Tang Youru had awakened.

Even if not fully conscious, at least she could open her eyes!

After more than a month of treatment in HK, using money borrowed from Xia Xiaolan, Yu Li could finally afford the expensive treatment fees. After all, these were top doctors who had treated HK’s wealthy, and getting them to serve just one patient required not only connections but was also very costly! Yu Li stayed by her side in HK, focusing entirely on her mother’s treatment every day… The money wasn’t wasted, and Yu Li’s dedication paid off – Tang Youru’s awakening was a medical anomaly.

“The doctor says her condition will keep improving. She’s awake now, just responding slowly.”

Yu Li’s eyes were red.

When the miracle happened, Yu Li had already had a good cry. When she called Xia Xiaolan, she choked up several times from overwhelming joy.

But at the time, she had scared Xia Xiaolan, who thought Tang Youru’s condition had worsened!

“Being conscious is already wonderful! The rest is just gradual recovery – what’s there to worry about? The hardest times are over. Things will only get better for both you and Auntie.”

Xia Xiaolan had visited Tang Youru in her hospital room.

She was indeed awake.

She could open her eyes to look at people, respond when spoken to, turn her head, and blink, though her speech was still scattered and incoherent, unable to express her meaning.

Moreover, she must have been conscious while comatose. When Xia Xiaolan and Liu Fen appeared, as soon as Yu Li introduced them, Tang Youru became agitated, trying urgently to speak with indistinct sounds.

So Xia Xiaolan felt that besides the expensive treatment, Tang Youru’s own will to live had played a major role.

Who wants to die if they can live?

Tang Youru’s heart was probably quite conflicted – on one hand, feeling her paralysis was a burden on her daughter and that dying in her sleep wouldn’t be so bad, while on the other hand unable to leave her daughter Yu Li alone in the world – at that time, Yu Li hadn’t yet reconnected with Tang Hong’en.

Xia Xiaolan believed Tang Youru’s awakening was partly related to Tang Hong’en.

Tang Hong’en had found the mother and daughter.

The words he spoke at Tang Youru’s bedside, she had been conscious enough to hear them!

This undoubtedly stimulated Tang Youru, strengthening her will to live.

This wasn’t just Xia Xiaolan’s baseless speculation – the doctor treating Tang Youru agreed. Tang Youru had both the desire to live and die; when the weight on the survival side increased, that delicate balance was broken. Combined with effective treatment, this led to Tang Youru’s awakening… Well, when a Western doctor seriously discussed this “balance between life and death” with her, what could Xia Xiaolan say? She could only marvel that some doctors were not only skilled at treating patients but also very conscious about serving their families!

But Tang Youru’s awakening was a fact.

She responded when Liu Fen spoke to her.

Xia Xiaolan was happy for Old Tang, for Little Yu, and especially for Tang Youru herself, who had endured such a difficult fate!

Waking Tang Youru was the primary treatment goal, and now that this had been achieved, the next step was to consolidate treatment to help her develop fluid verbal expression.

The second goal concerned Tang Youru’s paralysis.

Predating her coma, the paralysis resulted from a workplace accident that left her with high-level quadriplegia.

What is high-level quadriplegia?

It’s paralysis caused by complete spinal cord damage above the second thoracic vertebra – everything below the neck basically can’t be controlled!

Tang Youru’s paralysis was caused by external trauma, not by spinal tumors or disease.

With such injuries, even 30 years later, the patient’s prognosis remains very poor. Moreover, too much time had passed since Tang Youru’s injury – nerves that might have been saved originally were now…

The doctor who had awakened Tang Youru wasn’t an expert in this field and naturally couldn’t justify charging such fees.

His recommendation to Xia Xiaolan was to send her to America:

“HK’s basic medical level is good, we can do ‘flying surgeries,’ but the truly cutting-edge medical technology remains in mainland America.”

Xia Xiaolan understood this.

When mainland China barely knew the term DNA, American laboratories could already do paternity tests using DNA technology. Those labs were sponsored by big pharmaceutical companies, investing huge funds annually in developing new drugs… They certainly wouldn’t give away their achievements for free.

Authoritative specialist doctors were the same – the top experts never lacked patients.

Xia Xiaolan was quite wealthy, but her wealth was relative.

Just getting this Western doctor to treat Tang Youru would have been difficult for Xia Xiaolan alone.

– Tang Youru wasn’t awakened by “love” alone!

Seeing Xia Xiaolan starting to think seriously, the doctor added:

“Standing completely is impossible, but with effective treatment, her upper limbs have a chance to recover function. It’s up to you family members to weigh the pros and cons and decide whether to continue investment in treatment.”

Upper limbs?

The difference between quadriplegia and having functioning hands was huge. If Tang Youru’s hands could move, with wheelchair assistance, she would have some self-care ability.

Don’t underestimate this level of self-care – it means living with dignity!

At least maintaining most of her dignity, living with better quality… This was incomparable to having seven or eight nurses care for her.

When Xia Xiaolan heard there was hope for upper limb recovery, she knew Yu Li wouldn’t object.

Honestly, given current average social income levels, owing 10,000 yuan might keep someone awake at night worried, but the pressure difference between owing 1 million or 2 million wasn’t that great – neither could be repaid quickly anyway.

Yu Li also hoped her mother’s paralysis could improve.

“My mom was very skillful with her hands. Before her injury, she not only worked and did housework but also took on extra work at home.”

Yu Li’s eyes were nostalgic.

Her mom could knit sweaters very quickly, and make matchboxes and such – her hands were very dexterous!

Yu Li certainly didn’t hope for her mom to return to making matchboxes after recovery, or even expect those hands to be as skillful as before – she just hoped those arms could lift to hug her.

Give her an embrace.

A mother’s embrace – Yu Li missed it.

Those arms had once held Yu Li while riding the green-skinned train to the capital.

Yu Li sat by the hospital bed, looking at Tang Youru’s face.

“You’ll get better. Uncle has found us, and he’ll come see you soon – you know that, right? You’ve already met Cousin Xiaolan and Aunt – they’re such good people. I feel so lucky to be their relative. But this happiness isn’t complete without you… No matter how good others are, they can’t replace you.”

Tang Youru struggled to open her eyes wide, tears streaming down continuously.

– She wanted to live!