The people guarding the hospital entrance were sent by Xie Zhendong. That person sent him all the photos taken of Xiao Anjing and Gu Susu entering and exiting the hospital over the past two days.
After seeing these photos, Xie Zhendong also believed that Qin Tianyi had a terminal illness.
Gu Susu and Xiao Anjing were both frequenting this hospital. It was unlikely that both of them were ill; it was more probable that the person they both cared about, Qin Tianyi, was residing there.
It seemed that the elder generation of the Qin family he had bribed was truly useless, having been deceived by Qin Tianyi and his wife.
He discovered a great opportunity. If Qin Tianyi was on his deathbed, his children were still young, and Ao Xiang would have no suitable heir.
As soon as this news was released, Ao Xiang would descend into chaos. At that point, he wouldn't need to lift a finger; Ao Xiang Group would be unable to compete with him for bids.
He could also take this opportunity to bribe Ao Xiang Group's high-level executives and dismantle and acquire Ao Xiang.
He couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the photos, thinking that even heaven was helping him.
...
Xiao Anjing entered the ward alone and saw Tianyi sleeping.
He sat beside him for a while before Tianyi woke up. Seeing it was him, he looked around and asked, "Where is Susu?"
"Young Master, your eyes have finally recovered," An Jing said with a brilliant smile.
Tianyi gained some spirit and glared at him, asking, "I'm asking you where Susu went?"
"Your wife has left," An Jing said deliberately, with a hint of annoyance.
Tianyi asked in confusion, "Didn't she say she would stay by my side?"
An Jing smiled and said, "She stayed by your side for days and nights. Knowing you've woken up and are fine, can't she go back to change her clothes and rest for a while?"
"How long was I unconscious?"
"Almost forty-eight hours after the surgery," An Jing told him the truth. "Susu also hasn't slept or eaten much for almost forty-eight hours. She stayed by your side the entire time. When she left, I saw she was about to collapse."
Tianyi said with heartache, "Then you should have sent her back. Why are you staying here with me? I'm fine now, I don't need anyone to take care of me."
Seeing him start to act tough again, An Jing glanced at him and said, "You're still on a respirator, speak less. If I didn't stay here to watch you, Susu would definitely not go back to rest."
Tianyi knew very well that An Jing was right; they both understood Susu's personality.
He closed his eyes again, recalling that during his unconsciousness, he always felt someone constantly trying to wake him up, which spurred him to try harder to awaken.
Otherwise, he would have remained trapped in a state where he felt something was holding him back, preventing him from waking up.
Fortunately, Susu didn't give up on constantly calling out to him. It seemed Susu not only hadn't slept or eaten but had also been talking non-stop, and her throat must be hoarse.
An Jing knew he wasn't asleep even though his eyes were closed and asked, "Do you want to drink some water, or eat some porridge? I'll go heat up some porridge for you."
"No need to heat the porridge, just some water," Tianyi said weakly.
An Jing brought the water cup closer to him, letting him drink a few sips through the straw.
Tianyi asked, "How is the group doing? Has Xie Zhendong found out about my surgery?"
"Everything is fine with the group. With the New Year approaching, as long as the year-end bonuses and dividends are not reduced, everyone will work with peace of mind." An Jing paused and said, "As for Xie Zhendong, it's hard to say. There are rumors going around now that you have a terminal illness."
"Terminal illness? How could this be? Last time, Second Uncle deliberately came to test us, and Susu and I should have kept it from him," Tianyi said slowly.
"I don't know where this rumor started from. In any case, someone wants Ao Xiang to fall into chaos from within."
Tianyi said, "Investigate who is spreading the rumors as soon as possible."
"Don't worry, I know what to do," An Jing said, tidying his pillow. "You've finally woken up and need to recuperate. You shouldn't worry about these things."
Tianyi stopped talking. Due to the medication, he felt like falling asleep again, but he couldn't stop thinking about his family and the group.
He forced his eyes open again and said, "Now that the outside world says I have a terminal illness, why don't we use this to make Xie Zhendong think he has everything under control, and then we can catch him completely off guard."
"You mean to use his own plan against him, so we can stay hidden and see what he intends to do," An Jing immediately understood his meaning.
He hummed in agreement and said, "Also, tell Susu not to rush to expose this rumor."
An Jing felt that this strategy of advancing by retreating was worth a try.
However, it was not good for Tianyi's health to be worrying so much as soon as he woke up. He quickly persuaded him, "If you want to sleep, just sleep. I understand what you mean, and I will act accordingly."
Only then did Tianyi weakly close his eyes and quickly fall asleep.
An Jing pondered his words and, having a plan, immediately went out to find the nurse responsible for this ward.
...
Xiao Mei and Xiao Lin looked at Susu with great anxiety when she finally returned from the hospital.
They saw her red eyes and her extremely tired appearance. Xiao Mei dared not ask anything and quickly got her slippers to change into.
Xiao Lin followed behind her and couldn't help but ask, "Young Madam, is Young Master..."
"He's fine now. I'm back to rest for a night and will go to the hospital to take care of him tomorrow," Susu said before he could finish his question.
Xiao Mei and Xiao Lin both breathed a sigh of relief, and smiles appeared on their faces.
"Young Madam, you must be exhausted. I'll go make you something to eat," Xiao Mei said, heading towards the kitchen.
Susu was too tired to say much, only waving her hand at her and pointing towards the bedroom upstairs before going up herself.
Xiao Mei was still a bit confused. Xiao Lin said beside her, "Don't you understand? Young Madam doesn't want to eat and wants to rest in her room. Let's not disturb her. She accompanied Young Master through a life-and-death ordeal, she must be exhausted."
"Right, I'm going to check on the children. Make sure they don't bother Young Madam," Xiao Mei said, heading to the children's room.
As soon as Susu returned to her room, she felt extremely tired and fell asleep on the bed.
She didn't know how long she slept until her phone's ringing woke her up. She looked out the window; it was still light.
She remembered it was light when she fell asleep, but checking the time on her phone, it was already noon the next day.
She quickly sat up, ran her hand through her long hair, and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness, how could I have slept for so long? I need to go to the hospital."
But her phone rang again. She picked it up and saw it was Yanan calling.
"Hello, Yanan..." she began, but found her throat couldn't make a sound; it was hoarse.
Yanan didn't pay much attention to her voice at first and asked worriedly, "Susu, such a big thing happened, why didn't you tell me?"
Susu tried her best to speak normally and said, "Oh, it's fine now, Tianyi is alright..."
"Don't lie to me, did Qin Tianyi get a terminal illness!" Yanan asked anxiously.
Susu was stunned. "What... what terminal illness..."
"Susu, is your voice all hoarse from crying? Where are you? I'm coming to see you!" Yanan finally noticed how severely hoarse her voice was.
Susu's throat hurt as she swallowed. She wanted to explain to her, but her throat felt uncomfortable every time she spoke.