My sister, whom I raised, has turned evil after faking her death for three years.

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, casting a thin, golden band of light on the white wall of the ward.

When Jiang Ran woke up, she was still somewhat dazed.

She lay motionless on the bed, staring at the small, now-off nightlight on the ceiling, and it took her more than ten seconds to remember where she was... in the hospital.

Last night, an older woman brought her out of that place.

And then? Then she seemed to hear a soft, gentle sound, like someone humming a tune in her ear.

She also had a dream.

In her dream, she was held in someone's arms. The person's arms were very steady, and their body smelled clean. It wasn't a strong fragrance, but a faint scent, like a cotton quilt that had been sun-dried.

She leaned against that person's chest, her ear pressed against his chest, and could hear a steady, rhythmic heartbeat.

It was so warm, so warm that her bones felt weak, so warm that she wanted to shrink into that embrace.

She knew that must be her mother.

Not the woman who locked her on the balcony and burned her arm with cigarette butts, but the real mother she deserved.

She wanted to look up and see what her mother looked like, but the dream was shrouded in mist, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see her face clearly.

She only remembered that the embrace was warm, the voice was soft, and it felt like warm water supporting her whole body.

Jiang Ran slowly turned her head around.

The door to the ward was just pushed open.

The woman who climbed over the balcony yesterday came in, carrying two plastic bags.

She was wearing a light gray sweatshirt, her hair was casually tied back, and a few stray hairs fell down her side.

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The light that leaked through the curtains fell directly on her, illuminating half of her body.

Jiang Ran blinked. She suddenly felt like she had seen this scene somewhere before.

When Su Qing saw that she was awake, she paused for a moment, then walked in, placed the plastic bag on the bedside table, and sat down on the chair next to the bed.

"Awake? Perfect timing, eat it while it's hot."

She opened a bag, took out a container of congee, a tea egg, and a bag of steamed buns. "The doctor said your stomach function is weak right now, so you can't eat anything too greasy. Have some congee to tide you over first."

Jiang Ran didn't look at the food.

She stared at Su Qing's face.

To be precise, he was staring right under Su Qing's eyes.

There were two very obvious bluish-black lines hanging there, and the woman kept yawning, as if she hadn't slept much last night.

[Host, your dark circles have gotten even darker.]

The system's voice mechanically echoed in my mind again.

Su Qing replied in her mind, "Thanks for reminding me. I thought it had already disappeared."

The system did not respond.

Jiang Ran suddenly developed a fever in the middle of the night last night.

Her body temperature rose from normal to 39 degrees Celsius within half an hour, and then approached 40 degrees Celsius. She was burning up like a small charcoal, and her forehead was so hot that Su Qing frowned when she touched it.

Her breathing, which had just calmed down, became rapid and disordered again. Her small body tossed and turned in the blanket, making muffled, broken sounds, as if she were crying in her dream, begging someone not to leave.

Su Qing had just returned from buying coffee from a vending machine in the corridor when she opened the door and saw the numbers on the monitor flashing red.

She pressed the call button, and the nurse rushed over and gave her a fever-reducing injection. Before leaving, the nurse told her that the problem wasn't serious, but because she had been frightened and chilled, and her constitution was weak, her body temperature was prone to fluctuating. She should be closely monitored tonight.

After the nurse left, Su Qing didn't sit down again.

She pulled the chair to the bedside, picked up Jiang Ran along with the blanket, and let the little one lean against her.

The fever reducer took time to take effect, and Jiang Ran's muscles were tense. Her fingers unconsciously gripped Su Qing's collar, like a drowning person grabbing the only piece of driftwood.

Su Qing supported her back with one hand and patted her shoulder gently with the other, the rhythm being exactly the same as the lullaby she sang last night.

Then she started humming that song again.

Three hours later, Jiang Ran's body temperature finally dropped to 37.5 degrees Celsius, her breathing returned to normal, and her hand that was tightly gripping Su Qing's collar slowly loosened.

Su Qing carefully put her back on the bed, covered her with the blanket, and then sat back in the chair, closing her eyes and leaning back for a while.

The sky outside the window was beginning to lighten.

She didn't sleep all night.

Jiang Ran, of course, knew nothing about these things.

She just felt that this older sister looked very tired, a far cry from how energetic she was yesterday afternoon.

Her gaze lingered on Su Qing's dark circles for a moment before slowly shifting to the bowl of steaming white porridge on the bedside table.

"What are you looking at? Drink your porridge."

Su Qing pushed the porridge towards her, then yawned, "Can you drink it yourself? Or do you want me to feed you?"

Jiang Ran did not answer.

She was silent for a moment, then slowly and tentatively reached her hand out from under the covers to reach the bowl of porridge.

The movements were small and slow, as if they were ready to retreat at any moment.

Su Qing neither urged her nor helped her; she simply leaned back in her chair and watched.

Once Jiang Ran had finally managed to hold the bowl of porridge, she reached out and raised the small table that came with the hospital bed so that the little one could put the bowl on it.

Jiang Ran lowered her head and took a small sip of porridge.

Su Qing leaned back in her chair, took out her coffee from another plastic bag, opened the lid and took a sip. The cold coffee was sour and bitter. She frowned, but still swallowed it.

The system spoke in her mind: [Host, you slept for zero hours last night. Sleep deprivation leads to cognitive decline, weakened mood regulation, and—]

"Could you please shut up before I finish my coffee?"

[Yes, you can. But even if you finish drinking the coffee, these negative effects won't disappear.]

Su Qing didn't say anything, but tilted her head back and took another gulp.

Jiang Ran ate her porridge slowly but very carefully.

She held the plastic bowl in both hands, taking small sips to put the food in her mouth, holding each spoonful on her tongue for a while before swallowing.

Plain congee is plain congee. Su Qing bought it from the breakfast shop near the hospital. It wasn't very thick, and the rice grains were almost cooked through. Apart from a few chopped green onions sprinkled on top, there were no other ingredients added.

But the way Jiang Ran ate it made it seem like she was eating something extraordinary.

She kept her head down, her eyes fixed on the porridge in the bowl, scooping it up with a spoon, her rhythm so steady it was as if she was afraid someone would snatch the porridge away at any moment.

Occasionally, a grain of rice would stick to the corner of her mouth, and she would quickly stick out her tongue to lick it off. Then she would carefully glance at Su Qing to make sure that the other party did not show any dissatisfaction before continuing to eat.