Old Wang recalled Huo Rou's appearance that year, so unfamiliar he almost didn't recognize her, and he was so heartbroken he wished that bomb had been on him. He would have carried it far away from Huo Rou, preventing her from coming to his rescue.
Old Wang withdrew his thoughts and said teasingly, "Those are all Xiao Rou's secrets. How could I possibly tell you?"
"I've been curious for a long time about who An An's father is. Seeing you today has finally put one of my worries to rest." Old Wang raised his trembling hand and touched An An's hair.
"Little An An, your dad isn't too bad, is he?" Old Wang, though weary, still smiled, looking at An An with affection.
Before, An An would have surely boasted a great deal, showing off the father he had finally found.
But now, the moment he thought of Huo Rou bursting through the door that morning, covered in wind and dust and with wounds, a hint of resentment flickered in his eyes towards Qin Ningyi. Hearing Old Wang say this, he just lowered his head sullenly and grunted an "mm."
His wronged expression made Qin Ningyi's heart clench.
Old Wang was exhausted and didn't continue to tease An An. He closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep again.
The ward was terrifyingly quiet. An An looked up and secretly glanced at Qin Ningyi, then lowered his head again.
"An An," Qin Ningyi called him, his voice very soft.
An An looked up with a hint of grievance, his eyes fixed on Qin Ningyi, and in a muffled voice, he stated, "Grandma said she missed me and came to pick me up."
"Why didn't you come back?"
"Why would a woman want to be my new mother?"
"Why is Mom hurt?"
"Why did no one in the Qin family tell Mom, making her anxious and having her storm in to take me away!"
An An's questions grew louder and louder, his eyes full of stubbornness.
"It's my fault. I didn't handle things properly and got you hurt." Qin Ningyi stood up, walked around to An An's side, and crouched down to be at his eye level, his voice losing its hardness. "Dad was wrong. I'm sorry."
Tears welled up in An An's eyes, the tears stubbornly circling. "Mom was very worried. She was very scared, do you know that?"
"I know." Qin Ningyi tried to hug him.
An An flinched back, showing a surprising distance.
"I asked Grandma. She said she would like Mom back then." An An sniffled. "But with a new aunt by her side, she broke her promise."
"Dad." An An took a deep breath as if he had made a decision. He looked at Qin Ningyi and called him very seriously.
"Mm." Qin Ningyi answered solemnly. "I'm here."
"I'll choose Mom." An An choked back his sobs, like a little man defending Huo Rou's place in his heart.
"You have Grandma, and your aunt, and many relatives. But Mom only has me. I will only choose Mom." An An really, truly wanted a father. He dreamed of it.
But if having a father meant leaving Huo Rou, he wouldn't agree. He'd rather everything go back to how it was, back to when they lived in Daolin Village.
He would still be that child who was mocked, living a simple life with his mother.
"I'm sorry, Dad." An An wiped his eyes with his small hand, his voice choked, and he apologized to Qin Ningyi for his direct and firm choice of Huo Rou.
Qin Ningyi reached out and hugged him tightly.
"I won't make things difficult for you, An An," Qin Ningyi vowed to him, word by word. "Our family will be together. You don't have to make a choice."
"Even if that day ever comes, you will always be Huo Rou's son." This sentence completely stabilized An An's heart. He buried his head on Qin Ningyi's shoulder, relieved, and cried silently.
Outside the door, Huo Rou's expression was also grim.
"Terminal lung cancer?" Huo Rou looked at the doctor in disbelief.
A fierce wind howled, and dark clouds instantly obscured the midday sun, threatening rain.
Shen Wuyou glanced at Huo Rou with concern and steadied her arm.
His handsome brows furrowed. Once Huo Rou had steadied herself, he took the report from the doctor and looked at it carefully.
Huo Rou looked at him with a composed face. Shen Wuyou could feel the worry and urgency in her eyes.
However, the news from this report was indeed not optimistic.
After a moment of struggle, he told Huo Rou the truth, "It's not optimistic."
"Do you have a way?" Huo Rou knew that cancer was still a difficult problem for humans to solve. She didn't want to lose anyone else.
Shen Wuyou looked at the report in his hand again and deliberated, "I'll go back and discuss it with my family."
"But, it might not help much."
Huo Rou nodded, digesting the bad news alone.
Her gaze fell on Shen Wuyou's shirt pocket, and her eyes suddenly lit up. "Did the special medicine help? Didn't you feel better after taking it just now?"
Shen Wuyou pondered for a moment and nodded. "It doesn't help with the illness, but it can alleviate some of the pain."
"Is this the last bottle I have?"
Shen Wuyou nodded. At the time, he had only produced two bottles using the essence Huo Rou had purified. One bottle had been used entirely on him by Huo Rou, and this was the last one.
"Then I'll go process another batch of medicinal ingredients today. Can you make a few more bottles?"
Shen Wuyou looked at the red bloodshot veins in her eyes. She had stayed up all night, and he really couldn't bear to see her go through another night like that.
But Huo Rou was decisive. "This laboratory has medicinal ingredients, right?"
Shen Wuyou knew he couldn't stop her, so he nodded. "I'll take you. Don't rush."
Huo Rou immediately pushed open the door and returned to the ward. Old Wang was already asleep. She tiptoed to Qin Ningyi's side, her eyes full of vigilance as she prepared to leave with An An.
Qin Ningyi stood up, looking at her retreating back, feeling a bit lost.
Shen Wuyou pulled Huo Rou's arm. "Don't rush. Let's wait until Xia Qingxue arrives before we go."
Huo Rou stopped. She remembered that if they left, no one would be there to take care of Old Wang. For a moment, she hadn't considered this.
"Where are you going?" Qin Ningyi licked his dry lips, a hint of pleading in his voice.
"The laboratory, to process medicinal ingredients." Huo Rou couldn't bear to refuse, so she answered him.
Qin Ningyi frowned. Did Shen Wuyou really need to take Huo Rou to do something like this? Despite his confusion, he didn't dare to ask now.
Because he had just caused such a situation, he was in the wrong.
"Let's..." Qin Ningyi hesitated before speaking. "Talk."
Huo Rou stood still as if she hadn't heard him.
"I ate with her because Grandma likes Wang Ximo's calligraphy, and Wang Wanrou's father is Wang Rong." Qin Ningyi didn't care about Huo Rou's attitude. If he didn't explain clearly now, they would have no future.
"My mother is easily swayed. She was instigated by a few words. And she calculated that I care about Grandma..."
Qin Ningyi spoke with a hint of dejection. At the time, the effects of the medicine had slowed his reactions, so he hadn't been able to dodge in time.
When Huo Rou heard him mention the name "Wang Ximo," she instinctively turned her head to look at Old Wang, who was lying peacefully on the hospital bed.
After a long while, she sighed.
"I pushed her away, you might not have seen it." Hearing her sigh, Qin Ningyi became more urgent in his explanation. "I've asked Xiao Konglin to find the surveillance footage. You can watch it anytime. I was at Zhao Hengyu's place last night, and the surveillance can prove it."
"It was just me." Qin Ningyi recalled Huo Rou, drenched in sweat, from last night and felt a flush of embarrassment, which he quickly concealed.
Huo Rou knew that all these coincidences must have been orchestrated by someone. She also believed Qin Ningyi; from their first meeting, he had always been a person of utmost integrity.
"I didn't mean to fight with you for An An. My mother misunderstood, which is why she took An An away from you without telling you." Qin Ningyi's demeanor was almost servile. "A Rou, I would never treat you like that."
Huo Rou understood him perfectly, but it was precisely because she understood that she didn't know what to say to Qin Ningyi.
Family ties are inseparable. This time, it was an accident. But if Qin Ningyi's mother came to snatch An An from her again, she couldn't guarantee she wouldn't do anything. By then, she and Qin Ningyi would be finished.
Were some things simply not meant to be hoped for?
Qin Ningyi looked at the shifting emotions in her eyes and suddenly felt a pang of panic. He quickly stepped forward, stood in front of her, his tall figure shielding her, and bowed his head.
He said in a soft voice, "A Rou, trust me. I've handled it. This won't happen again."