Young Master entered the room. "The grandmaster left."
Ying Qingcang sat with his back leaning against the headboard, still holding on to Xin Qing"s hand. "What about Chieftain Mo Lin?" He asked.
"He left with the grandmaster."
On the second day of the bomb"s removal, Ying Hao and Chieftain Mo Lin had been sent to S City. When the hypnosis was performed on Ying Qingcang that year, he was lucky to have the old chieftain helping him in secret, thus thwarting Rong Siman"s plans.
The reason Rong Siman had held the old chieftain captive all this while was because he had presented to her a secret formula which was capable of preserving a person"s facial beauty. Rong Siman had tried the formula herself and had found it to be highly effective, so she had asked the old chieftain to keep working on perfecting the formula. Ying Hao, on the other hand, did not have such luck.
Ying Hao had been pumped with drugs day in and day out. The drugs had dulled his mental faculties, causing him to be a dazed state every second of the day. Even now after he had been rescued, he was still unable to recognize familiar faces.
It turned out that the grandmaster and Chieftain Mo Lin were comrades a few decades ago. When Chieftain Mo Lin and the grandmaster left, they brought Ying Hao with them, saying that they would find a way to cure him. For Xin Qing"s case, both the grandmaster and Chieftain Mo Lin were of the same opinion: the electric current had over-stimulated her brain, now it was up to her to wake up on her own.
"The experts you"ve contacted, when will they arrive?" Ying Qingcang said with a glower on his face. After everything they had been through, he could now finally be together with Xin Qing openly and without fear. And yet his woman was lying in bed with her eyes closed, sleeping indefinitely.
Young Master Shen sighed. "Next week. Listen, buddy. You really shouldn"t get so worked up over this. Didn"t they say that it"s possible to wake up from a coma even after half a year?"
The door opened, and Chen Huan entered the room. Young Master Shen gave her a pointed look, to which Chen Huan responded with a nod. Chen Huan approached the bed and stood beside it. She stared at Xin Qing for a moment before turning to Ying Qingcang and said, "Throughout the three years that you weren"t here, Xin Qing had taken care of the kids all on her own. It"s your turn now, since she"s temporarily indisposed!"
Young Master Shen smiled and quickly added, "Yeah, that"s right! You haven"t gotten scared, have you?"
"Pfft!" A smirk tugged at the corners of Ying Qingcang"s lips. "It"s a weekend tomorrow. Bring them here, then!"
Chen Huan laughed. "Now that"s more like it," she said. "If you refuse, I"ll tell Xin Qing that you abandon the children once she wakes up!"
In times like this, only the kids could distract Ying Qingcang enough and prevent him from worrying himself to death over Xin Qing"s condition.
"Who knows Xin Qing might wake up once the kids talk to her!" Young Master Shen cut in.
Ying Qingcang"s eyebrows twitched. "Impossible!"
Xin Qing had yet to wake despite the fact that he had been talking to her every day. Why would she suddenly wake just because the kids came by? If that were to happen, would it not mean that he was not as important to Xin Qing as the children were to her?
The following night, Ah Che brought all four children to the hospital. Chen Huan stood in front of the doorway to block it before Xunxun could enter.
"It"s their family time. What are you going in there for?"
Xunxun pushed her hand away and calmly said, "Ah Sha will cry without me."
"Don"t give me that," Chen Huan said, glaring at her son. "Ah Sha will cry the moment she sees the state that Xin Qing is in, with or without you!"
"Exactly! All the more reason for me to be in there." After that, Xunxun snuck into the room. Gritting her teeth, Chen Huan stomped Boss Wan"s foot. "See? That"s your son. I could end up dead and he probably wouldn"t even be this worried."
Boss Wan pinched Chen Huan"s lips together. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"
Inside the hospital room, Ah Sha climbed onto Xin Qing"s body and started crying. w.a.n.gw.a.n.g kept staring at Ying Qingcang.
"Are you alright?" asked w.a.n.gw.a.n.g.
Ying Qingcang glanced at his son, his eyes filling with tenderness. "I"m alright now."
"Then, will you leave again once mother gets better?"
"No. Never again. From now on, I"ll be staying with your mother from now on." After that, Ying Qingcang held Xin Qing"s hand and gently stroked the center of her palm.
w.a.n.gw.a.n.g curled his lips. "Why didn"t you include me?"
"You?" Ying Qingcang"s eyes darted to w.a.n.gw.a.n.g briefly. "You"re a man. When I"m not around, your job is to protect your mother. But when I"m around, it"s no longer any of your concern."
Zhang Mi and Young Master Shen, who had been entering the room during the exchange, nearly laughed when they heard that comment.
"Say, pal, is this your idea of getting along with your son?" Young Master Shen said, setting down the thermos he had been carrying. "Aunt Tian made lotus pig heart soup today. Eat up and mend that heart of yours."
Zhang Mi stroked w.a.n.gw.a.n.g"s head. "See? That"s exactly who your father is. A savage brute. Do you want to come to our family and be our son?"
"You"re wrong!" w.a.n.gw.a.n.g exclaimed. It turned out that w.a.n.gw.a.n.g had ignored Zhang Mi"s suggestion entirely. The boy balled his fists and glared at Ying Qingcang. "Brother Xiao Rui said that we have to protect mother and sister forever. Because they are the most precious treasures of our family!"
w.a.n.gw.a.n.g went on, "Even if you"re back now, you have no right to dismiss us and push us away." Then, w.a.n.gw.a.n.g gave Xunxun a brief glance. "Humph! Brother Xunxun had totally called it. Father is just here to take mother away from us..."
Meanwhile, Ying Qingcang had absolutely no clue that he had been stabbed in the back by his future son-in-law. At w.a.n.gw.a.n.g"s reb.u.t.tal, Ying Qingcang merely smirked. "Why don"t you go tell your mother that, then. She"ll have the final say in this!"
w.a.n.gw.a.n.g turned around and bent over the edge of Xin Qing"s bed. Then, he began muttering something into Xin Qing"s ear. At the same time, Ah Sha turned around as well and threw herself into Ying Qingcang"s arm. Ying Qingcang held the little girl and cooed, "Ah Sha, don"t cry, okay? Mommy will wake up, I promise. She misses us too much not to wake up!" Ying Qingcang"s att.i.tude towards his daughter was completely different. The frown he saw on Xunxun made him feel so much better.
"Ah Sha, you need to take good care of yourself, okay? Don"t let me and your mommy worry, deal?"
"Mm!" Ah Sha raised her head and nuzzled Ying Qingcang"s chest with her face. "I won"t cry anymore. I still have to look after my little brother!"
Xunxun quickly pulled Ah Sha to his side. Ying Qingcang eyed the boy briefly and said, "We"ll talk when I have time."
"Anytime!" Xunxun nodded.
"Don"t embarra.s.s me," Boss Wan suddenly said. Somehow, he had snuck into the room without anyone noticing.
"Don"t worry, I"m better than you," Xunxun said, taunting his dad without the slightest bit of hesitation. Chen Huan just sneered at that. She had pretty much disowned that son of hers. He would forget his own mother once he met a woman.
That night, when it was time for the children to go home, Ying Qingcang told the three oldest children to only come visit him during the weekends; w.a.n.gw.a.n.g, on the other hand, had to come visit every day. w.a.n.gw.a.n.g had no problems with that. Ah Sha, on the other hand, was not too happy with that arrangement; she wanted to visit every day too.
"You won"t be able to make it back in time at night if you come every day. Which means you"ll miss your first cla.s.s," Xunxun said. "Well, you know how it is, don"t you? Every morning there will be a lot of girls wanting to have breakfast with me. What if they take advantage of me if you aren"t there?"
Other than Ah Sha, everyone was looking at Xunxun with distaste. Still, the boy in question showed not a single hint of shame.
That was how Ah Sha had been easily dissuaded from her earlier wish to come to the hospital every day. When the children left, Chen Huan said to Ying Qingcang, "We want to stay at your place for some time."
"Define "some"," Ying Qingcang said, looking back at her.
Chen Huan chuckled. "My Liuliu is attending kindergarten at Caesar!"
"Kindergarten will take three years to complete. Don"t you think that"s a little too long?" Ying Qingcang said.
Boss Wan noticed the situation and decided to cut in before conversation escalated. "Then we"ll stay at Young Master Shen"s place," Boss Wan said with a poker face.
"Nope! Ain"t going to happen, pal!" Young Master Shen yelled. "We"re busy making babies inside the house! It is a process which requires any available surface and at any moment of the day! Your stay will be very inconvenient and not to mention kill the mood!"
Blushing, Zhang Mi smacked Young Master Shen.
Ying Qingcang gently caressed Xin Qing"s hair and spoke with an air of nonchalance. "Didn"t Boss Wan tell you? The same year I bought my house, he had bought one for himself too."
Chen Huan turned her head and glared at Boss Wan. "In that villa district? You bought a house there?"
All of a sudden, a dark scowl took over Boss Wan"s countenance. He lowered his head and said nothing.
Young Master Shen saw it as an opportunity to gloat. "Yeah, do you know that he met a young celebrity after he bought the house? After that, he allowed the celebrity to stay at the house."
"Is it a woman?" Chen Huan asked. A chilly aura began to rise from every inch of Chen Huan"s skin.
After Ying Qingcang uttered a name, Zhang Mi out yelled in surprise. "Hey, she"s very popular now, you know! You mean to tell me she"s also staying in our area?"
"Just one row in front of our house!" Then, Young Master Shen asked her, "You like her? Well, then I"ll tell her to drop by our house so you can have selfies with her."
Zhang Mi"s eyes widened into a glare. "What do you mean "tell" her? So you"re close enough with her to be telling her things?"
"No, no! Not at all!" Young Master Shen quickly offered an explanation. "I made an investment in her recent movie."
While Young Master Shen was busy explaining away, Chen Huan was already walking away with her arms swinging at her sides. Boss Wan shot Young Master Shen a dark look. "If I"m not mistaken," Boss Wan said, "you were the one who took it upon yourself to loan my house to some unknown woman. So you better hurry up, because I want my house back." After that, Boss Wan turned around and chased after his wife.
"Young Master Shen!" Zhang Mi gave Young Master Shen a vicious kick. "I can"t believe I have no idea that you"ve been stockpiling your women right next door!"
"But I"ve forgotten about her a long time ago!" Young Master Shen exclaimed regretfully. Zhang Mi left the room, slamming the door behind her. "You"re not allowed to come home unless you"ve dealt with it," she said.
Ying Qingcang picked up a piece of cloth and gently wiped Xin Qing"s face. "Why are you still standing there like a rod?"
"You..." Young Master Shen growled. Then, he clenched his teeth and waved his hand. "I"m going. Stay here alone for all I care!"
After locking the door, Ying Qingcang wiped down Xin Qing"s body and got her dressed in her pajamas. After that, he carefully pulled her into his arms. "It"s been a month, and even I am allowed to get out of bed now. When are you planning to wake up?"
"When you"re awake, let"s have a vacation at the Great Barrier Reef, okay? We"ll come back when you"re about to go into labor. Say, do you prefer a boy or a girl?"
The woman in his arms remained wordless. Inside the quiet room, it was as if he could hear the sounds of both of their heartbeats. Ying Qingcang caressed Xin Qing"s hair. "You have to try harder, okay? You have to wake up and quit sleeping. If you don"t wake up when our child is born, then you won"t get to have first glimpse of the baby!"
Just like that, Ying Qingcang kept talking to Xin Qing until his eyes slid shut. He never did forget to give Xin Qing a goodnight kiss before he slowly drifted off to sleep. All of a sudden, his eyes snapped open and he sat up abruptly. He stared down at Xin Qing"s hand inside his palm.
"Babe! You"re awake, aren"t you? Try moving again. Go on, move again!"
Xin Qing"s fingers were interlaced with his. Ying Qingcang stared hard at the tip of her fingers. That was when he detected a slight movement in her index finger. Slowly, Ying Qingcang shifted his gaze from Xin Qing"s finger to her face. He saw the fluttering of her eyelashes.
Ying Qingcang could no longer suppress his impulse to yell. "Ah Qing! Ah Qing?" Then, he froze, as if he just had another thought. Moments later, he reached out and pressed the call b.u.t.ton at the head of the bed.
"Doctor! Doctor..."
Ying Qingcang stared at the doctor who had just finished examining Xin Qing.
"Mr. Ying, I"m very sorry to tell you this. But I think the chances of Mrs. Ying ever waking up are very slim."
"What"s that supposed to mean?" The light in Ying Qingcang"s eyes faded away. "She was awake. I"m sure of it. Her fingers and eyelids had moved just now."
The doctor sighed. "That"s a sign that her brain had entered into persistent vegetative state. Or, in common medical slang, she has... she has become a gork."
When Ying Qingcang was once again left alone with Xin Qing in the room, he slowly pressed his cheek against Xin Qing"s face.
"I refuse. I refuse to believe it. I know you won"t abandon me. Please hurry. Hurry up and wake up... Wake up, d.a.m.n it..." Ying Qingcang was incapable of accepting this reality. Xin Qing never waking up again was just impossibility. Without caring about what time it was, he picked up his phone and dialed.
"I don"t give a d*mn what method you use. Ask the experts to come tomorrow." Ying Qingcang tossed his phone aside when he was done. He drew Xin Qing into his arms and kept mumbling to her softly. "It"s alright now. It"ll be okay. You"ll definitely be able to wake up tomorrow once the experts examine you. Yes, you"ll definitely wake up..."
A drop of tear fell. Too bad it would forever remain unknown to the person trapped in deep oblivion.