A sudden chill ran down the backs of mother and sons. They turned to see Yu He standing there, having descended at some unknown point, watching them with a blank expression.
"Do I look that unhappy?" Yu He asked.
Cheng Lizhu and Ye Zi nodded repeatedly, "No," then quickly shook their heads, "Yes."
Ye Qichen: "..."
Yu He: "..."
The corners of her mouth turned up, and she managed a smile. "You're overthinking it. I'm fine."
After speaking, she poured herself a glass of water and went back upstairs.
Ye Qichen: "............"
Ye Zizheng: "..."
Cheng Lizhu: "...It seems like things are quite serious?"
...
Upstairs.
Yu He returned to her room and glanced at her WeChat message list. Qin Beiting's avatar was at the top, with a red dot on the upper right corner, indicating that she had muted this man's notifications.
Clicking into it, the latest message was from the day before yesterday.
[Baby, new avatar is nice. It would be even better if you changed it to this one.]
Below it was a photo of the two of them. She was squatting on the beach, looking up at Qin Beiting, their eyes meeting. It was one Chen Dong had taken for them earlier.
There were no further messages after the photo. He hadn't called her in the past two days either.
Qin Beiting must have also felt her deliberate distance and wasn't actively seeking her out anymore, right?
She tapped on the photo of the two of them, looked at it for a while, silently saved it to her phone album, turned off her phone, and flipped open the data recorded during the week's pharmaceutical preparations, ready to summarize.
A moment later, Yu He suddenly remembered that Qin Beiting had disappeared like this last time, not replying to her messages. When she received news, he had already been in trouble.
Could it be the same this time?
The moment she thought of Qin Beiting lying in the operating room, his face pale and bloodless, her heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, causing a pang of discomfort.
She couldn't help it, so she picked up her phone, wanting to call him directly. But she worried it might be too abrupt. Finally, she opened the WeChat chat box with Qin Beiting.
She typed and deleted, and for a while, she didn't know what to send him that would sound like a normal greeting.
Finally, after pondering for over ten minutes, she sent three words.
[Asleep?]
To her surprise, he replied instantly.
Qin Beiting: [Working overtime, something wrong?]
Qin Beiting: [Miss me?]
Yu He: "..."
She immediately tossed her phone aside.
It seemed she had been overthinking it. Qin Beiting simply didn't want to contact her actively anymore!
The next day.
Yu He arrived at Kaiwei Laboratory and worked for another day, finally producing the medicine for Qin Beiting.
With the remaining medicinal herbs, she researched some special effect medicines and took them back to the Ye family to try.
Coincidentally, it was Christmas Eve tonight.
Cheng Lizhu was pleasantly surprised that Yu He had prepared Christmas gifts for everyone. It seemed she had been overthinking yesterday.
"Hehe, thank you. I will take it well."
Ye Qichen held up the small glass bottle towards the crystal chandelier, admiring the black pills inside. "This is the most special Christmas gift I've received. Thank you, little sister!"
Old Mrs. Ye said aloud, "I don't know if it's poisonous," but then turned and placed the brocade box containing the pills into the safe in her room.
Ye Jianming directly popped a pill into his mouth. After swallowing, he said, "My stomach feels warm."
The servant girl, Xiao Cui, holding the brocade box in her hands, was very surprised. "I get one too? Thank you, Miss."
Ye Zizheng's eyes were fixed on Yu He as she handed out gifts to her family one by one. She even gave one to the servant girl, Xiao Cui. The last one should be mine!
He proudly walked up to Yu He, ready to receive his grand finale gift.
To his surprise, Yu He's hands were empty.
"Where's mine?" he asked wistfully. Da Feng Novel Network
Yu He glanced at him. "None."
"Why don't I have one?!" Ye Zizheng exploded. "On Christmas Eve, you gave everyone else a Christmas gift, but I don't have one?! Am I still your real brother?!"
Yu He: "..."
This really wasn't a Christmas gift!
"Haha, it seems you have no status in your sister's heart, not even as much as Aunt Cui," Ye Qichen teased with a smile.
Ye Zizheng, furious, said to Yu He, "I don't care, give me one immediately!"
"No," Yu He refused. "You're still growing, so it's not suitable for drug testing."
Ye Zizheng:?
Ye Qichen suddenly couldn't laugh anymore. "Drug, drug testing?"
Ye Jianming: ! ! ! !
Old Mrs. Ye: "You're treating us all like lab rats?"
"I've adjusted the data for the newly developed special effect pills targeting some minor ailments you have, reducing the side effects. Please provide me with feedback on your condition after taking them," Yu He explained.
Old Mrs. Ye had cardiovascular issues, Cheng Lizhu needed blood regulation, Ye Qichen had digestive problems, Ye Jianming had stomach issues and high blood pressure, and Xiao Cui had rheumatic joint problems.
These were all common ailments. Acupuncture could temporarily alleviate the pain, but a complete cure required medication.
However, medicine had its toxicity, so she had optimized the drug's toxicity based on their physical conditions to enhance absorption and metabolism.
Ye Jianming and the others breathed a sigh of relief after understanding.
Especially Old Mrs. Ye, who had personally witnessed President Xiang praising Yu He highly and even wanting to hire her with a million-dollar annual salary.
Unfortunately, Yu He wasn't interested. A million-dollar annual salary...
"Ah, this is truly a thoughtful gift. Sister, you're so considerate!" Ye Qichen exclaimed.
"So, you still didn't prepare a gift for me!" Ye Zizheng looked at Yu He with a mournful expression.
Yu He: "..."
She had explained it so clearly, why did he still think it was a gift?
She rummaged through her bag and took out a delicately wrapped pink gift. She couldn't recall who had given it to her, so she casually handed it to Ye Zizheng.
Ye Zizheng's eyes lit up. He mumbled, "You said you didn't have one," and excitedly unwrapped the gift. To his surprise, he found a note inside.
It read: "Classmate Yu He: Merry Christmas! Lu Chenyu."
Ye Zizheng: "..."
"You made your Christmas gifts for them yourself, but you're giving me a gift that someone else gave you! Who are you trying to humiliate?!"
He cursed and tore up the note.
Much better now.
Yu He: ".................."
The next day.
When Yu He woke up, she found a pile of gift boxes on her table, placed there at some unknown time.
She blinked in surprise, got out of bed, and picked up one of the gifts with a note attached.
[Little Sister: Merry Christmas!]
Although the remaining five gifts had no writing, she knew that everyone had quietly placed their gifts inside while she was asleep.
Yu He suddenly remembered the fairy tale her adoptive mother had told her on Christmas Eve when she was little:
"Santa Claus will knock and leave gifts at your bedside while you're asleep, and when you wake up the next day, you'll receive the gifts you want..."
A warm current suddenly surged through her heart, warming her.