Chapter 3: Reborn
A warm hand was placed on Nie Qiu’s forehead, so gentle and comfortable that Nie Qiu couldn’t help but show an expression of enjoyment. She slowly opened her eyes, her previously lost gaze gradually becoming lively and spirited. Nie Qiu looked confusedly at the middle-aged woman in front of her, whose face was covered in tears and who was sobbing uncontrollably. Nie Qiu frowned and thought for a while, finally determining that she did not recognize this woman.
The middle-aged women she knew were either her university friends, wives of important political figures, or the mothers of her students. Each of them was either exceptionally elegant or exceptionally talented, or at the very least, adorned with jewelry and finery. The middle-aged woman before her was very thin, wearing a cheap, street stall floral short sleeve shirt and shorts made of the same material as the top, looking entirely like a peasant woman.
But undeniably, although Nie Qiu didn’t quite like the woman’s attire, she deeply cherished the caring look in her eyes, as if it were… the warmest place in the world.
Just as Nie Qiu was about to speak and ask, the middle-aged woman’s hand, which had been on Nie Qiu’s forehead, slowly moved down, caressing Nie Qiu’s cheek as she said intermittently, “It’s… it’s good that you’re alright… alright.”
After speaking, she lowered her head and wiped her face haphazardly with the front of her clothes, sniffled forcefully, and glared with bloodshot eyes, saying, “See if you dare to fight with others again! I’ve told you so many times, but you never learn! Those people inside are not to be trifled with. I sent you to a good school so you could study properly, not to get into fights!” After saying this, she raised her arm high and quickly swung it towards Nie Qiu’s shoulder.
Nie Qiu stared at this action, stunned for a moment, and could only stand there blankly, waiting to be hit.
However, just as the arm was about to hit Nie Qiu, it changed direction. With a ‘slap!’, the woman ended up hitting herself. Her left cheek quickly became red and swollen, making her already haggard face look even more unbearable. After giving Nie Qiu a deep look, the woman turned and walked out of the hospital room. That look of disappointment, as if she wished Nie Qiu had not failed her, caused Nie Qiu’s heart to ache.
But she was very confused as to how this woman could have appeared in her hospital room. Nie Qiu looked around and frowned. Regardless, the school should have sent her to a better hospital. Such facilities and equipment were nowhere near comparable to a good hospital. And she didn’t even have a caregiver! All of this felt strange. Nie Qiu thought hard for a long time but found no clues. The more she thought, the more her head hurt. Some colorful images flashed through her mind. She only felt a buzzing in her head. Nie Qiu painfully closed her eyes and covered her head with her hands, suppressing the urge to think about the images she had just seen. She began to take deep breaths, and as the pain gradually subsided, Nie Qiu let out a sigh and slowly opened her eyes. As her hand gradually slid down from her forehead, Nie Qiu’s body involuntarily tensed up again.
This… wasn’t her hand! Nie Qiu tremblingly raised her hands. They felt somewhat rough and yellowish, with thick calluses on her palms. There was still a layer of dirt under her fingernails, and the lines on her palms were also filled with a dirt-like substance. Most importantly… they were so small! Such small hands!
No, it should be said that compared to her previous hands, these hands were very small. They looked more like the size of her hands when she was thirteen or fourteen years old.
Nie Qiu tightly closed her eyes and then opened them again, looking at her hands once more. They hadn’t changed; this wasn’t an illusion! What… what was going on?
