cartoons.”
“Okay.” Zhu Yiqiao patted her little head. “Go ahead, Zaozao.”
“Mm-hmm!”
Ming Zaozao, like a gust of wind, quickly ran to the sofa and started watching her favorite cartoon intently, occasionally clapping her hands at the exciting scenes.
Zhu Yiqiao uploaded some of the photos from the camera to her terminal.
All the photos in this camera were related to Ming Fei. There were two albums, named by Ming Zaozao as [My Most Beloved Mommy] and [Zaozao the Great’s Treasure Trove], each name followed by cute emojis.
[Zaozao the Great’s Treasure Trove] contained photos of gifts, all given by Ming Fei. The other album was full of photos of Ming Fei, each one beautifully taken.
Throughout the transfer process, Zhu Yiqiao’s gaze remained fixed on the first photo. In the moment captured by the camera, Ming Fei was standing under a tree full of hibiscus flowers, her almond eyes curved like crescents, a smile on her lips, and her dimple deep on her right cheek.
It was very much like the scene she had witnessed not long ago.
At that time, she had been standing outside the window, watching Ming Fei with tiger whiskers painted on her face and the character “king” written on her forehead, smiling brightly as Ming Zaozao pounced on her. Snowflakes brushed against her shoulder, cold, yet her heart raced.
Thump, thump, thump.
Each beat faster than the last.
Therefore, after entering the living room, she hadn’t avoided Ming Fei. When Ming Fei, wearing a blindfold and playing hide-and-seek, approached and hugged her, she had pretended to be unaware and let Ming Fei hold her.
After the last photo was transferred, Zhu Yiqiao returned the camera to Ming Zaozao. Before leaving the living room, she washed a plate of fresh strawberries that had been delivered this morning and placed it on the coffee table, then replaced the cold water in Ming Zaozao’s cup with warm water.
However, when she reached the second floor, she stopped.
Because—
She sensed the overflowing pear scent.
Unlike the usual sweetness, the pear scent now was mostly the sourness of unripe fruit, the little sweetness completely suppressed.
Zhu Yiqiao quickly turned towards Ming Fei’s room.
She knocked on the door and waited for twenty seconds, but there was no response from inside.
The pear scent became increasingly strange, the sourness mixed with bitterness. Zhu Yiqiao knocked again, and after ten seconds, still no response.
Seeing this, she used her highest authority in the villa to open the security door without hesitation.
As she took her first step into the master bedroom, an overwhelming pear scent surged towards her. The pear trees were all bearing sour and bitter pears, not a single sweet one.
And Ming Fei, constantly releasing pheromones, was sitting on the carpet, her face as pale as paper, her eyelashes wet, her furrowed brows as if enduring immense pain.
The familiar pain was returning.
This was the pain Ming Fei had suffered after her gland was injured, and she remembered the time when her gland was injured.
Every agonizing wave of pain would silently bring tears to her eyes, making her bury herself under the covers, curling up, trembling, making her feel like she was walking alone on a tightrope over a cliff, one wrong step away from falling and shattering.
But this time, someone caught her.
Just as the pain was about to wash over her, and she wanted to hide again, Zhu Yiqiao suddenly grabbed her hand tightly.
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