Nanzhi was silent for a moment, then looked up at the two of them and said with a smile:

"Don't tell Gu Ying and Shen Xingmian about my illness. We have nothing to do with each other now. It's fine if we all go our separate ways."

"Why didn't you tell them? They're all ingrates. They used you and then ignored you completely. I want to see if they have any conscience at all." Hearing Nanzhi say this, Wu Ke felt indignant on her behalf.

Nan Zhi chuckled, "I forced them to stay. All good things must come to an end. I was only hospitalized for a few days. Just pretend you know nothing. In any case, they have no obligation or responsibility to be sad for me."

She didn't want to make others feel guilty or anything because of her illness, especially Gu Ying, who would probably cry if she saw her like this.

Gu Ying, who was outside the door, naturally heard these words. Tears rolled down his cheeks without warning. He covered his mouth, afraid that he would cry out loud.

Sister Xixi, are you afraid we'll be sad? You don't look like you've only been in the hospital for a few days at all.

Gu Ying ultimately didn't go in. Since Sister Xi Xi didn't want him to see, he would pretend he didn't know for the time being. However, he still had to talk to Brother Xing Mian about it.

When Gu Ying returned to the rented apartment, Shen Xingmian had not yet come back, but Gu Ying was not in the mood to do anything, including eating or doing her homework.

He sat listlessly on the small sofa, lost in thought.

When Shen Xingmian returned, she saw Gu Ying, who exuded a sense of quiet desolation.

He walked over and asked, "Have you eaten?"

Gu Ying was probably too engrossed in thought to react immediately. Shen Xingmian frowned and continued to ask:

"Aying, what's wrong? You seem distracted."

Gu Ying then looked up and saw Shen Xingmian, but instead of smiling and saying "Brother, you're back" as usual, she didn't do so.

Instead, he burst into tears. Shen Xingmian's heart skipped a beat. Standing in front of him, she asked, "What happened?"

Gu Ying cried for a long time before she finally spoke, haltingly:

"Waaah, Sister Xixi, Sister Xixi is sick and hospitalized. Brother Xingmian, I saw that her face was pale, it must be very serious."

Upon hearing this, Shen Xingmian's pupils contracted sharply, and a subtle pain rose in her heart. This was merely Gu Ying's guess, simply because Mu Xiyue looked very different from before, even though she still optimistically reported good news and never bad.

"She's sick? Is it serious?"

Shen Xingmian repeated it, only grasping these few keywords in his mind. The anxiety and unease in his heart recently seemed to have suddenly found its source: she was sick. Suddenly, all the principles that Shen Xingmian had adhered to before seemed to have disappeared.

He said to Gu Ying, "You rest first. I'm going out for a bit. Lock the door from the inside, and I'll take the key."

"Brother Xingmian, are you going to see Sister Xixi? But Sister Xixi doesn't want us to know."

Gu Ying raised her head and asked sadly. Shen Xingmian's body stiffened. She didn't want them to know?

He reached out and touched Gu Ying's hair. "Brother forgot something at the store. He'll go back and get it. He won't go see her."

Upon hearing this, Gu Ying's expression showed a moment of disappointment, but he still nodded, "I understand, then come back soon."

Shen Xingmian left, but Gu Ying fell silent. Xingmian, are you really as cold-blooded as they say?

........

Nanzhi slept for more than two hours after Qin Yi and Wu Ke left. When she woke up, she saw Mu Zi sitting at the coffee table in the ward working. The housekeeper should have gone back as well. Nanzhi glanced at Mu Zi's back as she processed the documents and her eyes welled up with tears. Heaven had been very kind to her. Whether in the book or here, she had good parents.

They were incredibly generous with their love for him. "Dad, it's so late, why did you come here?"

Nanzhi struggled to lean against the headboard and asked a question.

Perhaps because the ward was too quiet, even though Nan Zhi's voice was not loud, Mu Zi reacted. He turned around and saw that his daughter had woken up, so he stood up and walked towards the bedside.

Sitting in the chair, he reached for the insulated food container on the table, smiled, and said, "It's time to eat. You were already asleep when I came. It's all soft white porridge. Dad will feed you."

Nan Zhi smiled and shook her head, "I can do it myself." She took the insulated lunchbox from behind, but her hand always trembled when she lifted a spoonful of white porridge, causing the original spoonful of white porridge to fall into half a spoonful.

Mu Zi was clearly used to this situation, and he couldn't help but feel his eyes redden.

He wanted to reach out and help Nanzhi, but after thinking about it, he didn't say it. She wanted to be independent and self-reliant, and she was unwilling to lose all her ability to take care of herself. How could Muzi not understand this?

He said, "Then eat slowly. If you're not full, just tell Dad. Dad's going to take care of some work over there."

Nan Zhi smiled and nodded. "I know."

Mu Zi stood up, turned around and walked back to the coffee table, but Nan Zhi could clearly see his tall figure trembling slightly. Nan Zhi lowered her head, as if she hadn't seen it, and continued to slowly drink her porridge.

Oh dear, the porridge is so hot, the steam is even getting into her eyes.

When Shen Xingmian found Nan Zhi's hospital room, this was the scene she saw through the glass frame on the door.

The girl was slowly drinking porridge with a spoon in her hand. Her face was so pale that he almost didn't recognize her. Shen Xingmian, who was very observant, also noticed that her hair had become so thin in just a few days.

Especially the way she tried so hard to eat the porridge, but it kept slipping out of her hands and falling into the lunchbox—these details were incredibly painful for Shen Xingmian. His heart clenched with Nan Zhi's every move, and his eyes immediately reddened. Why? Why did it turn out like this?

His hand landed on the doorknob, wanting to push the door open and go in, but he didn't have the courage to appear in front of her. She certainly wouldn't want him to see him in such a disheveled state.

And so, one ate the porridge while the other watched her eat. It was just a little porridge, but Nanzhi ate it for a full ten minutes, each step so difficult.

She even felt like she was about to lose her grip on the spoon.

Seeing that Nanzhi was almost finished eating her porridge, Muzi, who had been keeping a close eye on her, noticed that she had finished eating. She put down her work, went over, and reached out to touch the child's hair. "Are you full? Or should Daddy find someone to make you some more?"

Nan Zhi smiled brightly, but even that bright smile seemed forced against her pale face.

"Dad, I'm not a pig, I can't eat that much."

Mu Zi was amused by Nan Zhi's words, "In Dad's eyes, you are our family's little piglet."

“Then Daddy will be the big piglet.” Nanzhi smiled, her eyes crinkling.

Mu Zi felt a pang of pain in her heart; the most terrifying thing in the world is for a parent to outlive their child.

"Okay, Daddy is the big piglet, and you are the little piglet."