To My Dear Mr. Huo

Su Qingsang was very touched for a moment. Before she could open the other box, she found that Su Chenghui had slipped into the ward.

She almost burst out with anger but noticed that Xiang Caiping showed signs of waking up.

“Mom?”

Su Qingsang dashed forward quickly. She left the bag at one corner, stood by the bed and took Xiang Caiping’s hand into hers.

“Mom? Are you awake?”

Xiang Caiping’s eyes were moving. Her whole body was aching. When she heard her daughter’s voice, she opened her eyes with extreme difficulty.

“Qing—” Xiang Caiping’s voice got stuck in her throat before she could utter another word. She slept for an entire night. With the overwhelming blood loss, her body was weak and her voice sounded terribly hoarse.

“Mom, don’t talk now.” Su Qingsang quickly poured out a cup of warm water. She wetted a cotton bud with it and helped Xiang Caiping to wet her lips.

She poured out another cup of water and stuck a straw in it. Half-supporting her head, she signaled for Xiang Caiping to drink through the straw. At the same moment, she pressed the buzzer and called for the doctor.

Xiang Caiping took some sips and felt much better. She glanced at Su Qingsang and blinked a few times, finally recognizing the person before her.

Before she could finish her water, the doctor arrived. He gave Xiang Caiping some routine checkup and asked a few questions.

Finally, Dr. Li faced Su Qingsang. “Dr. Su, since your mother is awake, that means that there’s nothing to worry about from that concussion. As for the rest, she should be fine following a period of recovery.”

“Thanks, Dr. Li.” Su Qingsang heaved a sigh of relief. “Are you sure that there won’t be any side effects?”

“There shouldn’t be. Just look out for that hip.”

“Alright. I will.” Su Qingsang sent the doctor off. Then, she stood by the bed and looked at Xiang Caiping again. “Mom, now that the anesthetic has worn off, you might be in a little pain. If it’s unbearable, I’ll go and administer some painkillers for you, alright?”

Xiang Caiping shook her head. She was in a lot of pain, the kind of pain that seeped through the entire body, but she couldn’t care less about it now.

“Qingsang?” After drinking some water, Xiang Caiping felt so much better. Her voice wasn’t at hoarse as before. “W-Why did you come back? Aren’t you at Rong City?”

“Mom.” Su Qingsang placed the glass of water at the side table and helped Xiang Caiping lean back again.

“With you in this state, how could I stay there?”

“Look at you—” Xiang Caiping got a little restless. She tried to prop herself up but Su Qingsang held her back.

“Mom, don’t rush, your lumbar spine is hurt. You need to recover first. Don’t you move about, or else you’ll end up with a chronic problem.”

Xiang Caiping stopped squirming about, but the eyes were full of urgency. “What did you come back for, child? Your career is important. Get back there. I’m fine.”

“How dare you say that you’re fine?” Su Qingsang felt like crying. She recalled reading stories of parents who were sick or had to undergo surgery during their child’s college entrance examinations and chose to withhold that information from their children so as not to bother them.

She didn’t understand it back then — how can it be? However, now that it had happened to her, she only felt like crying from being overly touched.

“Mom, it’s fine. Really. I have taken a leave. You can relax. I will stay with you.”

“It’s my fault. I’m slowing you down.” Xiang Caiping blamed herself.

“Mom.” Xiang Caiping’s words only made Su Qingsang felt like crying more. She held her hand and said, in a very soft voice, “Don’t do this. You’re not slowing me down. I feel incredibly happy to be able to take care of you. Really.”

Pale-faced, Xiang Caiping was still a little conflicted within herself. Su Qingsang clenched her hand tightly. “Mom, I haven’t fulfilled my filial duties through the years, so please don’t stop me now.”

Xiang Caiping did not say anything again, but there were tears in her eyes. “Qingsang—”

“Mom, you shouldn’t talk so much. You lost a lot of blood, so your body is very weak now. You have to go easy on yourself.”

Xiang Caiping nodded forcefully, but the simple movement made her back hurt. Su Qingsang was distressed and held her hand.

“Mom, I beg you, don’t move. Lie down properly.”

Xiang Caiping finally stopped fumbling about, but at this time also saw Su Chenghui who had been standing in the corner of the ward.

With one glance, her expression changed.

“What’re you doing here?”

Su Qingsang, too, just realized that Su Chenghui was there. She had an ugly look on her face. “Dad, can you please get out?”

Su Chenghui was somewhat uncomfortable. He took a step forward, but he was not quite near. “Caiping, don’t be like this.”

“Leave. I don’t want to see you.” If she didn’t have to remain still, Xiang Caiping would like to chase Su Chenghui off herself.

“Caiping, I only wanted to visit you. I—”

“And you have, so you may leave now.”

Xiang Caiping was so resolute and indifferent. Su Chenghui hesitated — he did not know if he should stay or retreat.

Su Qingsang turned around and took two steps forward. “Dad, I think it’s better if you get out of here.”

“Qingsang—”

“You heard it yourself — my mom doesn’t want to see you. It upsets her to have you here. If you really mean well and want her to recover faster, please leave.”

Su Chenghui didn’t want to go. He was remorseful. That aside, he was plagued with a sense of self-blame.

The fact that Su Peizhen had unintentionally injured Xiang Caiping was not what he had expected, and he felt that he owed Xiang Caiping an apology.

“Qingsang, please ask him to get out of here.”

Su Qingsang raised her eyebrows, her voice extremely distant. “Dad, you heard it. My mom really doesn’t want to see you.”

Su Chenghui sighed and was too embarrassed to stick around longer. After some thought, he replied, “Well, Caiping. I shall visit you tomorrow.”

“There’s no need to. You don’t have to come to visit me ever again.” Xiang Caiping’s voice was very cold. “I’m afraid that I’ll never recover if I have to be near you.”

Her bluntness had rendered him speechless. He wanted to take another look at Xiang Caiping, but Su Qingsang blocked his view.

He finally had no choice but to turn and leave.

He was gone, and the two were relieved, especially Su Qingsang. In any case, Su Chenghui was her father after all. If he had really insisted on staying, she would not have been able to kick him out.

“Mom, are you hungry?” Su Qingsang sat down in front of the bed and looked at her with concern. “You have to bear with it for a bit if you are. You can’t eat anything today yet.”

The surgery had occurred less than twenty-four hours ago, so only I.V. fluids were allowed for now.

“It’s fine. I’m not hungry.” She was already weak from sleeping too much – how could she be hungry now? Xiang Caiping reached out to hold Su Qingsang’s hand. “Your mother is so useless. I was thinking of helping you. Now, instead of being helpful, I’m a burden to you.”

“Mom.” Su Qingsang didn’t like to hear this. “If you say this again, I’m going to get angry.”

“Fine, I won’t say it anymore.” Xiang Caiping looked around “Where’s Jinyao?”

“Off to work.” Su Qingsang was afraid that Xiang Caiping might misunderstand and quickly said, “He stayed here for the whole day and night yesterday. When I was still in Rong City, he was the one to take care of you. He even paid the surgery fee.”

Xiang Caiping nodded, extremely satisfied with this son-in-law of hers. “Huo Jinyao is a good boy.”