Jiang Ci took another look at the young woman with a sallow complexion.
The girl in her arms was about six or seven years old, with pigtails and wearing a tattered, patched-up cotton-padded jacket.
Her sunken eyes were surrounded by heavy dark circles, and her small, yellowish-black face showed no trace of color, only a deathly gray.
This child?
Something’s not right.
Just then, Director Cai emerged from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department clinic. “Oh! Little Jiang! What are you looking at?”
“That mother and daughter.”
Jiang Ci pointed toward the pair walking away.
“Ah, that mother and daughter! They’re unfortunate souls. They’re from the countryside, and the elders in the family think it’s a waste of money to treat a girl.
They kept delaying treatment, and now the child has a persistent high fever. It’s already too late—she probably won’t make it through the night!”
Listening to Director Cai’s words, Jiang Ci frowned. “Director, did you examine her?”
“Yes!”
Director Cai nodded and turned back into the clinic.
Jiang Ci hesitated for a moment, glanced in the direction where Father Jiang had gone toward Jiang Wanwan’s ward, then turned and hurried outside.
The rural woman carrying the child wasn’t walking fast.
Her face was numb, her eyes hollow and devoid of any light.
“Wait…”
Jiang Ci caught up to the woman. “May I take a look at the child?”
“You…”
The woman’s chapped lips, cracked from the cold, moved slightly as she uttered a single word.
“I’m also a doctor. Perhaps I might have a way to save your daughter.”
“You can save my daughter?”
The woman’s lifeless eyes suddenly widened.
She looked at the comrade before her—wearing a sweater, with braided hair, exceptionally beautiful, and speaking in a gentle, pleasant voice.
“Thump”
Before Jiang Ci could react, the woman had already knelt down with a “thump.” “Doctor, doctor, I… I… sob…”
“Please get up first. Bring the child and come with me.”
Avoiding the bustling entrance of the hospital.
Jiang Ci led the woman to an inconspicuous corner and placed her hand on the girl’s wrist to check her pulse.
While feeling the pulse, she carefully observed the girl’s face—the area between her eyebrows was dark.
The pulse was so weak it was almost imperceptible.
She then performed Calculating by Finger.
The woman watched Jiang Ci nervously, wanting to ask about the situation but afraid of disturbing her.
Finally, Jiang Ci asked her, “When did the high fever start?”
“Five days ago, but it was only a low-grade fever then. The family… the family didn’t have money to treat her…”
“Was it because there was no money, or because the family wouldn’t allow it?”
Jiang Ci’s words made the woman’s tears fall.
“Sob… my mother-in-law doesn’t like girls…”
“I can tell. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have done such a heartless thing.”
Huh?
The woman looked up in surprise. “Doctor, what… what do you mean?”
Jiang Ci withdrew her hand and didn’t answer her directly. Instead, she continued asking, “Five days ago, did your family lose something belonging to your daughter?”
“Ah, yes, the photo of my daughter taken last year when her uncle returned from Yangcheng went missing. Doctor, how did you know?”
Jiang Ci smiled. “Your daughter is lucky. It’s good it was only a photo and not her birth date and time (eight characters).”
“What? What do you mean?”
The woman was even more confused.
But Jiang Ci didn’t explain further.
She only said, “Go back and ask your mother-in-law who she sold the photo to. Then, cut out a paper figure and burn it at their doorstep.
Your daughter’s illness will naturally be cured.”
Huh?
This?
“Doctor, are you saying that my daughter ended up like this because of my mother-in-law? She… she arranged a ghost marriage for my daughter?”
The woman said in horror.
Jiang Ci neither confirmed nor denied it, merely urging her, “You don’t have much time left. Hurry back!”
“Thank you, doctor, thank you! You’re a good person!”
Jiang Ci smiled without responding.
After seeing off the mother and daughter, she returned to the hospital.
In the ward, Jiang Wanwan was crying, while Father Jiang paced back and forth in the room.
Faced with this daughter who cried at the drop of a hat, he truly didn’t know how to communicate with her.
Compared to Jiang Ci’s maturity and diligence, Father Jiang found Jiang Wanwan more and more of a headache.
“Cry, cry, cry—do you even have the face to cry? From the moment I arrived, everyone has been gossiping about how you impersonated your sister to get an abortion surgery.
You tell me…”
Ah.
Father Jiang really didn’t want to admit that Jiang Wanwan was his daughter. She bore no resemblance to him—foolish, ignorant.
And wicked.
She even followed her mother’s example, tarnishing Jiang Ci’s reputation.
“Wahhh, I didn’t do it. It was all Jiang Ci’s fault. Dad, why can’t you believe me just once? I’m your daughter!”
“Believe you? How can I believe you? Fine, then tell me how Jiang Ci harmed you?”
“She… she could have performed the surgery for me, but she refused. I had no choice but to find someone else, and then she deliberately made sure everyone in the hospital knew I was getting an abortion surgery.
Now everyone is pointing fingers at me. Isn’t that her fault?”
Listening to Jiang Wanwan’s twisted logic, Father Jiang’s face tightened. “Jiang Wanwan, do you still not realize your own mistakes?
Did Jiang Ci make you pregnant? Did she force you to fool around with someone?”
“Wahhh, I knew it! In Dad’s heart, only Jiang Ci matters. No matter what I say, it’s always my fault. Wahhh, go away, go away! I don’t have a father like you.”
Jiang Wanwan turned her head and buried her face in the hospital bed, sobbing loudly.
A vein throbbed on Father Jiang’s forehead. Talking to Jiang Wanwan felt like playing the lute to a cow.
“What’s going on?”
Jiang Ci arrived, and Father Jiang tossed out a sentence, “There’s something urgent at the military unit. I need to head back. Xiao Ci, since your mother isn’t here, please take extra care of Wanwan.”
“Alright, Dad. Go ahead and attend to your duties. I’ll handle things here, so don’t worry.”
Jiang Ci agreed, and Father Jiang felt reassured.
But Jiang Wanwan was not reassured. “Dad, I don’t want her here. I want Mom. Bring Mom to me.”
“Don’t be unreasonable. I won’t pursue the matter of the miscarriage anymore. Focus on recovering. We’ll talk more once you’re better.”
With that, Father Jiang left.
As soon as he was gone, a malicious smile curled at the corner of Jiang Ci’s lips as she approached Jiang Wanwan.
“You… what do you want?”
Jiang Wanwan was frightened by Jiang Ci’s unsettling smile. “I’m warning you, Jiang Ci, if you dare harm me, Dad will—”
“Jiang Wanwan.” Jiang Ci cut her off directly. “Do you know why your mother hasn’t come to see you?
Dad was worried about you, so he didn’t tell you. Let me be kind enough to inform you then. Mom’s scheme of hiring thugs to ruin me has been exposed.
Father is furious. He sent Mom back to her family to reflect. If she doesn’t reflect properly, they might even divorce!”
Heh.
“What? You… you’re lying! Jiang Ci, you bitch, did you harm my mother?” Jiang Wanwan visibly panicked.
If something happened to her mother, what would she do?
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. You two really are mother and daughter, thinking exactly alike.
Don’t worry, I’m a good person. I wouldn’t do anything harmful. You’re just reaping what you’ve sown. You can’t blame anyone else.
Dear sister, don’t worry. This is only the beginning!”
There are more surprises waiting for her in the future!
“Jiang Ci, you… you…” Jiang Wanwan trembled with rage, her hands and feet shaking.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, the ward door was knocked.
A nurse then pushed the door open and said, “Doctor Jiang, you really are here! A patient is looking for you.”
A patient looking for her?
Jiang Ci responded, “Oh! Got it, I’ll be right there.”
Leaving Jiang Wanwan’s ward.
As soon as Jiang Ci arrived at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department, she spotted a familiar figure from behind.
The male lead, Zhao Jianguo.
What did he want with her?