Tianyi said, "But Tiantian and Hengheng didn't have such severe colds and fevers. A little children's cold medicine would have been enough."
"Little Star's constitution is weaker," Susu said guiltily. "This is all my fault. I didn't take good care of him since he was little, and he had to suffer so much."
Tianyi walked over to Susu, put his arm around her, and said, "Let's not blame ourselves. Little Star will be fine."
A week later, Little Star's temperature stabilized, and the fever did not recur.
Susu had raised Little Star since he was a child. When they had depended on each other, Little Star had never had such a severe cold or fever.
This time, he had a recurring high fever for a whole week.
Today, Little Star finally broke his fever and it didn't return. She had even sent a message to Tianyi, telling him not to worry too much while he was at work.
But as she stood in the doctor's office, holding the diagnosis results, it was like being struck by lightning. The pediatricians had conferred on the results of Little Star's various examinations.
The doctor in charge was constantly telling her some professional terms about Little Star's condition, but she couldn't hear any of it.
"Dr. Huang, could there be a mistake? You're saying the child has a heart problem, and the current situation is very dangerous?"
The doctor said apologetically, "Mrs. Qin, our diagnosis results are accurate."
Susu had never understood this illness before. Her voice trembling, she asked, "What is infective endocarditis? Can it be cured?"
"It's hard to say," the doctor explained. "This is a serious illness that children are prone to. We will try our best to treat the child."
"Serious? You're saying this is a serious illness, is it also incurable?" Susu became agitated.
The doctor said, "There is still a possibility of recovery. By the way, do the child's parents' families have any history of heart disease? The child actually has a congenital heart valve malformation. Didn't you discover it before?"
Susu felt that she had been too careless. She had never thought of taking Little Star for a full physical examination before.
She tried hard to recall. She hadn't heard of any relatives of Tianyi having heart disease. Only her father, Shu Zhongze, had died of heart disease.
"The child's maternal grandfather had heart disease. Is this also hereditary?"
The doctor nodded and said, "Then it's no wonder. This illness has a high possibility of being hereditary. The child's cold and fever this time caused an infection in the heart lining, coupled with the congenital malformation, which is why it became so severe."
"He can still be saved, right?" Susu couldn't help but cry, "Then please save him quickly..."
"The child's condition is currently dangerous, but not yet life-threatening. We will consider surgical treatment after his temperature stabilizes and his bodily indicators return to normal," the doctor said.
"Is surgery absolutely necessary? Is surgery dangerous?" Susu was still nervous.
"Please calm down. Any surgery carries risks. The most important thing is to take good care of the child, provide him with plenty of nutrition, and help him recover his health."
Susu stopped crying, realizing that she had to be strong at this moment and not bring negative emotions to the child.
"Okay, Doctor, you are right."
After Susu left the doctor's office, she sat in the corridor outside the ward, adjusted her emotions, and then went to take care of Little Star.
She took out her phone to tell Tianyi about this, but she didn't know how to say it over the phone.
They had taken turns taking care of Little Star in the hospital this week. Today, it was her turn to take care of him, and Tianyi had gone to the group to handle work matters.
Every time it was Tianyi's turn to take care of him, she would worry about Little Star in the hospital while she was busy in her studio.
Tianyi felt the same way as her. She planned to tell him when they met. She forced a smile to her lips and then got up to enter the ward.
Little Star was sitting on the hospital bed reading. He looked up at her and said, "Mom, where did you go? Why did you take so long to come back?"
"Oh, I went to ask the doctor when you can be discharged." Susu saw that he no longer had a fever and his complexion had improved a lot.
Little Star immediately asked, "Then when can I be discharged? I don't want to stay in the hospital anymore. I don't want to take medicine or get injections."
Susu smiled and said, "The doctor said we need to observe for two more days, and then it should be fine. What do you want to eat? I'll go buy it for you."
"Chicken legs," Little Star said without thinking.
He had been eating very bland food for the past few days and felt his mouth was tasteless, so he wanted to eat cumin-flavored chicken legs.
Susu originally wanted to say no, but seeing the child's innocent little face filled with anticipation, she agreed and said, "Okay, but only one bite. Otherwise, you'll get sick again."
Little Star hummed, thinking that even one bite was good.
Susu asked him casually, "Do you ever feel uncomfortable anywhere? For example, do you feel anything in your heart?"
Little Star continued reading, touched his chest, and said, "Are you talking about here? No, it just beats very fast sometimes after exercise."
Susu said "oh," thinking that Little Star usually didn't feel uncomfortable, which was why they had overlooked this aspect.
The doctor had also said earlier that most cases of infective endocarditis were associated with congenital heart problems.
Little Star's congenital heart problem was a slight deficiency in his pulmonary valve. If there was no infection, it wouldn't affect his normal life, but once he fell ill, it could be life-threatening.
Although the doctor had been very careful with his wording, Susu understood what he meant.
Looking at Little Star, who was diligently reading as soon as he felt a little better, she couldn't suppress the lump in her throat.
"Mom, why haven't you gone to buy me chicken legs yet? Don't worry, I'll only eat one bite when you buy them back," Little Star urged her with a smile.
"Oh, oh. I'll go now. If you need anything while you're alone in the ward, just press the bell to call the nurse." With that, Susu quickly turned and walked out of the ward, afraid that Little Star would see her tears fall.
...
Xie Zhendong had been in a state of utter chaos lately. Feng Rou was ill at home, lying in bed weeping.
His mother was also hospitalized after being greatly shocked by the news about Qining. He also had to deal with a large amount of work for the group. He hadn't been this tired and frustrated in a long time.
After all, he had experienced great storms in his life. The more difficult the situation, the calmer he had to face it.
No matter what, Xie Corporation was still operating normally, and the Xie family would not collapse.
Someone knocked on the office door. Xie Zhendong said, "Come in."
Zhan Jiayi entered with documents that needed his signature. She said professionally, "Mr. Xie, this is the quarterly report from the finance department. It requires your signature for confirmation."
"Put it down first, I'll look at it later." Xie Zhendong was looking at the official documents on the computer and didn't have time for anything else. Zhan Jiayi put down the financial report and couldn't help but glance at Xie Zhendong again. She saw that he had more gray hairs on his head.
Since Xie Zhendong and Feng Rou returned from abroad, he hadn't visited her again. Apart from work-related exchanges in the group, they hadn't said more than a few words outside of work.