Chapter 46: The Curse of the Feast
He Xiaolan was on a video call with Yueyue in the living room. There was a clanging sound from the kitchen, and the aroma of chili peppers and pork belly filled the room.
"Mom, why didn't you come home this week?" Yueyue was playing with the new toys that Ms. Zhang Xinrong bought her. When she learned that He Xiaolan and her husband were not coming home on Friday night, she made a big fuss. It wasn't until she went to the mall and went on a "big shopping spree" at Miniso and the supermarket that she calmed down.
"Mom has work to do this week and can't go home. Mom promises you that I will be home next week. You study hard this week, and when you see me next time, I have a gift for you."
"What gift is it? I want to see it now."
"Yueyue, Mom said it was a surprise, so I must wait until a specific time to tell you the answer. Don't rush things. Did you tell Mom you only got 95 points on last week's math test because you were anxious and careless and wrote the wrong answer?" Ms. Zhang Xinrong said as she closed her book, firmly practicing her principle of not using her phone when Yueyue is at home.
"Ninety-five points is also good, there is no need to be so strict."
"You started saying nice things in front of your daughter. If you weren't so strict, why would you enroll her in so many tutoring classes?"
"Mom, I don't want to go to tutoring class, I want to sleep at home." Yueyue finally grasped the life-saving straw and quickly expressed her request.
"You will have plenty of time to sleep when you go to college. The only way you can get into a good college and sleep well in the future is to attend tutoring classes well."
As he was speaking, Wang Qingwei frowned, breathed heavily, and slowly walked out of the kitchen. "Yueyue, do you want to talk to Daddy?"
He Xiaolan was about to hand him the phone, but Wang Qingwei shook his head and refused. He lay down on the sofa and took deep breaths. Seeing this, He Xiaolan quickly prepared to hang up the phone, "Yueyue, Mom has something to do now. I'll call you later."
As soon as the call ended, He Xiaolan hurried to check on Wang Qingwei. The room was heated, but Wang Qingwei was freezing cold, with no warmth in his hands or feet. "How do you feel now?"
Wang Qingwei shook his head weakly and said, "I'll lie down for a while. Go and see if the gas stove in the kitchen is turned off."
He Xiaolan had no mood to do anything else, so she just curled up on the other side of the sofa, checking on Wang Qingwei from time to time. During this time, Qin Tiantian called and wanted to have dinner together, but He Xiaolan directly refused. Wang Qingwei's breathing became heavier and heavier. "Did you choke while frying the peppers? Why don't we go to the hospital first?"
Wang Qingwei felt himself sweating profusely and completely exhausted. From around 2:00 PM until 7:00 PM, he showed no signs of improvement and his condition was getting worse. "Wang Qingwei, don't delay! Let's get to the hospital!"
The couple hurriedly put on their clothes and headed out. He Xiaolan wasn't paying attention while driving and almost drove the wrong way. The nearest tertiary hospital was half an hour away, but luckily there was no traffic. After getting all the tests done at the hospital, the two found a place to sit and wait for the results.
He Xiaolan was bored and scrolling through her phone. She glanced at the date on the phone and turned around suddenly, which scared Wang Qingwei. "Yesterday was your birthday, I forgot."
"Don't tell me you forgot, I forgot everything," Wang Qingwei said, still a little weak, half lying on a chair in the hospital to rest his mind. He Xiaolan sent a location to Qin Tiantian and Hua Hudie, "Sisters, I'm in the hospital again. I've been living in the hospital for almost the past six months."
Qin Tiantian called next, "What's wrong with you? Are you sick?"
"I'm fine. Wang Qingwei said he was not feeling well while cooking, so I followed him to the hospital. But I looked much better when I got to the hospital."
There was still one last item in the report to be submitted, and it was already past ten o'clock in the evening. "Why don't we go back to sleep? We have to go to work tomorrow morning." Wang Qingwei felt that although his body was still a little weak, he was in better spirits than before.
"There is only one more report. I'll go get it and see if it's out," He Xiaolan said as she walked towards the report machine. As soon as it was printed out, she saw that the values of each of the three myocardial reports were abnormal. She walked to Wang Qingwei and dragged him to the emergency department to ask the doctor what was going on. She heard the emergency doctor standing at the door shouting, "Is patient Wang Qingwei here? Patient Wang Qingwei."
He Xiaolan knew something was amiss when she saw the doctor's expression. "You need to be hospitalized immediately. Go straight to the emergency room." A wave of nervousness suddenly washed over He Xiaolan, and Wang Qingwei's voice trembled. "Doctor, what's going on?" Wang Qingwei tried his best to suppress his emotions, not wanting to worry He Xiaolan.
But He Xiaolan felt as if her ears were forgotten outside the clinic door. No matter what the doctor said, the voice was far away from her. She only heard that Wang Qingwei had a heart attack and needed surgery immediately. He Xiaolan followed the doctor's instructions and went to the pharmacy to get the medicine. When she returned to the emergency room, Wang Qingwei had already been sent to the emergency room.
The door of the emergency room was closed, and nothing could be seen. He Xiaolan took the opportunity to take a look inside while delivering the medicine, but at that moment, she could not see anything. Hua Hudie called, "How is Wang Qingwei now? Xiaolan, please speak."
"Wang Qingwei had a heart attack and is now in the emergency room. He is said to need surgery soon. I am waiting outside. I don't know how this happened."
"Don't worry, Teacher Qin and I will be there soon, just wait for us."
When Wang Qingwei was always working late, He Xiaolan had suggested he schedule a checkup, saying his body wouldn't be able to handle such an irregular schedule. After Zhang Hang's incident, He Xiaolan became even more worried about Wang Qingwei's health, but he was constantly busy with one thing and the next, so he hadn't taken the checkup seriously, putting it off until he forgot about it.
He Xiaolan stood blankly outside the emergency room door, not knowing when her tears started to fall. The doctor took out Wang Qingwei's belongings and handed them to her, "It's okay, he looks in good condition. Putting in a stent is just a minor operation. Don't worry too much."
There are a lot of forms to sign, and every page is full of risks. The hand holding the pen doesn't know how to write my name.
He used Wang Qingwei's phone to call Qian Helin and asked him to come and help. Qian Helin had just finished drinking and heard the news, so he took a taxi and went to the hospital.
Wang Qingwei was lying in the emergency room, surrounded by many people and instruments. The doctor told him not to move, so he just lay there, listening to the people coming and going around him and the machines ticking.
"Why don't you just stop saving me? It would be fine if I just died." There was a secret voice in Wang Qingwei's heart that kept telling him to give up, but the nurse told him that He Xiaolan was crying loudly outside. Yes, how could he just die like this? He still had a wife, children, and parents. Thinking about the miserable condition of Zhang Hang's wife, he had to try to stay alive.
Wang Qingwei couldn't hear what was happening outside. He couldn't hear He Xiaolan's worry, Qin Tiantian and Hua Hudie's impatience, or Qian Helin's anxiety. The infusion needle pierced his skin, and he lost consciousness. He wanted to go home, to be with Yueyue and He Xiaolan, right there in that small home.
Qian Helin accompanied the cart to the operating room, while Qin Tiantian and Hua Hudie accompanied them to pay. He Xiaolan always felt like she was still dreaming. Someone behind her was urging her to pay quickly. Qin Tiantian wanted to go up and argue with them, but Hua Hudie held her back.
They were the only ones in the corridor outside the operating room. A cold, white ceiling light hung overhead, casting a harsh, hard light on the tiled floor, making even their shadows appear thin and rigid. The silence was eerie. No matter who spoke, their voices sounded like hell, each tapping on a tense nerve. Only half an hour had passed, but it felt like an entire night, every minute and every second unbearable.
The air was filled with the faint scent of disinfectant, mixed with the cold wind that filtered in through the cracks in the window at the end of the corridor, making the back of one's neck tighten. Qian Helin leaned against the wall, his eyes fixed on the closed door of the operating room, unwilling to even blink, lest he miss the moment it opened. Occasionally, a nurse would push a treatment cart past in the distance, the clatter of wheels briefly shattering the silence. But as soon as the cart was gone, the corridor sank into a deeper silence. Even their breathing became cautious, afraid of disturbing the movement inside, and even more afraid of disrupting the remaining order of waiting.
He Xiaolan thought of thousands of possibilities in her mind, but she would not allow any misfortune to happen.
"When I accompanied you up here, the doctor told me that this isn't a big problem, Lao Wang. Irregular work and rest schedules and irregular diet can easily lead to this problem. You don't have to worry too much," Qian Helin whispered to comfort He Xiaolan. He Xiaolan shook her head and forced herself to be strong, "It's okay. The doctor told me at that time. It's okay. I'm not worried. Are you sleepy? Let's go home quickly. It's already two o'clock."
"There's nothing to do today, why are you going to bed so early? Have you asked for leave? Don't you have to go to work on Monday? Can your boss, who is a devil, give you leave?" Butterfly stretched.
"One day off should be no problem. I can call his mother in the morning and ask her to take care of him. I still need to think about asking for leave for Wang Qingwei." He Xiaolan flipped through Wang Qingwei's phone, found their company's group chat, and then found the HR manager. She wrote down the leave request in a memo and waited to send it over early in the morning.
"No, I'll go to Tianjin and bring Wang Qingwei's mother over," Qian Helin looked at He Xiaolan, waiting for her instructions. "No need, I'll buy her a high-speed rail ticket. Anyone of you who has time can help me pick her up at the South Station."
Wang Qingwei only had one aorta blocked, and he was quickly released from the operating room after a minimally invasive heart stent was placed. He looked quite energetic under local anesthesia and could not say much before being pushed into the cardiac monitoring unit. Visitors were not allowed until 3 p.m., so Qin Tiantian and Hua Hudie accompanied He Xiaolan home.
On the way, He Xiaolan looked out the window and asked, "Why did I have to sign a serious illness notice?"
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