Chapter 27 Fainting

As soon as that aunt left, Tian Jiayue, who was in the next office, picked up the documents, went out, knocked symbolically twice on the glass door of the chairman's office, and then pushed the door open and went in.

She bumped into Chen Jiashu, who was about to leave, without warning.

She gasped in surprise, looking up in alarm. When she saw Chen Jiashu's pained expression and bloodshot eyes, she was horrified.

"elder brother!"

Chen Jiashu, seemingly ignoring her presence, walked around her and turned right out the door.

Driver Xiao Jun's workstation faced the chairman's office. When he saw Chen Jiashu come out, he immediately put down his phone, put his hands on his trouser seams, and stood at attention. The muscle memory of a veteran was etched into his bones.

"Chairman Chen."

Chen Jiashu's face was gloomy, his eyes fixed straight ahead as he walked directly towards the gate, tapping his cane rapidly, as if he had encountered something extremely serious.

My intuition tells me it's related to that Ms. Qin again; otherwise, nothing could have made the usually composed Chairman Chen change his expression and lose his composure.

Xiao Jun hurriedly followed, with Tian Jiayue's high heels clicking closely behind.

However, Chen Jiashu's eyesight was poor, and he was caught up by the two while fumbling for the elevator buttons in the elevator lobby.

"Chairman Chen," Xiao Jun said at the opportune moment.

Chen Jiashu stepped back, his meaning clear: he would take the press. Xiao Jun stretched out his long arm, pressed the down key, and then stepped back behind Chen Jiashu.

“Go to the provincial TV station,” Chen Jiashu said, tilting his head to the left. “You can go back now.”

The second half of the sentence was addressed to Tian Jiayue.

The elevator doors slid open, and Xiao Jun followed Chen Jiashu in while simultaneously placing his hand to block the door frame. Tian Jiayue didn't follow because of Chen Jiashu's words.

The elevator reached the basement level, and right next to it was the chairman's private parking space.

Xiao Jun opened the car door and placed the back of his hand on the door frame. Chen Jiashu bent down and crawled into the car. His fractured right leg had not yet healed, and he was hurt by the pressure from improper use of force. He hesitated for two seconds before getting into the car.

When Chen Jiashu called, Qin Qiao had just gotten into her car. She stared at the "Jiashu" on the screen and remembered what Yang Shuhua had said.

Being too rational is what happens; she doesn't have a strong enough reason to hate Chen Jiashu. Most of her resentment has been released in the past few days of spending time with him. Seeing his daily life troubled by his eye disease, she has already considered sending the child back.

Yang Shuhua's hatred stemmed from her heartache for her daughter. She was also a mother, and when her child was hurt, the mother's pain was only greater than the child's.

However, she still couldn't accept Yang Shuhua. Chen Jiashu was the child's father, and the children had the right to know who their father was.

As for her... no one can control what path she should take or how she should walk it, not even her own mother.

Just as my thumb touched the screen, Yang Shuhua called, but Chen Jiashu's call was dropped because he hadn't answered for a long time.

Qin Qiao swiped the screen to answer the call.

The background was noisy and filled with the blaring of car horns. She was still wondering where Chen Shuhua had run off to when, amidst the continuous background noise, a strange woman's voice suddenly appeared:

"Hey, your mother has been hit by a car at the intersection of Xiaxin Road."

The phone fell from Qin Qiao's trembling hand and landed on her lap. After a moment of surprise, she quickly picked it up, confirmed the exact location, and rushed over immediately.

*

The traffic lights at the intersection flashed alternately, and a dense crowd darted across the zebra crossing. A group of people huddled together, seemingly blocking one lane, as if something had happened. Cars behind, unaware of the situation, honked their horns incessantly, and some even signaled and changed lanes.

The black Bentley stopped in front of the zebra crossing. Xiao Jun was about to turn around and go around it when Chen Jiashu asked, "What's going on outside?"

Xiao Jun scratched his head: "It looks like someone has fainted."

In temperatures of 35 or 36 degrees Celsius, he fainted on the road. Was it heatstroke? Xiao Jun wondered.

"Hasn't the ambulance arrived yet?" Chen Jiashu turned his head to look out the window.

"No." Xiao Jun was about to set off again; Chairman Chen had been in such a hurry, he couldn't let important matters be delayed.

Chen Jiashu leaned back and said, "Go and see if they need any help."

Xiao Jun did as instructed and got out of the car.

Xiao Jun returned quickly, opened the driver's side door, and reported routinely, "Chairman Chen is the aunt who came to see you earlier."

Chen Jiashu sat up abruptly, turned to him, and asked, "What did you say?"

"What are you still standing here for!" Chen Jiashu roared. Xiao Jun was so startled that he let out a "howl" and tried to close the door.

“Take me there,” Chen Jiashu said.

Pushing through the crowd, Chen Jiashu spotted the figure curled up on the ground, his dark eyes trembling as if an earthquake had struck. He half-squatted down, tossed aside his cane, and reached his right hand through the gap between Yang Shuhua's back and the ground to lift her upper body.

Yang Shuhua's body was limp, her eyes were slightly closed, and she did not respond to his calls at all.

A middle-aged woman standing nearby bent down and handed the woman's phone back to her when the family member arrived: "Auntie's phone, Auntie, it might have been hit by a car, but some people say she just fainted."

The young man beside him took the phone and thanked him.

As more and more onlookers gathered, the road became increasingly congested.

Someone saw Chen Jiashu turn his back, and the young man immediately helped Yang Shuhua, who was on the ground, onto his back. He then wrapped his arms around his mother's thighs and steadily carried her on his back.

The young man took his arm and led him into the first Bentley. A few sighs drifted from outside, mixed with hushed whispers:

"This is the first time I've seen a wealthy person personally take action to save someone."

"What about the Bentley...?"

After the car drove away, someone noticed the white cane on the ground: "Is this boss blind?"

"Did I hear that right? He called 'Mom'?"

......

When Qin Qiao arrived, the crowd on the zebra crossing had already dispersed. She was extremely anxious and dialed Yang Shuhua's cell phone, but unexpectedly, Chen Jiashu answered.

Chen Jiashu's steady tone carried a hint of urgency: "Qiaoqiao, Mom has fainted. She's in my car. I'm taking her to Dongxin Hospital."

The car was parked in a parking space a hundred meters away. Qin Qiao hung up the phone and ran over.

The hospital lights were blindingly bright, and patients, doctors, and nurses hurried along the narrow corridors. Following the ward number given to her by Chen Jiashu, Qin Qiao walked through the outpatient building, then through the long corridor connecting the outpatient and emergency departments, asked the nurse at the door, and rushed into the ward area in one go.

She saw Chen Jiashu and his driver standing outside the door from afar. Without stopping, she walked past them and went into the ward.

"Mother."

Her knees buckled, and she staggered to her knees.

Yang Shuhua was sleeping peacefully, with no obvious external injuries. Qin Qiao took her hand, rolled up her sleeve, and found no marks on her arm either. Only after confirming both hands and both arms did she manage to exhale.

Qin Qiao paused for a moment, walked out of the ward, and looked at the man who was turning to look at her.

"How is my mother...?"

Chen Jiashu walked over, leaning against the wall, and said as he walked, "The doctor checked me out and there's nothing seriously wrong, just low blood sugar."

The nurse pushed the IV cart in from behind her, and Qin Qiao hurriedly said, "I'll talk to you later, I'll go in first."

Chen Jiashu grunted in response and watched her enter. He took a step back, and Xiao Jun behind him quickly helped him up: "Chairman Chen, there's a chair over there."

He shook his head. Yang Shuhua's last words had stirred up a storm in his heart, causing both pain and shock. He wanted to confirm with Qin Qiao, but now was clearly not the time... He should wait a little longer.

As darkness gradually fell outside the window, the light yellow streetlights shone on the windowpane of the low-rise emergency ward.

A pink figure flashed past at the end of the corridor. Tian Jiayue turned into the elevator and waited for Chen Jiashu for just as long.

Sometimes she really felt sorry for her brother. His sister-in-law was a good person, that's true, but... they only ever blamed him and never tried to put themselves in his shoes.

The year her brother went to jail, she was still a sophomore in college. When she came back, her father told her that her brother had turned himself in for accepting bribes in business. Her first reaction was that it was impossible. How could such an upright person like her brother do such a thing? Her father then said that there are many things in business that one cannot control.

“Jia Shu got divorced.” The father put down his thermos and said sadly.

She pestered Zhu Ao for a long time about this before he finally revealed a few things in a low voice: "Jia Shu took the blame for Shuang Ge. To put it nicely, he was too responsible; to put it bluntly, he was too ruthless to himself. In order not to drag Qin Qiao down, he got a divorce before turning himself in. He was more heartbroken than anyone else. You must not say this to his face. Qin Qiao also left resolutely at the time and never came to see your brother again."

She was more heartbroken than anyone else, which is why, in the second year after her divorce, she took half a bottle of antidepressants, mistaking them for cold medicine.

It was summer vacation, and Tian Jiayue suddenly decided to go visit her brother. It was broad daylight, and she knew the door lock code. After entering, she smelled a strong smell of alcohol downstairs. She ran upstairs, and as soon as she pushed open the door, the strong, pungent smell of alcohol made her cough several times before she could recover.

The curtains were drawn, and the room was dimly lit. Several empty wine bottles lay on the floor, red liquid dripping from their necks—one drop, two drops…

The man leaned back against the sofa, his eyelids slightly closed, and sat dejectedly on the floor with his legs crossed. An unnatural flush appeared on his pale face. She ran over, knelt on the floor, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him, trying to wake him up, but his body slid down instead.

She wrapped one arm around her brother's neck and, with trembling hands, pulled out her phone to dial 120.

The operator calmly said, "The ambulance will be dispatched immediately, ma'am, please remain calm."

The wind lifted the curtains of the east-facing window, sometimes fluttering, sometimes falling, letting in white light, and the medicine bottle appeared and disappeared in the light and shadow.

The phone fell from her hand.

...

Yang Shuhua woke up when the nurse removed the IV needle from the back of her hand. She remembered feeling dizzy and unable to stand while crossing the street, unable to hold onto anything, and falling straight down.

Qin Qiao told her it was low blood sugar.

No wonder, because she had to have her blood drawn, she hadn't eaten a single bite since last night.

"I didn't bring anything with me. Should we go back to the hospital now?" Qin Qiao had been frightened twice by her mother that day, first by her illness, and then by being told that she had been hit by a car. Only now did her heart begin to calm down.

The light blue decor is simple yet exquisite, with a beige leather sofa and a blue-and-white porcelain vase with flowers on a glass coffee table.

"Am I not in the hospital?" Yang Shuhua lowered her eyes. The light blue quilt had the hospital's name printed on it [Dongxin Private Hospital].

"Chen Jiashu found you collapsed on the way and brought you here." As Qin Qiao said this, she glanced at the wall by the door, as if she could see him through the wall.

She knew he was still alive.

"Jiashu..." Yang Shuhua murmured.

"Yes, he's out there. Should you thank him?" Qin Qiao asked her.

Yang Shuhua pressed the cotton ball against her own hand, watching the nurse's departing figure, her gaze lingering on the doorway.

People were coming and going at the entrance.

After a while, Yang Shuhua tried to sit up, and Qin Qiao immediately reached out to help her. Only after Yang Shuhua was seated did she withdraw her hands.

"Please invite him in; we should thank him," Yang Shuhua said calmly.

Even amidst the hustle and bustle of the corridor, Yang Shuhua's words still reached Chen Jiashu's ears clearly. He leaned against the wall and walked forward, just in time to meet Qin Qiao, who was coming out.

Qin Qiao asked in confusion, "You...where's your white cane?"

"I left it on the road, but I still have some at home." Chen Jiashu smiled.

Qin Qiao grabbed his arm: "My mother wants to thank you."

Listening to their conversation, Yang Shuhua propped herself up on the bed with her left hand to sit more dignifiedly, a gentle and graceful smile appearing on her lips as she looked at the two people who entered the room.

Qin Qiao pulled out a chair and invited Chen Jiashu to sit down, while she stood to the side.

"Jiashu, thanks to you, thank you."

Chen Jiashu smiled faintly, his gaze falling lightly on Yang Shuhua's face: "Auntie, it's good that you're alright."

She smiled at him again, a slight curve to her lips.

After that, there was nothing more to say. After all, in the office that afternoon, Yang Shuhua had earnestly pleaded with him not to go looking for Qiaoqiao anymore, and he had returned to his desk, turned his back, raised his voice, and firmly replied:

"impossible!"

He waited six years until that man died, and now nothing and no one can stop him, not even his former 'mother'.

He admitted... that he had indeed gone too far and should have been more patient.

"Qiaoqiao... let's go home."

Yang Shuhua's voice was soft and gentle.

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Author's note: The bone fracture is a plot point I added in chapter 24. It does not affect the main storyline and you can skip it.