“We haven’t done this in a long time…”
The man’s thin lips pressed against Gu Mian’s ear, his low, husky voice laced with seduction.
“Ting Shen, I need to go to the hospital…”
Gu Mian dodged the kiss he pursued.
“Just once!”
Time seemed to stretch on indefinitely.
The man didn’t let her go until Gu Mian felt like she was about to pass out.
“Did I hurt you?” The man’s low, pleasant voice sounded by her ear. “I’ll have someone buy you the latest designer bag later.”
Gu Mian slowly opened her eyes to look at him.
He was handsome, his features breathtakingly perfect, and he carried an air of cold arrogance. Perhaps because of their recent intimacy, a trace of passion still lingered on his flawless, beautiful face.
After three years of marriage, Gu Mian could tell he had just been satisfied.
That was why he was being so generous.
Gu Mian gave a bitter smile. “Have you forgotten? I’m still in prison.”
“Then you can carry it after you’re released.”
A sharp pain pierced Gu Mian’s heart.
He said it so casually, so indifferently, as if her being in prison was just a vacation.
“Aren’t you getting out soon?” The man’s hand touched her face soothingly. “I told you a year would pass quickly.”
Gu Mian fought back her tears and grabbed his hand, her voice dry and strained. “The hospital called and said Grandma isn’t feeling well. Do you have time later? Could you come with me to see her?”
She was serving her sentence in prison and couldn’t leave as she pleased. Fortunately, due to her good behavior, she had been granted a one-day family visit leave.
She had left the prison early in the morning, originally planning to go straight to the hospital. But fearing her appearance would worry her grandma, she had come home to change, only to run into Li Tingshen, who had just returned from a business trip abroad.
She was in a hurry to get to the hospital, but the man had relentlessly pestered her for sex, delaying her the entire morning.
Gu Mian thought it was a good thing she ran into him. If they went to the hospital together, Grandma would surely be happy to see him.
But in the next second, the man pulled his hand away.
An inexplicable emptiness filled Gu Mian’s heart.
“I have something to do this afternoon. You go by yourself.” Li Tingshen got up, took a card from the bedside table drawer, and handed it to her. “Buy Grandma something to eat.”
Gu Mian wasn’t surprised. This wasn’t the first time he had dismissed her with money.
He never considered that what Grandma needed wasn’t money, but to see the two of them as a loving, harmonious couple.
After showering, Li Tingshen got dressed and left without so much as a word.
Gu Mian got up and tidied herself up. When she got out of bed, her legs were still trembling.
She wrapped some small wontons, packed them to take to the hospital, and planned to cook them for her grandma.
As she walked into the hospital room, Gu Mian froze. The bag in her hand fell to the floor.
“Grandma!”
Although her grandma’s poor health required long-term hospitalization, she had never been on a ventilator like this before.
Gu Mian rushed forward, calling out anxiously, “Grandma, I’m back! Open your eyes and look at me, Grandma!”
Grandma struggled to open her eyes, a flicker of light appearing in her old, vacant gaze. “Mian Mian, you’re here…”
“Grandma, what’s wrong?” Gu Mian asked hurriedly. “Didn’t the nurse say on the phone that you were just a little unwell and missed me? How did it get so serious?”
“I was afraid of scaring you, so I had the nurse tell you that. Mian Mian, Grandma is not going to make it.”
“No!”
Gu Mian quickly grabbed her hand to check her pulse.
The oil in the lamp had run dry; her end was near.
Tears streamed down like a bursting dam. Gu Mian’s heart felt like it was being sliced by a knife.
“Mian Mian, birth, old age, sickness, and death are a part of life. Don’t cry.” Grandma caressed her face. “Having a filial granddaughter like you, Grandma has no regrets in this life. I just can’t stop worrying about you.”
“Grandma, please don’t go!” Gu Mian frantically wiped away her tears and forced a smile. “I’ll be out of prison in another month. I’ll stay with you every day. Didn’t you always want to go back to the countryside? We’ll go as soon as you get better…”
“Alright.” Grandma looked at her lovingly. “Ask Ting Shen to come with us, and you two can give me a beautiful little great-grandchild.”
Knowing it was impossible, Gu Mian still nodded forcefully. “Okay, he’ll agree. He was going to come see you, but something urgent came up at the company that he had to handle.”
“Work is important.”
Grandma took a semi-circular jade pendant from under her pillow and placed it in Gu Mian’s hand.
It was carved with a phoenix, the jade exquisite and warm to the touch—a rare, top-quality piece.
“Mian Mian, you must keep this safe. This is your…”
Before Grandma could finish, the door to the room was suddenly thrown open.
Li Tingshen stood there in a dark, tailor-made suit. His figure was tall and straight, his broad shoulders, narrow hips, and long legs a perfect proportion. He was a walking mannequin, every gesture exuding an innate, noble air.
A flicker of joy lit up Gu Mian. “Grandma, Ting Shen is here! Ting Shen came to see you!”
Li Tingshen walked to the bedside, but his expression was off.
He was usually calm and composed, never showing his emotions, but right now he seemed a little nervous and uneasy. “Gu Mian, Luoxue is sick. She needs you to give her a blood transfusion immediately.”
Gu Mian froze. She had thought Li Tingshen’s unease was for her grandma, but she never expected it was because of Yin Luoxue.
Of course. In this world, the woman he loved most was his childhood sweetheart and first love, Yin Luoxue. No one could compare to her.
Gu Mian suppressed the dull ache in her chest and said with a choke, “Grandma is dying. I need to stay here with her. Ting Shen, can’t you let Yin Luoxue use the blood from the blood bank?”
“Panda blood is already rare, and this hospital doesn’t have any. The nearest blood bank is over an hour away. By the time the blood gets here, she’ll be gone.” Li Tingshen grabbed her wrist and started pulling her out. “Gu Mian, a life is at stake. You have to go!”
“I want to stay with Grandma! Let go of me!” Gu Mian struggled, but to no avail.
“Mian Mian… Mian Mian!” From the hospital bed, Grandma reached out a hand in her direction, speaking urgently, “About your past, Grandma never told you. The truth is, you…”
“Grandma!”
Gu Mian was dragged out of the room and directly to the blood transfusion station.
A normal person shouldn’t donate more than 400 milliliters of blood, but Li Tingshen said it wasn’t enough for Yin Luoxue and had the staff draw 800 milliliters.
After the blood was drawn, Gu Mian’s face was as pale as paper.
She propped up her weak body and held onto the wall as she made her way back to her grandma’s room, only to see that the ventilator had stopped working. A white cloth covered her grandma’s emaciated body.
The world spun before Gu Mian’s eyes. Her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the floor.
She didn’t even have the strength to cry as she crawled arduously toward her grandma.
“No… Grandma… Please don’t leave me…”
She knelt by the bedside, hugging her grandma’s body, consumed by grief.
“Gu Mian, my condolences.”
Li Tingshen’s low, indifferent voice came from behind her. “By the way, Luoxue is out of danger. Thank you for your trouble… Also, the prison called. It’s time for you to go back.”