"knew."
The man looked dejected and forced himself to eat a few bites with his chopsticks.
The food, though delicious and visually appealing, tasted bland to him.
He put down his chopsticks after only a few bites.
What are the chances of her waking up?
Time was passing, and her life seemed to be passing away as well.
The longer she slept, the less likely she seemed to wake up, a feeling that terrified him.
Less than 10%.
Jiang Jibai said it with difficulty.
He knew this was a cruel and unacceptable thing for Chu Xing, but he was a doctor and couldn't lie to him about such a thing.
Moreover, for patients undergoing surgery, the longer they remain unconscious, the lower their chances of waking up.
The man remained silent for a moment, then quietly walked out.
That evening, during visiting hours, the man changed into protective clothing, disinfected himself, and entered the intensive care unit.
Several patients who were admitted at the same time as her have already passed away; some are no longer alive, while others have recovered and been transferred to regular wards.
There are still a few patients left in the intensive care unit.
Song Mai is getting thinner and thinner. He can see the changes in her every day he comes. She was already slender, but now she is even thinner than before. She has hardly any flesh on her body.
It looked like a layer of skin covering the bones, which was quite alarming.
Even with the blanket covering her, if you only looked at the blanket, you wouldn't be able to tell that there was someone lying inside.
She was as thin as a sheet of paper, as if she were slowly withering away.
Her condition was clearly deteriorating day by day, which made Chu Xing even more worried.
He held her hand, his eyes filled with deep affection.
"Song Mai, please wake up soon. I'll take you home."
"Your wish hasn't come true yet. You still want to buy a small house of your own and live the life you want. Of course, I know you definitely don't want to settle down in Zicheng anymore. Then go somewhere else, to Qingxi, to Pingjiang. They are all very beautiful places. I'm sure you'll like them."
"Don't sleep anymore, you've been sleeping for a long time. I'm still waiting for you. Wake up when you've had enough sleep, okay?"
He spoke slowly, his voice soft, with a barely perceptible tremor.
But the woman on the bed remained lying there quietly, as if she would never wake up again, lifeless.
Song Mai felt so tired. She felt exhausted all over, as if she had just had a very long dream.
She returned to her childhood, when her mother always gave the best food and toys to her brother, while she was often left with some broken and old things that others had left over.
She felt it was very unfair, so she went to question Song's mother, but Song's mother picked up a stick and beat her until she was covered in bruises, and even said that she had grown up and dared to talk back to her parents.
She silently cleaned her wounds despite the pain, but never asked why she was treated so unfairly again.
She understood that some things were destined to be unfair from birth.
In a family that favors sons over daughters, her demand for equal treatment is the greatest folly.
From then on, she accepted whatever was given to her and silently endured everything.
Later, she finally got into a prestigious university, while her brother failed the college entrance exam because of his consistently poor grades. She excitedly shared her acceptance letter with her parents, but her parents threw it away with grim expressions.
She picked up the admission notice with a heart full of fear, looking at her parents helplessly.
But her parents started cursing at her, and Song's mother even grabbed her with a ferocious expression.
The insulting voices still echoed in her ears.
"You brat, your brother didn't pass the exam, but you did, and you're showing off your acceptance letter everywhere. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking! Let me tell you, I won't let you go!"
Song Mai clutched the admission notice, her little face filled with shock.
She asked, puzzled, "Why? Aren't I your child too?"
But Song's mother sneered:
"So what if it is? What's the point of a girl going to school so much? What good are high scores and a lot of education? You'll still end up marrying into another family. Why should I spend so much money on your education? You're a money-loser, don't even think about me paying for your university education!"
Her face was pale, but her little face was full of stubbornness.
“How am I a money-loser? I will take care of you when I go to college and earn money. I can do what my brother can do. Why can he go to college but I can’t?”
Mr. Song glared at her fiercely.
"Pah! You make money? How much money can you possibly make? You're all talk now, but once we actually pay for your college education, you won't care about us anymore. You heartless bastard, don't try to fool us. You can forget about going to college. In a couple of days, find a factory job and hurry up and make money to pay back all the money I spent raising you over the years!"
Song Mai couldn't understand it. She had been so obedient since she was a child, taking on almost all the housework at home, trying her best not to spend money or cause trouble for the family, and always thinking of the whole family when she had something good. How could she be such a heartless person?
She never fought for anything, nor did she make any demands. She worked hard to get into university; heaven knows how much effort she put in.
How could their words make all her hard work go to waste?
No, she was unwilling to give up like that.
"No, I want to go to university!"
She looked stubbornly at Mr. and Mrs. Song, her tone not suggesting she was discussing it with them, but rather that she had already made a decision.
She was determined to go to university no matter what; it was her dream school.
If she really gives up, then her life will be completely over.
Seeing the somewhat ferocious look on her face, Song's mother grabbed an ashtray from the table and smashed it against her. The ashtray grazed her forehead, and bright red blood instantly flowed down her forehead.
The flowing red liquid passed before her eyes, but her heart remained unmoved.
"You brat, you don't listen to your parents anymore, do you? I see you're getting more and more opinionated. Let me tell you, you can forget about going to school, I won't pay a single penny of your tuition!"
Song Mai wiped the blood from her head.
"Hmph, fine, I won't pay then. I don't want a single penny from you, but I'm determined to go to school!"
With that, she grabbed the acceptance letter and ran out.
To prevent her parents from tearing up her college acceptance letter like in a TV drama, she hid it at her best friend's house and went to work at a nearby factory the next day.
When Song's parents saw her go to work, they assumed she had given in and didn't say anything more. Only Song Mai's brother, Song Jincheng, was sarcastic and would get angry at her at the slightest provocation.
However, Song Jincheng's grades were not good to begin with. He was the boss at home and extremely arrogant at school. Relying on his parents' pampering, he caused trouble everywhere.
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