"We're taking you out of school for one week," Mr. Liu states in his signature no-nonsense voice.
Yuying couldn't help but feel like a convict at a trial awaiting her verdict. Of course, she's guilty as always, even though she isn't even really sure what had happened and what she'd done wrong.
After all, as absurd as it sounded, she hadn't been the one in her own body. Yuying furrows as she dwells about this.
/If I hadn't been in my body.../
/Then who was...?/
/I haven't quite figured out this part yet.../
Just then, Mr. Liu clears his throat. Yuying immediately widens her eyes even though her father was simply clearing his throat. She forces herself out of her thoughts and back to reality.
"Are you even listening to me, Yuying?" he asks sternly, "Drop it, whatever it is that you're thinking about. You've caused enough trouble for us already."
The seriousness and straightforwardness which seemed to permanently tinged Mr. Liu's voice showed that he meant business, and that there was no use trying to argue against him.
Yuying instinctively hangs her head as she silently concedes defeat. After all, she knows there's no use even trying to defend herself. After all, she's Yuying, not Yuqing. The inferior younger daughter who's forever guilty of whatever she's being accused of so long as her parents decide that she is.
Yuying is always the one who receives the brunt of her parents' admonishments. She wonders if Yuqing had ever been on the end of it, only to realize she couldn't even bring up a single occasion that Mr. Liu had spoken to her older sister in that voice.
Like she said, Yuqing good, Yuying bad.
And so, instead of protesting that she's fine, that she could actually head back to her dorm right then and now (which she badly wanted to), Yuying decides to silently accept her verdict.
"Yes, Dad," Yuying mutters so softly that it's almost inaudible. Mrs. Liu lets out a slight huff at her younger daughter, as if to say "as you should, you silly, trouble-making girl".
"Nurse," Mr. Liu calls out towards the door, prompting Nurse Lee to come back inside. "We'll be taking Yuying back home now." he informs her.
"Alright," Nurse Lee nods as she scribbles something down on the clipboard that she's holding before looking up again. "We'll need you to sign some papers. This way, please."
And so, Nurse Lee leads Mr. Liu out of the room to sign the necessary documents for Yuying's discharge from the hospital. Mrs. Lou follows her husband out of the room.
"Yuqing," Mrs. Liu turns to Yuqing, a kind smile which reflects just how much she dotes on her elder daughter plastered onto her face. It's a kind of smile that Yuying has never received before.
Yuying couldn't help but be reminded of the way that the Empress smiled at Ming'er as she catches a glimpse of Mrs. Liu smiling at Yuqing.
Yuying hasn't quite put her finger on it, nor has she quite figured it out yet, but she has an inkling that there are parallels to be drawn between the strange ancient Chinese universe that she'd found herself in and her reality.
The fact that Yuqing and Liu Yuqi not only had similar-sounding names, but also looked similar and acted in a similar manner was enough to prove her theory.
"Don't worry, mom," Yuqing smiles back at her mother reassuringly. Her straight and pearly white teeth and her plump, pink lips gives her a perfect smile.
One that's full of reassurance, one that's ever so trustworthy and reliable, one that says, "you can always count on me."
Yuying could only dream to have a smile as perfect and pretty as that of Yuqing's. She could only dream whenever it came to being like Yuqing.
"I'll be sure to take care of her," Yuqing promises, her warm and demure voice full of sweetness and sincerity. "She's not going anywhere."
Mrs. Liu smiles back at Yuqing, visibly satisfied by her earnest response, before turning her head to follow her husband out of the door.
And so, just like that, Yuying and Yuqing were left alone together in the room.
Yuqing's face changes as soon as Mr. and Mrs. Liu walk out of the room.
As soon as their parents are out of the room, the sweet and concerned expression on Yuqing's face contorts into one of visible annoyance and frustration.
Typical Yuqing.
Yuying often finds herself wondering why Yuqing had decided to become a doctor. She'd be a perfect fit as an actress in the entertainment industry.
"Yuying," Yuqing sighs. Yuying couldn't help but be reminded of their parents' voice as her name rolls off her older sister's tongue. She seems to have taken after them in this aspect.
"How did you even end up falling down the stairs?" Yuqing asks exasperatedly, shaking her head disapprovingly as she seems to be trying to figure out how Yuying had done it. "And during a research assistantship of things!" she exclaims.
"I..." Yuying starts dumbly before she realizes that she has no idea what to say.
Then again, it isn't really her fault. After all, she really had no idea what had happened, and had absolutely no clue how she'd apparently been in the midst of her research assistantship.
"I..." Yuying gulps, before she finally decides on the most believable excuse that she could come up with at that moment.
"I tripped," Yuying states simply, avoiding Yuqing's eyes. "I tripped because I was carrying a stack of files in my hands."
"Yuying," Yuqing groans, "How many files could you possibly have been carrying for you to trip and fall down the stairs like that?"
Yuying is completely oblivious to the genuine concern laced in Yuqing's voice. All she hears is her elder sister being antagonistic towards her as always and putting the blame on her, just like how their parents had implied that she had her own clumsiness to blame.
"A lot," Yuying mumbles curtly, not really wanting to continue the conversation. She turns to the side and pulls her covers slightly over her head, hoping that Yuqing would get the message.
All Yuying wants at this moment is to dive under the covers and be alone with her thoughts.
After all, Yuying had yet to figure out what the entire strange ancient Chinese universe that she'd woke up in thing had been all about.
The whole thing felt like a fever dream.
Yuying is determined to get to the bottom of it. She'd realized that the one week that she would be spending at home wouldn't be so bad if she could figure everything out by the end of it.
If, of course. Besides, that was also provided that Yuying's family didn't drive her crazy, as they usually would.
Just as Yuqing opens her mouth to say something, Nurse Lee, Mr. Liu, and Mrs. Liu return from sorting out the necessary documents.
"Alright, Yuying," Nurse Lee chirps as she smiles at Yuying, who meekly pokes her head out from under the covers at the sound of her name. "You may change out of your hospital gown into a fresh set of clothes and leave."
And so, just like that, Yuying is gets discharged from the hospital. No one makes a single sound throughout the entire ride home.
There's a slightly uncomfortable and stifling tension in the air, but Yuying couldn't really be bothered to care about it anymore.
Yuying's too tired to deal with her family's shit any longer. Besides, there were more important issues that she'd yet to sort out at hand.
...
The first thing that Yuying does when they reach home is go straight to her room.
Yuying spends so much time in her dorm ever since she enrolled into university that she almost forgot where her room was when she stepped inside.
Then again, it was no surprise, considering that Yuying felt ten times more comfortable in her dorm room than at home.
It was only a natural thing to feel when you've spent your entire life being compared to your far more superior and better older sister.
"I'm going to my room," Yuying murmurs under her breath as she retreats into her room.
Yuying thankful that her family doesn't say anything as they simply go back to whatever they'd been doing (before they'd been so rudely interrupted by Yuying and her incompetence) and let her go.
Yuying shuts and locks the door behind her as soon as she's back in her room. It's plain and dull as compared to her dorm room.
It could be anyone's room, really. The room didn't scream 'Yuying', not in the way that her dorm room did.
Then again, it was no surprise, considering that Yuying had brought most of the things that had been in her room to her dorm room.
Besides, Yuying felt more at home in her dorm room than she did in her own room at home, which explained why she spent most of her time in her dorm room ever since she got it and nearly forgot her way to her own room when she'd stepped into the house for the first time in a while earlier.
Yuying walks over to her bed and sits down. It's slightly harder than she remembers, but she doesn't bother.
Yuying was about to dive right into the whole ancient Chinese universe fiasco when she suddenly remembers her phone.
Yuying realizes that she hadn't checked it all day even though Nurse Lee had passed back it to her just as she was leaving the hospital.
"Oh, right," Yuying murmurs under her breath, "My phone."
And so, Yuying fishes her phone out of her pocket and unlocks it.
As soon as Yuying turns on her WiFi, her phone phone starts blowing up with all sorts of notifications.