“Miss, it’s time to get up...”
A soft, kind voice reached Lu Yinghan’s ears.
Her body felt weak and sore, but her heart was gripped by utter shock.
Huh?
Wasn't she dead? Hadn't she found a quiet place to pass away peacefully?
Miss? Was someone calling her?
Why did this voice sound so familiar?
Struggling to open her dry, sore eyes, Lu Yinghan blinked rapidly a few times.
She turned toward the source of the voice.
The kindly, benevolent face of an old man gradually came into focus before her eyes.
“G-Grandpa Butler?!”
“Miss, do you have any instructions?”
All the fatigue suddenly vanished from Lu Yinghan’s body, and she sat straight up.
“Grandpa Butler, did you save me?”
“Ah? What are you saying, Miss?”
Hearing Lu Yinghan’s strange question, the smiling butler’s expression froze, and his smile faded into complete bewilderment as he looked at her.
Lu Yinghan couldn't tell whether this was reality or a dream. She blurted out directly:
“Grandpa Butler, did you come down here too?”
“Miss... I, forgive me, but I don't quite understand what you mean. Where should I have gone down to?”
Now it was Lu Yinghan’s turn to be bewildered.
The old man and the young girl stared at each other, both of their eyes filled with deep confusion.
Lu Yinghan hurriedly got out of bed. When her hand touched the frame of the bed, her heart plummeted once more into an icy chill.
She lifted her hands, turning them over to inspect them carefully.
In disbelief, she touched her body and face, then looked around her surroundings.
Everything here was painfully familiar!
“Do I have to start all over again down here after dying?”
Lu Yinghan was completely at a loss.
By now, Grandpa Butler was beginning to panic as well. He stepped forward and knelt gently in front of Lu Yinghan, his face filled with concern.
“Pardon me, Miss.”
The elegant gentleman took off his white glove, adjusted his wire-rimmed gold glasses, and placed his hand on Lu Yinghan’s forehead with a solemn expression.
“You don't have a fever, Miss. Did you exhaust yourself recently while making that sleep-aid scent pouch for the Eldest Young Master?”
A sleep-aid scent pouch?
The phrase acted like a trigger, prompting Lu Yinghan to turn her gaze toward the plain, worn wooden table.
It was covered with sleep-inducing plants she had picked for the Eldest Young Master, alongside a half-sewn pouch.
Beside the bed stood a dirty full-length mirror. Lu Yinghan turned to look into it.
Reflected in the glass was her small, delicate childhood self, wearing faded pyjamas, with pale, yellowish skin and dry, brittle hair.
Slap!
She struck herself hard across the face. The crisp, loud slap frightened Grandpa Butler out of his wits.
“Oh dear! Miss! What is wrong with you?! Please, stop!”
Lu Yinghan didn't stop at just one. She slapped herself repeatedly, tears brimming in her eyes, releasing all the resentment and injustice pent up in her heart with stroke after stroke.
She was back. She had really come back—and to when she was still a child.
Was the pain of her past life not enough? Why did she have to be brought back to this place?
Why her?
Lu Yinghan asked herself over and over in her mind as fat tears poured unrestrained down her swollen, red cheeks.
With both of her hands gripped tightly by Grandpa Butler, Lu Yinghan hung her head, letting her tears and snot drip onto the floor.
Yet she did not make a single loud sob.
Only her trembling shoulders and increasingly hunched back betrayed the overwhelming tide of her emotions.
Grandpa Butler’s eyes widened, his pupils quivering slightly as he held onto Lu Yinghan’s hands even tighter to prevent her from harming herself.
The white mustache above his lip trembled with his heavy breaths.
For some reason, seeing this tiny, scrawny girl crying like this filled his heart with a searing ache that tore at him with every ragged breath she took.
“Miss... go ahead and cry.”
After a long moment, the butler spoke softly in a gentle murmur that offered Lu Yinghan a touch of comfort, helping her slowly pull herself together.
Since she was back, so be it.
Life still had to go on, didn't it?
At this thought, Lu Yinghan calmed down completely. She looked up, feeling embarrassed, toward the butler whose eyes were also slightly red.
This white-haired old man before her, whose eyes were filled with heart-wrenching worry for her, was her only safe haven in the Lu family.
“Grandpa Butler, I’m okay now...”
Seeing that Lu Yinghan had regained her composure and stopped crying, the butler released his grip, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and gently wiped her face.
“As long as you’re alright. I’ll pour you a glass of water to hydrate.”
After wiping her face clean, the butler stood up, excused himself, and went to the kitchen to fetch a hot water kettle.
He didn't dare ask anything; his heart was still trembling with fear.
The thick aura of despair that had radiated from the young girl...
...he never wanted to experience it again.
Turning to glance back toward Lu Yinghan’s room, Grandpa Butler shook his head, let out a long sigh of relief, blinked his sore eyes, and quickened his pace toward the kitchen.
He needed to hurry up and get Miss some water to drink!
Left alone in her room, Lu Yinghan stood in the center, surveying her surroundings.
White walls, dated furniture, and nothing else.
Even using the restroom required her to walk outside.
Lu Yinghan walked back to the wooden table, fiddling with the sleep-inducing plants she had gathered and the crookedly embroidered scent pouch.
Grandpa Butler had said it was for the Eldest Young Master.
Lu Yinghan instantly let out a cold snort.
The Eldest Young Master of the Lu family, the successor to Lu Corporation.
A twenty-five-year-old eligible bachelor, handsome and elegant, intelligent and disciplined.
In the capital, aside from the Xie family who stood on equal footing with him, everyone else had to tread carefully around him.
Everyone else had to keep their heads lowered and flatter him endlessly.
However, Lu Yinghan knew from her past life...
...that the Eldest Young Master, Lu Jiansen, worked day and night without rest to maintain the Lu family’s reputation in the capital.
Overworking constantly had led to chronic headaches and severe insomnia.
Unable to sleep well every night, his mental state had deteriorated steadily.
Yet no doctor could cure him.
In her past life, to relieve his headaches, she had brought him a glass of water laced with vitamin B beneficial for sleep every single night.
Right now, they probably thought she believed Lu Jiansen had grown used to her presence, and that she was trying to push her luck to get closer to him.
Heh.
Lu Yinghan...
...you really were pathetic.
Without a second word, she packed away the needle and thread, then threw the unfinished scent pouch and all the sleep-inducing plants straight into the trash can.
Without a single trace of regret.
Grandpa Butler returned carrying a hot water kettle.
“Miss, have some water to stay hydrated. Since you’ve just woken up, it’ll warm your stomach too.”
The moment Grandpa Butler stepped inside, Lu Yinghan’s cold expression melted into gentleness.
She looked at the kindly old man with a sweet smile.
“Thank you, Grandpa Butler.”
“Ho ho ho, you’re very welcome, Miss.”
He gracefully poured a cup of water for Lu Yinghan and watched her sip it slowly.
Yet out of the corner of his eye, he kept glancing at the contents of the trash bin.
His heart had already been shaken to its core multiple times this morning.
Was Miss really giving up on trying to get closer to the Eldest Young Master?
Rate on N.U.
