At the same time, Lin Ting felt a twinge of worry.
She was afraid that what Jiang Yu had said during the day about rearranging matters regarding Youzi might change.
When she answered the phone, she held her breath.
Jiang Yu’s voice on the other end wasn’t as cold as before.
“Tomorrow at noon, bring Xiao Youzi’s hair to the lobby of Linjiang Group’s building.”
“Don’t hand it to anyone else. I’ll come down to get it myself.”
After careful consideration, Jiang Yu was willing to do another paternity test.
For Lin Ting.
And because Xiao Youzi was indeed quite likable.
Lin Ting was overjoyed.
If after her death, Xiao Youzi could live with Jiang Yu, it would undoubtedly be the best arrangement.
In this world, fathers who don’t care for their own flesh and blood are rare.
Lin Ting believed that after spending some time together, Jiang Yu would grow fond of Youzi.
Her Youzi was so well-behaved and sensible.
“Jiang Yu, thank you!”
Tears welled up in her eyes instantly.
It wasn’t because Jiang Yu had relented, but because Youzi’s future finally held hope.
As Jiang Yu was about to hang up, she quickly added, “Jiang Yu, don’t hang up, wait.”
She voiced her concern, “I’m worried something might go wrong if the paternity test is done in Pengcheng. Could you do it in another city this time?”
When she was twenty-one, Lin Jianguo had been persuaded to get a paternity test.
The result was exactly the same.
It proved she wasn’t Lin Jianguo’s biological daughter, and it also exposed her mother’s affair with her first love.
Her mother had died during childbirth. Even though she had never met her mother, she firmly believed her mother wouldn’t have done anything to betray Lin Jianguo.
But after several paternity tests in Pengcheng, Lin Jianguo was convinced she wasn’t his biological daughter.
At the time, she felt utterly powerless.
So when the paternity test results for Xiao Youzi and Jiang Yu came out, she strongly suspected someone had tampered with them.
It was exactly the same method used by the person behind the scenes back then.
Perhaps the paternity testing institutions in Pengcheng had been compromised long ago.
Jiang Yu had considered this possibility.
His confidentiality measures were extremely tight. Aside from him and Lin Ting, no one knew he was planning a paternity test.
If the results were still tampered with under such circumstances, then there must be a mole close to him, which would implicate many things before and after.
But this possibility was very slim.
He preferred to trust his own caution and thoroughness.
He replied, “I don’t need anyone to teach me how to do things.”
After hanging up, he felt a twinge of regret.
Lin Ting was already this sick. He shouldn’t have spoken to her like that.
Just then, Lin Weiwei returned.
Originally, Jiang Yu had planned to go to a private kitchen restaurant.
Lin Weiwei thought it was too far and would take too much time. “I need to hurry back to the lab. Let’s just grab something nearby.”
Jiang Yu agreed with Lin Weiwei. “Alright!”
Twenty minutes later, the two arrived at a Chinese restaurant.
Lin Weiwei let Jiang Yu order while she spent the entire time studying a medical book.
While waiting for the food, two men sat down at the next table.
One of them, with a crew cut, flipped through the menu with hands calloused from hard work.
His face looked somewhat familiar.
With his photographic memory, Jiang Yu immediately recognized him—it was Lin Ting’s attending physician, Zhao Meng.
After accidentally running into Lin Ting at the hospital that morning, he had memorized the name of the attending physician on the medical report and looked up Zhao Meng’s information.
He had planned to meet with him after the meal to learn more about the situation.
I never expected to run into him at this restaurant.
Jiang Yu stood up and walked over, greeting politely, “Dr. Zhao, hello. I called you this afternoon. I’m Jiang Yu from Linjiang Pharmaceuticals.”
Dr. Zhao, who had a crew cut, quickly stood up to shake Jiang Yu’s hand:
“Mr. Jiang, I’ve long heard of your reputation. I heard that the specific anticancer drug recently developed by Linjiang Pharmaceuticals is about to successfully enter clinical trials soon. I truly admire you and your team. If the specific anticancer drug can be successfully developed, think of how many patients it would benefit. I wonder what matter Mr. Jiang called about today?”
After shaking hands with Dr. Zhao, Jiang Yu got straight to the point, “Dr. Zhao, did you take on a lung cancer patient named Lin Ting?”
Dr. Zhao Meng, with his crew cut, frowned in thought.
Jiang Yu reminded him, “Tall, thin, with a four-year-old little girl. She’s a single mother.”
Zhao Meng showed a sudden realization, “Oh, you mean that single mother. I really don’t remember her specific name, but when you mention single mother, I have a deep impression. So pitiful, the child is only four years old. She indeed has lung cancer, and it’s already advanced.”
Jiang Yu didn’t speak.
This was Lin Ting’s retribution!
But why did he feel so uncomfortable?
He didn’t want Lin Ting to receive such retribution.
He didn’t want to believe it, “Could the test be wrong?”
Crew-cut Dr. Zhao said confidently, “No mistake, she’s been tested twice here. Last time was half a month ago, the cancer cells hadn’t metastasized yet. This time it spread to the liver and stomach so quickly.”
“…” Jiang Yu remained silent for a long time.
His brows were tightly knitted. After a long while, he said heavily, “Thank you, Dr. Zhao.”
As he stood up to return to his table, crew-cut Dr. Zhao added one more sentence, “Mr. Jiang, if only your specific anticancer drug could be successfully developed sooner.”
Jiang Yu: “Our team is already rushing against time.”
Returning to the table, Lin Weiwei was still looking at the medical book in her hands.
She didn’t even know he had just gone to the next table. Only when she inadvertently looked up did she glance at him, “Jiang Yu, where did you come back from? Did you leave just now?”
Jiang Yu knew she was completely absorbed in medicine and hadn’t even noticed what he said to the next table.
Dr. Zhao’s words had unsettled his thoughts. When answering Lin Weiwei, he paused briefly, “Mm.”
Lin Weiwei said “oh” without paying much attention and continued burying her head in the medical book in her hands.
Jiang Yu stood up again, walked to an empty corner, and made a call, “Help me contact the most authoritative lung cancer expert professors abroad. Make sure it’s fast, please!”
When he returned to the table, he looked at Lin Weiwei, who was still buried in her medical book.
When the waiter served the dishes, he didn’t take away her medical book as usual and order her to eat quickly. Instead, he looked at Lin Weiwei with heavy thoughts, his mind in chaos.
In his mind was the image of Lin Ting pleading with him bitterly.
When Lin Weiwei looked up, there wasn’t a trace of a smile on his face.
On the contrary, it was covered with dark clouds.
“Jiang Yu, what’s wrong with you? Something on your mind?”
“Let’s eat.”
During this meal, Jiang Yu hardly touched his food.
…
The next morning, Lin Ting thought about having to deliver hair to Jiang Yu at noon.
And the hair needed for the paternity test had to be plucked out by the roots.
And at least five strands.
To be on the safe side, Lin Ting wanted to send dozens of strands so that even if something went wrong along the way, Jiang Yu could still submit them to multiple testing agencies.
Pulling out so many hairs with their roots intact all at once wasn’t easy.
While combing her daughter’s hair, Lin Ting had no choice but to tell another lie to Xiao Youzi.
“Youzi, Mommy heard that if you tie a child’s hair together with her mother’s hair and make it into a protective charm, it can keep both of you safe.”
“Mommy needs to pull out some of your hair, roots and all. It might hurt a little. Can you bear with it?”
Xiao Youzi, who was having her hair combed, tilted her neck and looked back at her.
Clearly seeing through her mother’s intentions, she pouted unhappily and muttered, “Mommy, you’re taking Youzi’s hair to give to that person for a paternity test, aren’t you?”
Last time, dozens of her hairs had been pulled out by the roots too.
“…” How should Lin Ting respond?
She couldn’t respond at all.
Xiao Youzi was deeply upset.
“Mommy, that person doesn’t even acknowledge me. Why do you still want to go looking for him?”
“Didn’t you promise me that you’d never leave me and never send me to that person? Then why are you pulling out my hair?”
“That person” was Xiao Youzi’s way of referring to Jiang Yu.
Even though she knew he was her father, she refused to call him Daddy.
“Youzi, he…”
“I don’t care, I just don’t like him.”
Clearly, Xiao Youzi had already started to dislike Jiang Yu.
Xiao Youzi’s round eyes suddenly welled up with tears.
Her long eyelashes instantly grew damp.
Her little mouth quivered, full of grievance.
“Mommy, I don’t want to be apart from you. Can’t you please stop looking for that person?”
“Youzi has Mommy. Mommy is the best mommy in the world. Youzi only needs Mommy.”
Yes.
Youzi only had her.
After giving birth to Youzi in prison, Youzi had relied solely on her.
When she woke up this morning, she had coughed up blood again. The cancer cells had already spread to her liver and stomach, and she didn’t have much time left.
Should she just tell Youzi the truth?
Tell her that she was in the late stages of cancer and couldn’t accompany her much longer, that she should go live with her father, who would also love her dearly.
The pain of parting forever was something Youzi would have to face someday. Knowing earlier would allow her to prepare mentally and adapt sooner.
Suppressing the complex ache in her heart, Lin Ting parted her lips, “…”