DTTM 54

Chapter 54: I Swear I’ll Always Be Here

Zong Yanlei’s sleeping posture was indeed as he himself said: quiet and well-behaved, much better than that of the children, but it wasn’t exactly perfect. When I slept with the children, I wished the bed were bigger; but with him, the spacious bed seemed superfluous.

It was as if he had an “automatic separation trigger” device inside him; whenever my back left his chest, he would pull me back to his side.

The room was at a perfect temperature, neither too hot nor too cold under the covers, but as soon as he hugged me, the heat gradually built up, making it a little unbearable.

That entire night, my consciousness kept fluctuating between “so sleepy” and “so hot,” to the point that I could only drift in and out of light sleep, with chaotic dreams.

One moment I dreamt of being unable to sleep due to the pain in my right eye, rising from the snoring servants’ quarters in the middle of the night to stare at the moon above the courtyard; the next, I dreamt of that window in Zong Yanlei’s bedroom, always closed, curtains drawn to perfection, as seen from the garden. Then again, I dreamt of those meticulously cultivated flowers, which all fell apart after a rainstorm.

Countless images appeared and disappeared, finally settling on a dimly lit passageway.

I leaned against the wall, holding a bunch of white roses freshly cut from the flowerbed, their petals still glistening with morning dew. Since being relegated to the garden, this had become my only chance to get close to the master’s living area, to regularly replace the flowers throughout the mansion.

A low voice came from behind the wall separating the servants’ passageway.

“…Father has decided that we will get married in two months.” Chu Luo’s voice was as calm as a lake, without any ripples of joy or waves of resentment. She simply announced a predetermined arrangement.

At that time, only three months had passed since her eighteenth birthday. In Penglai, eighteen is the mark of adulthood and a signal that men and women were eligible to marry.

“Because he fears I might die.”

After a brief silence, Zong Yanlei spoke. His voice was much lower and hoarse than I remembered, and he spoke slowly, with obvious sarcasm: “You’re afraid I’ll die too.”

The reason why the King of Penglai and Zong Shen’an were so eager to arrange the marriage was simply because they were worried that if Zong Yanlei died, this carefully planned power alliance would fell apart, and the power structure they had painstakingly built would be in vain. Chu Luo’s attitude changed suddenly, and she no longer resisted the marriage with Zong Yanlei. This was also due to her obvious selfishness. She needed a husband in name only to prevent her child from becoming an illegitimate child that could not be seen in the light of day.

Everyone seemed quite concerned about Zong Yanlei’s life or death, yet also not so concerned.

“He’s just a bodyguard, is it worth taking such a big risk?”

“I didn’t do this for anyone else. I did it because it made me happy. When you love someone, you’ll understand how wonderful it would be to have a child with them.” Chu Luo’s tone remained gentle. “I’m sorry to marry you while pregnant with someone else’s child. But love can’t be forced, and I hope you can understand that.”

Whether he found the other person’s words amusing or for some other reason, Zong Yanlei chuckled briefly, his voice tinged with weariness: “This is your life. What does it matter whether I understand it or not? I will marry you and give your child a legitimate status. So, you don’t need to worry.”

Chu Luo remained silent and did not respond immediately.

“Heaven shouldn’t have treated you like this.” She finally spoke with just the right amount of regret.

Zong Yanlei remained silent.

I stood in the passageway, holding the bunch of white roses in my arms. My knuckles clenched slightly from the effort, yet I didn’t take a single step forward.

Chu Luo stayed a while longer before leaving. After she left, the bedroom returned to silence. When I walked out of the passageway, Zong Yanlei had already gone to bed again.

When he turned 19, his sleep became longer and longer, and he was hard to wake up once he fell asleep. So I would always change the flowers while he was asleep, so he wouldn’t see me and wouldn’t get angry and kick me out.

I placed the roses in the empty vase by the window, and the full bouquet instantly blossomed into a perfect hemisphere, exuding a rich, delicate fragrance. A red stain, I didn’t know when, appeared on the pure white petals. I stared at that petal for a moment, then reached out and plucked it before stuffing it into my pocket.

Zong Yanlei lay unconscious on the bed, a transparent oxygen mask covering his mouth and nose, the fine white mist flickering inside the mask with each breath. The ventilator beside the bed whirred rhythmically, its low sound particularly clear in the quiet bedroom.

I stood by the bed, looking down at him.

That face, usually adorned with arrogance and forbearance, was now as calm as a mask. The rise and fall of his chest was faint and shallow, as if it would disappear into the folds of the bedding if one were not careful.

I raised my hand to brush aside his somewhat long bangs, but my gaze fell upon my own palm, which was covered in tiny wounds. My movement stopped abruptly, and the next second, I changed direction to adjust the flow rate of his ventilator instead.

A few days later, Wuxi Li the chief press secretary of the royal family, personally announced the good news of Princess Chu Luo and Zong Yanlei’s upcoming wedding to the media.

“Have you heard? The princess is really going to marry into our family.”

“Young master is already like this, what’s the point of getting a wife? What good will she do?” the middle-aged woman said in a low voice. “Won’t this just harm the princess?”

“You don’t understand, this is called ‘chongxi,’ which means that the illness might be washed away by the happy event.”

“I doubt it.”

I suddenly stood up and appeared from behind the flower wall: “Auntie, stop talking, or Butler Li will hear you and whip you.”

“Oh, you little rascal, you scared me to death!”

“Are you trying to kill me? Did you do that on purpose?”

Two maids who were gossiping clutched their chests with frightened expressions.

Whether they were right or not, the joyous occasion seemed to have dispelled his illness, and Zong Yanlei’s spirits gradually improved. On sunny days, he could even be pushed around in the garden to bask in the sun and admire the flowers.

But even greater joy came from Bazel.

The sun was very bright that day, so bright that it was hard to open one’s eyes; it was a rare beautiful day. I had just finished drawing blood for Zong Yanlei for the next month, and the needle prick hadn’t even clotted yet when Bazel’s men opened the door and came in.

They said they had found a way to cure Zong Yanlei.

“What?” My mind went blank for a moment, and I couldn’t immediately understand the meaning of those words.

The other person gave a professional smile and added, “From now on, you won’t have to have your blood drawn anymore.”

He said this with a hint of schadenfreude, after all, it was the best possible outcome for a “blood pack.” But I only felt cold, a chill that even the warm spring sun couldn’t dispel. Because I suddenly realized that the last connection between me and Zong Yanlei was about to be completely severed.

I had lost my value.

Soon, my accommodations were adjusted again.

This time, Butler Li arranged for me to stay in a guest room alone. The room was clean and quiet, far from the area where the owners frequented. I no longer needed to do anything; I just needed to take my medication on time and cooperate with all the examinations.

Bazel’s doctor explained the treatment plan to me in detail: I need to take medication for a month, then undergo a bone marrow extraction surgery, and then have the bone marrow transplanted into Zong Yanlei’s body.

The other party explained that the medication I was taking had extremely strong side effects. If it entered Zong Yanlei’s nearly withered body directly, it would immediately cause the failure of all his organs. However, it would be different if I “filtered” it. It would gently rebuild Zong Yanlei’s immune system, allowing him to “be reborn.”

“The only problem is that you’ll have to bear these side effects now,” the doctor said with a sigh.

“It’s alright, it’s what I should do.” I said to him with a smile, fiddling with my fingers, which had healed but were still a little rough.

For the first few days, the side effects were relatively mild. Occasionally, I would experience cramping in my stomach, like being gently twisted by something. But before long, the pain began to become more frequent and persistent.

I lost my appetite more and more each day, and the sight of the food on my plate only made me feel nauseous. I forced myself to swallow, but often I would have to gag right after finishing eating.

Later, as soon as the pills slid into my mouth, my stomach churned. I didn’t even have time to swallow them completely before I vomited them up. The stomach acid corroded my throat, and my vision blurred. After each vomiting episode, I would sit at the sink for a while, rinse my mouth to remove the acidic taste, and then pour out a fresh dose from the bottle and swallow it again.

I threw up, then take it again.

Take it, then vomit it.

During that time, my world was compressed into just a few things, taking medicine, eating, vomiting, lying down, and waking up.

The cycle repeated itself day after day.

“Young Master wants to see you.” Finally, one day, this cycle was broken.

Butler Li personally escorted me to see Zong Yanlei. Along the way, he kept reminding me that during this crucial time, I must not let the young master get excited.

Before entering, I was disinfected all over. When I got inside, I found that Zong Yanlei’s bedroom had been completely renovated.

A transparent and narrow curtain divided the bedroom in two, with Zong Yanlei on one side and me on the other, effectively isolating him from any viruses or bacteria that might “contaminate” him.

“Young Master, you wanted to see me?”

The white figure leaning against the bed moved at the sound, seemingly waking from a nap.

“…Jiang Man?”

“It’s me.”

He abruptly removed the oxygen mask from his face and, without any beating around the bush, went straight to the point: “Bazel told me they could cure me, all they needed was a bone marrow transplant from you. I didn’t want to open my eyes to find myself with your organs transplanted again, so I refused. But my mother said that even if I die, I must have your bone marrow transplanted before I die.”

My throat tightened slightly, and my stomach felt heavy and uncomfortable. I pursed my lips and forced a smile, “This time, Bazel and Madam didn’t lie to you. It’s true that all it takes is for them to extract my bone marrow and transplant it to you to cure your illness. You don’t need to worry. Just like when you get a blood transfusion, you’ll wake up one morning and it will all be over.”

“I want to hear you say it to me in person, that you’re not lying to me this time.”

A bitter taste filled my mouth. I chuckled dryly and gave a definite answer: “I’m not lying to you this time.”

Zong Yanlei coughed twice, his words becoming increasingly labored: “Swear to me you’ll always be here.”

My smile gradually faded. I hesitated for a couple of seconds, and then raised my hand.

“I swear, I will always be here.” Through the transparent curtain, I stared at the blurry figure and made a solemn vow, “If I break this vow, may my skin be torn open and my blood flow like a river to pay for this statement today.”

***

Author’s Note

This treatment plan is something I made up.