Shu Wan’s question was met with a blunt response.
“You need to cooperate with the doctor and focus on getting better first.”
“After I cooperate with the treatment, will you move back?”
A flicker of light returned to the girl’s dim eyes.
“Whether you cooperate with the treatment concerns your own physical and mental health. I don’t accept threats of any kind. Do you understand, Shu Wan?”
His tone was as firm and unquestionable as a military order issued by a superior to a subordinate. The only possible response was Understood, followed by immediate execution. There was no room for questions or objections.
“I understand.”
Shu Wan lowered her head and silently muttered to herself that this man really was heartless.
Naturally, Meng Huaijin had no idea about the complicated thoughts running through a teenage girl’s mind. He merely glanced at the top of her fluffy head before reaching out.
“Give me your phone.”
Although she didn’t understand why, Shu Wan unlocked her phone and placed it in his calloused palm, which was covered with the thickened skin left by years of handling firearms.
The man lowered his eyes, entered a string of numbers, and pressed the call button. Once his own phone began ringing, he returned hers to her.
“I still have work to deal with. I’m leaving first. I’ll stop by the apartment tonight. If there’s anything you need, tell me over the phone.”
After giving her those instructions, Meng Huaijin left the hospital.
The moment he stepped out of the elevator, his phone rang.
He glanced at the number—it was the one he had saved barely a minute ago.
A slight crease appeared between his brows.
“What is it?”
A crisp, cautious female voice came through the phone.
“When you come over tonight, could you bring me a set of clean pajamas? My clothes are in the wardrobe.”
“Mm.”
“Could you help me with one more thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Tiantian is home alone. Could you feed her while you’re there?”
It took Meng Huaijin a moment to remember the fluffy white cat that had come to Beicheng with her.
“Oh, and her litter box needs to be changed too…”
The quieter Shu Wan’s voice became, because even through the phone, she could feel the chill radiating from the other end.
She quickly thanked him and ended the call.
.
“Little Shu Wan, who were you talking to?”
Shu Wan put down her phone and looked up to see a tall, handsome man dressed in an effortlessly stylish outfit walking in with Doctor Zhou.
He introduced himself as Meng Chuan.
He was also her uncle.
Of everyone on the Meng side, Shu Wan was only familiar with Meng Huaijin—and even that familiarity was extremely limited.
But Meng Chuan was warm and approachable, a hundred times easier to get along with than Meng Huaijin.
So she politely called him, “Uncle Meng Chuan.”
Meng Chuan acknowledged her with a smile, then put away his playful expression.
“Don’t be so formal. Your mother was an older sister whom all of us respected.”
Shu Wan’s nose stung.
“Were you all… very close to my mother?”
“Of course. When we were little, a few of us used to cause trouble around the military compound, and your mother was always the one covering for us. It’s just that… after she got married and moved to Nancheng, some of us went abroad while others joined the military. We gradually lost touch.”
Meng Chuan paused before looking at her seriously.
“Don’t be afraid. From now on, your uncles have got your back.”
Shu Wan quickly lowered her eyes, her lashes fluttering.
It took her a long while to find her voice again.
“Then… was my mother close to him too?”
“By ‘him,’ you mean Brother Jin?”
Meng Chuan asked.
Shu Wan nodded.
He replied, “Among all the brothers and sisters in the Meng family, Brother Jin and Sister Xian were the closest. That’s probably why Sister Xian ultimately entrusted you to him.”
If he was the person who had been closest to Mom, why was he still so mean to me?!
.
That evening, when Meng Huaijin returned to the hospital, he brought Shu Wan not only a bag of clothes but also a container of porridge.
The porridge had been cooked with Chinese cabbage and egg yolk, without a trace of meat. It smelled delicious.
“Did you cook this yourself?”
Shu Wan was genuinely surprised.
She had just begun to feel guilty for secretly complaining about him earlier that day when the man coldly tossed out two words:
“Finish it.”
“!!!”
The porridge was sweet and delicious, but there was such a large container of it.
How could she possibly finish all of it?
Meng Huaijin gave her no opportunity to play any tricks. He calmly pulled a chair over and sat down, supervising her from beginning to end.
By the time Shu Wan’s cheeks were puffed out like a little hamster, she had eaten so much that she eventually started dryheaving.
Meng Huaijin had only ever seen children behave like this while eating.
After thinking about it carefully, he realized she was, in fact, still a child—ten years younger than him.
“Please spare me. I really can’t eat another bite.”
The girl looked up at him with her cheeks puffed out, her eyes full of pleading.
Before everything had happened, she must have been a lively, cheerful girl who loved acting spoiled around her parents.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have unconsciously revealed such a side of herself now.
Meng Huaijin looked at her hamsterlike cheeks and, in a rare act of mercy, nodded toward the cabinet.
“You can put it down.”
Shu Wan felt as though she had just been granted a pardon.
As she set the food container down, she accidentally let out an awkward little burp.
To hide her embarrassment, she calmly picked up the warm water beside her and gulped down more than half a cup.
Meng Huaijin finally couldn’t stand watching anymore.
He reached over, took the cup from her hands, and placed it on the table.
Then he stared silently at her flushed, puffedup cheeks for quite some time.
Shu Wan blinked.
She turned around, picked up her clean clothes, and hurried into the bathroom to take a shower.
The day she had left Nancheng, she had been in such a rush that she hadn’t brought many clothes.
That was why she had asked the housekeeper to buy her some underwear.
Who would have thought that even the housekeeper would make money off the difference?
She had bought Shu Wan the cheapest, lowestquality underwear available, with excessively high syntheticfiber content.
As a result, Shu Wan had developed an allergic reaction the moment she wore it.
And, unfortunately, the allergy had affected the skin on her chest…
Just thinking about it was embarrassing enough to make her want to disappear.
After showering, Shu Wan applied her medicine.
When she lowered her head to look through the bag of clothes, she discovered that Meng Huaijin had brought her brandnew clothes.
And not just any clothes—they were from the brand she normally wore.
The quality was excellent, and the fabric was incredibly soft.
There was a faint, pleasant fragrance lingering on the clothes, as though they had already been drycleaned.
Everything she needed was there, from outerwear to underwear and even undergarments.
.
“You’ve spent years dealing with bullets. You probably understand better than anyone what it looks like when someone takes their own life with a gun.”
In the hospital duty room, Zhou Zhenglin spoke slowly.
The silver lighter kept flipping over and over between Meng Huaijin’s fingers.
He remained silent.
Of course he understood better than anyone.
The moment a bullet tore through the roof of the mouth, it could turn the entire brain into a mass of destruction. The resulting penetrating wound could cause instantaneous death, accompanied by an eruption of blood and shattered brain tissue.
Zhou Zhenglin continued,
“She witnessed her parents’ bodies being blown apart right in front of her. The psychological trauma must have been enormous. The fact that this girl hasn’t completely broken down already shows how strong she is.”
“So her aversion to meat, fear of the dark, and insomnia are all normal reactions. Give her time to recover gradually. From what I can tell, she’s actually quite cheerful by nature and is cooperating well with treatment.”
“If you’re patient with her, she should be able to recover within a year or so. As for the allergic reaction, just make sure she applies the medicine on time and doesn’t scratch. There shouldn’t be any scarring.”
“Thanks.”
Meng Huaijin stood and left.
.
Hearing footsteps, Shu Wan, who had been sitting on the bed staring blankly into space, immediately burrowed beneath the covers and pulled them completely over herself.
After showering, she hadn’t seen Meng Huaijin and assumed he had already left.
But he hadn’t.
The man walked in, closed the door to the hospital room, and sat down in the chair beside her.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
Even longer.
He showed no intention of leaving.
After waiting several more minutes, Shu Wan found it too difficult to stay hidden.
She lifted one corner of the blanket and peeked out.
Meng Huaijin had a thick stack of documents spread out before him. He was carefully reviewing and signing them one by one.
When he worked, he seemed completely different from his usual self.
Focused.
Serious.
Even when all she could see was his back, there was an unmistakable sense of authority and intimidation surrounding him.
It was almost as if he had eyes in the back of his head.
Meng Huaijin leisurely turned his head and met her unwavering gaze.
His tone was neither cold nor warm.
“Afraid I’d run away?”
Caught staring, Shu Wan instinctively ducked back beneath the blanket.
After a moment, she cautiously poked her head out again and asked without looking away,
“Would you abandon me too?”
Meng Huaijin was silent for a moment.
Then he asked,
“What use are you?”
Shu Wan’s survival instincts kicked in immediately.
“I’m still somewhat useful. Don’t underestimate me.”
Seeing her gradually lower her guard and become increasingly talkative, Meng Huaijin turned his chair slightly, looking somewhat amused.
“Oh?”
Shu Wan thought seriously before reaching a conclusion.
“I can cook for you.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“You can cook? Just don’t burn down my kitchen.”
“Then…”
She seemed to make up her mind.
“I’ll take care of you in your old age and see you through to the end.”
The corners of the man’s lips seemed to lift slightly.
It was difficult to tell for sure.
But his sharp tongue remained as reliable as ever.
“If you don’t go to sleep soon, there’s no telling which one of us will end up seeing the other through to the end.”