Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“You weren’t at work, so you don’t know what happened. I didn’t have a choice either. Please try to understand, okay?”

An hour later, someone knocked on the door.

It was Lin Ling.

She swept a glance over the living room, then craned her neck, trying to look into the bedroom.

I shoved the bag into her hands.

She opened it and took a look. “Why did you prepare all dark-colored clothes, sis-in-law? Why not pick a light-colored set? It’d make him look younger and more energetic.”

I replied flatly, “In business, a man who looks mature and steady makes clients feel more at ease.”

“Being young and good-looking isn’t always an advantage.”

There was provocation in Lin Ling’s tone. “I think whether you’re young or mature, the most important thing is being able to stay in the workplace.”

I sent her away.

Only to realize, sadly, that she was right.

It didn’t necessarily have to be the workplace, but I had to have my own income.

I left Jiu Jiu with a mother in our residential complex. When I went to pick her up after the parent-teacher meeting, she was drenched in sweat, the back of her clothes soaked through.

I gave her a bath.

In the middle of the night, I suddenly woke with a start.

When I opened Jiu Jiu’s door, I found her eyes rolled upward, her limbs rigid, her breathing rapid, her whole body burning hot.

No matter how I called her, she didn’t respond.

In that moment, I panicked completely.

I wrapped her in a thick blanket and ran outside with her in my arms.

There was a hospital four kilometers away. At this hour, calling an ambulance might not be faster than taking her there myself.

I crouched at the entrance of the residential complex with her in my arms, comforting her even though she was unconscious, while freeing one hand to call a DiDi.

At one or two in the morning, no one accepted the order.

Jiu Jiu started foaming at the mouth.

Tears poured down my face. I exited the DiDi app and tried to call 120.

My hands were shaking so badly that my phone fell straight to the ground.

The screen shattered, and the phone went black.

Jiu Jiu’s eyes had rolled back until only the whites showed. I kept pressing the power button, but it wouldn’t turn on.

At that moment, despair and helplessness engulfed me completely.

Sobbing, I held Jiu Jiu and stumbled toward the hospital.

But the night was so deep that I didn’t even come across a single passerby who could call 120 for me.

I wanted to die. Just then, a car drove over. The window rolled down, and a hesitant voice called out, “Sister Ouyang?”

It was the young man who lived downstairs, Cheng Cheng.

He drove me to the hospital in the new car he’d only recently bought. On the way, Jiu Jiu even threw up in his car.

He also helped me run all over the hospital.

Jiu Jiu had suffered a febrile seizure.

Her symptoms had already eased a little in the car, and after she was given fever-reducing medicine at the hospital, she regained consciousness.

She just had no energy.

Cheng Cheng handed me a pair of slippers.

“I just bought them at the hospital convenience store.”

Only then did I realize that in my rush to leave, I hadn’t even put on shoes.

March was still cold.

Now that the fear had passed, I belatedly felt as if the chill had seeped all the way into my bones.

“I’m sorry for troubling you. And I dirtied your car too. I’ll transfer you the cleaning fee.”

“No, no need. Last year, if you hadn’t helped us out with rice, flour, and cooking oil, I might’ve starved to death. And when a few of us had fevers back then, you were the one who shared your fever medicine with us.”

He hesitated, then asked, “Where’s big brother?”

“He’s on a business trip.”

Jiu Jiu had never had a seizure before. The doctor said it would be best to do a comprehensive checkup to see if there were any pathological factors.

Cheng Cheng helped me get my phone working again.

After it turned on, I opened WeChat. My chat history with Sheng Jing was still stuck at yesterday afternoon.

I stayed by the hospital bed all night and didn’t sleep well.

A little past six the next morning, Sheng Jing called and asked if I could help him look for a document in the study.

“I’m at the hospital.”

“What happened to you?”

“I’m fine. Jiu Jiu had a febrile seizure last night.”

Sheng Jing grew anxious and asked question after question.

But I didn’t want to relive the details. I only felt tired.

I remembered when we were dating, even if I only scraped the skin on my hand, I would whine to him about it for ages.

When had I stopped wanting to complain? When had I stopped seeking comfort?

Probably when he gradually grew distant. Probably when I understood that ten thousand words of concern couldn’t compare to five minutes of being by my side.

Jiu Jiu finished all her tests.

Thankfully, there was nothing wrong. The doctor reminded me that if she ever developed a fever again, I had to deal with it immediately.

Not long after we got home, Sheng Jing ended his trip early and returned.

He held Jiu Jiu and looked her over again and again, then pulled me into his arms. “Honey, you worked hard.”

“You must’ve been terrified, right? Just another half a month. In another half a month, I won’t be so busy anymore.”

I’d heard that line so many times over the past three years my ears had practically grown calluses.

He opened his briefcase and took out a small box.

“I brought you a gift.”

A box of La Mer eye cream.