Chapter 3: Selfish for once

It had been a week since An Xiulan had died or came to the afterlife. Ugh, it wasn't the afterlife to be exact. She had reincarnated in the body of a sixteen years old girl in the modern world. Qian Wei, her only friend in Duke's house used to read those novels where an oppressed lady would reincarnate in a wealthy family and would take revenge against all those people who had wronged the female lead in first life.

An Xiulan had never thought that one day she would reincarnate too and that too in future.

Wasn't it unfortunate that she was not reincarnated in the same era?

It wasn't like she was ever going to avenge herself. It wasn't because revenge was beneath her but she knew very well that a weak person was born to be oppressed by a stronger being. It was her fault for being born weak or not retaliating against their tormenters.

Something tells her that she wasn't a weak person in this world.

This world…

It was different yet very simple.

These people had made their life so comfortable.

Instead of the horse carriage, they used a more advanced carriage that worked without horses, it was called a car. These cars come in various sizes and styles. Then there was a magical box called television. It was her favourite invention by the modern man. There was a flying thing too.

What was its name? Flame? Or lane? Oh, it was a plane.

These people could travel the whole world in just a few minutes, using that thing called a plane.

She liked modern men. They talk in simple words. They didn't fawn over people with titles. She was shocked to find out that people here were not tilted. All of them were equal. The emperor of the Dragon Empire would be horrified to find out about the rights and liberties given to modern man.

Never mind, she was not going to waste her precious time in this beautiful world by talking about that horrid Emperor who was famous in history for having more than ten thousand beauties in its harem, not for his accomplishments.

Everything was fine with the modern world except for their naming sense. She met a small girl in the hospital whose name was Candy. What kind of name was Candy? Why were they stealing names from candies too?

She would be worried to know if any of them were named Money, cat, dog or worse any colours name.

Staring at the ceiling, she thought about the original An Xiulan again. She had reincarnated in the body of a modern girl whose name was An Xiulan just like her. She was sixteen years old this year. She had died in a car accident.

The Original An Xiulan was a quiet and reserved girl but she used to love her mother a lot. Her parents had divorced when she was a baby. The reason for their divorce was never told to her and neither did the original An Xiulan ever ask her mother. She had no interest in knowing a father who didn't even bother to meet her once. Although she wasn't very close to the mother she loved a lot, still, she was happy with her life in America.

An Xiulan didn't know if it was a coincidence or fate but original An Xiulan's mother was called An Qinyan. Her own mother's name was Zhu Qinyan.

She heard knocking on her door. After lying on the bed again, she softly called, "Please come in."

An Qinyan entered the room holding a tray. Placing it on the nightstand she looked at her daughter who was blinking her big doe eyes at her. Her daughter had shoulder-length hair. A pair of big doe eyes, unlike her phoenix ones. A small and delicate face that could be held in a palm. And Bangs covering her forehead. Her skin was as white as porcelain, highlighting the fact that she didn't go out in the sun.

When An Xiulan looked up at her mom with watery big eyes, Qinyan sighed. Only if she had focused more on her daughter than work, this day wouldn't have come. Her daughter wouldn't have fought with her and gone to drink with her friends. Maybe the accident would have been prevented. But she couldn't reverse the past. All she could do was paint her present with her daughter together.

After her divorce, she shifted to America with her daughter to provide her child with a better life. She was now the owner of a big hotel chain. She had spent many years of her life building the company just for the better future of her daughter. There was nothing she wanted more than a good life for An Xiulan. Her daughter was her lifeline.

"Lanlan, do you want mom to feed you soup?" Qinyan softly asked her daughter.

Xiulan's eyes teared up but she nodded her head. Her mother fed her simple soup but why did it taste so good?

"Will you forgive mom?"Qinyan asked after a while. "I couldn't see that you need me more than my empire. I'm sorry, Lanlan. Mom failed to see that you need her more than anything else."

Sitting on the bed, Xiulan's head which was leaning against the bed wall moved ahead as she wiped her mom's tears with her dainty hands. "Mom, I'm sorry too." She was saying sorry for being selfish. Original Xiulan was gone but she wanted to experience what it was like to be loved by a mother. Would it be very selfish of her if she didn't tell this kind lady that her daughter had gone and she was an imposter?

"No more crying. We will live our life now." Qinyan said, smiling between the tears. "I will give you what you need the most. My time and love. Thank you for coming back to mom."

Xiulan nodded and hugged her mother.

Maybe, it was God's way of giving everything to her.