Chapter 62: Acute Gastroenteritis
Mo Suqing and Leng Xiyao were just coming out of the park when Ye Zhongjue called.
“Where are you?”
Ye Zhongjue sounded tired. Mo Suqing gave Leng Xiyao a worried look and told Ye Zhongjue their location.
Ye Zhongjue said in his calm voice, “Stay right where you are. I’ll go pick you up now.”
Ye Zhongjue could hear Mo Suqing was not in a particularly positive mood. He quickly took the keys and went out.
During all these years, it always got on his nerves when something happened to her.
Thinking back, he had decided to leave the country simply because he found out that she had gotten together with someone else.
Sometimes, Ye Zhongjue regretted it. However, when he thought about how heartbroken she would be if he had tried to break them up, he assured himself he had done the right thing after all.
For her, he had been a total stranger.
Ye Zhongjue saw the two girls sitting on a stone bench near the entrance of the park.
He parked the car and quickly walked over. Mo Suqing’s face lit up when she saw him.
Although Leng Xiyao had heard Mo Suqing talking with Ye Zhongjue on the phone, when his footsteps approached towards them, all she did was cast him a glance.
She had a numb and lifeless expression of a wooden toy.
Ye Zhongjue came over. Mo Suqing hauled Leng Xiyao up.
Ye Zhongjue observed the two women. Mo Suqing was a little pale, but now that she was in front of him, he felt much more relieved.
As for Leng Xiyao, he frowned at the sight of her.
“Let’s get your friend home first.”
Ye Zhongjue was addressing Mo Suqing since he could see Leng Xiyao was in a very bad shape at the moment.
Hearing his words, Leng Xiyao’s empty gaze finally shifted.
“No, I can take a taxi home,” she said slowly. Her voice was low, but her tone was insistent.
Mo Suqing frowned in disapproval.
“No. I can’t let you go home by myself like this!”
Ye Zhongjue remembered how Leng Haoyun hurriedly took off last night. Leng Xiyao probably didn’t want Suqing to know her true identity.
Leng Xiyao stood on the spot, as stubborn as a mule.
After some consideration, Ye Zhongjue said, “Suqing, if Miss Leng insists on going home by herself, we can watch her get on the taxi and ask her to tell us when she gets home.”
Leng Xiyao was surprised that Ye Zhongjue had spoken to her as well. She raised her head and gave him a puzzled look before hanging her head low again.
Mo Suqing hesitated. However, it seemed that Leng Xiyao was not going to change her mind, so she could only agree with the proposal.
They watched Leng Xiyao get on the taxi before they left for home, too.
On the way home, Mo Suqing did not ask Ye Zhongjue where he had been the whole day and Ye Zhongjue did not speak a word either.
After going back home and taking a shower, Mo Suqing lay awake on the bed.
Before long, she felt the space next to her sag a little.
In the dark, cold room, their gentle breathing was the only sound.
Ye Zhongjue knew Mo Suqing was awake because if she was asleep, her body would lean closer to him involuntarily. Now, he could feel it was stiff and she did not want to get close to him.
Ye Zhongjue sighed softly. He wanted to tell her everything, only he didn’t know how.
Should he tell her that he had lied to her from the very beginning and instantly scare her away?
Ye Zhongjue shook his head. He couldn’t do that. He dared not. He wouldn’t be able to afford it.
On the other hand, his heart hurt when he saw her struggling alone. His heart hurt for her.
After some anxious moments, Ye Zhongjue said, “Suqing…”
She did not answer.
Ye Zhongjue extended his arm and slowly pulled her closer.
He immediately felt something was very wrong with her. Her body was rigid as if she was enduring great pain.
Ye Zhongjue touched her face to find cold sweat all over it.
Alarmed, he quickly turned on the light and saw that Mo Suqing’s face was extremely pale. She had curled into a ball and was hugging her stomach in pain, but she did not make a sound lest Ye Zhongjue should find out about it.
Ye Zhongjue quickly got off the bed and carried her in his arms.
“What’s wrong?” he asked in panic. “Is it your period?”
Mo Suqing shook her head uncomfortably. A moan of pain slipped out of her lips.
“It’s probably because we had extra-spicy Sichuan hot pot for lunch and a lot of cold beverages in the afternoon… My stomach… it hurts a lot!”
Beads of cold sweat trickled down from her forehead.
Ye Zhongjue did not hesitate.
He quickly changed into clean clothes. Then, he wrapped a large blanket around Mo Suqing and carried her downstairs.
It was past ten o’clock in the evening. There were still many people on the street.
Ye Zhongjue ran one red light after another. When they arrived at the hospital, he hurriedly took Mo Suqing into the ER.
The doctor did his inspection. Frowning, he told Ye Zhongjue, “As it is, the patient’s gastrointestinal tract is quite sensitive. Then she took in a lot of food that could upset it. The result is acute gastroenteritis, which means she needs to undergo an operation immediately. A family member has to sign the surgical consent form.”
He handed the form to Ye Zhongjue.
Ye Zhongjue quickly browsed the content and signed his name.
He knitted his brows. He had set his mind on getting her out of the house to evade his father, but had not thought of another person she should evade. Now she was sick. He shouldn’t have let her go out with Leng Xiyao.
Ye Zhongjue stayed outside the operating room during the surgery.
He gave Lin Ran a call, and gave him instructions on what he needed to do for him tomorrow and asked him to bring some papers to the hospital. When Lin Ran arrived at the hospital, he added, just give him a call.
By now, Lin Ran had known about Ye Zhongjue and Mo Suqing and that Ye Zhongjue was hiding his identity from her. Moreover, Lin Ran was a sensible man.
Even if Ye Zhongjue didn’t mention it, he would try his best to help his boss conceal his identity.
Meanwhile.
Leng Xiyao stood in front of Leng Haoyun and stared at him expressionlessly. Her eyes bored into his.
Leng Haoyun did not respond.
The deadlock had lasted for almost two hours. Finally, Leng Xiyao could stand it no longer.
She had been standing there since she came home, but her uncle had not said a word. He hadn’t asked where she had been or told her what he had done today. It was as if she did not exist.
“Uncle, can I ask you a question?”
Leng Haoyun finally looked up at her, suggesting her to continue.
“All these years… how do you see me? As a kid, as your little princess, as your brother’s child, or… or just someone whom you are responsible for and nothing more?”
Leng Haoyun frowned. He had no idea why Leng Xiyao would ask him such a question.
The truth was, he didn’t know the answer himself.
Was it a kid? Maybe he had seen her as a kid at first, a little princess he had protected carefully.
As time went on, she grew up gradually.
When her first period came, she had thought she was going to die and called him, telling him to come back home tearfully.
It was probably at that time that he had unknowingly changed his attitude towards her and no longer saw her as a kid.
She had left childhood with her first period.
Later on, she became more and more womanly.
Then, she was eighteen years old. He could still remember her eighteenth birthday. He had come home earlier.
She had just taken shower after a nap and he had bumped right into a naked her when he opened the door.
Her soft, fair skin was very smooth. She had got all the curves, too. In that split second, her beautiful body was seared into his brain.
Although he immediately closed the door, the image had stayed with him for a very long time.
He had known this was so unlike him.
That evening, she dressed up like a princess in a white dress at her birthday party. All night, he saw only her. His little princess had grown up.
That night, he had a dirty dream about her.
Sometimes, he found it hard to admit even to himself that he had fallen in love with the girl he raised alone. Yet, that was the truth.
Of course, he knew she was his brother’s child.
But he also knew they were not related by blood. When he was much younger, he had overheard what his brother and his wife said, about the truth behind the little princess of the family. She was not actually their child.
So, he let his desire burn.
That being said, he had always kept his feelings under control so as not to scare her.
He worked late every night not because he didn’t want to see her, but because he was afraid he would do something that frightened her.
After she graduated from college, she seemed to be more and more out of his control and emotional.
Sometimes he would wonder if he was too protective of her, if he had spoilt her.
But, other than spoiling her, he did not know how else to interact with her.
Besides, it was his responsibility to protect her from any harm.
After a long time, he asked her a question in response, “What’s up with you today?”
Leng Xiyao sneered. Looks like he doesn’t want to answer her question, so he changed the subject.
She decided to just pour it out without beating about the bush.
“I saw you in Taste of Hunan. With An Huilin. I never knew you two knew each other.”
Leng Xiyao chuckled.
“She has been giving me a hard time recently, are you aware of that? I kept thinking about what I could possibly have done to enrage her, but as far as I knew, I couldn’t have any link with her outside work. Until today. I saw you with her. The tone and expression you had when you were talking told me you have known each other for a long time. As for me, I have been a fool facing her wrath every day all these time!”
Leng Haoyun frowned, a hint of irritation crossing his face.
“I’ll ask her about it.”
Somehow, Leng Xiyao felt even angrier to hear him say that.
“Uncle, you are the reason she is giving me a hard time, aren’t you?”