Yangyang woke from a nap feeling refreshed and clearheaded. She had never felt so comfortable before. Every pore in her body seemed to have opened, and the world before her eyes looked unusually crisp.
The others didn't know what her mother had been going through lately.
But of course she knew.
It was a textbook case of a cat getting stressed, a cat's fur standing on end, a cat protecting her kittens.
She knew what her mother was doing; she just couldn't accept that she, too, had become a target of that bristling fur.
But now everything was fine. Nothing was wrong anymore.
After all, she was her mother's most beloved good baby.
Yangyang stretched.
She had just lifted her little head when she happened to see her mother's haggard face. Her skin was so pale it had no hint of color, as if she had been enduring the strain of some enormous undertaking.
Her excitement instantly faded.
"Mommy." Yangyang gently nudged me.
In a daze, I slowly opened my eyes.
After a long while, I finally made out who was in front of me.
I took a few seconds to recover, then gathered the strength to speak, my voice faint as a thread.
"Mommy's fine. I've rested enough. Go play outside for a little while."
I knew what was wrong with me.
I'd been in a state of constant depletion, and my mind had long been on the verge of collapse. My body had grown so weak I could barely move. That was why, under stress, I'd lost my senses completely. I couldn't tell who was in front of me and had even mistaken Yangyang for an enemy.
Qing Ye came in carrying a nutritious meal.
"Yangyang, move aside. Your mother needs to eat."
"Okay."
Yangyang looked at her