Chapter 35: We Must Get Him Out

Mr. Tang!"

"You are?"

"You definitely don’t know me, but I know you! My husband and I have bought goods from your company."

Wu Xiuli jumped down from the bed as if she had just seen a long-lost relative, almost throwing herself into Tang Songyuan’s arms. It was hardly surprising; in Wu Xiuli’s eyes, Tang Songyuan was money itself, and who did not love money?

"You are... Miss Wu."

Tang Songyuan actually knew her name. Wu Xiuli was even more astonished than when she had first seen the man she considered her fortune-god. Her excitement lit up her face as she reached out to shake his hand. He took her hand courteously, then released it at once.

"I never imagined you’d know me! I thought people like us in such small-scale business would never even enter your line of sight."

"You flatter me, Miss Wu."

Tang Songyuan did not wish to continue the conversation, much less cultivate rapport with one of his small clients here. He placed the shopping bag on the bedside cabinet, pulled out the little tray, and poured a bowl of soup. Looking at Tao Fei with an apologetic smile, he said, "I went to Claypot House to buy you your favorite ficus soup, but traffic was terrible and I only got back now. It’s still hot, so drink some quickly. And this—"

From his coat pocket, Tang Songyuan took out a black widescreen phone and handed it to Tao Fei.

"Your old model has been discontinued. See whether this one suits you. I’ve already arranged for your SIM card replacement, with the same number as before, and I’ve installed the apps you use most often as well."

"Thank you."

The phone Tang Songyuan had bought was the latest model on the market, but in Tao Fei’s eyes it was a relic, outdated and old-fashioned. Tao Fei liked studying antiquities, however, and after taking the phone and swiping through it a few times, her interest only deepened.

Tang Songyuan reminded her to drink the soup first, and only then did Tao Fei put the phone down. By then, Wu Xiuli had understood the relationship between Tao Fei and Tang Songyuan, and began showering Tao Fei with praise. Wu Xiuli’s mother joined in, flattering them as well, saying Tao Fei was clearly a virtuous wife and mother, with not the slightest airs of a wealthy lady.

Tang Songyuan listened with obvious pleasure, smiling as he watched Tao Fei finish an entire jar of soup. He then poured mineral water for her to rinse her mouth, wrung out a hot towel to warm her face, and did not forget to fetch her cream and help her apply it.

Watching Tang Songyuan’s flurry of attentiveness, Wu Xiuli and her mother exhausted every compliment they could think of.

"If my husband were even half as good as Mr. Tang—no, even one-tenth as good—I’d be satisfied for life. Sister Tao Fei, you’re so fortunate. Mr. Tang not only earns money, he’s also so thoughtful and gentle. How did you find such a wonderful husband? Did you save the galaxy in a previous life?"

Wu Xiuli was truly envious of Tao Fei, and genuinely wanted to hear the story of how Tao Fei and Tang Songyuan had fallen in love and married. Tao Fei smiled but said nothing, and Wu Xiuli urged Tang Songyuan to share some experience no matter what. She wanted to follow his standard when finding husbands for her three daughters in the future.

Wu Xiuli was only thirty-one or thirty-two at most; how old could her eldest daughter possibly be?

"I met my wife through an introduction from a matchmaker. Nothing special. That was just how most of us got married back then."

"A matchmaker? My husband and I were high school classmates. We married after falling in love on our own. I always thought marriages arranged by matchmakers could never be as happy as those from free love, but seeing how devoted you two are, I may have to change my mind."

Wu Xiuli said this half jokingly.

"Then you must be well matched. A marriage of equal families is the most stable. Otherwise, why has blind dating become popular again? There are TV programs about it one after another. Which successful couple isn’t from equally matched backgrounds? Rich people only marry rich people. Looking good alone doesn’t count for much."

Wu Xiuli’s mother summed up Tao Fei and Tang Songyuan’s marriage with impressive confidence, then waited for them to confirm her judgment.

"Back then, I married above my station."

"When Sister Tao Fei was young, she must have been a great beauty!"

"She is still very beautiful now."

Tang Songyuan smiled softly, while Tao Fei continued smiling without speaking. Such conversation was good for relaxation of body and mind, and Tao Fei did not find it irritating.

"A husband who’s older than his wife is usually more caring!"

"That may not always be true. Old He is more than ten years older than his wife, and he still beats her all the time..."

Wu Xiuli’s mother tugged at her sleeve. Wu Xiuli immediately understood that her mother was helping her flatter Tang Songyuan. Anyone with eyes could see that Tang Songyuan was quite a bit older than Tao Fei.

"It still depends on the person! A mature, decent man like Mr. Tang would spoil his wife."

"Mr. Tang is obviously a great person! Unlike those men who flirt around outside and, once they have money, keep mistresses—third, fourth, fifth, or sixth."

"It’s already half past two. The patient needs a nap."

Tang Songyuan interrupted the mother and daughter, helped Tao Fei recline the bed, and Tao Fei was still very much thinking about that antiquated phone. Seeing Tang Songyuan bend down to cover her with the blanket, she quickly pulled the top edge up to her chin and pretended to be asleep.

Wu Xiuli wisely fell silent. Less than a minute later, she and her mother were whispering about what they should eat before five o’clock. After reaching an agreement, they said goodbye to Tang Songyuan and slipped out of the ward to go on a shopping spree.

The ward instantly fell quiet.

Tang Songyuan leaned back on the sofa by the window and closed his eyes to rest. The afternoon sun cast a wash of color over his hair.

Tao Fei watched him covertly, feeling that a trace of worry lingered between his brows. Suddenly Tang Songyuan opened his eyes, and Tao Fei hurriedly turned over.

The woman who had threatened them so fiercely had not come to the hospital in the afternoon to demand money. Tao Fei had rested enough; she was only waiting for the moon to appear.

A round orange moon rose silently into the sky, and Tao Fei’s heart began to beat faster. Same time, same place, same moonlight. The moment of witnessing a miracle was about to arrive.

Wu Xiuli and her mother still had not returned, and Tang Songyuan had been sent out by Tao Fei to buy fish paste congee.

She gripped the door handle and opened and closed it back and forth several times. The ward, the corridor, everything remained the same. Even after stepping outside and then opening and closing the door again, no miracle occurred.

Tao Fei was unwilling to give up. She was sure the timing had simply been unlucky. Turning back into the ward, she opened the door once more, closed her eyes, and walked outside, then suddenly opened them.

Under the soft, warm lights of the long corridor, a young nurse hurried into a nearby ward.

The familiar laboratory still did not appear.

Gathering her strength, Tao Fei repeated the opening and closing of the door several more times. Standing at the ward entrance, she heard the sound of her own heart shattering.

The red digits on the electronic clock at the nurses’ station in the middle of the Y-shaped corridor changed again.

One last try!

Perhaps because her hope was too strong, Tao Fei closed her eyes, trembling all over, and pulled open the door. After stepping out of the ward, she dared not open her eyes for a long time. She expected to hear her mentor call her name, and then when she opened her eyes she would be standing in the medical school laboratory...

The expected voice did not come, but she felt a searing breath before her.

Tao Fei opened her eyes and was so startled by the man who suddenly appeared before her that she staggered backward several steps, nearly falling back into the ward.

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