Chapter 75: Forgot Everything

Su Ruo and Zhou Feng heard An'an's words, and both looked at her in surprise.

These past few days, to avoid An'an recalling that unpleasant experience, Su Ruo and Li Zhaodi deliberately avoided mentioning it in front of her.

Fortunately, An'an behaved normally and showed no psychological trauma, which made Su Ruo breathe a sigh of relief.

But Su Ruo never expected An'an to voluntarily ask to see Bai Xinya, and she was quite surprised.

After all, by common sense, when a child encounters such a thing, they should fear the perpetrator and try to avoid them, shouldn't they?

How could An'an voluntarily propose to see Bai Xinya?

She said, "An'an, if you don't want to go, you don't have to force yourself."

Although Zhou Feng's offered conditions were indeed tempting, Su Ruo would absolutely not let An'an suffer any injustice because of it.

"Mom, I want to go, and Mom will protect An'an, right?"

An'an stretched out her little hand and grasped Su Ruo's hand; her childish voice was full of strength.

Su Ruo looked at An'an, momentarily unsure how to answer.

But Zhou Feng didn't give her a chance to refuse, he immediately said, "Good, good, uncle knows you're a good child; we'll go see auntie right now. Uncle promises you that not only will mom protect you, but uncle will also protect you, and will absolutely let no one harm An'an."

Things having come to this point, Su Ruo had no reason to object further, nor to force An'an not to go.

The car soon arrived at the county hospital; Su Ruo carried An'an to Bai Xinya's bedside, where Bai Xinya was visibly much weaker than a few days ago, her complexion extremely pallid, without a trace of color.

She lay on the bed, devoid of any vitality; if not for her breathing, she would be virtually indistinguishable from a corpse.

An'an walked to Bai Xinya's bedside and gently took her hand.

Everyone looked at Bai Xinya, hoping for a miracle, but there was none; Bai Xinya on the bed lay as if asleep, showing no response, which left everyone feeling a bit disappointed.

But no one saw that at this moment a vast green life force flowed continuously from An'an's palm into Bai Xinya's body.

A few minutes later, An'an withdrew her hand, wearily leaning into Su Ruo's embrace and said, "Mom, I'm tired; let's go home."

Seeing An'an like this, Su Ruo felt heartbroken; after all, An'an is a child, how could she possibly be completely unaffected by such a major event? She secretly blamed herself, thinking she should never have let An'an come today.

Su Ruo gently coaxed An'an, saying, "Okay, Mom will take you home."

Then she picked up An'an and headed out; Zhou Feng wanted to stop her, hoping to let An'an try again, or have An'an call Bai Xinya "Mom."

But seeing Su Ruo's cold, stern expression, Zhou Feng swallowed his words.

He knew that Su Ruo allowing An'an to come today was already granting him great face; if he made any further demands, Su Ruo would surely turn against him, so he could only arrange for people to send Su Ruo and her party back.

After Su Ruo and her group left, Zhou Feng wearily sat on a stool, unsure how else he could wake his wife—or whether he should let her be, since waking would only cause her pain; perhaps it was better to let her continue sleeping.

At that moment, Bai Xinya suddenly awoke from her coma, shouting, "Xiaomeng!"

Bai Xinya had just dreamed of finding her daughter, who took her hand and smiled at her.

Her daughter said to her, "Mom, I'm doing fine; don't grieve anymore."

Bai Xinya wanted to hug her daughter, but the daughter ran away.

Bai Xinya desperately chased after her, wanting to find her daughter, but was enveloped by a mist; she struggled through it, and upon opening her eyes found herself actually in the hospital.

"Zhou Feng, our daughter—where has our daughter gone?"

Seeing Bai Xinya awake, Zhou Feng was instantly engulfed in great joy; seeing his wife wake and immediately look for their daughter, recalling their train experience, he dared not provoke her further.

He quickly said, "The daughter is tired and has gone home to sleep; you're ill, and once you recover, I'll take you to see her, all right?"

Bai Xinya heard this, nodded obediently, and lay down to rest.

Zhou Feng hurriedly called a doctor; after examining Bai Xinya, the doctor said, "The patient's body is still somewhat weak, but there's no serious problem."

Moreover, the patient's ailment is mainly psychological; the key is to boost her will to live, show more care, encourage her, and give her hope for life.

Zhou Feng then felt relieved, but over the following days he increasingly noticed something off with his wife; she seemed to have completely forgotten that their daughter was lost.

Her memory remained stuck at five years ago, and aside from the matter of their daughter, she appeared uninterested in anything else, making Zhou Feng's mood very heavy.

He asked the doctor, who said, "After experiencing great psychological trauma, as a self‑protective mechanism the brain may selectively forget that memory."

Zhou Feng frowned, unsure whether this outcome was good or bad; forgetting that painful memory meant she no longer had to endure the torment—perhaps it was a blessing for her.

But when his wife daily asked when he would take her to see their daughter, Zhou Feng didn't know how to answer.

After a week, Zhou Feng had exhausted all his excuses; he could find no more to placate his wife, and today being the day of her discharge from the hospital, he had promised to take her to see their daughter.

No choice; Zhou Feng could only bring Bai Xinya to Su Ruo's clinic.

In the courtyard, Li Zhaodi was airing medicinal herbs; Su Ruo was teaching An'an to write at the stone table, while the old locust tree in the yard swayed in the breeze—this peaceful, heart‑warming scene left Zhou Feng feeling somewhat dazed.

He thought, if his daughter hadn't been lost, wouldn't his home also be this warm and happy?

After regaining his composure, Zhou Feng realized he still hadn't figured out how to explain to his wife why their daughter was in someone else's home and so close to another woman.

Afraid his wife might act impulsively, Zhou Feng hurriedly turned to look at her, but Bai Xinya merely gazed silently, doing nothing, asking nothing, as if her eyes held only An'an.

Thus half an hour passed, and Bai Xinya seemed to finally regain her own awareness, saying to Zhou Feng, "Let's go!"

Zhou Feng had the driver start the car; he wanted to persuade his wife but didn't know how to begin.

After the car drove off, 001 then said, "Host, they've already left."

Su Ruo gave a faint nod, her expression unchanged.

In the days that followed, Bai Xinya came almost every day, her car lingering for a long time outside Su Ruo's clinic.

At first the villagers were curious about the small car, but grew accustomed to it over time.

Once the battalion commander revealed Zhou Feng's identity, everyone became fearful and wary, with no one daring to approach.

Of course, some people envied Su Ruo, thinking she was just lucky to have hooked up with the county magistrate—this even included Li Shirou—but Su Ruo paid no heed.

Bai Xinya came every day, yet never got out of the car, simply sitting inside and quietly watching An'an.

Her expression was focused, as if in this world her eyes could hold nothing but An'an.

Su Ruo was initially wary of Bai Xinya's visits, but upon seeing that she only watched quietly and did nothing harmful to An'an, she let it be.

Until this day, when Su Ruo was seeing patients for the villagers in the room, Li Zhaodi was cooking in the kitchen, and An'an picked up a fresh‑out‑of‑the‑pot pancake to give to Su Ruo, but as she ran she suddenly tripped and fell straight to the ground.

Seeing this, Bai Xinya immediately jumped out of the car, lifted An'an from the ground, hurriedly checked her, and asked, "Where did you fall? Does it hurt?"

An'an laughed and said, "It's fine, it doesn't hurt."

Bai Xinya only then came back to her senses; she looked at the smile on An'an's face, hesitated for a long time before trembling as she stretched out her hand and said, "May I touch you?"

Upon hearing that, An'an took her hand and guided it to her own face.

Bai Xinya lightly touched An'an's soft skin, she did so carefully, as if touching some rare treasure.

Feeling the warmth coming from her palm, Bai Xinya could no longer hold back; her eyes instantly reddened. Worried that her crying would frighten An'an, Bai Xinya immediately ran to the car.

The car quickly drove away, and then Su Ruo came out; at the very moment Bai Xinya had rushed into the courtyard, she had immediately become on guard.

If Bai Xinya dared to do anything harmful to An'an, she would certainly not be polite to Bai Xinya; fortunately, Bai Xinya did nothing.

Upon seeing Su Ruo, An'an laughed, raised the biscuit in her hand, and said, "Mom, eat a biscuit!"

Su Ruo squatted down, looked seriously at An'an, and asked, "An'an, do you like that aunt?"

Su Ruo asked this not out of jealousy, but because she understands An'an; she knows An'an is usually aloof and hates being touched by others the most.

Besides her and Li Zhaodi, basically no one is allowed to touch her.

Bai Xinya did that, yet An'an didn't say she disliked her; now she even actively seeks closeness with her, which in itself is quite abnormal.