Chapter 56
Watching their teammate collapse before their eyes, everyone on Team A was in a terrible mood. Iris asked Jennie to help contact several leading neurosurgeons to help treat Mama, but after sending the medical records, the replies were still the same as before—do your best and leave the rest to fate.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan remained silent all night, only recovering somewhat at breakfast the next day. It was then that Iris spoke to him again about the matter: "I'll spend more time with your sister-in-law these next few days, and also see if Grace needs to come and stay with us for a few days. When you have time, try to persuade Tao-ge; I saw him blaming himself a lot at the hospital yesterday." With Mom in the ICU, besides his family, Zhan Hantao was the one who suffered the most.
Inspector Zhan wasn't omnipotent. When his mother's life hung in the balance, he reacted like any ordinary person facing such a situation—feeling remorse and self-blame, even becoming disoriented. During a shooting practice session, he momentarily lost focus and failed to notice the civilian staff tidying up the target room before ordering a new round of firing, nearly injuring his colleague. If Su Wenqiang, who was inside, hadn't had the quick thinking to wave a broom at the window as a signal, the consequences could have been far more dire.
Because of this incident, Zhan Sir was transferred to logistics by Liang Sir. Since Mada's accident, Liang Sir's phone hadn't stopped ringing. Messages were all from various media outlets requesting interviews, and the questions they all wanted to ask boiled down to one thing—was the Flying Tigers truly capable? Xu Jiankang's earlier case was also brought up, and combined with Mada's serious injury, the media's doubts about the Flying Tigers' strength grew even louder. At this critical juncture, Zhan Hantao still made such a big mistake during training, infuriating Liang Rifeng, who decided to personally lead the training of Team A.
At the hospital, Iris brought food to visit her mother and Lamy. The mother lay in bed with tubes in her arms, while the mother lay beside her, weeping. Lamy looked emaciated and haggard after just one night apart. "Sister-in-law, please eat something," Iris said, her heart aching. "I was worried you wouldn't be able to eat, so I asked the maid to make porridge and soup. For your own sake and the baby's, please eat something, okay?"
Lamy was numb, as if her soul had left her body. Iris placed her long-held, cold, and slightly trembling hand on her swollen belly. The baby inside her moved after a short while, and only then did Lamy react.
"Sister-in-law?"
“Iris!” She started to cry again, her red and swollen eyes filled with sorrow and confusion.
Iris held back her tears, gently stroking Lamy's back. She hadn't slept well last night either; she couldn't imagine what their family would be like if her mother really didn't wake up.
After finishing her afternoon classes, Iris went to Grace's school to pick her up. It was almost lunchtime after extracurricular activities, and the middle school students were all excitedly leaving the school, changing into their school uniforms in small groups to grab a bite at a street food stall. Iris waited for a while, until almost everyone had left, before Grace finally emerged, accompanied by a female classmate. Seeing her, Grace was surprised: "Sister Iris, what are you doing here?" Immediately, the perceptive and thoughtful child anxiously asked, "Has Daddy's condition worsened?"
“Your daddy is fine.” Iris put her arm around Grace’s shoulder to comfort her, then waved goodbye to the little girl next to her before helping Grace into the car. She helped her fasten her seatbelt: “I came to ask if you would like to stay at my house for a few days. Your mommy might be very busy these days, so if you’re okay, Iris can take care of you and take you to and from school.”
"Will I be a burden to Mom if I stay home?" Iris didn't expect Grace to ask this question first, and she didn't know how to answer for a moment. "Oh, Grace!" Iris could only go over and hug her.
Grace nestled in her arms, seemingly sobbing softly: "Sister Iris, I want to stay with Mom. If she goes home and sees the house empty, she'll be even more upset. I don't want to leave her alone."
Such a good girl. Grace is so sensible it's heartbreaking. Iris hugged her tightly and came up with a compromise: "How about we come to our house for dinner and homework first, and then we'll take you home later? In the morning, I'll pick you up first and then I'll go to class myself. That'll be just right."
"But wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?" The little girl wiped away a tear from the corner of her eye.
Iris ruffled her hair: "Silly girl!"
With a new child in the family, Jennie asked the maid to adjust the menu slightly, preparing a few more dishes that children would like. However, Grace still ate very little at the dinner table, almost only picking at the plate of vegetables in front of her, barely touching her rice. Noticing this, Jennie picked up serving chopsticks and put several dishes on Grace's plate, while comforting the poor little girl: "Grace, don't be shy here. Just make yourself at home. You can eat whatever you like. If there's anything you don't like, you can just say so, and Auntie Jennie can have someone make some more of your favorite dishes tomorrow."
“Thank you, Aunt Jennie, these dishes are all very good,” the little girl said, putting down her chopsticks to express her gratitude. “I was just worried about Daddy and Mommy.”
“Your daddy will be alright.” Sitting next to Grace, Zhuang Zhuohua comforted her.
Iris chimed in, "Your mom still has Aunty Pauline, right? Don't worry, we'll video chat with your mom after we finish eating, okay?"
"Um."
Lamy didn't get home from the hospital until 10:30. Exhausted, Iris and Zhuang Zhuoyuan quickly got up to help her, worried that she, heavily pregnant, might fall or bump into something. Seeing them still there so late, Lamy felt a little embarrassed: "Thank you for waiting for me all this time!"
“Don’t be so polite.” Iris helped her sit down and pointed to the room inside: “Grace has been waiting for you. She couldn’t stay awake any longer and we persuaded her to go to sleep. But she left you a note. You can read it in a bit.”
Zhuang Zhuoyuan pointed to the kitchen: "We've put some food in the refrigerator, including freshly made salads and sandwiches, in addition to fruits and vegetables. There's also a pot of soup in the kitchen thermos. If you get hungry later, you can take it and eat it. We've also replaced the bread and milk for tomorrow's breakfast. Grace said she can handle it."
"Thank you!" Lamy held Iris's hand tightly, also very grateful to Zhuang Zhuoyuan. She wiped away her tears and took out her wallet from her bag: "I really feel bad for troubling you these past few days. Let me give you the money first."
Iris quickly stopped her: "Sister-in-law, why are you like this? Don't think so much. Just take care of yourself now. You have to hold on. Mom needs your support! With you here, he definitely won't let her not get up. The doctor also said that whether she can wake up or not depends on the patient's will. Only you can do this. We can handle the other things we can help with."
"But……"
“There are no buts!” Iris took her hands back in hers. “If you really feel bad, then wait until Mom finishes her treatment, and once we’re neighbors, I can come over for a meal a few more times. Oh, honey, why don’t you go to the kitchen and heat up the food a bit? Let your wife and Grace have some more late-night snacks later. Wife, please eat a little more with Grace later; she was worried about you two tonight and didn’t eat much. She doesn’t want you to worry, so please don’t let her worry either, okay?”
Zhuang Zhuoyuan left as instructed, and when he turned back, Lamy's emotions had clearly calmed down considerably. On the way back, overcome with emotion, he spoke his heart out: "BB, it's so good to have you here."
"So, does that mean you can rest assured when I'm left alone at home in the future?" The car window was half open, and the night breeze ruffled her long hair. Iris leaned back in her seat, looking tired, but her eyes were still bright. "If you come home late in the future, I'll leave a note like Grace did, saying, 'BB, when you come back, be sure to wake me up. I want to feel your kisses.'"
When Zhuang Zhuoyuan heard half of the conversation, he had prepared a reply like "You can come and kiss me anytime," but Iris didn't play by the rules, so he had to change his evaluation on the spot: "Grace is giving, but you are asking for something."
Iris tilted her head back: "Then does that mean it won't work?"
There's no reason why it can't be done.
Night missions were actually relatively few, and Zhuang Zhuoyuan subconsciously felt that their conversations were just a fleeting moment of fun. He never expected that with a new team leader, their hard times would begin instantly. Before he even got home, his phone rang. Parking his car on the side of the road, Zhuang Zhuoyuan frowned deeply: "Headquarters urgently summoning you."
“Then I’ll take you there, and I’ll go home by myself.” Iris was glad she had passed her driving test. Seeing that Zhuang Zhuoyuan was still hesitating, she got out of the car first and went around to his side of the car: “Hurry up, I’m okay. It’s you who will definitely be punished by Inspector Liang if you are late. I heard from Ah Qiang that he is a devil instructor.”
According to the information Iris uncovered, Liang Rifeng was among the first Flying Tigers trained by the British Army. Now that Zhuang Zhuoyuan's team is performing so poorly, it's highly likely he'll unleash the same hellish training methods they used back then. Calling for reinforcements late at night—if they're lucky, Zhuang Zhuoyuan will return in the middle of the night; if not, they might not see each other again until tomorrow night.
Looking at Iris's suddenly compassionate eyes, Zhuang Zhuoyuan began to panic. His wife, however, showed no intention of easing his pressure. After he got up, she patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry about me, worry about yourself. I'll remember to leave you a note. Oh, we won't wait for you tonight, Tangyuan and I are going to sleep first. Night-night."
Zhuang Zhuoyuan suddenly felt a chill in his heart.
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