Chapter 32
It was already past one in the morning on the 1st when He Xi rushed home.
During holidays, there are many people and the traffic is crowded. When she received the news that Zhao Lin was in trouble, she wanted to change her ticket, but she couldn't get a ticket at all.
"That kid had a tough life. He was forced to become a jonin at that point."
Yan Runqing sighed and told her the whole story.
"Even if the bones are broken, the tendons are still connected. He is still my uncle. Why did we have to go through such a mess and have both of us lying in the hospital?"
"How is Grandma Li?"
The old man was hospitalized twice in less than a year. I heard that this time he was pushed and fell to the ground.
Zhao Lin was called back from class. When the ambulance arrived, he picked up a brick from the roadside and rushed to the woman.
When he was about to punch her, he was grabbed by the waist by someone nearby and didn't hit the woman's vital parts. He continued to kick her and a fight broke out all around him.
"The situation is not good. He has been in a coma. They say he has a cerebral hemorrhage."
He Xi arrived at the hospital and took the elevator all the way to the neurosurgery floor. He immediately saw Zhao Lin slumped outside the ward.
He was decadent and gloomy, and the aura around him was even colder than when we first met.
"Grandma will be distressed if she sees you like this."
In the relatively quiet corridor, her voice was not loud but choked with sobs.
The boy seemed to be a little slow, and he looked up at her with an empty and numb expression. The moment their eyes met, she clearly saw the pain and self-blame in his eyes.
"I killed her."
Zhao Lin murmured, his voice extremely hoarse.
He shouldn't have returned to Lancheng. If he hadn't come back, that woman wouldn't have come to his house again and again to cause trouble.
He is a disaster, what Zhao Haifeng said is absolutely right.
"That's not the case."
It was definitely not his sole responsibility for what happened, but Zhao Lin would not listen to any advice.
During the holiday, He Xi went to the hospital almost every day, leaving the food he brought with him untouched. He watched as He Xi became increasingly thinner and his will became increasingly depressed and decadent.
"It's no use for you to keep watching. The doctor said the patient is no longer breathing on his own."
“There’s no point in burning money like this any longer.”
Yang Jia's father almost rushed to Zhao Lin's face and yelled at him. Sensing the change in the mood of the people around him, He Xi hurriedly pushed him towards the corridor.
"Of course you don't feel bad about spending money that isn't yours. To tell you the truth, I've already called Zhao Haifeng, and I don't think he can handle a jinx like you!"
The boy's muscles were flexed and his fists hanging at his sides were clenched so tightly that they made crackling sounds.
She put her hands over his ears and stood in front of him to stop him from getting closer to the cursing man.
"They actually want to give up so easily, just give up on grandma..."
He Xi felt the person in her arms trembling, but she had no better way than to pat his back to comfort him.
"I'm a disaster, a jinx. It's all because of me that grandma is lying in the ICU and has become like this."
"That's not the case. Don't talk nonsense. It's never your fault."
The water marks on the neck slowly slid down along the skin texture, and were then absorbed by the clothes.
She felt the wetness on the collar of her sweatshirt, and tears involuntarily slid down her cheeks.
*
Zhao Lin's father, Zhao Haifeng, landed in Lancheng in the evening of that day.
After arriving at the hospital, he slapped Zhao Lin twice in the busy corridor without any hesitation.
"Is this what you're capable of? You returned to Lancheng without a word. I really thought you were here to fulfill your filial duty. Look at what you've done in over a year!"
Zhao Lin fell to the ground, his head buzzing and the roar above his head was so piercing that he could hardly hear it clearly.
The kicks and blows that fell on his body were like raindrops, but he endured them numbly and didn't feel any pain at all. Instead, he felt relieved and refreshed.
"Alright, alright, if you want me to beat you up, take me home and beat you up."
The whispers of the people around finally made Yang Jia's father speak out. With a grim face, he grabbed this nominal brother-in-law. Thinking of the fawning and compliments he had given him in previous years, he couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
"The child's mother is still lying in the orthopedics department downstairs. Money is really tight. Besides, the old lady is in such a bad condition now. Even if we throw in wads of money, it will be wasted..."
Zhao Haifeng shook off the restraints on his arms, lowered his eyes and looked at the seemingly honest man next to him for a moment, then turned around and walked towards the doctor's office without saying a word.
Looking at the people walking away, the man snorted coldly, glared at the boy on the ground, and walked down the stairs.
When Zhao Lin regained consciousness, he opened his eyes and saw the pale ceiling. He turned his head and looked around, and when he raised his hand, he pulled the IV hanging on the head of the bed.
The man turned around when he heard the noise. After the father and son looked at each other for a while, he heard the person at the window speak.
"After a joint consultation, the director from North City came to the same conclusion: there's basically no chance of saving the patient."
"It's the elderly who are suffering because they have to rely on tubes inserted all over their bodies to keep breathing and their heart beating."
Zhao Lin pulled out the needle from his hand expressionlessly, threw off the quilt and was about to get out of bed.
"You're in cahoots with them. Were you just as calm when you pulled out my mom's oxygen tube yourself—!"
"You are the beastly scum Zhao Haifeng!"
"You're hugging girls all over the place, so you can't even close your eyes when you sleep. Are you afraid my mom will find you—"
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by a slap. Zhao Lin licked the blood from the corner of his lips and smiled sadly.
While the father and son were arguing in the ward, a group of people from the Yang family had already signed the discharge procedures for the old man.
After taking off the ventilator, the old man's heartbeat slowly became a straight line.
If you look closely, you can see a tear running down the corner of her eye, flowing down her wrinkled skin and into her gray hair.
They called a taxi and drove straight to the funeral home.
Before returning to Haicheng, He Xi went to look for Zhao Lin again. She knocked on the door but received no response, so she entered the password without authorization.
On rainy days, the curtains in the house were drawn tightly, and it was pitch black.
After turning on the light, she looked around and saw that the sofa and coffee table were piled with cigarette butts and beer bottles.
The room was silent. She walked to the bedroom door, pushed it, and found that it was locked from the inside.
"Zhao Lin."
She reached out and knocked on the door, but no one answered after waiting for a long time.
He Xi simply turned around, rolled up his sleeves and started cleaning the house. After a quick sweep, he wiped it again with a mop.
There were still pots and pans in the kitchen that Grandma Li had bought when she was staying here temporarily. She prepared a small bowl of rice and cooked porridge.
When she was preparing to cook, she heard the bedroom door slam shut. When she was about to go out to check, she saw Zhao Lin leaning against the kitchen door.
"I've made some porridge and it will be ready soon."
After not seeing him for a few days, he felt like a different person, lifeless and like a moving shell.
"What are you doing here? Check if I'm still breathing?"
He Xi was shocked by the indifference in his words. He opened his mouth but didn't say anything else and just shook his head.
"Why, are you trying to imitate the Snail Girl in the myth and play the rescue game?"
"Do you really have to talk like that?"
Zhao Lin looked at her for a moment, and she saw the coldness in his black eyes.
"What happens to me is none of your business."
"Put away your saintly attitude."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
