After returning home with the child, her ex-husband knelt down and gently coaxed her.

Hearing these words from a three-year-old child filled Li Chunfang with mixed feelings.

She carried a basin of freshly prepared medicinal bath water to the bedroom door and heard a soft sob.

The voice was very soft, gentle, and aggrieved.

She rushed over to check and saw that the person on the bed had their eyes closed and their brows furrowed, as if they were having a nightmare and looked to be in great pain.

She frowned and sobbed softly, calling out repeatedly in a low voice, "...Lu Xiyan, Lu Xiyan..."

Little Anxian climbed onto the bed and lay down close to her, her little arms wrapped around her neck. "Grandma, Mom keeps calling this person's name."

A profound sense of guilt welled up within Li Chunfang, and her eyes welled up with tears as she looked at the person on the bed with a persistent high fever.

Since returning to Jinghai, Anning has never mentioned anything about Xiao Lu in front of her, and she has even become a single mother and brought back a child with someone else.

Li Chunfang thought that in the past four years, she had moved on from that incident and that her relationship with Xiao Lu was now a thing of the past.

She hadn't expected that An Ning still cared about Xiao Lu.

She gently brushed the stray hairs from Anning's forehead. "Honey, once your fever breaks, let's go find Xiao Lu, okay?"

Seemingly sensing someone's touch, An Ning suddenly gripped her hand tightly, as if finding salvation, and whispered, "west Yan... I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry... please don't go..."

A tear slid down her cheek, and Li Chunfang felt extremely distressed.

The temperature of her hand was burning hot as she held it. Her eyes were red. "Daughter, let Mom wipe you down. Wiping your body will bring down your fever, and you won't feel so uncomfortable anymore."

Li Chunfang sat on the edge of the bed, wrung out a towel soaked in medicinal bath water, and wiped her body with moist eyes.

The towel landed in her burning palm. Li Chunfang noticed the bow tied on her wrist for easy wiping. She gently pulled the ribbon and took off the bow.

The ribbon slipped down her fair wrist, and Li Chunfang's gaze instinctively fell on it. The next moment, her expression changed and her eyes widened.

Several scars of varying depths ran across her fair and slender wrist, each one clearly visible, cutting through the veins in her wrist.

Li Chunfang's hand trembled, and her legs went weak, almost causing her to fall to the ground.

"What...what is this...?"

"Ah?" Her hand trembled as she grasped Anning's wrist, her voice shaking. "What is this, my dear? What... what happened?"

Xiao Anxian got up and looked at Li Chunfang with pleading eyes. "Mom was injured a long, long time ago. I secretly heard Uncle Xu say that Mom cut herself."

His eyes were clear yet bewildered. "Grandma, why did Mom cut herself?"

A naive remark struck Li Chunfang like a thunderbolt, leaving her utterly shocked.

She could hardly believe it and turned on the bedside lamp.

The clearly visible scars on her wrist stung her eyes, and Li Chunfang looked in disbelief at the person on the bed with their eyes closed.

She gripped Anning's hand tightly, then suddenly remembered something and hurriedly staggered to her feet, rummaging through a drawer in the bedroom to find several boxes of medicine.

She held it in her hand, unable to read the name of the medicine.

She had seen Anning eat it these past few days and even asked her what it was. She said it was a health supplement.

Li Chunfang hurriedly opened her phone to search, and when the words "severe depression, anxiety" popped up on the webpage, she was shocked and fell to the ground. She then propped herself up, covered her face, and staggered into the living room, bursting into tears.

She beat her chest and stamped her feet, weeping bitterly.

What kind of life has her daughter been living for the past four years?

The scars on his wrists are the result of how many times he had tried to die, even with the intention of dying!

"An Ning, you can live without love, but Yu Can can't survive without the Lu family's help!"

The words she had spoken to Anning four years ago still echoed in her ears when Li Chunfang suddenly raised her hand and slapped herself twice.

"I'm not human! I've let my daughter down!"

She clutched her chest and wailed, only now realizing that her selfish decision four years ago was to exchange her daughter's life for her son's!

They were so in love that making Anning leave Lu Xiyan was like taking Anning's life!

......

Anning woke up at night. The sky outside the window looked like it was soaking in an inkwell, pitch black.

It was as if she had a very long dream, with past scenes appearing one by one like fragments of a movie, causing her to struggle to wake up.

She opened her eyes and felt a stinging, swollen sensation in her eyes, and she had no strength left in her body.

A warm yellow light was on in the room, and the familiar ceiling was in sight.

She noticed something soft and close to her beside her, and turned her head slightly, giving a gentle smile.

Anxian, a tiny bundle, nestled close to her, sleeping soundly.

She moved her fingertips, and something grasped them. Looking down, she saw Li Chunfang holding her hand, dozing off by the bedside.

She let out a soft breath; her mother and Anxian were both beside her.

Li Chunfang was a light sleeper and immediately woke up at the slightest noise. She met An Ning's bright eyes and exclaimed with joy, "Thank God, she's finally awake."

"How long have I been asleep?" An Ning asked, her throat dry and hoarse.

All she remembered was that after Jiang Yao took her home from Longhu, a doctor came and examined her, saying she had caught a cold and had a fever, and then prescribed her some medicine.

She felt drowsy after taking the medicine and went to sleep.

I went to sleep in the afternoon, and now it's evening.

He must have slept for a few hours.

"A whole day and night." Li Chunfang looked at her pale face. "Girl, you slept for a whole day and night. It scared me to death."

"A whole day and night?" An Ning then realized it was already the evening of the second day. Li Chunfang looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes. She asked, "You stayed by my bedside for a whole day and night?"

"I'm fine. As long as you get better, it's worth it for Mom to stay by your side for a few days."

Li Chunfang brought her some warm water, saying, "Drink some water to soothe your throat."

Then he felt her forehead again. "Thank goodness, it was just a slight fever, but it's finally gone down."

An Ning sat up, picked up the water and sipped it slowly, the ribbon in the bow on her wrist fluttering in front of Li Chunfang's eyes.

She acted as if nothing had happened and casually asked, "Ningning, did you dream about Xiao Lu?"

An Ning's hands, which were holding the water, froze slightly. "Did I...talk nonsense?"

"You keep calling Xiao Lu's name." Li Chunfang looked up at her. "Tell me honestly, you still care about him, don't you?"

An Ning's eyes trembled slightly, and her already fair face turned very pale.

Having made her point clear, she looked at Li Chunfang, her eyes reddening, "How can someone you love to the core easily let go, and how can you forget them just because of time?"

Let alone four years, forty years, or even a lifetime, she could never erase Lu Xiyan from her heart.

"Ningning, go find him."

Li Chunfang tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said gently, "You and Xiao Lu are both unmarried, there's still time."

An Ning looked up at her in surprise. Li Chunfang smiled through her tears, "While Xiao Lu's engagement is still valid, go find him and make it clear to him that what happened back then was forced upon you by your mother. If he wants to blame someone, blame me, not you."