Zhou Qianshan smiled wryly and looked at her. “I don’t feel uncomfortable anywhere, what is there to check? Your matters are more important. Be a good girl and stay put. The doctor just said you might get dizzy—do you feel unwell right now?”
Seeing how worried Zhou Qianshan was about her, Tong Yuexin felt a sting in the back of her eyes. Still, she stuck to her guns. “I’m fine. Didn’t you say your stomach was bothering you earlier? You’ve been so busy lately and haven’t had the time to visit the hospital. Since you’re already here today, why don’t you get a checkup? Once we’re sure you’re okay, Dad and I can finally relax.”
Tou Qianshan’s expression softened considerably at her daughter’s concern. Even so, she playfully flicked the tip of Tong Yuexin’s nose and chided her with a smile, “Look at you, worrying about me.”
Tong Yuexin acted spoiled, whining, “Mom—just go.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll go, happy now?” Zhou Qianshan finally gave in.
Medical checkups didn’t cost a fortune anyway, and since her daughter was so worried, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to just get checked out and put her mind at ease.
The examination process wasn’t actually all that troublesome. Tong Yuexin stayed by her side the entire time, virtually completing every single screening available. It even prompted the surrounding doctors to praise Zhou Qianshan for raising such a thoughtful daughter who cared so deeply about her health.
What mother doesn’t love hearing others praise her daughter?
Zhou Qianshan’s face practically bloomed with a wide, proud smile as she gushed to the medical staff about Tong Yuexin from head to toe. It wasn’t until it was almost time to pick up the CT scan results that she hurriedly dragged Tong Yuexin back to grab them, otherwise, she probably could’ve stood there chatting with the hospital staff all afternoon.
Fortunately, Tong Yuexin’s test results came back clean, with the doctor advising a few days of quiet rest at home.
Zhou Qianshan finally let out a sigh of relief. She pulled Tong Yuexin’s hand and nagged, “You need to be more careful from now on, you hear me? Grown as you are, managing to fall down the stairs—you nearly scared your father and me to death. You have no idea how hard Kaikai was crying at the time.”
“Kaikai?” Tong Yuexin subconsciously echoed the name.
“Yeah,” Zhou Qianshan said, completely oblivious to her strange reaction. “Usually, Kaikai tries to act like a tough little man, but in a situation like that, he couldn’t help crying. He was so scared something had happened to you.”
With her mind preoccupied with other thoughts, Tong Yuexin smiled and agreed, “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll be careful from now on. Let’s head home, or Dad’s going to start worrying.”
She remembered now. At this point in time, Kaikai still didn’t know who his biological father was, so the family had always just called him “Kaikai.” It wasn’t until Lu Zhiying showed up later that Lu Mingkai received a formal name.
The thought of that scumbag made Tong Yuexin’s gaze sink a few degrees.
If her mother’s stomach truly had issues just like in her memories, it meant that everything she had experienced wasn’t just a dream—it was real. She really had died, only to be reborn back to this exact moment in time.
Just thinking about the heinous things Lu Zhiying and Gu Xiaojuan had done made a surge of hatred boil up in her chest.
However… she had more important things to do right now.
If the memories of her past life were true, didn’t that mean she could use that foreknowledge to save her parents’ lives? And with her memories intact, she wouldn’t be fooled by Lu Zhiying into marrying him. With her parents still alive and well, the tragedy of her past life would never come to pass.
Even though she still couldn’t completely shake her hatred for Lu Zhiying, Tong Yuexin knew that living well in the present was what mattered most. If she could genuinely protect her parents and use her knowledge of the future—even if her own business acumen wasn’t top-tier—relying on her parents’ talent for business to build a comfortable life shouldn’t be too difficult.
“Alright, take a rest. I’ll wake you up when we get home,” Zhou Qianshan said.
Though Tong Yuexin didn’t feel particularly sleepy, she closed her eyes anyway to rest her mind.
She recalled that before her parents passed away in her previous life, they had already managed to save five hundred thousand yuan. Back in those days, five hundred thousand was an astronomical sum. She had originally thought that money would be enough for her and Lu Mingkai to live on and secure a decent life, but never in her wildest dreams would she have expected…
That money would all end up in Lu Zhiying’s hands, used to buy a house, support Gu Xiaojuan and their child, and fund their lifestyle!
The only reason she had been deceived back then was because Lu Zhiying actually did go into business, and he did take losses—it was just that the amounts weren’t nearly as catastrophic as he claimed. The loss ledger he showed her had been completely fabricated.
He lost a fraction of the five hundred thousand, used another chunk to buy a house, spent a portion on Gu Xiaojuan and their kid, and squandered the rest on his own extravagant living expenses, living the high life.
Thinking of this, Tong Yuexin unconsciously clenched her fists. Her fingernails dug almost painfully into the palms of her hands. Just the thought of it made her blood boil beyond control.
The apartment Lu Zhiying had bought was located in the First Ring Road of the capital. While the residential complex wasn’t brand new, its prime location made it invaluable—eighteen years down the line, a single square meter would fetch six thousand. When Lu Zhiying originally bought it, the entire place probably cost a mere ten-odd thousand.
Just thinking about it made her feel that she would rather burn the money to ashes than ever give a single cent to Lu Zhiying. It was just too infuriating, such a massive waste!
As soon as the two of them walked through the front door, Tong Zhitian rushed over anxiously. “How did it go? What did the doctor say? Is our girl alright? Did the doctor prescribe any medicine, or say how she needs to recover? Should we brew some chicken soup to help her build her strength back up?”
While Tong Zhitian rambled on with his endless fretting, Zhou Qianshan merely waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, stop it. Our girl had her checkup, and she’s completely fine. But let me tell you, Lao Tong, I mentioned having a mild stomachache a while ago, and you know what? Xinxin actually remembered it. This time at the hospital, she insisted that I go get checked out to see what was wrong with me.”
Zhou Qianshan’s face was practically radiating pride and bragging rights. “See? Xinxin is still the one who cares about me the most, isn’t she?”
Watching Tong Zhitian and Zhou Qianshan playfully bicker over which of them their daughter loved more, Tong Yuexin couldn’t help but smile, half-amused. No sooner had she sat down in a chair than Lu Mingkai came running over, wrapped his small arms tightly around her leg, and tilted his head up to look at her.
“What’s wrong?” Tong Yuexin gently ruffled her son’s hair, her tone softening instinctively as she asked with a warm smile, “Are you hungry?”
Instead of answering, Lu Mingkai shook his head. Still hugging her leg, he looked up with absolute earnestness and lectured, “Mom, you have to be very careful walking down the stairs from now on, okay? Don’t fall again! And be careful when you walk around, so you don’t get hurt.”
As if that wasn’t enough, the little boy furrowed his brow in deep thought before adding, “Otherwise, Kaikai will hold your hand when we walk from now on. That way you won’t fall down, right?”
A warm, glowing feeling bloomed in Tong Yuexin’s chest. Looking down at him, she felt as though she were gazing at the child who had once vowed to protect her. She nodded. “Okay. From now on, Mom will hold your hand.”
She would never let go again, and she would never give anyone else the chance to hurt Kaikai.
She then looked up at her parents. “Mom, Dad, even if your restaurant is doing well, you can’t get so busy with business that you forget to eat. You have to eat your meals on time at noon, no overworking yourselves!”
Zhou Qianshan pressed her lips into a smile. “Alright, alright. How did you end up lecturing us instead?”
“I’m being completely serious!” Tong Yuexin put on a stern, solemn face to admonish Zhou Qianshan. “Especially you, Mom! You are not allowed to skip meals! I’m going to come by and do spot checks from time to time!”
Zhou Qianshan ran a restaurant, and a few of their signature dishes relied on secret family recipes that couldn’t be leaked to outsiders. Even though they had hired chefs, she still couldn’t afford to be completely hands-off. Especially during peak dining hours when things got hectic, finding a spare moment to rest was virtually impossible.
Looking back, Tong Yuexin now suspected that this exact lifestyle was why Zhou Qianshan had neglected her health and ultimately developed stomach cancer.
Tong Zhitian and Zhou Qianshan couldn’t help laughing. Even though they were being scolded by their daughter, their hearts felt warm and fuzzy. Zhou Qianshan pulled Tong Yuexin into a hug and murmured warmly, “Alright, alright, my little padded cotton jacket. Mom will listen to you.”
Early the next morning, estimating that the hospital had just opened its doors, Tong Yuexin dashed back to pick up Zhou Qianshan’s medical report.
Standing outside the doctor’s office door, she felt a knot of pure anxiety in her stomach. Knowing what the outcome had been in her past life, she was terrified of laying eyes on a result she didn’t want to see.
After taking a long moment to mentally brace herself, Tong Yuexin finally knocked on the door and stepped inside.
“Ah, it’s you.” The doctor clearly remembered the young girl and smiled, flipping through the paperwork. “Why are you looking so terrified, young comrade? Relax, your mother doesn’t have any major issues. Let’s see… the report is right here, take a look.”
Hearing that there was nothing major wrong, Tong Yuexin felt a massive weight lift from her chest, though she quickly followed up with an anxious question, “It’s not… it’s not cancer, right?”
“Of course not,” the doctor denied with a chuckle. “You young people nowadays read too much random stuff online and scare yourselves to death. Stop watching nonsense like that and just listen to the doctor. Your mother’s digestive tract isn’t in the best shape, true, but it’s just a mild case of gastritis. As long as she pays attention to her diet and takes some stomach medicine, there’s nothing to worry about. You can rest easy.”
Tong Yuexin’s heart finally settled completely back into its place. “Thank you, Doctor.”