Chapter 91 The car screeched to a halt at the sanatorium...
The car braked suddenly and stopped at the entrance of the sanatorium. Ye Yuying got out of the car with her cane, almost falling off.
At the same time, an ambulance came rushing in with its siren blaring. Ye Yuying felt a chill run down her spine when she heard the ambulance's piercing siren.
Some bad premonitions are growing rapidly.
Her first thought was that someone in the nursing home must have developed a health problem, otherwise the nursing home would be equipped with a lot of medical equipment.
She went to the security office to register, and Cheng Mingdu immediately put his arm around her, turned his head to kiss the end of her hair, and whispered, "Don't be nervous, it's okay."
Before the two even reached the registration desk, the sanatorium's iron gate suddenly opened, and an ambulance drove in. Two minutes later, a white stretcher sped away, with several nurses and doctors pressing down on a thin body, an oxygen mask almost completely covering the face.
The wheels of the gurney rolled over the tiled floor of the corridor, making a rapid, deafening noise that was particularly unsettling to the ear.
Ye Yuying was filling out family information when she noticed the commotion in the distance. She looked up and saw the person clearly, and all her unease was confirmed.
Ye Yuying was not allowed to get close to Jiang Xinxue at will, but she knew all too well that when the sanatorium initiated the emergency medical transfer procedure, it must be because an event had occurred that the sanatorium's medical system could not handle.
"The patient strangled himself with a bed sheet and was found unconscious by the other patients in the room. We tried to resuscitate him, but it didn't work." The nursing home caregiver recognized Ye Yuying, said hurriedly, and then turned and rushed to the ambulance.
Her lips moved slightly as she looked down at her legs, recalling the terrifying words Jiang Xinxue had spoken to her when they first met.
She felt a growing resistance to going forward.
Perhaps for Jiang Xinxue, the best medicine is to never see herself again.
The person who ended up getting into the ambulance was a middle-aged man—Cheng Jianian.
He has now shed his former glamour, wearing the simple clothes of an ordinary middle-aged man, no longer in a suit and tie. His profile looks much more haggard, and his hair is completely white.
Cheng Mingdu promptly brought Ye Yuying back to the car and drove after the ambulance.
The ambulance did not stop at a public hospital, but went directly to the emergency department of Heng'an International Medical Center, opening a green channel and having the joint psychiatric and critical care teams arrive at the scene simultaneously.
Ye Yuying knew that Cheng Jianian must have used his connections to give Jiang Xinxue the best medical care, and that doing so would be more private and better preserve the patient's privacy.
The lights at the main entrance of the medical center were cold and white, conveying a sense of austere isolation.
Jiang Xinxue was taken directly to the emergency room. When Ye Yuying and Cheng Mingdu got out of the elevator, the emergency room lights were already on.
The corridor was filled with the smell of disinfectant. Ye Yuying stood at the corner of the corridor, leaning on her cane, and did not appear in everyone's sight because everyone knew that Jiang Xinxue did not want to see her.
Cheng Jianian noticed her, and a complicated expression briefly appeared on his face. The two exchanged a few simple greetings. Cheng Mingdu and his father, as always, never seemed very close.
Ye Yuying did not visit Cheng Jianian after returning to China, but now is not the time to reminisce.
Everyone stared silently and solemnly at the emergency light.
She also wanted to be ruthless, telling herself that she just wanted to see how this woman would die.
But as she walked along the way, she became somewhat uncertain.
If Jiang Xinxue really dies, can Ye Yuying find relief?
She was in a state of utter confusion.
After being transferred to the intensive care unit, a nurse came out and said to Cheng Jianian, "Only one family member can enter at a time, and the time is limited to five minutes. Mr. Cheng, please follow me."
After some time, Cheng Jianian came out of the ward, looking somber. He said to Ye Yuying, "She's not in good condition. You shouldn't go in. It will upset her."
Ye Yuying's lips moved slightly, but her face remained indifferent.
She knew better than anyone that having such a mother, even the slightest bit of pity from her would be far more tragic than all the suffering she had ever endured.
At this moment, Cheng Mingdu suddenly spoke up: "I'll go in and take a look."
Cheng Jianian glanced at him, hesitated, and finally nodded.
Ye Yuying knew in her heart that anyone could go in, as long as it wasn't her.
Before leaving, Cheng Mingdu shook her hand, transferring the warmth of his palm to her. He gave her a look and instructed, "Go to the lounge and wait for me." Ye Yuying nodded, a glint in her eyes, knowing that Cheng Mingdu was going in to check on the situation in her place.
...
What happened next that day was like a bizarre dream to Ye Yuying.
She sat in the lounge and picked up a medical magazine to try to distract herself.
But in a daze, she heard the fluctuating heart rate of the monitor in her ear.
Even though the lounge and the intensive care unit are on the same floor, why can she hear these sounds?
She gripped the magazine tighter, but found that she hadn't absorbed a single word.
Was she hallucinating?
The heart rate curve on the monitor began to fluctuate irregularly, and an alarm suddenly sounded—
Medical staff rushed in, and after a brief resuscitation effort, the electrocardiogram curve flattened out.
That day, Ye Yuying rushed out of the rest room without regard for anything, leaving the corridor empty. At the same time, Jiang Xinxue, after regaining consciousness, was put back into the emergency room.
Ye Yuying felt that the scene in front of her was so unreal. The entire medical center was filled with chaotic sounds. The sounds of voices and footsteps mingled in her ears, making her dizzy.
The nurse told her that the patient upstairs was really not going to make it this time.
When Ye Yuying rushed upstairs despite the excruciating pain in her legs, a cold white sheet had already been placed over the hospital bed.
...
Many things that happened after that day seemed shrouded in mist for Ye Yuying.
The news of Jiang Xinxue's death echoed in her ears, but she did not break down or cry uncontrollably. She simply followed the procedures quietly, signing documents, handling the paperwork, and contacting funeral services, as if she had rehearsed it countless times beforehand.
On the day of the funeral, the sunlight was bright, falling on the white chrysanthemum petals and reflecting a cold, white sheen. She stood in the mourning hall for a long time, but couldn't utter a single eulogy.
From the emergency room to the crematorium, she never asked Cheng Mingdu what exactly happened in the moments before Jiang Xinxue died.
She even deliberately avoided thinking about it.
It's as if if you don't touch it, all the heaviness and unbearable things will automatically sink to the deepest part of your heart.
It wasn't until much later, when her life gradually returned to normal, that vague blank space resurfaced.
That evening, she and Cheng Mingdu sat on the balcony, the setting sun casting its light on his profile. She suddenly asked, "...Did she say anything at the end?"
Cheng Mingdu glanced at her, his gaze calm, and did not answer immediately.
Ye Yuying pursed her lips slightly, seemingly prepared to accept any answer.
After a moment, he spoke, his voice very soft: "She said... there's a sliver of love in her heart for you."
Ye Yuying paused for a moment, the light in her eyes trembled slightly, and finally she just hummed in agreement, as if a heavy stone had been lifted from her shoulders.
...
No one knew that the woman in the hospital bed had actually opened her eyes that day, and the words she uttered in a hoarse voice were full of hatred and anger, as well as the most offensive things in the world.
As Jiang Xinxue lay dying, her fists clenched tightly, and several crumpled pieces of paper fell out of her pocket. These were notes she had written down when her memories occasionally drifted back to the past after she lost her mind.
It was covered in hatred.
Those whispers, tinged with the stench of blood, were swallowed back down his throat forever.
He bent down and picked up all the crumpled papers, leaving none behind.
After leaving the hospital, he burned all the crumpled papers without hesitation, not one of them was left behind.
Just like when he burned that piece of evidence against Ye Jianguo, he would never let Ye Yuying know about these things, whether it was thirteen years ago or thirteen years later.
...
In the dead of night, Ye Yuying suddenly woke up, her heart yearning for some comfort.
It wasn't until she rolled over and hugged the person next to her tightly that she felt her heart was filled again.
A thin layer of sweat beaded on her forehead, her breathing was rapid, and her fingers were clenched tightly as if afraid he would disappear.
Cheng Mingdu was startled awake. He raised his hand and placed it on her back, gently stroking it, his voice very soft: "What's wrong?"
Ye Yuying buried her face in the crook of his neck, her voice hoarse: "...I dreamed about her."
He paused for a moment, not interrupting her, and let her continue.
"She said... she hates me." As she uttered these words, it was as if she were biting something sharp; her eyes stung and her chest ached.
Cheng Mingdu was silent for a moment, then held her hand tighter and whispered, "That was a dream, not real."
“But I feel…” her voice was about to dissipate, “even if it’s a dream, it’s still something she would say.”
He suddenly reached out and lifted her chin, making her look directly at him.
The lights were dim, but his gaze was steady: "At most, she was just struggling with herself. She didn't hate you that much, otherwise she wouldn't have said these things before she died."
He paused, then pulled her back into his arms, letting her feel his body heat directly: "She just hasn't had a chance to give you love yet, it's okay, I'll make it up to her."
Ye Yuying's nose tingled, and the dull pain in her chest gradually subsided. For a moment, she was speechless, only able to hug him tightly.
The night was deep, and the wind outside the window stirred the curtains, bringing a touch of coolness. She had already fallen asleep peacefully when her hand slowly loosened.
Cheng Mingdu, still holding her, opened his dark eyes and looked at the dimly lit, inky blue sky, guarding a man-made beautiful dream.
He couldn't imagine what Ye Yuying would do if she knew the truth, but...
He handled it cleanly enough that she would never know.
*
After Jiang Xinxue's incident, time seemed to be sped up by someone.
Ye Yuying returned to work, more focused than ever before.
Her goal was clear—to get everything in place before leaving for Germany for that life-or-death nerve reconstruction surgery.
During that period, after Cheng Mingdu finished get off work, he would wait until all the employees of her company had left, then come to her office to keep her company while she worked overtime, sitting at her desk.
Occasionally, when some recognition modules malfunction, Cheng Mingdu would take her laptop, access the background logs, and type in a few lines of commands to optimize the model's computation.
Even after becoming a shareholder, Cheng Mingdu was still able to help her a lot with technology.
The progress bar on the screen jumped rapidly, and the AI's reaction time was reduced by nearly half.
Ye Yuying knew that this period of time would be one of the few happy times in her life.
Both parties tacitly understood each other, without emphasizing their own roles in the relationship, and tacitly complemented each other's needs, falling asleep in each other's arms at night.
Although they sometimes got a little emotional when they kissed passionately, just as they had agreed, they simply cuddled and slept without doing anything else.
However, Ye Yuying was also seriously considering whether she should do something, to truly live for the moment...
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Author's Note: 50
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