Chapter 50

After everything settled down, Iris went to the hospital to visit the injured. Although Xu Jiankang's heartbeat had been restored within the golden timeframe for emergency treatment, he needed to wait in the intensive care unit to wake up. When Iris arrived, she saw his wife, children, and parents crying through the window, and she felt a pang of sadness. She was also very grateful that Derek had made the right decision; otherwise, this family would have faced a cold corpse and a permanently broken family.

“Thank you, Derek.” For whatever reason, Iris felt she should say thank you. She didn’t go any further, but stood silently at the corner for a while before turning around and going downstairs towards Zhang Jiguang’s ward.

Zhang Jiguang's ward was much livelier; you could hear the Flying Tigers members joking around as soon as you got close. When Mom said, "We have ten people and one life," everyone thought it was old-fashioned. Iris smiled faintly, then looked up to see Shu Ziming and Shu Zili, the siblings, bringing flowers and fruit baskets to thank their saviors.

Iris pushed open the door and went into the room with them. Having just survived a life-or-death crisis, the siblings' attitude towards the Flying Tigers had improved considerably, and their relationship had eased quite a bit. Zhuang Zhuoyuan extended his hand, but Iris only handed him the soup she was going to give to Guangzai. Xie Jiaxing, who knew the inside story best, quickly gave up his seat and told Iris to go to Zhuang Zhuoyuan's side: "Sister-in-law, go ahead, I can be a character witness for Ayuan."

Iris glanced at him: "Your words make me seem petty, but if I go there, it will make me seem even petty."

"Then let's go, Yuan!" Jianren gave Zhuang Zhuoyuan a hard shove, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan, caught off guard, almost fell into Iris's arms. Luckily, Xie Jiaxing reacted quickly and caught her firmly: "Jianren, be careful, your sister-in-law should be under first-level protection now."

Even Shu Ziming was startled: "Be careful! Be careful! Iris, I think you should stand with me and Larine. There are too many men on their side." He meant that a bunch of rough men wouldn't be gentle, but given the previous case of the mysterious two hours, several members of the Flying Tigers were very wary of Shu Ziming's intentions towards Iris. Long Po and Ah Zu exchanged glances, moved to the middle, and separated Shu Ziming and Iris. With that, Iris stepped into Zhuang Zhuoyuan's arms, who was ready. She slapped the hand around her waist, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan leaned in to apologize: "I was wrong, honey, don't be angry, okay?"

Iris wasn't angry; she was just bothered. She turned to look at Shu Ziming and the others playing around, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan walked around to her again and assured her, "Don't mind it, okay? I'll try to avoid her next time and make sure you two don't run into each other again."

“Yes, sister-in-law,” Xie Jiaxing also pleaded, “I can testify that we just properly dropped Huihui off at Nathan Road that day. I was the one driving the car. Ayuan was only looking for you.”

"So you two are arguing again because of your ex-sister-in-law?" Jianren was particularly enthusiastic about gossip, and immediately thought of the time when Iris moved back to the villa alone. "Could it be that your almost two-week-long cold war was also because of her?"

Everyone quickly covered their mouths, but once Granny Long and Ah Zu left, the remaining weak and somewhat disabled Guangzai and "Old" Ma were unable to stop him. Jianren twisted and turned to break free, saying, "I was just saying that this time was lucky; it was just a young master who delivered flowers who got involved, and that was the end of it. Look at that car accident, how long did Iris lie in the hospital!"

"Alright, stop overthinking it." Thankfully Zhan Hantao wasn't there, and Iris didn't want everyone to discuss these things anymore, so she changed the subject, saying, "Are you here to visit Guangzai or to gossip about me and Ayuan? Hurry up and finish watching so we can leave without disturbing Guangzai's rest."

Shu Zili was also good at reading people's expressions. Although she didn't know the exact situation, seeing that Iris was so busy, she picked up the conversation and handed over the flowers: "Yes, my brother and I came here specifically to thank A-Guang. If it weren't for you, my brother and I might have died over there."

Shu Ziming also said sincerely with emotion, "Sorry, A-Guang, I treated you so badly before. I am really, really grateful that you were still willing to save me under those circumstances."

Zhang Jiguang waved his hand, thinking it was nothing to mention: "I'm a policeman, of course I have to protect you."

Shu Ziming still wanted to repay the favor: "I heard you're planning to open a fitness center, right? Could you accept my investment? I'm also thinking of starting some businesses in Hong Kong."

With another consortium lending its support, everyone encouraged Zhang Jiguang to agree, but he smiled and shook his head, even giving Iris an apologetic smile: "I think I'll stop this plan for now. Being an SDU is great; I can still work until I'm forty, with plenty of time to save money. I can take my time with the business."

Iris understood his thoughts perfectly: "It's okay, do whatever you want, we all respect your decision."

"Thank you, and thank you to your private doctor for saving me. The doctor said that if he hadn't helped stop the bleeding, I might have died from massive hemorrhage." Zhang Jiguang bumped fists with her, and Iris felt that spending so much time with these men had given her a bit more of the chivalrous spirit of the martial arts world.

Shu Zili, on a sudden inspiration, clapped her hands and suggested, "Why don't we all come to Kuala Lumpur sometime? All-inclusive, we'll show you around." As she said this, her gaze lingered on Yu Xueli. Iris, seeing this clearly, wondered if there was something she didn't know, her fingers tracing back and forth between the two: "You two..."

Yu Xueli didn't want anyone to bring up the previous night's events again. He desperately tried to signal to others, but he had overlooked the fact that Derek, who wouldn't listen to him, was still there. When everyone fell silent and the ward became unusually quiet, Derek's voice was particularly loud: "Oh, them! On the day you went out, Miss Larine stripped Yu Sir naked, leaving him with nothing but his underwear."

Everyone finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Iris laughed and stretched out her hand to Derek: "I won the bet, here's the money."

Derek simply showed her the watch, indicating that the prize redemption period had passed. He wasn't that foolish as to hand over the money in his pocket.

Amidst the laughter and Shu Zili's intense gaze, Yu Xueli, his face flushed, subconsciously glanced at Su Wenqiang beside him. Su Wenqiang teased him, but his words carried a hint of unreadable emotion: "They're so kind; if you want to go, just go."

Who couldn't see that Shu Zili liked Yu Xueli more after this incident?

If possible, Shu Zili actually wanted to stay in Hong Kong a little longer. But not long after they left the hospital, they received news that her father had been suddenly admitted to the hospital, so they didn't have time to say goodbye in person. They made a phone call to Iris and hurriedly returned to Kuala Lumpur.

Zhuang Zhuoyuan felt particularly uneasy when he saw Iris head straight for the dressing room after finishing her call with Shu Zili. He had realized once or twice that Iris's attempts to distance herself from him, almost like a cold war, weren't due to anger, but rather an act of avoidance. She understood his actions, but she still felt uncomfortable, especially when she saw Ding Huihui's gaze. Zhuang Zhuoyuan had considered sitting down and talking to her about it several times, but each time they reconciled, Iris would skillfully avoid any mention of Ding Huihui, and his constant hesitation had caused him to miss many opportunities to discuss the matter with her.

But this time it clearly didn't work.

Zhuang Zhuoyuan knocked on the door of the dressing room, but didn't go in. Instead, he sat down by the door and spoke to Iris, who was picking out accessories on the carpet: "BB, I want to talk to you about Huihui, okay?"

Iris remained silent for a long time before finally uttering, "I haven't decided yet."

Is it that they haven't figured out what to do, how to handle their relationship with Ding Huihui, or they haven't figured out their relationship with each other?

Zhuang Zhuoyuan shook his head, quickly banishing all the unrealistic thoughts from his mind: "BB, we're getting married soon."

“Yes, we’re getting married soon.” Iris felt like a broken record, only the tape inside was a jumbled mess. She didn’t dare tell her mother about this worry, and she didn’t know who to confide in. “I have no right to stop you from choosing your friends, nor do I have the right to interfere with your work, even after I officially become your wife. But, Yuan, I’m not a saint. I can try to understand you, but I can’t help feeling bad. Every time I see the way Huihui looks at you, I feel very uncomfortable, especially since you’ve saved her and helped her time and time again. I’m really heartbroken. I don’t want to continue like this; it’s too painful.”

She had been experiencing some early pregnancy symptoms for the past few days, and now, with her emotions running high, the nausea and vomiting returned. Seeing her cover her mouth, Zhuang Zhuoyuan quickly got up to help her to the bathroom, but the vomiting caused her to throw up her entire dinner.

"Zhang Ma, bring a glass of orange juice!" Zhuang Zhuoyuan hurriedly poured a glass of water and went back to the bathroom. Iris was leaning against the toilet, her eyes red, looking very pitiful.

Jennie was the first to arrive upon hearing the commotion. Seeing her youngest daughter in such a state, she went up and hugged her. Although she had some doubts, she didn't ask any questions. She simply wiped Iris's tears with a tissue and said, "Why did you throw up again, baby? Mommy, look, are you feeling unwell? Should we call Dr. Wong to come and take another look? Poor thing, you weren't this bad yesterday."

Iris shook her head and buried her face in Jennie's arms, hugging her mother tightly as if she were the only one she could rely on at this moment: "Mommy, can I sleep with you tonight?"

“You’re such a grown-up, why are you still acting like a baby?” Jennie patted Iris’s head, her hand sliding down her hair and gently stroking Iris’s back. She acted affectionately, but her gaze towards Zhuang Zhuoyuan was not so kind. She was sure that Iris and Zhuang Zhuoyuan must have had a fight.