“Go on, hurry over there. They’re at the city hospital. I’ll cover your leave.”What kind of man avoids responsibility like this? Even a department chief wasn’t as dependable as a mere workshop supervisor like him.
Shi Shengli nodded and ran outside, thanking him as he went. “Thanks, Old Yu. I’ll treat you to a meal later.”
“What meal? Just hurry over and check on things. If you need anything, just say the word.”They’d been old buddies for years. Usually they joked around and mocked each other, but when something serious happened, one sentence was enough.
Shi Shengli didn’t reply again. He even forgot about the bicycle he had ridden there and sprinted straight toward the city hospital. Familiar people greeted him along the way, but he didn’t even notice them.
“What’s up with Old Shi? He usually loves chatting.”
“Who knows? Must be something urgent. He’s never like this.”
“Stop staring. We’ll know tomorrow what happened. Hurry back and clean up—it’s almost quitting time.”
“Right, right. Nothing’s more important than getting off work.”The crowd dispersed in an instant.
By the time Shi Shengli reached the hospital, he was drenched in sweat. He saw that his wife’s eyes were swollen red from crying.
His two sons both looked grave, and the younger one’s eyes were red as well.
His daughter lay pale-faced on the hospital bed. She had always been small and thin, but now she looked even more pitiful.
Suddenly, he felt as if his feet weighed a thousand pounds. It was like cotton had stuffed his throat shut—he couldn’t move forward or open his mouth. Anxiety overwhelmed him so badly that his face changed color from holding it in.
“Dad.”
Shi Jingye’s voice seemed to call Shi Shengli’s soul back into his body. His legs went weak and he nearly collapsed, but Shi Jingye reacted quickly and caught him.
Staggering forward, Shi Shengli reached his daughter’s bedside. He raised a trembling hand but didn’t even dare touch her.
How could this be? She had been perfectly fine when she left home this morning—how had she become like this now?
“Dad, don’t worry too much. The doctor said Little Sister’s condition is stable.”Seeing his father’s face turn pale, Shi Jingye hurried to comfort him, though deep down he had no confidence himself.
“Wh-what exactly happened? Did someone bully your sister?”Shi Shengli’s face was covered in sweat, full of fear and panic.
The moment he saw his daughter, he was reminded of what happened when she was five years old.
Back then, she had looked just like this—deathly pale, as if she might stop breathing at any second. But after she woke up, that lively, mischievous little girl had become like a completely different person.
Although he knew she was still his daughter, it always felt like something was missing—as if the child he once had was now only an empty shell.
He was terrified. Truly terrified that when she woke up this time, she would become even less like his daughter.
Shi Jingye had only arrived recently himself and knew even less than his mother. He turned to look at her.
Du Sui’an wiped away her tears. “I don’t know the details either. Nobody could explain clearly. They only said our daughter suddenly stumbled out of an alley with blood all over her head and collapsed.”
“She was brought to the hospital, and someone from our factory happened to recognize her face, so they rushed over to find me.”
“When I arrived, she still hadn’t woken up. We’ll have to wait until she wakes up to know what really happened.”
Du Sui’an held one of her daughter’s hands tightly. Only the warmth of that hand kept her panicked heart somewhat steady.
“What did the doctor say? Will there be any lasting effects?”At this point, they could only wait for their daughter to wake up.
Du Sui’an’s pupils contracted slightly. Clearly, she and her husband had arrived at the same frightening thought.
Would the person who woke up this time still truly be their daughter?
Helplessly, she looked at her husband. “Child’s father, do you think—”
Before she could finish, Shi Shengli cut her off.
What era was this? Some things had to stay buried in your stomach. You couldn’t even say them at home. If someone with ulterior motives overheard, it could become a disastrous matter.
He wasn’t a particularly capable man himself; everything he had relied on his older brother for. Even if they couldn’t help his brother, they absolutely couldn’t cause him trouble.
Du Sui’an pinched herself hard, forcing herself to stay calm. She didn’t dare say another unnecessary word and kept reminding herself to keep her mouth shut.
“The doctor said her life isn’t in danger. She just lost too much blood. She’ll be fine after recovering and eating nourishing food. As for whether there’ll be aftereffects… they can’t say for sure.”
It was those words—can’t say for sure—that terrified Du Sui’an the most.
“Do you remember Doctor Chen, the one who treated our daughter when she was little?”
Their daughter had always been healthy. In all these years, she had only been hospitalized once—after that fall when she was five.
“Of course I remember. Was Doctor Chen the one treating her this time too?”How could he forget? After that drastic change in his daughter, he had practically taken her to the hospital every single day.
“Yes. Doctor Chen said… maybe this time it could actually be a good thing.”Even as she said “good thing,” the worry on Du Sui’an’s face didn’t lessen at all.
Shi Shengli stared at his wife in confusion. Their daughter was injured like this, and she called it a good thing? Did she even hear herself?
Du Sui’an pretended not to notice his look. As if only he loved their daughter—was she some kind of stepmother?
“Do you remember what Doctor Chen said before? That after her fall, there was a blood clot in the back of her head? This time, the examination showed the clot had dispersed. If her recovery goes well, she might become like she was when she was little.”
Even Du Sui’an felt this sounded unreliable, yet a tiny hope still rose inside her—that when her daughter woke up, she would be like she used to be.
That had been the wish she and her husband held onto for ten whole years.
That’s right. When Shi Meiqing was five years old, she hit her head. After waking up, something about her was clearly wrong.
The hospital examination revealed a small blood clot in her brain. The doctors said it affected certain nerves, which was why the child had become slow-witted.
The worry in Shi Shengli’s eyes eased a little. “You mean it? There’s really hope the clot can heal?”
At the time, they couldn’t find any other explanation, so they eventually brought her to a provincial hospital for scans.
After looking at the images, the doctor said there was bruised blood in her brain pressing on some nerves, which made their daughter appear dull and foolish.
Of course they wanted treatment, but hospitals back then simply couldn’t handle it. Even in major cities, the chances of success were low. After all, it was the brain—they didn’t dare let doctors casually cut open their daughter’s head.
They had heard that skilled traditional Chinese doctors might be able to help with acupuncture, but what kind of era was it then? Which traditional doctor dared openly practice medicine? Let alone truly exceptional ones.
If they searched carefully, they might still find ordinary Chinese doctors, but not all of them knew acupuncture. And when it came to sticking needles into someone’s head, no one dared do it lightly.
So the matter was delayed again and again.
Fortunately, ten years had passed without their daughter getting worse, even if she hadn’t improved.
And now, hearing that the blood clot might finally recover—it felt like a pie had fallen straight from heaven.