It was Lin Haoxuan who replied to Jiang Meiling's question, defending Jiang Yuxue. "No, it's not. Yuxue got bitten by the man's dog, and when she warned him that the dog might be dangerous, he suddenly got angry."
Jiang Meiling's eyes swept to Jiang Yuxue's hand, to the place she had just rubbed. "Do you get bitten? Let me see."
Jiang Yuxue's pupils dilated, and she held the urge to take a step back when her eldest sister walked closer. Shaking her head, she explained quietly, "No, the dog just touched my arm. It felt sticky. So, the dog must have stepped on something dirty."
Facing the doubt in Jiang Meiling's eyes, she stared back with her watery, clear eyes. Pursing her lips, Jiang Meiling nodded and didn't pursue the matter further.
Lin Haoxuan cleared his throat, attracting Jiang Meiling's attention. The girl acknowledged him with a thin smile. "Xuan, you finally arrived here."
"Yeah, I was about to go to your grandma's house, but I chanced upon your sister here." The man scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
They continued to converse as if she, this third wheel, didn't exist at all. An annoyance was growing inside her heart, but she suppressed it. Wait, wasn't it the best time to go back to her grandma's home?
Those two can keep each other busy.
"I am going back," She told Jiang Meiling, and without waiting for her to respond, she walked away.
After walking around a hundred meters, her mouth twitched when she looked back. Jiang Meiling and Lin Haoxuan were walking some tens meters away behind her, obviously also heading toward Grandma's house.
Exasperation filled her.
What was Lin Haoxuan's role in the novel? He was the second male lead who hopelessly fell in love with Jiang Meiling. A friend she had saved before she returned to the Jiang family.
The friend of the female lead usually has an important background, especially since he was the second male lead and needed to compete with the male lead for the female lead's affection. Lin Haoxuan was the oldest son of the Lin family, the most influential family in this Moon Cloud city.
Based on Jiang Meiling's previous life, she also recognized him to be a powerful ability user. He was a team leader of his own. Thus, in this life after she was reborn, she wanted to recruit him. Before the Lin family took over the Moon Cloud city base, another family schemed against them, causing them to fall into a perilous situation.
Jiang Meiling's warning helped them to avoid this disaster, allowing them to survive while dividing the base power into two. In the future, the powerful team she built with Li Junzhe would help the Lin family to take over the base's power completely.
Lin Haoxuan had already liked Jiang Meiling since a long time ago, even before she knew Li Junzhe. Because of this, he felt like he deserved to be with her more than his rival.
What a dramatic love story. Jiang Yuxue clicked her tongue.
Then… she hissed. The faint throbbing in her hand made her extremely worried. She wouldn't turn into a zombie as soon as the apocalypse started, right?
With this development, she wasn't sure whether Jiang Meiling or Lin Haoxuan had gotten rid of their suspicion of her condition yet. If not, they might ask her to leave on her own.
"Where have you been?" Grandma stared at her with an unpleasant look on her face as soon as she saw her.
She stayed silent.
"Answer it if your elders ask you questions!" Her tone grew sharper.
"I was out shopping." Jiang Yuxue pursed her lips.
Her expression changed when she smelled something familiar on her hand; fishy, rotten, and unpleasant. She almost couldn't control her crumbling face.
"You didn't even eat breakfast. Anyone would think you have gotten kidnapped by someone!" Grandma berated her again, sighing deeply. It was as if she couldn't deal anymore with her troublesome personality.
However, her eyes were trained on the pair of figures not far from them. Jiang Meiling and Lin Haoxuan who had arrived at the gate. Her eyes lit up, and she ignored Jiang Yuxue.
Jiang Yuxue took this chance to bolt into her room. Her heart thumped ferociously against her chest. She was truly scared right now. Although she knew that she would eventually become a zombie again in this reincarnation. It was too soon.
Was it because she helped her parents to stock supplies?
She opened her arm that now had the color of purple black spreading, like a small blotch because of allergy. Running toward the bathroom, she desperately tried to wash her hand.
The smell of soap permeated the bathroom, dissipating any unpleasant scent. The cool water eased the burning feeling until it completely disappeared an hour later.
Still, Jiang Yuxue felt very uncomfortable right now. Because now it felt like the burning sensation spread all over her body, although it was more bearable. As if she was having a fever. She dragged her body to the bed. Somehow, the darkness managed to claim her…
When she woke up again, she found Grandma on her bedside with a worried look on her face.
"Ling'er, when is the doctor going to come again? Yuxue hasn't awoken–" her words stopped when she noticed that Jiang Yuxue had opened her eyes. She stood up and walked closer to her. Grandma's hand went to her forehead.
"Your fever finally subsided now." She let out a sigh of relief. "What did you eat outside? You got an allergy and even a fever."
She grumbled, but her hand still reached for the glass of water on the bedside table and handed it to Yuxue. "Can you sit on your own, or do you need a straw?"
After some round of nagging, she finally left the room. It was Jiang Yuxue alone now.
From the phone, she found out that it was nighttime the next day. She had been unconscious for over a day.
After thinking about it for a moment, she decided to call Su Wenxin. "Mom."
"Yu'er? Why haven't you slept yet? It's already quite late in the night." Su Wenxin's questioning voice came through the phone. "Is something bothering you or do you need anything? Tell Mom about it."
Jiang Yuxue pursed her lips. She really didn't know how to say it, but if she didn't say it now, she was afraid she would never get the chance. Soon, all signals would be cut off, and contacting anyone would be impossible.
"Mom, do you still remember the rings I gave you?" She began.
"Yes, the pair that you gave to me and your dad each, right? We are still wearing it until now. Don't worry," Su Wenxin said.
"You have to wear it all the time, alright, Mom? Tell Dad too." Jiang Yuxue started to say in her spoiled tone.
"Alright, alright…" Su Wenxin muttered to assure her daughter. Then, she shouted to Jiang Feng, who was possibly in the same room as her. He most likely was still busy; on his computer again and pulling another overtime to manage the company.
"Dad is in the room?"
"Yes, still busy with his computer as usual," Su Wenxin complained.
Jiang Yuxue pondered about it for a moment, then she told her. "Mom, tell Dad too. Please believe in me. Drop your blood on the ring…"
Su Wenxin cut her off, "Yu'er, have you been reading too many strange stories already?"