Chapter 967 - 964:

Chapter 967: Chapter 964:

Gu Xiaoning struggled to catch her breath, "I’m sorry, I already..."

"No need to say it!" Le Zhengsheng frowned, interrupting her, "I’m not waiting for your explanation! Gu Xiaoning, you’d better understand, it’s Jiujiu who needs you now! I’m not begging you!"

"..." Gu Xiaoning opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything.

Le Zhengsheng turned around and pushed the door open.

Gu Xiaoning pursed her lips and followed behind him.

On the hospital bed lay Jiujiu.

Just one glance at her made Gu Xiaoning’s heart ache unbearably.

The nurses were coaxing her, "Be good, it’s time for the medicine!"

Jiujiu was crying terribly, her originally fair skin covered with red spots. Jiujiu shook her head, flailing her limbs wildly, shouting, "No, no... no, no!"

Le Zhengsheng frowned, "Chickenpox, Jiujiu has chickenpox. The nurses want to apply medicine but she won’t allow it."

The nurses were at a loss, deciding to work in teams.

"You two hold her down, we can’t let her continue like this."

"Ah!" Gu Xiaoning was startled, rushing forward immediately, "What are you doing? How can you treat a child like this?"

She tightly protected Jiujiu, though she had been a nurse too, but... Jiujiu was her daughter!

"Let me do it!" Gu Xiaoning looked at the nurses, "Give me the medicine, I’ll do it!"

The nurses glanced at Le Zhengsheng, who gave a slight nod of approval.

"Here." The nurse reluctantly handed over the medicine.

Gu Xiaoning took it and gently soothed the constantly crying Jiujiu.

"Jiujiu, don’t cry, Mommy is here." Gu Xiaoning gently comforted Jiujiu, cradling her on her shoulder.

Initially wailing, Jiujiu now sat on Gu Xiaoning’s shoulder, sobbing pitifully, "Eieh... bad, bad! Mommy, Mommy... hug."

Gu Xiaoning softly patted her back, soothing her.

Jiujiu cried herself to exhaustion and soon fell asleep on Gu Xiaoning’s shoulder.

The hospital room went quiet, and Gu Xiaoning carefully lay Jiujiu back on the bed. The little one occasionally hiccuped, clearly having been truly frightened earlier.

Gu Xiaoning reached out and undid her small clothes.

Seeing the red spots, Gu Xiaoning’s eyes instantly welled with tears.

She forced herself to hold back and took the medicine, dipped the cotton swab, and applied it carefully. Her touch was gentle, so much so that Jiujiu slept through it, completely unaware.

Still, Gu Xiaoning feared waking her, continuously rubbing her hand lightly on Jiujiu’s tummy, making her snooze pleasantly, snoring softly with her little mouth slightly puckering.

Le Zhengsheng stood aside, dumbfounded. He believed he had been attentive enough to Jiujiu over the past year or more. Yet, he couldn’t match Gu Xiaoning... After all, he was a man and inherently lacked something.

Seeing Gu Xiaoning finish applying the medicine, Le Zhengsheng quickly handed her a fever patch.

"Here, Jiujiu has a fever."

Gu Xiaoning glanced at it, frowning, and whispered, "We don’t need this, it contains alcohol. With Jiujiu’s chickenpox, her skin is already in bad shape... alcohol will irritate it, I’ll use water instead."

With that, she stood up and headed to the bathroom.

She came back with a basin of water, moistened the gauze, and placed it on Jiujiu’s forehead.

Le Zhengsheng couldn’t help but say, "This won’t last long."

"I know." Gu Xiaoning nodded, "It’s okay, I’ll keep an eye on it and change it every few minutes."

"..." Le Zhengsheng was stunned, wanting to ask if it wouldn’t tire her out.

Suddenly, Jiujiu on the bed pursed her lips, eyes closed and started crying again, "Waa..."

Gu Xiaoning immediately soothed her, softly singing into her ear.

Le Zhengsheng watched, struck by awe, realizing this was motherhood... Who could replace it? Even if he, as a father, gave double the love, it was still not enough.

Jiujiu fell back asleep, her small hands occasionally reaching to scratch her face.

Gu Xiaoning feared she’d scratch her face raw, worried it would itch, she kept massaging her to relieve the itchiness.

So meticulous, so patient...

Le Zhengsheng couldn’t help but frown, seeing Gu Xiaoning as a good mother... So, why was she so heartless two years ago? Had she been hit too hard?

"You." Le Zhengsheng asked quietly, "What was that song you sang just now?"

"Hmm?" Gu Xiaoning paused, smiled, "I don’t know, I used to sing it to Xiao Zheng when he was little... It’s probably a folk lullaby from Hai City. My mom told me, I also fell asleep to it when I was little."

Le Zhengsheng swallowed hard, "Ningning..."

This term of address made Gu Xiaoning tense up.

It had been a long time since he called her that.

Gu Xiaoning dared not move, "Hmm?"

Le Zhengsheng took a deep breath and let it go, "Nothing... Take good care of Jiujiu."

After speaking, he turned and left.

Gu Xiaoning looked back at him, but the door had already closed. Her gaze dimmed, subconsciously covering her heart, she mocked herself, "Why is it beating so fast? Gu Xiaoning, you promised not to overthink."

Outside, in the corridor, Le Zhengsheng stood by the window.

Feeling restless, he took out a cigarette and lit it.

Having calmed the agitation in his heart with some effort, he returned to the hospital room. Seeing Gu Xiaoning, Le Zhengsheng felt like that cigarette just now was for nothing!

His Adam’s apple bobbed intensely, a sudden dryness in his mouth.

All he could think about was the three strategies Lu Jinxuan had proposed!

But how to implement them?

...

The dawn broke, and Gu Xiaoning touched Jiujiu’s forehead, it wasn’t as hot anymore.

The little one had had a rough night, now she was sleeping soundly.

She stood up and glanced at Le Zhengsheng leaning on the sofa. She walked over and covered him with a blanket.

Checking the time, she realized she had to leave for a while... Ling Yu would be getting up, she needed to head back to prepare breakfast for him.

Carefully and quietly exiting the hospital room, Gu Xiaoning ran down the corridor.

Due to the urgency, she bit the bullet and hailed a taxi, rushing to Lingyun Manor.

Fortunately, when she arrived, Ling Yu wasn’t up yet.

Gu Xiaoning put on an apron and started preparing breakfast. She harbored a bit of selfishness, making some rice cereal and vegetable puree for Jiujiu.

Turning to set the table, Gu Xiaoning pressed her forehead... It felt a bit dizzy, probably because she hadn’t slept all night.

Ling Yu, fastening his cufflinks, came downstairs just in time to see this, "What’s wrong with you? Headache?"

"..." Gu Xiaoning was startled, then shook her head with a smile, "It’s nothing, you’re up? Breakfast is ready, I’ll set the table now."

She turned to fetch the breakfast, but suddenly, her vision went black, she staggered, and fell to the ground.

Instantly, she lost consciousness.

"Gu Xiaoning!" Ling Yu was startled, rushing forward, but he was too late and could only catch the collapsed Gu Xiaoning.

He saw her face was ashen, without a hint of color even on her lips!

Ling Yu picked up Gu Xiaoning and charged out of the dining room, shouting, "Butler! Butler!"

"Yes!" The butler hurried over, "Young Master, any orders?"

Ling Yu was frantic, "Are you blind? Can’t you see she’s fainted? Call the doctor!"

"Yes!"