When she opened her eyes again, her head felt dizzy and fuzzy. From nearby came a little, milky voice: “Mommy, what’s wrong? Don’t scare Kankan.”
Driven by maternal instinct, Tong Yuexin didn’t even look at the child in front of her before pulling her son straight into her arms.
Before she woke up, the words of Lu Zhiying and Gu Xiaojuan were still vivid in her mind, so the moment she heard Lu Mingkai’s voice, her immediate reflex was the fear that her child was about to be harmed.
“Mommy…”
Lu Mingkai called out to her in his baby voice. Though he was uncomfortable, he didn’t try to push her away; instead, he aggrievedly muttered, “Kankan… can’t breathe…”
“Huh?”
That brought Tong Yuexin back to her senses. Seeing her son’s flushed face, she quickly loosened her grip. Just as she was about to soothe him, a sudden sense of wrongness washed over her, and she carefully looked the child over.
Lu Mingkai’s face… Why had it gotten so small? And her son’s height had shrunk, too!
Earlier, her head had been so full of relief that he was okay that she hadn’t noticed anything else. But looking closely now, she saw he had a tiny face and tiny hands, and his dark, round eyes were gazing up at her. He looked to be at most… two or three years old.
What was going on?
Puzzled, Tong Yuexin turned Lu Mingkai this way and that, and only after making sure beyond a doubt that this really was her son did she ask in utter bewilderment, “Kankan?”
Not understanding why his mother was acting so strangely, Lu Mingkai still obediently nodded and answered in a cute, muffled voice, “Mmm, Mommy, Kankan is right here. You just fell down the stairs, and then no matter what Kankan said to you, you wouldn’t answer.”
Tong Yuexin’s heart remained filled with shock. Feeling as though she must be dreaming, she pinched herself.
She used quite a bit of force, and the back of her hand immediately turned red. Ouch! So painful! This wasn’t a dream?
When Lu Mingkai saw her do that, his round eyes widened in disbelief. It took him a moment to process it, and then he cupped Tong Yuexin’s hand, blowing softly on the spot while comforting her, “Mommy, blow on it! Blowing makes it stop hurting!”
Looking at her sensible, healthy, and adorable son, tears welled up in Tong Yuexin’s eyes.
If this wasn’t a dream, did that mean everything that happened before was just a bad dream? Lu Zhiying, Gu Xiaojuan, the loss of her precious son—were all those things just a nightmare?
Lu Mingkai had been staring fixedly at her face, and seeing that his mother was about to cry, he panicked and hurried to comfort her in his babyish voice, “Mommy, don’t be scared. Kankan will take you to find Grandpa and Grandma!”
He moved a bit too clumsily and bumped into the small wooden table beside them. A porcelain cup on top was knocked over, hitting the floor with a crisp crash.
Tong Yuexin snapped out of her daze.
Lu Mingkai’s current height was just right—level with that little wooden table. She remembered that table well; at this time, he should have just celebrated his second birthday.
When she had realized he was the exact height of the table back then, Zhou Qianshan had laughed heartily and mentioned it to her several times.
Her mother had even said that when Lu Mingkai grew up, he would definitely be taller than Tong Zhitian.
What had Lu Mingkai said back then? Right, he said that when he grew up, he would protect his mother.
Thinking of all this, Tong Yuexin couldn’t hold back her tears any longer, and they spilled over. She raised her hands to wipe them away, and seeing a frightened Lu Mingkai scurrying toward the door, she wanted to stop him. But her throat refused to produce any sound, choked with sorrow.
Tong Yuexin still couldn’t understand what on earth was happening. Either she was dreaming, or… After her death, she had actually traveled back eighteen years in time!
Terrified by her own thought, Tong Yuexin pressed her lips together in disbelief. Yet the red mark on the back of her hand had not faded, and the sting was intensely real.
She didn’t even need to look in the vanity mirror to know she must be very young right now. She could tell just by looking at her smooth, unblemished hands, untouched by hardship.
And yet, thinking of that only made her want to cry even more.
“Xinxin, what’s wrong?!”
Zhou Qianshan’s voice echoed from the doorway. She had walked over in such a rush that she didn’t even notice Lu Mingkai trailing behind her. Hurrying to the side of the bed, she grabbed Tong Yuexin’s hands and asked anxiously, “Does something hurt? Where does it pain you? Tell Mom.”
Seeing Zhou Qianshan, whom she hadn’t laid eyes on in over a decade, Tong Yuexin couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. She threw herself into her mother’s arms and wept bitterly.
Nervous and worried, Lu Mingkai rushed over to hug Tong Yuexin as well, trying his best to comfort her with his tiny hands. “Mommy, don’t cry. Are you still hurting somewhere? Kankan will blow on it for you.”
Once Tong Yuexin’s emotions finally calmed down, Tong Zhitian let out a sigh of relief. Seeing that the mother and daughter were still wiping their tears and unable to speak, he shook his head with concern. “Xinxin, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
Tong Yuexin shook her head.
“How on earth did you suddenly tumble down the stairs?” Zhou Qianshan asked, wiping her own tears away as she cast a reproachful look at her daughter, though her tone held nothing but heartbreak. “You scared us half to death.”
Fell down the stairs?
Hearing that keyword echo in her mind, Tong Yuexin suddenly remembered. This incident had indeed happened! When she was twenty-two, she had indeed taken a nasty tumble down the staircase once.
Not only that, but Tong Yuexin also remembered that two years later, her mother would pass away from stomach cancer. And her father, heartbroken and consumed by grief, had followed shortly after.
No! Whatever the reason was, since she had been given a second chance, she absolutely could not let those tragedies repeat themselves. She had to change the course of things!
She grabbed Zhou Qianshan’s hands, her expression turning resolute and her voice urgent. “Mom, let’s go to the hospital!”
Hearing that, Zhou Qianshan panicked completely, assuming Tong Yuexin must be hiding some hidden injury. She nodded frantically and agreed, “Okay, okay, okay, let’s go to the hospital. Old Tong, stay here and watch the house with Kankan!”
Knowing the gravity of the situation, Tong Zhitian didn’t try to stop them, urging the two of them to hurry instead. Lu Mingkai was exceptionally obedient, holding his grandfather’s hand and promising to be a good boy so Mommy wouldn’t worry.
In the car, Zhou Qianshan kept fretting, telling Tong Yuexin not to be scared and that her body would surely be fine.
Knowing from experience that her fall down the stairs hadn’t caused any real physical damage, Tong Yuexin wasn’t worried about herself at all. Her mind was entirely fixed on Zhou Qianshan, and she mumbled vague reassurances while vowing silently that nothing must ever happen to her mother.
Zhou Qianshan was so anxious along the drive that she was practically ready to step on the gas and run red lights. As soon as they reached the hospital, she hurriedly pulled Tong Yuexin straight to the emergency department.
Seeing how panicked the two of them were, the ER doctor assumed it was a major emergency. Upon hearing that Tong Yuexin had tumbled down a flight of stairs, the doctor looked her up and down for a good while without finding any obvious external injuries.
Puzzled as he was, the doctor remained thoroughly professional and examined Tong Yuexin thoroughly. Once he confirmed that her physical condition seemed sound, he took one look at the worried Zhou Qianshan and understood.
“This young comrade’s body is fine, but you’ll need to be more careful from now on. Look at how scared you’ve made your mother! If you’re really still worried, we can order a CT scan to check for any potential head trauma.”
Tong Yuexin had been about to say it wasn’t necessary, but Zhou Qianshan jumped in right away, nodding repeatedly. “Yes, let’s scan. We have to check. Xinxin, make sure you don’t leave behind any lingering problems.”
Tong Yuexin couldn’t help but laugh through her tears.
Since a CT scan would take a while to process, Tong Yuexin took the opportunity to talk to Zhou Qianshan. “Mom, why don’t you get a checkup too?”