Huo Tong called a doctor, and Mu Lishan was put through a series of examinations. By the time they were done, it was already eleven at night.

After chatting with Chongqing Forest earlier and seeing that she really had forgiven her, Huo Tong felt a lot more at ease.

After all, she’d only just managed to get this friend back. She didn’t want something like this to drive a wedge between them.

Not long after Mu Lishan returned to her hospital room, her parents rushed over as soon as they heard their daughter had woken up.

As soon as they entered, the beautiful woman hurried to Mu Lishan’s bedside, while the capable-looking middle-aged man remained by the door.

Mu’s mother still carried herself with elegant grace, but tears covered her beautiful face. Looking shaken and relieved, she hugged her daughter and sobbed uncontrollably.

Mu’s father looked formal and stern, but it was clear he’d hurried over. His dark blue suit was slightly rumpled, and he looked like he’d been through a long journey. He stood there with a tight expression, saying nothing.

Seeing the family reunited, Huo Tong knew it wasn’t her place to intrude. After briefly greeting Mu’s father, she pretended she had something to do and left.

… …

… …

Aside from feeling a little strange, Mu Lishan was fairly calm.

Her mother, on the other hand, clung to her and bawled her eyes out, leaving Mu Lishan at a bit of a loss.

But seeing that Huo Tong had given her some privacy, she let her mother vent all her fear and relief.

“All right, all right. You don’t have to keep hugging her. She’s awake, isn’t she? What’s with all this clinging?” Mu Hua stepped forward and reminded his wife.

“Right, right… As long as you’re awake. That’s all that matters.” Bai Zidan loosened her embrace, but still held Mu Lishan’s slender hand tightly. She said anxiously,

“Look how thin you’ve gotten… We’ll have to buy plenty of nourishing food when you get home. You can’t be left with any lasting health problems. You have no idea how worried I’ve been about you these past few days.”

“Mom, I only slept for two days. I’m not that fragile.”

Mu Lishan spoke softly to her mother, calm and natural, just as she usually did.

To her, her mother, Bai Zidan, was still the same as before she’d crossed over—not just in personality, but in appearance too. She didn’t feel the same sense of estrangement she did with Huo Tong.

“Xiao Shan, are you… still a little upset?” Bai Zidan noticed the way she’d addressed her and studied her daughter’s somewhat distant expression. She hesitated.

She remembered how shy her daughter used to be. Ever since she was little, she’d called her “Mommy”—even the day before she fell unconscious, when her family caught her dating behind their backs and they had a huge fight, she hadn’t changed the way she addressed her.

But now she’d called her “Mom” outright? Her tone wasn’t cold, but that usual cutesy lilt was completely gone. In its place was a crisp, no-nonsense way of speaking.

“Are you still angry with your father over that boy you like? It’s not that I won’t stand up for you this time…”

Bai Zidan grew worried again. She watched Mu Lishan’s confused gaze and tried to reason with her earnestly:

“You’re still so young. And that boy you like… How old is he, really? He’s already dyed his hair yellow and rides a motorcycle all over town. He’s always asking you for money, too. That’s bad enough, but if he tricks you into sleeping with him, then…”

As she spoke, Mu’s mother barely noticed her daughter’s eyes widening and her expression turning blank with confusion. She secretly glanced at her husband from the corner of her eye. Sure enough, Mu Hua’s face had gone dark as a thundercloud, so she cut herself off in time.

She knew Mu Hua still held a grudge over the night Mu Lishan had threatened to jump into the river for that delinquent boyfriend, making a scene in front of outsiders.

Mu Lishan hadn’t actually jumped. She’d suddenly passed out instead. But Mu Hua still hadn’t cooled down, and just seeing his daughter now was enough to make his anger flare.

“I was dating… a wannabe street racer? He was my boyfriend?” Mu Lishan’s expression slowly went blank. She pointed at herself, as if she couldn’t believe this version of her could have done something like that.

Motorcycles were one of her few hobbies. Of course she knew what a wannabe street racer was.

Hearing that, Mu Hua saw her still looking cold and showing no sign of remorse. He could barely keep his temper in check.

“If you weren’t dating him, then who was? Every time, all you do is cry and throw a fit or hurt yourself. Last time, you ran to the river and said you wanted to die. Now you’ve woken up and you’re playing dumb again. Isn’t it all for that so-called boyfriend of yours?”

Mu Hua faced Mu Lishan. Seeing how utterly unrepentant she looked, he remembered her threatening to jump into the river in front of a crowd at the bridge, and his anger only grew. He spoke in a low voice:

“Listen here, Mu Lishan. As long as I’m your father, it doesn’t matter that you passed out on that bridge this time. Even if you really had jumped, I still wouldn’t give in to you.”

The moment Bai Zidan heard that, her brows shot up and she snapped at Mu Hua:

“Mu Hua, what kind of thing is that to say?! Who talks to their own daughter like that? Keep spouting nonsense and I’ll make a scene, you hear me?!”

Mu Hua was promptly silenced. His mouth opened and closed several times, but he couldn’t bring himself to speak. At last, he let out a long sigh and paced around the room.

“You’re the one who spoils her! You insisted on pampering her when you were young, and now look what she’s become. If she inherits the family business someday, someone’s bound to swindle her!”

“You…” Bai Zidan was about to answer again, but Mu Lishan caught her by the shoulder. Then her daughter’s slightly cool voice came from beside her.

“Dad, this is a hospital. Even if you have a problem with me, please save it for when we get home.”

Mu Lishan lifted her beautiful eyes, as if they were veiled by clouds. Her expression and voice were calm. She’d more or less figured out what was going on.

“If this is about what happened, I promise I won’t have that kind of relationship with any man again.”

The original owner of this body wasn’t just unlike her. They were complete opposites.

Huo Tong had already told her to think about whether she’d done anything suicidal before she passed out.

Now it seemed she had. The original owner had been a girl blinded by love, fighting with her family and actually preparing to jump into the river.

Mu Lishan couldn’t understand it. At the very least, she could never bring herself to do something like that.

“…If you really felt that way, then what have you been doing all this time?” Mu Hua looked at his daughter’s emotionless expression and questioned her, skeptical and stern.

Bai Zidan was left speechless, apparently not having expected Mu Lishan to say something like that.

“You hate empty talk without action, don’t you? You can tell whether I mean it by what I do.”

Mu Lishan didn’t really care that they’d misunderstood her, but Mu Hua’s tone and domineering manner brought back a lot of unpleasant memories. She couldn’t help being a little stubborn in return.

“Besides, I say I’ll end it and you don’t believe me. If I keep seeing him, you won’t accept that either. So what exactly do you want me to do?”

“Xiao Shan, don’t get upset… You’ve only just woken up. We still have time to talk this through, so let’s not do this now.”

Bai Zidan thought her daughter was truly worked up. Remembering what her best friend had told her about how people acted before they lost their minds, she hurried to speak.

“…You want to know what I think? If you can delete everything related to that man right in front of me, I’ll believe you.”

Mu Hua furrowed his brow and let out a low breath. For some reason, his daughter’s calm rebuttal actually took some of the anger out of him.

“Hey, don’t provoke her, Mu Hua. Did you eat gunpowder today?!”

Bai Zidan turned and glared at her husband. When Mu Hua only sat there with a dark expression, she was about to speak again, but her daughter’s calm voice cut her off.

“How do I delete it?” Mu Lishan asked.

Mu Hua stared at her for a while, then took a pink-cased phone from his pocket and handed it over.

“You know what to do.”

Mu Lishan took the phone and opened the photo album. She glanced at a picture of the two of them together: the girl was grinning from ear to ear, while the guy had yellow Sonic-style hair and the cocky, immature look of a kid who hadn’t grown up yet. She couldn’t help sighing inwardly.

She’s hesitated after all. Mu Hua had expected as much from his daughter, he thought.

But the next moment, he froze.

The girl in front of him furrowed her brows and, without a moment’s hesitation, tapped once to delete the photo. Then she closed her beautiful eyes and rubbed her eyelids.

Mu Lishan handed the phone to Bai Zidan, who was staring in shock. She looked as uncomfortable as if she’d swallowed a fly.

“Mom, the phone has Baidu Cloud set to back up photos automatically. Could you help me delete them from there too?”

“Y-you used to hate me going through your phone, didn’t you?” Bai Zidan asked, utterly confused.

“It’s annoying to look at.”

Bai Zidan: ???