Chapter 305 - 303: The Ping Family’s Affairs

Chapter 305: Chapter 303: The Ping Family’s Affairs

"Thank you so much," Ping Jing said to Zhou Lian, a little sheepishly. This was purely a Ping Family affair. If he hadn’t been completely out of ideas, he never would have bothered Zhou Lian with it again.

Gently shaking her head, Zhou Lian didn’t want to say any more. Family ties were impossible to sever, yet a tangled mess to sort out. How could an outsider possibly intervene?

Looking at Ping Jing, Zhou Lian asked softly, "Big Brother, is everything all right? Have you been able to get things in order?"

"Everything’s fine. It’s just... did you and your husband plan this all along? Why was the handover to me so smooth?" Ping Jing asked, curious. Everything had gone too smoothly, too steadily.

Sighing and pressing a hand to her forehead in resignation, Zhou Lian turned to the Eldest Young Madam, puzzled. "What’s wrong with Big Brother?"

"There’s nothing wrong with him!" The Eldest Young Madam glanced at Ping Jing, then looked back at Zhou Lian and asked, "Actually, I’m curious too. Why was it so smooth?"

Zhou Lian looked up at the two of them, who genuinely didn’t understand. She glanced at Liu Shengnan and saw the same blank expression on her face. Taking a deep breath, Zhou Lian said through gritted teeth, "Most of the connections were established around the Ping Family. Everyone understands the original purpose. So now that the eldest son of the Ping Family is taking over, isn’t that the most logical outcome? Is there a better option?"

The expressions of the three shifted from confusion to dawning comprehension. Zhou Lian felt a headache coming on. ’Weren’t they raised in this kind of environment? How can they all be like naive little rabbits, unable to grasp such a simple, obvious principle? Was it Li Xiu and I who overcomplicated things, or is the situation itself just that complex?’ At this point, Zhou Lian herself wasn’t so sure anymore.

She studied the three of them for a moment, then gave a self-deprecating smile. ’Actually, it’s neither of those things. It’s people’s hearts that are too complex. Maybe this is the perfect chance—a chance for Li Xiu to break away from all this sordid business. We’re just kids from a farming family, after all. Getting mixed up in this top-tier circle was us overreaching. And look where our good intentions got us.’

’So be it,’ she thought. ’We were never on the same path. It’s better to realize this now than to get trapped deeper and deeper, only to be choked by thorns in the end.’ Smiling, Zhou Lian said to them softly, "My teacher, Professor Xiao, and her husband, Professor Fan, are here. They’re staying in the courtyard and won’t come over to this side, so don’t worry. They don’t know anything. I’m going to go back and spend some time with them."

Liu Shengnan watched Zhou Lian leave with a smile. She didn’t know why, but she had a persistent feeling that something was wrong, though she couldn’t put her finger on it. Seeing Zhou Lian outside the window, escorted by two or three people, she frowned but said nothing. What she didn’t know was that, at that moment, she had come dangerously close to losing the person who was most important to her, aside from Ping’an.

Dragging her heavy feet to the gatehouse, Zhou Lian saw Sister Fang standing under the covered walkway, watching her. She instantly felt tears welling in her eyes. She watched as Sister Fang strode over, as she helped her to the study, as she pressed a cup into her hands, and as she patted her hand before leaving. Blinking, her eyes stinging from the steam rising from the cup, Zhou Lian slowly came back to her senses.

After taking a small sip of water, Zhou Lian realized she was covered in a cold sweat. Yes, a cold sweat. It was only then that a wave of fear washed over her in hindsight. ’If I hadn’t felt so bad for Li Xiu... If Li Xiu didn’t dote on me and listen to whatever I said... If I hadn’t been so afraid of the hassle and pushed everything onto Ping Jing... If...’

She gave a bitter smile. ’Li Xiu and I are still too naive. We imagined this world and the people in it to be far too good. Our sincerity nearly became the very thorns that would have trapped us. If this had happened a few years later, or if we had waited until Ping’an was in power, what would have been waiting for me and Li Xiu then...?’

’When it came to Ping’an, Li Xiu’s sincerity was absolute, even greater than the affection he had for his own brothers, like Li Bao. He did it for that fated connection from a past life, and for the purest desire in his heart—he wanted to make the world a little better, for people to be a little simpler. He taught Ping’an that people’s hearts are unpredictable, taught him to never forget where he came from. But he forgot that, in the end, Ping’an is a member of the Ping Family. In the end, he grew up in that circle.’

She smiled self-deprecatingly. ’Li Xiu and I... we really started to think we were somebody important, didn’t we? We forgot that we’re just ordinary people. A little smarter, maybe, with good teachers to guide us, but we just aren’t wired for this. Li Xiu adores the free-spirited elegance of the Wei and Jin dynasties, and so do I. So why did we bother getting involved in matters we despise? We thought sincerity could beget sincerity, but it was all just wasted effort, coming to nothing.’

Sister Fang stood anxiously outside the window. ’Zhou Lian’s mood is off,’ she thought. ’Something’s been wrong ever since she came back from the garden. Did something happen?’

When Professor Xiao and Professor Fan came out of their room, they saw Sister Fang pacing back and forth outside Zhou Lian’s study. "What’s wrong?" Professor Xiao asked, curious. "It’s so cold out. Why are you standing here?"

Seeing Professor Xiao and Professor Fan was like finding her anchor. Sister Fang led them to the living room and described how Zhou Lian had looked when she returned from the garden. "I wanted to ask her what she wanted for lunch," she explained, looking troubled. "When I saw she wasn’t back yet, I waited for her by the covered walkway. She seemed upset, so I helped her to the study. By the time I finished cooking and went to call her to eat with you, I saw her in there just... thinking. She was completely silent. I didn’t know if I should disturb her."

Professor Xiao and Professor Fan exchanged a glance, then quickly rose and hurried to the study. Professor Xiao pushed open the door to find Zhou Lian slumped in the chair behind her desk, fast asleep. She let out a sigh of relief and called to her softly, but got no response. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

Sister Fang, who had followed them, rushed forward and tapped Zhou Lian gently on the shoulder. Still no response. She reached out and touched her forehead. The searing heat made Sister Fang’s hand recoil. She turned to Professor Xiao and Professor Fan and said, "She has a fever! She’s burning up!"

One look told Sister Fang that Zhou Lian was delirious from the fever and couldn’t be woken. She pulled the chair out of the way, squatted down, and piggybacked Zhou Lian to the bedroom. Professor Xiao helped steady them and place Zhou Lian onto the bed. Sister Fang knelt beside the bed, pulled off Zhou Lian’s outer clothes, and touched her back. It was ice-cold.

Taking a deep breath, Sister Fang pulled the blanket over her, then went to the doorway and shouted into the empty hall, "Someone get in here!"

"Sister Fang!"

"Go to Nuonuo Street and find the traditional Chinese medicine clinic. There’s a Doctor Wang there, in his sixties. Tell him to come to this courtyard—that the Li family’s daughter-in-law has a high fever. Bring him back as fast as you can!" Sister Fang watched the person hurry away.

Taking another deep breath, she returned to the room and pulled a change of clothes for Zhou Lian from the wardrobe. Seeing Professor Xiao wiping sweat from Zhou Lian’s forehead with a towel, she took it from her, quickly stripped off all of Zhou Lian’s damp clothes, dried her body with a large towel, and dressed her in a fresh set.

She turned to Professor Xiao. "Teacher Xiao, you and Mr. Fan should go eat. I’ve already cooked and left the food in the pot. You eat first, then you can come take my place."

Understanding Sister Fang’s intention, Professor Xiao nodded. She glanced at her student, whose face was flushed red with fever as she lay in bed, then went to get Professor Fan, who was still waiting in the study.