While idly watching television at his residence, Huangfu Shaohua suddenly received a call from Zhong Lu, Sheng Zhuzhu's mother.
“Aunt Zhong…”
“Shaohua,” Zhong Lu said tearfully on the other end of the line, “I’m begging you, please come to the hospital to see Zhuzhu. She’s been on a hunger strike for days. Her father and I can’t persuade her, and we’re so worried she might… might take her own life…”
She couldn’t continue, choked with sobs.
“Aunt Zhong, I already made it very clear last time, I won’t marry Zhuzhu,” Huangfu Shaohua said with difficulty.
Zhong Lu replied, “We’re not asking you to marry her, we just hope you can come and talk to her. Perhaps she’ll listen to you. I’m begging you, you can’t just stand by and watch her die, can you?”
Huangfu Shaohua had no choice but to agree. “Alright, is she still at the same hospital?”
“We’ve transferred her to a private hospital with better facilities. I’ll send you the address right away,” Zhong Lu said before hanging up.
Huangfu Shaohua quickly received the address from Zhong Lu and prepared to change his clothes to go out.
Daisy, returning from outside, was startled to find someone in the residence. Seeing that it was Huangfu Shaohua, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Aren’t you at work? Why are you home?” Daisy had just finished lunch with Susu and had also packed some cake. She had planned to wait for him to come home from work in the evening to eat it together.
Huangfu Shaohua didn’t have time to explain his resignation. He said, “I’m just changing clothes. I need to go to the hospital.”
Daisy put down what she was holding and asked worriedly, “Why are you going to the hospital? Are you feeling unwell?”
“I’m not sick. Zhuzhu’s mother just contacted me. She said Zhuzhu is on a hunger strike at the hospital and no one can persuade her, so she asked me to go and try to talk to her.”
“Oh, then you should go quickly.” Daisy couldn’t stop him after hearing this.
Huangfu Shaohua had already changed his clothes. He hugged Daisy and said, “I feel sorry for Aunt Zhong. She only has this one daughter, so I thought I’d try. If I can persuade her, I will. If not, I’ll be back early. You wait for me at home.”
“I understand. I’ll wait for you for dinner. Look, I brought your favorite cake,” Daisy said with a smile.
Huangfu Shaohua looked at the cake she had brought back and said, “I can’t go empty-handed. How about I take this cake? I’ll buy you another one just like it when I get back.”
“Okay, take it. Go and come back quickly,” Daisy willingly handed him the cake.
“Darling, wait for me,” Huangfu Shaohua said and then left.
As soon as he arrived at the private hospital, Sheng Zhuzhu’s parents saw him as if they had found a savior.
Zhong Lu tearfully clasped his hand and said, “Shaohua, please go in and persuade her properly. Tell her she must think things through. No one will know what happened, and as long as she has confidence, she can definitely start over.”
“Aunt Zhong, it’s good that you can think this way. I’ll do my best to persuade her.”
Zhong Lu helped him push open the ward door. He walked in and saw Zhuzhu lying on the hospital bed, asleep. She looked even thinner than after the incident, her complexion very pale. She was receiving an IV drip.
“Zhuzhu, look who’s here.” Zhong Lu followed Huangfu Shaohua to the bedside and nudged her.
Sheng Zhuzhu slowly opened her eyes. Seeing Huangfu Shaohua, her eyes lit up.
But she quickly became resentful and said, “Why haven’t you come to see me? Why haven’t you stayed by my side?”
“I, I have many important things to do, I can’t always stay here,” Huangfu Shaohua replied.
Sheng Zhuzhu suddenly sat up and grabbed his arm tightly, saying, “I don’t care, you’re not allowed to leave here again.”
Huangfu Shaohua tried to break free, but she held on even tighter. He had no choice but to try and persuade her, “Whether I’m here or not, you can’t stop eating. If you don’t eat or drink, you’ll die. What’s more important than your own life?”
“I’ll eat if you eat with me. Otherwise, I don’t want to eat anything for the rest of my life,” Sheng Zhuzhu pouted.
Zhong Lu quickly poured the prepared can of chicken soup into two bowls and handed them over. “Zhuzhu, look, Shaohua is here to drink soup with you. Drink this bowl of soup quickly.”
Sheng Zhuzhu let go of Huangfu Shaohua, took the soup bowl from her mother’s hand, took a small sip, and looked at Huangfu Shaohua. “Brother Shaohua, you drink first. I’ll drink after you.”
Huangfu Shaohua helplessly picked up the other soup bowl and drank more than half of it in one gulp. He said, “You finish yours too.”
Only then did Sheng Zhuzhu drink the soup heartily, finishing it all. She even asked her mother for another bowl.
Zhong Lu happily poured her another bowl and looked at Huangfu Shaohua. She saw him unsteady and leaning against the bed railing to sit down.
Sheng Zhuzhu drank the soup and smiled at him, saying, “Brother Shaohua, you’ll be mine soon.”
Huangfu Shaohua held his forehead, not understanding why he suddenly felt dizzy. He soon realized that there was something wrong with the soup he drank.
He looked at Zhong Lu, shook his head, and tried to stay conscious, saying, “Aunt Zhong, what did you put in the soup?”
“There’s nothing in the soup. Look, Zhuzhu is drinking it just fine,” Zhong Lu said innocently.
Huangfu Shaohua realized he had fallen into their trap and said angrily, “There’s nothing wrong with the soup, is there something wrong with the bowl I used?”
Zhong Lu’s expression changed instantly, and she said sinisterly, “Xiufang and you caused our only daughter to become like this, and you think a medical fee will settle it? It’s not that simple. I don’t care if that marriage certificate you had last time was real or fake, you have to be responsible for Zhuzhu for the rest of your life.”
Huangfu Shaohua, struggling to stay on his feet, asked, “What exactly do you want to do?”
“It’s nothing much, just to make you and her have a done deal. You’ll be our son-in-law,” Zhong Lu said with a triumphant smile.
Huangfu Shaohua felt Zhong Lu’s smiling face become increasingly blurry, and he gradually lost consciousness.
“Mom, he’s fainted. Can I hug him now? Can I kiss him?” Sheng Zhuzhu asked excitedly.
“Yes, I’ll help you take off his clothes and let him lie on the bed with you.”
…
Daisy waited and waited at the residence, but Huangfu Shaohua didn’t return.
As it was getting dark, she had to go to work at the club and couldn’t wait any longer. She called his mobile phone.
The phone was on, but no one answered.
She called several times, but it was the same. She didn’t know how the persuasion went at the hospital, or if something else had happened.
She only left a note on the dining table before going to work.
…
Zhong Lu placed Huangfu Shaohua on her daughter’s hospital bed. However, Zhuzhu had mental health issues and couldn’t do anything, only holding onto Huangfu Shaohua’s neck tightly.
But this was enough. She used her own phone to take a few photos and sent them directly to her former best friend, Wu Xiufang.
She waited for Wu Xiufang’s response, letting Zhuzhu hold the unconscious Huangfu Shaohua like a doll, and walked out of the ward, closing the door.
Sheng Haoguang, standing outside the ward, asked, “That kid fainted. Is the job done?”
Zhong Lu gritted her teeth and said, “You can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing your cub. Zhuzhu can finally get what she wants.”