He really is so young.
A trace of joy appeared on the doctor’s face.
It had nothing to do with whether the patient was rich or powerful. Snatching a young life back from the grim reaper would make any doctor happy.
The more severe the injury or illness, the more effort the doctor poured in, and naturally the more they cared.
Because of Xie Yuping’s instructions, the doctor knew that the young patient lying in the bed still had an “unfulfilled appointment”. It was a romantic promise between young lovers, and also a motivation to strengthen the patient’s will to survive.
Hearing Xie Qian’s murmurs, the doctor encouraged him skilfully: “You have to get better soon, don’t keep that girl waiting too long. I heard she’s been terribly upset and has cried for ages.”
Xie Qian’s eyelids trembled even more violently. Seeing his lips still moving, the doctor leaned down again to listen.
Hmm?
This time he was no longer murmuring about “studying abroad” or “settling down”, but something else.
“Dean… DNA?”
Anyone else might not have realised Xie Qian was saying “DNA”, but the doctor was professionally sensitive.
“DNA… Zhuo Yue… Zhang Zhijun…”
Xie Qian repeated it many times.
He himself was not yet conscious, yet the monitors showed clear changes.
The doctor grew anxious. What did these scattered words mean? He had no idea!
“Take your time.”
“Xie Qian, you can hear me, can’t you?”
“What are you trying to say?”
Half-asleep and half-awake, Xie Qian could not help wanting to frown.
How could there be someone so slow? He had already made it perfectly clear: the DNA test results were out. Zhuo Yue was Zhang Zhijun’s daughter!
Zhuo Yue was Zhang Zhijun’s daughter. Aunt Tai’s warning had been right. There was definitely something wrong with Zhang Zhijun!
Xie Qian wanted to warn his uncle Xie Yuping to be on guard against Zhang Zhijun.
He felt he had expressed it extremely clearly, yet a voice kept chattering in his ear, asking what he meant, telling him to speak slowly, to say it again.
Over and over.
So stupid.
More exhausting than explaining problems to academic failures like Peng Guoqing or Wang Shuang.
If it were Hamster, she would have understood the first time.
Human thought is divergent. At the mention of Hamster, Xie Qian found an anchor in the haze… there seemed there was still one very important thing he had not finished.
With great effort, Xie Qian opened his eyelids that felt as heavy as a thousand jin.
A pair of hands was prying his eyelids apart, making him particularly uncomfortable.
A beam of light shone directly into his eyes, stinging them until they watered.
“You’re awake. Can you hear me?”
A white figure swayed before Xie Qian. Slowly his vision focused. His sealed senses returned. He heard the beep-beep of machines. The surroundings were utterly unfamiliar. Only after a long while did Xie Qian gradually realise: he was in hospital.
Xie Qian had woken up!
Jiang Youjia had only just dealt with Peng Guoqing’s demand to share the workload when he received the call from the hospital.
He dropped everything and rushed over.
When he arrived, he could only look at Xie Qian through the glass wall of the ICU. Even though he had not exchanged a single word with him, Jiang Youjia was already too excited to know what to say.
“He’s awake… Auntie, he’s awake…”
Jiang Youjia kept repeating the same words. Zou Weijun’s eyes were red, but there were no tears on her face. She had already released her emotions thoroughly before Jiang Youjia arrived.
“Yes, he’s awake. The doctor says his condition will improve day by day. He’ll gradually get better.”
Zou Weijun comforted Jiang Youjia, and comforted herself at the same time.
Jiang Youjia felt like bursting into tears himself.
Because Xie Yuping had sealed the news, Jiang Youjia could not even tell his own wife Lin Lin about Xie Qian’s car accident.
Taking advantage of the school summer holidays, Lin Lin had come to Shanghai to be with him. Having to put on an act in front of the person closest to him was truly exhausting!
If Xie Qian had not woken up soon, Jiang Youjia felt he would not have been able to keep pretending much longer.
Thank goodness Xie Qian had finally regained consciousness.
Jiang Youjia wiped his face with his sleeve. “Auntie, you haven’t rested properly for days. Go home and sleep well for a day. I’ll stay here at the hospital in your place.”
Zou Weijun was reluctant to leave.
Jiang Youjia reasoned with emotion and logic: Xie Qian waking up was only the first step. Treatment and recovery were the next. Zou Weijun still had a long road of worrying ahead. If her health collapsed, who would keep Xie Qian company?
Finally Zou Weijun was persuaded.
She still would not go far. These past days she had been staying at the nearest hotel to the hospital. The conditions were very basic, but Zou Weijun did not care. As long as she could wash, it was enough. She had hardly lain on the bed at all!
Now that Xie Qian was awake, with Jiang Youjia watching over him at the hospital and news immediately sent to Zhong Yong, Zou Weijun finally dared to sleep.
Beijing.
Xie Yuping had only just finished a meeting when Zhong Yong came in beaming and said, “Xie Qian is awake.” Xie Yuping was stunned for a moment.
“…Really awake?”
“He’s awake. He still can’t speak comfortably yet, and the doctors aren’t allowing family into the room, but he is definitely conscious. The doctors all say Young Master Xie is remarkably strong.”
Of course he was strong.
Surviving such a severe accident was nothing short of a miracle.
No expense spared on medical treatment, combined with Xie Qian’s own tenacious will to live. Both factors were indispensable!
Xie Yuping was so happy he did not know what to say. At that moment, Xie Yuping was lost for words!
Zhong Yong caught a suspicious glint of moisture in the corner of Xie Yuping’s eye and hastily looked away.
Only after composing himself did Xie Yuping ask whether Zhong Yong had informed the old lady. Zhong Yong nodded. “You were in a meeting and couldn’t be disturbed, so I went to the hospital first. The old lady is having a good day today.”
The moment she heard Xie Qian had woken up, the bedridden old lady found the strength to keep living.
Because of her illness, her ability to speak had also been affected. She clutched Zhong Yong’s hand and wept, her words coming out in fragments. All she could repeat was “treat him well”, and that she had money. She was afraid Xie Qian would not receive treatment because of money. In truth, whether Xie Qian lived or died had never been a question of money, but lying in her sickbed there was nothing else the old lady could do except pay for his care.
It had only been a few days, yet the old lady’s wrist looked skeletal when she grasped Zhong Yong’s hand.
Even thinking about it made Zhong Yong’s heart ache.
In front of Xie Yuping, Zhong Yong reported only the good news. No matter what, Xie Qian had woken up.
Moreover, Zhong Yong had something else to tell Xie Yuping, one thing Xie Qian had repeatedly stressed after regaining consciousness.
“Before the accident, Young Master Xie did another DNA test. He obtained DNA samples from the siblings Zhuo Chen and Zhuo Yue and compared them with Zhang Zhijun’s. There is no parent-child relationship between Zhuo Chen and Zhang Zhijun, but there is between Zhuo Yue and Zhang Zhijun.”
Xie Yuping gave a cold laugh. “I knew Xie Qian would do another test. So Zhuo Yue really is Zhang Zhijun’s daughter after all.”
Even though he had already received a warning from Wen Ying, Xie Yuping could only arrange for Zhuo Chen and Zhuo Yue to do paternity tests with Xie Jinghu, because that was a Xie family matter.
Insisting on bringing Zhang Zhijun in for a DNA test would have escalated the situation entirely.
But whether the test was done or not, Xie Yuping was willing to trust the direction Xie Qian had been investigating before the accident… Now that it was confirmed Zhuo Yue and Zhang Zhijun did have a parent-child relationship, Xie Yuping was not surprised in the least.
“How is the investigation into the cause of the accident going?”
Zhong Yong lowered his voice. “The hit-and-run driver still hasn’t regained consciousness. The doctors say there’s a high probability he’ll remain in a vegetative state. I’ve had people check his accounts and those of his family. There are no large transfers recently.”
No transfers?
The absence of transfer records did not mean there was no problem.
Xie Yuping knew many people still preferred cash.
One million might sound like a lot, but in hundred-yuan notes it would fit easily into a single suitcase.
The timing of Xie Qian’s accident was simply too convenient. Xie Yuping found it very hard to believe it was just bad luck.
“…Change direction. Investigate something else.”
What direction?
Zhong Yong thought for a moment. “I understand.”
If nothing could be found from the driver, perhaps they could look into Sara Zhuo’s accounts?
Xie Yuping’s phone rang. It was his wife Hou Zhixiu asking what time he would be home.
These past days Hou Zhixiu had also been constantly going to the hospital.
Looking after her hospitalised mother-in-law while receiving endless visitors had left her exhausted.
Especially in the last couple of days, right after Xie Jinghu and Zou Weijun received their divorce certificate, numerous people had come to Hou Zhixiu fishing for information. She was mentally and physically drained.
Xie Yuping felt for his wife and unconsciously softened his voice. “One more meeting. If it goes quickly I’ll be done by eight, if slowly around nine. I’ll try to finish early and be home before ten, all right?”
Hou Zhixiu was long accustomed to her husband’s late returns, so “all right” or not hardly mattered.
But this time was different. Xie Yuping had given a time and Hou Zhixiu still had not hung up, which meant something was happening at home.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Zhijun. He says he needs to see you. Anyone else I could have sent away, but Zhijun has never asked us for anything all these years. I told him to wait at home?”
Hou Zhixiu said Zhang Zhijun clearly had something difficult to say, and he had come with his wife Lu Meishu.
The couple seemed to have argued. Lu Meishu was treating Zhang Zhijun very coldly.
Hou Zhixiu had no wish to get involved in another couple’s affairs, but Zhang Zhijun had always been good to the Xie family. Now that he was in trouble, whether the Xie family could help or not, they at least had to show concern!
Alarm bells rang in Xie Yuping’s head.
Xie Qian had only just woken up in Shanghai, and already Zhang Zhijun was proactively visiting the Xie home. What was Zhang Zhijun planning?
“All right. Keep Zhijun and his wife for dinner. I’ll come straight home after the meeting.”
Zhong Yong was about to speak, but Xie Yuping waved him off. “I also want to see what Zhang Zhijun is up to.”
With something on his mind, Xie Yuping quickly finished the remaining work and arrived home at half past eight.
Hou Zhixiu had asked the housekeeper to prepare a few simple dishes, but neither Zhang Zhijun nor his wife had much appetite. Even when speaking to Hou Zhixiu they seemed distracted.
Hou Zhixiu had hosted many guests and had never encountered such an awkward atmosphere.
The moment Xie Yuping stepped through the door, Hou Zhixiu took his briefcase and whispered, “I think Zhijun is in serious trouble.”
The last time she had seen someone look this uncomfortable in their home was Xie Jinghu.
Several years ago, when Xie Jinghu’s affair had been exposed. Xie Yuping had summoned him home to explain himself, and Xie Jinghu’s expression had been as if someone had dug up the Xie family graves.
Hou Zhixiu had only been making a casual comparison, but she never expected that the moment Zhang Zhijun saw Xie Yuping, he would drop to his knees with a thud.
“Big Brother Xie, I have done something wrong. I heard Jinghu and Weijun have divorced… I had to come and confess my mistake to you all!”
