Chapter 128: Chapter 128

Fu Jichen adjusted his tie, paused slightly upon hearing her words, and looked up at her: "Going to the hospital?"

Shen Jianian explained, "A friend of mine, her mother is sick and in the hospital. I’m going over to visit."

Bai Changxia’s mother had surgery before. At that time, she was in Yicheng and couldn’t conveniently visit. The day before yesterday, her mother’s illness relapsed, and she was hospitalized again. Now that she’s in Beicheng, she should make some gesture both emotionally and rationally.

In the past, she often went to Xiaxia’s home to have meals, and Mrs. Bai treated her like her own daughter.

Fu Jichen knew she had a close friend, and when they were in Yicheng, that girl had visited Jianian, but he never had the chance to meet this friend of hers.

Fu Jichen didn’t say anything else, just reminded her to be safe.

After having breakfast together in the downstairs restaurant, Shen Jianian saw Fu Jichen off, then returned to her room and read for a while. When it was about time, she took another car to the hospital.

Halfway there, she bought flowers, a fruit basket, and nutritional products.

At the hospital, unsure when she could leave, Shen Jianian told the driver to go back and not wait for her.

This hospital was the one she stayed at after injuring her leg last time.

Last night, she had asked Bai Changxia for the ward number via WeChat and found the room where Mrs. Bai was staying.

Shen Jianian stood outside and knocked on the door, hearing Bai Changxia inside telling her mother, "It might be Jianian who has arrived."

Bai Changxia came to open the door, holding an apple half-peeled, looking a bit pale and worn: "You’re here, come in quickly."

With her hands full, Shen Jianian awkwardly squeezed through the door with a bunch of flowers under her arm, casually saying, "There were many people out on their day off, so there was a traffic jam."

Mrs. Bai sat on the hospital bed, leaning against the pillow. She didn’t know Shen Jianian was coming. Earlier, when her daughter mentioned it might be Jianian, she didn’t react for a moment. Now truly seeing her, she was extremely surprised.

"Jianian." Mrs. Bai’s surprise was all over her face, "It’s really Jianian."

Bai Changxia saw her mother looking stunned and laughed: "Could it be a fake Jianian?"

Shen Jianian put down her things and smiled at the elder, greeting: "Auntie, long time no see, how are you?"

"Good, good, good." Mrs. Bai responded repeatedly, her eyes suddenly turning red, "Last year when troubles happened at your family, by the time we heard the news, we couldn’t contact you. Xiaxia was worried every day, and I was worried too. Seeing you well now, Auntie is really happy."

Hearing her voice choked with emotion, Shen Jianian felt her nose sting, wanting to cry too: "Thank you for thinking of me, Auntie. I’m okay."

"The past is in the past, let’s not talk about it." Bai Changxia pulled a chair over for Shen Jianian to sit on, giving her mother a look signaling to change the topic.

Seeing her daughter’s facial signals, Mrs. Bai quickly realized she shouldn’t bring up sad topics for Jianian and wiped her tears: "Let’s not talk about it." She changed the subject, "Since you’re here, why did you bring so much stuff?"

"I already asked, these are all suitable for you to eat," Shen Jianian said.

"It’s not easy for you now either, save your money for yourself." Mrs. Bai sighed, "This old body of mine, who knows how long it can last."

"Mom!" Bai Changxia frowned, unable to hear such disheartening words from her mother. She immediately spoke up, "You’re not old, the doctor said with proper care, longevity isn’t a problem. This time, it was because you didn’t guard against the cold, leading to poor resistance. I told you to pay special attention to keeping warm during the spring chill, but you’re always careless."

Mrs. Bai, knowing her daughter’s filial nature, smiled and said, "Don’t try to comfort me. I understand my own body. It has nothing to do with age. Once a person gets sick, no amount of prevention can compare to normal health. It can go wrong at any moment. Look at that person, same age, had a stroke, can’t even get out of bed, even had a fall, completely unconscious."

When Shen Jianian heard "stroke," her first thought was of Pei Fengnan, and she glanced at Bai Changxia. Her subtle expression confirmed her suspicion.

Bai Changxia leaned against the bedside cabinet, slowly finishing peeling her apple, cutting it in half, handing one half to her mother and offering the other to Shen Jianian.

Shen Jianian shook her head: "I had breakfast before coming, I can’t eat anymore."

Bai Changxia withdrew her hand, took a bite, the apple crisp and sweet with plenty of juice. She asked Shen Jianian, "Really not eating? Apples are good for digestion."

Shen Jianian: "You eat it."

They chatted for a good while with Mrs. Bai in the ward. After Bai Changxia finished her apple, she saw Shen Jianian off downstairs.

The two walked along the stone path to the hospital garden.

The weather was fine, some patients in hospital gowns were walking around with caretakers or family members, while some couldn’t walk and were sitting in wheelchairs being pushed to enjoy the sun.

Bai Changxia put both hands in her pockets, closed her eyes, and faced the warmth of the sun, letting out a long sigh, exclaiming, "Life is really unpredictable."

Shen Jianian looked at her, with a somewhat serious expression: "How is Auntie’s condition really?"

Facing the patient, she couldn’t ask in too much detail.

Bai Changxia turned to glance at her, letting her facade drop, her heavy heart revealed on her face: "It’s not too optimistic, the attending doctor and the family are keeping things from her, afraid she’ll overthink and affect treatment. She often speaks of death, maybe guessing something in her heart, but she doesn’t know the specifics."

Shen Jianian was silent, knowing she couldn’t help much.

In the face of birth, old age, sickness, and death, people are always the most helpless.

She used to think that the trouble her family encountered was like the sky falling down, feeling that living each day was torture. Later she realized there are countless others suffering even worse in this world.

Bai Changxia said, "Yesterday I saw Pei Che’s mother, almost didn’t recognize her. She rushed past me with a group of suit-clad elites behind her asking about shares, she was nearly in tears. I couldn’t bear it and helped her drive those people away."

Shen Jianian listened but didn’t say a word.

Now that Pei Che is gone and Pei Fengnan has fallen, the Pei Family is leaderless. Those directors, all self-serving, are surely trying to seize the chance to buy the shares in Zhou Ruo’s hands, hoping to gain control of the Pei Family.

After a long while, Shen Jianian asked the question in her heart: "Wasn’t Pei Fengnan having a stroke? How did he suddenly become unconscious?"

Bai Changxia sighed: "I heard the caretaker fell asleep at night. He tried to get up without calling anyone, fell from the hospital bed, and hit his head on the tiled floor so hard it made him unconscious. Even after being rescued, he never woke up."

It was as if there was a heavy weight pressing on Shen Jianian’s heart, weighing it down.

The two walked to a locust tree and sat on a public bench in the shade. Bai Changxia stretched her legs, tapping her toes, propping her hands on either side of her body, tilted her head to look at Shen Jianian.

The light filtered through the leaves fell on her face, the leaves swaying in the wind, causing the light specks to flicker, giving her face a dreamlike beauty.

"Jianian, do you still hate the Pei family?" Bai Changxia hesitated for a long time before asking carefully.

Now, with Pei Che dead, Pei Fengnan in a coma, unlikely to live long, and Zhou Ruo, a woman without understanding, the Pei Family is in chaos. It seems like destiny inevitably spinning in a cycle of cause and effect.

After a while, Shen Jianian said, "I don’t know."

After leaving the hospital, Shen Jianian didn’t want to go home so soon and wandered aimlessly outside, her mind filled with Bai Changxia’s question—

Do I still hate the Pei family?

When she said she didn’t know, the balance in her heart had actually tilted.

Her phone in her pocket suddenly rang at this moment. Shen Jianian took it out, unable to see the screen under the sun, she raised the brightness and saw it was a call from Fu Jichen.

After answering, Fu Jichen’s voice came slowly from the other side: "I’m done with my work, are you still at the hospital? I’ll come to pick you up, let’s have lunch together."

Shen Jianian glanced at the big mall across the street, realizing she might have wandered far: "I already left the hospital."

"Where are you?" Fu Jichen asked.

Shen Jianian looked around, finally finding a bus stop sign, and reported her location to Fu Jichen. He replied warmly, "Wait for me there."

After hanging up, Shen Jianian sat on a waiting bench in front of the bus stop, with a stainless steel roof shading her from the sun, her face hidden in the shadows, her expression calm.

During the time waiting for Fu Jichen to arrive, she slowly came to terms with some things.

Now, she is deepening her studies in the field of the cello which she loves, no longer obsessed with revenge. She was never good at management; what good would it do to retrieve Lingyue Group?

Back then, her one track mind was consumed by getting back at the Pei family, just using that obsession to barely hold on. Now the Pei family has paid the price, whether by human hands or fate, her goal is achieved.

Therefore, she wants to tell Fu Jichen to stop this transaction.