SES Chapter 128

Chapter 128 

The sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard. Even Luo Ren couldn’t suppress a shiver in his chest. Mu Dai and Yan Hongsha instinctively took a step back, while Wan San, his scalp tingling, grabbed onto Luo Ren’s arm in fright.

Only Cao Yanhua stayed still. After a moment, he turned to Luo Ren with a trembling voice and asked, “Brother Luo… that dog just now—it looked right at me.”

The scene earlier had indeed been terrifying, but Cao Yanhua’s reaction almost made Luo Ren want to laugh.

How could he even explain it to him? It was like watching a 3D movie—everyone thinks the monster on screen is looking straight at them.

Luo Ren said patiently, “That dog wasn’t just looking at you. Everyone—”

He suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

Because behind them came the sound of a groan, followed by the creak of someone pushing themselves up from the bed.

Xiang Silan was awake.

No one knew why, but Mu Dai was the last to turn around. She stood a little farther back than the rest.

She heard Luo Ren ask, “You remember everything that happened, don’t you?”

Xiang Silan’s movements were slow and weak. She propped herself up on the bedframe, trying to sit, but every small motion made her chest flare with pain so intense it nearly stole her breath away.

She lay back down. Gone was the vicious, twisted expression from before—her eyes now carried a wary sharpness instead.

Her throat made a rough, gurgling sound as she mumbled, “Ni… Meng…”

Then she coughed hard, like trying to clear her throat, but all that came out were hoarse, broken sounds. The effort alone made her hiss in pain.

Luo Ren said quietly, “She’s not used to speaking yet. It’ll take her a couple of days to recover.”

Mu Dai’s chest was heaving. Without warning, she shoved Luo Ren aside and strode to the bedside.

She demanded, “Do you remember? Twenty years ago, you had a daughter. And you sent her to an orphanage, didn’t you?”

Xiang Silan froze. Her brows furrowed in suspicion as she studied Mu Dai’s face, uncertain.

Mu Dai said, “I know you can’t talk yet, or even nod. You only need to blink. Just tell me—yes or no.”

Xiang Silan didn’t respond. Mu Dai bit her lip, staring her down.

Luo Ren stepped forward and said softly, “Mu Dai, there’s no need to rush—”

But Mu Dai ignored him. “Is it really that hard to blink once?”

Xiang Silan’s lips twitched, forming a stiff, distorted smile. Then, slowly, she blinked.

Luo Ren sighed quietly.

Mu Dai, on the other hand, laughed.

She said, “Oh, so it’s true. Then let me tell you something—she died. She got sick and died in that orphanage.”

Luo Ren’s expression froze. Yan Hongsha blurted out, “Mu Dai, you’re not—”

Mu Dai didn’t let her finish. She turned and walked straight toward the door.

“Mu Dai!” Luo Ren called after her.

She didn’t look back. Her steps quickened. Luo Ren had no choice but to murmur to the others, “Stay here.”

He chased after her and spotted her frail figure weaving through the rice fields. The sound of her clothes brushing against the stalks made a soft, rustling noise.

“Mu Dai!” he called again.

This time, she stopped. Slowly, she turned around.

The wind lifted her long hair, a few strands catching on the drooping rice grains.

Luo Ren walked up to her and carefully freed her hair from the stalks.

Then he asked gently, “Did you remember something else?”

“I remembered why she sent me away.”

Luo Ren froze.

“Why?” he asked.

Mu Dai smiled faintly.

“She had a regular guest. He started being really nice to me—buying me candy, slipping me money, calling me ‘little one.’”

The night air wasn’t cold, but goosebumps prickled up Luo Ren’s arms.

Mu Dai’s gaze drifted past him, toward Xiang Silan’s dimly lit house in the distance.

She couldn’t even recall their faces anymore.

Those men would pat her head affectionately, press money into her small hands, tell her, ‘Go buy yourself some candy,’ and hold her close—no matter how much she hated it, no matter how much she squirmed away.

Her mother was always there, smiling. Sometimes she’d frown a little, but she never said anything. Never upset the guests.

Then came that morning.

That morning, Xiang Silan woke her up early. She sat her down at the little table with a bowl of rice porridge and, for once, a fried egg on the side—golden, oval, perfect.

Mu Dai had stolen glances at it between spoonfuls of porridge, her eyes darting up and down.

Until Xiang Silan said, “It’s for you.”

She’d been thrilled—snatched it up and devoured it, her little hands glistening with oil.

Afterward, her mother took her out, carrying a few freshly washed peaches.

Mu Dai had held her mother’s hand and asked, “Mom, where are we going?”

Xiang Silan said, “Somewhere where there are no bad uncles.”

End of Volume Four.