Shi Ran had originally been in the county town, but later Yuan Wei brought her to a new house on the outskirts of the city.
The houses here were affordable resettlement housing, purchased at a low price. They had been undergoing renovation, but construction was halted due to Yuan Wei’s mother’s illness.
Yuan Wei knew Shi Ran was pregnant with triplets and was worried about her condition, which was why he moved to the outskirts of the city to be closer to the hospital.
“How did you know I was here?”
Shi Ran asked again, her voice growing increasingly choked. Tears involuntarily overflowed from the corners of her eyes.
Heaven knew how heartbroken she had felt earlier when the nurse asked, “Where is your husband?”
To her, her existence felt more like an intruder, lacking legitimacy. She couldn’t even give her children the proper status they deserved.
“You and the children are so important to me, how could I not know where you are?”
While he said this, Tang Si felt an ever-growing sense of guilt.
Especially seeing Shi Ran lying alone in the hospital room now, that guilt amplified infinitely, engulfing Tang Si, impossible to shake off.
“Where is she?” Shi Ran looked at him and asked.
The ‘she’ naturally referred to Zhao Wuyan.
Tang Si’s brows furrowed imperceptibly. “The doctor said your emotions have been unstable lately. Is it because of me, or because of Little Chili?”
He avoided answering Shi Ran’s question.
Or rather, Tang Si didn’t want to mention Zhao Wuyan at all.
“It’s definitely not because of you.” Shi Ran turned her face away, looking in another direction. She sensed Tang Si was avoiding the topic of Zhao Wuyan, and felt an inexplicable sense of disappointment, no longer wanting to speak to him.
“I’m a bit sleepy,” she said.
Tang Si: “……” A dull ache suddenly struck his chest, as if struck heavily by a sharp object. The pain made him numb, and even his pores seemed to cry out in agony.
His expression darkened, a trace of melancholy clouding his brow. “Mm, if you’re sleepy, then get some rest. I’ll stay with you.”
Shi Ran didn’t respond and slowly closed her eyes.
Initially, Tang Si’s presence prevented her from sleeping. Her closed eyes fluttered, and her eyelashes twitched slightly. However, pregnant women are naturally prone to sleep and fatigue.
Before long, she drifted off.
In her dream, she seemed to be back in Tang Si’s embrace, his scent filling her senses.
They were back in the days of the Hidden Clan, together without any reservations, happy, joyful, and blissful. Then, the scene shifted to Old Chen Tou slashing her face with a knife, followed by Madam Tang’s humiliating words…
“A Si… *sob*…”
In her dream, she murmured Tang Si’s name and then cried out in distress.
Tang Si held her, watching her frown even in her sleep, tears tracing paths down her sorrowful eyes. His heart felt as if it were being pierced by a knife, the pain stealing his breath.
In this life, he had never felt he owed anyone. Yet, only Shi Ran.
Only her.
She was the pain of his entire life.
“I’m sorry…” His pale, weak apology, each word speaking of his indebtedness, yet each word felt so cheap.
He leaned closer, kissing her cheek, and gently patted her back, coaxing Shi Ran as one would a child.
The next day.
Early in the morning, the nurse came to give her an injection, waking Shi Ran up.
Shi Ran’s eyes snapped open, her mind filled with thoughts of Tang Si. However, as she looked around the room, Tang Si was nowhere to be seen.
Had he been here?
Shi Ran’s memory was jumbled. She couldn’t distinguish whether her intense longing had made her mistake a dream for reality, or if he had truly visited.