these statements regarding 'i' and 'me' confused li s.h.i.+yu. he frowned slightly and began to ponder deeply about it.

“i'm tired. i want to go back to rest.” without waiting for s.h.i.+yu to answer her seemingly nonsensical question, ling lan turned towards luo chao and han xuya and smiled lightly. “i'm sorry for being so troublesome.”

“oh, oh, it's fine. it's fine.” han xuya was surprised by those words and didn't say anything else. although there were a bunch of questions she wanted to ask ling lan, she just calmly pushed ling lan back into her room.

luo chao looked towards li s.h.i.+yu, who was still in deep thought. her mouth moved, but in the end, she didn't make a sound. instead, she followed behind han xuya and went back with ling lan.

ding! ding! ding! a tune was suddenly played from li s.h.i.+yu's pocket.

hearing the tone, li s.h.i.+yu awakened from his deep ponderment. he looked around and realized that there was no one around him. he straightened the look on his face and reached his hand into his pocket. he took out a cell phone and took the call unconsciously.

“yes… who is this? you need something, elder brother?” li s.h.i.+yu, who was still daydreaming, heard a familiar voice and was instantly alert. hearing the voice, his expression instantly relaxed and even his eyes were filled with smiles.

“grandpa wants me to go back home? not interested.” li s.h.i.+yu's expression suddenly became cold before returning to being warm again. “elder brother, how is your body recently?”

“that's good that there's nothing wrong. when i have time, i will come and examine you,” li s.h.i.+yu said sternly. “if you feel something wrong with your body, you definitely have to contact me.”

“huh? i was thinking about something just now and was not in the right state of mind.” the person on the other side of the call seemed to have discovered li s.h.i.+yu's dazed state earlier. “it's actually nothing really. it's just that there is one thing that worries me.”

“yes, it's related to medicine somewhat, but could also have no connection to it at all. this thing is a bit… unexplainable.” li s.h.i.+yu didn't know how to explain it to the person on the other end of the call.

“it's not that i don't want to tell you elder brother… these things, it's… alright, alright, if you want to know then i'll tell you.” the person on the other end of the call seemed to be getting angry at li s.h.i.+yu. after numerous pestering, li s.h.i.+yu could only give up and tell everything that had happened to the person on the other end.

“yes, it's that girl. her condition is the same as yours. it's just that hers is worse than yours. she's almost near the point of death each day…” li s.h.i.+yu's expression was blank. the reason he stayed behind all those years ago was because of this. much of the reason why his brother had become better in the past 5 years was because li s.h.i.+yu had this live experimental subject, ling lan. she helped him eliminate the failed treatment methods and only left him with the ones that worked.

without the permanent damage caused by the failed methods and the side effects caused by the failed medicinal agents, her brother's condition became better and better. ling lan on the other hand, although he made sure to keep her alive, she was still being tormented by death everyday. at this stage, li s.h.i.+yu didn't know whether he was being grateful or hateful towards her.

“speak to her?” the suggestion given by the person on the other end of the call seemed to have surprised li s.h.i.+yu. “no, why do you need to tell her about your situation?”

“equivalent exchange?” li s.h.i.+yu's expression showed that he didn't understand. “my motive? is it that unbelievable?…but grandpa won't allow your situation to be exposed to the public.”

suddenly, li s.h.i.+yu laughed. “elder brother, you know me best. elder brother, you're right. trust should be the basic thing to have between people.”

“but, are we actually going to tell her everything about her father, mother and younger brother?”

“will she be able to handle it if we tell her?”

“alright, elder brother, i can't convince you. i will have a serious talk with her. i hope it can be just like you said. hopefully, she can give me an answer.” li s.h.i.+yu sighed and said, “otherwise, i will actually not be able to eat or sleep.”

li s.h.i.+yu arrived at ling lan's room. he knocked on the door and walked in after opening it.

ling lan was half lying in bed. han xuya and luo chao were sitting on the sides of the bed and were talking to her. after they saw him walk in, the fiery atmosphere instantly became ice cold.

in the past, they had always looked at him with warm looks in their eyes. now, those looks actually became somewhat cold.

but, these were his nurses, they should be standing with him. they were somehow unknowingly taken away by that girl and was now on her side. now, the two of them had somehow deemed him as an enemy.

“i want to talk to you,” li s.h.i.+yu took a deep breath and said slowly.

“talk about what?” ling lan raised her eyebrows.

“talk about why i'm here and why you're here,” li s.h.i.+yu covered two bases in one sentence.

ling lan smiled and nodded. li s.h.i.+yu had many questions for her, but she also had questions for him as well.

“five years ago, i coincidentally came here for a seminar, and while i was speaking with the director of the place about all types of conditions and diseases that were in the department. our conversation led us to speak about your condition.” li s.h.i.+yu reminisced about the past. “when i heard about your condition, i was shocked because i was very familiar with your condition.”

li s.h.i.+yu had a pained look on his face. seeing that look, ling lan closed her eyes slightly. it seemed that this world had perfectly duplicated everything of her friends. li lanfeng, oh, it should be li mulan, also existed in this world. then, it would perfectly explain why li s.h.i.+yu would take it upon himself to save her.

“so, i'm just a lab rat.” ling lan just deduced a bit of the information she had and knew what role she played in this world.

ling lan's words stunned li s.h.i.+yu to the core. he had only begun explaining and she had already guessed the truth.

“he's the most important person to you, right?” ling lan didn't find it strange. if the li lanfeng in the future could fool li s.h.i.+yu and make him do his bidding, then the li lanfeng of this world would also have this ability.

li s.h.i.+yu slowly calmed his shocked expression. he was originally still somewhat uncertain about the decision his elder brother made to publicize the information. now, he was convinced to do it.

in reality, he felt guilty for treating ling lan like this. now that he could speak about it, the burden in his heart was being lifted as he talked about it.

“yes, he is the most important person in my life. he is so important that even if i researched a few effective treatment plans, i wouldn't dare to use them as i wasn't 100% certain about them.” li s.h.i.+yu looked at ling lan intently and continued, “that day, when you suddenly had too great of an adverse reaction, you had even stopped breathing and your heart stopped beating, the nurse went to report to the department head in a panicked state, and the department head requested me to perform surgery on you. back then, i only wanted to make sure whether there was anyone else in this world who had the same condition as him.”

“then, you found me.” ling lan knew what happened afterwards. li s.h.i.+yu would definitely not give up such a perfect lab rat. he definitely wasted a herculean effort that day to drag her away from death's door.

“if i didn't do what i did, you would have actually died that day,” li s.h.i.+yu said sternly.

“okay, i understand,” replied ling lan. otherwise, she wouldn't have time traveled to the future and find her new family, friends and lover… ugh, lover should get in line. she'll have one eventually. ling lan cheered herself on. she didn't believe that she wouldn't be able to get a wife of her own.