Gu Xia was still reeling from the shock of the news.
Zhou Liyun, however, was called over by Wang Fenlan and stopped talking to Gu Xia.
“Liyun, what are you doing? Who is that person? Is she a friend of yours?”
Zhou Liyun’s outburst to Gu Xia a moment ago seemed to be a way of venting her pent-up frustration.
It was the frustration and anger stemming from the fact that, after fixating on Lu Shaoting for so many years, she had ultimately discovered that not only would he never be able to function as a man for the rest of his life, but he might also end up paralyzed from the waist down.
Zhou Liyun walked over to Wang Fenlan’s side and said nonchalantly:
“What friend? She’s Lu Shaoting’s admirer. But the Lu family doesn’t like her—they won’t even let her set foot in the Lu family compound.”
With Lu Shaoting in this condition, Zhou Liyun certainly wouldn’t marry him now.
She had no desire to marry into the family only to become a living widow.
But she also didn’t want Lu Shaoting’s admirer, Gu Xia, to feel any better about herself.
After Zhou Liyun and Wang Fenlan entered the family compound, Gu Xia turned and walked away.
At that moment, her mind was on the fact that something had happened to Lu Shaoting.
Judging by what Zhou Liyun had implied, Lu Shaoting had suffered damage to his lower body—not only would he be unable to function as a normal man, but he might even be paralyzed from the waist down.
Add to that what Lu Xiaoyan had told her earlier—a complete reversal from her initial advice to have an abortion, now urging her to keep the baby instead.
Gu Xia felt that what had happened to Lu Shaoting was almost certainly true.
Could this be another opportunity for her?
Could she use the child she was carrying to negotiate with Lu Shaoting?
Gu Xia considered calling Lu Shaoting’s workplace to inquire about his condition, or to find out which hospital he was in and his room number.
But she was truly afraid that her identity would be exposed; she was supposed to be in a rural area in the northwest, not in Beicheng.
As far as the city was concerned, she was an undocumented resident.
Gu Xia knew that Lu Xiaoyan worked at the hospital, so she made a special trip there to ask around for Dr. Lu Xiaoyan.
It was easy to find her—even if there were someone else with the same name, it would be an incredibly rare coincidence for that person to be the same age as well.
Lu Xiaoyan worked in the obstetrics and gynecology department. When she saw Gu Xia come looking for her, she assumed Gu Xia was feeling unwell.
Lu Xiaoyan quickly led Gu Xia to a seat in the department.
“Are you feeling unwell? Let me examine you myself.”
“No,” Gu Xia said softly. “Auntie Lu, I heard that Lu Shaoting had an accident. Can I go to the hospital to see him?”
Hearing Gu Xia’s words, Lu Xiaoyan couldn’t help but feel that Gu Xia loved her younger brother, Lu Shaoting, too deeply.
Even though Lu Shaoting didn’t like Gu Xia, she still cared deeply for him.
Lu Xiaoyan’s expression faltered for a moment, as if she were torn.
Gu Xia spoke up first: “ “I know that right now, Lu Shaoting definitely doesn’t want to see me—he wouldn’t want to see me anyway. But this child—he didn’t want him in the first place, so I can’t just stay here because of what you said.”
“I need to go ask him what he thinks.”
“He doesn’t like me, but I won’t cling to him. When I came to the city this time, I’d actually planned to seek refuge with him, but he wasn’t willing.”
Well…
How could Lu Xiaoyan not know that?
The Fourth Brother had never truly liked Gu Xia.
Lu Xiaoyan was also curious: since the Fourth Brother didn’t like Gu Xia, how had the two of them ended up together—and gotten Gu Xia pregnant?
Seeing that Gu Xia insisted on seeing Lu Shaoting, Lu Xiaoyan could only nod.
“I can take you to him, but he’s just woken up. I can’t be sure if he’ll see you,” she said.
“Gu Xia, from my perspective, I’d definitely want you to give birth to my younger brother’s child, but I know this is a personal matter, and I can’t force you.”
“If you have any conditions, feel free to state them. I’ll do my best to meet them.”
Gu Xia replied, “This has nothing to do with you. I won’t make any demands of you. Even if I did, I’d hold Lu Shaoting responsible.”
Hearing Gu Xia mention “responsibility,”
Lu Xiaoyan assumed that Gu Xia must be planning to marry Shaoting.
She would have to go home and discuss this with her parents.
At this point, Lu Xiaoyan felt that it would already be quite good if Gu Xia could marry the Fourth Brother.
Lu Xiaoyan took advantage of her lunch break to take Gu Xia to the Military Region General Hospital.
She successfully escorted Gu Xia into Lu Shaoting’s hospital room.
Lu Shaoting had already woken up and undergone surgery.
However, the anesthesia was still lingering in his body, and his lower body felt slightly numb.
Seeing Lu Xiaoyan bring Gu Xia in, Lu Shaoting frowned, his expression brimming with impatience.
This Gu Xia was truly a handful—even though he was lying in the hospital’s intensive care unit, she still managed to track him down.
Lu Xiaoyan also noticed the impatience on Lu Shaoting’s face.
She said softly, “Shaoting, Gu Xia heard you were injured and came specifically to see you.”
“How are you doing now? You look much better than you did yesterday.”
Lu Shaoting replied in a calm tone, “The surgery went well, but there might be some aftereffects.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaoyan understood immediately—Lu Shaoting probably didn’t want to be too specific.
That’s why he’d simply mentioned “aftereffects.”
“It’s okay. We’ll find a good doctor to help you recover later. Mom and Dad know about this too. Mom’s very worried about you—her high blood pressure even flared up. Dad called to ask about you, and I told him you’re doing fine and asked them to wait a bit before coming to see you.”
Lu Xiaoyan was the first to learn about Lu Shaoting’s accident.
Before falling into a coma, Lu Shaoting had said, “There’s no need to notify my family—just go ahead with the surgery.”
His comrades and superiors assumed Lu Shaoting was worried his family would be distressed if they found out, especially since his parents were both quite elderly.
Only Lu Shaoting himself knew the real reason.
What they had always wanted wasn’t him as a person, but the honor Lu Shaoting brought to the Lu family.
Lu Shaoting gave a soft “mm-hmm” and said nothing more.
Lu Xiaoyan told Gu Xia to talk to him, then turned and walked out.
It was as if Lu Shaoting had seen right through all of Gu Xia’s innermost thoughts at a glance.
“Speak.”
Even lying in a hospital bed, looking as frail as a sick cat, Lu Shaoting’s single, authoritative command was enough to make Gu Xia jump.
She had so many things she wanted to say, but when the words reached her lips, she didn’t know how to begin.
After much hesitation, she decided it would be best to start by asking how he was doing.
“Are you… okay? I’ve been waiting to hear from you. Since you never came to find me, I didn’t know whether to wait for you or go to the hospital to have it terminated myself, so I went to your house to look for you. It was only after I heard your blind date talk about your situation that I asked Aunt Lu to bring me here.”
Everything she said was the truth.
Lu Shaoting fixed his gaze on Gu Xia and said, “I’m in enough trouble of my own right now. If you want me to be with you, you’ll have to wait. If you don’t want me with you, I’ll have someone take you to get it terminated.”
“Lu Shaoting, do you want this child? If you do, I’ll have it. The terms are the same as before: as long as you agree, I’ll give the child to you after I give birth.”
Gu Xia’s mind was in turmoil; this wasn’t how she’d planned it at first.
She’d intended to shower Lu Shaoting with attentive care and concern, hoping to win him over.
Ideally, she wanted Lu Shaoting to fall for her so she could use him to her advantage.
But now, seeing his stern and menacing expression, Gu Xia was so frightened that she blurted out everything she’d been keeping to herself.