After the Sickly Child Differentiates into A - Chapter 28

The results were out, and they weren’t good.

As the bathroom door opened, Su Yue noticed the child’s visibly tear-stained eyes. With a furrowed brow and a sigh, she fetched an ice pack to soothe the child’s swollen eyes.

“Would you like to stay at the research institute?” The closer Lin Li got to the age of differentiation, the more her body approached its critical point.

“We can arrange tutors for your studies.”

“If her condition stabilizes, Wen Xize and the elder Mr. Wen can visit.”

Lin Li kept her eyes closed, remaining silent for a long time. Only when the ice pack was removed did she speak: “No.”

Staying here felt like being imprisoned.

“Alright.” They could only offer suggestions. The child who had passed away at the institute had stayed there because no family came to claim her. Under normal procedures, Lin Li’s case should follow the same path.

Even if it was for the child’s own good, they couldn’t force her to be “confined” at the institute.

“But if there’s any danger, we will need to place you under protective custody at the institute. At that point, it will be mandatory.”

“Mm.”

Su Yue discarded the ice pack and escorted Lin Li out of the examination room. Before parting, she reminded her, “If you have another nosebleed, handle it the way I did today. Don’t tilt your head back.”

Lin Li nodded. “Okay.”

On the way back, Lin Li was unusually quiet. Wen Xize asked a few questions but received only listless replies, assuming the child was simply tired and said no more.

Lin Li was indeed exhausted. The methods she had persisted with for so long had proven futile, leaving her bewildered and disheartened.

But the grandmother who could have guided her was no longer here.

Her visibly low spirits lasted for a week before she returned to her usual self.

She still hadn’t found a better solution but thought never mind.

Let it be.

After all, there wasn’t much time left.

Seeing the child smile again, the family breathed a sigh of relief. Only Wen Jingzhi noticed that the child had become even more withdrawn.

The Lin Li she had spent time and effort “molding”, the one who would show genuine emotions and voice her thoughts had withdrawn into herself again.

This left her feeling helpless, with a sense of impending turmoil.

As if something was about to happen, and it was already too late.

But she no longer had the time to “remold” the child or delve deeper she had accepted a script she was very interested in and was scheduled to join the film set in March.

With numerous on-location shoots, the filming period was lengthy, and according to the plan, it wouldn’t wrap up until July.

Wen Jingzhi deliberately postponed her departure until Saturday, spending the morning accompanying the child to walk Xiao Xi. A little past eight, her assistant arrived.

“Wait for me to come back.”

With only this ambiguous remark, Wen Jingzhi got into the car, leaving Lin Li standing silently in place.

Lin Li couldn’t decipher the meaning behind those words; she only found it strange.

Her sister had never said anything like that before.

After Wen Jingzhi left, Lin Li’s life continued as usual. Occasionally, she would stare blankly at the clumsily made felt doll of Xiao Xi.

As the pain gradually intensified, she spent more and more time lying prone. Her teacher noticed this repeatedly and reported it to the principal. Whatever was said in response, the subject teachers in her class gradually began to tacitly ignore Lin Li’s behavior.

The frequency of nosebleeds was increasing, and by now Lin Li had become quite adept at handling them. The first time it happened in class, the teacher had been horrified, almost shrieking with concern as she asked Lin Li how she felt. In contrast, the child remained remarkably calm, efficiently managing to stop the bleeding.

Wu Tang still clung to Lin Li, but she was growing increasingly weary. Occasionally, she would struggle to catch her breath and feel dizzy, leading her responses to become more and more perfunctory. Even Sun Xiaoxiao noticed, sometimes interrupting Wu Tang to tell him that Lin Li wasn’t feeling well and to stop bothering her.

Wu Tang never took offense, obediently stepping back each time, only to return and pester her again later.

Amidst the undercurrents of tension, the calendar turned a few pages, and July arrived.

On July 16th, summer break began.

Wen Jingzhi was unable to return to the old residence the entire summer. After wrapping up the film, she dove into a backlog of promotional activities, only managing to send messages to the child whenever she had a spare moment. When she had left home, the child seemed to have hidden her emotions again, but through their chats, it became clear the time and effort Wen Jingzhi had invested were not entirely in vain.

The child replied to every message and occasionally complained about annoying new classmates.

On better days, she would even send photos of strange trees or unfamiliar flowers.

Wen Jingzhi’s inexplicably anxious heart slowly settled back into place.

Perhaps she had been overly sensitive before.

There was no storm brewing.

September 1st marked the start of the new semester. Lin Li was now in fifth grade.

Wen Jingzhi still hadn’t returned.

The new semester felt no different from the previous ones. Though Lin Li spent her days slumped over her desk, not taking notes, and eventually even stopped doing her homework, the elementary school curriculum wasn’t difficult for her, and she managed to keep up academically.

Over the past six months, the weight she had gained in the previous two years had melted away. She grew thinner and paler, her sickly frailty evident at a glance.

The school teachers had called Old Master Wen several times, worried that Lin Li might have an incident at school if they weren’t careful.

September 14th, the day before her check-up, was a Friday.

As usual, Lin Li walked out of the classroom with her backpack, accompanied by Sun Xiaoxiao, while Wu Tang trailed behind them, chattering incessantly.

Just as they stepped out of the school gate, Wu Tang suddenly tugged on the strap of Lin Li’s backpack, leaned close to her ear, and whispered, “A137.”

Lin Li froze in her tracks, her eyes widening as she stared ahead, her pupils trembling.

Her heartbeat quickened, pounding rapidly in her chest.

At the same time, in the underground parking garage of Beijing International Airport, the elevator doors slid open, and a tall figure stepped out, it was Wen Jingzhi, who had just returned to the country after finishing her work.

Her assistant trailed behind, pulling a suitcase.

As they reached the car, the phone in her bag suddenly vibrated. Wen Jingzhi paused, stopping mid-motion from opening the car door, and pulled out her phone.

A bright red alert flooded the screen.

【Attention! The monitored individual’s heart rate is rapidly increasing!】

【Warning! The monitored individual’s heart rate is abnormally high! Exceeding normal range!】

【The monitored individual’s heart rate is dangerously elevated, risking myocardial ischemia, fainting, and other hazards!】

Wen Jingzhi felt her heart sink heavily, her vision momentarily darkening. She took a sharp breath, her expression stern, her voice tinged with a barely perceptible urgency. “Xiao Liu, give me the car keys.”

Her fingers tapped swiftly, dialing her older brother’s number.

The assistant handed over the keys. “Are you driving, Ms. Wen?”

“Hey, little sister, are you back in the country?”

Wen Jingzhi pressed her brows together, strode over, and took the keys directly from the assistant’s hand. She opened the driver’s side door and slid inside. “Brother, where is Lin Li?”

She fastened her seatbelt and glanced at her bewildered assistant outside the window. “Take a taxi home. It’s on the company.”

With that, she honked the horn. The assistant instinctively stepped aside as the car reversed sharply, smoothly exiting the parking spot before making a sharp turn and roaring out of the garage with a burst of acceleration.

Leaving the assistant standing there, utterly disoriented in the exhaust fumes.

When the assistant snapped back to reality, panic set in instantly.

She’s completely speeding, my dear Ms. Wen!!!

Please don’t get caught by a camera!!

Lin Li was missing.

The term “missing” was used instead of “disappeared” because the young girl had left a message for the driver saying she would return late. But after that message, there had been no further response.

Worried that something had happened, the driver called Old Master Wen to report the situation. Old Master Wen immediately took two bodyguards and rushed to the school, instructing the driver to search carefully in the vicinity.

Half an hour later, thunder rumbled across the sky, and a torrential downpour began.

The very person they were searching for, Lin Li, was still at the school in the alley where she had first met Xiao Xi.

But she wasn’t near the entrance; she had gone further in, turning left into another narrow lane.

As the rain poured down, she placed her backpack under the eaves outside the restroom wall inside was the felt doll of Xiao Xi that her sister had given her, and it couldn’t get wet.

But she herself was drenched to the bone.

“Have you made up your mind?” Wu Tang’s tone was gentle, as if persuading a friend. “Why don’t you come back with us?”

For the past half hour, this person had only repeated the same line.

Lin Li was growing impatient. Wiping the rain from her face, she coughed a few times. “Why should I trust you? Who are you? And how do you know that string of numbers?”

Wu Tang suddenly turned around, pulling down the back of his collar to reveal a black “tattoo” on his shoulder blade, O086.

It was a serial number.

Lin Li stared fixedly at the numbers, then suddenly covered her mouth and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Her mind was in turmoil.

There were still people with such markings?

She thought that after A098 passed away, she was the only one left.

And now, someone like this was trying to persuade her to “go back.”

Go back where?

Back to that soul-crushing place?

The person who usually smiled with gentle eyes now wore a cold, unfamiliar expression, devoid of any trace of warmth.

The rain blurred her vision, soaking her entirely, but Lin Li could hear her own heartbeat growing louder and louder. She felt her blood boiling.

She was furious.

She was filled with hatred.

Hatred for them taking away her health, hatred for them stealing her freedom, hatred for them leaving her with only a few short years to live.

There wasn’t a single moment when she wasn’t consumed by this hatred.

Yet she was acutely aware of her own powerlessness. Like a disabled person, she could do nothing, was allowed to do nothing.

All she could do was count the days, calculating how much time she had left to live.

She could only bury this hatred deep within, never letting a trace of it show.

Only then could she live out her remaining days in peace.

But now, the ever-growing, tightly suppressed rage erupted in its entirety.

Her downturned eyes seethed with hatred, dark and fierce.

The sudden change left Wu Tang stunned. He stammered, “You see, we’re the same. I wouldn’t harm you.”

“Bull****.”

We are not the same.

Wu Tang’s eyes widened in shock. “You, you!”

How could she be so different from usual!

How could she swear like that!

Her expression was terrifying.

He had thought Lin Li was easy to talk to, which was why he decided to try persuading her.

If he failed, he would…

No, he couldn’t!

“The boss’s confinement will end soon. He’ll be here any minute.” Wu Tang, trembling with fear, lifted his arm to wipe the rain from his eyes and spoke incoherently, “If you come with me, the boss will be very happy.”

“You won’t get hurt.”

“They… they have that medicine. You won’t have to die.”

“Yes, there’s medicine.”

“Bullshit medicine!”

“What do you want from me? How do you know me? How did you find this place?”

Lin Li stared at him expressionlessly, her eyes fierce and savage, as if she were about to lunge and tear him apart.

She held herself back, her thin fingers clenched tightly at her sides, nails digging into her palms.

“Why won’t you agree?” Wu Tang couldn’t understand. “That place is so good.”

Good?

He actually called that hellish, soul-devouring place good?

“Good my ass!” Lin Li snarled, then broke into a violent coughing fit, stubbornly demanding, “How do you know me?”

“How did you find this place?”

Wu Tang wiped the rain from his eyes again and shook his head. “I don’t know. The boss just told me to come to this school, befriend you, and bring you back.”

Damn it, why didn’t he know anything!

“Who is this boss you’re talking about?”

“I don’t know the boss’s name.” Wu Tang shook his head again. “The ‘mission’ was told to me by an older brother.”

A thought struck Lin Li, one she could hardly believe. Her eyes trembled as she struggled to speak. “Is it called—”

A black car sliced through the curtain of rain, speeding toward them at a heart-stopping pace. With a screech of brakes, it halted at the entrance of Jing Yi Elementary. The door swung open, and Wen Jingzhi stepped out, raising a long-handled black umbrella as she strode quickly into the school.

She must be there.

Wen Jingzhi glanced at her phone, where warning pop-ups flashed incessantly across the screen. Her pheromones, uncontrollably leaking out, trapped within half a meter around her, felt colder than the downpour, chilling her to the bone.

Her shoes splashed through puddles, rainwater splattering against her slender ankles.

Wen Jingzhi headed straight for the narrow path. When she reached the entrance and didn’t see the small figure she was looking for, her brows furrowed deeply, her eyes turning icy.

Rain drummed against the umbrella. Through the downpour, faint voices reached her ears.

“Is… is it called.”

It was the kid’s voice!

Wen Jingzhi lifted her gaze and hurried into the path.

The corner was just ahead. An unfamiliar voice spoke.

“I think so, I’ve heard people call the boss that.”

Who was that?

A lean figure with its back to her came into view.

Found her.

Wen Jingzhi let out a sharp breath of relief, but her heart clenched again at the sight of the kid drenched in the rain, soaked to the bone. Without another thought, she quickened her pace, intending to pull the child under her umbrella.

“Ha.”

“Fuck.”

Wen Jingzhi’s pupils contracted in shock, her steps freezing mid-motion.

What met her eyes was the frail, sickly kid who looked as if she might shatter under the raindrops throwing a punch at the person opposite her.

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