Chapter 51
Chapter 51
No one knew about the turmoil in Mr. Li’s heart, because in the end, he did not turn back to find the doctor.
Perhaps that one indiscriminate outburst had traumatized all three of them equally, because Zhu Yin gained a precious stretch of peace and quiet.
The female lead did not come looking for her again.
Neither did the male lead.
All she had to do was give his idealized love regular checkups. Perhaps the male lead had warned Wanwan, because she was unfailingly polite to Zhu Yin every time they met and never again made any of those strange, sweetly barbed remarks in front of her.
But Zhu Yin knew perfectly well that the peace was only on the surface.
The pivotal plot point had yet to arrive, and as the doctor who knew Wanwan’s condition best, she knew that day was almost here.
On that day, she contacted the male lead herself.
“Doctor?” The moment Li Nanfeng saw who was calling, he sat up straight despite himself, his whole body going rigid.
Even his throat felt a little tight. “What is it?”
In an even voice, Zhu Yin read out Wanwan’s medical report, then recited the line from the original plot. “Mr. Li, Ms. Wan is already extremely weak. My recommendation is that you arrange a kidney transplant for her immediately.”
Oh. So the doctor had not called because she wanted something from him. To his own surprise, the male lead’s first reaction was relief.
W-wait! He suddenly registered what Zhu Yin had said. “Wanwan, she…?”
An hour later, Zhu Yin met a visibly anxious and grief-stricken domineering CEO.
Without so much as glancing at her, he hurried into Wanwan’s hospital room.
A long time later, he emerged with an even darker expression.
His love for Wanwan drove him to enter Zhu Yin’s office of his own accord.
He was clearly doing his best to fight the effect of Scumbag Slayer and chose the chair farthest from Zhu Yin.
“Doctor.” Exhaustion showed between his brows. “Tell me what you think.”
Zhu Yin had Barbara pull up the original dialogue, then read it aloud herself.
“Nothing can happen to Wanwan,” Li Nanfeng murmured. “Do everything you can to find a compatible kidney.”
Naturally, Zhu Yin agreed.
In truth, she found it strange too. With the Li family’s power and their willingness to spare no expense in searching for a compatible donor, why was the female lead the only person who ultimately qualified?
Driven by an almost competitive impulse, she made very meticulous arrangements.
But the plot was the plot. Half a month later, Wanwan’s condition deteriorated.
A compatible donor was found. Her name was Liu Ruyan.
–Zhu Yin could not understand, no matter how hard she tried, why the female lead had volunteered for compatibility testing.
In any case, everything happened with outrageous illogic and perfect inevitability.
Zhu Yin gave the report to the male lead.
After reading it, he stood before the floor-to-ceiling window for a long time. At last, he said in a low voice, “I’ll talk to Ruyan.”
In the plot, the doctor seemed to have tried to dissuade him.
Zhu Yin offered one fair warning. “You want your wife to donate a kidney to Ms. Wan? Your wife will hate both of you.”
Li Nanfeng’s back stiffened. “I’ll make it up to her,” he said firmly.
No one knew how he discussed it with Liu Ruyan, but the next day, she came to the hospital.
She looked haggard, as if she had not slept all night.
When she saw Zhu Yin, she said quietly, “Doctor, Nanfeng wants me to give her one of my kidneys.”
“Do you think I should agree?”
Zhu Yin did not think much of her personality, but at that moment she still answered honestly. “No one can make a decision like this for you, and no one should.”
“Your body belongs to you, Liu Ruyan. You have the right to decide.”
Liu Ruyan bit her lip and said softly, “He told me she saved him when they were children. He owes her his life, so he has to save her.”
She seemed to be speaking for Zhu Yin’s benefit, but also trying to convince herself. “He told me this would be the only time. Once the operation succeeds, he’ll arrange for her and her child to leave. After that, he’ll cut all ties with that woman and devote himself to our life together.”
When she finished, no response came.
She looked up. The doctor had her chin propped on one hand and was regarding her with an utterly puzzled expression.
For some reason, Liu Ruyan grew nervous. “Doctor, what is it? Is there something wrong with what I said?”
“Where do I even start?”
Zhu Yin said mildly, “I don’t believe promises that offer no tangible benefit whatsoever. To use an unlucky hypothetical, say I were in your position and there truly were no way out, no room to maneuver, and I had to give up one of my organs. I would try to exchange it for as many resources as possible.”
She gave an example. “In this world of yours, for instance, you could make him give you several buildings and tens of millions in cash. He loves his idealized love so much that he’d certainly agree. At least then, losing your kidney would be worth something.”
But those words agitated Liu Ruyan.
“I love him, Doctor. I love him!” she shouted. “I love him for who he is. How can you measure my love with vulgar money? You don’t understand what love is at all!”
A question mark slowly appeared over Zhu Yin’s forehead.
She nodded calmly. “Oh. I don’t understand.”
“And another thing! Nanfeng told me himself that what he feels for her is nothing more than the attachment and gratitude left over from their youth. There’s no romantic involvement between them now,” Liu Ruyan shrilled. “He’s only repaying a debt!”
Zhu Yin and the cat by her feet wore identical looks of confusion.
Even Barbara knew something was wrong. “Even if his idealized love saved the male lead when they were children, he’s the one who owes her. Why should the female lead repay his debt with her kidney?”
The male lead repaid his debt, and his idealized love received a new lease on life. Only the female lead lost a kidney and got nothing in return.
Zhu Yin might despise all three of them equally, but of the three, Liu Ruyan was the one who had suffered the most.
Every now and then, Zhu Yin was willing to say something fair on her behalf.
At the moment, however, it seemed entirely unnecessary.
“No wonder she and Li Nanfeng became the male and female leads of this world. There was a reason for it.”
A rotten pot and a rotten lid. They truly were a perfect match.
“All right, all right. I understand.” Zhu Yin looked sincerely at the female lead. “For the sake of our acquaintance, I’ll make the incision look a little nicer for you when the time comes.”
The female lead: “…”
Only then did fear creep back in. “Doctor…” she faltered.
But Zhu Yin no longer wanted to hear a single word from her. She turned away coldly. “Go home and take good care of yourself. It’s a major operation, after all.”