Chapter 118 Tearing Off the Face

"I feel good as long as I see you in trouble! You always say you want to be independent and strong, but what about you? You run back to Mom's side and pretend to be filial to her every day. Isn't that just to get some benefits? Are you afraid she'll favor me? So what if I take some money? Why can you take it but I can't?"

Her voice was sharp and shrill.

At that moment, Zhou Shufen was standing outside the door.

She was carrying the groceries she had just bought, and her face was pale.

She was initially worried about Zhou Hairong, but seeing his complexion getting worse day by day, she realized he was clearly exhausted.

She was worried that he might have health problems from staying up too long, so she specially bought his favorite beef noodles and fried dumplings.

As soon as I reached the door, I heard a sharp and sarcastic argument coming from inside the house.

The voice was so familiar that it made her heart sink; it was Zhou Lijuan.

She suddenly pushed the door open.

She raised her hand and slapped Zhou Lijuan hard across the face.

"Get out of here! I never imagined you were such a vicious person! I used to think you were just vain and competitive, but now I realize you've lost all humanity! You'd treat your own family like this just for a few idle words? From now on, don't come near Hai Rong again, do you hear me!"

Zhou Lijuan was knocked so hard she staggered, and stood there stunned.

She first looked at Zhou Shufen in surprise, then turned to look at Zhou Hairong.

She seemed not to have expected that the usually gentle Zhou Shufen would take action.

Since things had come to this point, she simply decided to abandon all pretense of civility.

"What's wrong?"

She seemed to have given up completely, letting go entirely.

"You hit me? What right do you have to hit me? Did I say something wrong? He's your son, so isn't he my second brother? But what has he ever done? Has he ever helped me even once? Has he ever given me a single penny?"

She turned her head and glared fiercely at Zhou Hairong.

"What are you pretending to be so high and mighty for? You're just a gambling addict! You used to lose everything, even your mother's retirement money! Now you say you've quit, who believes you? You're just pretending to study to get people's sympathy! A leopard can't change its spots, you really think you've become a better person?"

She cursed more and more viciously, her face filled with resentment and a distorted expression.

"What nonsense are you spouting!"

Zhou Shufen was so angry that she trembled all over.

"No matter what, he's still your second brother! Your own brother! A blood relative! How could you curse him like that? How could you humiliate him with such words? Don't you have any conscience? Don't you have any family affection?"

"Second Brother?"

Zhou Lijuan scoffed.

"It's harder than climbing to heaven for him to give me any money! When I was sick and hospitalized, he pretended not to know; when my child went to school, he didn't ask a single question! What kind of brother is he? Family? Ha, what's family worth? You tell me!"

"Money, money, money!"

Zhou Shufen slammed her hand on the table.

"What else can you see besides money? Following that man, spending all your time in casinos and drinking parties, you've become completely lawless! You used to know how to hide things, but what about now? You curse your own brother and shove your elders. Are you even human?"

She became more and more heartbroken as she spoke.

Although Zhou Lijuan was concerned about her image and liked to compare herself to others, she had never been this vicious before!

When did it become like this?

"Yes, so what if I love money?"

Zhou Lijuan glared at Zhou Shufen, her expression full of provocation.

"I'm not like you, pretending to be high and mighty but actually just as stingy! It's so hard to get a little money from you! And you're no better, biased, protecting him while treating me coldly!"

She became more and more agitated as she spoke, as if her whole family were her enemies.

"you……"

Zhou Shufen's lips trembled.

She suddenly stopped talking, and instead slowly calmed down, her eyes shifting from anger to deep disappointment, as if she had seen through everything.

She gently shook her head.

"You're hopeless."

She turned around and walked step by step toward the door.

Zhou Lijuan felt a pang in her heart from that gaze.

She instinctively rushed forward and grabbed Zhou Shufen's arm.

"What right do you have to say that? Did you ever raise me? Did you ever care about me? What are you pretending to be, a heartbroken mother?"

She pulled hard, so hard that she almost knocked Zhou Shufen down.

Zhou Shufen was suddenly pushed, and she lost her balance. Her feet missed the edge of the stairs, and she fell heavily backward.

"ah……"

Zhou Shufen's body kept slamming against the hard steps, making dull thuds.

Her head hit the last step hard.

He then collapsed to the ground and remained motionless.

Zhou Hairong froze instantly upon witnessing this scene.

A few seconds later, he realized what was happening, his voice trembling with anger.

"Are you crazy?! You even dared to push your own mother?! You're her biological daughter, how could you do that!"

He didn't even wait for Zhou Lijuan to explain before rushing downstairs.

"Mom! Mom! How are you? Wake up! Mom, can you hear me?"

He rushed to Zhou Shufen's side, his voice filled with fear and anxiety.

But Zhou Shufen didn't react at all, her arm twisted at an unnatural angle.

Zhou Lijuan's face was deathly pale, and her lips trembled slightly.

Only then did she realize what she had just done.

She instinctively took a half step back, muttering to herself.

"I didn't push her...she fell down on her own...I really didn't use any force...she just lost her balance..."

She seemed to be persuading others, yet also comforting herself.

She dared not look down any further, and practically scrambled out, stumbling and staggering away from the scene.

It was as if this incident had never happened as long as I left the building.

Zhou Hairong knew that there was no time to lose, so he immediately bent down and carefully picked up Zhou Shufen.

When he reached the intersection, he looked around anxiously and waved to flag down a car.

A taxi slowly came to a stop, and he shouted loudly to the driver.

"Driver, quick! To the hospital! Help!"

Upon arriving at the hospital entrance, Zhou Hairong rushed out of the car with his mother in his arms.

"Doctor! Doctor, please come quick! Save my mother! She fell down the stairs! Her head is bleeding! Please save her!"

Upon hearing the commotion, the medical staff rushed out of the emergency room.

"What happened? What's wrong with him? Is he conscious? Has he vomited?"

"She fell! She rolled down several steps and hit her head! Look, her head is covered in blood, and her hand is broken!"

Zhou Hairong was sweating profusely with anxiety, and his voice was trembling with tears.

"Arrange a CT scan immediately to determine if there is any bleeding in the brain, and also assess the possibility of a fracture in the hand!"

The doctor gave a decisive order.

The nurses quickly brought over a stretcher, and several people moved Zhou Shufen onto the stretcher and rushed her into the examination room.

The test results came back quickly, and the situation was very bad.

CT scans showed that Zhou Shufen had a mild concussion, a subcutaneous hematoma on her head, and double fractures of the ulna and radius in her right arm, requiring immediate treatment.

After reviewing the report, the doctor turned to Zhou Hairong and said...

"Immediate resuscitation is necessary to prevent the brain condition from worsening. You need to be taken to the emergency room now. Family members, please wait outside. We will notify you as soon as possible."

"You must save her! Please!"

Zhou Hairong's voice was hoarse and his eyes were red.

The doctor patted him on the shoulder, turned around, and followed him into the emergency room.

Zhou Hairong then slumped onto a plastic chair in the corridor, his shoulders trembling slightly.

After a while, he calmed down and suddenly remembered that he had to inform his brother Zhou Haiqing.