Chai Ying had walked a fair distance before Bai Mei Li had started to stir. The medicine that he had given her was quite good. It hadn't taken her too long to replenish she blood and Qi with the help of those high grade pills.
The core Qi that she'd used was another problem all together. She would have to slowly replenish that.
Chai Ying looked down at her as she began moving. When he realized that she would be waking up soon he stopped walk and put her down near a tree that she could lean against. He then took out a home made cigarette and lit it with a flint pack.
It wasn't like the cigarettes that he'd been use to back on earth. These were unfortunately way more healthy. That damn brat refused to make the nicotine that he wanted so badly.
Just remembering the rants that brat girl would go into when ever he asked could actually make him shutter. It was endlessly painful. That woman really had a talent for nagging.
She said she refused to bring such destructive things into this world that knew nothing about it. Even when he promised he'd keep it to himself she just simply refused to relent.
He sighed as he inhaled the healing smoke from the pretend cigarette.
"What a travesty…" He said after he inhaled once more then took the cigarette out and look at it in disgust. Well at least it allowed him to sort of continue his habit. It gave him a sense of relief that had always relaxed his anxiety and nerves.
He was leaning on another tree as he waited for Bai Mei Li to fully awaken. He couldn't help but reminisce a little about the past when he thought about smoking.
Whenever he went on a mission and it lasted for longer then he thought it would he'd smoke a cigarette before going inside his own home. Honestly he could never understand how a woman so small could have such a frightening temper.
He exhaled a puff of smoke as he thought about his wife fondly.
He could still remember when they'd first met. He'd caught sight of her the day he graduated from high school. The girl had still had two years to go… but it had been love at first sight.
There were plenty of people that didn't believe in such a thing. Hell he'd been one of them before he'd met her. But love at first sight was certainly a real thing. He knew that for a fact.
As soon as his eyes had met her's he'd been a goner.
The feeling wasn't something as cliché has time seemed to slow or some such nonsense. It was like… as soon as he saw her he just felt… comfortable. He felt at ease. Whenever he thought about her he would suddenly decide that making it to tomorrow wasn't such a daunting chore after all.
Even when he was on mission and he was seriously hurt. He only needed to think about her and he was sure he had the strength to make it back home.
When he found himself here… for the first few years the only thing that kept him going was his determination to make it back to Earth. He'd been in denial of not being able to get back to her for a very long time.
Even though he knew there was no way. After all he didn't even have a body anymore. There was no way his body had survived that explosion.
That woman… She'd surprisingly given him a child… a son. She'd raised him into a son he could be proud of. She'd even managed to keep his memory a live well enough for the son he never met to honor him with a charitable organization. What more could he ask for after death?
It's just that… she shouldn't of had to deal with that all by herself. He shouldn't of been so stubborn. She'd asked him to let it go… she'd said that she'd had a bad feeling… but he just wouldn't let it go…
He sighed again. "Ming'er…" he said softly through the smoke. He tried to tell himself time and time again that he wouldn't live in the past. That, that time was now over and he had to live in the present… to appreciate the second chance that he'd been given…
But how could he forget her? It had nothing to do with Bai Mei Li… in fact he was very grateful to her. If it weren't for her he would of gone through a whole other life no knowing he'd fathered a son… or how amazing that son had become. He was still a live too… It was great that he was living well.
He was just feeling unsatisfied that he hadn't had any meaningful part of getting him to that greatness. Honestly he'd never even considered being a father. Ming'er had been more than enough for him, but now that he knew of Ru'ers existence how could he not long to be apart of it?
He looked at the Bai Mei as she slowly started to come back.
He wasn't lying to himself when he said he was grateful to this woman. He didn't care about the lingering regrets that the knowledge had caused him. Knowing about his son and the fate of his beloved wife was more important than any sad feelings or guilt. He could live with that.
He felt like he owed this woman, and that damned snake wasn't enough.
*****
Bai Mei li watched as her class left. She was a professor of psychiatry at Peking university… although she only had time to teach one class every other semester. She owned an apartment in Beijing that she would stay at during the semester that she had classes. She liked to live in Wuhan the rest of the year to be close to her parents.
Today had been the last class of the year and she'd said an emotional good by to her students. This years students had turned out to be quite good. She was very pleased.
Every year the classes tended to start out the same. She get a bunch of students that were curious about her field. Psychiatry wasn't known nearly enough in China. There were still far too many stigmas. Because of this she would usually have a bunch of students that would show up out of intellectual curiosity. They would usually drop the class after sitting in a time or two,
Bai Mei Li had never been bothered about this. In fact she welcomed it. Even if they didn't stay in the class, she'd been given the rare opportunity to perhaps change some of the preconceptions people had about her field in her country. Young minds were always the most malleable after all.
If she could change their opinion then they would share their changed view with their family and friends.
This might mean that someone that truly needs help would take the initiative to seek the help that they may dearly need. That was the result that she was always after.
Because of that possibility she never turned away any student interested in sitting in on her lectures no matter how deep they might be in the semester.
This year in particular she'd found three excellent students. They were bold and ambitious. She'd decided to stay in contact with them and help to nurture them and keep them on the correct path to becoming excellent psychiatrists.
All three of them had asked to intern at her firm in Wuhan and she'd welcomed them with open arms.
She sighed happily as she looked about the empty class. Another year done.
"You must be very pleased with yourself." A cold voice came from the doorway.
The hairs on the back on her neck stood up. That voice.. although a bit different sounded way too familiar.
"Can I help you with anything?" She said. She maintained a calm voice although every alarm bell that she'd been born with was sounding all at once.
"Help? You don't help… you just go around fucking everything up." The voice said sarcastically. As though the person thought that it was some kind of joke that Bai Mei Li would even dare use the word 'help.'
The person finally decided to walk in.
The moment Bai Mei Li saw his face her pupils immediately constricted. She knew this face… or rather a face very similar to this one. His dark brown hair and green eyes were terrifyingly similar to that other person.
Bai Mei Li's heart dropped to the bottom of her stomach as he pulled in another person.
"Do you like horror movies Agent Bai?"
She steeled her heart and didn't look at the poor woman with the iron devices on her head, hands, and feet.
"I do actually. How about you?" She said with a relaxed and pleasant smile on her face. She was well aware that this woman's life was now in her hands, and she would no allow this victim to die because of a mistake she might make. Her mind was now fully on this situation.
Once she was done sending a S.O.S to her friend she swiftly hid her phone in the podium and walked away from it.
Her blouse and skirt clearly left no room for anything to be on her. She walked away and allowed him to see to give him a better sense of security… to help him stay calm.
"That's good… I'm relieved." He said with a small smile as he watched her come out from the behind the podium. At least she was smart enough not to make any moves. He'd planned this well. He intended to teach this bitch a lesson… then he would avenge his brother. It was all set in stone.
(Edited)