Only both mother and daughter was left in the house, Ji Rou used her hands again to test Lu Anran’s forehead, but it was still a bit warm.
“Mum, I’m fine.” Lu Anran looked towards Ji Rou, the corners of her eyes were slightly moist, this kind of feeling of lost and found, is really unexplainable.
“That’s good” Ji Rou held Lu Anran’s hands, “Anran, why were you so careless today? You knew that you can’t swim but still went to play by the poolside? But then again, it’s also my fault, I’ll ask Lao Yu1 to drain all the water tomorrow!”
“Okay…” Lu Anran wanted to tell Ji Rou that it was Chu Yao, that slut who planned everything! But she can’t! The truth that she heard before her death, there is still an evil manipulator behind the scene who has yet to be revealed, she must be patient, only then will she be able to draw out the real culprit. “It’s all my fault…Mum, I think it’s better if you don’t let Yu Shu drain the pool, why don’t you teach me how to swim another day!”
“Aren’t you afraid of water? Why are you so thinking of learning how to swim all of a sudden?” Ji Rou felt odder.
“You can drain the pool now, but next time can you fill up all the lakes and seas? Lu Anran smiled and said gently, “I want to grow up strong and safely, so that I can always accompany mum!” For someone who have already died once, isn’t it pointless to be still afraid of water?
“That’s right Anran!” Ji Rou smiled and rubbed Lu Anran’s head, “You must be hungry now after sleeping so deeply for the entire day! I will go and make a bowl of fish porridge!”
“Okay!” Lu Anran was really happy, the fish porridge that Ji Rou personally made was once Lu Anran’s favourite food. Unfortunately, since the time Ji Rou pass away, Lu Anran had eaten all kind of delicacies in the whole of China, but was never able to experience this particular taste again.
“Just lie down and wait quietly for me!” Ji Rou stood up, tucked Lu Anran into the quilt covering her, and then after stroking Lu Anran’s cheeks, she left Lu Anran’s room.
After the room door was shut gently, Lu Anran propped herself up with her arms and looked around. This room used to be her former bedroom, it is simple and refreshing with dandelions painted on light blue walls. The bird- shaped lamp gave off a warm and mellow light. The cuckoo clock hanged silently on the wall. Directly below the clock, a human height milky white bookshelf was placed and filled with gaming CDs and Shōjo manga2. Next to the bookshelf, there was a huge desk, and on it was a picture of her and Chu Yao placed in a seaman- styled photo frame.
Two girls at the prime of their life, dressed in beautiful princess-styled skirts, beaming and holding hands, posing together under the fountain. Lu Anran knitted her brows involuntarily, the photo of her smiley- self was so sunny, so naïvely!
Deliberately turning her head to the other side, the opened window, the tranquil moon, a burst of cool breeze blew across the white translucent drapes lifting it up slightly, jingling the wind chime hanging at the window. Under the window, a white piano quietly sat.
Lu Anran climbed down from her princess bed, and walked step- by- step towards the piano. She first sat on the velvet soft chair in front of the piano, and then slowly opened the piano lid. Looking at the interweaving of the black and white keys, Lu Anran extended her hand to touch the keys gently, and following with Lu Anran’s light taps, an initial disjointed acciaccatura3 that sounded ultimately transformed into a something close to a fluent song of ‘Ode to Joy’.
It has been so many years, since her muscles snapped, she had no choice but to give up playing the piano she had started learning from the age of three. She didn’t expect that one day she would have the chance to play the piano once more. Just thinking about this, Lu Anran eyes burst forth immense hatred, these vile creatures! In this lifetime, she must dig out the evil manipulator behind the scenes one- by- one, and let these people live in utter misery!
The room door was pushed opened again, and Ji Rou’s anxious voice tugged Lu Anran out of her train of thought, “Anran, quickly come back to the bed!”
Entering the room together with Ji Rou was a refined looking man dressed in a suit, Lu Anran glanced at him and recalled that this was Lu’s family doctor, who was also a good friend of Lu Anran’s missing father – Li Song. Lu Anran crawled back into her soft princess bed and snuggled herself into the quilt.
“Let’s measure your temperature first.” Li Song took out a thermometer, placing it lightly in Lu Anran’s ear for a short while. Following a “beeping” sound, the thermometer reading appeared. “36.7 °C.” Li Song read out the number and smiled, “the fever has already gone down, you will be fine after eating light food for the next few days!”
“Sorry to let you make a wasted trip!” Ji Rou was very grateful to Li Song, all these years Li Song was very helpful towards both mother and daughter.
“No problem!” Li Song opened his medical case, wore one end of his stethoscope onto his ear and placed the other end on Lu Anran’s chest. “She has a slight pneumonia, you must make sure she takes her anti-inflammatory medicine and drink more water. Tell Auntie Rong to cook some braised snow pear and rock sugar1, it can ease her cough symptom.” Li Song took off his stethoscope and asked curiously, “I don’t think I have seen Auntie Rong around.”
“I let her return to her old home in the mountains, to attend her son’s wedding.” Said Ji Rou.
“Oh, I see!” Li Song nodded and placed his stethoscope back into his medical case. He then took out 2 bottles of medicine, signed it and in neat handwriting, wrote down the instructions for consummation. “She will be fine after taking these 2 bottles of medicine for one week.”
“Thank you very much!” Other than this, Ji Rou was at a loss as to what else to say.
“It’s nothing, Ah Hao and I are good brothers2 from young, when he is not around, looking after the both of you is my responsibility.” Li Song pushed up his glasses peached on the bridge of his nose.
“Madam, I have brought over the fish porridge.” The butler carried in the fish porridge that Ji Rou cooked.
“Pass it to me.” Ji Rou carried the fish porridge, scooped out a spoonful, blew it softly and then gently fed it to Lu Anran.
Lu Anran had only opened her mouth to drink a mouthful, but the tip of her tongue tasted a strong bloody taste, and suddenly a scene flashed before her eyes. Fishes leaping from the water, shining in the first rays of the morning sun, was stabbed viciously by a harpoon. It struggled defyingly until it died. Lu Anran cried out and vomited, the taste of blood lingered in her mouth for a very long time.
“Anran?” Ji Rou was shocked, “Anran what’s wrong?”
“I…” Lu Anran wanted to tell Ji Rou that she was fine, but the taste of blood was so strong and disgusting that she couldn’t say anything. After choking for quite a while, Lu Anran managed to say two words, “Water! Water!”
“Water! Water!” Ji Rou repeated Lu Anran’s words hurriedly, momentarily confused.
“Here’s the water!” the butler hastily poured out a glass full of water and passed it to Lu Anran.
Lu Anran gulped down the water and incessantly rinsed her mouth. It was only after a long moment that the stench of the fish completely dissipated. She has a sensitive tongue that anyone would envy, just by eating one mouthful of any dish, she can state the ingredients, and even the cooking time. Because of this tongue, she became Lu Corporation’s most valuable treasure, the future in the turmoil of the current political climate. The fact that Lu Corporation can continuously sit so stably as the leader of the food and drinks sector of S City, Lu Anran’s contributions cannot be denied.
However, all of these were in the previous lifetime, in this lifetime she was reborn in, her tongue… seems to have become strange…
“What’s, what’s going on ah?” Ji Rou looked at Li Song at a loss.
Li Song stepped forward and asked, “Anran, how are you feeling now?”
“My tummy doesn’t feel well, and there’s a strange taste in my mouth….” Lu Anran also did not know how to describe this abnormal phenomenon.