When Jiang Guofu and Jiang Qing arrived, the doctor gave the same explanation: "The baby girl did have meningitis, but it's under control now. A birth certificate is required, so please cooperate with our hospital."

The doctor didn't know Jiang Guofu either; he was just doing his job.

"Why is the hospital withholding our child? What kind of proof do you need? She gave birth to the child, and the health center has records!" Jiang Qing said anxiously.

It's one thing to dislike Shen Mingzhi, but the two children are Jiang Shaozhen's, what kind of nonsense is it to have them held captive by the hospital?!

"Madam, this is our hospital's policy. Human traffickers are rampant, so we're just following procedures. Even if it were the King of Heaven himself, we'd still need the birth certificate, or the household registration documents," the doctor patiently explained.

"We still need to call Shao Chen back and get the certificates sorted out first. The doctor helped us today, but what if something goes wrong next time?" Jiang Guofu was a soldier himself; how could he not know how difficult things were for them?

Better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free.

Shen Mingzhi deeply regretted refusing at the time; she should have at least offered to provide some security for the child.

"I'll call back, Zhizhi. Don't worry, the child is being treated in the hospital, so everything's fine. As long as he's out of danger, we can see him again once Shaochen comes back and the paperwork is done." Jiang Guofu comforted Shen Mingzhi before turning and leaving.

Shen Mingzhi's knees were injured from being forced to kneel on the ground that day. She argued with the doctor for more than two hours, but she couldn't hold on any longer and sat down on the ground.

Seeing that her face was pale and her hair was soaked with sweat, Jiang Qing stepped forward and helped her up.

Aunt Wang also picked her up, saying, "Go lie down first, your knee isn't healed yet."

"Just let me sit for a while. I need to stay here until Niannian is completely out of danger before I can go back..." Shen Mingzhi's eyes were red as she stared at the door of the pediatric ward.

Unable to persuade her otherwise, Wang's wife led her to sit down on a nearby chair.

Jiang Qing looked down on Shen Mingzhi, but considering that she genuinely cared about the child, she still said, "You should go and rest first. After all, the child has me and Aunt Wang, who are much more useful than you, who are so sickly."

Before Shen Mingzhi could speak, he angrily rebuked Wang Sao, "You've been behaving badly at someone's place for a while now, and you don't even know how to cause trouble anymore?!"

Wang's wife quickly helped Shen Mingzhi back to her ward.

That evening, Jiang Guofu came over to deliver dinner to Shen Mingzhi and Jiang Qing.

Jiang Qing sat in Shen Mingzhi's room, eating slowly and carefully, and asked him, "How is it? Any news?"

"I got through on the phone, and they were very understanding. After hearing about the situation, they told him to set off back immediately. The train will arrive in a couple of days." Jiang Guofu's face was full of joy.

Shen Mingzhi breathed a sigh of relief and began to drink her porridge with peace of mind.

Shen Mingzhi found the two days extremely agonizing.

They waited anxiously, like waiting for the stars and the moon, until late at night, but Jiang Shaozhen still hadn't appeared.

Shen Mingzhi fell into a deep sleep. The next day, she slept in late and woke up with a start, hearing a man talking in the room.

A familiar voice...

Shen Mingzhi opened her eyes and saw a man with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, dressed in a military green uniform with slim-fitting trousers that made his legs look straight.

Noticing that he was awake, Jiang Shaochen turned around and then sat down by the bed. "I've checked on the child. Niannian is fine."

Shen Mingzhi felt a moment of relief when she saw his face, but thinking of what he had done before leaving, she immediately turned her face away. "The marriage certificate is done. We'll live our own lives. I still prefer my husband, Zhang Ping."

Jiang Shaochen was overjoyed to see her, but he also regretted not protecting her because of her pitiful injured state.

Who knew that the moment she opened her eyes, she would pierce someone's lungs.

"Don't be ridiculous." He said sternly, sitting up straight. "Once we've got the marriage certificate, how can we live separately? If word gets out, you may not care about your reputation, but the Jiang family certainly will!"

"I don't steal men—"

Before he could finish speaking, Shen Xiuzhu burst in carrying a large bag of seasonal fruit, calling out, "Miss Shen, I've been looking for you for days to find the hospital you're in. Are you alright?"

Shen Mingzhi felt that Jiang Shaozhen looked at her as if he wanted to devour her.

A man's dignity... when it's been trampled on and humiliated on the spot, will turn him into a man-eating leopard.

She swallowed hard, hunched her shoulders, and burrowed back into the covers. "I'm fine. You can leave now after you've seen it."

Jiang Shaozhen was a soldier; how could this rich young master possibly beat him?

"What's wrong? You're disgusted with me? When you got into trouble, I took people to the police station and exaggerated the situation to wipe out the Chen family and that Jiang family's daughter. Instead of being grateful, you chased me away after I brought you such a big bag of fruit? Do you have any conscience?"

As Shen Mingzhi listened to Shen Xiuzhu's incessant chatter, she felt that Jiang Shaozhen's expression grew even more unpleasant.

"Are you a new friend she met?" he asked.

Only then did Shen Xiuzhu seem to notice him.

She discovered that he was more handsome and taller than her, and the only advantage he had was that he wasn't as rich as her.

He immediately puffed out his chest. "Yes, Miss Shen is under my protection. When she had the accident, I was running around like a headless chicken. And who are you? Why didn't you come to see her sooner? Oh, were you worried about the hospital bills and wanting you to pay for them?"

Shen Mingzhi really didn't know what was wrong with Shen Xiuzhu's brain... She quickly spoke up to stop him, "He is the father of my child."

Although she didn't want to admit it, the Jiang family was very cooperative in her situation, and her coyness only made Jiang Guofu's good intentions go to waste.

She is not the kind of person who forgets kindness.

She saw everything Jiang Guofu did for the children.

"Huh?!" Shen Xiuzhu was completely surprised, his mouth agape.

When Jiang Shaozhen saw him, he was full of anger, but it was completely extinguished by Shen Mingzhi's words.

"What do you mean, my child is in the hospital, and he came back to visit. Is there a problem?" Shen Mingzhi asked him.

Shen Xiuzhu raised his hand, closed his mouth, and looked at Jiang Shaozhen, "Why did you get married if you didn't have money? You made your wife live in a two-yuan-a-month apartment that you had to haggle with me for one yuan and eighty cents a month, and it's right next to the toilet! You're incompetent, yet you still want to get married. Getting married is one thing, but having children is another. Have you thought about what will happen to the children in the future?!"

Having been exposed to advanced Western ideas, he naturally couldn't stand Jiang Shaozhen, a man who only cared about his own happiness and completely disregarded the quality of life of his children and wife!

"It's so noisy. Tell them to leave and don't disturb her rest." Jiang Shao Chen didn't want to pay any attention to this chattering man.

And the fact that he cares so much about Shen Mingzhi shows that they have a very good relationship.

He'd only been gone a few days, and she already had another man protecting her.

Jiang Shaozhen wished he could lock her up at home and not let her go out.