Shi Jingye didn’t answer, only nodded.
His face remained turned toward the hallway outside the ward, watching the corridor the entire time, until Du Sui’an arrived with Little Third.
“Has our daughter still not woken up?” Du Sui’an asked worriedly.
Shi Shengli hid the worry on his face.
“She woke up once, then fell asleep again. Have you two eaten?”
“We already ate before coming. We brought food for you too. You two should eat first.”Then she lowered her voice angrily.“Did our daughter say how she got hurt? Which bastard did this to her?”
Once she found out who it was, she’d gather her entire maiden family and storm their house. If she didn’t make that bastard lose a layer of skin, her name wasn’t Du Sui’an.
Shi Shengli shook his head.
His voice wasn’t quiet at all—as if he deliberately wanted someone else to hear him.
“No. The doctor said not to ask. Our daughter was probably frightened badly. She can’t remember anything from that time. The moment she tries to think about it, her head hurts terribly.”
Du Sui’an noticed the meaningful look her husband gave her and instantly followed along.
“If she can’t remember, then she can’t remember. Like remembering would be such a wonderful thing anyway?”
“If she doesn’t remember, then she won’t be scared anymore. Listen carefully—all of you. Nobody is allowed to ask Meiqing about today ever again.”
“Okay, Mom. We understand.”
“Alright, you father and sons hurry up and eat. Did our daughter eat anything?”
She touched the lunchbox on the small table.
It had already gone cold.
“No. She woke up and we asked her some questions, then her headache got so bad she fainted again. Doctor Chen said she’ll be fine as long as nobody asks her about today anymore.”
“Then you two drink this porridge yourselves. I made some millet porridge too—it’s still hot. Let our daughter drink that when she wakes up.”
“Alright. We’ll just add some hot water to warm this up.”
“I rushed over here today, but tonight you take the boys home and soak the dates and rice we brought back from Mom’s place last time. Get up early tomorrow and cook porridge for our daughter. Red dates help replenish blood.”
“She lost so much blood… who knows how long it’ll take to recover?”
“Oh right, shouldn’t someone go to her school and ask for leave?”
“Have the eldest go tomorrow. Looking at her condition, she’ll need several days of rest. Seriously, what kind of bastard would beat such a good child into this state?”
“Exactly. That damned troublemaker without descendants—may he trip and crack his skull tomorrow, may he choke to death drinking water. Filthy scum.”
“Alright, alright, enough cursing. Don’t let our daughter hear that kind of talk. Tonight let the boys go home. I’ll stay here and watch over our daughter with you. I won’t feel at ease leaving you here alone.”
Although Shi Shengli sounded like he was gently scolding his wife, his eyes were smiling.
Good.
Let those bastards listening outside hear every word.
His wife was actually holding back.
He absolutely didn’t believe those two officers had simply left at ease.
Someone was definitely watching them from the shadows.
He himself was terrified too.
But he was the pillar of this family. He couldn’t show any weakness.
Fortunately, his wife understood him perfectly.
Just one look between them was enough for them to coordinate.
Still, he worried endlessly.
What exactly had happened?
What had his daughter accidentally seen that made those people refuse to let things go?
This time, thankfully, she’d escaped danger.
But what about the future?
He didn’t believe the person who hurt his daughter would simply stop here.
He glanced toward his still-unconscious daughter.
That tiny face, barely the size of a palm, was completely devoid of color.
It seemed highly likely his daughter’s mind had truly recovered.
Otherwise, with how straightforward and honest she normally was, today’s outcome could have been unimaginable.
That cleverness just now…
It was exactly like when she was little.
Looks like he really needed to find a way to contact his older brother.
As for himself, all he could do was worry.
He had absolutely no way to solve this kind of problem.
Concussions truly felt awful.
Shi Meiqing had deliberately shaken her head hard earlier to worsen her symptoms and convince those two officers.
She genuinely hadn’t expected to faint for real.
Of course, it wasn’t serious enough to keep her unconscious the entire time.
The moment she fainted, she had shifted her consciousness into her spatial pocket dimension.
From the outside, it simply looked like she was asleep.
As long as she didn’t want to wake up, even needles wouldn’t make her feel pain.
She’d possessed the space for over half a year now.
During that time, she had studied every inch of it thoroughly, inside and out.
The only thing she still couldn’t figure out was how to expand it further.
If not for the endless fog surrounding the outermost edges, she might’ve thought the space was simply this size permanently.
Another reason she stayed inside was to sort through the memories in her mind.
She possessed all the original owner’s memories, but they weren’t organized coherently.
Surely she couldn’t pause every time she saw someone just to dig through memories to identify them?
Arriving in this world so suddenly—and instantly becoming another person—
Even if she shared the same appearance, the sudden addition of family members made her nervous.
As for perfectly imitating the original owner’s personality?
She had absolutely no confidence in that.
Just like no two leaves in the world were completely identical, two people from different eras couldn’t possibly be the same.
Different living environments. Different family members. Different friends.
Nothing matched.
Trying to completely impersonate another person was impossible unless that person were an orphan living in total isolation.
As long as people existed around you, someone would eventually notice inconsistencies.
As for her earlier idea of going to the countryside in a few years—
That was only a last resort.
She absolutely did not want to go.
Novels always portrayed protagonists thriving effortlessly in the countryside.
Reality was cruel.
During this era, sent-down educated youths—especially girls—did not live good lives.
And farming?
She truly couldn’t handle it at all.
That was why she felt so conflicted and troubled.
Right now, all she wanted was temporary escape.
She let out a long breath.
Forget it.
She might as well completely give up pretending perfectly.
There was no way she could live without revealing flaws eventually.
If people discovered something strange, she simply wouldn’t admit anything.
As for how this family might treat her afterward—
She would calmly accept it.
Yes, she envied the warmth of other people’s families.
But if she couldn’t have it herself, she wouldn’t feel regret either.
She wasn’t some child desperately starving for love.
After deciding to let everything take its natural course, she finally felt much lighter.
Only then did she have time to inspect the space that had come with her.
She still hadn’t checked whether changing worlds had caused any changes inside it.
Over the past half-year, thanks to the tireless efforts of her and Little Curly Hair, a twenty-five-story building now stood inside the space.
Of course, the entire building had been constructed pressed directly against the boundary wall of the space.
If not for the complete lack of emptiness or gravity issues here, it was hard to say whether a foundationless twenty-five-story tower stacked like that would collapse.
Aside from the first and second floors, nearly every inch of the remaining twenty-five levels was packed full.
The first floor had been divided into two sections.
One side functioned as a living room.
Not that visitors could ever come here.
Still, it had been decorated warmly and comfortably.
Just as Little Curly Hair had once said:
Even if you end up living in another world, you still need one quiet, safe place that belongs entirely to yourself.