Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Xia Ruoxin held her daughter in her arms. Shen Wei had told her not to return to work until her wounds were completely healed. She had plenty of time to keep her daughter company.

She placed her chin on top of her daughter’s small head. When she lowered her head, a fog clouded her eyes. The smell of rain filled the air like the aftermath of a downpour.

Rainy finished her milk and hugged Xia Ruoxin’s elbow in content. It was delicious compared to rice paste. She blinked her long eyelashes and realized there’s a lollipop in front of her.

“Mommy, is this for me?” she asked her mother, unsure. Was she having a lollipop today?

“Yes. This is for you because you have been very obedient today. This is Mommy’s reward for you.” Xia Ruoxin put the lollipop in her daughter’s tiny hands and peeled off the wrapper for her. Rainy happily put the lollipop into her mouth.

With Dolly in one hand and the lollipop in the other, the child’s face broke into an innocent smile. When the nurses entered her ward, it made them smile, too. Rainy was especially happy today. To her, her mother was irreplaceable no matter how well or caring they were to her. They would never incomparable to a mother’s hug, her smile, or a word from her.

After she had put her daughter to bed, Xia Ruoxin hid in the washroom and applied medicine on herself. She undid her clothes and saw that there were more wounds on her body than on her face.

“Sss…”

Once medicine had been applied, she felt a burning sensation. It hurt.

She leaned against the wall in the washroom and bit her lip as she applied the medicine all over the wounds on her body. Rainy was not afraid of pain. Why wasn’t she as brave as her daughter?

When she finished applying the medication, she was drenched in sweat. She buttoned up her dress, hands shaking. Coincidentally, she ran into Rainy’s nurse on her way out.

“Miss Xia, your face…” The nurse’s mouth was agape with shock. Oh god, what has happened? Why was Little Beauty’s mom like this? Anyone could tell that she was beaten up.

“I’m fine. I bumped into something.” Xia Ruoxin reflected with a smile filled with awkwardness. She told the nurse she had knocked herself. Wasn’t she being too stupid? It was obviously a lie that she herself couldn’t believe.

Everyone said she was silly. They were right. She was silly, so much so that she couldn’t even believe herself. Let alone others.

“Oh, I see.” The nurse stopped asking.

Only after Xia Ruoxin left did she mutter to herself, “She was obviously beaten. There was even a handprint. Why would she say she knocked against something? Even if it was a knock, how could wound herself like this? I wonder what the nature of her profession is.”

She shook her head. Whatever profession she was working as was none of her business. She was just a bit curious.

Xia Ruoxin walked out. Her hand covered her face weakly. She had known that her face would cause such trouble. No matter. As the saying went, ‘the situation is already so bad that to make it worse makes no real difference’.

She returned to the ward and sat carefully by the bed. She put her hand gently on her daughter’s hair, but when she raised her hand, her eyes darkened. A lock of Rainy’s hair was twined around her fingers. With her shaking hand, she touched Rainy’s hair again carefully.