Susu nodded and said, "That makes sense. Then after we finish eating, we can take the children to a large children's playground to let them interact with more kids."
"Okay, it'll be nice to go out," Tianyi said. "I think after the New Year, we should hire early education teachers for them to provide them with enlightenment education in all aspects."
"Alright, with the two children now able to walk and talk, I'll listen to you on how to educate them," Susu said. Before, when she was raising Xiao Xing alone, she couldn't provide him with the best education from the beginning.
From the time he was sensible, she could only do her best to ensure he had enough to eat and wear, to not go hungry or suffer from the cold. This was something she always felt she owed Xiao Xing.
Now, Hengheng and Tiantian's situation was different. It was good to let them receive education earlier.
Tianyi winked at her and said, "How about we have another daughter? Two sons and two daughters would be perfect."
Susu didn't fall for his trick. "If we really have four children, you'll want a fifth, and it'll never end."
"It was just a joke. If you wanted another, I wouldn't bear to let you go through childbirth again." At that time, Tianyi had learned that Susu had suffered a lot giving birth to the twins, Hengheng and Tiantian, and had decided not to have any more children, not wanting Susu to suffer the pain of childbirth again.
Susu leaned into him and asked, "What if it happens again?"
"It won't," Tianyi said, holding her. "Our contraception measures have always been very effective."
Susu thought to herself, "If it happens, we'll go with the flow. If not, we won't force it."
Just as Tianyi was about to say something affectionate to her, he suddenly felt a headache and immediately used his arm to support himself on the dining table and held his forehead.
Seeing this, Susu quickly got up and asked, "Tianyi, what's wrong? Is the wound on your head hurting again?"
"Yes, my scalp is a bit sore." In fact, he felt a splitting headache. These headaches had been occurring more and more frequently lately, and he worried that the doctor's prediction was coming true, that the blood clot in his brain had not yet dissipated on its own.
Susu wanted to help him up and said, "How about we go back to the room and lie down? We won't go out tonight."
Tianyi tried his best to hold on, not wanting Susu to see his discomfort, and said with a smile, "Okay."
Susu helped him back to the bedroom on the second floor. She felt that he had been enduring the discomfort all the way. She said, "Your wound on your head has already been unstitched, and I've seen that it's healing well. Why is it still hurting? I'll accompany you to the hospital tomorrow so the doctor can give you a thorough check-up..."
"I'm fine, it's just a pulling pain on my scalp." Tianyi felt that it wasn't as painful anymore and said, "Tomorrow, An Jing and I will start a proper fight with Xie Zhendong. I absolutely cannot take leave at this time."
Susu couldn't argue with him, so she let him lie on the bed and gently pushed aside the hair covering his head wound.
She saw that his wound was still slightly red, but it was healing well and looked fine.
"You lie down and rest well. I'll go get you a glass of water."
Tianyi nodded at her with a smile. Susu poured a glass of warm water and placed it by the bed, then went to accompany the children. Even though he said his scalp didn't hurt anymore, she didn't let him go with her.
As soon as Susu left the room, Tianyi immediately got up, took a medicine bottle from the drawer where his personal belongings were kept, and took a pill.
This was the painkiller the doctor had prescribed for him earlier, saying he could take it if the headache became unbearable.
But he had always felt that the headache was within his tolerance, so he had set the medicine aside without taking it. Now, he put the medicine into his briefcase.
Then he lay back down on the bed and contacted the doctor he had seen earlier via WeChat, explaining his current symptoms.
The doctor suggested he come to the hospital again for a brain CT scan to confirm the condition and location of the blood clot. If it hadn't shrunk or disappeared, surgery would be best.
Tianyi also inquired about how long he would need to rest after a craniotomy. The doctor said it would be best to rest for half a year, so he didn't continue the conversation.
At this critical juncture, he absolutely could not leave the group for half a year. He thought that no matter what, he had to persevere until the city construction project was secured and everything was on track.
Moreover, the doctor had also said that perhaps the blood clot in his brain might disappear on its own at some point, as the brain is the most complex organ in the human body. None of the possibilities were one hundred percent certain.
...
In the office that morning, Tianyi suddenly felt a headache again. He took out the medicine from his bag and swallowed a pill. Just as he was about to put the medicine back into his bag, Xiao An Jing suddenly rushed in.
He quickly closed the drawer containing the medicine, but An Jing's sharp eyes still spotted it.
"What medicine are you taking? Is something wrong with your health?" An Jing walked quickly towards him, trying to get a clearer look at the medicine.
Tianyi had already closed the drawer and said expressionlessly, "When will you ever change your habit of not knocking? If you keep doing this, I'll deduct your annual leave."
As soon as An Jing heard about the deduction of leave, he immediately returned to the door, knocked symbolically, and asked in a respectful tone, "President Qin, may I come in?"
"Please come in," Tianyi said in a business-like manner.
An Jing walked back to his desk and asked, "What medicine were you taking just now?"
"Vitamin B," Tianyi said nonchalantly. "I haven't been sleeping well lately, so I'm supplementing with vitamins."
"Really?" An Jing knew that he never liked to explain things unnecessarily. Answering that it was vitamins was enough. Explaining further afterwards was not his style.
Tianyi, acting very busy, asked, "What is it? Has the detailed plan for bidding against Xie's company been finalized?"
An Jing placed a thick stack of documents in front of him and said, "Yes, this is the preliminary plan and data comparison table. Xie's company's advantage is that they are an established old group in Lancheng, with deeper connections and roots than us. Their disadvantage is that they haven't been heavily involved in the construction and real estate sectors before, so their control and construction of projects are not as good as ours. They want to muddle through a public welfare project this time to win recognition and favor from all parties. As long as we expose it at the right time, their disadvantage will be their fatal blow."
Tianyi flipped through the stack of documents and said, "Yes, that's what I was thinking too. But I still need some more specific and detailed data, as well as the achievements and honors we've gained in each of our past projects. We need to prepare materials that can withstand the tenderer's scrutiny."
"Okay, I understand."
"Once all of this is prepared, we must arrange to meet with the tenderer and the leaders from the city construction department for another detailed discussion," Tianyi said. "By the way, don't invite too many people. Just find one person in charge who doesn't have too good a relationship with Xie's company."
"I understand. I'll handle this. When I met them last time, I noticed two people in charge who didn't praise Xie's company that much. I'll strengthen my contact with them."
Tianyi nodded and said, "I'll look at these documents first. After I've finished reading them all, I'll have the secretary ask the various departments to supplement the data and information. This time, we should aim for a decisive victory."
As An Jing was about to leave his office, he said to him again with concern, "No matter how busy you are, you must take care of your health."
Tianyi looked down at the documents and just waved his hand at him, signaling him to stop being overly solicitous.