After seeing her colleague Lin Luxi off, Qin Jia hailed a taxi on the roadside.
The driver helped her put her suitcase away and asked with a smile, "Where are you going, young lady?"
Looking at the sycamore trees by the roadside, Qin Jia swallowed back the neighborhood address that was about to slip out. "Master, do you know where the nearest forest is?"
After spending the night on the cruise ship and being forced to deal with so many humans, she was exhausted, both physically and mentally. The thought of facing the original owner's family when she got back gave her an even bigger headache.
The driver, overhearing her say she wanted to go to the nearest forest, looked surprised and asked, "Girl, what are you going there for? To play or to see friends?"
The only place nearby that met her requirements was an undeveloped, barren mountain. Wild boars were often seen in that mountain, and locals rarely went there.
"Let's go have some fun," Qin Jia replied. "To relax."
The driver hesitated, "Miss, that place is very dangerous. Are you sure you want to go?"
"What's wrong with it?"
The driver glanced at her and said, "There are wild boars there; they can bite people if they go berserk."
"I suggest you go somewhere else to play."
Wild boar? Qin Jia looked down at her limbs. Her current body couldn't climb trees, and she wasn't sure if she could protect herself.
"Do you know of any other places suitable for someone to just sit and daydream? Could you recommend one?"
"There's a wetland park in the north of the city. The environment is quite nice, and there aren't many people. If you want to get close to nature, that's a good choice."
Qin Jia: "Okay, I'll go there. Could you please give me a ride?"
"No problem," the driver said with a smile.
Half an hour later, Qin Jia paid the fare and got off the bus, then strolled around the park with her suitcase.
As the driver said, the wetland park had a nice environment, fresh air, and was surrounded by greenery, giving Qin Jia the illusion of being home.
As she walked, she grew tired and found a bench to sit on. She put aside all her distractions and closed her eyes to meditate.
She imagined herself returning to her original form and going back to the Misty Forest.
It was late spring and early summer, and the locust trees were in bloom.
A gentle breeze blew by, and white petals fell in the direction of the wind, landing on her shoulder.
She raised her hairy, chubby hand, carefully removed the flower petal, placed it on her round belly, and lowered her head to admire it intently.
Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, warming her entire body.
She lay down on her back, sprawled out, gazing at the sky. The sunlight on her face gradually lulled her into sleep.
A gentle voice echoed in my mind: "The weather is so nice, it's perfect for sleeping."
"Good boy, have a good sleep. When you wake up, you can go home."
"Sleep well, sleep peacefully."
"..."
In my imagination, a gray-furred koala curled up in a ball, sleeping while hugging a round little tree trunk.
In reality, Qin Jia leaned against the bench and unknowingly drifted into a deep sleep.
-
As dusk settled in, the sky darkened.
Qin Family Villa.
In the living room, a richly dressed lady paced back and forth with her arms crossed, looking anxious.
The butler rushed back from outside, panting, and said, "Madam, we've found it."
"We've found the young lady!"
Upon hearing the news brought by the housekeeper, Shen Yushu stopped and leaned on the sofa chair next to her, letting out a long sigh of relief. "It's good that they found it."
After saying that, she glanced towards the door, but no one came in for a long time. She frowned suspiciously and asked the housekeeper, "Where is Jiajia? Why won't she come back?"
"No." Butler Sun waved his hand, gesturing as he caught his breath, "Miss has been unconscious, and the search and rescue team took her to the hospital."
Shen Yushu's heart, which had just settled, jumped again. "Is the situation serious? Which hospital were they taken to?"
Butler Sun: "Central Hospital."
Shen Yushu: "Prepare the car."
Butler Sun hesitated, then asked, "Madam, would you like to change your clothes before you go?"
Shen Yushu was stunned for a moment. She looked down at her outfit. She had just returned from a banquet and was still wearing a gorgeous dress, which was quite eye-catching.
As Shen Yushu took out her earrings, she went upstairs. "Old Sun, you go and get ready. I'll be right there."
Butler Sun: "Okay."
-
In the hospital ward, the stark white lights and the smell of disinfectant woke Qin Jia from her sleep.
She yawned and exchanged a glance with the female doctor who was about to examine her.
The doctor looked at her incredulously. "Ms. Qin, are you feeling unwell anywhere?"
Qin Jia stretched and rubbed his stomach sleepily, "It doesn't feel quite right here."
The doctor, wearing gloves, pressed on her stomach through her clothes. "Does it hurt here?"
Qin Jia lowered her eyes, tiny water droplets clinging to her eyelashes. She mumbled softly, "It doesn't hurt, but—"
The doctor lowered his voice, "Hmm?"
Qin Jia said awkwardly, "I'm hungry."
The doctor released her and straightened up slightly. "Have you had lunch?"
Noon? Qin Jia turned her head and looked out the window at the sky.
It was already dark.
As consciousness gradually returned, Qin Jia blinked and asked the doctor in front of her, "What time is it?"
"6:32." The doctor glanced at his watch, then looked up to observe her condition. "Ms. Qin, when did you start sleeping?"
Qin Jia wasn't sure when she fell asleep. Based on the time she disembarked, she estimated and replied, "Around 10:30 in the morning."
After saying that, she remembered that she had been meditating in the park, so how did she end up in the hospital when she opened her eyes again? What's even more absurd is that it was already dark!
"You slept for eight hours," the doctor said. "Ms. Qin, did you not sleep well last night?"
"Last night? It was alright." Qin Jia got out of bed. "Doctor, do you know where we can get some food?"
"I'm extremely hungry right now."
The doctor glanced at her and said, "Wait a moment, I'll have someone go buy you some food."
Qin Jia shook her head subconsciously, "Um, I don't eat, just give me some fresh leaves."
The doctor was taken aback. "Fresh leaves? Is it from a new bread brand?"
"No." Qin Jia pointed to the cedar trees outside, "like those, the leaves of the trees."
"Really?" she asked expectantly.
The doctor paused, trying to remain calm: "It might be possible, I'll go ask."
"There are cookies and candies in the cupboard. If you are really hungry, you can eat some to tide you over."
Qin Jia blinked. "Okay, thank you."
-
After the doctor left, Qin Jia opened the drawer next to the hospital bed and took out some soda crackers.
The cookies were sea salt flavored and very salty. She ate two and felt extremely salty, so she searched the room for water to drink.
After drinking the water, the saltiness in her mouth dissipated considerably. She breathed a sigh of relief, walked to the cabinet, and put the remaining cookies back untouched.
There were still some brightly packaged candies left in the cupboard. Her memory told her that candies can be sour or sweet, and she was afraid of making a mistake, so she didn't dare to eat them.
Qin Jia closed the cabinet door and was about to go back to bed when suddenly, a man with a white bandage wrapped around his head and a bruised face walked in from outside.
Qin Jia narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"
An Jun was surprised that Qin Jia pretended not to recognize him. He suppressed his anger and scoffed, "What? You don't even recognize me after just one night?"
Qin Jia steadied herself before realizing that the person who had come was her boss, An Jun.
"Weren't you taken away and detained by the police?" she asked, puzzled. "How did you end up here?"
An Jun raised his eyebrows smugly, casually pulled over a chair, sat down casually, sneered, and said, "What do you think? I have connections, that's all."
"The security team did find a video of me pouring medicine into your cup, but the fact that you beat me up like this means the medicine was ineffective. As long as I don't admit to having malicious intent, they can't do anything to me."
"As for the doctor on the ship, my godfather has already had someone warn her that she will not testify for you."
"Since there is no actual damage, there is a lot of room for maneuver."
An Jun rattled off a whole bunch of things, but Qin Jia listened indifferently and replied indifferently, "So what?"
The woman's nonchalant question caught An Jun completely off guard.
"So," he paused, "I advise you to be sensible and settle this privately, otherwise…"
"If I want to," An Jun threatened, "I can make it impossible for you to stay in Yucheng."
Seeing Qin Jia lower her head and remain silent, he assumed she was afraid and became increasingly smug.
"The jewelry industry is only so big. Unless you go abroad, a designer with a tainted reputation who was rejected by Zhenyuan will not be wanted anywhere."
"Miss Qin." An Jun paused for two seconds and tapped the back of the chair heavily with his finger. "I believe you can understand the implications of this."
After saying that, he stood up from his chair, beckoned the lawyer outside the door to come in, snatched the settlement agreement from the man's hand, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it.
Qin Jia heard the noise and looked over.
Seeing this, An Jun lifted his toes and then put them down again, laughing smugly, "What? Now you know fear?"
"When you were being so aggressive towards me last night, didn't you think about what the consequences would be if you offended me?"
He was determined to embarrass Qin Jia and wait for her to cry and beg for forgiveness.
However, as An Jun waited, he didn't see the woman crying her heart out. Instead, he saw her hugging a pillow and saying absentmindedly, "Why did you step on the paper?"
An Jun: "..."
An Jun felt like he'd punched a cotton ball; he twitched his lips, utterly speechless.
He'd practically run out of words, spewing a whole bunch of harsh threats; surely this woman didn't hear a single one?
"I was so hungry I was dizzy."
"What is it? Say it again?"
An Jun: "..."
He was too lazy to say anything more, so he let go of his foot, bent down to pick up the settlement agreement from the ground, and threw it on the bedside table.
He took a pen out of his pocket, pressed it on the paper, and said, "Sign the settlement agreement, and our feud will be wiped clean."
Qin Jia hugged her pillow and looked at him calmly, "What if I don't sign?"
"Not signing?" An Jun crossed his arms, looked down at her, and sneered, "You can just wait to starve to death."
"I've sent people to guard this place in shifts. Let's see who dares to bring you food!"
An Jun's words were firm and resolute. Just as he finished speaking, the door was pushed open, and a nurse pushed in a food cart.
An Jun blocked the doorway, preventing the nurse from entering.
He glanced back at Qin Jia smugly, his lips still curled in a smile, when he was slapped hard across the face, his vision blurring again.
"Who? Who hit me?!"
-
An Jun covered his face and looked up, unexpectedly meeting a pair of piercing eyes.
He looked closely and instantly lost his imposing manner. "Chairman Shen, what brings you here?"
Shen Yushu sneered, "If I hadn't come, my daughter would have starved to death."
"Daughter?" An Jun's expression changed drastically upon hearing this. He stepped aside to make way, supporting the lawyer beside him, his whole body trembling. "Your daughter wouldn't be..."
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
He had someone investigate Qin Jia's background before, and the information clearly stated...
However, if she were the daughter of the Qin family, with the combined strength of the Qin and Shen families, creating a fake identity document would be no problem at all.
Could it be that she really is...?
An Jun's heart leaped into his throat. He turned around shakily and stood in the corner, secretly observing the interaction between Shen Yushu and Qin Jia.
Hearing that the Qin family's daughter is not favored, if the rumors are true, then he might still have a glimmer of hope.
After all, he has the Lu family backing him up.
Who would offend the Lu family for the sake of a daughter they don't particularly like?
Beside the hospital bed, the nurse set up a small table and placed the fragrant food on it.
Qin Jia looked at the food in front of her, picked up her chopsticks, and began to eat heartily.
She didn't care about tasting the flavors; all she wanted to do at that moment was fill her stomach.
"Jiajia, eat slowly." Shen Yushu couldn't help but sigh. "No one's going to take it from you."
Hearing this, An Jun felt a little relieved. His daughter was so hungry, yet she still cared about her manners. It seemed that Shen Yushu was usually very strict with Qin Jia.
This kind of strict mother is likely to prioritize her own interests and won't impulsively take drastic measures against him.
Qin Jia wolfed down her food, finally filling her stomach. The nurse cleared away the dishes, and Qin Jia wiped her lips with a tissue, staring blankly at the woman beside her.
I just finished eating, and my brain is in a state of shutdown.
Before she could even look up the information, she blurted out, "Excuse me, who are you?"
Shen Yushu froze, noticing the unfamiliar look in her daughter's eyes, and tears instantly welled up in her eyes. "Jiajia, it's me, Mom! Don't you recognize me?"
She couldn't help but hug Qin Jia, apologizing again and again: "I'm sorry, it's all my fault, I'm the one who made you suffer."
"If I hadn't forced you to go to Zhenyuan to prove yourself, you wouldn't be like this now…"
Mother? Was she the original owner's mother?
Qin Jia murmured the word "Mom" repeatedly, her heart filled with sorrow.
She hadn't seen her mother for a very, very long time, so long that she could barely remember what her mother looked like.
And now, a woman descends from the sky, gives her a full meal, hugs her, apologizes again and again, and says to her, "You have suffered."
The emotions that had been suppressed in his heart for hundreds of years were released at this moment. Qin Jia could no longer hold back and hugged Shen Yushu, crying loudly.
The sounds of weeping echoed in the ward. An Jun completely broke down and secretly slipped out, his body pressed against the wall. He was stopped by a dark figure just before he reached the door.
He looked at the burly man in front of him and whispered, "Brother, please do me a favor."
Money is not a problem.
The bodyguard adjusted his sunglasses, took a step forward expressionlessly, easily pinned An Jun's hands behind his back, and twisted him inside.
An Jun was held down by the big man, and soon he collapsed to his knees due to exhaustion.
The crying inside the room gradually subsided. Shen Yushu wiped away her tears with a tissue and coldly looked at the person on the ground.
"An Jun, what medicine did you give my daughter? She doesn't even recognize me anymore!"
The man kept his head down, barely daring to breathe, the fabric of his clothes between his legs stained with water.
Shen Yushu rolled her eyes speechlessly, "Cowardly things, what bad luck."
"Drag him away, starve him for two days and two nights, and then hand him over to the police station."
"I'll talk to the Lu family. Anyone who dares to help him is going against me, Shen Yushu."