Chapter 47 accuses the deepest longing within: to be seen...
After Chu Yanxi poured out the pain that had been buried deep in her heart for many years, although her eyelashes were still wet, it was as if the huge stone that had been pressing on her heart for so long had been moved open, allowing warm sunlight and fresh air to seep in.
The two walked in silence for a while, then Lu Zhe suddenly stopped, turned to look at Chu Yanxi, and his eyes lit up with a surprising brightness, as if he had thought of something: "Yanxi, since we were able to come here and change Lin Rong and Xiao Bin's fate... why can't we change your father's? You've only been notifying and warning us before, but you haven't taken any corresponding actions, have you?"
Chu Yanxi was startled and looked up at him.
Lu Zhe's thoughts gradually became clearer and smoother, and he became more and more excited as he spoke: "Look, the key turning point in your father's fate was that drug dealer and Wang Caifeng, wasn't it? If we could find the evidence before your father came into contact with Wang Caifeng, or even before the arrest on the winter solstice, and arrest that drug dealer directly and send him to the police station, your father wouldn't have had to carry out that dangerous mission, wouldn't have had to see Wang Caifeng, and naturally wouldn't have..."
Then they wouldn't have died.
Lu Zhe didn't say the last few words, but Chu Yanxi completely understood what he meant.
Chu Yanxi felt as if the fog before her eyes had suddenly been lifted, and she became excited. Yes, time and time again, she had tried to change her father's fate of sacrifice, but because the timing was wrong, all her warnings, hints, and reminders had left no ripple in those worlds.
But it's 2005 now. This winter solstice, my father will be assassinated by Wang Caifeng during the operation to arrest drug dealers. If we could catch the drug dealers and control Wang Caifeng in advance, my father wouldn't have to sacrifice himself!
An unprecedented flame of hope ignited in Chu Yanxi's heart and quickly spread to every part of his body.
"Yes! You're right!" Chu Yanxi's voice trembled slightly with excitement. "We can give it a try! That drug dealer... I learned about him later when I was going through the files. His nickname was 'Knife,' and his real name was Zhao Tianhu? He mainly operated in the old cotton mill residential area in the west of the city!"
The glimmer of hope dispelled her fatigue, and Chu Yanxi was instantly filled with energy. Without even returning to the community work station, she immediately contacted a friend who worked at the police station, asking him to quickly locate a woman named Wang Caifeng, around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, who might be connected to a man nicknamed "Scarface."
Finding Wang Caifeng will lead to Zhao Tianhu.
While anxiously awaiting news from the police station's investigation, work and life in the real world continue.
As the controversy surrounding Lin Rong's unauthorized "taking away" of Jinbao gradually subsided, the provincial newspaper's follow-up report on Xiaobin, "Love Converges, Leukemia Child Welcomes the Dawn of New Life," was published in a timely manner. The report focused on how, with the help of all sectors of society, single mother Lin Rong regained her confidence and the story of Xiaobin, a child suffering from leukemia, bravely fought against his illness, which attracted wider social attention.
Donations were being sent to the designated account, and although there was still a gap between the amount needed for the transplant and the cost, the hope was growing.
Just then, some great news arrived: the China Marrow Donor Program had responded! A female college student from a prestigious university in another city, named Su Qing, had an HLA typing that was a half match for Xiao Bin. Although a fully matched unrelated donor is the first choice, a half-matched transplant is a viable option when a fully matched donor cannot be found, especially when the donor is young, healthy, and highly cooperative, the success rate is quite considerable.
Su Qing is a sunny and kind-hearted girl. Upon hearing the news, she didn't hesitate at all and quickly went to the hospital where Xiao Bin was, accompanied by Red Cross staff, for a comprehensive pre-donation medical examination. The examination included a full range of blood tests, an electrocardiogram, and a chest X-ray to ensure that she was in perfect health and could withstand the subsequent hematopoietic stem cell mobilization and collection process.
After passing the physical examination, Su Qing began receiving subcutaneous injections of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCS) for several consecutive days. This drug promotes the proliferation of hematopoietic stem cells in her bone marrow and their release into the peripheral blood. This process may cause some discomfort such as bone pain and low-grade fever, similar to a cold, but Su Qing endured it all with optimism.
A few days later, in the apheresis room of the hematology department, peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cells were collected using a blood cell separator. Su Qing's blood was drawn from one arm, and after the machine separated the necessary hematopoietic stem cells, the remaining blood components were returned to her body from the other arm. The entire process, similar to blood donation, required no anesthesia and lasted about four or five hours. Su Qing remained calm throughout, even smiling as she told Chu Yanxi and Lin Rong, who came to see her, "Thinking about being able to save a child, this discomfort is nothing."
The collected life-giving seed—hematopoietic stem cell suspension—was quickly sent to the transplant ward. After filtration and other treatments, it was slowly infused into Xiao Bin's body, just like a blood transfusion.
The transplantation process went smoothly. The next crucial steps are dealing with rejection and waiting for the transplant to take hold.
Everyone held their breath in anticipation, especially Lin Rong, who was so nervous that she couldn't sleep at night and stayed by Xiao Bin's side, not daring to leave him for a moment.
Perhaps it was because Su Qing's stem cells were highly viable, or perhaps it was because Xiao Bin had an exceptionally strong will to live, but after the transplant, his blood count began to steadily recover, and he did not experience any severe rejection reaction.
A few days later, Dr. Liu, who came to check on Lin Rong, had a relieved smile on her face and told her, "The transplant was very successful. The next step is careful care and regular check-ups. The child has a very high chance of recovery!"
Lin Rong burst into tears of joy, holding Chu Yanxi and Lu Zhe's hands and expressing her deepest gratitude. Seeing Xiao Bin gradually regain his color and become more energetic, everyone felt that all the hard work and effort had been worthwhile.
Meanwhile, a completely different scene was unfolding in the special care ward where Jinbao was staying in the hematology department of the hospital.
Jinna's long-term malnutrition led to substandard hemoglobin and white blood cell counts, resulting in poor health and disqualification from donation. Coupled with Zhou Yumei's strong opposition, Jinbao's fully compatible transplant plan was completely ruined.
Wang Fugui was frantic, like an ant on a hot pan, contacting donors everywhere, but how easy was that? Seeing that his son's condition was at risk of getting out of control, this usually arrogant man completely broke down after being told by the doctor again that time was running out.
In the corridor outside the hematologist's office, under the watchful eyes of everyone, Wang Fugui suddenly knelt down in front of his ex-wife Zhou Yumei, completely ignoring the shocked and indignant gaze of Li Chunjuan beside him. He hugged Zhou Yumei's legs, weeping and pleading, "Yumei! Yumei, I was wrong! I'm not human! I've wronged you and Nana before! For the sake of our marriage, and for the sake of Nana and Jinbao being siblings, please save Jinbao! I beg you! I'm kowtowing to you!"
As he spoke, he actually began to kowtow repeatedly. At that moment, he was not the high-spirited boss, but a father humbly begging for his son's life.
The surrounding patients' families and passing medical staff all turned to look, their discussions filled with sympathy for Zhou Yumei and condemnation of Wang Fugui.
Looking at her ex-husband kneeling at her feet, utterly disheveled, Zhou Yumei felt a surge of pent-up resentment, anger, and bitterness from over a decade ago erupt like a volcano. She didn't help him up; instead, she straightened her back, bent low by years of hardship. Tears streamed down her face, but her voice remained unusually clear and resonant, each word dripping with blood and tears:
“Wang Fugui, you know you were wrong now? Where were you before? I worked like a slave in your Wang family for over ten years, taking care of your paralyzed parents until their deaths, and helping you raise your younger siblings. You were out doing business, only coming home a few times a year. I meticulously managed every penny in the house. When Nana had a fever as a child, I carried her for miles at night to the town's clinic. Where were you then?!”
"You made money and got bewitched by that vixen, forcing me to divorce you! You even refuse to pay child support for Nana! When you were living the high life, wearing gold and silver, did you ever think about how we, mother and daughter, couldn't even afford meat in the countryside? Nana is malnourished now, who is to blame for this?!"
"Now you need bone marrow, and you remember Nana is your daughter. One million? You think you can buy my daughter's health for one million? Let me tell you, Wang Fugui, I don't care! I'd rather take Nana to beg for food than let her suffer for your precious son! Donate bone marrow? Don't even think about it!"
Her accusations, like knives, peeled away Wang Fugui's hypocritical facade, and laid bare the sacrifices and devotion of a traditional woman in marriage, as well as the pain of betrayal, to the public.
The onlookers were deeply moved; some even secretly wiped away tears and muttered curses at Wang Fugui and Li Chunjuan.
"Retribution! This is all retribution!"
"What a heartless man! Such a wealthy boss, yet he wouldn't even pay child support for his daughter during the divorce. It's outrageous."
"Sigh, this woman has had a tough time too. She sacrificed her youth and sweat for her family, and finally her husband had money, only to be heartlessly divorced. So pitiful!"
"That mistress who took over, I always saw her wearing gold and silver and looking so smug at the hospital, I never expected her to be so shameless!"
Amidst the crowd's condemnation, Wang Baogui and Li Chunjuan's faces grew increasingly grim, wishing they could disappear into a hole in the ground.
After Zhou Yumei finished cursing and crying, she looked at Wang Fugui, who was slumped on the ground and ashen-faced, and let out a long sigh of relief, as if she had expelled all the pent-up anger from the past few years.
At that moment, a strange radiance appeared on her haggard face—the light of restored dignity and self-awakening. She was no longer a pitiful creature abandoned and ignored, but a mother who dared to fight back and protect her daughter.
Chu Yanxi stood on the periphery of the crowd, quietly watching this scene.
Zhou Yumei's outburst reminded her of Zhang Ya, whose negotiations had failed. Zhang Ya had taken her husband's mistress hostage, insisting on seeing him—was it truly just for revenge?
Perhaps, like Zhou Yumei, what she longs for deep down is to be seen.
She wanted the man who had betrayed her to see her pain and sacrifices, and she wanted the world to see the injustice and grievances she had suffered.
What she needs is not just an apology from Wang Peng, but a public moral trial. She needs public condemnation to fall on the one who started the relationship and then abandoned her, and she needs her grievances and anger to be acknowledged and understood.
"To be seen..." Chu Yanxi murmured to herself.
Just then, her phone rang. It was a friend from the police station calling: "We've found Wang Caifeng's whereabouts. She's in the Third Village of the Old Cotton Mill in the west of the city. The exact address is..."
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