“The patient developed an infection, likely because she endured the abdominal pain without informing the medical staff.”
“Fortunately, it was discovered in time. If it had been found later in the evening, it could have been dangerous!”
…
Shen Xingyao and the other person sat obediently listening to the doctor’s instructions, their minds filled with overwhelming relief.
Pei Yanqiu had rushed over in a hurry, his face pale with panic, terrified that if he had been even a moment slower, something might have really happened to his mother.
Only after hearing the doctor say that although she had been admitted to the ICU, the situation was under control and there was no immediate danger to her life did he finally let out a sigh of relief, feeling as if he had come back to life.
Visiting wasn’t allowed at the moment, so after the doctor left, the two of them could only sit idly in the hallway.
After a while, Pei Yanqiu turned to Shen Xingyao and said, “Xingyao, thank you.”
If she hadn’t made a special trip to the hospital that afternoon, his mother would have been in real danger.
Shen Xingyao sighed and said, “We’re family—there’s no need for thanks.”
“But Auntie must have something on her mind that she doesn’t want to talk about. You should still try to persuade her not to overthink things.”
There are plenty of elderly people like this who believe that enduring silently means not burdening their children.
Little do they know that such behavior can lead to even more serious consequences.
“Yeah, I’ll talk to her,” Pei Yanqiu replied, though deep down he knew there was no way to explain things to his mother.
When he received Shen Xingyao’s call saying his mother had collapsed, he immediately knew the problem must have stemmed from the investor’s representative who had visited the other day.
His mother came from a small mountain village. When he first brought her to the city for treatment, she was terrified, afraid that the money would be spent and she still wouldn’t make it, ruining his life in the process.
Now, having someone from the investor’s side talk about debts and bankruptcy in front of her was enough to scare her out of her wits.
Pei Yanqiu knew that no matter what he said, it wouldn’t make a difference. The only thing he could do was give in to their demands.
As long as he listened to them, signed the gamble agreement, and took on that sudden challenge, the funds would be available immediately.
The team’s debts would be cleared, his account would be unfrozen, and with money, his mother’s worries would naturally dissolve.
The two of them stayed at the hospital all afternoon. It wasn’t until nightfall that Pei Yanqiu snapped out of his daze and took Shen Xingyao out for dinner.
After dinner, they could only return home. After all, ICU visiting hours were at 9 a.m., and going back to the hospital now would only mean waiting outside with nothing to do.
When they returned home, the house felt almost devoid of warmth, so much so that they didn’t even dare take off their coats.
With a creak, Shen Xingyao sat down on the sofa and realized that Pei Yanqiu truly was like a house-elf.
Just after returning from the hospital, he was already back at it!
He had already tidied up the small living room after lunch, and now he was sorting through the clothes piled up in the corner.
Upon closer inspection, those clothes were clearly women’s wear—dirty clothes the original owner had worn once and then tossed aside to gather dust!
Shen Xingyao couldn’t sit still any longer. She hurried over to help, saying, “Don’t bother with this, I’ll take care of it, I’ll take care of it!”
With his mother still lying in the ICU, even if she were as lazy as could be, she couldn’t possibly let him wash her things at a time like this.
But Pei Yanqiu dodged her hand and stuffed all the dirty clothes into a large basin. “I’ll wash them. You won’t get them clean.”
Then he added, “I might have to go back to the club in the next couple of days to arrange training sessions. I won’t be able to help you wash them then.”
Pei Yanqiu was a man of action. No matter how much he currently resented the investors who kicked him while he was down, he knew how to read the situation when he had to rely on others for survival.
Since he had already decided to compromise, he needed to return early and make the most of his time to prepare.
The next morning, he went to sign the valuation adjustment agreement.
If Daybreak made it to the top eight in this season’s Tiao Cup, the investment would remain unchanged, and he would still be the majority shareholder.
If they failed to advance, he would have to surrender all his shares, pack up, and leave.
Though he was seething with frustration, as a man, he had to swallow his pride and not show a hint of regret.
Looking back on the past month of resistance, it seemed he had gained nothing except for worrying his mother into illness and making his girlfriend suffer alongside him for a month.
Shen Xingyao thought he had gone mad and looked at him with concern. “I… I can wash them myself, and if not, there’s always the washing machine…”
Pei Yanqiu snapped back to reality and realized that perhaps he hadn’t gained nothing after all. At least Shen Xingyao was different now.
In the past, she never cared about him. She would only demand money as if it were her right and push all the chores onto him.
But now, Shen Xingyao… was worried about him.
This could be considered the greatest stroke of luck in his otherwise unfortunate days.
Pei Yanqiu curled the corner of his mouth. “The washing machine is broken. You can’t use it…”
With that, he picked up the large basin of clothes, strode into the bathroom with his long legs.
Wait, what?
If the washing machine is broken, shouldn’t you ask the landlord to fix it? What are you smiling about?
Shen Xingyao began to suspect that he might have lost his mind from too much stress. But since he was kindly helping her with the laundry, she couldn’t repay his kindness with such ungrateful thoughts.
The sound of washing and scrubbing came from the bathroom, and Shen Xingyao couldn’t sit still any longer. She went to the small balcony to collect the clothes he had washed the day before.
The north was so dry—even in the dead of winter, clothes dried in no time.
If this were the south, even under direct sunlight, winter clothes would hardly dry completely in a single day.
This was one of the perks of living in the north.
Unfortunately, without the scent of sunlight from direct exposure, Shen Xingyao still felt a bit unaccustomed.
After folding the clothes, she idly pulled out her phone, planning to watch a wilderness survival variety show to familiarize herself with the process.
She skimmed through a few but quickly realized they all followed scripts.
Since Sister Wang had told her to play the role of a useless rich girl, she figured the script would likely be the same for her.
If she wanted to learn on the spot, she’d probably have to watch some TV dramas for reference.
Shen Xingyao started watching a drama to learn, but it made her feel a bit nauseated. Just then, her phone rang.
Finally, an excuse to take a break. Without even checking who was calling, she answered as if she had found a lifeline.
“Hello? Yaoyao? Why did you block me on QQ?!”
A magnetic voice came through the phone, instantly bringing back Shen Xingyao’s cringe-worthy memories from yesterday.
Wasn’t this the original owner’s in-game CP?
She thought QQ was the only social platform where they were connected. She hadn’t expected them to exchange phone numbers too?
Shen Xingyao frowned. “Didn’t I say it? Don’t contact me anymore!”
The other person seemed afraid she would hang up and block him again like yesterday and hurriedly tried to stop her. “Wait! Yaoyao, did you hear some gossip about me?!”
“Bingbing and I have absolutely nothing going on. I just played a couple of games with her…”
Huh?
Bringing a girl along?
Shen Xingyao just happened to have no proper reason to pick a fight with him—wasn’t this the perfect leverage?
She immediately seized the opportunity: “Pah! I don’t believe a word of it!”
“Didn’t you start by just bringing me along to play games too?”
“Alright, let’s not stay in touch anymore. Let’s delete each other!”
After hanging up, Shen Xingyao gave herself a pat on the back for her cleverness. Hadn’t she effortlessly solved a major problem?
Turning around, she saw Pei Yanqiu standing right behind her, holding clothes, his hands frozen bright red—a sight that tugged at her heartstrings.
Even more heartbreaking was the look in his eyes, almost on the verge of tears!
Damn!
He heard it!