"I seriously considered it. I can't be this selfish. I can't just leave everything behind and run away with you."

"Selfish?"

"Yes. Lin Zhan, I love you, but I'm different from you. I have parents and a younger sister. I'm not willing to marry Lu Beichuan. Because I love you, I was willing to leave with you and suffer hardship with you, but I don't want my younger sister to take my place in staying in that living hell.”

Ye Qing looked at the young man before her. Many years later, they would constantly quarrel. They had to be so cautious around each other. It had been exhausting.

As soon as she saw Lin Zhan, she was reminded of that arduous and mediocre life. In a flash, tears streamed down her face, and she almost couldn't get the words out because she was crying so much. "Did you know that after I left with you, my parents forced my younger sister to take my place in marrying Lu Beichuan in order to save their company? Lu Beichuan is a comatose person. No one knows if he'll ever wake up. I really can't bear to do nothing as my younger sister's happiness is forfeited. I'm sorry. I can't be that selfish!"

Lin Zhan looked at Ye Qing, who was choked up with tears. He pulled her into his arms and tightly hugged her. "Don't say sorry. I'm the one that should apologize. It's my fault for being useless. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have to face this dilemma. It's because of me that you suffered."

The sound of Ye Qing’s crying was muffled. She shook her head. Her voice was choked with emotion as she said, "I'm sorry. I have to go back. I'm the older sister. I can't sacrifice Ye Zhen's happiness for my own. Lin Zhan, forget about me. You'll definitely find someone even better than me in the future."

Lin Zhan wiped the tears on her face. "Calm down. We can think of another solution together. There's definitely another way!"

"Solution? What solution? The Lu Family is a powerful, rich family. Do you think my younger sister will have a way to escape after marrying a comatose person? She's my sister, and she's in a horrible place right now. How can you ask me to enjoy my own happiness with a clear conscience?" Ye Qing shook her head and laughed. "We were too impulsive back then. Lin Zhan, we were too young."

"Qingqing, there has to be another way. Actually, the Lu Family and I ..." Lin Zhan trailed off.

"Lin Zhan, you don't understand the Lu Family at all. There's no other possible solution. I have to go back." Ye Qing sighed. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. Acting as if she had made up her mind, she firmly pushed him away and walked to the doorway. Holding onto the handle of the suitcase, she turned to face Lin Zhan, who was motionless on the sofa, and said to him, "I'm leaving. In the future... Don't come looking for me."

The door slammed shut. The sound resonated throughout the apartment.

In the living room, a small dim lamp was left on all night. The piercing cold wind blew inside and lifted up the living room's curtains. In this historical neighborhood that was far from the city, the sound of traffic couldn't be heard at all. It was so quiet that it felt as if he was the only person left in the world.

The clock on the wall showed time slowly moving. The ticking from the clock was very audible.

Lin Zhan took out a ring from his pocket. Under the dim lighting, the shine of the ring was dazzlingly radiant.

That very night, Ye Qing dragged her luggage with her and went to the airport to take a flight home.

But, interestingly, the more you had your heart set on speeding home, the more likely there would be a delay. Because of weather conditions, the plane couldn't take off. Ye Qing had to wait at the airport. She waited and waited until the plane finally took off at 6 AM the next day.

Three hours later, the plane landed. After making her way out of the airport and hailing a taxi, she finally arrived at the front doors to Ye Family's villa at 10 AM.

Standing in front of the villa's gates, Ye Qing looked at the villa she hadn't stepped a foot in for over a decade. Thinking of how miserable her past life had been because of willfulness, her nose felt sour. She wanted to cry again.

This lifetime, she would definitely live a better life than Ye Zhen!

On the asphalt driveway, Ye Qing heard honking behind her and hastily moved to the side. She saw three cars parked in front of the Ye Family's villa.

The doors of the villa opened. A man that was sitting in a wheelchair was pushed out. Behind him, she saw her parents, who she hadn't seen in over a decade.

Ye Qing's smile froze. The word "incredulous" could have been written on her face.

Lu Beichuan?

Why was he here? Why was he awake? At this time... Shouldn't he still be a comatose person lying in bed and accepting treatment?

Why had he woken up half a month early?

Original translation is from fuyuneko dot org. If you’re reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.

Before Ye Qing had time to recover, she saw Ye Zhen walking out of the villa and handing a suit jacket to Lu Beichuan. She couldn't hear what Lu Beichuan said to Ye Zhen, but Ye Zhen put on the suit jacket for him. And when Ye Zhen saw that his tie's knot was crooked, she neatened up the tie.

No one else had noticed this, but Ye Qing noticed that when Ye Zhen was putting on Lu Beichuan's jacket for him, his entire attention had been focused on Ye Zhen.

And, Lu Beichuan had looked at Ye Zhen with the same gaze she had seen ten years later when they were sitting in the backseat of a Bentley.

How could this be...

Ye Qing incredulously watched as they got into the car and left. At the moment the car moved, she panicked and ducked behind a trash can.

She clearly remembered that Lu Beichuan had woken up half a month from today. Why had he woken up earlier?

What happened to cause this change?

Ye Qing came out from behind the trash can and called out to her parents that were heading back into the villa, "Dad! Mom!"

Following the sound of her voice, Father Ye and Mother Ye turned to look in Ye Qing's direction.

"Qingqing!" Mother Ye's emotions was exceptionally intense. She quickly walked over to Ye Qing. Her hands were trembling as she hugged Ye Qing while crying. "You bad child! Did you know that mom was worrying herself to death because of you?!"

Ye Qing hugged Mother Ye too. "Mom, I'm sorry... I was wrong. I'm sorry."

"Where have you been?! Your mother has been looking for you for so long!"

Since Ye Qing had run away, Mother Ye hadn't slept well. Day and night, she worried about Ye Qing. Was her daughter eating well? Was she sleeping well? Was she being bullied by other people? Right now, seeing her daughter appearing in front of her, she felt like she was dreaming.

The mother and daughter remained hugging and cried together for a while. Father Ye walked over and checked the surrounding. "Enough, talk after we go back inside. Don't act like this on the driveway. It's so embarrassing!"

"Right, let's go home. Qingqing, come home with mom!" Mother Ye wiped the tears from her eyes and tightly gripped Ye Qing's hand as they walked inside.

As soon as Ye Qing walked inside and saw the familiar furnishings and decorations, her eyes immediately reddened.

Mother Ye thought her daughter's reaction was because she had suffered some grievance before coming home. She comfortingly said, "Qingqing, don't cry. You've already come home. It's okay now."

On the side, Father Ye felt resentful towards Ye Qing for failing to live up to his expectations. "You're crying? You still have the face left to cry?! After you did such a humiliating thing like running away from your marriage, you still have the face to come back here and cry?! Back then, when we forbid you from marrying that boy, didn't you say that you would never come back here? What happened? Does that boy no longer want you?"

"Enough! Our daughter has already come back. It won't hurt you to say less."

"You want me to say less? Look at everything that your precious daughter has done. Which one of those things hasn't brought shame to our family?"

Ye Qing lowered her head as she listened. Her eyes were red from crying. When she raised her head, her eyes were dripping with tears as she looked at Father Ye, "Dad, I'm sorry. I know I was wrong. Could you forgive me and let it go?"

In the past, Ye Qing had been their pride and joy. She was stubborn and never admitted defeat, so he had thought she would argue until the end. But halfway through his tirade, she had lowered her head and acknowledged her wrongdoing.

Father Ye didn't feel right to continue after his daughter had apologized. He could only angrily say to Mother Ye, "It's because you spoiled her too much!"

"She's my daughter! What's wrong with me spoiling her?" Mother Ye looked at her daughter in distress. Her daughter had lost a lot of weight in only a month. "Qingqing, mom has thought things through in the past month. Mom won't force you anymore. You can marry whoever you want. Mom won't stop you. It's fine as long as you're happy."

"Mom..."

"Where's that boy? Why didn't he come back with you?"

Next to them, Father Ye sneered. "From how I see it, that man isn't the type that takes responsibility!"

Choked up, Ye Qing said, "We broke up."

Father Ye and Mother Ye stared blankly at her. "Broke up? What happen? Why did that happen?"

Mother Ye remembered her daughter had done all sorts of things - like going on a hunger strike and running off to elope - in order to be with that Lin Zhan. At that time, she had the resolution to burn her bridges to commit an irreversible course. It hadn't even been a month. Why had they broken up?

Ye Qing mustered up a smile. "Mom, let's talk about him later. When I was outside earlier, I saw Ye Zhen. And that man in the wheelchair, who was he?"

As soon as this was brought up, the fire in Mother Ye's heart rose up again. She poked Ye Qing's forehead. "You, ah. If I had known back then that you would break up with that man so quickly, I would have never allowed you to run away! That was the Lu Family's Lu Beichuan, the one that had a car accident a year ago and fell into a coma. He's the one I told you about. Old Master Lu came to our house and wanted you to marry his grandson in hopes that the marriage would bring him good luck. A wise person had told Old Master Lu that if you married Lu Beichuan, he would wake up earlier."

Speaking of this, Mother Ye sighed. "The Lu Family has such a good background. Our family wouldn't even measure up to their family. Even though Lu Beichuan was a comatose person at the time, the doctor had said he would wake up one day. But, you! Because of a poor boy, you tossed aside that chance to be Mrs. Lu!"

"That... Ye Zhen, what's up with her?"

"What do you mean what's with her?" Father Ye sneered. "Your younger sister is much more sensible than you. She was willing to marry a comatose person to help our family. Still, your younger sister is lucky. That Lu Beichuan woke up a month after they got married."

Mother Ye glared at him. "What do you mean she's lucky? That was Qingqing's luck! The current Mrs. Lu's name is Ye Qing, not Ye Zhen! Qingqing, ah, at the time your dad's company was in a difficult situation. There wasn't enough money to cover expenses. And you ran off that boy. We didn't have any other choices. We could only marry off Ye Zhen under your name. Don't... Don't be angry. Fortunately, there was Ye Zhen. Otherwise, our family wouldn't be able to keep living in this villa."

Ye Qing smiled. "Mom, how could I blame younger sister? I understand what happened. But, isn't this matter a bit too unfair to her?"

"What's fair and unfair? For her to get the role of Mrs. Lu, that should be enough for her to wake up in the middle of the night to smile in happiness!"

Ye Qing smiled and appeasingly said to Mother Ye, "Mom, you can't say it like that. After all, this matter is my fault. If I hadn't run off with Lin Zhan back then, she wouldn't have been forced into marrying into the Lu Family. Back then, neither of you asked Ye Zhen if she was willing or not, right?"

After Father Ye and Mother Ye heard these words, they were silent for a moment.

"Ye Zhen and I are identical twins, so of course I understand Ye Zhen. Even though she's uncommunicative, she's actually more sensitive than anyone else. She's definitely harboring a grudge in her heart because you forced her to marry someone."

Mother Ye impatiently said in a displeased tone, "That's not how it is at all! Back then, I desperately struggled to give birth to her. I almost died! The Ye Family has raised her for so many years, why shouldn't she pay our family back a bit? Besides, there are countless people that would love to be Mrs. Lu and can't!"

"Mom, don't be angry. I'm not worried about that. I'm worried that with Ye Zhen's character and her heart harboring resentment, she definitely won't be able to get along with the members of the Lu Family. Once she offends the Lu Family, won't they blame our family and take it out on us?”

Ye Qing's words brought Mother Ye to her senses.

Last night, Ye Zhen had told her that Mrs. Lu didn't like her.

She hesitantly said, "But Lu Beichuan's attitude towards your younger sister doesn't seem cold."

"Mom, that was just in front of you. Of course, he has to pretend a bit. Mom, dad, you can't possibly think our family has really become one family with the Lu Family just because of a marriage, right?"

Father Ye couldn't help becoming nervous.

Last night, using the excuse of being tipsy, he had wanted to discuss something with Lu Beichuan. But, when they were privately talking, Lu Beichuan hadn't given him any face. It seemed that Lu Beichuan was only putting up a token effort of maintaining appearances in front of them.

If things continued this way, how would the Ye Family get any minor benefits from the Lu Family in the future?!

"Then... what should we do?"

Ye Qing heavily sighed and seriously said, "I'll go."

"You'll go?"

"I'll get younger sister to come back and switch places with me. I was the one that made a mistake. I'll bear the consequences by myself!"

***

Inside the fast-moving Bentley, Ye Zhen was curled up in the backseat and drowsily looking at the fleeting scenery outside the window.

Actually, it wasn't that she had never woken up early before. The Lu Family had a rule about waking up early. Back when Lu Beichuan was still comatose, she had already been instructed to wake up at 7AM each day in order to clean Lu Beichuan's body.

Strangely, even though she hadn't needed to wake up early the past few days to wipe Lu Beichuan's body, she felt more tired than usual.

Ye Zhen gave out a huge yawn.

Next to her, Lu Beichuan, who had been looking at a file, took the time to glance at her. "Sleepy?

Ye Zhen shook her head. "I just have a little motion sickness."

Lu Beichuan gave her the soft pillow behind his back. "We won't be getting home soon. Sleep for a while."

Ye Zhen didn't bother with being polite. She accepted the pillow and put it down on the seat. With only her upper body lying down on the back seat, her body curved into an uncomfortable position. Ye Zhen's brow slightly furrowed. It took a long time before her forehead slowly smoothed out.

Taking advantage of Ye Zhen's sleeping state, Lu Beichuan gently moved her legs onto his lap and took off his jacket to cover her with it. He ordered the chauffeur to drive slower, so that Ye Zhen could sleep more comfortably in the narrow car.

Ye Zhen napped very comfortably in the car. When Lu Beichuan woke her up to get out of the car, she was in a bad mood and angrily glared at Lu Beichuan.

***

Perhaps, it was because of those bumpy car rides, Ye Zhen felt very tired the past two days. Her entire body emanated an exhausted aura. She had originally thought that this feeling would pass. But in the following days, her condition remained the same. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she would sleep like the dead. No matter how much sleep she got, she had to be woken up by someone. Otherwise, she would sleep the morning away. After being woken up, she would spend the rest of day listlessly. Her condition was worse than handicapped Lu Beichuan.

***

This morning, Ye Zhen listlessly sat at the dining table.

Mother Lu worriedly looked at Ye Zhen. "Are you sick? Have William give you a check up."

Ye Zhen forced herself to smile. "Mom, thank you for being concerned. I'm fine. I'm just a bit tired lately," as she said this, she yawned.

Lu Beichuan gave her a second look. He thoughtfully said, "Have William give you a check up anyways."

She was suddenly fired up with irritation.

I already said I'm fine. Why are you so bothersome?!

Ye Zhen looked at the breakfast in from her. She didn't have any appetite. With waning interest, she murmured, "En."

Ye Zhen also felt there was something wrong with her. Lately, she was prone to feeling tired, excessive sleepiness, and listlessness. She had gone online to check the causes of these symptoms online. Many of the answers she found online said these were symptoms of pregnancy.

Pregnant? Ye Zhen sneered and close the webpage.

This body was still a virgin. How could she be pregnant? Really, that was more ridiculous than the people that suggested she was terminally ill!

William gave her a full body examination, then he told her that she was only feeling tired and excessively sleepy because her health was poor. She had to work on properly recuperating her health. It wouldn't be suitable for her to have large swing in her moods.

Lu Beichuan agreed to all of this.

Ye Zhen suspiciously looked at Lu Beichuan.

During this period of time, Lu Beichuan had been going out to do rehabilitation exercises. While he was doing these exercises, he wouldn't allow anyone to be by his side to take care of him.

Ye Zhen could understand why he wanted that. After all, Lu Beichuan was proud and arrogant. It was inevitable that his rehabilitation exercises would damage his pride as a man. But, after carefully calculating the days, there would only be five more days until the day when Lu Beichuan had woken up in the novel. The novel's Lu Beichuan woke up and had no residual effects from the car accident. Five days from now, would this Lu Beichuan be able to stand up again?

Furthermore, Ye Qing would be returning soon.

Once that time came, the healthy Lu Beichuan, who had regained function of his legs, would focus all of his attention on Ye Qing. This meant that she would be free. Being able to leave the Lu Family was only a matter of time.

A servant came upstairs to look for Ye Zhen to inform her that she had a call from her parents. There was something important they needed to talk about with Ye Zhen.

How very strange. The Ye Family was calling her? Ye Zhen thought incredulously.

Perhaps, seeing Lu Beichuan's attitude towards her during the previous visit, the Ye Family thought the current her was valuable and they could use her to get benefits from the Lu Family?

After Ye Zhen went downstairs to take the call, William coldly looked at Lu Beichuan and cursed, "You're a bastard!"

"How am I bastard?"