Chapter 70

Still shaken, Xu Yirou nestled in her daughter's arms asked, "Aunt Yun, are they here to see me too?"

“Yes, Rou Rou,” Yun Lan said gently. “But don’t be afraid, they’re not bad people. I’ve made them all leave.”

Xu Yirou vaguely sensed something was wrong and asked innocently, "Aunt Yun, why are they coming to see me? I... I don't know them."

“You suddenly developed a fever and fell ill in the middle of the night. Your mother and three children were very worried about you, so they specifically asked me to come and check on you.” Yunlan carefully chose her words before replying, and said with a gentle smile, “My students came to help me.”

"Ah, I have a fever." Xu Yirou's memory of last night was hazy. Realizing what had happened, she belatedly raised her voice, "Am I in the hospital?!"

Not smelling any disinfectant, Xu Yirou initially didn't think of it as a hospital at all. Her chubby cheeks trembled, and she murmured something.

Xu Niancheng immediately cast a spell: "Mom, breakfast is getting cold. I bought your favorite xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), they smell delicious!"

Slurp, Xu Yirou swallowed a small mouthful: "I want to eat!"

Qiao Wen chimed in, "Rou Rou, you're not fully recovered yet. Let's eat after Aunt Yun finishes her check-up."

The innocent little cub nodded happily: "Okay, Mommy."

Before long, the cozy ward was filled with the deafening cries of the cubs.

"Whoa—!"

"I'm never going to be friends with you guys again!"

"Adults are all big assholes (big liars)!"

Yunlan's hands were very steady, and the blood-drawing action was completed in one go, without any sluggishness at her age. She was even more agile than her thirty-year-old student.

Aside from a slight pain at the beginning when the needle is inserted, the blood drawing process itself is not painful. However, children have a deep-seated fear of injections, and just looking at the needle is like seeing it pierce their flesh.

Xu Yirou burst into tears, big tears streaming down her face, looking utterly miserable.

He Nianzhu frowned, her heart aching with pain.

Bubble huddled in her father's arms, trembling. Xu Qingyan stroked the back of his daughter's head, protecting her completely.

The poor little grandma QAQ

Finally: "It's done."

Yunlan drew a small tube of blood, about 20ml, and planned to take it back to the lab for testing. As for other tests, they had already agreed to wait until Xu Yirou recovered before doing them to avoid overexertion.

Yunlan handed the vial of blood to the student next to her, took off her gloves, grabbed a handful of chocolates from her shirt pocket, and looked at the cub with a guilty look in her eyes.

"Meatball, Aunt Yun came in a hurry this time and didn't prepare a proper gift. I heard from your mother that you like sweets, so I'll give you these first. Aunt Yun will bring you other gifts next time."

Xu Yirou's tears fell in a steady stream: "Do...do I need another injection?"

"No fighting, no fighting."

"You just said that too... *sob*."

The trust between the cubs and the adults is showing signs of crumbling.

Yunlan was speechless and looked to her best friend for help. Qiao Wen said with a straight face: "...Don't worry, I'm thinking."

Xu Qingyan turned slightly to the side, his voice calm and powerful: "Aunt Yun, thank you for your hard work today. You and the students should go have breakfast first. I'll take care of things here."

"Then I'll leave it to you." Yunlan hurried to the laboratory, turning her head to gently tell Xu Yirou to get some rest.

Xu Yirou's watery eyes, like glass beads, watched her until she reached the door before she mustered the courage to wave her arm, which hadn't been pricked, and said softly:

"Aunt Yun, bye-bye."

*

While Xu Niancheng was comforting her mother, He Nianzhu and Xu Qingyan came into the living room one after the other. He Nianzhu glanced at the clock on the wall.

He frowned and said, "Brother, I forgot to tell the production team about stopping the recording last night. I'll go there myself. You and Chengcheng can take care of Mom for now."

Xu Qingyan replied without hesitation: "No need, the program will be recorded as usual."

He Nianzhu paused slightly, turned around with a look of surprise and incomprehension: "Brother, the live broadcast room is for the public. If we expose Mom's research team, how can we keep it a secret?"

If that were the case, he'd probably dream every night about his mother being stolen and sliced ​​up.

Xu Qingyan calmly countered, "Do you think the research team will be exposed on the show?"

“Nianzhu, we spent a lot of money to hire an entire research team, not to have them act as nannies and babysitters,” Xu Qingyan said solemnly. “They are researchers, behind-the-scenes personnel. They won’t be around Mom often unless absolutely necessary, at least not openly, understand?”

He Nianzhu: ...

He Nianzhu was speechless. After a while, she shrugged and said, "I understand. I was just worried."

Xu Qingyan: "Whether or not the show is recorded has no impact on the mother herself; it is you who will be affected."

Indeed, if He Nianzhu were to terminate the cooperation at this point, it would inevitably cause a huge uproar, and netizens' criticism would be enough to drown him.

But for his mother's safety, he didn't care. At most, he would just have to pay some penalty for breach of contract. He had nothing else but good looks and lots of money.

That penalty for breach of contract is nothing.

He Nianzhu shrugged: "Brother, I can afford the penalty for breach of contract."

Problems that can be solved with money are not problems for the two brothers and are not even considered by them.

"I'm referring to your career." Xu Qingyan glanced at him indifferently. "You have a group of fans who love you very much. Can you bear to let them down?"

Before her younger brother could answer, Xu Qingyan added, "Mom will spank you if she finds out."

He Nianzhu choked.

At the request of the program team, the live broadcast guests had to spend at least an hour each day interacting with fans. He also liked to read some compliments to Xu Yirou. After two or three days, Xu Yirou and his fans developed a deep relationship.

The mother even has her own fan club, and both groups of fans love her deeply.

If he hurts his fans' feelings, given his mother's temper, she'll definitely spank him.

My mother's hands are small, while his skin is thick and rough; my mother's delicate hands will definitely get hurt.

That won't do!

With tears in her eyes, He Nianzhu gave him a bear hug: "Brother, I understand. You are truly my brother. This family can't do without you."

Thinking of something, Xu Qingyan's face darkened as he ordered, "Let go."

The program was recorded as scheduled, but some footage was not suitable for display in the live broadcast room.

When Chang Yi received the news that He Nianzhu had switched positions, he almost spat out a mouthful of blood and immediately started broadcasting this whole drama.

Two photographers were hurriedly dispatched to the scene. Because they were worried about missing the deadline, the staff turned on the cameras on the way.

As soon as the live stream started at 8 o'clock, netizens who had been waiting in the live stream room became active, and a dense flood of bullet comments poured in.

What's the camera doing? Is it doing parkour? It's shaking so much!

[Help! I just got off the early bus, and now I'm on another one! Please, I get carsick!]

Where are my little brother and my chubby baby? Huh?

The cameraman, unable to see the comments, briefly explained the situation to the audience as instructed by the director: "We just received a notification this morning that Rou Rou developed a high fever in the middle of the night yesterday and was taken to the hospital. We are on our way to the hospital now."

As soon as he finished speaking, the live chat exploded with tension, with fans showering him with concern and urging the photographer to speed things up.

The two staff members rushed to the hospital entrance and then, based on the ward number provided by He Nianzhu, took the elevator directly to the ward.

As soon as the elevator came up, I was greeted by a group of middle-aged men and women who looked like scholars. Any one of them looked like a high school homeroom teacher, except that they were more dignified and authoritative.

The two photographers, both with poor academic backgrounds, instinctively moved aside.

Little did they know that such a fleeting glimpse would bring to light a group of medical students who had been lurking in the live stream.

[Holy crap, this is amazing! I think I saw my mentor in the live stream!]

[Wait a minute, I see our college's former dean! Wasn't he supposed to be attending a lecture? How come he's in the live stream?!]

[Which hospital is this? So many familiar medical bigwigs! Never mind, let's take a picture first!]

[Is there some kind of symposium in Beijing recently? It's so rare to see so many big names together; normally, you'd be lucky to even bump into one.]

The live stream was mostly filled with ordinary netizens, and the medical students' shrill screams didn't attract much attention. The fans were more concerned about He Nianzhu and Xu Yirou.

Yunlan's research team has already taken blood samples and left. Xu Niancheng didn't want to appear on camera for the time being, so she went back to the hotel to rest early. Only Qiao Wen, Xu Yirou and her son, and Paopao remained in the ward.

Xu Yirou was still angry about gaining weight; her fair cheeks bulged like a pufferfish, and two faint tear tracks were very noticeable.

Xu Yirou sobbed and complained, "We agreed not to give injections, and we agreed that adults shouldn't lie to children."

The three adults present looked at the sky and the ground, but none of them dared to look at the cub on the bed.

"Mother."

"Da Bao".

"Erbao".

Xu Yirou craned her neck and called out names one by one, her expression one of utter heartbreak: "Did you all know all along?"

Xu Qingyan's temple twitched, and He Nianzhu felt guilty and rubbed her forehead.

Unable to rely on the younger ones, Qiao Wen resigned herself to taking matters into her own hands: "Rou Rou, we really didn't know we needed injections, we only knew we needed blood drawn..."

"Mom, you're bullying a child!" Xu Yirou couldn't hold back anymore, looking like she was about to break down. "Waaah, both injections and blood draws involve sticking needles into my flesh, they both hurt so much, what's the difference?"

Qiao Wen was speechless.

She couldn't help but reflect: wasn't being opportunistic and playing word games a form of deception? She had indeed bullied the weak.

"Oh oh oh~" Bubble scurried onto the bed, mimicking how Xu Yirou used to coax her, her little voice drawn out: "Grandma, don't cry, don't cry."

Xu Yi leaned back softly, wiping away her tears, and said in a melodious voice, "That year, under the apricot blossoms and in the light rain, you said you were a civet cat... All these years of love and time have ultimately been wasted—"

Xu Qingyan & Qiao Wen: ? ? ?

He Nianzhu's lips twitched, and he silently turned his back, his chest heaving as he laughed, "I'm going to get rich!"

Should we pack up Mom and send her to Deyun Club? No way, his brother, sister, and grandma would beat him to death.

Bubble: "Huanhuan~"

Who is Civet Cat? What a strange name, is it a nickname?

What has love been all these years? Mom, could it be...?

Xu Qingyan's breath hitched, his head buzzed, and a hint of coldness flashed in his dark, deep eyes. He tried hard to suppress his surging emotions so as not to frighten Xu Yirou.

"Mom, is the civet cat your classmate?"

"Male or female classmates?"

"Where do you live? I don't recall you mentioning this child before?"