Revival

The place where the two of them were standing was an office building. Behind it stood a sprawling warehouse, and through the floor-to-ceiling windows, they could see a few workers hauling goods in and out.

Inside, however, it was much quieter. As Yu Tiantian led the way upstairs, it felt as if the building had been deliberately cleared out; there wasn’t another soul along the route.

“Your memory still hasn’t come back?” Yu Tiantian asked casually.

Wei Yin walked half a step behind her and asked back, “Can’t you tell?”

“I can tell, but only partly. We haven’t seen each other in years, and your personality has changed a lot. Maybe our little Yin would fake it and play dumb now, too?”

Wei Yin said flatly, “Always assuming the worst of people. Living like that must be exhausting.”

Yu Tiantian paused, then suddenly burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that tears nearly came to her eyes. Only after she caught her breath did she say, “I take that back. You really haven’t changed at all. You’re still this naive. Little Yin, I told you before, when you go out and deal with other people, you have to consider how bad they can be at their worst. Don’t be stingy when it comes to imagining human malice.”

Wei Yin had the distinct feeling Yu Tiantian was insulting herself: “...Are you repenting for your mistakes?”

Yu Tiantian chided her with feigned annoyance, “Naughty.”

Wei Yin: ...So greasy.

Even so, she forced herself to say what needed saying. “So the reason you tricked me here is because I underestimated how bad you are?”

“How could a bad person admit that about herself?” Yu Tiantian walked up to a door. It had iris recognition, fingerprint, and voice locks; she went in first, then smiled and motioned for Wei Yin to follow. “Besides, I really didn’t do anything to you.”

Wei Yin looked left and right. There was no one else, and nothing else. The room was at the very end of the corridor.

The door was open, so most of the layout was visible from outside.

Inside was a huge pane of glass—whether it was glass or a screen, she couldn’t tell—but many researchers could be seen working busily behind it.

Other than that, it looked no different from any other reception room: coffee table, sofa, chandelier, refreshments, tea, and water.

After hesitating for two seconds, Wei Yin stepped inside.

The scent in the room was different from the corridor’s. It had been changed to a more luxurious fragrance, one even someone like Wei Yin, who knew nothing about such things, could tell was high-end.

“Your pheromone scent, if I remember right, is tequila,” Yu Tiantian said suddenly. “Hua Yu’s is agarwood after rain, Leran’s is diluted lily-of-the-valley perfume, and Xu Ya Qing’s is a special kind of Longjing tea. I heard that only Longjing grown in a certain mountain region can be brewed to that same fragrance. Her parents adore her; every year they order a batch of tea, and in the end they even spent a fortune leasing the entire mountain and all the tea farmers on it.”

Wei Yin sat down across from Yu Tiantian, glanced around the room, and let her eyes rest on the giant glass panel. “Hua Yu’s agarwood scent also needs specific humidity and age.”

“Right? Pheromones really are miraculous.”

Wei Yin wasn’t in the mood to trade roundabout remarks with her. She got straight to the point. “Can you tell me your real purpose now? What do you want? Or rather, what do you want me to do?”

“I’ve already been talking about the main issue,” Yu Tiantian said with a smile, motioning for her to look at the screen behind them. “Ever since glands appeared out of nowhere last century, research into glands and pheromones has never stopped. You should know academia is split into two camps over glands. The radical camp holds the ‘gland parasitism’ theory, while the conservative camp thinks the radicals are far too conservative. How could something as lovely as a gland be parasitic? At first, it coexists with humans; it only needs a tiny bit of the body’s nutrition, and in return it can provide limitless potential.”

Hua Yu had mentioned these theories to her before, and Wei Yin herself had gland disease, so she knew them inside out.

Wei Yin said, “So which camp are you on? What are you trying to do?”

“I’m a businesswoman; I stand wherever there’s business to be made,” Yu Tiantian said, leaning back. “Guess which project I ultimately chose?”

Wei Yin shook her head. “Can’t guess.”

A home-use gland detector, a heat-cycle relief device, a laser massager—Wei Yin only knew Xu Ya Qing had said the third one wouldn’t work. If Yu Tiantian believed Xu Ya Qing, then it probably wasn’t the third. If she didn’t...

“Hua Yu suggested I choose the first one. Home medical devices don’t require massive capital investment or immediate results; the barrier is low, and the profit isn’t bad either,” Yu Tiantian explained on her own. “The third one’s laser side effects are too hard to control; the risk is high, the difficulty is high, and the profit is mediocre.”

Wei Yin went, “Oh.” “So you chose the second one.”

Yu Tiantian looked a little surprised. “How did you guess?”

“Heh.” Wei Yin gave her no answer. “You called me here just to show me your research room?”

Selfish people were usually suspicious. Since the first and third options had both been mentioned, by Yu Tiantian’s personality, those two were the ones she wouldn’t touch.

Yu Tiantian didn’t press further. “That’s right, I chose the second one. Honestly, there wasn’t any other reason. I just wanted to catch up with you. After all, even if you don’t remember, there are many things I should thank you for. For example, if it weren’t for you, my cooperation with Hua Yu couldn’t have gone so smoothly.”

“There’s one thing I still firmly believe,” Wei Yin said, turning to Yu Tiantian with a blank expression. Her voice never rose very high, but every word landed like a nail; she had always been neither boastful nor vague. “I’m not afraid of losing anything if that thing could become leverage for you to threaten Hua Yu.”

Yu Tiantian shrugged. “All right, all right, it’s not just because of you. If you want to know, I’ll tell you now.”

Wei Yin’s eyes widened before she could stop herself. “You’d tell me?”

“Of course. The reason is very simple.” Yu Tiantian spread her hands. “Using your weak spot to force you into submission—those are all low-level methods. What I gave Hua Yu wasn’t just coercion; there was inducement too.”

Wei Yin’s brow jumped hard.

At Hua Yu’s stage in life, she lacked nothing in food or drink. She would never have to worry about making a living, and she had already found a career she was willing to devote her entire life to. Wei Yin couldn’t think of anything that could possibly succeed through inducement.

“I said coercion was just a minor trick, but I’m not promising I’ll give up those methods, either,” Yu Tiantian stressed again. “Little Yin, if there ever comes a day when you have nowhere to go, you’re welcome to come to me.”

The fragrance in the room seemed to have grown even stronger. It wasn’t unpleasant, but it was a little distracting.

Wei Yin withdrew her gaze and stared blankly at the screen without speaking.

Yu Tiantian sighed with genuine feeling. “I called you here today just to catch up. Little Yin, you have to believe me; I really did once sincerely want to help you.”

“Do you have anything else to say?” Wei Yin asked softly.

Yu Tiantian stretched. “Nope.”

Wei Yin stood and walked toward the door. “I don’t believe someone who’d splash mud on me at the drop of a hat ever had any sincerity toward me. You were right; never underestimate anyone. From now on, unless it’s necessary, let’s not meet again.”

The door wasn’t locked. Wei Yin went out by memory, all the way to the main entrance.

Passing the reception room, she saw no sign of Xu Ya Qing. Wei Yin took out her phone and was just about to make a call.

“Here.” Xu Ya Qing came over from beside the car, with Li Leran following her. “Did you finish talking?”

Wei Yin nodded. “Let’s go.”

Xu Ya Qing asked no more. She looked at Wei Yin for several seconds, and once she confirmed there was nothing unusual about her, she drove off.

On the way home, the car was very quiet.

The more Wei Yin thought about it, the more she felt she had overlooked something. Yu Tiantian had called her here and seemed to have said something, yet also nothing at all.

It couldn’t really have just been because she was a drunkard, could it? Wei Yin didn’t believe that for a second.

But then what had Yu Tiantian called her over for?

She had gone to such lengths, even going so far as to find black fans to smear Hua Yu’s image, block her career, and set so many obstacles in her path, all just to get her to come here once.

And yet on this trip they had barely discussed anything important. In fact, they’d only talked for a little over ten minutes. In such a short time, Wei Yin hadn’t gotten any critical information out of Yu Tiantian, whether it was something she was willing to reveal or not.

Wei Yin reflected for two seconds. If someone else had a hidden meaning in their words, even if she couldn’t catch it, she would at least feel that something was off; unless that person had never intended to tell her anything through conversation in the first place.

Then there was only one possibility: this trip had benefited Yu Tiantian.

But what benefit?

Using her to threaten Hua Yu? That method no longer worked, and Hua Yu now seemed to have reached some kind of understanding with Yu Tiantian.

Her thoughts were a tangled mess, and Wei Yin couldn’t figure out what Yu Tiantian had gained from her no matter how hard she tried.

Lost in thought, she stayed silent all the way, while Xu Ya Qing’s silence was because Li Leran was in the car.

The latter sat in the back seat, shooting Xu Ya Qing glances from time to time, as if she wanted to say something but held back.

“I’m not going back to the studio,” Wei Yin said. “Take me home.”

Xu Ya Qing said, “Okay. Li Leran, where are you going?”

“Wherever you go is where I go,” Li Leran glared at her. “I have something to say to you.”

Xu Ya Qing: ...

Wei Yin didn’t notice the strange atmosphere between the two. After parking, she got out on her own. Just as she was about to close the car door, something occurred to her. “Yu Tiantian didn’t say much. I’ll contact you after I sort my thoughts out.”

Xu Ya Qing was very emotionally intelligent, and extremely good at reading the room; she tipped her chin. “Okay, then see you tomorrow.”

Back home, Hua Yu’s slippers in the shoe cabinet were not in their usual place, while the loafers Wei Yin had worn out today were neatly arranged at the bottom.

“Dr. Hua is home!?” Wei Yin kicked off her shoes and hurried inside. “Hua Yu!”

She first wandered through the living room, then went to the kitchen looking for her, shouting “Hua Yu, Hua Yu, Dr. Hua” the whole time. As she passed the little turtle, she even asked it, “Where’s Dr. Hua?”

Hearing her voice, Hua Yu pushed open the bedroom door and laughed despite herself. “I’m resting.”

“Dr. Hua isn’t working overtime today? Oh, you’re resting, so am I bothering you? When you’re done resting, will you eat? Do you have any other plans? What are we having?”

Wei Yin’s questions tumbled out without any logic, but each one came faster than the last.

It matched the bright lift in her mood.

Hua Yu raised a hand and smoothed her hair, speaking softly. “No overtime. I’m not going to the hospital for the next few days.”

Wei Yin: O.O

“Really!? Why!” Wei Yin held herself back from jumping, grabbed the hand that had been patting her head, and shook it back and forth. “How many days are you staying home?”

“Until things settle down.” Hua Yu spoke quietly.

Wei Yin instantly went still. “...What happened?”

Hua Yu led her to the sofa and poured her a cup of hawthorn juice. They each held a cup and drank together.

Wei Yin looked tense. When Hua Yu pulled her down to sit, her whole body was stiff.

Hua Yu didn’t keep her worried for long. She explained what had happened with Wang Qiyao’s father, leaving out the part where her own blood had kept flowing.

“He hit you? Where are you hurt?”

Wei Yin instantly seized on the key point. She sprang up and pressed herself right up in front of Hua Yu, putting her hands all over her.

Before Hua Yu had even finished speaking, Wei Yin had already checked her from head to toe.

“I’m fine.” Hua Yu wasn’t ticklish. The way she looked at Wei Yin’s frantic hands was like she was looking at a mischievous little cat. After a long moment, she finally brushed away the hair blocking the side of her face and said with a restrained smile, “Just here. A little.”

Wei Yin froze, then immediately found the spot on Hua Yu’s exposed cheek.

“So red,” Wei Yin said when she found the injury, heart aching, and reached out with a finger. Halfway there she stopped, instinctively wanting to touch it and ask whether it hurt, but knowing she couldn’t touch a wound. Torn and distressed, she said, “The edges aren’t neat; that’s a laceration...”

“Just a small scrape.” Hua Yu caught Wei Yin’s hand and pressed it against her other cheek. “It didn’t tear.”

“Don’t treat nursing staff like they’re not doctors,” Wei Yin snapped in exasperation. “Did he have something in his hand? How did he hit you like this?”

Hua Yu smiled lightly. “You’re only a former nursing student. Don’t go falsely accusing the nurse.”

“I’m talking seriously,” Wei Yin said, so anxious that her fists clenched and trembled as she waved them. “The wound’s turned white!”

“It’s not that deep.” Hua Yu certainly couldn’t say the whitening was because the bleeding hadn’t stopped, making it look worse than it had at first; she could only answer calmly. “Think about it. If it were really serious, wouldn’t Yang Cha and the others have stitched me up?”

“How could you stitch the face?!” Wei Yin insisted.

Hua Yu lifted her brow faintly. The wound on the left side of her face sat in the middle of the line connecting her cheekbone and ear, tugging at the muscles involved in raising her brow. Her expression grew more composed, making her look steady and calm. “This doesn’t even need a tetanus shot; what do you think?”

The truth was that Hua Yu had been performing surgery for years, and her body already had enough tetanus antibodies. She didn’t need a booster.

Only then did Wei Yin quiet down. With red-rimmed eyes, she muttered, “How can there be people like that, hitting the doctor who treats them and saves their lives!”

“Mm, he’s stupid and rotten,” Hua Yu agreed with a smile.

Wei Yin couldn’t help feeling upset again; she was so distressed she almost reached out to ruffle Hua Yu’s hair.

“We’re not going to the hospital anymore; we’re not going.”

Hua Yu laughed softly. “Okay. I was already planning to take a few days off; I’ll just use them to keep you company.”

Wei Yin grumbled angrily. “If it’s because of something like this, I’d rather you didn’t have time to keep me company.”

Hua Yu comforted her in a low voice. “Look how mad my little housekeeper is getting. Don’t be mad, all right? I don’t even feel much anymore.”

Wei Yin sat beside Hua Yu, squeezing herself halfway into her lap, her chin resting on Hua Yu’s arm as she looked up at her; no, at her wound.

That pitiful, wary look made Hua Yu almost laugh. “You look like I’ve been disfigured.”

“Pah! Spit, spit, spit; don’t say that kind of thing!”

Hua Yu cooperated and “spit” twice, smiling. “Right. Someone likes to drool over my face, so I definitely can’t be disfigured.”

“I like you no matter what you look like,” Wei Yin defended in a small voice. “Though I am a tiny bit lustful.”

Lustful? She certainly knew herself. And she was rather honest about it, too. Hua Yu pinched her cheek, about to tease her a little, when her expression suddenly changed.

“What’s that smell?”

Wei Yin blinked. “Huh?”

Hua Yu pulled Wei Yin upright, turned her around, and looked at the back of her neck.

Wei Yin still didn’t understand and lifted a hand to feel it.

Her wrist was caught by Hua Yu’s hand, very fast, with considerable force.

“Don’t move.”

Hua Yu extended a finger and gently, very gently, brushed aside the hair at the nape of Wei Yin’s neck.

There it was: the gland lying against her cervical vertebrae, which just a few days ago had only been the size of a copper coin and slightly raised, was now suddenly engorged and swollen with blood.

Of course, that kind of swelling couldn’t exactly be called abnormal; healthy glands had a similar curve.

The gland had originally been pale, a sign of blood deficiency. Now it was flushed and rosy, looking plump and elastic. If some gland doctor who didn’t know Wei Yin at all were to inspect it visually, they would think it was normal.

But Wei Yin’s gland had not been like this a few days ago; no, it hadn’t been like this for years.

At the same time, that strange fragrance became even more obvious.

From faint and intermittent to real and present; from light to rich and elegant, gradually revealing the face of tequila.

Like a water pipe that had long been unused, suddenly turned on and releasing muddy liquid at first, needing time to run before clean water came through.

Wei Yin’s pheromone scent, along with the gland’s engorgement and swelling, was being reproduced bit by bit, completely and perfectly.

Wei Yin couldn’t help turning her head, and when she saw Hua Yu’s expression, she was startled.

At this very moment, Hua Yu’s face looked like a sky that had just passed through an entire rainy season.