When Xia Wan arrived at the hospital, Xia Huaidong's facial injuries had already been treated.
He was lying half-reclined on the bed in the VIP ward, with an IV drip in his hand. His face was swollen like a pig's head, and his eyes were squeezed into slits. Through those slits, one could vaguely see the anger in his eyes.
Xia Zhizhi stood by the bed with her head down, looking like she was about to cry. Zheng Minghuai gently hugged her and comforted her.
As Xia Wan entered the room, Xia Huaidong accurately spotted her.
"You bastard! How could I have given birth to such a bastard!"
He angrily grabbed an apple from the bedside table and threw it hard at Xia Wan.
Xia Wan dodged in a flash, her surprised eyes passing over Xia Huaidong and landing on Xia Zhizhi.
"Is this what you meant by coming to see him one last time?"
Xia Zhizhi hurriedly explained, "Sister, I only said this so that you could come and see Dad."
Before Xia Wan could say anything, Xia Zhizhi almost burst into tears from her flustered explanation.
Seeing this, Zheng Minghuai stepped in front of Xia Zhizhi and looked coldly at Xia Wan.
"Why are you scaring Zhizhi? If Zhizhi hadn't said that, would you have come to see your dad?"
"Of course not. We severed ties yesterday. Life and death are in our own hands."
Xia Wan spoke out in a blasphemous manner.
Enraged, Xia Huaidong pounded the bed. "Life and death are predestined? Xia Wan, you sent that madman to steal my goods and beat me up like this! You want to kill me! How could I have given birth to such a heartless wretch like you!"
Xia Wan looked at Xia Huaidong's swollen cheeks and thought of Cui Ziqi's warning to Xia Zhizhi during the day.
'Go back and tell Xia Huaidong to keep his pride intact; I'll get my revenge.'
It turns out he was telling the truth.
Is he avenging her?
Xia Wan coughed lightly and said indifferently, "Just because you say Cui Ziqi hit him doesn't mean he did. Do you have any evidence? Why don't you call the police?"
"you!"
Xia Huaidong's heart was about to explode.
His goods were of dubious origin, so why would he report it to the police?
With the script in hand, Xia Wan naturally knew what Xia Huaidong's goods were. She looked at him with a slightly disdainful gaze.
"Mr. Xia, please be more careful when you walk in the future. Don't accidentally trip and spill dirty water on others. Doing too many bad things will shorten your lifespan."
She wasn't the real Xia Wan; she didn't have that much affection for her profit-driven father.
Ignoring Xia Huaidong's reaction, she turned and left the ward.
As soon as she stepped out of the ward, with her back to Xia Huaidong's curses, Xia Wan saw Cui Ziqi, who had arrived at some unknown time.
The man stood straight at the door of the ward, his hands in his trench coat pockets, still carrying the chilling aura of someone who had come from the docks. His dark eyes were lowered, his gaze burning as he looked at Xia Wan's shocked face.
"How could you..."
Before Xia Wan could even react with surprise, the ward door opened again, and Xia Zhizhi appeared in the doorway, anxiously calling out, "Sister!"
When Xia Zhizhi noticed that Cui Ziqi was also at the door, she flinched for a moment, but still forced herself to pull Xia Wan aside.
“Sister, at first I thought you didn’t know anything about Dad, but when I saw you come with that madman, I knew you did know.”
"Sister, Dad is still Dad. How can you let someone take revenge on your own father? Do you know that's extremely unfilial?"
By the end, Xia Zhizhi was getting a little angry.
Xia Wan's focus was not on Xia Zhizhi's education.
"How many times do I have to remind you? Cui Ziqi isn't crazy. If you say he's crazy again, I won't be so polite."
Xia Zhizhi pursed her lips and remained silent.
Xia Wan has been acting strangely since yesterday.
It's one thing to suddenly fall for a crazy person, but she also doesn't care about Zheng Minghuai, whom she has always been passionate about.
Just now in the ward, Xia Wan didn't even glance at Zheng Minghuai!
This is so unlike her.
She anxiously pulled Xia Wan's hand, "Sister, I don't know what happened, but that crazy... Cui Ziqi is really not an easy person to get along with. You'd better leave him."
"But if I leave him, I'll have to compete with you for Zheng Minghuai. Aren't you worried, little sister?"
Before discussing it, Xia Zhizhi would definitely answer without hesitation that she wasn't worried.
But when she learned that Xia Wan had given up on Zheng Minghuai, the feelings she had kept hidden in her heart for nearly three years surged up without any regard for anything else.
This is her only chance to win Zheng Minghuai's heart!
She didn't want to give up.
After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke, "Sister, do you really not like Brother Minghuai?"
“I’ve already made myself very clear,” Xia Wan said firmly.
"Xia Zhizhi, you have to fight for what you like, whether it's a man or a position. If you deliberately try to please others, you may not get a good result in the end. It's been three years, you should have tasted the bitterness by now, right?"
Three years ago, Xia Zhizhi brought a token to the Xia family to recognize her relatives. Xia's mother, who was already ill, learned the truth about Xia's father's betrayal.
He was so angry that he died.
Overnight, Xia Zhizhi became the target of public criticism.
Even after being recognized and returned to the Xia family, the entire Xia family treated this illegitimate daughter with hostility.
In order to survive, Xia Zhizhi tried to please everyone, even the servants of the Xia family.
Not to mention Xia Wan, the legitimate daughter of the emperor.
In the original book, Xia Zhizhi liked Zheng Minghuai because Zheng Minghuai treated her very well, even if it was sometimes deliberate.
Xia Zhizhi paused for a second, then lowered her head and pursed her lips, remaining silent.
Xia Wan stopped talking and was about to leave when she heard Xia Zhizhi's low voice.
"Sister, I still hope you can come to the charity gala on the cruise ship in three days. After all, we are family."
Xia Wan thought about the original plot for a moment, and agreed in a second.
"OK."
She walked towards Cui Ziqi, looked at him with a smile, and very familiarly took his arm.
"Let's go back."
Cui Ziqi didn't move, nor did he reject Xia Wan's touch; his gaze was fixed on Xia Zhizhi.
To be precise, it landed on the butterfly embroidery on Xia Zhizhi's left shoulder.
A white Chanel-style jacket with a red butterfly embroidered on the left shoulder. Gold thread outlines the butterfly's wings, extending towards the tail and down the shoulder line to the cuff.
The butterfly is so lifelike, it looks just like the one from over a decade ago.
Seeing that he didn't move, Xia Wan followed his gaze and saw the butterfly embroidery on Xia Zhizhi's shoulder.
Her heart skipped a beat.
The butterfly embroidery on the girl's left shoulder was like the only vibrant hope in Cui Ziqi's long and desperate life. He blinked slowly, his hand tightly gripping the girl's clothes, as if trying to hold that glimmer of hope in his grasp.
The description from the original book came to mind, and cold sweat broke out on Xia Wan's back.
"Cui Ziqi, what are you looking at?"
She asked, feigning composure, while Cui Ziqi lowered his head and gave her a cool look.
A chill emanated from his body. Despite Xia Wan's pale face, he walked up to Xia Zhizhi and asked in a deep voice.
Did you visit Guimeng Welfare Home fifteen years ago?
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