Chapter 43
Upon receiving the news that Zhou Nianhua's condition had worsened and he had been hospitalized, everyone immediately lost their appetite. After eating a few bites, they prepared to go to the hospital to visit him.
Tang Hui hesitated at first; he wasn't mentally prepared to face that person.
Moreover, he didn't know whether he would be facing the truth of what happened back then or Zhou Nianhua's cold corpse.
Seeing that Tang Hui was hesitant, Song Ziyi and Qi Wang decisively used violence to tie him up and put him in the car.
After getting into the car, Song Ziyi snapped, "Tang Hui, can't you be a man and keep your word? You made a deal with Bi Ning—she would pretend to be your girlfriend to help you get rid of Lisa, and then you'd go see your dad. So what? Has Lisa completely given up on going back to America? Has Bi Ning kept her promise? How can you go back on your word? We're both men and lawyers; do we have any integrity left?"
Tang Hui knew he had to leave today; if he tried to renege on his debt, neither Shen Bining, nor Song Ziyi and Qi Wang would agree.
Moreover, he didn't intend to renege on his promise.
"I don't mean to go back on my word. I just wasn't mentally prepared to see him. It's all too sudden," Tang Hui said in an almost murmured voice after a moment of silence.
Qi Wang was the driver this time. He glanced at Tang Hui, who was half-lying in the back seat, in the rearview mirror, and hesitated for a long time before saying, "Don't have too much burden. The brothers are with you."
Actually, there was something else he wanted to say—Zhou Nianhua is in a deep coma, and his illness could kill him at any time. You may not have the chance to see him again.
*
Zhou Nianhua is an inmate. Even when he is sick and hospitalized, his freedom is restricted. He can only go to designated hospitals for treatment, and there are prison guards guarding outside the ward.
On the way, Shen Bining informed Officer Xie that Tang Hui would be visiting. Officer Xie quickly contacted his colleagues and completed all the formalities as quickly as possible. Once everything was ready, Tang Hui and the others arrived at the hospital entrance.
Upon reaching the ward upstairs, Xie Feng saw several prison guards standing outside, including one of them.
As the only person who knew Xie Feng, Shen Bining naturally stepped forward to negotiate. Ignoring Tang Hui's hesitant and timid demeanor, she dragged him over.
"Officer Xie, this is the person the patient wants to see," Shen Bining greeted Xie Feng.
Xie Feng glanced at Tang Hui, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, and a little shocked in his heart—he really didn't expect that Zhou Nianhua, a seemingly ordinary man, could give birth to such an outstanding son.
"You're Zhou Nianhua's son?" Xie Feng extended his hand.
Tang Hui shook hands with Xie Feng and said casually, "Hello Officer Xie, my name is Tang Hui."
Xie Feng paused for a moment before remembering that after Zhou Nianhua was imprisoned for murdering his wife, his only son changed his surname to "Tang," taking his mother's name.
“He’s inside. He suddenly collapsed during his routine work this morning and was rushed to the hospital. He’s been in a coma ever since. The doctor said his cancer cells have spread throughout his body, and his condition is very serious. You need to be prepared; he might never wake up again. Let’s go. Let’s go see him.” Xie Feng finished speaking, sighed with some emotion, and patted Tang Hui on the shoulder like an elder.
Tang Hui didn't move. He just stared straight at the closed ward door, his mind blank.
That door was like a seal, sealing away that tragic past and all the ties between him and Zhou Nianhua. Now, all he had to do was push the door open, and the seal would automatically break, forcing him to confront what he had desperately tried to forget all these years.
He didn't know what was wrong with him, suddenly becoming so cowardly and unmanly. He didn't dare to see Zhou Nianhua, lacking the courage to take a step forward; yet he also seemed unwilling to never see that person again, his legs seemingly rooted to the spot, without even the strength to turn around.
Tang Hui stood there silently, neither taking a step forward nor turning away. His expression remained unchanged, still his usual aloof and indifferent demeanor; one could not discern the internal struggle raging within him from his face alone.
Because he remained motionless, several prison guards nearby began whispering among themselves, all turning to look at Xie Feng, seemingly hoping he would urge him on.
Just as Xie Feng was about to speak, Qi Wang and Song Ziyi stepped forward, patted Tang Hui on the shoulder, and whispered, "Let's go in with you."
Tang Hui glanced gratefully at his two brothers, but Xie Feng immediately refused, saying, "That won't do. Zhou Nianhua is an inmate, and according to the rules, only his immediate family members can visit him. Although he's in the hospital now, we can't break the rules. When we submitted the paperwork, we only reported his son. You two can't go in, otherwise we'll be making a mistake."
One sentence reminded everyone, and Tang Hui's expression finally changed for the first time, as if he had just realized a fact—Zhou Nianhua was not only a patient at this moment, but also an inmate, and could not be seen casually; he needed to go through layers of strict rules and reviews.
Even if he dies, his body must first be handed over to the prison for disposal.
After the epiphany came a huge sense of shame. Tang Hui suddenly realized that the man inside was his father, and he was a lawyer, while his father was a heinous criminal.
Even if he doesn't acknowledge Zhou Nianhua, the bond of blood is something that can never be changed. Zhou Nianhua is his biological father, a shame he can never erase for the rest of his life.
Overwhelmed with humiliation, Tang Hui shifted slightly. All he wanted was to leave, to escape this place that brought him endless pain and shame.
Just then, a hand reached out and tightly gripped his right hand, which was clenched into a fist out of anger.
That hand was soft and small, slightly cool, yet it had a magical effect of comforting the heart and transmitting warmth.
It is a woman's hand.
It was Shen Bining's hand.
Shen Bining seemed to sense Tang Hui's anger, shame, and desire to escape. She used her own methods to bring him a sense of stability and firmly refused to let him run away.
"I'll go in with you." Shen Bining whispered to Tang Hui, then asked Xie Feng, "Officer Xie, may I go in with Tang Hui?"
“You’re quite capable. You’re Zhou Nianhua’s end-of-life care doctor. We’ve submitted an application before, and you’re on his visitor list,” Xie Feng said immediately.
Having received an affirmative answer, Shen Bining smiled at Tang Hui. She didn't say a word, her eyes and smile were gentle, yet carried an undeniable insistence.
Tang Hui's heart miraculously calmed down the moment Shen Bining took his hand. All the anger, shame, and escapism he had felt before disappeared. After looking at Shen Bining for two seconds, he nodded slightly.
*
Zhou Nianhua lay quietly on the hospital bed, her body covered with wires and tubes from various instruments. The only sounds in the quiet ward were the beeping of the monitoring equipment.
He lay motionless on the snow-white sheets, his face even paler than the sheets, so thin he looked like a skeleton. If it weren't for the occasional rise and fall of his chest, he would have looked like a corpse.
Tang Hui took a closer look and was so shocked that his head was buzzing.
He barely recognized him anymore.
He is 29 years old this year. His family experienced a change of fortune when he was nine years old, and it has been exactly 20 years since then.
In other words, he hadn't seen Zhou Nianhua for twenty years, more than twice as long as the time he and his father had spent together. He was young when they separated, and it's not easy for him to remember people's faces.
Moreover, Zhou Nianhua was very different from the image he vaguely remembered.
In Tang Hui's memory, his father was a rather robust man, tall and heavy, because he loved to eat and often couldn't control his appetite.
I remember how good my mother was at cooking before she got sick, and my father ended up gaining a lot of weight. My mother would often worry and advise my father not to be so greedy, saying that it was okay to be a little chubby while he was young, but in a couple of years he would develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar.
The father would just laugh it off and turn around to get another bowl of rice for himself.
But the man before him was a completely different person from the father in his memories. He lay motionless on the hospital bed, his body seemingly shrunken, emaciated like a skeleton due to the torment of illness. His face was a ghastly ashen white, almost devoid of any sign of life.
Tang Hui wasn't a medical student; he'd never seen a real skeleton, nor had he ever seen a person so emaciated. He suddenly recalled seeing homeless drug addicts on the streets of America—those ruined by drugs, who also looked like skeletons.
Tang Hui couldn't hold back any longer. He felt a surge of hot tears welling up in his eyes, so hot that he was at a loss for what to do.
He hated Zhou Nianhua, but when he saw his father again after twenty years, his father had become this half-dead, half-human, half-ghost-like figure. Only then did he realize that his feelings for his father were very complicated and not just simple hatred.
Seeing Tang Hui lose his composure, Shen Bining felt extremely distressed. She gently supported Tang Hui's arm and opened her mouth to say a few words of comfort, but found that any words would be inadequate.
Tang Hui seemed to have forgotten that Shen Bining was beside him. He took heavy steps and stubbornly walked towards the bedside, and Shen Bining's hand, which was holding his arm, suddenly went empty.
Tang Hui's legs felt like they weighed a ton. He struggled to the bedside, his hands trembling as he reached out and grasped Zhou Nianhua's skinny hand that was sticking out from under the blanket. Tears instantly streamed down his face.
"Why did you become like this? Why did you ruin yourself like this? What were your reasons back then that made you kill my mother and destroy your own life? You wanted to see me, didn't you? Well, here I am. Get up and tell me what happened back then."
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