The moment An Bao heard Mu Yunyi say those words, the tears that had been brimming in her eyes finally spilled down her cheeks.
Large tears fell one by one, like beads from a broken string.
Mu Yunyi watched An Bao's tears, his heart clenching for no reason he could name, and found himself wanting to step forward and gather the little dumpling into his arms to soothe her properly.
But…
Cannot!
Who is she?
She was clearly a spy sent by those rival factions!
There's clearly an ulterior motive behind all this!
They just want to soften his heart!
Mu Yunyi felt nothing but irritation at that moment. He pressed his lips together, decided it was better not to look, and simply turned around and shut the door.
As the villa's front door swung shut, An Bao watched Mu Yunyi's silhouette fade away, bit by bit, through the narrowing gap.
When An Bao realized that Mu Yunyi truly wanted nothing more to do with her, her restrained, stifled sobs gave way to full-throated wailing.
A tiny little figure was pressed up against the door, pounding desperately on the villa's gate and crying in a babyish voice: "Big Uncle, Big Uncle! Wuu wuu wuu… An Bao was wrong, An Bao was wrong, Big Uncle please don't abandon An Bao, okay? Wuu wuu wuu! An Bao was wrong, please let An Bao in… wuu wuu wuu…"
The moment An Bao saw Mu Yunyi pull the door shut, she finally dragged herself up from the floor, flung herself against it, and beat her palms against the wood, sobbing and crying out.
Mu Yunyi heard that voice from afar. He pressed his lips together, his hands balled into fists at his sides, and steeled his heart against turning back.
Inside the villa.
Academician Chen paid no mind to the Mu family's domestic affairs, instead anxiously examining the young man's physical condition.
The brows that had been tightly knitted all along finally eased — for upon checking the youth's pulse, he found it had not merely steadied itself, but grown even stronger than before. An expression of disbelief crept across his face.
This……
How could this be possible?
Academician Chen's hands were trembling slightly.
Know that the illness afflicting this young man before you had been with him since birth—carried in his mother's womb from the very start.
From childhood, it was almost entirely thanks to him that this young man's life had been sustained.
These days, the young man's condition had been growing worse and worse. By Academician Chen's estimation, the boy had at most a month or so left — and then he would be gone.
It was also for this reason that Academician Chen had been traveling ceaselessly around the world these days, meeting with those titans of medicine to exchange ideas.
Yet… to little effect.
But at this very moment, one could tell from the young man's vital signs that, though he remained weak, he was far better off than before!
If before there had been barely a month left, then now, at least the better part of this year could pass in safety and peace! At least it had bought him some time as well!
Having worked this out, Academician Chen was already growing agitated. Watching Mu Yunyi return from outside, he hurried forward and grabbed Mu Yunyi's hand, his voice trembling: "Mr. Mu, that—that young girl, where is she?"
Mu Yunyi's brow furrowed slightly. Thinking the young man had not pulled through, he pressed his lips together and gave Academician Chen a respectful bow, his voice carrying a note of genuine remorse: "I apologize, Academician Chen. That girl is young and doesn't know the weight of her actions. But please rest assured — the Mu family will take full responsibility for this matter. Whatever this person may need from us in the future, we will do everything in our power to help."
As Mu Yunyi said this, it was plain that he had already fully extricated An Bao from the affair—and that he had made up his mind to shoulder it all on An Bao's behalf.
Hearing Mu Yunyi's assurance, Academician Chen was mildly taken aback.
For the sake of that little girl, the fact that the Mu family would go so far as to say such things was proof enough that her standing within the Mu family was far from low.
However…
"No, no, no—that's not it, Mr. Mu, you've misunderstood. I want to thank that little girl. That little girl saved this child's life!"
As Academician Chen said this, he couldn't help but let his eyes redden.
He was a physician, long accustomed to the sight of life and death. Yet faced with the possibility of losing the young man he had watched grow up since childhood, he still could not bring himself to accept it easily.
Now, that little girl had given him a glimpse of hope!
If just one session of acupuncture could already extend the young man's life, then what might a few more sessions accomplish?
Academician Chen could no longer contain his urgency as he seized Mu Yunyi's hand, his voice grave and earnest: "Mr. Mu, I implore you to ask that young lady to lend her aid and save this child! As long as she is willing to act, I, Chen Bingsheng, along with the entire Bai family, will most certainly repay her generously!"
Mu Yunyi was momentarily stunned, staring at Academician Chen in surprise. After a long moment, as though he had found his voice again, he asked: "You mean to say — she never harmed anyone?"
"Harm someone? No, no, no — it's all a misunderstanding! That young girl named An Bao not only saved you, Mr. Mu, but also saved Yansheng. She is truly a person of remarkable ability!"
Academician Chen was in truth somewhat astonished by An Bao's abilities; yet when he thought of the medicinal pill An Bao had fed to Mu Yunyi, his curiosity toward An Bao's master only deepened.
If An Bao could possess such abilities at so young an age, then what of An Bao's master?
Having reached Academician Chen's station in life, it was not as though he were unaware of those reclusive families' existence.
"Wasn't it you who saved me, Academician Chen?"
Mu Yunyi asked, somewhat astonished.
"No, that's not it…"
Mu Yunyi froze.
So, it was An Bao who saved him!
Not only that, just now An Bao was also saving this child of the Bai family?
It is…
Had he misunderstood that little dumpling all along?
*BOOM!*
A crack of thunder rang out, jolting Mu Yunyi awake. Instinctively, he turned his gaze toward the floor-to-ceiling window.
A torrential downpour crashed down all at once, leaving nothing outside but a drifting veil of white mist.
*Ding, ding, ding.*
Mu Yunyi pressed her lips together, unsure of what to do, when her phone rang. "Hello, Yang Li."
"BOSS! You're awake? I found it! I've found Miss Mu Yunyao's whereabouts!"
On the other end of the line, Yang Li grew more and more agitated as he spoke. He had never imagined that Mu Yunyao — whom he had spent so long searching for without a single trace — would simply appear before his eyes, just like that.
Yang Li unloaded every piece of information he had gathered onto Mu Yunyi all at once. When he finished and still got no response, he paused, bewildered. "Boss? Boss? Are you listening?"
Yang Li called out a few times in bewilderment, but got no response whatsoever from Mu Yunyi. Puzzled, he glanced down at his phone — the screen clearly showed the call was still connected……
But at this very moment, Mu Yunyi had already thrown all caution aside and burst out of the villa.
The icy rain drenched him in an instant, his shirt plastered flat against his skin.
"Boss, Miss Mu Yunyao gave birth to a baby girl at a remote rural clinic four and a half years ago."
Later, for reasons unknown, Miss Yunyao had the infant girl placed in the care of a Daoist temple out in the countryside.
"So, that little girl is Miss Yunyao's daughter — and your niece, Boss."
"Ah, no wonder she called the BOSS 'Uncle' that day! It seems she wasn't lying after all."
Yang Li's words kept surfacing in Mu Yunyi's mind, intertwining ceaselessly with the image of Little Milk Bun after being wrongfully accused—that look of fear and grievance, shifting and merging together without end.
She… was her own niece! Her younger sister's biological daughter!!
Mu Yunyi clenched his jaw, fingers curling tight until his nails pierced into his palm.
Him! What on earth did he do??
Mu Yunyi's eyes were red as he yanked open the villa door and rushed outside: "An Bao!!"
But outside the villa gate, not even a shadow of the little milk dumpling remained.