Today, An Qing didn’t come to school.
It wasn’t because she had some purpose, nor because she didn’t want to see An Yu.
She was simply, purely, sick.
An Qing was woken up by the alarm clock in the morning, and only after it had rung many times.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she felt pain all over her body.
An unbearable wave of fatigue swept over her entire being.
An Qing forced herself to endure the dizziness and took out the thermometer to check.
Her temperature was infinitely close to forty degrees, steadily at thirty-nine point something.
She had a fever.
There was no other reason—not a cold, no flu—just purely, suddenly, a fever.
One of the reasons was probably that last night, she had nightmares the entire night.
In every nightmare, there was An Yu’s figure.
Either it was the scene from her previous life where she mocked her, or the scene where she left with Ning Wanqiu.
The An Yu in the dream really didn’t care about anything in the An family, nor about those two useless young masters of the Chen family.
Although this was completely different from her previous life, what was the same as her previous life was that neither of them cared about An Qing.
Every time, An Qing watched helplessly as An Yu left; every time, she would feel pain.
It was just like in her previous life, in the basement, seeing An Yu for the last time.
What was different from her previous life was that the An Yu from before would still put on a performance, pretending to care about An Qing.
The An Yu in the dream didn’t even act; she didn’t even want to look at An Qing.
It was simply… just like her reality.
An Qing lay on the bed in a daze, her face wearing an expression that was half smile, half not.
Because of the dryness in her throat, it woke her from the nightmare.
Now, she needed to drink some water, but there didn’t seem to be any in the room.
An Qing tiredly blinked her eyes; even with them open, she couldn’t see the scene in front of her clearly.
“Ha…”
Even so, she let out a mocking laugh.
She didn’t know if she was mocking An Yu or mocking herself.
This was the family that An Yu cared so much about in her previous life; even now that An Qing had gained their trust, she was still just a tool.
Familial affection had never existed in them.
An Qing had a fever to this extent, yet no one in the An family cared about her now.
An Yunfan and Jiang Qinghe had already left; no one would stay to take care of An Qing—they all cared more about work.
And yesterday, An Yunfan had given all the servants a day off in advance.
And that day off was today.
It was laughable—the purpose of the day off was to celebrate the birthday of her, this sick person.
Only Wang Man, whom An Qing wanted to drive away, had left her a portion of congee in a clay pot.
Everyone else had already left; if Wang Man hadn’t left late in the morning, An Qing could only have slept unconscious the whole day.
She could only say, good thing she hadn’t implemented the plan to drive Wang Man away yet; otherwise, her situation today would only be worse.
And now, the An family villa had become even quieter; this place was already empty of people.
Except for An Qing herself.
“Ha… haha…..”
It seemed like no one treated her as a person either.
An Qing tiredly sat up, picked up the phone beside her, and casually swiped it open to check.
[Chen Guang]: Sorry, I didn’t go to your birthday; something unexpected happened, but don’t worry, I still have your gift.
[Chen Guang]: But to make up for this mistake, I prepared a surprise for you.
[Chen Guang]: Forget it, surprises are for kids; I’ll just say it directly.
[Chen Guang]: I’m planning to transfer to your school. You’re so pretty; there must be a lot of punk kids at your school who like you. How about I help you block them? (Laugh)
[Chen Guang]: Haha, just kidding; it’s just a normal transfer. Coincidentally, I can protect you too.
“Cough, cough… cough cough cough!” An Qing coughed continuously; her mood had fallen to rock bottom.
Looking at these self-righteous messages, An Qing felt nauseous and wanted to vomit.
Her head hurt even more.
It seemed like ever since her rebirth, only bad things had progressed particularly smoothly.
But why… was it like this?
She suddenly really wanted to rest for a while.
Even put aside things like hatred for a while.
Just like this… lie down a bit longer.
But the dry feeling in her throat was reminding An Qing that her body was starting to dehydrate; she needed to drink water.
But the water dispenser was downstairs; if she wanted to drink, she had to get up and go down.
An Qing tossed the phone aside, planning to just stand up like this and go downstairs to drink some water.
But as soon as she moved slightly, she felt a wave of headache.
But there was no way around it; right now, she could only rely on herself.
She slowly, with great effort, stood up while holding onto the wall.
It’s fine… it’s fine.
Wasn’t it like this in her previous life too?
Originally, no one cared about her; even if she was sick… no one would pay attention to her. It had always been like this.
An Qing, haven’t you always known?
The people of the An family—no one cares about emotions; everyone just uses each other.
An Qing slowly made her way downstairs, but the scene before her eyes was still blurry.
“Hu…”
An Qing panted heavily, her gaze seriously fixed on the stairs, afraid that one misstep would cause her to fall.
It’s fine… An Qing.
Isn’t this what you asked for?
From the very beginning, didn’t you know? As long as you chose the An family, it would become like this.
So… it’s just returning to the most painful period of her previous life.
This was nothing; she was used to it.
In her daze, she seemed to have walked very far, until she saw something blue and white in front of her, and only then did she stop.
It should… be the water dispenser, right?
She seemed to have gotten lost in her own home, but it was fine; she still found the water dispenser.
Speaking of which, how do you use the water dispenser?
An Qing dizzily shook her head; it was clearly just an ordinary thing, yet she couldn’t remember how.
It was so hard to concentrate.
….
Was having a fever such an uncomfortable thing?
In her previous life, had she really been like this too?
Why did it seem like she hadn’t had such a painful experience?
It seemed like back then was completely different from now.
Where was it different?
She always felt that if it were her previous life, if she had a fever, someone would take care of her.
Who was it?
An Qing dizzily reached out her hand, wanting to get a cup of water to drink, but she felt that the water dispenser in front of her blocked her hand.
Were water dispensers nowadays… like this?
….
At the entrance of the An family home, An Yu expressionlessly blocked An Qing’s hand.
She raised her head and blinked, not understanding what was wrong with An Qing this time.
Dreamwalking again?
“Water…..”
An Yu heard An Qing murmuring constantly, seeming to want to drink water.
This made An Yu even more speechless.
If she wanted water, then drink water—what water was there at the door?!
Hadn’t she said yesterday that the water dispenser was over there?
The reborn heroine was just so bad; she didn’t listen to her.
Chapter 148: Remember, The Water Dispenser Is There!
“An Qing?”
An Yu blinked expressionlessly, at the same time slapping her hand down again.
What was she doing? Why was she reaching toward her?
Was she going to tie her up in the basement now?
“Mm….. cough, cough cough.”
An Qing, whose hand was slapped away by An Yu, coughed, seeming to feel even more uncomfortable.
This made An Yu pause; from earlier, she had felt that An Qing seemed off.
Her face was very red, she wasn’t steady on her feet, and she kept reaching toward her.
Really so strange—was An Qing this kind of person?
Usually, she wore a bitter gourd face; either smiling like she wanted to kill someone, or using her pair of red eyes to cosplay as a red-eyed monster?
Today, how had she become so strange?
An Yu silently thought about it, but An Qing wasn’t behaving.
Her throat was so dry it was almost smoking; in her daze, she kept feeling that the water dispenser wouldn’t let her drink.
It was really odd; why had strange things been happening lately?
She even had the illusion that An Yu was right in front of her.
But she knew that was her illusion; there wouldn’t be anyone else in this house right now.
She had just mistaken the blue and white water dispenser for the blue and white An Yu.
…..
An Qing reached out toward the “water dispenser” once more, but unsurprisingly, she was blocked again.
“An Qing, what are you doing?” An Yu raised her hand to grip An Qing’s hand; always reaching toward her was too annoying.
But why did this hand feel so hot?
An Yu puzzledly pinched it, then immediately looked at An Qing’s face.
She discovered that not only did An Qing not react, she still had that dizzy look.
If it were usual, upon discovering it was her touching her, wouldn’t she shake it off like an allergy and run away fast?
Unknowingly, An Yu’s impression of An Qing had become like this.
An Yu slightly frowned, speaking coldly. “An Qing, are you sick?”
Seeming to hear An Yu’s voice, An Qing showed a faint confusion.
But unfortunately, she took An Yu’s voice as her hallucination.
“An Yu…..”
“Mm, I’m here.”
An Yu nodded expressionlessly.
But after waiting a long time, there was no follow-up from An Qing.
Fine, she knew it.
The reborn heroine was just purely bad; she wasn’t even willing to acknowledge her.
Whatever, she could figure it out herself.
An Yu stood on tiptoe, extended a finger, and gently touched An Qing’s forehead.
“Mm, so hot.”
Just upon touching, An Yu felt the abnormality.
No need to compare with her own; she could easily feel that An Qing definitely had a fever.
“An Qing, you’re sick. Go back.”
Although they were enemies, she, An Yu, wouldn’t just ignore it!
Mm, because it was just saying a few words; it took no effort at all.
An Yu certainly wouldn’t do anything extra; from the very beginning, she had decided that whatever happened to An Qing had nothing to do with her.
Of course, that included the current situation.
Reminding her once or twice was already the maximum effort An Yu could exert as a stranger.
And now, the reminder was over; she was going back.
An Yu removed her hand, stepped back two paces, and prepared to return to her room.
An Qing, the reborn heroine, had so many people caring about her; she didn’t lack one more.
Moreover, An Qing didn’t need her.
“Water….. water….”
But unfortunately, An Qing didn’t respond to An Yu; she just kept murmuring about wanting water.
Her consciousness seemed to be getting less and less clear; leaving her standing here alone, who knew if something would happen.
An Yu shook her head, then spoke softly to An Qing.
“An Qing, the water dispenser is over there. If you’re thirsty, go there to drink.”
Something she had already reminded about yesterday, and today she had to say it again.
Was An Qing some kind of idiot?
An Qing stood there dazedly; she felt everything in the world spinning.
The water dispenser in front of her had disappeared.
Rather than disappeared, it was more like it had run away.
Why… wouldn’t it let her drink?
In the haze, An Qing seemed to hear An Yu’s voice again, but she still took it as a hallucination.
An Yu had never liked her; how could she remind her where the water dispenser was?
Yeah… An Yu had always hated her.
Even if she was just alive, just breathing, she would be hated by An Yu.
But An Qing knew that at least that hatred had reasons.
It was because she was afraid she’d steal An Yunfan, because she was afraid she’d steal Jiang Qinghe, because she was afraid she’d steal Chen Guang.
With so many reasons… it wasn’t strange for An Yu to hate An Qing, right?
If… if, hypothetically.
If An Yu didn’t care about those people, then wouldn’t she just purely hate An Qing?
An Yu… was just like her, needing the love of those useless people.
She wanted to prove those people…
Prove? What?
No, she wasn’t proving anything; she just hated An Yu.
She wanted revenge, revenge…
But, An Yu, where are you?
An Qing subconsciously reached out forward, as if An Yu was right there.
But unfortunately, there was nothing in front.
Immediately, the world spun.
Because of the severe high fever, An Qing could no longer tell directions; just like that, on flat ground, she fell.
An Qing closed her eyes, waiting for the fall to come.
But she still hoped it wouldn’t hurt too much, because she was afraid of pain.
“Mm?”
An Qing collided with something, but unlike what she thought.
The pain didn’t come; instead, there was a soft, comfortable feeling.
Moreover… she felt like there was a really nice smell.
So nostalgic.
“An Qing, what are you doing?”
She seemed to hallucinate again, hallucinating An Yu speaking to her again.
“Hu… you’re so heavy.”
…….
….
An Yu frowned; a rare change appeared on her usually expressionless little face.
That voice, of course, wasn’t a hallucination but the real An Yu’s voice; she had gone and come back.
Because she suddenly felt that An Qing was so silly; she might not find where the water dispenser was.
It was just leading the way; she could still do that.
This way, later, An Qing wouldn’t come asking her for directions because she couldn’t find the water dispenser.
This would both reduce chances of meeting and reduce awkwardness; she really was a genius!
But she had just opened the room door when she saw An Qing reaching forward, swaying and falling to the ground.
An Yu subconsciously ran over and caught her.
After all, An Yu was very gentle; seeing someone get hurt in front of her, she couldn’t gloat.
“An Qing, you’re so annoying. Don’t move around.”
An Qing seemed to want to pounce on her… really, her body was burning hot; not comfortable at all.
Moreover, not soft enough—completely unlike Ning Wanqiu.
An Yu expressionlessly pushed An Qing, walking toward the water dispenser’s direction.
“Remember this: this is the water dispenser.” An Yu reminded one last time. “The water dispenser isn’t at the door!”