Shen Zhi Qiu covered her mouth, her expression gradually stiffening, the muscles in her cheeks twitching slightly. Her eyes widened, and she called out tremblingly to Zhou Xiao Ran opposite her, "Xiao Ran, help me follow that woman, make sure you find out which ward she's in. Take a picture of her name, please."
Zhou Xiaoran was startled by her reaction and asked in a flustered manner, "Zhiqiu, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Hearing Shen Zhiqiu's words, although she didn't know her intention, she still agreed immediately, hurriedly ended the call, and then quickly followed after the woman in the direction she left.
"Zhiqiu, what's wrong?" Lu Jia put down what she was doing and asked with a worried look.
"Yes, Sister Zhi Qiu, what's wrong?" Lu Xiaoyu also came over.
"I think I saw my mom." Shen Zhi Qiu grabbed Lu Jia's arm in a panic, her voice tight.
"No, that must be my mom. I can't be wrong!" Shen Zhi Qiu muttered to herself, "Impossible, what's wrong, impossible, my mom's been gone for ages..."
But that person was clearly my mom! Lu Jia, it must be her…”
Shen Zhi Qiu's face showed sadness and surprise at different times, sometimes crying and sometimes laughing.
Lu Xiaoyu was confused by Shen Zhi Qiu, but she still gently patted Shen Zhi Qiu's shoulder and softly comforted her, "Sister Zhi Qiu, are you too tired lately? Let us accompany you back to your room to rest."
Suddenly, Shen Zhi Qiu's phone rang, notifying her that she had received a WeChat message. Shen Zhi Qiu quickly picked up her phone and opened it.
It's a photo taken secretly in a hospital ward.
The woman from earlier has returned to her ward and is resting on the bed with her eyes closed.
Shen Zhi Qiu swiped her finger to zoom in on the photo and saw that the familiar face was now full of the marks of time, with many more wrinkles than her peers. The name written on the bedside table read: "Lin Yun Jin, female..."
Shen Zhi Qiu suddenly let go, her eyes trembling violently, as if the blood in her body had frozen instantly.
After a moment, she raised her head and looked at Lu Jia with a determined gaze, uttering with difficulty, "I want to go back to Nancheng."
Seeing her reaction, Lu Jia knew that she had confirmed that the person was her mother. He gently stroked her hair and said softly, "Okay, I'll go back with you."
"Then I'll stay here to take care of Grandma, Sister Zhi Qiu. Don't worry, when you come back, Grandma will definitely be well taken care of." Based on the conversation, Lu Xiaoyu roughly understood what had happened. Knowing that they were going to take care of important business and that she should do the logistical work, she patted her chest like a man and assured Shen Zhi Qiu.
Shen Zhi Qiu nodded with emotion, and walked unsteadily into the house, intending to grab her things and head straight back to Nancheng.
Lu Jia frowned, steadied her, and said softly, "We can go back to Nancheng today, but you should rest first and calm down."
Shen Zhi Qiu then sat down. Sunlight filtered through the leaves in the courtyard and fell on her. With trembling hands, she picked up the teacup, trying to calm her nervousness.
After taking a small sip of tea, she slowly calmed down, her gaze gradually becoming focused and serious. She frowned slightly, pursed her lips, and carefully thought about the details of her mother's illness back then. However, she was still in elementary school at the time and was too young to remember many things clearly.
She only remembered that there was a period when her mother's condition showed obvious signs of improvement, but then it deteriorated again in an instant.
One day, while she was in class, her teacher came to the classroom to tell her that her grandmother was waiting in the office to take her to the hospital, because her mother had passed away at the hospital an hour earlier.
She broke down and rushed to the hospital with her grandmother, who had come to pick her up. However, her father stopped them from seeing the body one last time, saying he was afraid her grandmother wouldn't be able to handle it. The doctor also patiently tried to persuade her, worried that the old woman's heart might not be able to take it.
Everyone knew that Grandma had a heart condition, and she was very scared, so they only looked at her from a distance through the glass. She saw her mother lying there peacefully, with the bracelet she had knitted still on her wrist.
When Grandma saw this scene, she fainted on the spot. She and the doctor hurriedly helped Grandma to the emergency room. While waiting, she cried her eyes out outside the door.
The next time I saw my mother was a few days later, when my father was holding a box of ashes in his hands.
Looking back now, she realizes that neither she nor her grandmother saw her mother's face up close. The only person who went in to check the body from beginning to end was her father, Shen Yanshan.
She still remembers the day of her burial; it was raining heavily.
Her father carried the ashes, his steps heavy as if he couldn't take another step. When he put the ashes down, he looked up, rain and tears mingling and flowing freely. His rain-soaked hair clung haphazardly to his pale face. He lowered his head with a sorrowful expression, his chest heaving violently, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, staring at the standing tombstone.
As the first handful of soil covered him, his body trembled uncontrollably. Before anyone could react, he bent down and collapsed onto the tombstone, clutching the cold stone tightly with both hands. His trembling legs kicked wildly in the muddy ground, his body covered in mud and filth, as he let out heart-wrenching screams.
When the people next to him pulled him away, they realized that he had bitten his lower lip, and his fingernails were pressed tightly into his palms, which were covered in blood.
Overwhelmed with grief, she let go of her grandmother's hand and rushed to hug her father, fearing he might do something foolish. She already had no mother; she couldn't lose her father too.
Wave after wave of pain overwhelmed her...
Everyone present was deeply moved by his profound affection.
"Lu Jia, could you help me check my mother's medical records from back then?" Shen Zhi Qiu suddenly looked up, grabbed Lu Jia's arm, and asked.
Lu Jia nodded, "Don't worry, I will do my best."
Zhou Xiaoran was very worried because she hadn't received a reply from Shen Zhi Qiu, so she called her again.
"Hey, Zhi Qiu, what's wrong?" Zhou Xiaoran asked, puzzled. "Do you know this woman in the hospital bed?"
“Xiao Ran, she is my mother.” Shen Zhi Qiu’s eyes reddened as she said firmly.
"What?" Zhou Xiaoran was taken aback. "Your mother isn't..."
“I don’t know what happened either, but I’m sure it’s her.” Shen Zhi Qiu took a deep breath to calm herself down and continued, “I’m going back to Nancheng today. Xiao Ran, please keep an eye on this ward for me, but don’t alert her. My mother is clearly still alive, but I didn’t know it. Someone must have done this on purpose.”
Shen Zhi Qiu pursed her lips; she already had a guess in her mind as to who it was.
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