Chapter 5: Luckily Still a Girl
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: mjn0898
The learning device was just rejoicing over the fact that Ling Lan did not blame it when it registered Ling Lan's question. Its joy disappeared, and it explained hurriedly, "You've been asleep for two days and two nights for no apparent reason. Your mother has been crying so much that she hasn't been able to keep any food down due to worry. They've decided that if you still haven't woken up by tomorrow, they'll send you to the hospital. From what I could gather, admitting you to a hospital will cause them a lot of trouble. I felt that something wasn't right about the situation, so I rushed to wake you up."
A jolt ran through Ling Lan — she could not be admitted! Who knew if the technology here would be able to sense this fellow hiding within her mind? If it were discovered, she would most certainly end up as a lab rat. She must make sure this didn't happen.
For her own safety and personal freedom, Ling Lan decided not to fight it any longer. She allowed her throat to open up and started bawling, signalling to the people watching over her that she was awake.
Frankly, Ling Lan had only intended to make a little noise, maybe a gurgle or a soft whine, but the sound that poured out of her throat was alarmingly loud ...
The childish voice almost shut down in fear. Hesitantly, it asked, "Was it necessary to cry so tragically?"
Taken aback herself by the volume and emotion in her own cry, Ling Lan responded sheepishly, "Can't help it. My body's starving ..."
Losing to her own body's needs, Ling Lan felt that all hope was lost — there went her angelic baby image. Truth be told, she had really wanted to be an angelic baby, well-behaved and adorable, becoming the apple of her new parents' eyes. But it looks like that plan had gone up in smoke.
Because no matter how you look, a baby who would cry in such a frightening manner couldn't be described as angelic in any way ...
Ling Lan's energetic cries woke the person resting right beside her. Lan Luofeng sprang up and pulled her daughter into her arms, looking her over with joyful, yet shocked and fearful, eyes.
Her daughter had finally woken up! But she was crying so piteously — could there be something wrong with her?
The doctor on-call rushed over from the room next door. After a detailed examination, it was determined that Ling Lan was just really hungry.
Lan Luofeng looked down at Ling Lan suckling at her breast and felt her heart slowly settle back into her chest.
After drinking her fill, flushed with wine ... er, milk, Ling Lan finally had the strength to take a good look at the world around her for the first time.
She was in a large bedroom, so large that Ling Lan could not see the entirety of the bedroom just by turning her small head around.
The furnishings of the room were light and tasteful; no bold or garish colours were present. One of the first things Ling Lan noticed was that the bed she and her mom was lying on seemed very wide. Putting aside the space they had claimed, there was still more than enough space for her to roll around several times — that is, of course, if she could roll.
There were no bedside cabinets installed at the head of the bed, as was the fashion in her previous world, instead, there were several metallic-looking objects near the corners of the room. The design of the objects was rather strange, giving Ling Lan the impression of robots.
Within Ling Lan's range of sight, she could see no wardrobes or any other furniture of the like — that is to say, there was no other furniture she could see besides the bed.
Ling Lan did not think much of this. This is ten thousand years later after all — who knows how the world has developed? As long as she continued to live, she would surely find all the answers she needed. There was no hurry at all.
There was another person in the room, an elderly lady, who stood watch beside her mother. Ling Lan glanced at her curiously and found that she had a kind but serious face, and seemed to be very attentive to her mother's needs. She was probably not an elder in the family, but rather a long-time servant of the household.
Seeing this, Ling Lan was glad. This meant that the family she had been born into was rather well-off, so she wouldn't have to worry much about daily living. In her previous world, she had had to bear so much frustration and hardship due to the lack of money caused by her illness — she was glad that she could avoid all that in this world.
At this point, Ling Lan was still blissfully unaware that being the child of a well-off family could sometimes bring about even greater frustration and hardship. Of course, that is a story for another time, so we shall not talk about it for now.
After finishing her observation of her surroundings, Ling Lan turned her gaze upon her mother lying beside her, who had a soft smile on her face as she held Ling Lan's tiny hand. Her mother was a great beauty — even as a female, Ling Lan was enthralled just staring at her.
Ling Lan was very pleased by this; no one wants to be plain after all. Her mother's beauty meant that she would also grow up to be beautiful. Even if she didn't end up a great beauty like her mother, she would still be attractive enough to turn heads.
Right then, a middle-aged man, roughly between the ages of 40 and 50, walked over to the bed. It was the chamberlain Ling Qin. He stood respectfully by the bed as he addressed Lan Luofeng.
"Mistress, everything has been handled with both the government and the military. In a month, the Federation will officially dispense young master Ling Lan's right to inherit." Ling Qin's tone was solemn — if it were at all possible, he would rather see his master, the mainstay of the family, alive to guard the mistress and the young miss. Not this, where the young miss would be forced to lead an abnormal life.
Young master Ling Lan? Ling Lan heard her name, and her spirits perked up in response. So this world had a boy who shared her name? Speaking of which ... she still didn't know what her current name was.
After hearing what Ling Qin had to say, Lan Luofeng's eyes turned red, and crystalline tears fell. "Ling Xiao would definitely be happy about this."
Lan Luofeng's reaction sent the old servant beside her into a fluster, and she only managed to calm Lan Luofeng down after some difficulty.
Lan Luofeng wiped away her tears. She knew she had to control her sadness. She could not let herself fall — all that remained of Ling Xiao and her baby Ling Lan needed her protection. Even if Ling Lan were to successfully inherit everything of Ling Xiao's, there were still many dangers lying in wait for her as she grew up. Lan Luofeng knew she could not let down her guard.
Lan Luofeng bent over to kiss Ling Lan on the cheek. "Ling Lan, my child, mummy is sorry. From now on, you are the young master of the Ling family — you can only be the young master of the Ling family!" The guilt Lan Luofeng felt for forcing this upon her daughter was undeniable, however, the determination in her eyes was also immovable.
Lan Luofeng's words sent Ling Lan into a tailspin. Young master Ling Lan? Me? F*ck! I was reincarnated into this world as a boy? No no no, I must have heard wrong ...
Perhaps Lan Luofeng had pushed herself to the limit over the last two days fretting over Ling Lan, for she fell asleep soon after she finished speaking.
Meanwhile, when the old servant turned away to do some other chores, Ling Lan subtly moved a small hand downwards to explore between her legs ...
It's flat! Ling Lan's heart calmed immediately.
Luckily I'm still a girl, she thought. Without that extra appendage down there, she wouldn't have to live the strange life of being neither man nor woman and worry about her mind being a mess.
Of course Ling Lan was also very happy that she could still go by the name Ling Lan. She had been called by that name for over twenty years after all — it would have been a little hard to accept if she had to suddenly change her name.
However, her happiness did not last long before it was driven away by a wave of anxiety.
If the phrase 'young master' had the same meaning as it did in her original world in the past, then she was in some pretty deep trouble. There must be some unavoidable reason why she would have to dress and present herself as a man.
The guilt in her mother's eyes was clear. Despite that, her mother still chose this path. This could only mean that the situation was already so bad that Ling Lan had no other choice but to be a man to salvage the situation.