My CEO Harem Cultivation System

Li Yang arrived at the entrance of the hospital without any further trouble. And yet when he arrived at the same hospital to inquire of Luo Ju Di and her condition—the man found himself to be stricken with a sickening sort of relief and conflict over his first emotion.

"She's still here?" Li Yang asked.

"Yes, Mister Li. Although she has transferred from her current room to her own personal treatment room that can handle the long-term duration of her stay." 

The woman at the hospital counter's gaze was currently glued to her screen. 

"Shall you drop by here for a visit?"

"I will," he said.

Did it mean that not too long had passed by if Luo Ju Di was still here? 

A part of Li Yang naturally wanted to hear from the nurse at the counter to say that Luo Ju Di was gone. Safe and well from the incident that caused her to get a coma before, which in a way was also part of his doing, and that his visit here was unnecessary.

He always thought about how cold it was for him to not do it—even though he was only trying to be more reliant on current medical advancements. 

He didn't use the precious item from the Harem Member Gift Set meant for Bai Minghua. It was still sitting in his Inventory until today and neither did he use it even for himself.

[ Water of Rejuvenation ] (Rare)

A vial filled with the purest and cleanest waters across the Earthly Plane and is said to have come from a spring still untouched by foreign manipulations from its first burst. A life-giving water that can rejuvenate an individual from various states of impurity, poison and other afflictions which can cleanse the entire body and vital energies surrounding said body.

Can be consumed.

Whatever the case, if Luo Ju Di was still here then it meant that time didn't flow as fast—

No. 

He couldn't hold on to the false belief that time here never stopped flowing since he was gone. His conversation with Mitsuko before about how time didn't stop just because of him was something that made sense.

That it was not absurd that he'd find nobody waiting for him.

Although he still had been hoping that the opposite would have been the case.

"Please fill up here—"

"Done," he said.

Li Yang registered his name as a visitor and immediately accepted that the date in front of him was almost exactly a year since he was gone. Even if he stayed a couple weeks and maybe even a month or two at Mashiro Temple, the time that passed here seemed to be much more.

Was it because of traveling distances?

The World Warper didn't seem to work as instantaneously as it felt. Heading from one part of the universe to another surely took time and perhaps even if he felt it was slow—this was already extremely fast.

How long did it take man-made space crafts to reach planets like Jupiter to even the ones at the edge of their solar system? 

It took years, but for Li Yang to reach back to earth from whatever galaxy the world of Telriah was located in a matter of simply a year was already great speed.

Godspeed?

Li Yang didn't think that was the case. He hoped that wasn't the case or else he would… 

The man sighed inwardly. Li Yang was already trying to weigh whether a loss of another year by visiting Telriah again would be something he was willing to shoulder.

—-

Her uncle Liang was busy with work, and so was aunt Gabrielle with her own business affairs. Although the two of them had been extremely worried about Chunhua, the now-slightly-older child reassured them of her mature self.

"I'm fine," she said.

The girl picked up the storybook and fixed the chair that she fell from. 

Although the shock was sudden and the pain in her knees was great. Chunhua was capable of staying at a place all by herself—Luo Ju Di had no choice but to work, she couldn't afford a babysitter and neither did Chunhua do all too well at daycare centers.

Other children always found her too odd to hang around with.

These other kids didn't see who Chunhua was talking to and neither did they believe her. Accusations of being an attention whore, immature, and other hurtful remarks were often thrown out at the child and it made Chunhua prefer to stay home alone and wait for her mother.

… And she could wait for her even now?

Chunhua stared at her mother's body in the hospital bed and fought against the welling up in her eyes that were threatening to fall. 

She wasn't alone right now. 

Chunhua was with her mother—even though, even though…

The door clicked open silently.

A familiar man's presence reacquainted itself with Chunhua's senses. Once she met up with a person and they stayed in her mind because they were good or scary to her, she tended to remember them. 

Chunhua's body whirled immediately towards Li Yang and she looked up at him without finding any words to speak.

"Chun...Chunhua?" He broke through the silence first.

Even the man looked shocked to see her. And yet all Chunhua did was run up to the man and started pounding her fists on him even when all he had been was a big meanie. Hot tears rolled down on her cheeks. "You told Chunhua—to feed Pinkie! Why are you only here now?!"

"The reason for that—"

"You were gone for a long time," Chunhua said with a hiccup.

It seemed like even the man was at a loss for words. Some of Chunhua's snot got on the man's pants and she thought that it was only fair. Fair that he got all the mucky and yucky snot that came out of her nose as Chunhua clung to him and cried. 

Was she crying because of him? He really had been gone for too long. 

Whatever excuse that uncle Liang gave her in response to uncle Yang leaving was nothing more but a big stinky fat lie. She could tell that much and it sucked. Was Chunhua crying because of how heavy each day weighed on her shoulders? 

There might have been too many reasons for it.

Every moment of the day when Chunhua saw them, they'd ask her if she was okay. They took her to their home and made sure that Chunhua had a nice bed and room, toys and every little thing that a kid could want. 

If she kept saying no—that would have been ungrateful of her. Chunhua didn't want them to worry like her mom did for her. 

Chunhua did her best to be a big girl.

She really tried her best to be a good child and not distract the adults. She didn't want to burden them at all when they were doing their best to take care of her. But her uncle Yang was someone who promised to take care of her and also gave her a responsibility to take care of Pinkie for him.

He thought she was capable and already grown up.

But then he was suddenly gone and she never saw him after the night that he gave her the seaweed and pearls to feed Pinkie. Now he was back and Chunhua felt like the little girl that she always had been. 

Li Yang suddenly picked her up and started patting her back.