Cristino watched Rong Jingyang being led away by medical staff, his thoughts frozen.
He leaned against the wall, silent.
Trevor pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it for him.
He took a deep drag, exhaling white mist.
The mist rose in wisps, but it couldn't carry away the sorrow in his heart…
No!
He should be happy!
Rong Jingyang could no longer cling to Xin'er, and Xin'er could no longer leave him.
Taking one puff after another of the cigar, Cristino wanted to finish it quickly so he could go into the ward to see Xin'er.
But before he could finish his smoke, the sound of Du Ruoxin's sobbing, bordering on convulsions, reached his ears through the door.
Cristino threw the cigarette butt away and rushed into the room.
He snatched the phone and hung up.
Du Ruoxin: "————"
Tears still clinging to her eyelashes, she stared blankly.
Cristino, his face cold, his blue eyes complex with a hint of pity, reached out, wanting to brush away her burning tears. "Don't cry."
Du Ruoxin turned her face away and wiped her own tears. "I'm fine."
Cristino: "————"
Watching the woman's distant and resistant back, the sorrow in his heart ignited like a prairie fire, burning away his reason.
Heh—
A bitter curve formed on his lips.
"Big Brother, help me pour a glass of water, add a piece of ice, thank you," Du Ruoxin said, stopping her sobs.
Cristino's entire body jolted. Hadn't he told her not to add "Big" to his title?
But faced with Du Ruoxin's pain and tears, he didn't have the courage to say it.
And, she even—
Said thank you to him?
How distant, how heartless those two words were.
It was as if these words were a poisoned arrow, piercing his heart, constantly reminding him—she would never like him, never.
Even if she agreed to stay by his side.
Mmm—
Cristino's chest ached, a sharp pang.
But he suppressed the spreading thoughts that threatened to consume him.
"Okay."
Without betraying any emotion, he poured a glass of water.
Du Ruoxin drank it all in one go, gulping it down.
She put down the glass, regulating her breathing, and touched her stomach, thinking to herself: [Du Ruoxin, calm down, you need to be calm.]
[Stop crying, it's enough.]
[Control your emotions.]
[Think of happy things…]
Cristino sat on the edge of the bed, maintaining a distance of two meters from the woman, taking in her every expression.
After a while, once she had caught her breath and composed herself, he slowly said, "Xin'er, is there something you're hiding from me?"
Du Ruoxin faltered, "Ah? What?"
Cristino shook his head, feeling a sense of cowardice for the first time, not daring to ask further. "Forget I said anything."
Let him be a coward.
As long as Xin'er was by his side, it didn't matter how cowardly he was.
Cristino instructed, "You just had a miscarriage, you need to take good care of yourself."
"There are laying hens on the farm. I'll have them make you soup."
"You Chinese people, do you have a tradition of confinement after childbirth?"
"You can't touch cold water these days, can't get out of bed, can't catch a cold, and you have to wear a hat."
"Right, I'll go buy you a confinement hat."
Du Ruoxin listened to her "Big Brother's" rambling, her worldview shattered: "...Big Brother?"
When did her brother learn so many precautions for postpartum confinement?
He, a man…
Cristino seemed not to hear her call, taking out his phone and making call after call.
Two hours later, Du Ruoxin ate her first confinement meal in a foreign land.
The woman: "..."
Although it wasn't as good as her mother-in-law's cooking, it was passable.
Du Ruoxin ate her soup listlessly, taking a bite here and there, but at that moment, a loud noise came from outside the door.