Chapter 621: 328 Terrible (First Revision)

“”Ming Jing, is that Zhu Xiangxiang?”

Ming Chen was bored and leaning by the window when she suddenly saw a familiar figure leaving the inpatient department. She immediately pointed at that person and asked Ming Jing.

Having lived in the Zhu family for several months and seeing Zhu Xiangxiang daily, Ming Chen was confident that she wouldn’t mistake her for someone else.

Ming Jing glanced out the window. From the tenth floor, the person was just a small black dot.

“Why would she be at the hospital?” Ming Chen asked curiously.

Ming Jing took one look and then looked away, “I need to take care of something. You go back to the ward and have a meal with him.”

Ming Chen wanted to hold her back and say that Brother Qu wanted her company during his meal, not Ming Chen’s…

But she didn’t have the courage to say it. She just watched Ming Jing walk away.

Ming Chen returned to the ward, and Qu Feitai asked when he saw no one behind her, “Where is Ming Jing?”

“Ming Jing has something to do. Brother Qu, I’ll have a meal with you.”

Ming Chen picked up the bowl, “This is a nutritious porridge made by Ming Jing herself. Brother Qu, let me feed you.”

Ming Chen scooped up a spoonful and brought it to Qu Feitai’s mouth.

Qu Feitai’s face visibly flushed with embarrassment at being hand-fed by a young girl.

“Brother Qu, aren’t you hungry? Why aren’t you eating?”

Qu Feitai was eyeing the food with desire and a growling stomach, but he held back.

He glanced at the apple in the fruit basket: “Ming Chen, peel an apple for me.”

“Oh, okay.” Ming Chen put down the bowl and began to peel the apple with a fruit knife.

——

On the other hand, Ming Jing walked down the stairs to the Hematology Department on the seventh floor. The floor was very quiet, with only one or two nurses occasionally passing by in the hallway.

Ming Jing arrived at the door of a ward when the door opened, and a thin young boy dressed in a patient gown walked out, bumping into Ming Jing.

“Ah, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry…”. The boy quickly stepped back and bowed in apology.

“It’s okay.” A gentle and charming voice sounded above him, and Deng Yang instinctively looked up, only to freeze in place at the sight of the person in front of him.

“Sister, you finally came to see me.” The young boy threw himself into Ming Jing’s arms and hugged her waist happily.

Even though he was twelve years old, he was much shorter and frailer than Ming Jing due to his prolonged illness. His hospital gown hung loosely on his thin frame.

Ming Jing smiled and rubbed his bald head: “Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, yes, the doctor said I can be discharged soon. Sister, I’ve been thinking about you, and you finally came to see me.”

The boy’s eyes were sparkling, full of adoration and caution.

He led Ming Jing into the ward. The other bed was empty, and Zhao Xiaohui was nowhere to be found. There was a thick sketchbook on the bedside table, which Ming Jing picked up and examined.

“Did you draw this?”

There were mountains, waters, flowers, and birds in the drawings. Although the boy had never visited these landscapes, they existed in his imagination and on the tip of his pen.

The drawings had an abstract style and were full of imagination. For his age, he was very talented.

As she flipped further through the sketchbook, most of the drawings were portraits of the same person.

Deng Yang said somewhat bashfully, “I made Sister look ugly in the drawings, I’m just too stupid.”

“You drew very well.”

“Really?” Deng Yang suddenly looked up, his eyes shining brightly as if a beam of sunlight had been injected into them.

“You have a lot of talent. With time, you will achieve great accomplishments.”

Deng Yang smiled happily, even more pleased than when he first learned that he had a compatible bone marrow donor.

“Where is your mother?”

“A bad woman came earlier and spoke to my mother. My mother has been unhappy since the woman left. Sister, don’t leave. My mother should be back soon. She will be so happy to see you.”

——

Zhao Xiaohui returned from getting hot water to find Deng Yang drawing again. She took away his pen, “The doctor told you to rest properly. There will be plenty of time for drawing later; don’t worry about it these few days.”Deng Yang obediently lay in his hospital bed, “I just saw my sister.”

Zhao Xiaohui thought he meant Zhu Xiangxiang, “Your sister has it tough too. In a way, it’s your mom who has let her down…”.

As Zhao Xiaohui spoke, she wrapped a towel around the bulge on the back of her hand. She had been scalded by hot water while filling the kettle earlier, and half of her palm was swollen.

She didn’t know if it was the pain that brought tears to her eyes or if it was some other heartbreaking thought.

Deng Yang held Zhao Xiaohui’s hand tenderly, blowing on it to soothe the pain, completely forgetting the previous conversation.

Suddenly, Deng Yang covered his stomach and fell back onto the bed, his face pale as paper, and beads of sweat broke out on his forehead.

“Yangyang, what’s wrong with you? Don’t scare mom.” Zhao Xiaohui cried in panic.

“Stomach… hurts…” Deng Yang spoke intermittently, biting his lower lip, leaving a row of teeth marks.

Zhao Xiaohui frantically rang the emergency bell by the bed, then ran out, shouting, “Doctor, doctor, come quickly, something happened to my son…”.

Soon, the attending physician rushed in and after a thorough examination of Deng Yang, he frowned, “The worst-case scenario has finally happened.”

Zhao Xiaohui was dragged out of the room by two nurses. Grabbing one of their hands, she said anxiously, “Didn’t the doctor say that Yangyang can be discharged in a few days? He just has a stomachache, nothing will happen, nothing definitely…”.

The two nurses looked at each other and sighed.

When the attending physician came out, Zhao Xiaohui rushed over and asked, “Doctor, is Yangyang okay?”

The doctor looked at her, hesitant about how to phrase his words so as not to hurt this hardworking mother. “Yangyang’s mom, Yangyang has been infected with cytomegalovirus and must be transferred to a sterile laminar flow ward immediately. This is a type of rejection reaction, which we tried our best to prevent but ultimately failed.”

The doctor sighed, looking regretful.

Zhao Xiaohui anxiously asked, “Can my Yangyang be saved?”

Unable to make any promises, the doctor offered some comfort and left.

Zhao Xiaohui watched in despair as the nurses wheeled Deng Yang away. She wouldn’t be able to enter the sterile area, and could only watch anxiously through the glass window.

She knew a little girl about the same age as Yangyang who, after a bone marrow transplant, had all normal indicators but experienced a sudden rejection reaction. As soon as the doctors declared her beyond help, the girl’s mother wept in anguish. Zhao Xiaohui had empathized at that time and even comforted the mother with a few words.

She never thought the same thing would happen to them.

Zhao Xiaohui felt like she had lost her soul, slumping onto a plastic chair in despair.

When the nurses urged her to make payment, she swiped her cards again and again but no more money could be withdrawn. The future treatments would require a large sum of money. Over the years, she offended all her family members and friends while pursuing treatments for Deng Yang. Deng Kun further held a grudge against her after the earlier incident and even abandoned his own son, giving Zhao Xiaohui not a single cent.

Zhao Xiaohui thought of Ms. Ming Jing, who had previously covered the cost of Yangyang’s surgery. Ms. Ming Jing was so kind-hearted that as long as Zhao Xiaohui pleaded with her again, she would certainly not stand idly by.

No, it’s not right.

After hesitating for a while, Zhao Xiaohui dialed a number.

“I didn’t expect you to call me so soon; it seems I overestimated you.” Zhu Xiangxiang’s sarcastic voice came through the phone.

“I can help you, but you have to transfer 200,000 to me first. Your brother is having a rejection reaction and needs treatment immediately.”

“200,000?” Zhu Xiangxiang’s voice suddenly became shrill.

Zhao Xiaohui clenched her teeth, “Aren’t you the daughter of the Zhus? The Zhus are so wealthy, can’t you even spare 200,000 pocket money? How can I believe your words?”

“Wait.” Zhu Xiangxiang hung up the phone abruptly.

Five minutes later, Zhao Xiaohui received a bank transfer message on her phone.

200,000 had been transferred.

Zhao Xiaohui hurriedly paid the treatment fee.

Whether it was a well-intentioned lie or a malicious one, nothing was more important than Yangyang’s life.

“Sister, you’re back.” Ming Chen excitedly dropped the apple piece meant for Qu Feitai, almost poking his nose with the toothpick.

Qu Feitai immediately lay down obediently and turned to look at Ming Jing.

Ming Jing glanced at the untouched porridge, said nothing, and packed it away in her bag.

Qu Feitai opened his mouth to explain, “Ming Jing… I…”.

Ming Jing reached out to touch Qu Feitai’s forehead, testing his temperature.

Qu Feitai froze, staring straight at her face, which was so close to his own. She didn’t have the strong perfume scent that most women wore; instead, she exuded a faint sandalwood fragrance, timeless and peaceful.