In Shu, the sky was clear and bright, without a single cloud in sight.
At the foot of Qingyun Mountain, on Qingyun Street, beside Qingyun Station and the Zhu Family Clinic—
With a sharp screech of tires, a bright-red box truck suddenly swung across the road and came to a halt, forcing every vehicle on the street to slam on its brakes.
The driver, who had been given a fright by a pedestrian darting suddenly into the road, finally regained his composure. He rolled down the window and shouted angrily, “Bloody hell! Do you have a death wish or what?”
Mei Tang, blocked by the dozen-meter-long truck, was frantic and had no time to worry about the driver’s anger. She hurried around the truck and raced toward the bus stop across the street.
Her daughter had been missing for more than five years.
The daughter she had searched for all these years had come home. She was right there, across the street!
But when Mei Tang rounded the truck, the bus stop that had held a living, breathing person only moments before was now completely empty.
Mei Tang ran over and stared at the vacant seat. She looked in every direction—east, west, north, south, ahead and behind—but there was no sign of Zhu Qingyu anywhere!
She had clearly been there just moments ago!
She had clearly still been there!
Mei Tang was nearly frantic. She shouted at the top of her lungs, “Qingyu! Qingyu! It’s Mom! Where are you? It’s Mom!”
Seeing someone ahead with a similar figure, Mei Tang hurried after her and grabbed her hand.
The passerby jumped in fright and shook her off. “What are you doing?”
It wasn’t her. It wasn’t her!
Where had her youngest daughter gone?
Why had she disappeared?
Tears of panic filled Mei Tang’s eyes. She quickly pulled out her phone and made a call. The moment it connected, she was already sobbing so hard she could barely speak.
“Officer Zhang! Officer Zhang! I saw my youngest daughter! She was right outside our home. She was there just a moment ago, but now she’s gone! Please help me—please help me!”
……
Zhu Qingyu saw the familiar bus stop and her mother across the road. Everything was so familiar, so real.
She sprang to her feet and was just about to run toward her mother when another deafening peal of thunder crashed down.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound left her dizzy and disoriented. She could barely remain standing.
Because Zhu Qingyu had nearly fallen when she stepped onto the platform earlier, Nanny Qin had learned her lesson and was now standing especially close to her. The moment she saw Zhu Qingyu sway, she rushed forward and caught her.
“Lord Zhu! Lord Zhu!”
Zhu Qingyu opened her eyes to a chorus of startled cries. Once again, people crowded around her from every direction.
Using the stone table in the pavilion for support, she stood up and looked around. To the east, west, north, and south, in front and behind, there was nothing but the garden scenery being battered by the summer storm.
Her mother was nowhere to be seen.
Zhu Qingyu pushed away the people surrounding her and ran out of the pavilion, heedless of the rain.
“Mom! Mom!”
She ran so fast that she cleared the pavilion in only a few steps. Even Nanny Qin, who had been standing nearby ready to catch her, failed to keep up.
The moment Zhu Qingyu ran out of the pavilion, someone holding an umbrella caught her in his arms.
Gu Zhao shielded Zhu Qingyu against his chest, keeping the torrential rain off her, and asked, “Qingyu, what’s wrong? Where are you going in this rain?”
Zhu Qingyu looked at Gu Zhao’s concerned face and reached out to touch his cheek.
The warmth and solidness of him felt real.
That reality left Zhu Qingyu momentarily dazed. Had seeing her mother just now been nothing more than an illusion?
Gu Zhao held her close, led her back into the pavilion, and helped her sit down.
“If there’s something you want, just have the servants fetch it for you. It’s raining so hard—you could fall. Qingyu, what are you looking for?”
Still dazed, Zhu Qingyu looked at him and answered, “I saw my mother.”
Seeing that something was wrong with her, Gu Zhao tried to clarify. “Which mother? Mother Tian? Mother Zhao?”
Why was he so stupid? Why couldn’t he understand something so simple?
Zhu Qingyu grew angry. “Why can’t you understand? I mean my mother! My mother came to take me home!”
Because she made no attempt to hide her anger, Gu Zhao somehow understood what she meant. His heart began pounding wildly. Almost involuntarily, he glanced up at the sky, then pulled her tightly into his arms. His voice trembled as he asked, “Your mother came to take you away? She wants to take you with her?”
Yes. My mother had come to take me home.
But then she had disappeared again!
The immense joy followed by overwhelming sorrow sent Zhu Qingyu’s emotions spiraling out of control. She felt as though she could hardly breathe. Leaning against Gu Zhao’s chest, she began to sob with heartbreaking intensity.
“She’s gone!”
It had been far too long since she had cried so freely, without restraint or reservation. Zhu Qingyu wept until she lost control, until she nearly fainted.
When she regained consciousness, she was already back in her bedroom, lying on the bed.
Su Mu sat on an embroidered stool beside her, taking her pulse.
Gu Zhao stood nearby, his face full of worry. The moment he saw her wake, he rushed over.
“Qingyu, how are you feeling?”
After that outburst of tears and a long sleep, Zhu Qingyu had released her pent-up emotions and regained her usual composure.
Su Mu’s hand on her wrist as she checked her pulse felt so real. So did the warmth of Gu Zhao’s body when he hurried over and touched her.
Compared with those things, the brief moment in the pavilion had seemed so insubstantial and hazy. It was almost as if, influenced by the hormones of pregnancy, she had imagined the whole thing.
Could she really have returned to the modern world just now, only to be pulled back a moment later?
Impossible. That was simply absurd.
She smiled at Gu Zhao and tried to speak, but after crying so hard, her voice came out hoarse.
“I’m fine. I probably just saw it wrong.”
Su Mu withdrew her hand and said to her, “What has Doctor Zhu so troubled that it has affected her spirit so badly? You must rest properly and take care of yourself. You mustn’t overexert yourself again.”
Su Mu had been trained by Zhu Qingyu herself and was her most accomplished pupil. Aside from the most difficult cases, Su Mu could now handle almost anything on her own. She had even gained quite a reputation as a young miracle doctor in the Jiangning area.
Zhu Qingyu sometimes thought that if another epidemic ever broke out, Su Mu and the others could be sent out to handle it entirely on their own. There would be no need for her to take the field again.
Being ordered to rest by the young miracle doctor she had personally trained, Zhu Qingyu followed her physician’s instructions and began her maternity leave. She stopped going to the clinic for the time being, though she still took out her books and wrote every day as usual.
As the patient’s husband, Gu Zhao was also a strong supporter of Doctor Su’s prescription for complete rest. He confiscated Zhu Qingyu’s pen and forbade her from even writing. Stroking her belly, he put on a fierce expression and said, “Doctor Su said you need to rest properly. Whether it’s for your sake or Gu Heng’s, go to sleep. No more writing!”
Ever since he had stirred in the pavilion that day, little Gu Heng seemed to have suddenly figured something out. He had become much livelier, rolling around and blowing bubbles inside Zhu Qingyu’s belly every morning and evening.
Unfortunately, Gu Zhao always seemed to have terrible luck. Whenever he tried to feel the baby move, Gu Heng would grow lazy and refuse to budge. No matter how much Gu Zhao coaxed him in a soft, wheedling voice, the little one paid no attention to his father.
This time, however, the moment Gu Zhao raised his voice, little Gu Heng began to protest. He rolled over and kicked Gu Zhao’s palm through the curve of Zhu Qingyu’s belly.
Gu Zhao, who had been acting fierce only a moment before, froze.
Then he realized that Gu Heng had moved. The anger he had been pretending to feel collapsed at once, replaced by a brilliant smile. He was so excited that he nearly jumped for joy.
“Gu Heng moved! It moved! Did it just touch me? It must like me after hearing my voice!”
