Her voice choked, and tears welled up again.

Su Jianguo was pulled so hard he grimaced, but he didn't dare to resist and could only mutter his explanation.

"Xiulan...be gentle...I didn't mean...ouch...I just thought that old fox Wang Defa was going to play some tricks..."

Su Yufen stood in the corner of the ward, holding her two terrified children. She looked at the miserable state of her father and three younger brothers, and tears streamed down her face.

Da Mao and Er Mao clung tightly to their mother's clothes, their big eyes filled with fear.

"Grandpa... will my uncles... die?"

The big hand asked timidly, its voice trembling with tears.

These words were like opening a floodgate; Wang Xiulan, Su Yuzhen, and Su Yufen all burst into tears at the same time, filling the ward with a deafening chorus of sobs.

"What a terrible thing... What terrible thing have I done..."

Wang Xiulan slapped her thigh and cried out.

"Father...brothers..."

Su Yufen hugged her two children, crying uncontrollably.

Su Yuzhen threw herself onto Su Mingfu, her tears soaking his bandages.

"Third brother... wake up... I'll never be lazy again... I promise I'll work hard from now on..."

Su Jianguo was startled by this scene and quickly struggled to sit up in bed.

"Stop crying! I'm fine! I'm really fine!"

As he spoke, he began to pull off the bandages on his head.

"Look, I didn't even get a scratch!"

Upon seeing this, Wang Xiulan stopped crying abruptly and grabbed Su Jianguo's hand.

"Are you crazy! What if the doctors or nurses come in..."

Su Jianguo then stopped what he was doing and lowered his voice.

"Xiulan, Yufen, Yuzhen, don't be afraid. I was just pretending to show the police the true colors of the textile factory. The third brother's fall was a bit hard, but the doctor said it's nothing serious. As for the eldest brother..."

He glanced at Su Mingqiang.

"He did it himself!"

Su Mingqiang pouted, feeling wronged, but dared not argue back.

Wang Xiulan's tears finally stopped, but her hands were still trembling.

"Honey... next time... you can't do this again..."

Su Jianguo held his wife's hand and spoke gently, a rare occurrence for him.

"Don't worry, it won't happen again."

The ward gradually quieted down, with only occasional sobs remaining.

Su Jianguo looked around and finally his gaze fell on his second son, Su Mingde.

The son he had once kicked out of his home was now lying weakly in a hospital bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"Second brother..."

Su Jianguo suddenly spoke, his voice much softer than usual.

"Does it still hurt?"

Su Mingde was taken aback, seemingly not expecting his father to care about him.

He slowly turned his head, his eyes behind his glasses slightly red.

"It's...it's alright...Dad..."

Su Jianguo felt a lump in his throat and quickly turned his face away, pretending to adjust the bandages.

He cleared his throat and said, feigning sternness.

"Now you know what kind of woman she is? Are you still going to marry her or not?"

Su Mingde's fingers curled and loosened on the bed sheet, and his lips under the gauze moved twice.

His gaze was blank as he stared at the ceiling, fragments of memories flashing through his mind.

The vicious words Liu Meijuan and Wang, the deputy factory director's son, said in the alley.

Every word was like a knife, shattering his once beautiful fantasies into pieces.

"Second brother."

His father's voice pulled him back to reality from his painful memories.

"Dad, I...I have something I want to tell you."

Su Jianguo nodded, signaling him to continue.

Su Mingde took a deep breath. This movement aggravated the injury to his ribs, causing him to frown in pain, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.

More unbearable than the physical pain was the regret in his heart.

"I was wrong, Dad."

His voice trembled, and tears finally streamed down his face.

"I was really wrong..."

Su Jianguo did not interrupt, but listened quietly.

"I was deceived by Liu Meijuan. She...she never liked me."

Su Mingde's voice choked with emotion.

"She just wanted to find a cheap father for her child, her son with Deputy Factory Director Wang...they..."

Su Mingde then uttered all those offensive and offensive words.

As she spoke, tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I know everything, son."

Su Jianguo finally spoke, his voice low and gentle.

"Dad, my mistake wasn't just trusting her..."

Su Mingde mustered his courage and continued.

"My mistake was in my attitude towards you... towards Mom... towards the whole family."

He struggled to sit up, but Su Jianguo pressed down on his shoulder.

"Don't move, you have a rib injury."

But Su Mingde stubbornly shook his head, enduring the excruciating pain to prop himself up and look directly into his father's eyes.

"No, Dad, I must say... I must apologize to you."

His voice grew increasingly firm.

"I stole money from home, I talked back to you, I did it all for that woman... I even..."