DLRC – Chapter 107 This Serious?

After successfully recruiting Song Xia to work at her Yu Ji Dessert Shop, half of Yu Wei’s burden instantly lifted.

Lately, most of the shop’s orders had been for custom cakes. Don’t underestimate those custom cake jobs — customers from several nearby blocks had all flooded in, keeping Yu Wei incredibly busy.

But everyone knew she was running the shop alone, so when placing orders, they’d usually book several days in advance. As a result, Yu Wei’s order schedule had already been lined up for the next week or two.

She had been planning to hire help for a few weeks now, but finding the right person wasn’t easy. Yu Wei’s chronic indecisiveness had delayed things until now.

Still, it turned out to be worth the wait — because now, she had Song Xia, who was not only skillful but also quick on the uptake.

The two had known each other for over half a year and were already familiar with each other’s personalities. Besides, Yu Wei had once helped Song Xia in a big way. So now that she was working in the shop, she threw herself into it with dedication, afraid others might think she was slacking off.

Not that Yu Wei was the kind of person to nitpick like that.

“All right, Sister Song, take a break now. You can bake that cake this afternoon.”

“It’s fine. It’s only eleven. Let me finish baking this one first.”

On her second day at work, Yu Wei had taught Song Xia to bake the simplest cakes and cookies. Song Xia often cooked at home for her two kids, so she picked up the baking techniques quickly.

Still, perhaps because she was new and a little tense, Song Xia couldn’t seem to stop once she started. If Yu Wei didn’t tell her to take a break, she’d just keep going.

Yu Wei could only sigh and take it one day at a time. Maybe with time, Song Xia would loosen up.

It was another ordinary day. Yu Wei was just getting home from work and had barely reached her front door when the door across the hall opened.

Huo Mingwang stepped out — but unlike usual, he was shirtless. He walked straight to the balcony to retrieve the shoes drying on the stand!

“Ah! Uncle Huo isn’t wearing any clothes!” Yu Hui shouted in surprise, quickly covering his eyes with his hands. But even through his fingers, he still managed to get a glimpse of Huo Mingwang’s lean, muscular torso.

If not for her son’s sharp eyes, Yu Wei honestly wouldn’t have noticed that man across the hall at all…

But now that she looked — wow.

Broad, solid shoulders, a slim waist, black casual pants sitting low on well-defined eight-pack abs — not an ounce of extra fat. In Yu Wei’s eyes, this was exactly the perfect male physique.

Caught completely off guard by this steaming-hot scene, Yu Wei involuntarily swallowed, her mind suddenly going blank.

Years of hard work in a northern mountain village had left Huo Mingwang with a naturally toned physique. Having abs was nothing surprising for him.

Besides, back when he and Yu Wei were married, this woman’s favorite nighttime habit was lying against his abs and praising them.

So he had always been a little self-conscious about his abs. Every morning at 6:30 sharp, he’d go for a run or exercise just to maintain the part of him Yu Wei used to love the most.

In the rugged environment of northern villages, it wasn’t unusual for men to go shirtless outdoors — Huo Mingwang never thought anything of it.

But later, at Yu Wei’s insistence — she didn’t want other women seeing his abs — he stopped going shirtless in public during summer.

Today was an exception. While drying off after a shower, he had heard mother and son approaching from outside. So he deliberately didn’t put on a shirt before stepping out.

The shoes were just an excuse — what he really wanted was for Yu Wei to see that his physique hadn’t changed one bit.

Sure enough, Huo Mingwang smirked. Whether Yu Wei had amnesia or not, her love for his abs… hadn’t changed at all.

Pleased with himself, he grabbed the shoes and headed in their direction. Yu Wei glanced around nervously, relieved no one else was around. But seeing him approach, she panicked, quickly fumbled for her keys, and dragged the still-stunned Yu Hui inside. Bang! The door slammed shut.

Successfully locking Huo Mingwang outside.

“What are you scared of? It’s not like you’ve never seen it before.” He chuckled and raised his hand to knock — then thought better of it and lowered it.

Inside, Yu Wei leaned against the door, letting out a deep breath. Her mind was still filled with images of those eight-pack abs bouncing around.

“No, no, no — that shameless man is playing dirty tricks!” she muttered. She absolutely would not fall for it!

…

By the third day of Song Xia working at the dessert shop, Yu Wei had already handed over all the simple, crowd-pleasing cakes and pastries. The more complex ones could wait.

Around lunchtime, Yu Wei planned to go home and cook, but as she stepped outside, she saw another grey sedan parked in front of the shop.

She didn’t even need to guess — it was him again.

She pushed her bike out from the back alley and stood beside the car. The window slowly rolled down.

“What are you doing here instead of eating lunch?”

Huo Mingwang, sitting in the front passenger seat, glanced into the rearview mirror. But before he could even turn his eyes back, a sharp, piercing scream erupted—

“AHHHHH—!”

Yu Wei jumped in shock. She peered in through the passenger-side window and saw a teenage girl — maybe seventeen or eighteen — sitting in the backseat. She was screaming inexplicably.

Her face was deathly pale, and she looked extremely thin and fragile. Sitting alone in the back, clutching her ears and screaming, the sound was so shrill it cut through everyone’s ears like a blade.

Yu Wei didn’t understand what was going on. Before she could ask, Huo Mingwang had already flung the door open and rushed to the backseat. Amidst the screams, he bent down and grabbed the girl’s wildly flailing arms.

“Mingxia!”

The girl continued to scream frantically. Even as Huo Mingwang held her and whispered soothing words, she didn’t calm down — her screams only grew louder.

Yu Wei suddenly remembered something. She quickly parked her bike and leaned over to look in through the back window.

The girl — Mingxia — was in complete emotional disarray, her face buried in Huo Mingwang’s chest. He was gently patting her bony back with a serious expression.

At some point, Yu Wei’s gaze met Huo Mingwang’s. His eyes were solemn, filled with something she couldn’t quite understand.

Her heart sank.

All those painful past events she had pieced together from Ge Zheng’s account suddenly flooded back.

Huo Mingwang’s younger sister, Mingxia — her condition had worsened because of Yu Wei.

The psychological trauma had never healed. Even six years later, the moment she saw Yu Wei again…

Her reaction was this intense.

Chen Liang, who was driving, was just as stunned as Yu Wei. He had no idea why the boss’s little sister was suddenly screaming like that.

He gripped the steering wheel, at a complete loss. Drive? Not drive?

“Boss!” he called anxiously, looking back. “What’s going on with Mingxia? Should I drive?”

Huo Mingwang looked up, glanced at Yu Wei’s tightly furrowed brows through the window, then turned to Chen Liang.

“Wait. Don’t drive yet.”

Chen Liang scratched his head, the girl’s pained whimpers making his scalp tingle.

Just then, Mingxia turned her head — and once again saw Yu Wei standing outside the car.

“AHHHHH—!!”

Another scream, even more intense than the last. Her whole body trembled, eyes bloodshot, fixated on Yu Wei.

Not only did she scream, but her body shook violently. Her almost transparent hands clung tightly to Huo Mingwang’s shirt, her head swaying desperately.

This time, Huo Mingwang had no choice. He looked down at his trembling sister and then locked eyes with Yu Wei.

“Chen Liang — drive!”

“Got it!”

The engine roared to life, and the car sped away in a cloud of dust.

The street went silent.

Yu Wei stood there frozen, staring after the rapidly disappearing car until all that remained was a haze of dust swirling in the air.

“Yu Wei! What’s going on? I thought I heard someone screaming just now?”

Song Xia came rushing out and found Yu Wei standing dazed at the side of the road, staring off into the distance.

“Yu Wei? Yu Wei?”

Song Xia poked her, finally snapping her out of it. Yu Wei numbly pushed her bike and started walking.

“Hey! Where are you going? Weren’t you heading home to cook? Why are you walking the wrong way?”

Song Xia called after her loudly. Yu Wei jolted back to her senses and turned around, changing direction.

The rest of the afternoon passed in restless unease. Yu Wei kept thinking that maybe she had underestimated how much harm the original “Yu Wei” had caused Huo Mingwang and his sister.

She’d had to learn about those painful events from someone else. And now, she had no idea how to handle the present.

But perhaps the most lost was Huo Mingwang himself. He had said he didn’t care about the past, that he wanted to move forward with her.

But now? Could he still believe that?

His sister — Mingxia — was so terrified of her, reacting with such an extreme stress response the moment she saw her.

“Yu Wei!”

The sound of a car horn startled her. She looked up and saw Huo Mingwang parked outside her dessert shop.

“Come with me!”

Yu Wei didn’t hesitate. She quickly called out to Song Xia in the kitchen that she had to step out, then hurriedly got into the car.

“Where… where are we going?” she panted, turning to look at him.

Huo Mingwang’s expression was grim as he started the car. “Put your seatbelt on.”

“Oh.” Yu Wei realized she hadn’t done that yet. She fumbled for a few seconds. “Okay, done!”

Just as she spoke, the car shot forward.

Yu Wei clutched her chest and turned to him, her voice tight with anxiety. “Your sister… Mingxia, how is she? Is she okay?”

Huo Mingwang stayed silent for a long moment — maybe two whole minutes — before finally glancing at her in the rearview mirror.

“Not okay,” he said, bluntly. “She’s been hospitalized.”

Thud. It felt like something crashed into Yu Wei’s skull. A chill ran from the top of her head all the way down her spine.

She felt cold. So, so cold.

From the soles of her feet to her thighs, from her fingers to her shoulders, from her nose to her heart — a deep, bone-chilling cold.

She had gone cold all over.

“She’s in the hospital? How… how could it be this serious…”