They Chose Me—Then Got Rid of the Others

As consciousness naturally stirred awake, Chenlian opened her hazy sleepy eyes.
The first thing that came into view was Fuzi’s white short-sleeved T-shirt.
Fuzi was still holding Chenlian. Throughout the entire night, Fuzi had clung to Chenlian as if using her as a body pillow, holding her all the way until dawn.

Seeming to sense Chenlian’s movement, Fuzi, still holding Chenlian, pulled back her body which had been tightly pressed against Chenlian’s.
She looked into Chenlian’s fair face.
Chenlian also turned her purple pupils toward Fuzi.

In truth, Fuzi had already woken up a bit earlier. She had been waiting for Chenlian to wake up.
The reason for doing this was simply that she didn’t want Chenlian to feel lonely upon just waking up with no one by her side.
And it seemed she had made the right choice.

In fact, Chenlian was now showing a happy smile as she looked at Fuzi,
as if thanking Fuzi for always staying by her side, happy that the first face she saw in the morning was her mother’s.

Seeing Chenlian like this, Fuzi happily kissed Chenlian’s forehead.
Then she pulled herself and Chenlian up together into a sitting position.
Holding Chenlian’s soft, fair little face in both hands, Fuzi affectionately pressed her forehead against Chenlian’s, bringing her two large purple eyes extremely close.
With a smile, Fuzi asked with slight seriousness, “Does Chenlian like Mom?”

“Mm!”
Without even thinking, Chenlian affirmed this in her calm, clear voice.

Receiving Chenlian’s affirmation, Fuzi joyfully rubbed her cheek against Chenlian’s while laughing happily.
“Mom really likes you too~!”
Chenlian could be seen squinting slightly from Fuzi’s rubbing, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly, looking very happy.

“Come on, Chenlian! Time to go downstairs. Yuxuan might already be awake,”
Fuzi got out of bed herself and also pulled Chenlian out of bed.
Putting on their slippers, Fuzi took Chenlian’s hand and walked out of the room.

“But before that…”
Fuzi stopped in the hallway and turned to face Chenlian.

Chenlian, confused, tilted her head.
“Mom?”
With a puzzled expression, Chenlian asked in confusion.

“We should brush our teeth and wash our faces first,”
Fuzi said as she turned Chenlian around, then rested her chin on Chenlian’s shoulder and playfully pushed her toward the bathroom.

“This is Chenlian’s toothbrush and cup,”
Fuzi placed a pink glass with a toothbrush in it, which had been sitting on a shelf, on the sink in front of Chenlian.
Then Fuzi stood beside Chenlian, picked up her own transparent glass and toothbrush, and began washing up, while winking at Chenlian, who was staring at her with a lost expression.

So Chenlian followed suit, picked up the toothbrush, applied toothpaste, and began washing up.
There was no difficulty at all. It was as if something forgotten had suddenly been remembered—she picked it up easily.

Watching Chenlian wash up with a serious expression, Fuzi smiled.
‘She can do everyday things, it seems.’

After washing up, Fuzi wiped Chenlian’s face with a towel moistened with warm water.
Then she took Chenlian’s hand and walked to Fuzi’s own room.
Fuzi’s room was the third door on the right side of the hallway, while Chenlian’s room was the second—right next door.
Like Chenlian’s brand new room, Fuzi’s room was also very tidy. Aside from the necessary furniture, there were no decorations.
But there was a small vanity, on which some makeup items were scattered.

Chenlian was pushed to sit in front of the vanity.
Facing the mirror, Chenlian once again saw her current appearance.
After a night’s sleep and her brain reorganizing her memories, Chenlian became aware of the ways she was different—not different from herself yesterday, but different from other people.

First, her hair. The texture was soft yet resilient, as if meticulously crafted by a deity—flawless. It was fundamentally different from ordinary people’s hair.
Then, her hair color—vivid, brilliant pink. Under strong light, it could even create the illusion of a dazzling pink glow.

Then, her eyes. Her pupils were purple, deep and profound. Looking into these eyes felt like gazing into the universe—brilliant yet unfathomably deep.
Yet the eyes of the people around her lacked this special quality.

Fuzi watched Chenlian sitting quietly in the chair, looking at the reflected figure in the mirror.
She brushed Chenlian’s soft, long hair, which reached down to her waist.
In truth, Chenlian’s hair didn’t really need brushing. Even after bathing and sleeping, her hair had never truly become tangled. At most, it looked somewhat untidy due to being displaced.
Here, Fuzi simply wanted to adjust Chenlian’s hair slightly, to make her naturally lovely hair look a bit nicer.

Fuzi had noticed that sometimes Chenlian would become unusually quiet like this, like a beautiful still life, motionless.
At first, she had worried it was the same state as when she had just woken up.
But Fuzi had come to realize that when Chenlian was this quiet, she was usually engaged in deep thought, to the point of being oblivious to everything else.
Still, she couldn’t tell what this child was thinking about.

After adjusting it in the mirror for a while, Fuzi finished brushing Chenlian’s hair.
Standing behind Chenlian, looking at her in the mirror, Fuzi nodded as if very satisfied.
She placed the brush back on the vanity and was about to speak when Chenlian asked,
“Mom… why… am I… different?”
She asked as if unconsciously, her quiet voice devoid of any emotion.

Fuzi sighed, then bent down, reached her arms around Chenlian’s neck through her pink hair, and spoke calmly.
“Chenlian, it’s not just you who is different. Every single one of us is different.

Each of us is a unique existence in this world.

So there’s no need to dwell on these differences.
Just know that you are you—Yue Chenlian is the only Yue Chenlian in this world.
So Chenlian only needs to be herself!”
She pinched Chenlian’s expressionless face as she said the last sentence.

“Mm!”
Chenlian smiled in response, her purple pupils turning from the mirror toward Fuzi.

“Let’s go! Let’s go downstairs and check on Yuxuan’s condition.”
Fuzi laughed happily, pulled Chenlian’s hand, brought her to her feet, and walked hand in hand toward the stairs.

* * * *

Eyes opening unconsciously, the first thing that came into view was the pure white ceiling.
The sound of keyboards clicking incessantly not far away filled the air.
Lin Yuxuan sat up first and looked around.
She found herself sitting on a pure white bed, unable to see the surrounding environment because it was encircled by white curtains.

And this kind of bed seemed familiar.
That’s right—it was a hospital patient bed. Why was she lying in a hospital bed?

Yuxuan remembered that she seemed to have collapsed in the bathroom.
She had barely formed the thought when Dr. Hadi’s usual calm voice came from beyond the curtain.
“Lin Yuxuan, are you awake?”
The sound of keyboard clicking continued.

“Yeah!”
Not paying much attention to what had happened to her, Lin Yuxuan answered in her normal voice, raising it slightly.

“Ahhh~ mm~”
Stretching comfortably while letting out a pleasant, clear sound, Lin Yuxuan jumped off the bed in one go.
The towel blanket covering Lin Yuxuan was pulled to the floor.
“Ah!”
Realizing that she was completely naked, Lin Yuxuan let out a small, surprised gasp.

“Ah, forgot to mention, you should probably tie that towel around yourself properly,”
the doctor reminded her flatly, still typing on the keyboard.

After a moment, with a “swish,” the curtain was pulled open all at once.
Yuxuan walked out.
The lights were on. Even though it was already morning and sunlight was streaming in through the side windows, the lights hadn’t been turned off.

Still wrapped in just a large towel, Yuxuan started doing stretching exercises right in front of Hadi.
Saying “in front of Hadi”—in truth, Dr. Hadi’s gaze had never left the computer screen.

While doing her exercises, Lin Yuxuan asked calmly, “Dr. Hadi, did you not sleep all night?”

“Yeah. Some intelligence sent over by the organization overnight has me quite concerned,”
Hadi said, letting out a faint, cold smirk. But Lin Yuxuan saw it very clearly.

“Seems like it’s not good news, then,”
Yuxuan continued doing her exercises, but her eyes were fixed on Hadi.

“I can only say ‘as expected,’ I suppose,”
Hadi smiled quietly.

Just then, the white door of the medical office opened.
Fuzi walked into the room, holding Chenlian’s hand.

“Chenlian! Sister Fuzi! Good morning!”
Yuxuan stopped exercising and greeted them with a smile.

“Yuxuan, are you already better?”
Fuzi also asked with a smile.

Chenlian, after a brief pause, slipped her hand out of Fuzi’s and ran toward Lin Yuxuan.
“Yuxuan~!”
Calling out her friend’s name, Chenlian threw herself onto Lin Yuxuan and began crying while hugging her.

While stroking Chenlian’s head, Yuxuan smiled and said in a calm, clear voice,
“Chenlian is such a crybaby!”
But Chenlian still clung to Yuxuan, continuing to sob quietly.