Even though the voices were not loud, every word landed clearly in Ruan Yingying’s ears. She had no time to pay attention to the gossip and instead focused her mind as she spoke in a serious tone.
“Old Master Huo has typical tachycardia and an unstable heart rhythm. His heart could stop at any moment during surgery. Performing the operation recklessly would only increase the burden on the dean.”
She paused slightly before looking earnestly at Ji Shaohui.
“Dean, please help me find a set of silver needles. Given Old Master Huo’s condition, I can use acupuncture to…”
Before she could finish, Ruan Yingying suddenly felt a tight grip around her wrist. When she looked up, Huo Qiang had already grabbed her.
Huo Qiang took half a step forward with the support of his walking stick, and his injured leg caused his body to sway unsteadily.
The impatience he had suppressed for so long finally erupted. When he heard that Ruan Yingying even dared to mention silver needles, his expression instantly became frighteningly dark.
“Ruan Yingying, this is not the time for you to show off. If you delay his treatment, you’ll be responsible for a human life. Or are you saying that you won’t be satisfied until you watch my father take his last breath?”
He knew this woman far too well. All she did every day was paint her eyebrows, dress herself up, eat, drink, and enjoy herself. When had she ever studied medicine?
Now she had suddenly jumped out and started giving orders. If that was not harming someone, then what was?
Ruan Yingying’s face became somewhat unpleasant after being stabbed by his harsh accusation, but she had no interest in arguing further. She simply looked straight at him and said each word clearly.
“If you keep stopping me, then you’ll really be the one killing Dad.”
Seeing the atmosphere between the two suddenly grow tense, Huang Xue’er quickly seized the opportunity to intervene.
“Big Brother Huo, Godfather’s condition is critical, and we cannot delay any longer. My sister in law is pregnant and really shouldn’t exhaust herself either. Why don’t I take her outside to get some fresh air first?”
As she spoke, she naturally reached out and took hold of Ruan Yingying’s arm.
Huo Qiang’s tense expression eased slightly. Although he said nothing, he had clearly tacitly agreed to Huang Xue’er taking her away.
A trace of undetectable mockery crossed Huang Xue’er’s lips.
Could this Ruan Yingying have watched too many storybooks and actually believed that silver needles could save a life?
She sighed softly as she calmly led Ruan Yingying outside, wearing an appropriately worried expression while speaking loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“Sister in law, I know you’re only thinking irrationally because you’re worried about Godfather, which is why you’ve turned to desperate measures and thought of using silver needles. But our hospital has always emphasized scientific treatment. I’ve never heard of someone being cured simply with a few silver needles.”
Her words clearly implied that the acupuncture treatment proposed by Ruan Yingying was nothing more than the work of a quack.
The corners of Ruan Yingying’s lips curved into a faint smile, but her eyes remained cold.
“You haven’t even tried it. How do you know I’m resorting to desperate measures?”
Huang Xue’er’s expression stiffened at those words. She immediately put on a gentle smile and smoothly tried to ease the situation. At the same time, she secretly increased the force of her hand and pushed Ruan Yingying a little farther toward the door.
“Sister in law is right. But right now, Godfather’s safety is the most important thing, and we cannot afford to waste even a moment.”
“Dean Ji and I are here to take care of him, so Sister in law, just go outside and rest peacefully.”
Her words were as gentle and considerate as though she were coaxing a child, but Ruan Yingying could clearly feel the force with which Huang Xue’er was gripping her arm growing stronger.
After only a few sentences, Huang Xue’er had half pushed and half dragged her to the doorway.
But when Ruan Yingying caught sight of Huo Jianguo’s purplish face and his rapidly rising and falling chest from a distance, her heart suddenly tightened.
Old Master Huo needed acupuncture to stabilize his heart rhythm right now.
Otherwise, forget about Huang Xue’er and the other medical professionals, even a divine immortal would have difficulty saving him.
She abruptly turned around, her clear gaze once again locking directly onto Huo Qiang.
Her voice carried an unmistakable urgency as she pleaded.
“Huo Qiang, give me one chance. If his condition does not improve after the acupuncture, I promise I’ll leave immediately.”
Huo Qiang merely moved his gaze away indifferently, his thin lips pressed tightly together.
A strange silence settled over the hospital room. The only sound was the intermittent beeping of the electrocardiogram machine, each sound weaker than the one before.
Ruan Yingying clenched her fingertips.
She could not wait any longer.
Even if Huo Qiang refused to agree, she was going to stay and save him.
With that thought, Ruan Yingying turned sideways and tried to free herself from Huang Xue’er’s support. Unexpectedly, the force in Huang Xue’er’s hand suddenly increased again, her five fingers gripping Ruan Yingying like an iron clamp.
Ruan Yingying’s body was already heavy from her pregnancy, and when Huang Xue’er secretly gave her another tug without warning, she immediately lost her balance.
Her entire body was about to fall backward.
“Careful!”
Several startled cries rang out around them.
Just as Ruan Yingying stumbled backward and was about to fall, Huo Qiang’s pupils trembled. His mountain-like body immediately leaned forward, and his large hand, strong as an iron clamp, accurately caught her wrist and pulled her firmly back in front of him.
The movement carried obvious force. Rather than protecting her, it was more like he was controlling her.
A moment of panic flashed across his face before an indistinct anger quickly followed.
If he had not reacted quickly just now, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
“I told you to go outside and wait, so go outside and wait!” he scolded coldly, his anger almost impossible to conceal.
But when his gaze fell upon her hand tightly protecting her abdomen, his tone eventually softened slightly. Through clenched teeth, he muttered hoarsely.
“How much longer are you going to keep putting yourself through this?”
“Ten minutes.”
Seeing Huo Qiang’s expression soften somewhat, Ruan Yingying had no time to suppress the lingering fear in her heart. Her lips trembled slightly, yet she stubbornly insisted.
“I only need ten minutes.”
The scene of Ruan Yingying nearly falling had also frightened Huang Xue’er badly.
If Ruan Yingying had actually fallen in front of everyone and something had happened to her, everything would have been ruined.
She secretly looked around and made sure no one had noticed what she had done before finally letting out a quiet sigh of relief.
Thinking of this, Huang Xue’er quickly concealed the panic in her eyes and instead furrowed her delicate brows, immediately complaining in a concerned tone.
“Sister in law, please be careful. Your condition cannot withstand this kind of strain.”
“All right, everyone, calm down.”
Ji Shaohui interrupted them in a deep voice and glanced at Huang Xue’er.
Finally, he looked toward Ruan Yingying, whose eyes were filled with determination, and a complicated expression briefly crossed his face.
After pondering for a moment, he finally nodded.
“All right. I’ll give you ten minutes.”
“I’ll go get the silver needles.”
Although the rumors surrounding Ruan Yingying had given Ji Shaohui a poor impression of her, her professional judgment just now had been well reasoned and demonstrated solid medical knowledge. She did not seem like someone who was simply making empty claims.
On the other hand, there was Miss Xue’er.
Earlier, she had taken a batch of Chinese medicinal herbs that were nearing their expiration date and were supposed to be destroyed according to hospital regulations. She had claimed that she wanted them to practice the preparation of medicinal decoctions.
It was only after Ji Shaohui happened to hear a military family member mention the matter that he learned the truth. Rather than practicing how to prepare medicine, she had brewed the herbs into medicinal decoctions and distributed them among the families, using them to build herself a good reputation throughout the compound.
Although it was not a serious matter, it had always made Ji Shaohui feel that this young woman was too eager for recognition and not as pure and sincere as she appeared.
As a doctor, he could not allow his personal bias to interfere with treatment, so he decided to let Ruan Yingying give it a try.
…
A short while later, Ruan Yingying accepted the needle case handed to her by Ji Shaohui.
She skillfully took out a long, slender acupuncture needle and, under everyone’s tense gaze, precisely inserted it into Huo Jianguo’s Neiguan acupoint, followed by the Shenmen acupoint.
Zhou Xiulan was trembling with nervousness. She unconsciously clutched the corner of Huang Xue’er’s clothes and whispered.
“Xue’er, will this really work?”
Huang Xue’er gently reassured Zhou Xiulan.
“Godmother, don’t worry. Even Dean Ji agreed to let her try, so Sister in law must have some confidence in what she’s doing.”
Although she said this, a smug look of anticipation flashed through her eyes.
Ruan Yingying had never even studied a medical book, yet she dared to treat someone with acupuncture using whatever superficial skills she had somehow picked up.
Since this foolish woman insisted on showing off, Huang Xue’er did not mind adding fuel to the fire.
After all, the higher she was lifted now, the harder she would fall later.
If something went seriously wrong with the treatment, would Big Brother Huo not throw her out of the Huo family?
Everyone held their breath and stared intently at the hospital bed. Even Ji Shaohui unconsciously took half a step forward.