Chapter 170

The terrace was still a little chilly in the early morning, and even the temperature of the sunlight was not as high as on a normal summer day.

Lu Qian heated two cups of coffee and brought them all the way to the terrace on the third floor of the hospital.

"Here," Lu Qian walked to the sofa and handed one of the cups to Jiang Luan, "three parts milk, no sugar."

"Thanks."

Jiang Luan took it noddingly, and the warm coffee soothed his stiff fingertips.

Lu Qian sat down next to Jiang Luan and took a sip of her coffee. "Do I look a lot like her?"

Lu Qian often caught Jiang Luan's eyes staring at her in a trance, but she could also feel that Jiang Luan was not looking at her, but looking through her to see something buried in his heart.

Jiang Luan barely thought about it and shook his head decisively, "It's not like that at all..."

"She doesn't like reading at all. She's a bit slow-witted and not very careful. She just wants to go out and play all day. She speaks fast and bluntly, and is very vulgar. She's also tall and strong, and she could easily pick me up."

Lu Qian listened to Jiang Luan's description. It was obviously not a good description, but she always felt that his tone was filled with joy.

"What's her name?"

Jiang Luan shook his head again, "She doesn't have a name."

Lu Qian was a little shocked. No name?

Jiang Luan was still in that signature curled-up posture, rubbing the rim of the cup with his hands gloomily.

"She was the child of a prostitute, bought cheaply from the slums by the Hoffman family to be used as a blood man and drug research subject.

So she has no name, only a number, neuun (German for nine).”

Lu Qian's eyelashes trembled slightly. That short sentence made her heart ache uncontrollably.

“I was twelve years old when I first met her.

That year, my father, whom I had never met, died of complications from radioactive research, so Hoffmann's people brought me from the mainland to Germany.

I was just an accidental product of a family marriage, and I had no room to resist, so I had no choice but to leave my homeland and the mainland alone."

"Hoffmann's people didn't welcome me because I was lonely, timid, eccentric, didn't speak German, and yet I was a medical genius.

They were either jealous of me or disgusted with me. Except for my uncle who was impressed by my medical talent, no one was willing to say a word to me.

Jiang Luan said this and looked down at the coffee with three parts milk in his hand.

“You know, I’m a picky eater and I only like a few things. I can’t get used to German food at all.

And because everyone at Hoffman hated me and wished I were dead, no one cared whether I ate or not.

During the first month I arrived here, I hardly ate anything and lived on the nutrient solution from the laboratory every day.

I was so hungry that I fainted on the road. Before I passed out, I thought, it’s okay to just die.”

“Maybe it’s because I was lucky that I didn’t die.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself lying in a shabby but tidy little house.

The unfamiliar environment made me very scared and I just wanted to run away quickly.

But I was hungry and tired, so I just turned over in bed and fell to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, a girl rushed in hurriedly from outside. She was taller and stronger than me, and looked like a genuine German.

Her golden hair was tied into a thick braid that hung beside her neck, and her fair face was dotted with small red freckles.

"You just woke up, don't move yet." She gestured and shouted at me, looking like a very lively girl.

Her voice was just like her, loud and hoarse.

I didn't understand German very well at that time, especially since she spoke so fast.

Seeing that I didn't move, she wanted to pull me up, but I was very scared and avoided her support in panic.

But she was stronger than me, and I couldn’t dodge or break free.”

"After she helped me onto the bed, she stormed out again.

After a while, she brought in a bowl. Maybe she thought I didn't understand, so she made a gesture to me as if she was putting food into her mouth, and then handed the bowl to me.

I reluctantly took a look inside the bowl. It was a bowl of noodles that was ridiculously plain, without any embellishments, and even the soup had no color.

It may not look very appetizing, but at first glance there is nothing I don't like.

So I took the bowl and unskillfully picked up the fork and put it into my mouth.

"I held the hot bowl in my hands, tears almost streaming down my face. It was the first hot meal I had since arriving in Germany.

Perhaps out of gratitude, I said to her in my not-so-fluent German: 'I know some German, but you have to speak slowly.'

When she heard what I said, she smiled brightly, slowed down her speech, and told me word by word.

'I am fourteen years old and a servant in the Hoffmann family.'

"I heard from other servants that there was a boy from the East who was very picky about food, didn't talk to anyone, was thin, and had black hair like weeds. I immediately guessed it was you."

After being hungry for a month, my body was really craving for food. Perhaps because she saw me eating with such relish, she smiled even more happily as she watched me eat the noodles.

"The only Chinese food I know is noodles. I didn't know what you didn't eat, so I didn't add any spices or side dishes. Fortunately, you like it."

I am very grateful to her. She is one of the few people who cares about my taste since I was twelve years old. "

Having said that, Jiang Luan paused and glanced at Lu Qian.

"Do you remember the bowl of wontons you handed me at the Tavia Mansion?"

Lu Qian was stunned. If Jiang Luan hadn't mentioned it, she would have actually forgotten about it. She thought it was just something she did casually.

Jiang Luan lowered his head again, "That was the first time I saw her shadow in you."

"I asked her what her name was, and she evasively told me her name was Neun.

I thought the name was a bit strange, but I accepted it very quickly without any doubts.”

“From then on, she became my only friend in the Hoffman family.

But I thought she was clumsy and playful, and I didn't like having her come to my lab.

Every time this happened, she would get angry with me, scold me in a mixture of German and Chinese, grab my shoulders and waist, and not let me go back to the lab.

I'm skinny to begin with and two years younger than her, so I couldn't break free or resist at all. It was driving me crazy."

“Later I made an agreement with her that whenever she finished reading a book I gave her, I would let her spend an hour in the lab.

I wanted to put her off because I knew there was no way she could study.”

"She took the thick stack of books I handed her, blinked her blue eyes at me, and asked me seriously: 'Can you stay with me while I read?'

That day, she was standing at the door of the laboratory, with the setting sun shining in from behind her. I saw the red freckles on her face and the colorful clouds blending into the same color.

Something appeared on that not-so-pretty face that made my heart tremble.

So I looked at her and nodded.”