Chapter 204: Mother, My Stomach Hurts
Recalling the girl’s painful screams and her cruel and sharp words, if not for her misleading the group at the side, they would not have mistaken that girl so much. “Young Master Lu, we all support you and Miss Ning. After you return to the country, go to explain yourself to Miss Ning well. We were all misled by others. Miss Ning will definitely forgive you.”
Zhou Zhilei’s chest felt a fury of fire. Who were these people referencing? She gritted her teeth in anger. It was the first time in her life she felt her dignity being trampled underneath another’s feet. She was the granddaughter of the world’s winery king by blood. There were many who want to approach her and get her hand in marriage. But she had her heart set on loving Lu Shaoming only, and she has been in love with him for 26 years.
She worked hard to be a gentle daughter of a wealthy family. She lived a clean life until she was 26, and she had never allowed a man to touch her before. But when she wanted to give her body to him, he said she came out to “sell” herself. Ah, when Ning Qing did it, she could get away with it?
She was in the room next door. She could hear what was going on in their room. They were not the exaggerated shouts of a woman but the frail whining and cry of a girl. She did not know how he was being so cruel. The girl was screaming in pain… At the last moment, he could not control himself and let out a grunt. She found out for the first time that the man could also let out such a hoa.r.s.e s.e.xy sound. She was only listening to it, but she was blus.h.i.+ng in her face and her ears.
Why could he do it with Ning Qing? They ended in a rush half an hour later, compared to when she was in the villa with him for 3 or 4 days, when he did not even look at her in the eye for the entire duration. Now she accompanied him not knowing if she would come out alive or dead, but from start to finish, his eyes did not have her inside them, and she was still insulted by these lowly workers. How could she be willing to concede like that?
…
Ning Qing walked out the doors of the hotel. It was around 8 or 9 at night. The wind was chilling. She tightened her winter jacket quickly and tried to find herself a touch of warmth. She stood on the main road to hail a cab and went in to the vehicle, “Driver, bring me to the airport.” Yes, she was going to the airport, she wanted to return to China; she wanted to go home.
…
20 minutes later, the taxi stopped outside the airport. She got out of the car and walked into the airport. She was very lucky; there was a flight returning home in 10 minutes. She bought a ticket and used one hand to cup her hurting stomach. She stood in the main lounge to wait.
At this moment. “Hi, girl.” A handsome young man with a summery vibe came up to her, wanting to get to know her. Ning Qing did not have the interest to chat. She glanced sideways to smile at him kindly and lowered her gaze.
The man was unfazed. He pointed at Ning Qing’s pink winter jacket and asked her to look behind her. Ning Qing felt weird. She looked backwards and her pink winter coat was stained with some red at its edges. Ning Qing’s face went red. When her mind was in a blur just now, she did not know what to think. Now, feeling it more clearly, her bottom had a gush of hot liquid, and it seemed like her period had arrived. No wonder her stomach hurt; it was the drooping feeling that she feels on her period. Ning Qing could not tell if she was disappointed. She was not pregnant.
On the 30th day of the lunar year, she did not manage to retain his seed. Her perfect Lu Shaoming had now disappeared totally without a single trace. Because blood could not show on her black pants, it was only when she sat down that it stained her pink winter jacket. Ning Qing was embarra.s.sed. She looked at the departure time in a panic. She was in a foreign land that was alien to her. She was not clear with her directions. She did not know where she could go to quickly purchase a sanitary pad. The man saw her embarra.s.sment, and he turned to leave. He came back 2 minutes later, holding a packet of women’s sanitary napkins in his hands, and pa.s.sed them to her.
Ning Qing’s eyes brightened immediately. She did not think that in her trip to Finland, she would be the most excited over receiving a packet of sanitary napkins. When people were in desperate situations, it was really easy to be satisfied. “Thank you.” Ning Qing’s eyebrows curled up into a smile to thank him. The man shrugged his shoulders, meaning – It was barely any effort. Ning Qing looked at the signage indicating the toilet and she ran while waving to the man. This was the first time she felt warmth since she had come to Finland. She was really thankful. By the time she turned around, tears had already flooded her face.
…
When she flew back to the country, it was already the second night, and she returned back to the Ning Villa.
Yue Waning was in the kitchen preparing food. She wanted to go upstairs to ask Ning Zhenguo, who was in the study, to come down for dinner, but when she walked to the living room, she realized the doors of the villas were not closed; it was like someone had just come in.
“Is Qingqing back?” Yue Wanqing closed the door puzzled, and she walked towards Ning Qing’s room. Just as she expected: the door was not closed. There was a pet.i.te figure curled up on the bed. Yue Wanqing gently laughed and said, “Qingqing, what’s wrong with you? Why did you return without making a sound or even closing the door?” The person on the bed did not reply to her. Yue Wanqing went forward and extended her hand to tug the blanket that was covering the girl’s small face. “How old are you? How come you are still using the blanket to cover your head to sleep?” Yue Wanqing’s voice came to an end abruptly.
Ning Qing was curled up sideways on the bed. She was pet.i.te, and now she was like a small ball that could not be seen easily. Anyone who would look at her would feel pity for her. Yue Wanqing saw that her two small hands were cupped on her belly tightly. Her palm sized face was buried in the soft pillow. The hair beside her cheeks landed in front of her face to cover her entire face.
Yue Wanqing was shocked. She reached her hand out to tuck the hair over her daughter’s face behind her ears, revealing half of her gentle face. On her face, and her forehead, were beads of sweat. “Qingqing, Qingqing, what is happening to you?” Yue Wanqing’s eyes contracted severely. She touched her daughter’s small face and nervously asked her what was wrong.
Ning Qing heard her mother’s voice while she was in a blur. She stretched out her small hand to hold onto her mother’s warm hand and said so frailly that sounded like she was on the brink of tears, “Mother, my stomach hurts.”
Yue Wanqing immediately held onto Ning Qing’s small hand. “Qingqing, how come your hands are so cold? Tell Mum what happened; why does your stomach hurt? Mum will take you to the hospital.” Ning Qing hugged her mother’s hand and placed it on her cheek. She was just like a pitiful little pet that finally found a warm home. She pouted her white lips, slowly nudged onto the back of her mother’s hand, and said in a coy, girly tone, “Mother, my period is here, so my stomach hurts. I don’t need to go to the hospital.”
Ning Qing lightly closed her eyes. She did not dare say – she could not say. She could not tell her mother that she kicked by someone. She also could not tell her mother that she and Lu Shaoming…were too pa.s.sionate…
In the hotel room, she had already felt pain. She could not relax, and he probably felt that it was too thrilling. The first time was a little rushed, and the second time was then a start of an endless experience. Yue Wanqing frowned, and she said, “Qingqing, Mum will go prepare a hot water pack for you. Then I will go make some brown sugar water for you to drink. She laid in her mother’s embrace. Ning Qing sniffed that smell of brown sugar water and felt her gut empty; she felt like vomiting.
“Mother, I don’t want to drink this.” Ning Qing looked at her mum pitifully. “You cannot avoid it. Be good. Drink it while it is still hot. After you drink it, your stomach will not hurt anymore.” Yue Wanqing comforted her.
Ning Qing did not persist further, she held onto her mother’s hand, and had one small sip after another. Yue Wanqing looked at her own daughter’s adorable look. Her pink lips were lightly on the edges of the bowl, and she could tell that she did not enjoy drinking it. She drank it sip by sip very gracefully. Her long lashes, which were like two rows of b.u.t.terfly’s wings, landed down and had a touch that made others pity her and feel uncomfortable in their hearts.
Yue Wanqing felt something was weird and she asked, “Qingqing, didn’t you go to Europe to look for Shao Ming? Why? Did anything unhappy occur?” Ning Qing shook her head and said in a soft voice that was melodious to the ear, “Nothing, I have been having a good time with Shaoming, we are developing well. He brought me shopping and also brought me to enjoy a candle lit dinner.” After she drank the entire bowl of brown sugar water, Yue Wanqing placed Ning Qing gently on the bed. She sighed and said, “If this is the case, that’s very good. We also do not know when Shaoming will regain his memories. We can preserve and work hard for 1 or 2 years, but what if it takes 10 or 20 years? What would we do then?”
Yue Wanqing turned around and placed the bowl on the desk. Ning Qing shut her eyes and turned her body. Her body was facing the wall while she slept. She buried her small face into the pillow, and her tears flowed too fiercely; she could not control it. She used her pearly whites to bite down tightly on her lower lip and tried not to make a sound while she sobbed.
Yue Wanqing returned. She sat at the edge of the bed to pull the blanket over Ning Qing and said, “Qingqing, is your stomach feeling better now?” Ning Qing nodded her head hard and said, “Mother, I want to sleep.”
“Okay, you take a nap. I will go to the kitchen to cook some donkey hide glue glutinous rice porridge. After you wake up later, you can have some.” Ning Qing did not speak. She seemed exhausted and fell asleep. Yue Wanqing did not disturb her. She dimmed the lights and walked out.
…
After her mother left, Ning Qing finally allowed herself to let go of her lower lip. There was the sweet taste of blood in her mouth. She had bitten herself ’til she bled. The fishy taste of blood made her feel uncomfortable. She retched twice, but nothing came out. Her eyes were blurred by the tears that seemed to flood her face.
The scattered but rushed cries were too sudden. She choked twice, but she was afraid her mother would come in again. She balled her hand into a fist and brought it to her lips, then she bit it lightly. When would her Lu Shaoming come back? This was the first time she’d ever had a sliver of hopelessness in her heart. Her Lu Shaoming, did he know at all that at this moment, his small wifey whom he loved most was in a dark place with n.o.body else, and her sadness filled a river? Actually she missed him this much. To be honest, she was scared.
…
Yue Wanqing returned to Ning Qing’s room. The girl was really sleeping. She was dealing flights these past 3 or 4 days. She had no time to shut her eyes, and she was exhausted. “Qingqing.” Yue Wanqing lightly touched Ning Qing’s small shoulder. The girl sleepy girl turned over. Her face was very dry and did not have tears. Only her nose was red. Yue Wanqing felt her heart ache and she frowned; she knew her own daughter well. Since Lu Shaoming had lost his memory, she had slimmed down a lot.
Under her cheerful and bright demeanour, she did not want her family and friends to worry. If she was worried or stressed, she would secretly hide it away. Yue Wanqing saw the darkness below her daughter’s eyes. She did not wake her up in the end. She let her rest. When she was about to leave, she noticed that her daughter’s finger had a blood stain. She had a closer look. Her daughter was dressed in a black knitted top. The collar of the knitted top was big. She used her small hands to hold herself, and now the knitted top had a dried stain on the edge of the sleeve.
Yue Wanqing tried to lightly rolled the sleeves back up, but she could not do so. The yarn of the sleeve was stuck in the palm of her left hand. In her palm there was a damaged piece of flesh, like she had sustained an injury by some sort of bracing impact.