Chapter 71

Dai Jia rode a bike with Jiang Suihan, being cautious not to ride too fast. If Jiang Suihan fell, it would be a huge problem for her.

Jiang Suihan sat on the back of the bike, wanting to urge Dai Jia to go faster but feeling too polite to complain. Dai Jia had come all the way to inform her and was kindly taking her to the hospital.

When they arrived at the army hospital, Jiang Suihan carefully jumped off the bike before Dai Jia could park it, startling Dai Jia. “I told you to be careful. You’re carrying a baby, too.”

Jiang Suihan pressed her lips together and asked impatiently, “Where is Xu Zhao’s ward?”

Dai Jia shook her head. “I don’t know either. Ask the nurses, they should know.”

After asking three nurses, Jiang Suihan found out which ward Xu Zhao was in. She subconsciously quickened her pace, with Dai Jia following behind carrying her things.

The ward door was only slightly ajar, not locked. Jiang Suihan knocked twice and heard a slightly hoarse voice from inside. “Come in.”

Jiang Suihan pushed the door open and walked in.

Xu Zhao looked up and saw that it was Jiang Suihan. His face subtly changed. “What are you doing here?”

As he spoke, he cursed inwardly, wondering who had leaked the news. Hadn’t he specifically instructed them not to let Jiang Suihan know? He should never have trusted them.

After Jiang Suihan entered, she carefully examined Xu Zhao. He was wearing a hospital gown, and while his hands and feet were visible, his face bore two faint scars. His condition seemed alright. His lips were pale and slightly chapped, but the other injuries weren’t visible due to his clothing.

Seeing that the person was right in front of her, her heart, which had been hanging in the air, almost fell to the ground. Fortunately, nothing happened. On her way here, many thoughts flashed through her mind, both good and bad. She was afraid that things would develop in the worst direction.

Now that Jiang Suihan had calmed down, she focused on Xu Zhao. With her arms crossed, she stood by his bed, giving him a cold glance and speaking with indifference, “I came to see if you were missing an arm or a leg.”

Seeing that she was angry, Xu Zhao felt guilty and wanted to lower his head to appease her, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Dai Jia standing nearby, keenly watching the show. He could be shameless in front of his wife, but he still had to save face when there were outsiders around.

“I’m fine, just a little injured. My teammates were too nervous and inexperienced, so they rushed me to the hospital as soon as they saw I was injured. The doctor said it’s nothing serious and I’ll be discharged tomorrow, so don’t worry.”

Jiang Suihan sneered, clearly not believing his excuses. If it were just a minor injury, there would be no need for hospitalization. Was he really under the illusion that she had lost her judgment because of her pregnancy?

“I’ll give you a chance. Do you want to tell me yourself, or should I ask the doctor later?”

Xu Zhao shifted uncomfortably, inadvertently pulling at his injury. He winced in pain and noticed Jiang Suihan’s concerned yet slightly vindictive expression. It made him feel even more distressed.

Knowing that pretending to be fine would not work, Xu Zhao thought about admitting his fault, hoping that his honest attitude would make her less angry.

Seeing Dai Jia still lingering in the room with a curious expression, Xu Zhao turned and said, “Comrade Dai, please step outside. We need to talk.”

Dai Jia, caught off guard by Xu Zhao’s indifferent gaze, felt a bit guilty and quickly said, “Well, I’m leaving now. I won’t bother you anymore. You two talk.”

After she went out and closed the door, she immediately showed a look of pity on her face and whispered, “Xu Zhao turns out to be a henpecked husband!”

Back in the hospital room, Xu Zhao gestured to a stool beside him. “Sit down. Let’s talk this out.”

Jiang Suihan pulled the stool over and sat down, her eyelids lowered, lips pressed tightly together, and her face expressionless. She chose to remain silent.

It was clear to Xu Zhao that the situation had become difficult after she found out.

Xu Zhao, feeling weak, reached out to grab Jiang Suihan’s hand, but she pulled away. He pretended to hurt himself, wincing and covering his chest as if in pain.

Jiang Suihan, anxious and worried, looked at him with concern. She wanted to help but wasn’t sure where to start, afraid of making things worse by touching his injuries. She took a deep breath and said, “I’ll go find the doctor.”

Xu Zhao propped himself up, grabbing her hand and pulling her back. Jiang Suihan, caught off guard, fell backward onto him, accidentally bumping his abdomen with her elbow.

He let out a pained cry, which sounded genuine and made Jiang Suihan immediately stand up. “What happened?”

Xu Zhao felt like cursing himself. He had brought this upon himself. He had tried to fake pain earlier, but now the pain was real. Her elbow had hit the injury directly, and it might have reopened.

Xu Zhao feigned calmness. “It’s nothing, I accidentally bit my tongue.”

Jiang Suihan stared at him intently, she was not stupid, otherwise she would not have been able to study all the way to university. She was just too nervous and worried just now, and did not notice the changes in his expression. She thought about it quickly in her mind and guessed that he was lying at the beginning, and the cry of pain just now was real.

She glanced at his chest and then down to his abdomen, sarcastically saying, “You were covering your chest earlier. How did the pain move to your abdomen? Can injuries shift around? I’ve never seen anything like this.”

The sarcasm was obvious.

Xu Zhao awkwardly touched his nose, mentally cursing himself for missing such an obvious flaw. Jiang Suihan had caught him red-handed.

He continued to clutch his abdomen with a pained expression. “It seems like the wound has reopened. Can you please find a doctor?”

Hearing that the wound was bleeding again, Jiang Suihan set aside her irritation and turned to find the doctor.

When the doctor arrived, Xu Zhao asked Jiang Suihan to step outside.

Jiang Suihan refused. “I’m not leaving. I’m staying here to watch.”

With a stubborn expression that indicated she wouldn’t be swayed, Xu Zhao regretted calling the doctor, as it only drew more attention to his deception. What was meant to divert her had instead backfired.

The doctor lifted Xu Zhao’s shirt, revealing the wound on his abdomen. The previously bandaged injury had blood seeping through. The doctor cut open the bandages, exposing the wound fully.

Xu Zhao kept an eye on Jiang Suihan, noticing her furrowed brows and the discomfort in her gaze. The sight of his injury, with its painful reality, made it hard for anyone to remain unmoved.

“Please step outside. Come back when the doctor has finished.”

Jiang Suihan turned her head, sighed silently, and stubbornly replied, “I’m not leaving.”

The doctor quickly finished treating the wound, packed up his things, and reminded, “Be careful next time, don’t tear the wound again. Wounds don’t heal well in winter. If the wound keeps coming back, you’ll be the one suffering.”

As he reached the door, the doctor turned to look at Jiang Suihan and said half-jokingly, “The young lady is good. It’s right that someone should keep an eye on him.”

Xu Zhao waved his hand: “Doctor Liang, take care. I won’t see you off.”

Jiang Suihan sat back down on the stool and asked, “Do you know the doctor?”

Xu Zhao explained, “His older brother is my older sister’s husband, so we’re kind of relatives.”

He reached out and touched Jiang Suihan’s stomach, gently asking, “Were you frightened?”

It wasn’t clear if he was asking about the baby or the baby’s mother.

Jiang Suihan’s face turned a bit pale as she asked him, “How did you get this wound?”

Xu Zhao downplayed it, “I accidentally got shot. The bullet’s already been removed. The doctor said I should stay in the hospital overnight after the surgery, but it’s really nothing serious. The wound looks worse than it is. It didn’t hit anything vital. I’ll be fine in a few days.”

Seeing him pretending to be relaxed about such a serious injury, as if it were just a mosquito bite, made Jiang Suihan feel a pang of sadness. So many mixed emotions churned inside her, and she couldn’t quite pinpoint what she was feeling.

She fought back tears and lost the urge to argue with him. “Are you hungry?”

At the sound of his stomach growling, they both glanced at Xu Zhao’s stomach. Xu Zhao felt a bit embarrassed. “I’m hungry.”

He had only had a bowl of plain porridge in the morning and nothing else, and skipping lunch meant he was starving by now.

Jiang Suihan glared at him. “Why didn’t you say you were hungry? Do you think you’re made of steel and don’t need to eat?”

Since the cafeteria wasn’t open at this hour and going home to cook would waste time, she found an enamel cup, retrieved the half-can of milk powder and some biscuits she had left.

“I’ll make you some milk and soak the biscuits in it. Is that okay?”

Xu Zhao, feeling so hungry he could eat a whole cow, said, “Save the milk powder for you. Just give me some biscuits soaked in hot water.”

Milk tickets were hard to come by, and even if one had them, they weren’t always available at the department store. Jiang Suihan had been having a cup of milk every day for the past two months, and once it was finished, they would have to find a new milk ticket.

Xu Zhao had considered buying fresh milk from a nearby brigade, but that wasn’t feasible. The nearby brigade did not have cows that had just given birth, so there was no milk. Instead, someone raised sheep, and that sheep had only given birth to a lamb less than a month ago. However, Jiang Suihan was not used to drinking goat’s milk and would vomit as soon as she drank it. Thus, she had to make do with milk powder.

Jiang Suihan said impatiently, “If I ask you to drink it, just drink it. Why are you making so many excuses? Will you drink it or not?”

Xu Zhao was scared: “Drink.”

If he didn’t, she’d be upset, so he might as well agree.

“You wait here while I go get some hot water,” Jiang Suihan said, taking the enamel cup and walking a few steps before turning back with concern. “Don’t move around. Be good and wait for me.”

As she opened the door, she was greeted by three men, one of whom she recognized.

Zhang Xiangqian smiled and said, “Sister-in-law, we heard Xu Zhao was injured and hospitalized, so we came to see him.”

He was carrying a bag, which seemed to contain apples.

Jiang Suihan nodded at the three of them. “He’s inside. You can go in and talk to him. I’m going to get hot water.”

Once inside the ward, Zhang Xiangqian approached Xu Zhao with a grin, making exaggerated faces and pinching his voice, “Be good and wait for me to come back, okay?”

The drawn-out “okay” made one’s skin crawl.

The two men who followed in burst into laughter, shaking with amusement.

Xu Zhao scowled at Zhang Xiangqian’s antics. “Have you finished laughing?”

Zhang Xiangqian continued to laugh uncontrollably. “Not yet. Let me laugh a bit more.”

Xu Zhao thought, If I weren’t injured, I’d make you laugh on your way in and cry on your way out.

One of the men, trying to suppress his laughter, said seriously, “We didn’t eavesdrop on purpose. It was just that we were about to knock on the door and overheard your conversation.”

He then pointed at Zhang Xiangqian. “He was walking in the front without giving us any hint.”

Another man nodded gravely. “That’s right.”

Zhang Xiangqian, who was laughing happily, was dumbfounded.

Your two good buddies are passing the blame onto you. Please accept it.

Zhang Xiangqian glared at the others and, with exaggerated sorrow, said, “We promised to be good brothers for life, and in no time at all, you’ve succumbed to Xu Zhao’s oppression. How can I bear this?”

One man patted Zhang Xiangqian on the shoulder. “Brother, the joke’s over.”

Zhang Xiangqian quickly regained his composure, approached Xu Zhao’s bed, and examined him closely. “No missing limbs, no broken bones. What did the doctor say?”

Xu Zhao’s voice was a bit hoarse. “It’s nothing serious. I was injured in the abdomen, had surgery last night. The doctor said I need to rest for a month, but there are no lasting effects.”

Zhang Xiangqian sighed with relief. “As long as it’s not serious. The New Year is coming soon, so it’s a good time to rest. Once you’re healed, you’ll be as good as new.”

Xu Zhao scrutinized Zhang Xiangqian. “Did you tell your wife about my injury?”

Zhang Xiangqian pretended not to hear, wandering around the room. “I’ll peel an apple for you. Where’s the knife? I don’t see a knife. This hospital isn’t up to par. I’m going to report this to the hospital administration.”

While pretending to search for a fruit knife, he discreetly moved towards the door and quickly ran off.

Jiang Suihan almost collided with Zhang Xiangqian, but fortunately, he reacted quickly and avoided a splash of hot water.

The other two were still there. After saying goodbye to Jiang Suihan, they left as well.

Jiang Suihan placed the hot water on a small table nearby, opened the can of milk powder, and added three large scoops into the cup. She stirred it with a metal spoon and then added four pieces of cookies into the hot milk.

Xu Zhao took the cup with a slightly eager gesture.

Jiang Suihan said, “Drink slowly, it’s a bit hot.”

The milk and cookies were quickly consumed, and Xu Zhao felt he hadn’t eaten enough, just barely satisfying his hunger.

Jiang Suihan set the empty cup aside and asked, “Do you want more?”

Xu Zhao, not wanting to inconvenience himself, nodded, “I’m not full.”

Jiang Suihan laughed, “It’s normal not to be full. You’re a big guy, and you only ate this much. Of course, you’re still hungry. I’ll make another cup.”

After drinking two cups of milk and seven cookies, Xu Zhao still felt somewhat unsatisfied but wasn’t hungry anymore.

Jiang Suihan noticed the apples on the small table. They looked red and delicious.

“Do you want an apple?”

Xu Zhao shook his head. Given his current condition, he could only handle liquid food. “You eat it.”

“Okay.” Jiang Suihan picked an apple, washed it with cold water outside, and came back inside. The cold water made her hands turn red.

Xu Zhao took one of her hands and warmed it under the blanket, then switched to the other hand once the first one warmed up.

Jiang Suihan ate the apple by biting into it, peeling it with her teeth instead of using a knife. Though the apple ended up looking oddly shaped, she managed to peel it entirely. Amazingly, the apple skin stayed in one piece, dangling in layers.

Xu Zhao was both shocked and impressed!