Chapter 556: Chapter 556
Mu Shinian looked at the woman in front of her with a cold face and said icily, "I don’t have a mother. Please leave my grandfather’s hospital room immediately, or don’t blame me for calling the police!"
Mu Nuan tried to say something, but the man beside her pulled at her hand. Her lips moved but she said nothing, in the end, she left.
The doctor finished the examination quickly. Fortunately, the rescue was timely, so Elder Mu wasn’t in any life-threatening danger. However, it would be best to proceed with the surgery as soon as possible. After giving some instructions to Song Qiao and Nanny Zhang and hanging a new IV bag for Elder Mu, and sending Nanny Zhang off to fetch some paperwork from the office, the doctor then left the room.
Due to the medicine, Elder Mu soon fell asleep. Luckily, before they came, Nanny Zhang had persuaded him to eat dinner instead of waiting with an empty stomach for her to bring wontons.
Mu Shinian looked at the mess in the room without speaking, silently took off his backpack, placed it on the sofa, found a broom, and began to sweep up the ceramic and glass shards on the floor.
Song Qiao stood there, took a deep breath, and tried to calm her still agitated breath. Watching the obedient Mu Shinian, at first, she felt a bit annoyed with him, for if it weren’t for him, that woman Mu Nuan wouldn’t have come to the hospital demanding to take Mu Shinian away, which caused the quarrel with Elder Mu. However, Song Qiao was very clear that it wasn’t Shinian’s fault at all, but she still felt very uncomfortable in her heart.
She walked over and sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed, adjusted Elder Mu’s blanket, and looking at the pale old man whose complexion didn’t look good, Song Qiao felt a great discomfort in her heart.
Mu Shinian quickly cleaned up the mess in the room, and when he came back, he was holding gauze, disinfectant, and medicine, probably borrowed from the nurses at the hospital. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭·𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦·𝘯𝘦𝘵
Although Mu Shinian wasn’t a sweet-talker, his obedience along with the fact that Elder Mu had been hospitalized for quite a long time and Shinian would come as long as he didn’t have classes, made the doctors and nurses in the hospital very fond of this filial child.
To use the words of the department head, Mu Shinian was naturally endowed with a very charming appeal.
Mu Shinian walked over to Song Qiao’s side, his lips moved slightly, and he said with some awkwardness, "Sister, you’re hurt. Let me apply some medicine for you!"
The boy’s body was well developed and he was already a little taller than Song Qiao. Furthermore, due to health issues as a child, Elder Mu had sent Shinian to toughen up with the military when he was nine, so he had a decent physique!
Now standing behind Song Qiao, he entirely blocked out the light shining on her.
Song Qiao looked up at him, and saw on Mu Shinian’s still youthful face a touch of panic and fear, as well as nervousness, as if he was afraid that Song Qiao would get angry or that she would ignore him or even drive him away from the Mu Mansion!
Song Qiao felt a pang in her heart, her expression softened slightly, and she pointed to the chair beside her to signal him to sit down. Then she stretched out her injured hand and said softly, "Be gentle, okay? I’m afraid of pain!"
Mu Shinian’s originally dim eyes lit up instantly, and he said with a smile, "Sister, I’ll be very gentle!"
Mu Shinian sat down to help Song Qiao disinfect and apply medicine, looking very serious as if afraid that she would feel pain, occasionally blowing on it.
Watching the young man Mu Shinian in front of her, Song Qiao was filled with emotion.
Her uncle, Mu Shen, had died in a car accident when she was just four years old. Back then, Mu Shinian had just been born. Song Qiao had heard about her little cousin from her mother but had never met him since after her uncle’s accident, that woman Mu Nuan immediately divorced and left the Mu Family, taking Shinian with her. So, Song Qiao had only ever heard the name of her cousin but had not seen him.
The first time Song Qiao met Mu Shinian, she was eight years old and he was four.
However, although Shinian was already four at that time, he didn’t look like a four-year-old, but rather like a child under three, small and frail as if malnourished.
Only later did Song Qiao find out that Mu Nuan, after taking Shinian away, did not take good care of him, but was busy with the men she liked, leaving Shinian to a nanny — who turned out to be mentally ill — and it didn’t take much to imagine how he was treated.
When Shinian first returned to the Mu Family, he was always hospitalized in the intensive care unit. Shinian would call for grandpa, would call for aunt, but he wouldn’t call her cousin — instead, he called her sister!
From four to five years old, Shinian’s health was a constant concern, receiving numerous critical condition notices. Just when everyone thought he couldn’t survive, he stubbornly pulled through.
It took a full five years for his health to rebound. One could say that Song Qiao raised him. The bond between the siblings was very deep.
But perhaps because Mu Shinian was particularly sensitive, and he knew about his own mother’s affairs, he had always been extremely careful living in the Mu Family, striving to be a child everyone liked—obedient and well-behaved. While others were out having fun, he would concentrate on his studies. Even though Elder Mu was very fond of him, Mu Shinian never took advantage of that affection to do anything improper.
While Song Qiao was momentarily lost in thought, Mu Shinian had already finished applying the medicine for her.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Mu Shinian tidied away the remaining gauze and medicine, and with a relieved smile said, "Sis, it’s done! Don’t get it wet for the next few years, or else it will leave a scar!"
Song Qiao hummed in acknowledgment, and after glancing at her grandfather on the hospital bed and realizing he wouldn’t wake up anytime soon, she turned to look at Mu Shinian in front of her. With a tender voice tinged with indulgence, she asked, "Have you had dinner yet?"
Mu Shinian shook his head subconsciously, but then as if remembering something, shook his head again.
Song Qiao frowned, "Did you eat or not?"
Mu Shinian, "...I haven’t eaten!" Knowing that lying would never fool his sister, he obediently told the truth.
He had rushed over here right after class had ended, so naturally, he hadn’t eaten anything.
Song Qiao sighed softly and promptly picked up her handbag, saying, "Let’s go, I haven’t had dinner either. Let’s go out and eat something together, and afterwards I’ll take you home!"
This year, Mu Shinian was in his final year of high school and would be sitting for the college entrance exams the following year. Although they had always wanted Mu Shinian to stay at school to focus better on his studies, he had refused this request.
After the Mu Family went bankrupt, only the Mu Mansion remained. Despite being in debt, everyone knew that the mansion was the Mu Mansion and nobody thought of auctioning it off, so they were at least left with a home to shelter them from the elements.
The Mu Mansion was huge, and used to employ dozens of staff, but now there were only an old driver, Mrs. Zhang, and the three of them—the grandfather and his grandchildren.
Mu Shinian uttered an "Oh", but then, as if something occurred to him, he stood up without immediately leaving and looked worriedly at Elder Mu on the hospital bed. His lips moved as he said, "But Sis, Grandpa also needs someone to take care of him, why don’t you go eat first, I’ll stay here to look after Grandpa, and I can grab something to eat later myself!"
"You’re planning to just eat bread again??" Song Qiao stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him, bluntly revealing his intentions with a cold voice!
Mu Shinian’s face turned red, obviously caught out by Song Qiao, and he couldn’t say a word for quite some time!
Song Qiao looked at Mu Shinian who hung his head low, afraid to meet her gaze. She took another deep breath and said, "Shinian, you don’t have to worry about the money for Grandpa’s surgery; your sister is here! And you don’t need to try to save us money by eating bread every day. You’re still growing, you should eat what you need to eat, there’s no need to skimp."
Actually, she found out that Mu Shinian was eating instant noodles because an auntie from their company, whose daughter was in the same school as Shinian, remembered him from when they met at school registration. Today at noon, when the little girl went to find her mother, she ran into Song Qiao and told her about seeing Shinian munching on bread every day at school.
Song Qiao was instantly frozen in place, claiming she wasn’t hurt would have been a lie.
Mu Shinian was just sixteen years old, still at the age where he was growing. If the best was available, he should have the best. If no one had told her, she genuinely wouldn’t have known that this young man was saving money by eating bread for a whole month.
Mu Shinian looked up at Song Qiao, his eyes slightly reddening, his nose tingling as he almost burst into tears. But because he was a man, he held back and didn’t cry, instead, he said, "Sis, I just wanted to lighten your load, Sis... Here is the money I made from tutoring on Saturday, though it’s only a thousand yuan..."
Song Qiao widened her eyes in shock as she looked at the bank card Mu Shinian handed to her, her eyes filled with astonishment, "You’ve been tutoring on weekends!"
Mu Shinian looked at Song Qiao tentatively but still nodded his head!
Song Qiao felt a pang of pain in her heart, and even her head began to throb slightly. Without saying another word, she took a deep look at Mu Shinian and, without uttering another sentence, turned and walked out of the ward!
Mu Shinian suddenly felt a wave of panic, quickly grabbed his backpack, and chased after her, anxiously explaining, "Sis, don’t be mad, I just didn’t want to make things too hard for you, and I’m not a child anymore. I’m sixteen and can be considered an adult; I can earn money..."
"Mu Shinian!" Song Qiao stopped in her tracks, calling out his full name forcibly. She rarely addressed him . Normally, she would either call him Shinian or Little Nian. Whenever she used his full name, it meant she was really angry, "Do you know why I’m angry? I’ve said it many times before, I will figure out Grandpa’s surgery expenses, there is no need for you to worry at all. Grandpa and I just want you to focus on your studies, understand?"