Chapter 275: Chapter 274: Your Abacus Beads Are Practically Hitting Me in the Face

"Qianqian."

Zhang Qian seemed to hear Xue Xingzhou’s voice and lifted her head in a daze.

Seeing her like this, Xue Xingzhou’s heart ached.

He stood in front of Zhang Qian, placed his hand on her hair, and gently stroked it.

"I’ll go back with you. Dad will be fine. I’m here."

Tears welled in Zhang Qian’s eyes, and she leaned her head weakly against Xue Xingzhou’s chest.

Xue Xingzhou simply stood there, supporting her.

Two days later, they finally arrived in Black Province. After getting off the train, they rushed to the hospital.

Once at the hospital, they asked for directions at the nurses’ station and found the room.

"Mom."

The moment Huang Ying saw Zhang Qian, tears streamed down her face.

"Qianqian, you’re finally back."

"How’s Dad?"

Zhang Qian walked over to her father, who was lying in the hospital bed.

Zhang Hongjie lay on the bed, eyes closed, an oxygen mask on his face. He was hooked up to a monitor, and his lips were pale.

Seeing this, the tears Zhang Qian had been holding back finally fell. She gripped Zhang Hongjie’s hand.

Her voice choked with tears, "Dad... Dad— I’m Qianqian. I’m back."

Xue Xingzhou walked to the bedside and watched.

After a couple of minutes, he finally asked about Zhang Hongjie’s condition.

Zhang Qian said, "I never heard about Dad feeling unwell before. How could he suddenly get so critical?"

Huang Ying shook her head. "When I called you, your father had just gone into surgery. His colleagues from the bureau brought him in. I was in such a panic that I didn’t explain it clearly. Your dad isn’t sick; he was stabbed twice in the stomach by a criminal suspect."

Zhang Qian’s heart tightened as she glanced at her father.

"So what’s his condition now?"

Huang Ying, her eyes red, shook her head. "He’s been lying here like this ever since he came out of surgery. He hasn’t woken up."

Xue Xingzhou said to Zhang Qian, "I’ll go find the doctor and ask about his condition."

Zhang Qian nodded.

After Xue Xingzhou left, Zhang Qian asked Huang Ying, "Didn’t you call my brother?"

Huang Ying said, "I did. I called him at the same time I called you."

Zhang Qian glanced around. "Then where are they?"

Huang Ying shook her head and said in a low voice, "They’re not back yet."

Zhang Qian said, "We’ve come all the way from Beijing City, and they still haven’t arrived. Is the provincial capital that far away?"

Huang Ying took Zhang Qian’s hand. "Your brother must have been delayed by something."

Zhang Qian sneered, "Just keep making excuses for them. Dad is in this state. What could possibly be more important than his life?"

Huang Ying sighed and didn’t try to defend Zhang Hui any further. She was truly disappointed too. Heaven knows how she had gotten through the past two days alone at the hospital, terrified and worried. She had expected Zhang Hui and his wife to be the first to arrive, but after waiting for two days, it was Zhang Qian and her husband who came back.

After Xue Xingzhou returned from the doctor’s office, Zhang Qian was sitting by the bed, watching her father.

"What did the doctor say?"

"He said the heart wasn’t injured, but other organs were damaged. There was too much blood loss. The reason he hasn’t woken up could be due to insufficient blood supply to the brain or prolonged oxygen deprivation."

"Then when will Dad wake up?"

Xue Xingzhou shook his head. "If Dad doesn’t wake up in the next two days, he could become... a vegetable."

Zhang Qian paused, then tightened her grip on her father’s hand.

She mumbled, "Dad, don’t scare me. You have to wake up."

Zhang Qian felt her tears spiraling out of control, and a sense of panic filled her heart.

Xue Xingzhou stayed in the room for a little while before going out to buy food.

They hadn’t eaten much on the train, especially Zhang Qian, who couldn’t stomach anything.

When he returned with the food, Huang Ying ate some as well. It was her first meal since the previous afternoon.

After they ate, Xue Xingzhou urged Huang Ying to go home, wash up, and get some rest. Huang Ying looked exhausted, and Xue Xingzhou was afraid she would collapse too.

Huang Ying was truly at her limit and didn’t refuse.

In the afternoon, colleagues from the bureau came to see Zhang Hongjie.

Xue Xingzhou asked about what had happened.

Liu Chunming was full of apology. "I share some of the blame for this. We knew the suspect might be armed. We split up to pursue him, but somehow Mentor ended up encountering him alone."

"Did you catch him?"

Liu Chunming nodded. "Mentor was stabbed once, but he held on to the suspect and wouldn’t let go. The guy stabbed him again. When we got there, Mentor was still holding on to him."

Recalling the scene now, Liu Chunming was still deeply shocked. He felt a heartfelt admiration for him.

Zhang Hui and Zhao Yunyun arrived the next morning.

When they entered the room and saw Zhang Qian and Xue Xingzhou were also there, Zhang Hui guiltily rubbed the back of his neck.

Then he saw Zhang Hongjie in the bed and finally started asking about his father’s condition.

Huang Ying briefly explained.

Zhang Hui was in disbelief. "A vegetable? How could it be this serious? I thought..."

Zhang Qian stared at him, her face devoid of expression. "You thought what? That Mom called you as a joke?"

Zhang Hui explained, "No, I just mean I didn’t expect it to be this serious." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Zhang Qian sneered, "So that’s why you only rushed back now. If I didn’t know you were just in the provincial capital, I would’ve thought you were out of the country."

Zhao Yunyun pursed her lips and said to Zhang Qian, "Listen to you. It’s as if you two are the only filial ones. We work for other people; it’s not that easy to get time off."

Afraid they would start arguing again, Huang Ying quickly tugged on Zhang Qian’s arm.

"Alright, it’s good that you’re back."

Seeing that her father still showed no signs of waking, Zhang Qian fell silent.

In the afternoon, Zhang Hui and Zhao Yunyun went out. They were gone for a long time and came back with some fruit.

Back in the hospital room, everyone sat in silence.

Zhao Yunyun suddenly broke the silence, saying to Huang Ying, "Mom, if Dad really doesn’t wake up, what will you do?"

Huang Ying didn’t process the words at first and just stared at her blankly.

Zhang Qian turned her head to look at Zhao Yunyun and asked coldly, "What do you mean, ’what will she do’?"

Zhao Yunyun said, "You’ve been to the apartment your brother and I have in the provincial capital. It’s so small. It’s fine for our family of three, but if we take Mom in, there won’t be enough room."

Then, perhaps sensing Zhang Qian’s displeased glare, she continued to explain, "It’s really not that we don’t want to take care of Mom. The apartment is just too small. Otherwise... we could sell the house in our hometown, and we could use the money to get a bigger place in the provincial capital. That way, we could take Mom in, and she could even help us cook, clean the house... and enjoy a comfortable life."

This time, Zhang Qian was so angry she laughed.

"Dad is still breathing, and you’re already eagerly making arrangements for after he’s gone. You make it sound so nice—sell the family home to get a bigger place for yourselves, have Mom move in with you to ’enjoy a comfortable life’ by cooking and cleaning for you. Just listen to yourselves. I can practically hear the beads of your abacus clacking in my face."

Zhang Qian turned to her brother.

"Zhang Hui, is this what you think too?"