259 I’ll Go With You
Sang Qianqian looked at Xie Shi’an and asked in a low voice, “What’s the situation with Xiaodie?”
Xie Shi’an pointed to the side hall, indicating for Sang Qianqian to sit down and talk. He then poured a cup of hot tea for Sang Qianqian before answering her many questions.
It turned out that Ruan Xiaodie had been kidnapped when she was young and suffered a severe shock. Later, her mental state became somewhat abnormal.
She was sent abroad for treatment and lived with her aunt who had long settled in Europe. Although she had recovered a lot, her IQ was still like that of a five or six-year-old child, and she could only remember limited people and things.
Because Ruan Xiaodie had been with her aunt all year round, her relationship with her aunt was closer than her birth mother.
The Ruan family had sent people to bring her back to the country several times, but she was unwilling to go back, so Ruan Cheng had no choice but to let her stay in Europe.
On the other hand, her aunt’s health had not been good for the past two years. Not long after Ruan Cheng and Ruan Xiaoshuang pa.s.sed away, his aunt was also critically ill and hospitalized. Therefore, Xie Shi’an rushed to Europe after taking care of the Ruan family’s affairs.
At the hospital, he saw his aunt for the last time. His aunt told him that Ruan Xiaodie’s condition might not be incurable.
She mentioned that she had accidentally heard the doctor mention a certain case. Many years ago, a doctor had also suffered a mental blow that led to mental problems. However, she was cured not long ago, and now her mind and life had returned to normal.
Xie Shi’an found out that the doctor who had treated her was Professor Fu’er.
—
Sang Qianqian furrowed her brows slightly. “I thought Professor Fu’er never treated people?” So why did he treat her?”
“You will never believe who that person is.”
Xie Shi’an said meaningfully, “That person is Caroline, Professor Fu’er’s ex-wife.”
Sang Qianqian was stunned. “Ex-wife?! Are you sure?”
If she remembered correctly, Professor Fu’er had divorced his wife many years ago, and the two had no contact at all.
“I’ve personally verified her ident.i.ty. There’s no mistake.”
Xie Shi’an said with certainty, “They did have a marriage many years ago and had a daughter. However, the child died in an accident when she was three years old. Caroline was greatly shocked and divorced Professor Fu’er.”
After the divorce, Caroline moved to another city. She quickly got married and gave birth to another daughter.
Unfortunately, the person she met was not a human. The other party was a drug addict. When his drug addiction kicked in, he beat her and her child up, and the child died within a few months.
Caroline couldn’t bear the pain of losing her daughter twice, and she became an alcoholic. Later, she had serious mental problems, and it was Professor Caroline who sent her to the hospital for treatment and paid for her medical expenses.
Although Professor Fu’er rarely visited her, he had been paying attention to Caroline’s condition for many years. Not long ago, he used a unique medical method similar to nerve stimulation, supplemented with medicine, to restore Caroline’s consciousness to that of a normal person.
Sang Qianqian’s heart stirred as she heard this.
She remembered that when she was studying abroad, she had visited Professor Fu’er many times, and Professor Fu’er had always been staring at a photo.
In the photo, Professor Fu’er was holding his three-year-old daughter in one hand and his wife’s shoulder in the other. The three of them were smiling brightly.
Professor Fu’er must have loved his wife a lot, otherwise he wouldn’t have taken care of his ex-wife after the divorce, studied her illness, and cured her.
Now, Professor Fu’er was unwilling to treat Ruan Xiaodie, nor was he willing to teach Sang Qianqian the antidote. But what if his ex-wife helped to persuade him?
Would that increase his chances of winning?
Even if Caroline wasn’t willing to help, it would be good to learn more about Professor Fu’er’s past from her.
Everyone had a weakness, and only with a weakness could one be targeted. Sang Qianqian did not believe that Professor Fu’er did not have a weakness.
Sang Qianqian looked at Xie Shi’an. “Shi’an, I would like to meet Professor Fu’er’s ex-wife.”
“You want her to help persuade Professor Fu’er?”
Xie Shi’an immediately guessed what she wanted to do. “I went to look for her many times and tried all sorts of methods, but they were all useless. She seems to have a deep prejudice against Professor Fu’er and doesn’t want to see him at all.”
“It’s about Hanyu and Xiaodie. I still want to try.”
Sang Qianqian looked at the time and saw that it was still early. “I’ll head to the airport now.”
Even if there was only a one in a million chance, Sang Qianqian had to make the trip.
Xie Shi’an understood Sang Qianqian too well. Once she had set her mind on something, it was hard for others to persuade her to change her mind.
Back then, no one was able to get close to the temperamental Professor Fu’er, but Sang Qianqian was able to win his favor.
Perhaps, once again, she would create an exception.
Xie Shi’an stood up. “How about I go with you?”
Sang Qianqian glanced at Ruan Xiaodie on the sofa. The little girl was blinking her eyes and staring at them without blinking.
She refused, “You’d better stay at home and take care of Xiaodie. I can go by myself.”
“With Cui Ke here, she’ll be fine.”
As Xie Shi’an spoke, he took his coat and put it on, ready to go out.
Ruan Xiaodie hurriedly rushed over to stop him. “Brother Shi’an, are you leaving again?”
She pouted and looked like she was about to cry. “I won’t allow you to leave. If you leave, there will be no one to accompany me…”
“I’ll be back in two days.”
Xie Shi’an coaxed her patiently, promising to bring her delicious food and take her to the amus.e.m.e.nt park to play. After saying a lot of good things, Ruan Xiaodie reluctantly let go.
When Xie Shi’an and Sang Qianqian got in the car and the car drove out of the small courtyard, Ruan Xiaodie was still standing at the door. She stood on her tiptoes and waved at them, shouting in a crisp voice, “Brother Shi’an, come back soon.”
Sang Qianqian watched as the figure in the rearview mirror gradually disappeared. “Xiaodie seems to be very clingy to you.”
“In the beginning, she was actually very against me. She didn’t even want to talk to me.”
Xie Shi’an said slowly, “After her aunt pa.s.sed away, she locked herself up in her room and refused to eat or drink. I stayed by her side and comforted her. It was probably then that she started to rely on me.”
Perhaps it was the experience of being kidnapped when she was young that brought great stimulation to Ruan Xiaodie’s body and mind. She was extremely insecure.
Once she started to trust Xie Shi’an, this reliance almost reached a morbid state.
She was like a child, living in her own world. She also always asked for comfort and warmth unreasonably, so much so that she often did things that gave Xie Shi’an a headache. For example, she took off her clothes in front of him, climbed into his bed in the middle of the night, and wanted to sleep with him.
Xie Shi’an had spent a lot of time teaching her to change. However, most of the time, she still did not have a sense of distance and could not understand the true meaning of the difference between men and women.
Xie Shi’an was actually not used to Ruan Xiaodie’s child-like dependence on him. However, at the moment, he could only learn to accept it. There was no other way.
Taking good care of Ruan Xiaodie and trying to make her return to a normal person was perhaps the best way he could repay Ruan Xiaoshuang and Ruan Cheng.
“I’m just afraid that she won’t be able to get better…”
Xie Shi’an’s voice was very low, mixed with a bit of depression and worry.
After all, Ruan Xiaodie’s situation was different from Professor Fu’er’s ex-wife, Caroline. Even if Professor Fu’er was willing to treat her, it was still hard to say if she could return to normal.