"It's okay," Lu Wanqing soothed softly.
She carefully raised her hand and placed it on top of Yu Nong's hand holding hers. She reassured him, "Don't be scared either. There's nothing that can't be overcome. If we figure out the truth, perhaps there will be a solution."
Yu Nong gripped her clothes tightly, his knuckles slightly protruding. He suddenly said, "I won't abandon Shushu."
Abandon?
Why would Yu Nong say such a thing?
Lu Wanqing's heart ached. It wasn't just for Yu Nong, but also for Shushu, her baby, who was so young. Why did she have to endure such hardships?
Lu Wanqing turned to look at little Yu Shu and met the child's frightened and uneasy gaze.
Lu Wanqing took a deep breath, forcing a smile, and reassured little Yu Shu, "Shushu, don't be afraid. Daddy loves you, Mommy loves you too. We will always love you and never abandon you."
"Mhm, mhm!" Little Yu Shu nodded eagerly. However, as soon as she finished speaking, tears began to fall.
She was still just a child. She didn't understand the truth of the matter, but she had vaguely understood that Daddy might abandon her. No, it wasn't Daddy abandoning her, but something was making Daddy abandon her. Sob, sob, sob.
Little Yu Shu finally cried. She couldn't help it. While crying, she raised her hands, trying to wipe away her tears. She still nodded at Mommy, bravely saying, "Mommy, don't worry about me. I won't be scared."
Lu Wanqing felt heartbroken and quickly went over to pick up little Yu Shu.
Holding Shushu, Lu Wanqing raised her hand to wipe the child's tears.
Yu Nong also came over, taking out a tissue to wipe Shushu's tears. His muffled voice comforted her, "Don't cry."
Little Yu Shu could no longer hold back. With a loud wail, she burst into tears.
Little Yu Shu had never cried so loudly. Her tears fell in large drops, and she couldn't control them.
Yu Nong quickly reached out to take Shushu.
Lu Wanqing glanced back at Madam Yu and then let go, allowing Yu Nong to hold Shushu.
With Yu Nong comforting Shushu, Lu Wanqing felt a little less worried. She turned and went upstairs.
Madam Yu entered the study on the second floor.
Lu Wanqing followed her in.
In the study, Lu Wanqing was surprised to see Madam Yu wiping the corner of her eye. Had Madam Yu… also shed tears?
Madam Yu wiped her tears so quickly that Lu Wanqing couldn't help but wonder if it was her imagination.
The next moment, Madam Yu turned her head to look at her.
Lu Wanqing's heart instantly tensed, feeling inexplicably nervous.
But soon, Lu Wanqing noticed that the coldness on Madam Yu's face had disappeared. In its place was a gentleness she had never seen before. No, she had seen it, in the videos Yu Nong had shown her.
In the videos of Yu Nong's childhood, Madam Yu was this gentle. At that time, Yu Nong's father, Madam Yu's husband, was still alive. The three of them stood together, a happy family.
"Miss Lu, you are a very good girl," Madam Yu said, her voice surprisingly gentle.
"In the past, I didn't mean to target you, but..."
Madam Yu slowly told Lu Wanqing a story. Ten years ago, before the accident, Madam Yu and Yu Nong's father were deeply in love. After they got married, they had a child, Yu Nong.
But all the beauty ended on that day ten years ago.
Yu Nong's father ten years ago was very much like Yu Nong now. He would take little Yu Nong to work at the academy every day.
However, it wasn't because there was no one to look after little Yu Nong at home, but because little Yu Nong had been naturally close to plants since birth. He loved plants very much. Yu Nong's father doted on his child, so he took little Yu Nong to his workplace to play every day.
The year of the accident happened to be the time for the election of the Dean of the Academy of Plant Sciences. There were three highly capable candidates at the time. One was Yu Nong's father, and the other was An Zhizhi's father.
Before that, Yu Nong's father and An Zhizhi's father were very good friends. Madam Yu and An Zhizhi's mother were also best friends. They often went out together, taking their children for outings in the mountains. They were very happy.
Perhaps their relationship was too good, or perhaps Madam Yu and Yu Nong's father were too naive at the time, so even though they were rivals in the election for dean, they didn't guard against each other.
At that time, Madam Yu and Yu Nong's father even joked, saying they would compete with their own abilities, and it didn't matter who became the dean in the end.
The mutated plant, Purple Orchid Vine, that caused the incident was brought over by a very young An Zhizhi. It was a small potted plant, like a child's toy.
An Zhizhi's father asked little An Zhizhi to give this plant to Yu Nong's father, saying it was a very interesting plant he had recently discovered. It was a species from ancient Earth, and it seemed to be a popular ornamental plant from ancient Earth, very beautiful.
However, they had only discovered the mutated variety at the time, so they wanted Yu Nong's father to research it and see if they could cultivate the ancient Earth gene of this mutated plant.
At the academy, successfully cultivating a plant species from ancient Earth that had gone extinct would be a great achievement, and Yu Nong's father's chances of winning the dean position would be even higher.
An Zhizhi's father even smiled and told Yu Nong's father at the time that if Yu Nong's father really managed to cultivate the ancient Earth gene of the Purple Orchid Vine, then the position of Dean of the Academy of Plant Sciences would definitely be Yu Nong's father's.
Madam Yu and Yu Nong's father were truly naive back then. They didn't think much of it. Anyway, for the sake of the dean position, cultivating any plant was the same. What was wrong with cultivating this Purple Orchid Vine?
Later, Yu Nong's father and little Yu Nong had an accident. Madam Yu received the news and rushed to save her husband and child, only to be affected herself. The virus released by the mutated Purple Orchid Vine rapidly entered her body, and she soon began to hallucinate.
Madam Yu fainted. When she woke up again, everyone told her that her husband, little Yu Nong's father, had died from the most severe viral infection from the mutated plant. Little Yu Nong was still in intensive care, unconscious.
The only thing that could save them was ancient Earth honeysuckle. But...
The ancient Earth honeysuckle had undergone complete mutation not long ago. The amount of medicine made from the existing honeysuckle was insufficient. Between her and little Yu Nong, how should this medicine be allocated?
If the medicine was prioritized for one person, the mutated plant virus in that person's body could be completely eliminated. However, the remaining medicine would not be enough to clear the virus from the other person's body, and the consequences would be unpredictable.
Madam Yu, without a second thought, told the doctor to prioritize the medicine for little Yu Nong, to clear the mutated plant virus from the child's body first.