Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Zhu Yin immediately knew who they were.
The couple’s clothes were neat and clean, though both looked somewhat haggard. Anger showed between the young woman’s brows.
Zhu Yin walked over and asked first, “Is there something I can help you with?”
Clearly, the family had found some way to track this place down.
“Hello, Doctor,” the young woman began. “We’d like to ask if a patient named Liu Ruyan has been admitted to this hospital.”
She took out her identification and showed it to Zhu Yin. “We’re not bad people, and we aren’t trying to pry into a stranger’s private affairs. Liu Ruyan is my older sister. I haven’t been able to reach her for several days, and I’m worried something might have happened to her.”
The young woman was quite thorough.
Zhu Yin glanced at the identification and nodded. “You’re Liu Ruyan’s family? She is indeed a patient here. She has just undergone surgery to donate a kidney.”
The instant those words left her mouth, all color drained from the couple’s faces.
The young woman’s eyes widened too. She could hardly believe it. “She really donated a kidney?”
Zhu Yin nodded.
Father Liu began breathing heavily. He caught his swaying wife and muttered, “That unfilial daughter. That unfilial daughter!”
Abruptly, he grabbed his wife’s arm. “Come on! We’re going home!”
The young woman froze. “Dad, aren’t we going to see my sister?”
Her mother, who had remained silent until then, answered through clenched teeth, her voice emerging slowly. “What sister? You don’t have a sister.”
The young woman stared, dumbfounded. Her father barked, “Rulin, hold on to your mother. We’re leaving.”
He hurriedly thanked Zhu Yin, then supported his wife as he left with his daughter. The couple’s steps were unsteady, as if the news had drained away all their spirit and strength.
Zhu Yin stood in silence, watching the three figures disappear.
.
True to the female lead’s constitution, Liu Ruyan woke soon after the operation.
Her first words were, “Where’s Nanfeng? Isn’t he here?”
Zhu Yin saw the young nurse beside her make an indescribable face.
Probably unwilling to upset a patient who had just undergone surgery, the nurse replied, “He was here just a moment ago. Something may have come up, so he stepped out.”
Liu Ruyan nodded faintly. Only then did she notice Zhu Yin nearby.
Zhu Yin asked, “How do you feel?”
Liu Ruyan’s eyes curved. “Pretty good.”
The nurse left, and Zhu Yin had nothing to say to her either. “Get some rest. Press the call button if you need anything.”
“Doctor!” Liu Ruyan suddenly called after her.
Zhu Yin turned back and heard her ask softly, “Will my incision leave a scar?”
Zhu Yin almost laughed. In fact, she did laugh aloud. “You’ve lost an entire kidney, and you still have time to worry about something so minor?”
Liu Ruyan said, “I’m afraid it won’t look nice.”
Zhu Yin said, “It may be difficult to leave absolutely no trace. But I’d suggest keeping the scar.”
Liu Ruyan looked at her in confusion.
Zhu Yin said mildly, “If you keep it, every time Li Nanfeng sees it, he’ll remember how much you sacrificed for him. Wouldn’t that be a good thing?”
Liu Ruyan looked tempted by the idea.
Zhu Yin turned and left the hospital room.
She walked down the corridor and rounded a corner, where she saw Li Nanfeng sitting on a bench.
Before she could approach, Li Nanfeng called, “Stop right there, Doctor. You can talk from where you are.”
Zhu Yin: “…”
She deliberately ignored him and sat down on the bench. “I just finished an operation. I’m exhausted, and you won’t even let me sit? Mr. Li, are you asking to be strung up from a lamppost?”
Li Nanfeng had grown accustomed to her vicious tongue. At that moment, however, he fidgeted in his seat. Being so close to Zhu Yin filled him with panic.
In the end, he chose to stand and move farther away, speaking to Zhu Yin from there.
He asked, “Why hasn’t Wanwan woken up yet?”
Zhu Yin said, “The operation only just ended. That’s normal.”
Li Nanfeng frowned. “But Ruyan has been awake for quite a while.”
Zhu Yin looked surprised. “So Mr. Li knows his wife is awake?”
Her tone was clearly astonished, and nothing in her expression looked sarcastic, yet Li Nanfeng was convinced she was mocking him.
His wife had only recently come out of the operating room, while he waited outside another woman’s room. Put into words, it did sound rather bad.
Li Nanfeng explained, “Ruyan has always been healthy, but Wanwan has been frail all her life. I’m a little worried about her.”
“Oh,” Zhu Yin said.
For some reason, Li Nanfeng felt even more uneasy. He barely maintained his aloof expression as he said, “I’ll go see Ruyan. Doctor, keep watch here. Let me know when Wanwan wakes up.”
He hurried away.
Zhu Yin remained seated on the bench, thinking about the way the three members of the Liu family had looked as they left.
Beyond the barrier of the cold stone wall, Liu Ruyan saw Li Nanfeng from her hospital bed and broke into a blissful smile.
Only a few days ago, she had said that once all this was over, she and Li Nanfeng would return home together, take care of her parents, and beg for their forgiveness.
Hmm…
Zhu Yin tapped a finger against the armrest and thought dispassionately: she probably did not know yet what she had lost.
Wanwan woke in the evening. The operation had been very successful, and she seemed to be doing well.
Because she was frail, she remained in the hospital for more than a month before meeting the criteria for discharge.
The female lead recovered quickly and had left long ago.
On the third day after her operation, however, a fashionably dressed young woman came to visit her.
The two argued in the hospital room. The woman pointed at Liu Ruyan’s nose and called her an idiot, while Liu Ruyan said nothing and wept in silence.
The woman was half-dead with fury, but afraid of affecting the patient. In the end, she left with an ashen face.
Zhu Yin did not know her name, though she remembered the plot mentioning something about her.
After Liu Ruyan married Li Nanfeng, some friends entered her life, while others left it.
The new ones had all come for the Li family’s power.
Those who left had watched her charge headlong into the fire pit that was Li Nanfeng. They had advised her, argued with her, and scolded her. Finally, utterly disheartened, they cut ties, choosing not to see and not to worry.
Later, when she lost her child and sank into depression, there was not a single true friend left by her side.
Zhu Yin stared absently at the willow branches swaying in the wind downstairs.
Barbara pattered over and asked, “Host, what are you thinking about?”
Zhu Yin pondered. “Me? I’m thinking about how to complete the mission in this world.”
Barbara tilted its head in confusion. “Can’t we just follow the plot? All we have to do is find a way to save the female lead’s child.”
Zhu Yin refused. “I gave it some careful thought just now. If we follow the plot in every respect, it’ll be far too damaging to me.”
She was here to retire. Why should she suffer such a severe workplace injury?
Rubbing her chin, she considered the matter carefully and murmured, “I’ll need to come up with a foolproof plan.”
The golden sunlight bathing it was warm and pleasant, yet for some reason, Barbara shuddered.