48. Can I still see Dad?
It’s exactly eight o’clock in the evening.
The medication drips slowly through the transparent tube, and the ward is surprisingly quiet.
Under the pale light, even the rhythmic dripping of the IV is clearly audible.
The sky has completely darkened.
Jiang Zhi silently yawned, lowering her head, struggling to keep her eyelids open as she looked at her phone. On the screen was a message that Su Yan had just sent her.
Yan: Still follow me.
Yan: ✌️✌️✌️.
… This childish person.
Jiang Zhi rolled her eyes, her drowsiness dissipating significantly. She inwardly expressed disdain for Su Yan’s words and actions, and then silently sent back an emoji.
Zhi: 👎.
Yan: What does that mean? You’ve got no profile picture on WeChat, are you using a secondary account to brush me off?
Zhi: Does it matter to you?
Jiang Zhi thought to herself that using a secondary account to add him was already giving him face. She was too lazy to argue with Su Yan further, and after that, no matter what he sent, she ignored him.
Turning off her phone, Jiang Zhi refocused her gentle gaze on the little girl, Qian Qian, lying in the hospital bed.
Look, look!
This fair little face, sparkling big eyes, delicate nose, and cute lips—how could she not have taken after her mother?
Her child’s father must be blind, right?
She really didn’t know what charm that person had to make her future self fall for him so completely. Did he have some kind of hypnosis app?
Just like in the comics.
Eww～ yuck yuck yuck 🤮……
Jiang Zhi immediately felt goosebumps all over, and her sleepiness vanished completely. She opened her writing software, attempting to distract herself by typing.
It’s worth mentioning that her novel’s performance has been getting better lately.
What’s that saying?
When God shuts a door, He opens a window. Jiang Zhi lost her job but gained a continuous flow of inspiration.
Okay, to put it simply.
She basically used her personal experience, with a sprinkle of embellishment, to open a new book.
Initially, she was just writing for fun, but it turned out that the combination of cute kids and a romance with her future wife was particularly attractive, and the data soared.
As for the previous book she had been writing, it was also doing well, so of course, she didn’t want to give it up.
Writing both was certainly exhausting, but the double pay compensated for that; after all, who would complain about earning less money?
Certainly not someone like her who needed to support a child.
Just right, she had been relatively free during this time.
So, before summer vacation ends, Jiang Zhi planned to diligently finish that book, so she could devote more energy to her new one.
Sigh.
Raising a child is not easy…
The comfortable, laid-back life she once had was now becoming increasingly distant from Jiang Zhi.
More than an hour later.
After typing the last period, Jiang Zhi lifted her head, feeling a stiffness and pain in her neck, her gaze somewhat unfocused on the IV stand above.
This was the last drip.
Finally, she could go home.
The thought made Jiang Zhi breathe a sigh of relief.
She really didn’t like the hospital, even if she wasn’t the one getting the injection, after staying too long, she always felt a heaviness pressing on her chest.
If she could avoid coming in the future, she would rather not.
Yawning again, Jiang Zhi called over the nurse and gently woke up Qian Qian.
She knew her daughter’s temperament well, so seizing the moment while Qian Qian was still sleepy, Jiang Zhi hurriedly shouted to the nearby nurse:
“Auntie, now, please!”
“Woohoo!!!”
The sound that seemed capable of breaking through the heavens—ahem, crying—suddenly echoed in the ward.
The little girl hadn’t even had time to get angry before the tears came, pleading, “Woohoo, don’t pull it out, Qian Qian will lose her hand! Mommy, save me, save me, it hurts, it hurts!!”
Qian Qian!
You need to hang in there!
Jiang Zhi turned her face away, biting her lower lip, not allowing herself to see the scene that pained her heart… Sorry, daughter, but Mommy is also scared of needles!
——————
In the night, under the moonlight, by the streetlight.
There was a pair of mother and daughter—mother exceptionally beautiful and fresh, daughter adorably tearful. The big and the small strolled along the sidewalk.
Two pieces of bad news.
The first piece of bad news: Today has been truly unlucky, there were no taxis at the hospital entrance.
Can you believe it?
There were actually no taxis at the hospital entrance? Some unscrupulous authors really treat readers like fools, but the real life is much more honest!
The second piece of bad news: Her phone ran out of battery.
The consequence of being out of power was that she couldn’t even call for a ride using the app, and she could only hope to spot a taxi at the next intersection; until then, she could only walk.
And Sister Jiang.
Sister Jiang said she had something to do at the coffee shop and left first. If she hadn’t left, Jiang Zhi thought she could’ve told her about Principal Wang’s matter.
She felt it would be better to discuss such things in person.
So she had to wait until their next meeting.
“Mommy is naughty!”
A sweet voice interrupted Jiang Zhi’s thoughts.
Su Ziqian, wiping her tears, followed behind Jiang Zhi: “Pulling out the needle hurt so bad! Qian Qian is crying, Mommy, you just let me die!”
Is that how you use “let me die”?
Jiang Zhi’s expression darkened, thinking that her child definitely inherited her father’s intelligence, which she would grudgingly attribute to Su Yan; he must be delighted.
She sighed, rummaged through her bag, pulled out a tissue, and handed it over:
“Stop crying, sweetheart.”
“Hmph!”
The little girl pouted and turned her head away but still obediently took the tissue and vigorously blew her nose.
With the tissue balled up in her hand, she raised her tearful eyes and asked in a muffled voice: “Mommy, where did Daddy go?”
How did he just disappear after she woke up?
She still had so many things she wanted to tell Daddy.
Like how Mommy is getting younger, Mommy’s sickness is better, Mommy’s cooking tastes worse, and how Mommy always snores and kicks the blankets when she sleeps!
After finally seeing Daddy, she wanted to spend more time with him…
No, she wanted to be with Daddy forever! A family should be together!
“Su…” Jiang Zhi’s words got stuck in her throat, and she quickly changed the subject: Your dad? He’s been really busy lately, you know how it is with big stars.”
“But wasn’t Daddy retired?”
Jiang Zhi maintained her composure: “He made a comeback.”
Her lie flowed smoothly without her eyelids batting.
She was particularly gifted at deceiving children—when it comes to coaxing kids, three parts rely on acting skills, and seven parts rely on a thick face. She was different; she was shameless.
“Oh.”
Qian Qian really believed it. She lowered her head to fiddle with the corner of the tissue, her tone laced with disappointment: “Then does that mean I won’t see Daddy for a long time again…?”
Why do Daddy and Mommy have to take turns not being able to be with her?
It was Mommy before, and now it’s Daddy.
Jiang Zhi looked at the sadness on Qian Qian’s face and felt a pang in her heart. She gently stroked Qian Qian’s head, speaking softly: “What are you thinking?”
“Your dad just made a comeback, he hasn’t passed away, don’t worry. How about this, I’ll get him to come and see you tomorrow… if he doesn’t come, I’ll make him regret it.”
The last sentence was said with genuine feeling.
“Really?”
“Really.”
Qian Qian suddenly stopped walking, her little shoes dragging on the ground: “My feet hurt a lot… I can’t walk anymore…”
“…”
The next intersection was still a ways away, but Jiang Zhi didn’t hesitate too much. She squatted down, patted her back: “Then hop on.”
“Yay! Mommy is the best!”
Qian Qian climbed up onto Jiang Zhi’s back, burying her face in her mother’s gently fragrant hair: “Mommy, I’m really hungry.”
“I’m hungry too.”
They had both been hungry all day.
“Qian Qian wants fried chicken!”
“You, an invalid, still want fried chicken? When we get home, I’ll cook you some plain noodles instead.”
Jiang Zhi laughed at her own words. She thought to herself that she was indeed a mess, saying it as if she could actually cook fried chicken.
