Chapter 44 Seven Days as a Vegetable
My eyelids are so itchy.
My nose is so itchy.
My chest is so itchy.
My mouth is also very itchy.
What was that gently touching, so cautiously, so secretly?
Consciousness is trapped in a rigid body, and no matter how much it struggles, it's useless.
I don't know how many days or how many hours have passed, but in the empty, floating darkness, a ticklish sensation reaches out and gently touches my cheek.
then.
"Did you come to see me?"
The female voice was ethereal, both familiar and strange.
My cheeks feel tight, and when I lift them, it doesn't hurt at all.
"I think you're looking for Misiko." His tone was dismissive, with a hint of disappointment? Disappointment, perhaps.
Will Qi Shuihan be disappointed in her?
Their breaths suddenly drew close, their voices mysterious. "They've found me."
What were they found? Who are they?
Someone burst through the door, followed by a flurry of footsteps and a cacophony of voices.
The familiar scent suddenly vanished.
With a thud, she felt herself being violently shaken from side to side. Someone had bumped into her.
"Don't move! Kneel down! Kneel down!" the man shouted intimidatingly.
A muffled female groan could be faintly heard from below.
Qi Shuihan: "Handsome guy, don't be nervous."
The sound trails off. It must mean someone saw someone.
"You're already this afraid of me even though I'm not fully recovered yet? Misiko~"
His tone was playful and seductive.
The image of Qi Shuihan flicking his long hair and smiling with his fox-like eyes popped into my mind.
Li Nai: Hey, Ms. Qi, don't you realize you're provoking us?
Silence reigned all around.
Missicon remained silent. The sound of a gun being cocked was exceptionally clear.
Li Nai: Look, look! This is what happens when you court death.
"Dr. Merck would be very sad if he knew that the perfect experimental subject had died."
A few more seconds of silence followed.
Missy: "Don't get the person in bed dirty."
"Yes." The gun clicked. "You two, drag her somewhere else."
The young man had a roguish air about him; the name sounded familiar.
Unfamiliar heavy footsteps approached, followed by a lifting and pulling motion.
"You can't kill me."
Qi Shuihan made a final struggle.
The dragging continued.
"If I die, Li Nai will keep me company on the road to the underworld. If you don't believe me, just try it."
Li Nai: Bah, bah, bah.
The footsteps suddenly stopped.
Qi Shuihan smiled and said, "I told you, I am Li Nai's only destined one. We are already bound together. If I die, she dies; if I live, she lives."
Li Nai: Fate? Excuse me, according to you, there are four of us.
The atmosphere fell silent.
Perhaps Missy can discern her words.
As people went outside, the air suddenly became fresh.
Missyco: "Why you?"
"Why can't it be me?"
Li Nai: Sigh, you're so fearless.
After a few seconds of silence.
Someone chuckled softly, murmuring the word "destiny."
"No matter who she's bound to, I just need her ability to complete the plan."
"Tsk~ You make it sound so righteous to use her. I really feel sorry for Li Nai. She risked everything to escape from G's management for your sake."
Li Nai: Misico's plan...revenge? I don't mind, please use me as you please.
In the silence, the phone rang three times, indicating a message notification.
The brief, hushed conversation ended.
The door opened, and a grown man stepped in, heading straight for her.
The newcomers were likely Misik's men. They grabbed Qi Shuihan and headed back the way they came.
"Could you tell me what the plan is? Maybe I can help."
No one answered. Qi Shuihan's voice faded into the distance and soon disappeared.
Bang! The door slammed shut again.
A few seconds later, the phone beeped twice and the call connected.
Missy spoke fluently in a foreign language that was incomprehensible to him, yet he conversed smoothly with the person on the other end of the phone.
As she listened, the darkness before her eyes began to slowly swirl around a single point. Just as she was about to sink into it, the call ended.
"Have we been discovered?" Liang asked.
Her eyes lit up instantly; she had already discerned the young man's identity.
"No. The informant Ji Fenglan infiltrated has convinced Lin Zhijun to transfer the special drug into the new security system's 'box.' It's now in the debugging phase."
"Can we trust that insider? After all, he used to be a trusted confidant of R's management. People who betray their former employers are not to be trusted."
"I trust G's management team, Ji Fenglan."
"Just because she was your mother's proudest student? Don't forget what Merck said. She was the first to join the enemy camp—"
The sound stopped abruptly.
The atmosphere around her was inexplicably tense and filled with a certain awkwardness, making even her mind go blank.
Click! The lighter ignites.
"Don't smoke here," Missy stopped him.
Liang Ge: "I'm going out for a bit."
The footsteps faded into the distance, the door opened and closed again.
Now only she and Missyco are left. It should be just the two of them.
Tap, tap, tap.
A fragrance unique to mature women slowly approaches.
I couldn't help but pretend to swallow. My chest also felt a little tight.
The surrounding air offered no resistance, instantly succumbing to the perfume.
In a flash, she felt as if she were in a garden filled with deep red roses. Petals drifted and swirled into the boundless darkness, scattering and falling more and more freely.
What lies hidden in the gaps between the petals?
She strained to open her blurry eyes, trying to see who it was. The petals froze, turned gray, and vanished into dust. With them, all perception disappeared.
Upon regaining consciousness, the remaining days of the vegetative state punishment jump out in front of me: 3.
There are people around.
A warm, damp towel was used to wipe the skin.
The cold fingers that peeked out from under the towel occasionally brushed against my brain, sending shivers down my spine as if I were being electrocuted or pricked with needles.
The warmth lingers on the wrist.
A pair of eyes were fixed intently on her middle finger.
Li Nai: Hey, you unknown person, what do you want? (Slightly suspicious)
The celebrity picked up her middle finger and forcefully spun a hard ring. Seemingly unsuccessful, he slowly ground it while spinning it rapidly, until she thought she was about to spark. Finally, the ring slipped off her finger. Then, he flicked his hand away, leaving her alone.
Li Nai: Who was it that stole the ring and left after only half of the cleaning?
That's right. A ring.
A mind more chaotic than the creation of the world by Pangu flashed through his mind as he slipped a ring onto his middle finger.
A ring without gemstones, an ordinary ring.
What thief would be so observant? Even Misiko's men are incompetent, letting in an outsider so easily. What if they have ill intentions towards her? Without her as a crucial asset, can the plan still succeed?
Lost in thought, Misico's voice appeared.
What are you doing here?
"Sister—Misiko."
Oh, Lin Jingru. No surprise. She's the only one in the world who wouldn't give up on that ugly ring.
Lin Jingru: "I came to take care of someone."
Li Nai, the person involved: I don't believe it.
Misik: "You're leaving after taking care of everything halfway?"
A strong rose fragrance wafted over, and my wrist felt light. I heard the sound of a towel being rinsed, a gentle splash of water, and the warm towel was once again covering my skin. I lifted her hand, and with gentle movements, wiped each fingertip gently.
"ring."
"What ring?" Lin Jingru retorted coldly.
Missy remained silent, focusing intently on wiping.
A moment of silence.
"That's mine."
"Oh? I've never seen you wear it."
"I've never seen her wear it!"
Lina: Strictly speaking, the ring should have been yours, Missyco.
“Our mother…” Missy’s tone was sarcastic. “Didn’t she teach you any shame? Taking other people’s things for granted.”
When told in public that she was ill-mannered, Lin Jingru was so angry that she stammered, and she couldn't even pronounce the words "our mother" correctly.
Let's wait a bit.
“Our mother taught me very well, more so than that woman.” Lin Jingru spoke the first half of the sentence with unusual gentleness, unlike the coldness in the second half.
Li Nai: Wait! You two have the same mother? That's not right. The system information clearly states that you have the same father but different mothers.
"She's a good mother. I wish she were my mother, not a temporary foster mother."
As soon as she finished speaking, something was placed in her palm. Then, the person left silently.
The motion of wiping the wrist alternated between slow and fast, ending with a very forceful motion, as if harboring resentment towards something.
Despite being in a vegetative state, she felt as if her skin was on fire.
Li Nai: You've already wiped this spot ten times. Can you wipe it somewhere else?
The other person seemed to hear her thoughts. They removed the cold towel, lifted her middle finger, and carefully slipped a cold, hard ring onto her finger.
The ring is back on my finger.
She thought Missy would leave like her half-sister. But to her surprise, Missy stood up, placed her hands on her shoulders and hips, and flipped herself over, lying on her side facing Missy. A warm, damp towel was used to carefully wipe her back.
I seriously doubted whether Missy had studied nursing; her movements were so comfortable, so comfortable that she became sleepy. And she actually fell asleep.
Remaining days of punishment for vegetative state: 0.01.
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a pop-up notification number.
0.01 days, what a remarkable number. But how much time is that?
During the ambush, the beeping of the electronic device echoed in my ears, occasionally accompanied by the innocent laughter of a little girl.
"Mimi, do you want Mommy to wake up?" in awkward, foreign-accented Chinese.
Without a doubt, the man speaking was Dr. Merck. It seems she was in Merck's lab today.
"Mommy?" The child's voice sounded confused.
"Not that pretty mom. It's her."
Li Nai: That doesn't sound like a compliment, Dr. Merck.
"Want to? Then sing a song, the one you just learned. It's the song where your beautiful mom praises you."
As she spoke, a heavy object was placed beside her.
A soft, fleshy mass suddenly pressed down on her arm, and a milky fragrance wafted over. A velvety, smooth little hand cupped her cheek, touching it curiously. As if making some kind of decision, a childish singing voice rang out.
"There's no one better than a mother in this world; a child with a mother is a treasure..."
As she sang, she got out of bed and began to rock, the small, crisp clapping sounds blending with her singing.
Li Nai: That sounds so good. Sing it again! Sing it again! Mimi is so brave!
As she wished, the little girl sang it again and again without getting tired.
Time passed quietly.
In his mind, a cold, impersonal message appeared: "The punishment for being in a vegetative state has ended. A 10-day ban on using special abilities has begun."
As she pondered the second punishment, she slowly opened her eyes, only to be unexpectedly pierced by an unusually bright light. She quickly closed her eyes, and the girl's retreating figure flashed by.
"Mommy, Mommy!" the little girl exclaimed with delight.
Oh, my darling, you're so excited that Mommy woke up.
Her eyes were moist, and she opened them wide, searching eagerly for Mimi.
However, she saw the little girl turn her back to her "coldly" and reach out her arms to the approaching woman with long, golden-brown hair, asking for a hug.
A surge of emotion turned into jealousy.
He pursed his lips, turned his face to the side, but his peripheral vision was fixed on the intimate interaction between the mother and daughter.
Hmph, the former host who forgot her mother for the sake of beauty.
Hmph, I didn't expect Missy to be so gentle with children.
“I understand.”
Merck's sudden appearance startled her.
"Understand what?"
"A child's dependence and affection are transferred to other people."
She grunted twice. Then she asked another question.
"Why does Mimi call Misiko 'Mom'?"
"Huh? You didn't know? Missy has officially adopted Mimi as her daughter."
"How would I know? When did this happen?"
"Hmm... The day you were kidnapped, there was a zombie riot at the base."
"Oh. Who kidnapped me? I have no recollection at all. I only remember that I was protecting you, and others."
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