Chapter 217: Meddling

Chapter 217: Chapter 217: Meddling

"Mom! What the hell were you just doing?"

She let go, taking a half step back. Her heel struck the seam between the floor tiles, making a sharp sound.

"You’ve embarrassed us all the way to the hospital entrance. Isn’t that enough?"

Wu Xin’s chest tightened, and her voice dropped an octave.

"Embarrassing?"

"How is this embarrassing?"

"Wasn’t I doing it all for you? What else would I be after? Your constant sour looks? The fact that you never have a single nice thing to say? That you can’t even be bothered to say thank you?"

He Wei immediately shot back.

"Who asked you to do it for me? Who asked you to meddle? Who asked you to stand up for me?"

"Not for you? Just look at my face!"

Wu Xin grabbed her own left cheek.

"The bruise hasn’t even faded! From the punch I took yesterday afternoon—my bones are still numb!"

"I get punched and you can’t even stand up for me. Then I’m up at the crack of dawn, following you here to register, wait in line, and put on a fake smile. What am I, your free labor? And what’s the result? You just stood there watching the drama, not even sparing me a glance!"

He Wei opened and closed her mouth, but not a single word came out.

Wu Xin stomped her foot and shouted from behind her.

"My whole life is ruined because of you!"

Song Yao and Li Hanchen took a leisurely stroll and had a hearty meal, returning to the hospital room just after eight o’clock.

A few minutes before nine, there were three gentle knocks on the door.

Director Cheng pushed the door open, carrying an insulated food container and a fruit basket.

He asked with a cheerful smile.

"Song Yao, my dear, are you feeling any better? Is your stomach settled? Your legs aren’t weak? No tightness in your chest?"

Song Yao nodded obediently.

"Much better! Thank you for thinking of me, Director Cheng. You really shouldn’t have made a special trip. I feel so embarrassed."

Director Cheng waved his hands dismissively.

"I’m the one who should be ashamed. I should have been on top of this from the beginning. I shouldn’t have let you be wronged like this, and I certainly shouldn’t have waited until today to come see you."

Then, his tone shifted, and he asked probingly with a smile.

"So... did He Wei and her mother come by this morning?"

Song Yao immediately switched into her expert-complainer mode.

"Oh, they came, they came. I hadn’t even taken two bites of breakfast when the mother-daughter pair burst in. Without a word, her mom just—THUD—dropped to her knees!"

Song Yao patted her chest and sighed dramatically.

"It gave me such a fright! I almost spilled my milk, and my heart rate must’ve shot up to 180!"

"If she hadn’t kneeled, I would have packed my bags and left first thing this morning. I was ready to tear up my medical records, I had the deposit slip in my hand, I’d even called a taxi."

"But then my stomach clenched, and I got all panicked. Li Hanchen and I discussed it and decided it would be safer to just stay in the hospital one more day. Besides, the doctor also said another 24 hours of observation would be for the best."

Hearing this, Director Cheng’s forehead twitched. ’Yang Lei really kicked the hornet’s nest this time,’ he thought, though his smile remained exceptionally gentle.

"Yes, yes, the baby is the most important thing! So... about Mr. Yang’s family..."

He paused, his throat feeling a little tight.

"Sigh, I really didn’t handle my side of things cleanly. The responsibility is mine. I failed to grasp the situation in a timely manner, and I didn’t do a thorough enough job guiding them."

He shot up from his chair.

"You get some rest. I’ll come back and check on you in a little while."

Song Yao gave him a little wave, her wrist raised slightly as her fingertips swayed back and forth.

"Go on, get back to your work. You really don’t need to make these special trips! Li Hanchen is here with me!"

Director Cheng turned and left.

Song Yao casually peeled a grape, digging her nail into the skin’s edge. With a gentle tear, the flesh emerged perfectly whole.

She popped it into her mouth, pressing the fruit against the tip of her tongue.

She turned to ask Li Hanchen.

"Hey, when do you think they’ll be back?"

Li Hanchen considered it for a moment, his thumb unconsciously rubbing the button on the cuff of his military uniform.

"I’d guess they’ll have to come this afternoon. They might even be on their way right now."

Song Yao nodded.

"That’s what I was thinking."

They couldn’t put it off until tomorrow, because Song Yao had already drawn her line in the sand.

Staying one more day meant she would definitely be discharged the next.

If they arrived a step too late and missed her, now that would be awkward.

As soon as Director Cheng returned to his office, he immediately had Yang Lei summoned.

"Is your head full of rocks?"

"What on earth do you think about all day?"

"You’ve caused this huge mess, and you’re still acting like nothing’s wrong?"

Yang Lei was still completely baffled.

"He Wei..."

He thought He Wei had caused trouble again.

It was indeed He Wei’s fault, but...

"I’m talking about you!"

"What did Leader Liang tell you yesterday?"

"Apologize in person! Apologize in person!..."

Director Cheng threw his hands up, slapping his thigh again and again as he repeated the phrase. Finally, he looked up and stared at him.

"What? Those two words, ’in person,’ do you think they don’t include you?"

"Can’t you put some thought into this?"

"I..."

Yang Lei froze, unable to get a single word out.

"And another thing, your mother-in-law. Can she stop with the shameless stunts? Does she think everyone is a pushover?"

"What century is this? Kneeling at the drop of a hat, kowtowing every chance she gets. Is she starring in a melodrama?"

"When this whole thing blows up in your face, I doubt you’ll be smiling."

Yang Lei stammered, his face beet red, "She..."

Director Cheng decided to just spell it out.

"Your mother-in-law and your wife went straight to the hospital room first thing in the morning. She dropped to her knees with a THUD and started kowtowing, BANG, BANG, BANG. Her forehead is red, her knees are bruised, and the head nurse couldn’t even stop her..."

He slapped his thigh again.

"For what? What was the point of all that?"

"I... I don’t know."

Yang Lei could only force himself to answer.

"Of course you don’t know, you haven’t paid the slightest bit of attention! You have no idea when they went, what they said, or what they did!"

Yang Lei lowered his head and fell silent.

"Get a move on! Go home, get your wife and your mother-in-law, have them wash up and change their clothes, and go to the hospital together! Standing there like a block of wood... it’s infuriating!"

Yang Lei nodded, turned, and left.

But when he got home, the place was empty.

He Wei had gone to work at the factory, and Wu Xin had already slipped back to her own home.

A half-full bowl of congee, still untouched, sat on the table with a few grains of rice stuck to the rim.

Yang Lei had no choice but to go out looking for them, heading first to the factory where He Wei worked.

He Wei was called to the entrance, her expression dark.

Yang Lei got straight to the point.

"Why are you at work?"

He Wei rolled her eyes.

"If I don’t work, are you going to pay the bills? Rent is due, we need to buy grain rations, and we’re down to our last bar of soap!"

Yang Lei’s eyes widened.

"You’re coming with me!"

"To do what?"

He Wei jutted out her chin and glared back.

"To the hospital!"

"I’m not going!"

He Wei said, her tone final.

"You’re not going? You and your mother caused this whole mess, and now you refuse to go?"

Yang Lei’s face was twisted with anger.

He Wei opened her mouth, a retort catching in her throat as her face instantly flushed crimson.

"We already went! But they completely ignored us. They wouldn’t even let us in the door. What else were we supposed to do?"

"My mom got on her knees! Isn’t that enough? What more do they want?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Yang Lei froze completely.

"Who told your mom to kneel?!"

He Wei’s eyes grew red-rimmed, her voice trembling.

"Then you tell me! What are we supposed to do? What do they want?"

"Do they want to have us dragged out and executed?"

"Fine, then execute me! You think I’m afraid of her?"

"If you have the guts, then drag me away right now!"

She stood outside the factory gates and finished her shout at the top of her lungs.

Yang Lei’s chest heaved, his knuckles white from how tightly his fists were clenched.

He stared at the back of He Wei’s head, his lips pressed into a thin line.

A few seconds later, he suddenly relaxed.

"Fine, have it your way! Your mother is the one who pushed her and put her in the hospital. If you want to deny it, act tough, or raise hell, go right ahead! It has absolutely nothing to do with me!"