Weakness Trap - Chapter 26.1

Yu Qingluan and Yu Shuhua finally escaped from Yu Meiying’s home, feeling a sense of liberation.

Along the way, the mother and daughter chatted and laughed, with Yu Shuhua even planning out what they would do in the coming days.

“What exactly is wrong with her health?” Yu Shuhua finally asked about the matter.

She had heard her daughter mention it before, but from what she had observed recently, Yu Lingxue seemed no different from a healthy person.

“She was born prematurely, so she’s physically weak, often falls ill, coughs up blood, and needs hospitalization for treatment. But strangely, she hasn’t been sick much this winter,” Yu Qingluan remarked, finding it rather unbelievable.

This was Yu Lingxue, after all.

Even after falling into the water, she hadn’t developed a fever.

In the past, forgetting to put on an extra layer of clothing would be enough to send her temperature soaring to 39 degrees Celsius.

Yu Lingxue also particularly disliked going to the hospital and taking medicine.

If Yu Qingluan knew she was sick, she would urge her to take care of herself.

But most of the time, even if Yu Lingxue had a fever, she wouldn’t tell anyone. It was always her sharp-eyed butler who noticed in time and took her to see a doctor or get medicine.

When asked, she would simply say that she was a doctor herself and knew what she was doing.

Yet Yu Qingluan couldn’t help but feel that Yu Lingxue was resisting hospitals for some unknown reason.

“Let’s hope she stays healthy from now on,” Yu Shuhua sighed in relief.

Thankfully, aside from her cold air allergy and tendency to catch colds during seasonal changes, Qingluan was otherwise sturdy and rarely fell ill.

“Yeah.” As they talked, the two arrived at their doorstep.

Yu Qingluan’s brow was already furrowed.

Yu Shuhua made a sound of surprise and went to unlock the door.

Sure enough, there was no one inside.

The lights were off, but the TV was still on.

On the coffee table sat a half-drunk cup of tea, now cold.

The cushions on the sofa were in disarray, as if someone had rushed past, knocking the neatly arranged pillows to the floor and hastily tossing them back onto the sofa.

Most importantly, Yu Lingxue’s shoes were gone.

For the past ten days of winter break, Yu Qingluan had seen those shoes every time she returned home.

Lined with thick fleece, waterproof and snowproof on the outside, with thick, non slip soles.

Those shoes would always be taken off alongside her own and placed at the bottom of the shoe cabinet.

And Yu Lingxue’s slippers, which she had worn, were now scattered haphazardly on the floor.

One here, one there, flung to opposite corners of the room.

All signs pointed to one conclusion: Yu Lingxue had left.

“Lingsnow?” Refusing to believe it, Yu Qingluan didn’t even change her shoes. She dropped what she was holding and rushed toward Yu Lingxue’s room.

“Lingsnow? Lingsnow!” She flung open the bathroom door so forcefully that half the doorframe nearly came loose.

After calling out several times with no response, she dashed out of her room, checked the kitchen, and even thought of looking in Yu Shuhua’s room.

After searching Yu Shuhua’s room, she even considered checking under the coffee table and beneath the sofa.

She was on the verge of turning the entire house upside down when Yu Shuhua grasped her shoulders.

“Qingluan.” Yu Shuhua’s brow was tightly knitted.

She didn’t want to speak ill of someone else’s child, nor did she want to think poorly of the person Qingluan cared for.

“Maybe she had an emergency? Like a family member falling ill.” In such situations, anyone would panic, so rushing off without saying goodbye was understandable.

“Right, right.” Yu Qingluan took a deep breath and finally remembered she had Yu Lingxue’s phone number.

Without a second thought, she dialed the number, anxiously waiting.

Her heartbeat grew faster.

And faster.

The busy tone persisted. Yu Qingluan bit her lip until it hurt, then picked up her phone and dialed again.

After waiting for a minute, she was still met with nothing but the relentless busy signal.

Her hand dropped limply, the phone clattering to the floor. For a moment, her heart seemed to stop beating.

The speakerphone activated upon impact, and the busy tone raced through the silent house, filling every corner of the room.

“Mom.” Yu Qingluan collapsed onto the floor, finally unable to hold back her tears as she looked at Yu Shuhua.

Yu Shuhua sighed and gathered her daughter into her arms.

“Maybe she’s just busy right now?” Yu Shuhua said, wanting only to comfort her daughter.

She could see how much Yu Qingluan loved Yu Lingxue.

She was Yu Qingluan’s mother, after all she had raised this stubborn girl for twenty years.

How could she not tell whether her daughter’s feelings were genuine or fake?

Whether this was love strong enough to build a future together, or just a passing infatuation.

But she couldn’t bring herself to say anything more.

No matter how busy someone is, couldn’t they at least send a message to their girlfriend?

Couldn’t they say they’d call on the way before leaving?

What era is this? It’s not like she was kidnapped.

If she wanted to, she had countless ways to let Yu Qingluan know what she was doing.

Instead, she let Yu Qingluan run around the house like a madwoman even her own mother couldn’t restrain her.

And when she finally managed to calm her down, not a single call would go through.

Yu Shuhua couldn’t help but feel resentful.

Yu Qingluan lay in her mother’s arms, eyes wide open, unaware that tears were streaming down her face.

She was the one living through this relationship.

Long before Yu Shuhua knew, she had already sunk to the lowest point of humility.

She had always yielded to Yu Lingxue’s wishes, always put Yu Lingxue first.

And Yu Lingxue had made this mistake more than once.

Just like before.

When she could have simply notified Yu Qingluan that she was busy, she instead went to find Li Ran without a word, leaving Yu Qingluan waiting in the cold wind for over an hour.

When she could have taken a moment to send a message saying she was fine, she lay in the hospital all night, waiting until Yu Qingluan found her.

This time, Yu Qingluan still had no idea what Yu Lingxue had gone through. She had left without a word, as if abandoning her.

What about the promises to change after their last argument?

What about the plans to spend the winter break together just a few weeks ago?

So her initial suspicions weren’t unfounded after all.

Yu Qingluan drew a sharp breath, tears flooding her eyes, blurring her vision and clouding her mind.

It was just before the Spring Festival.

They had promised to spend the New Year together.

They had promised to always be by each other’s side.

How could she break that promise?

Yu Qingluan cried until she had no strength left. Yu Shuhua laid her on the sofa, but the tears kept falling.

Yu Shuhua didn’t know how to comfort her. To comfort her would mean criticizing Yu Lingxue, and that would only upset her daughter more. It would also be unbecoming to speak ill of someone.

All she could do was go to the kitchen and prepare something warm to eat, hoping to offer Yu Qingluan at least some physical comfort.

When Yu Shuhua returned with a bowl of steamed egg custard, she found Yu Qingluan sitting bolt upright on the sofa, phone in hand, tears still in her eyes.

“Sweetheart.” Yu Shuhua’s heart ached as she took the phone from her.

“Oh, don’t call anymore, just stop.” Yu Shuhua handed the egg custard to Yu Qingluan.

Yu Qingluan glanced at it, then began crying even harder.

Yu Shuhua stood by helplessly, watching her daughter weep hysterically until her skin turned red. Then, Yu Qingluan snatched the bowl of egg custard and frantically started shoving it into her mouth.

She didn’t care if it was scalding hot she nearly swallowed the spoon along with it.

Yu Shuhua quickly snatched the spoon and began feeding her bite by bite, just as he had cared for her when she fell ill as a child.

Yu Qingluan’s phone clattered to the floor for the second time.

The screen displayed only the cold log of call records.

Not a single call had gone through.

Yu Lingxue boarded a private jet, rushing back to Hong Kong.

By the time she learned from Yu Yueheng that Jian Xi’s medication had been discontinued, it was already too late.

Jian Xi had been taken back to Hong Kong by the young family head, Yu Qingyuan, and held as a hostage.

Everyone was forcing her to return to Hong Kong.

Yu Lingxue’s mind was in turmoil, unable to comprehend how things had escalated to this point.

Targeting her was one thing.

Targeting her businesses, her connections, everything she had quietly built none of that mattered.

Even imprisoning her would have been acceptable.

But how could they stop Yu Jian Xi’s medication?

Just because Yu Jian Xi lacked talent in traditional Chinese medicine?

Just because she had no value to the Yu family and could be sacrificed, used as a hostage to force someone of value like her to return?

What was her value, then?

A political marriage?

Ridiculous.

Yet no matter how absurd it was, she had no choice but to return.

Yu Qingyuan had truly seized her by the throat.

During the flight back to Hong Kong, Yu Lingxue racked her brain for alternatives to Jian Xi’s medication—anything she could procure.

Could acupuncture serve as a substitute? Did her private herb garden have anything suitable?

After a moment of contemplation, frustration overwhelmed her.

Life-saving medicine was called life-saving for a reason its effects were unique, with no substitutes.

Acupuncture could only alleviate Yu Jian Xi’s suffering, not cure her.

Her herb garden was still too new, developed covertly behind the young family head’s back. How could it yield anything of exceptional quality?

Sourcing from elsewhere was even more impossible. Yu Qingyuan would never allow it.

Then could she smuggle Yu Jian Xi out of the Yu family, just as Yu Yueheng had once rescued her from the Yan family?

Could they escape to another country, perhaps a small European nation?

There, they could focus on treatment without disturbance.

A place free of detestable people and situations, where essential medications would never be abruptly withheld.

Life saving medications the most critical ones.

Without them, how could Yu Jian Xi, fresh from surgery, possibly survive?

Yu Lingxue buried her face in her hands.

She had made a grave miscalculation.

From this moment on, she would have to bear the consequences of her misjudgment and atone for it.

Throughout the entire flight, Yu Lingxue was consumed with thoughts of her sister’s illness, not once recalling Yu Qingluan.

“Finally decided to return.” At the Yu residence, Yu Qingyuan propped her chin on her hand, casting Yu Lingxue a dismissive glance.

There was unmistakable contempt in her expression.

“How could you do such a thing? Are you even fit to be a doctor?” Yu Lingxue strode up to her and slammed her hand on the desk.

“Unfortunately, I never claimed to be a doctor,” Yu Qingyuan replied with a faint smile, gently brushing Yu Lingxue’s hand aside. “No need for such dramatics. It’s unbecoming.”

She wasn’t wrong. Her position as young family head was secured solely because her mother was the current family head.

From childhood, she had been groomed for leadership, never seriously studying medicine.

Whether it was meridian charts or compendiums of medicinal herbs texts every Yu family member memorized from a young age she had never completed them.

Unlike Yu Lingxue. Her lineage had practiced medicine for generations, and after returning to the Yu family, she naturally pursued medical studies as well.

Thus, their perspectives could not have been more different.

Yu Lingxue was deeply sentimental and cared profoundly for her patients, treating each one as if they were her own family. Healing more people seemed to be the very meaning of her existence.

Ever since the year she returned to the Yu family, she had made a vow to the Bodhisattva a promise that her life would be dedicated to medicine. She would always prioritize her patients above all else.

Moreover, Yu Jian Xi was not just her patient but also her kin, a sister she regarded as her own, someone with whom she shared a bond of mutual suffering.

Of course, Yu Lingxue would return.

Yu Qingyuan understood this well.

Yet, from a young age, Yu Qingyuan had possessed a tyrannical mindset, chasing fame and profit, and placing greater importance on the overall development of the Yu family.

Losing one Yu Jian Xi was hardly a cause for regret.

Even if Yu Lingxue abandoned medicine, it wouldn’t matter.

The reputation of a prodigy had been fabricated by Yu Qingyuan and her mother for Yu Lingxue.

They wouldn’t hesitate to strip away that reputation and bestow it upon someone else.

After all, what use was a genius who slipped out of their control?

One who could betray them at any moment.

Thus, Yu Qingyuan intended to extract the last bit of value from Yu Lingxue.

If she refused to obey, they would force her to submit. If she was unwilling to do something, they would make sure she accomplished it.

They would pluck out her claws, shatter her teeth, and finally strip away the only useful feathers she had, rendering her completely useless.

As it happened, the Yan family was full of madmen whether Yan Wenying or Yan Lanshen and they had no fear of being unable to control Yu Lingxue.

Besides, the benefits the Yan family offered were far too generous for Yu Qingyuan to even consider letting go.

Still if Yu Lingxue were to admit her mistakes and submit early, she might just get her way.

For instance, having the medicine returned to Yu Jian Xi.

But this marriage alliance was non-negotiable.

After all, the Yan family had specifically requested Yu Lingxue. Yu Qingyuan had inquired, but they refused to consider anyone else.

Yu Lingxue gazed at this sister of hers, whose blood relation was so distant it was almost negligible.

Yu Qingyuan simply smiled back at her, swirling the wine glass in her hand before continuing with her dinner.

“What must I do to have Yu Jian Xi’s medicine restored?” Yu Lingxue knew reasoning with this person was futile.

She had no choice but to play along.

After all, she possessed talent but held no real power.

“It’s simple. You already know the answer,” Yu Qingyuan replied nonchalantly, wiping her mouth after finishing the last piece of dessert.

“Marry into the Yan family, and I will return the medicine to her.” She looked at Yu Lingxue, her eyes curving into a smile.

“Your mother tried to send you a message, so we confiscated the medicine she had prepared in advance. Your sister only has fifty hours left.”

“If you refuse to comply by then.” Yu Qingyuan made a slicing motion across her neck.

“You understand, Yu Lingxue. You’re a doctor you have a responsibility to your patients, right?”

“If your patient dies because of you, can you continue to practice medicine?” Her smile was deceptively gentle, sending a chill down Yu Lingxue’s spine.

It was as if she had been thrown into an ice cellar, crying out in despair with no one coming to her rescue.

Instead, those drawn by her cries would only sit by the shore, warming themselves by a fire and mocking her.

“I agree,” Yu Lingxue said, her face pale, without further hesitation.

“But I have one condition.”

“Oh? Go on,” Yu Qingyuan replied, her mood exceptionally pleased.