Grandma raised her calloused hand and tenderly wiped away Xia Qianqian’s tears.
“Silly girl, stop trying to fool Grandma. I don’t have many days left. I’m not going to live to a ripe old age.”
“Don’t waste the five hundred thousand you managed to raise on me. However you got it, pay it back. I don’t need it.”
“I miss home now, Grandma wants to go home. Qianqian, take me home…”
Xia Qianqian shook her head. “No, I can’t take you home. If I do, your body won’t be able to hold on!”
The doctor had said that with Grandma in her condition, if she were discharged and her illness worsened, she could die at any moment.
That was why Xia Qianqian didn’t dare let her leave the hospital.
Grandma sighed. “Silly girl, you have to trust me. I can handle it.”
“I’m only going home. It’s not like I’m going to my death.”
“Grandma wants to go home and make you a bowl of wonton noodles.”
“You love the wonton noodles Grandma makes best. If I don’t hurry home and make you some, I’m afraid I won’t get another chance…”
Xia Qianqian shook her head again, choking on her sobs.
No. Grandma, please don’t say that…
“Qianqian, Grandma wants to go home…”
Grandma struggled to get up, but Xia Qianqian wouldn’t let her.
Grandma grew anxious and agitated, and couldn’t help coughing.
With each cough, she brought up a large amount of blood.
Xia Qianqian was so frightened she didn’t know what to do.
“Grandma, don’t get worked up!”
“Doctor! Doctor, come quickly!”
“My grandma’s coughing up blood!”
Fu Beichen reached the doorway of the hospital room and saw Xia Qianqian inside, holding a frail, emaciated old woman, panic-stricken and at a loss.
He stopped in his tracks. For a moment, he couldn’t bring himself to go in.
Xia Qianqian was crying so desperately that her face was streaked with tears.
Grandma wanted to reach out and wipe them away, but she was coughing so hard that her hand was covered in blood. She was afraid of smearing Xia Qianqian’s clean, pretty face.
She said weakly, “Q-Qianqian, Grandma doesn’t want surgery.”
“Grandma knows she doesn’t have many days left.”
“Take me home. Let me stay there and wait quietly for the end…”
“Grandma doesn’t want to die on a cold operating table, surrounded by strangers…”
Xia Qianqian’s face was wet with tears. “Grandma, don’t say any more. Save your strength…”
“No. Grandma has to say it.”
“If I don’t, I’m afraid I won’t get another chance…”
“Qianqian, the person I worry about most is you…”
“If Grandma’s gone, if I’m no longer here, what will happen to my Qianqian?”
“Your mother died young, your biological father doesn’t care about you, and there’s no one around to look after you. You’re all alone.”
“Grandma doesn’t want to leave you behind. I still want to see you marry a good man, have children, and live a happy life…”
“But my body has let me down. I won’t live to see that day…”
“No,” Xia Qianqian choked out. “You’ll see it. You’ll get better!”
“You’ll see me get married and have children. You’ll see all of it, Grandma. You have to hold on!”
“Silly girl, you’ve spent all these years looking after Grandma. You haven’t even had a boyfriend. I’ve been holding you back…”
Xia Qianqian saw a note of despair in Grandma’s eyes and blurted out, “Who says I don’t have a boyfriend? I do! You haven’t held me back, Grandma!”
A spark lit up Grandma’s eyes. Though she had been weak and frail, a sudden surge of strength seemed to fill her and keep her going.
“W-what? Qianqian, you have a boyfriend?”
Xia Qianqian froze. “I…”
In her desperation, she had just claimed she had a boyfriend.
But where would she get one? She’d only said it because she didn’t want Grandma to worry so much about her.
Her throat tightened, and she lowered her eyes. “Yes. I do.”
Grandma’s eyes brightened. “Where is he? Bring him over so Grandma can have a look.”
“I want to know if your boyfriend is dependable, if he can make my Qianqian happy…”
Looking into Grandma’s eyes, full of hope, Xia Qianqian felt her heart break.
She didn’t want to lie to Grandma, but…but…
“Grandma, he’s busy with work. He might not be able to…”
The light in Grandma’s eyes slowly faded.
Seeing it made Xia Qianqian feel even worse, as if her heart had been thrown into a grinder and crushed to pieces.
Grandma’s voice weakened again. “Qianqian, are you trying to fool Grandma?”
“…”
“Never mind…”
Xia Qianqian’s heart ached. She was about to say something when a large hand suddenly steadied her trembling, slender shoulder.
She froze and looked up through tear-blurred eyes.
A man’s hand was gripping her shoulder as he looked down at her.
She couldn’t make out his expression through her tears.
But she recognized him. It was Fu Beichen!
She clung to him like a last lifeline. “Grandma, this is my boyfriend! Look!”
“He came to see you!”
Grandma had seen Fu Beichen too—a tall, handsome young man.
He and her beautiful, kind Qianqian made a perfect couple.
“Good. Qianqian didn’t lie to Grandma…”
“Qianqian really does have a boyfriend. Now she’ll have someone by her side and won’t be all alone. Grandma can finally leave with peace of mind…”
“No, Grandma, don’t say that!”
Grandma reached out toward Fu Beichen.
Fu Beichen’s brow twitched. He couldn’t help reaching out to take the old woman’s cold hand.
Grandma looked at him, a faint smile touching her lips. “Please take good care of my Qianqian. She’s had such a hard life. Please…love her well for me. Don’t let anyone hurt her…”
Fu Beichen’s gaze darkened. He couldn’t refuse. “All right.”
“Then…then I can finally be at ease…”
Grandma gave a relieved smile, then began coughing violently again, bringing up one pool of blood after another.
Xia Qianqian panicked even more. “Grandma!”
“Where are the doctors? Why haven’t they come yet?”
A group of doctors rushed in and took the unconscious Grandma into the operating room.
Standing outside it, Xia Qianqian clasped her hands and prayed over and over that Grandma would make it through.
“Grandma, you have to hold on!”
“You have to come out of that operating room alive!”
“Don’t leave Qianqian behind. If you go, I really will be all alone…”
Fu Beichen leaned against the wall, his tall frame relaxed, hands in his pockets.
His gaze drifted to the woman, crying helplessly and trembling.
Ever since her grandmother had gone into surgery, she had been crying nonstop.
Was she made of water?
How could she cry so much?
It was making him restless.
Unable to take it any longer, Fu Beichen walked over to Xia Qianqian.
Her fair face was blotched red and drenched in tears; her clear eyes were bloodshot, and her expression was full of grief and pain.
His irritation vanished completely, replaced by a trace of tenderness he could barely detect.
Fu Beichen reached out, cupped the back of her head, and pulled her into his arms.
“Stop crying.”
“Your grandmother will be all right.”
He wasn’t very good at comforting women.
But he could at least give her a hug and let her lean on him for a while.