No child is filial enough to take care of their parents if they have been bedridden for a long time.When Sheng Jiaoyang arrived at the ward again, the caretaker was the only one inside.
The large crowd that visited in the morning seemed like they came just for show.
Sheng Jiaoyang sat down beside the bed. She didn"t know what to feel as she looked at Sheng Xun"s old and haggard face.
"Are you not planning to wake up?"
Looking at his phone with his head bowed down, the caretaker was startled by Sheng Jiaoyang"s words to Sheng Xun. He looked up, only to see a calm expression on her face. And yet, he felt that although Sheng Jiaoyang was not outwardly showing it, she must be feeling the most upset deep down compared to the other family members of the patient.
Sheng Jiaoyang retrieved a notebook from her bag. She turned over the pages while saying, "Didn"t you want to read this diary?"
"Grandfather is correct. If you don"t grasp the opportunity to do some things while you can, you would certainly regret it when you lose the chance to do so. Since you don"t want to wake up, I will read out the diary entries to you." She seemed to be talking to herself.
Starting from page 1, she read the entries, page by page, in a slow and steady tone.
Even the caretaker, who was previously engrossed in his phone, started to listen attentively.
Footsteps could be heard from the doorway, and the sound was gradually getting closer.
The voice narrating the diary stopped abruptly as well.
Sheng Jiaoyang turned her head around. When she saw that it was Shen Zhining, her tense facial expression gradually became relaxed.
"It"s getting late. Let"s go home." Shen Zhining walked to her side and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
She looked over her shoulder one last time at the motionless Sheng Xun, before she closed the diary and got up.
"I"ll come and see you again tomorrow," Sheng Jiaoyang said to Sheng Xun.
She didn"t care if Sheng Xun could hear her words. She just finished what she wanted to say before leaving the ward with Shen Zhining.
"Even during the time when I harboured many grievances against him, I never wanted him to die." Sheng Jiaoyang peered out of the car window to look at the hospital, which was rapidly fading out of sight.
"Everyone has to die eventually. Perhaps, this is a kind of relief for him," Shen Zhining said a few words to comfort her.
Sheng Jiaoyang let out a long sigh.
This was probably one of the most important reasons why humans needed a partner. Having a partner is not for the sake of carrying on the family line, but to have somebody to support you and encourage you to carry on with life when faced with the pain of losing your loved ones.
Back at home, Grandfather Yang was still awake, even though it was late at night. He was looking through a photo alb.u.m.
When he noticed that Sheng Jiaoyang was back, he greeted her without even lifting his head. "You"re back?"
"Grandfather, what are you looking at? Sheng Jiaoyang walked over.
"Old photos."
Sheng Jiaoyang walked over and quietly snuggled up to Grandfather Yang. Then, she browsed the pictures together with him.
"This was taken when you were three years old. Your mother secretly took it while you were drawing. And this was taken by your mother when you were riding on your father"s back…" Grandfather Yang pointed and described each photo.
Sheng Jiaoyang looked at the alb.u.m of photos that recorded her happiest moments in life and didn"t know what to feel.
After flipping through the alb.u.m, Grandfather Yang looked at Sheng Jiaoyang and asked, "How"s Sheng Xun doing?"
"He"s still unconscious. The doctor said he might end up sleeping forever, just like that." What the doctor meant was "death".
Grandfather Yang went silent for a moment before he sighed and told Sheng Jiaoyang to head up to rest.
After was.h.i.+ng up, Sheng Jiaoyang lied down in bed, and couldn"t help but think of the sight of Sheng Xun, lying on the hospital bed.
While feeling upset and distracted, she received an international phone call from Lina.
"Jiaojiao, are you asleep yet? Am I disturbing you?" Lina"s voice came over the phone.
"Not yet. I can"t sleep," Sheng Jiaoyang said dully.
"Even you can suffer from insomnia? What"s troubling you lately?"
"Mei Niu, my… father is going to die."
There was a brief pause. Then, Lina asked, "What? Wasn"t he still doing okay previously? You even mentioned that he bid for your painting not too long ago."
"Yeah, but now… he has late stage liver cancer."
"…Try not to be so hard on yourself."
"Yeah."
Sheng Jiaoyang sat up, leaned against the bed, and changed the subject. "Have you been busy?"
"Jiaojiao, I think…" There was a sudden pause, and the conversation stopped awkwardly.
"What"s wrong?"
"Nothing. Haha, I just want to say I miss you, but it sounded so cheesy, so I decided not to say it."
Sheng Jiaoyang let out a chuckle. She thought Lina was intentionally trying to cheer her up and couldn"t help but teased, "Well, you don"t have to tell me that, just tell that to your George."
Lina laughed, but her laughter didn"t seem as bright as before. Sheng Jiaoyang wasn"t sure if it was because her voice got distorted over the phone.
"Didn"t you say that you wanted to have a baby soon? Did you call me out of the blue because you have good news to tell me?"
"We might have to delay the plan for a baby by a year or two."
Sheng Jiaoyang raised her eyebrows. "Why? Did you accept an offer to appear in a blockbuster movie?"
"Nah, George"s company ran into some troubles. We"ve decided not to have a baby for the time being, and will make plans again after everything is resolved."
"Trouble? Is it very serious? Do you need my help?"
"No worries, it"s just a small financial problem. We can resolve it."
"Well, if there"s anything I can do for you, be sure to say so."
"Sure. It"s also getting late over there, so go and rest soon. Let"s chat on another day."
After hanging up, Sheng Jiaoyang stared at her handphone. She had this inkling that something was amiss, but she couldn"t put it into words. Hence, she decided to just not think about it any further.
She lied down and tried to sleep. But even with her eyes closed, she couldn"t fall asleep. As expected, she was suffering from insomnia.
Hence, she sent a message to Shen Zhining: I can"t sleep.
There was no reply. Even after waiting for quite some time, there was still no reply.
Sheng Jiaoyang was a little upset, and she thought that Shen Zhining was already asleep.
Knock knock knock. There was a light rasping sound on the door.
At first, Sheng Jiaoyang thought it was her hallucination. She threw her phone to the side and flipped to another posture to see if she could fall asleep. But then, she heard three more knocks on the door.
There were only a few of them in the house. Grandfather must have fallen asleep by now. If An Jing isn"t the one knocking the door, then it could only be Aunt Zhang.
Sheng Jiaoyang went to open the door, and she was about to ask what the matter was when she saw Shen Zhining standing outside.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
Shen Zhining was in his pajamas, with just a coat draped over it. He stepped forward, hooked an arm around Sheng Jiaoyang"s waist, and closed the door behind him. He looked down at Sheng Jiaoyang and said with total seriousness, "The reason for your insomnia is that you lack a human pillow, so here I am."
After hearing his words, Sheng Jiaoyang felt warmth in her heart.
"Thank you for coming, Mr. Pillow," she replied in a serious tone too.
Shen Zhining casually put his coat on the hanger. Then, hugging Sheng Jiaoyang by the waist, he led her towards the bed.
With a warm body beside her, Sheng Jiaoyang was able to lean towards him and bury her face in the hollow of his neck. She placed her hand on his waist and smelled the woody scent from his shampoo. She instantly felt more relaxed.
Sure enough, she was lacking a human pillow…
These words flashed through Sheng Jiaoyang"s mind before she fell asleep.
The couple fell asleep, but someone else didn"t.
In an apartment somewhere else, the lights were still lit in the main hall.
Sheng s.h.i.+yun was yelling into her phone, "How are you unable to find a person that huge?"
"We have looked at every place he might have gone to, but we really couldn"t find him," said the man on the phone.
"Since you didn"t manage to find him, then you can forget about the remaining payment!" Bang! Sheng s.h.i.+yun threw the phone onto the ground.
"Don"t take it out on your handphone even if you want to vent your anger," Liang Xiaohui, who was seated opposite her, said.
Sheng s.h.i.+yun had a twisted and ugly expression on her face. "I don"t want to take out my anger on the phone either, but all of them only know how to take my money, but can"t deliver any results. I really want to kill them all!"
"They can"t find the paparazzo?"
Upon hearing the word "paparazzo", Sheng s.h.i.+yun"s face turned even darker. She wanted to smash something, but she had already destroyed her handphone, so she took the cus.h.i.+ons on the sofa and threw them onto the ground in frustration. Then, she said angrily, “That b.a.s.t.a.r.d took 100 grand from me, and promised me that he would disseminate the video after recording it. Now, I can"t even find him at all. He should have at least sent that video to me!”
"Could the other party have bought his silence by giving him more money?”
That was a real possibility. The paparazzo could have used the video to blackmail Sheng Jiaoyang, gotten more money, and ran off so that Sheng s.h.i.+yun wouldn"t find trouble with him.
Sheng s.h.i.+yun"s face was horribly dark and twisted. Anyone would feel the pain when a large sum of money had been thrown away without any returns.
"A video like that doesn"t prove anything. You have to come up with a harsher plot," said Liang Xiaohui.
"Mother, what should I do?"
Liang Xiaohui pondered for a moment. "Think of a way to appear before her. Be sure to get someone to standby at the side ahead of time, so that the person can take a video. Then, slap her, and she will definitely retaliate. You will then have the footage of her slapping you. After that, use your ident.i.ty to announce to the world that she is an illegitimate daughter. People would surely stand on your side.”
Sheng s.h.i.+yun"s eyes brightened up and nodded in agreement, "Okay, this will do."
"Her popularity can even be my stepping stone. How could a daughter of a mistress arrogantly slap the daughter of the legal wife? Let"s see who would like her then! I"m sure I"ll get viral from this!" Sheng s.h.i.+yun was pleased. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that the plan was perfect.
"By the way, don"t do it in the ward. That scheming b.i.t.c.h installed CCTVs in the ward," Liang Xiaohui reminded Sheng s.h.i.+yun. Now, whenever she thought back to the events of that day, she felt like vomiting blood. She was never such an impetuous person, but there was so much hatred in her heart that it took over her rational side, causing her to act only for the sake of temporary satisfaction.
Sheng s.h.i.+yun"s mood calmed down a little with the newly devised plan. She switched on the television as she wanted to watch some entertainment before heading to bed. She hadn"t expected to see a familiar face the moment the television screen was switched on.
On the screen, a woman, dressed in gorgeous and elaborate robes, was looking down at the person being forced onto her knees by two old women. She had a look of disdain as she shot a glance at another woman, who was seated on the seat near her bottom right. Then, she said, "Consort Jin, your servant stole from my palace. How should she be punished?"
The remote control on Sheng s.h.i.+yun"s hand flew directly towards the television screen. Clank! Cracks appeared on the screen, and Sheng s.h.i.+yun ruthlessly said, "Xu Jiaojiao, I will drag you down from that high ladder and get others to spurn you to death!”Previous ChapterNext Chapter