Chen Yuan had expected the boy to threaten him in a cold voice, just like he had for the past two weeks, or to hold a knife to his throat.
But he didn't.
The boy stood quietly, his gaze fixed on the woman whose face was no longer visible through the glass window, his entire being exuding a deathly stillness.
Guan Shiyan, who was beside him, took a deep breath, looked at Shi Youxi's profile, opened his mouth, and then sighed silently.
"Director Chen... thank you for your hard work."
Dean Chen shook his head: "It's my duty."
He wanted to remind Guan Shiyan that he could directly arrange for the funeral home to handle the funeral arrangements, but seeing Shi Youxi beside him, he silently shut his mouth and only asked the nurses to keep an eye on things.
"Sigh, he always pulled through before, how come he couldn't do it this time..." A resident physician who rushed to the emergency room sighed quietly behind Dr. Chen.
Dr. Chen sighed, "The dosage of the last dose was too high. It's a miracle that it survived for the last two weeks."
If she had been taken to the hospital earlier, things would have been fine. However, due to the partial collapse of the hotel and the chaotic scene, by the time Shi Youxi found her near the hotel, Cheng Ran had already been given a large amount of miketone by Chen Yiting.
The inspection report showed that Chen Yiting had been administering trace amounts of miketones to Cheng Ran for a long time prior to that.
Resident physician: "Tsk, that girl who poisoned the girl looked so innocent, who would have thought she was so crazy inside!"
A nurse interjected, "Wasn't it said that the girl was brainwashed by Cheng Ran's brother to steal drugs? I saw some people online saying that they are adoptive father and daughter."
Resident physician: "It's fake, right? That woman has already been diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. She's probably trying to find someone to help her get away with it!"
They actually wanted to poison someone half to death and then turn them into a live specimen!
Is this something a normal person could come up with?!
Miss Cheng is really pitiful; her subordinate turns out to be a pervert who has been spying on her body!
The resident physician glanced at the boy at the ward door again. "This Miss Cheng's stepson is quite... sensible, isn't he? He stays by Miss Cheng's side every day."
He seems more like Miss Cheng's husband than her father.
Cheng Ran's nominal husband seemed to have only visited once.
Chen Yuan was also quite puzzled by this matter. He was brought by Guan Shiyan to treat Cheng Ran after Cheng Ran's first emergency treatment.
Chen Yuan touched his receding hairline, looking puzzled.
"What kind of help do you have for this sudden heart attack?! You're asking me, a neurosurgeon, to save him?!"
"My major doesn't match my job!"
However, Guan Shiyan said at the time that it was Shi Youxi who requested it.
“She had fainted like this once before, and you were in charge that time,” the boy said expressionlessly.
Even with clear reports and medical records, Dr. Chen had no recollection of treating Cheng Ran.
Adhering to medical ethics, Dr. Chen patiently explained to Shi Youxi that the previous incident was due to a severe head injury, but this time Cheng Ran suffered a sudden heart attack due to an overdose of miketoacid, so the conditions were different!
But the boy suddenly lost control. He had been calm for the past few days, and even smiled when talking to Cheng Ran. But now his expression was gloomy, his eyes were bloodshot, and his tone was extremely low and cold.
"I don't care which one it is! You have to save her!"
"We must save her! As long as she's alive, that's all that matters! As long as she's alive, she'll definitely come back!"
"..."
Despite the cold, commanding tone, Chen Yuan felt as if the boy's proud back would break at the slightest pressure.
Seeing Shi Youxi's increasingly manic eyes, Dean Chen reluctantly agreed and could only cooperate with the cardiologists to treat Cheng Ran, who was in a coma, but even so, it was too late.
The resident physician had heard a lot of gossip about Shi Youxi and Cheng Ran in the nurses' group chat and was about to share his secondhand tidbit with Dean Chen!
"Professor Chen, do you know that they're all saying that Shi Ru was worn by his own son... Ugh!"
The resident doctor winced in pain as his hand was pinched hard, "Dr. Chen, what are you doing...?"
The resident doctor shut his mouth as he watched the dignified man walk past him.
The latest news is here!
Help! You really shouldn't talk badly about people behind their backs!
He just said that someone's son cheated on her, but Shi Yan didn't hear him!
Guan Shiyan scratched his head. He looked at the silent boy and wanted to say something to comfort him, but he couldn't find the words.
His memories of Cheng Ran, or rather, that "older sister," were fading more and more.
I realized this a week after the hotel collapsed.
After Cheng Ran performed another emergency rescue, Guan Shiyan went home. Su Yi asked him where he was going.
Guan Shiyan: "Aunt Cheng almost didn't make it back to life just now. If I don't go and keep an eye on Shi Youxi, he might go crazy!"
Su Yi looked puzzled. "Aunt Cheng? Are you very familiar with her?"
Guan Shiyan was astonished. He had thought that his mother was just frightened after the hotel collapsed, but a few days ago, he found that he was experiencing the same thing.
He rushed to the hospital and told Shi Youxi that the boy hesitated for a few seconds before smiling at the woman on the hospital bed.
He held the woman's limp hand, rubbing it against her hand while laughing and saying:
"No, she promised she would come back. My sister wouldn't lie..."
"..."
Guan Shiyan had never seen Shi Youxi smile so brightly before, so brightly that Guan Shiyan dared not say anything more about women.
Coming to his senses, Guan Shiyan looked at Shi Youxi's gaunt profile. Something was wrong with him! Something was very wrong! He should have knocked him out and taken him away immediately!
Guan Shiyan mustered his courage, opened his mouth, then closed it again, deciding to stand with his good brother until the end of time.
But some people just don't do what others want.
"How much longer are you going to stand here?"
Guan Shiyan turned around abruptly, “Uncle Shi, you…”
Shi Yan glanced at him, and the tattooed man behind him stepped forward, pulling Guan Shiyan outside.
"Young Master, let's go! I'll take you to McDonald's!"
"Wait! Shi Youxi, you can eat too!"
"He really likes McDonald's! Brother Arm, you can't be so biased towards me—"
With his mouth covered by the tattooed arm, no matter how much Guan Shiyan struggled, the tattooed arm picked him up like a chick and tossed him into the elevator.
Clean and quiet.
Shi Yan turned her head and glanced at Shi Youxi, her eyes momentarily dazed. It seemed that the last time she looked at him like this, she had to lower her head, but now she was almost looking him in the eye.
Upon seeing him arrive, the head nurse quickly handed the form to Shi Yan, "Mr. Shi, this is the death certificate..."
Just as Shi Yan was about to take it, it was snatched away by another hand beside him.
Shi Yan looked up and asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Did Father already know?"
Shi Youxi couldn't bear to look away from the white cloth. The death certificate was crumpled into a ball by him, and the paper was soaked with the boy's cold sweat. Even though it was soaked through, he still couldn't erase the four short words on it.
The saying goes: "What do you know?"
"What do you know..." The boy's dry voice was caught in his throat; his jaw was clenched, and he rasped, "..."
"Did you know that Cheng Yuan had ill intentions from the very beginning?!"
Did they know that Cheng Yuan had planned to kill Cheng Ran from the very beginning? They even made their move before Cheng Ran returned to China!
Did you know that Cheng Yuan planned to use the Licheng Hotel, which was registered under Cheng Li's name, to kill the entire Cheng family?
Shi Youxi closed her eyes briefly, her lips trembling slightly, a metallic taste churning in her mouth: "Father, you knew perfectly well! Why...why..."
The boy's voice trembled at the end, swallowed down his throat.
Shi Yan raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean, 'why'? Why didn't I tell you?"
The man looked at the boy's features. As he grew older, Shi Youxi gradually became unlike Cheng Mo, and his image became more and more like Cheng Mo's. His phoenix eyes were like Sheng Sheng's, but when he cried... he was very similar to himself.
It's because they look so alike...
Even the way they fall in love with someone is the same!
"You think she died because of me, Cheng Ran?"
Shi Yan withdrew her slightly raised hand, turned around coldly, and said, "I reminded you, didn't I? Whatever you do, you have to be prepared to bear the consequences."
Upon hearing this, Shi Youxi's pupils contracted.
He recalled that after his sister asked whether Shi Yan's birthday party should be held at Li Cheng's place, Shi Yan had specifically asked him about it.
And what he said at the time...
Shi Youxi felt a tightness in his chest, and he clutched his clothes, panting heavily.
Without thinking, he simply said, "Okay."
"..."
"When you exposed Cheng Li for murder, didn't you ever think that Su Tian would retaliate?"
"..."
"Do you think Cheng Yuan is a pushover who would just swallow his anger and remain silent even if his power was usurped by the son of a mistress?"
“Cheng Li, Li Cheng, did you not think at all about why Cheng Yuan asked Cheng Ran to hold the birthday banquet there?”
"..."
“If all eldest sons were as naive and innocent as you, he would have died long ago when Su Tian entered the family.”
"But you have one more chance." Shi Yan signed the funeral service form that Shi Si handed him.
"Go and bring Cheng Yuan back, so I can transfer all the shares that Cheng Ran inherited to you."
"..."
Although Shi Yan and Cheng Ran's marriage was a sham, they did obtain a real marriage certificate in Liguo, otherwise they wouldn't have lied to that old fox Cheng Yuan.
Cheng Haochen was able to stand out from the Cheng family's side branch thanks to Shi Yan's help, and this was also the reason why Shi Yan chose Cheng Ran to have a fake marriage with him.
"The deceased is gone, let her be laid to rest as soon as possible." Shi Yan had come to handle Cheng Ran's funeral arrangements. After making the arrangements, he was about to leave when the hem of his suit was grabbed.
Shi Yan paused for a moment, turned her head, and a hint of indescribable surprise flashed in her eyes, "You..."
Seeing Shi Yan's furrowed brows, Shi Si nervously grabbed the boy's hand, "Young Master, please listen to the Master..."
The boy lowered his head: "Don't cremate her... give her to me."
Shi Yan laughed angrily, "You have no right to negotiate with me."
"I don't want the timepiece for my birthday! I just want her!"
"Please, Father..."
Shi Youxi raised her head, her scarlet face looking utterly disheveled.
Shi Yan stared intently at him, wanting to laugh at his foolishness, but saw her own face reflected in the boy's dark eyes.
"...A dead person, do you really expect her to come back to life!"
Shi Yan frowned and scoffed, a sudden wave of dizziness washing over him. His impression of Cheng Ran grew increasingly vague, eventually becoming nothing more than fragmented, label-like memories.
He closed his eyes, looked at Shi Youxi in front of him, and suddenly didn't know what to say.
"Sir, leave this to me. Why don't you go back and rest?" Shi Si stood between the two, cold sweat pouring down his back.
Shi Yan let out a breath and strode away with a cold face.
Shi Youxi couldn't hear what Shi Si said to him afterward; he just glanced at Cheng Ran again.
It's Cheng Ran.
He might have even fought with Shi Si and sent the woman to the freezer. Shi Youxi suddenly felt that she must be cold, so he grabbed Shi Si's car and planned to go back to get clothes. In the end, Shi Si took him home.
Shi Youxi went straight to that bedroom to rummage through the clothes.
The partial collapse in Licheng resulted in extreme casualties, with the north-facing rest area almost completely reduced to ashes.
The only gifts he unearthed, besides the cello in the wooden box, were a dozen or so photo albums.
He put them all in the woman's room.
Uncle Lin probably didn't dare touch his things, so the photo albums were scattered haphazardly on the ground.
One of the books looks like it's open.
As if possessed, Shi Youxi walked over and discovered that it wasn't a photo album, but an iPad that was charging on the carpet.
The iPad was vibrating. Shi Youxi crouched down. He knew the password to unlock it and saw the following displayed on the screen:
[Important Reminder: August 23rd! Little Beauty's Birthday!!!]
The notification seemed to vibrate every five minutes, making the iPad hot. Shi Youxi picked it up in a daze.
Oh, so today is the 23rd...
Seeing the reminder, he stiffly forced a smile.
I pressed the OK button and was about to take the tablet with me when the iPad automatically returned to the app I was using, and a woman's voice came through:
"Ahem, um... Shi Youxi."
"!"
Shi Youxi lowered his head and stared intently at the woman in the video, without blinking.
Mu Yiran sat in the Li Cheng Hotel suite, holding her electric cello. She pursed her lips, gave an awkward smile, and said dryly to the camera:
"Hmm... Shi Youxi, there's another gift for you."
The woman held the bow, her finger bones tapping the soundboard, and her sweet voice accompanied the melody.
"Knock knock knock..."
Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!
As the song ended, Mu Yiran smiled at the camera:
Happy birthday to Shi Youxi, who is wearing diapers for the first year!
Then Mu Yiran played the birthday song again, and at the end, she looked at the camera once more and said:
Happy birthday to Shi Youxi, who is two years old and still wears open-crotch pants!
Just as she was about to scroll down further, Mu Yiran remembered something and murmured to the camera:
"Why aren't there any photos of them wearing open-crotch pants? I really want to see them..." She had just raised her bow when she hissed again:
"Don't you wear open-crotch pants? Half-naked? Crap! I want to see even more now..."
Mu Yiran shook her head regretfully and then pulled down the scroll.
The melody repeated itself again and again, and the woman's blessings were never missed.
When she reached the tenth song, Mu Yiran seemed to remember something and smiled playfully at the camera:
"Happy 10th birthday! I don't owe you anything, so I won't repeat myself."
She then pulled down.
"...Happy birthday to Shi Youxi, who is turning eleven and becoming a junior high school student!"
"...Happy birthday to Shi Youxi, who is now twelve years old and no longer a shorty, standing at 1.7 meters tall!"
"...Zhu Zhu will still be handsome at thirteen..." Mu Yiran thought of her own thirteenth year and suddenly gritted her teeth:
"And why isn't there an awkward phase? Happy birthday, Shi Youxi!"
“…Wishing you a happy fourteenth birthday…hiss, how do I say fourteenth birthday?” Mu Yiran thought for a moment, her eyes darted around, and she snapped her fingers.
"Happy birthday to Shi Youxi, who returned to China at the age of fourteen and officially became a fine flower of the motherland!"
"...Happy birthday to Shi Youxi, who is 15 years old and has surpassed 1.8 meters in height!"
After playing it for the fifteenth time, Mu Yiran hesitated for a moment, "You're 16 years old now. I'll give you one more time since you're handsome."
"...May your laughter be joyful, and your crying be exhilarating?"
Mu Yiran couldn't think of a good word, but she felt there was nothing wrong with what she said, and besides, she had never seen Shi Youxi cry.
"Bless...bless...never mind."
"Anyway, I can say it again later..." I'll think of a more sophisticated blessing later.
Mu Yiran casually said:
"Happy 16th birthday, Shi Youxi! Not just your birthday, but every single day! May you be happy from the moment you wake up in the morning until you go into bed at night!"
"It sounds kind of awkward to say it like that..."
The video abruptly ended as the woman muttered to herself, freezing on the woman's enlarged face from the very beginning.
Shi Youxi, with a blank expression, clicked the replay button.
Watching the woman smile as she sang the birthday song, and then say "Happy Birthday" fifteen times with a smile.
It ended, then was replayed.
It ended, then was replayed.
...
He listened to "Happy Birthday" fifteen times, then sixteen, but it was still one short.
One more time...
"Just one more time, sister..."
"You still owe me one more time!"
Water droplets fell on the screen, reflecting the woman's slightly upturned lips. Shi Youxi looked at her and smiled, his eyes crinkling.
"Ha...liar."
fraud.
I promised to wait for him to come back, so why isn't he here?
fraud.
I promised him I would come back, but why didn't I?
fraud.
She promised she wouldn't leave him, so why can't she keep her promise?
His sister always lies to him...
Liar! Liar!
The boy, clutching his iPad, his tall frame huddled among stacks of photo albums, repeatedly told the woman who wished him a happy birthday that she was a liar.
………
...
...
Medical drug names are all made up, but they are based on some evidence.
This last part of the video, synced with iCloud and written from the daughter's perspective, came to mind because I heard that popular opening theme song on Douyin (TikTok) recently, and it reminded me of this scene. She was incredibly happy while her daughter recorded her birthday wishes and excited about revealing her identity, but if the male protagonist watched this video, it would feel like the end of the world, so…
That's all the angst I've posted. Hopefully I can get to the third transmigration scene tomorrow, where the character is dressed as...
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