These words elicited varying reactions from the people in the ward.
Li Shuhe was the most enthusiastic, "Yes, it's fine to do it in a few months, we have to do it anyway!"
Xu Ruantang thought to herself, "In a few months, I won't need to do it anymore."
But she wouldn't say such things carelessly, so she just gave a perfunctory smile.
Tang Wan and Chen Zheng left quickly. Tang Wan was prone to drowsiness due to her pregnancy, so Xu Ruantang told them to go home and take some things with them.
After seeing them off, Li Shuyang went to the restroom, leaving only Li Shuhe, Xu Ruantang, and Xiaobao in the ward.
Xiao Bao usually takes a nap at noon, but he won't sleep now and is especially excited to get down and walk.
Li Shuhe simply turned on the radio, which was playing music.
Perhaps it's because the songs played in the book were ones that Xu Ruantang had never heard before, but they had a distinct Hong Kong style and a strong rhythm.
Xu Ruantang moved her neck and twisted it a few times.
Little Bao looked at her with his big, bright eyes and quickly learned it.
Li Shuhe sat on a low stool, holding Xiaobao's waist with one arm. At first, Xiaobao just shrank his neck and shook his head, but later he used Li Shuhe as a railing and started shaking himself.
His adorable appearance was so funny that it made the other two burst into laughter.
Chen Ji stood outside the ward. This was originally the scene he most wanted to see, but now his heart felt like it was weighed down by a thousand-pound stone, and he couldn't be happy at all.
"Third Brother."
Li Shuyang rarely saw such an expression on Chen Ji's face, one that showed reluctance, heartache, and a hint of struggling pain.
His intuition told him it was related to Xu Ruantang, so he asked, "Third Brother, what's wrong?"
Chen Ji, who was always good at keeping his emotions hidden, quickly composed himself upon seeing Li Shuyang and asked in a nonchalant tone, "Do you have a cigarette?"
Li Shuyang nodded, knowing in his heart that Chen Ji didn't want to talk about it, and he couldn't get the answer out of him. "Yes, to the rooftop?"
The two stood on the hospital rooftop, where many family members accompanying patients would come to have a smoke and relax.
Li Shuyang remembered that he had never seen Chen Ji smoke since he could remember.
At this moment, the handsome man held a cigarette between his fingers, his brows furrowed as he gazed into the distance.
"Is it related to Third Sister-in-law? Is there something wrong with her test results?" Li Shuyang couldn't help but think about things related to Xu Ruantang.
Chen Ji gave him a cool glance and said, "It has nothing to do with her, don't ask around."
Just as Li Shuyang breathed a sigh of relief, Chen Ji asked, "Are you very concerned about your third sister-in-law?"
He paused slightly, a smirk playing on his lips, avoiding Chen Ji's probing gaze. "Third Brother is joking."
The two returned to the ward, and Xiao Bao fell into a deep sleep after playing until he was exhausted.
Li Shuhe was chatting with Xu Ruantang. She had witnessed Wang Xiuxiu's madness firsthand and was still shocked.
"Ruan Ruan, what do you think Wang Xiuxiu was thinking? She clearly knew from the beginning that Lu Shishen didn't like her, yet she still foolishly tried to make someone who didn't love her fall in love with her. How stupid! If it were me, I wouldn't be so stupid!"
Xu Ruantang's eyes glazed over for a moment, a pang of sadness flashed through her heart, and she said softly, "That's because you haven't encountered what you truly want. When you really want something, people tend to automatically overlook the difficulties and feel from the bottom of their hearts that they can overcome them."
Even if we take a step back and say that such behavior is a kind of courage, she certainly couldn't do it.
Footsteps sounded behind them, and the two turned around together.
Xu Ruantang was surprised to see Chen Ji. "Why are you here?"
Chen Ji remained calm and said, "I'm here to process your discharge."
"Can I be discharged now?"
Xu Ruantang asked the doctor in the morning, and the doctor said it depended on the situation. At that time, she was puzzled because the splint was already on and staying in the hospital was not very useful.
"Mm." Chen Ji nodded slightly and began tidying up the things in the ward.
Li Shuhe and Li Shuyang exchanged a glance and consciously organized the large pile they had brought.
Back in the compound, Xu Ruantang realized that they had returned to the Chen family's residence.
Xu Ruantang turned to Chen Ji and asked, "Did you come to pick up your godmother on the way?"
She noticed that Chen Ji had been acting strangely these past two days, often seeming to want to say something but unable to bring himself to do so.
Chen Jimo paused for a moment, then turned to meet Xu Ruantang's gaze. He tightened his grip on his hand at his side and reached out to ruffle her hair.
"No, I'm going to take some further studies. I've already told Mom and Grandma," Chen Ji said gently.
Xu Ruantang blinked. "How long?"
"It could take at least half a month, or it could take a month."
Xu Ruantang nodded, "Okay, but I still want to go home."
With so many people and so many things to deal with, not to mention living under the same roof as Jia Shuling, she couldn't guarantee she would tolerate that person.
If you can't bear it, are you going to let Grandma Chen and Mom watch them fight every day?
“Godmother’s back is still injured, and your arm is also injured. There’s no one to take care of Xiaobao.”
Chen Ji addressed the matter at hand, and at the end, he tried to continue stroking Xu Ruantang's hair, but she dodged him by turning to the side.
"Okay, I'll stay, but don't you dare touch me." She then muttered under her breath, "A man without self-respect is like rotten cabbage!"
The muttering was quite loud.
The old lady and her godmother were doing needlework in the main room when they heard the noise and came out to greet them. Chen Ji left quickly.
Perhaps sensing Xu Ruantang's disappointment, the old lady smiled and asked, "What's wrong? Are you reluctant to part with your stepson?"
Xu Ruantang shook her head. "No, he went to work."
It's good that Chen Ji left; she didn't even know how to get along with him! She didn't care when no one cared, so what did it matter if he was hot and cold towards her?
Xu Ruantang stayed at the Chen family's house for three days. Because her hand was still in a sling, her family wouldn't let her do any work. She spent her days eating, sleeping, and playing with Xiaobao. She was so bored that she couldn't stand it anymore.
On the fourth day, I went out and visited Qiu Liang's shop to see how business was going.
Qiu Liang and Ma Lijuan were surprised to see her. Pointing to her arm, they asked, "How did your arm get injured like this? Is it serious?"
"It's not serious, just a bone fracture, it will heal quickly."
Xu Ruantang answered with a smile.
Ma Lijuan was in a wheelchair, and Qiu Liang was making things, so she came out to get some fresh air.
"A fracture must hurt a lot, right?" Ma Lijuan patted Xu Ruantang's shoulder. "Especially at night, is it so painful that you can't sleep?"
She smiled, but clearly because of Xu Ruantang's injury, she thought of something else, and her expression showed a hint of sadness.
It really hurts.
Recently, Xiaobao has been sleeping with her godmother. She has been living alone in Chen Ji's room. When she is in pain at night and can't sleep, she takes out a chess set and plays two roles herself.
As she played, she got bored and wandered around Chen Ji's room, touching all of his belongings one by one.
Later on, she couldn't even tell where the pain was coming from.
Xu Ruantang even felt that she was now like a concubine who had been banished to the cold palace, so bored that she had started counting how many floor tiles were in Chen Ji's room.
In this era without cell phones, once someone leaves, they are truly gone.
You can't text him, no phone calls come in, and there's no video to watch through a screen.
Xu Ruantang's thoughts wandered as she pondered the matter. The Chen family had a telephone, but Chen Ji hadn't made a single call. Was he avoiding her?
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