At this time of day, the hospital corridor was unusually quiet.
The moving wheelchair came to a stop.
Before the man could speak, Xu Wan said, "You're worried about Xiaoxiao, right? She had a fever when I got home, but she just took fever reducer and her temperature has come down now. The doctor said it's a viral cold, and she'll be hospitalized for another day of observation tomorrow. As long as it doesn't develop into pneumonia, she might be able to be discharged the day after tomorrow. However, she'll need to rest at home for a few more days and won't be able to go to kindergarten this week."
Xu Wan knew that Jiang Tingzhou must have come for Xiaoxiao.
Xiaoxiao is, after all, his own daughter. She's sick, and he's in Beicheng, so it's understandable that he wouldn't be there to comfort her.
After calmly recounting Xiaoxiao's situation, Xu Wan said, "That's about it. If you want to see her, come in."
Faced with the woman's invitation, Jiang Tingzhou couldn't help but twitch his hand holding the wheelchair control lever.
Over the years, he has missed his wife and his daughter.
I long to be back with them.
Everything is within reach right now...
“Xiaoxiao is a heavy sleeper and she’s sick, so she won’t know you came,” Xu Wan said.
The atmosphere in the corridor fell silent for a few seconds before Jiang Tingzhou said, "Thank you, I'll be leaving in a bit."
The man's tone carried an undisguised humility.
Xu Wan walked a few steps to the back of the man's wheelchair, grabbed the handles, and pushed the man to the bedside before stopping.
Unlike that day at the kindergarten gate, Xiaoxiao was now lying quietly on the hospital bed, her eyes closed, her long eyelashes drooping and trembling slightly with her breathing, like butterfly wings.
Jiang Tingzhou did nothing but sit in his wheelchair and watch quietly, his eyes never leaving her.
Xu Wan stood to the side, reached out and took Xiao Xiao's little hand out from under the blanket, then turned to ask Jiang Tingzhou, "Do you want to touch her little hand?"
Jiang Tingzhou gently shook his head, "No, don't bother her."
"No, she's a very deep sleeper. She wouldn't hear us talking here, or even if there was thunder outside."
Xu Wan placed the child's small hand on the blanket, only about twenty centimeters away from the man.
Jiang Tingzhou hesitated for a moment, but finally reached out. He didn't directly hold his daughter's hand, but gently stroked the back of her hand with his fingers, and then gently held her little finger with his thumb, index finger and middle finger.
He originally intended to touch it briefly and then let go.
However, Xiao Xiao, who was fast asleep, seemed to sense something. Suddenly, she gripped the man's thumb, which was closest to her palm, with her small hand.
"dad……"
In the quiet ward, Jiang Tingzhou could clearly hear his daughter's murmurs in her sleep.
He thought Xiaoxiao was about to wake up and tried to pull his hand away and leave.
The child, however, seemed to possess boundless strength, gripping the man's thumb with even greater force.
Xu Wan said, "Wait a minute, the kid is probably dreaming right now."
Jiang Tingzhou had no choice but to relax and do as instructed.
For the next few minutes, Xiaoxiao kept calling "Daddy" in her sweet little voice in her dream.
When Xiaoxiao called out for the third time, Jiang Tingzhou finally replied, "Dad's here."
Upon hearing the man's response, Xiao Xiao seemed to have finally fulfilled her dream, and soon after, she let go of the man's hand.
After leaving the ward, Jiang Tingzhou said to Xu Wan, "I heard from Yanli that Xiaoxiao has been in poor health since childhood, and you have sacrificed a lot to take care of her. I'm so sorry, I..."
“Xiaoxiao is my daughter, it’s only right that I do these things for her.” Xu Wan interrupted the man, looking down at the man sitting in the wheelchair in front of her, and said sincerely, “But I also want you to know that my daughter is my everything. Now that you’re back, I can return the house, the shares, and that crown that you once gave me, but Xiaoxiao… I will never give up.”
Xu Wan stated her bottom line.
The man's reluctance to part with Xiaoxiao just now showed how much the child meant to him.
Xu Wanxin's heart sank, and she added, "If you want to take the child from me, then I will do everything in my power to prove that my ex-husband is dead, and that you... are not him."
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