"Mother, I told you the Hall Leader is a bad man! Even after working for him for so long, he still looks at you in an unsightly manner and says bad things to you. And why does he always try to move so close to you?!"
Chang'e merely smiled as Xia Xia went on her complaining spree. They entered the fenced yard of the house, and she smiled and patted Xia Xia's head.
"That's why I bring you along with me, so you can protect Mother."
Xia Xia's face turned red and burned with pride and she puffed out her chest.
"Leave it to Xia Xia!"
Hearing her vigorous response, Chang'e couldn't help but smile. With the smile still lingering on her face, she slowly turned her head, noticing the strange silence in the house.
Xia Xia also looked around, finding it odd that everywhere was quiet.
For a moment, her heart dropped and she thought:
'Has Senior Brother Lan left?'
She didn't want to say it out loud so as not to bother her mother or make her worry.
Chang'e entered the sitting room first and then went into Xia Xia and Xiao Fe's room, where the man had been the first time, but he was not there either. She grew confused and Xia Xia also had a somber look on her face now that they couldn't find him there.
Chang'e looked quite disappointed.
'He said all that about helping us, yet he takes off and runs away… In the end, all men are the same.'
Xia Xia looked at her mother and said,
"Mother, I'm sure Senior Brother Lan is somewhere around. He wouldn't abandon us too, right?"
She nervously tugged at the edge of her mother's skirt and moved closer to her.
Chang'e bent down and held Xia Xia in her embrace.
"People are allowed to do whatever they want. Brother Shi Lan had his reasons for leaving. In the end, we can't expect people to help us; we have to look out for ourselves."
She pulled back and looked at Xia Xia, gently holding her shoulders.
"Together… as a family."
Xia Xia wiped away the little tears that were about to fall from her eyes. She liked Shi Lan, even though he was an ugly person, and she had never expected that he would abandon them because they were in trouble.
Chang'e sighed.
'What did I even expect?'
She patted Xia Xia's head before standing up and deciding to retreat to her room. As she walked away, she rubbed her arm. Her body still refused to forget how Shi Lan's touch had felt—the confidence and dominance with which he had held her gaze, the way he looked at her as if he wanted her. Even thinking about it now as she walked to her room on the other side of the sitting room made her body tingle sensitively.
'Should I have had a taste before he disappeared?'
Immediately, Chang'e rebuked herself for such adulterous thoughts.
She finally entered her room, and when she did, she let out a startled yell as she saw someone fainted on the ground beside her bed with all her undergarments on him.
"Mother! Are you okay?!"
From outside, Xia Xia heard her mother's cry and shouted back, already running toward her mother's room with thunderous steps.
When she entered, she was also stunned to see the man fainted on the floor. Her eyes lit up like fireworks.
"Senior Brother Lan! I knew he was never going to abandon us!"
Xia Xia happily said as she ran to the unconscious Shi Lan.
Chang'e had smiled happily and felt relieved and incredibly joyful before catching herself and trying to hide her smile.
She looked at the scene a second time.
'But… what was he doing here?'
It was difficult to tell, and seeing all her undergarments made her uncomfortable and very suspicious of Shi Lan.
'He wouldn't be trying to steal from us, right?'
"Mother! Come help! Senior Brother Shi Lan is unconscious!"
Immediately, she cast aside her thoughts and assisted her daughter. Instead of taking him back to their room, she suggested that they leave Shi Lan in her room, so they lifted him carefully onto the bed.
A few hours later, night had fallen. Wei Shi Lan was still unconscious, and both Xia Xia and her mother were incredibly worried.
Amidst it all, Xiao Yu returned home. Paying no attention to their worries, she simply had her dinner and went to sleep, thankful that Shi Lan was out of her room.
Meanwhile, Xia Xia and Chang'e stayed with him and did what they could to help him. They cleaned his body with a wet cloth while feeding him medicine.
At last, after an entire day, Wei Shi Lan finally woke up.
The moment he opened his eyes, he was greeted once again by the sweet, earthy smell. He sat up, straining slightly because he was painfully aware of his internal injuries and was still trying to gather his thoughts.
However, Shi Lan froze in shock as he realized there was no internal pain.
At the same time, Chang'e was entering the room as Shi Lan sat up. She had stepped out earlier to throw away the bowl of water she had used to clean his body while Xia Xia was helping with dinner in the kitchen.
She paused, surprised to see Shi Lan awake. Then she hurried toward him, calling for Xia Xia at the top of her voice.
"Xia Xia! Your Senior Brother Lan is awake!"
She smiled at Shi Lan after calling out.
The next moment, Xia Xia came running into the room and leaped onto Shi Lan with so much happiness, hugging him tightly.
"Senior Brother Lan! Mother and I were so worried about you!"
Shi Lan gave a warm smile and turned to look at Chang'e.
"Mother was? Hm, I'm lucky to have such a beautiful woman worried about me."
Xia Xia paused for a moment, sensing the strange air between her mother and Shi Lan, but she couldn't figure it out and simply concluded,
"Mother is happy that you're awake too! But Mother is shy!"
Chang'e was filled with embarrassment the moment Xia Xia said that and softly slapped her back.
"Xia'er, stop that. You're not a child. And get off him, he's injured."
Xia Xia reluctantly let go of Shi Lan, tapping him gently.
Wei Shi Lan smiled and lowered his head as Xia Xia got off him.
"I'm sorry for causing you to worry and even spend more money on medicine for me."
Chang'e met him with a warm and kind smile.
"It is fine. I didn't have to spend much. Xia'er was willing to use her savings. But what happened? We found you fainted on the floor here in my room."
Shi Lan looked around, belatedly realizing he was actually in Xia Xia's mother's room. He sighed in regret.
"I wanted to be of help, so I remembered coming here to do the laundry. I thought I could help with such things, but I have a very weak constitution. Before I knew it, I had collapsed, and I'm only waking up now."
Xia Xia and Chang'e were quite surprised.
"See? Senior Brother Lan is a good person. I'm never wrong."
Shi Lan warmly patted Xia Xia's head with a gentle smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Chang'e's gaze froze in surprise for a moment as she thought,
'I can't believe I suspected him and even lumped him together with those useless men. Even though he was weak and sick, he was still trying to help around the house. This is a good man! This is the kind of man I should have married!'
Chang'e also noticed a slight difference that wasn't as noticeable because her room was dark and it was night outside.
'Is it me, or does he look… more handsome?'