Kang Lianming wasn’t obligated to take care of Kang Wei.
The Kang family elders weren’t obligated to take care of Kang Wei either.
The person who should be taking care of Kang Wei was Xie Yun!
When parents bring children into this world, they have a responsibility to care for them until adulthood. Xie Yun, immersed in her grief, had only been qualified in her role as a lover. Forget being a mother – she hadn’t even fulfilled her duties as a “wife.”
Guan Huie spoke bluntly, and Xie Yun broke down in tears.
The first wake-up call had been when Kang Wei renovated the house.
This was the second awakening, ringing like an alarm in Xie Yun’s ears in the most devastating way. As a mother, she hadn’t been able to protect her son – what right did she have to question others?
“Go ahead and cry. Let it all out.”
Guan Huie crouched down, patting her friend’s shoulder.
This wound had festered for too long. Though the surface had healed, inside it was full of pus and rotting flesh. For true healing to occur, the wound needed to be reopened. The process of squeezing out the pus and cutting away the dead flesh would be painful, but only by facing this pain could Xie Yun stop living like a walking corpse.
All these years, everyone had avoided reopening her wounds, never mentioning Kang Wei’s father in her presence. This had prevented her from moving on.
Xia Xiaolan, Zhou Cheng, and Bai Zhenzhu kept their distance.
The three weren’t completely tactless. Given Xie Yun’s seniority and to avoid future awkwardness, they left the space to Xie Yun and Guan Huie, letting her cry to her heart’s content.
When Kang Lianming and Tang Hongen came out from their private conversation, they saw Xie Yun crying.
Kang Lianming stopped in his tracks.
“Zhou Cheng, you’re taking leave until tomorrow?”
Xia Xiaolan looked at Zhou Cheng in surprise – taking leave until tomorrow? How was that possible?
But Zhou Cheng nodded.
“Tomorrow works, even the day after. I want to watch over Kang Wei through the dangerous period.”
Kang Lianming nodded internally. Who said Kang Wei was useless?
If he were truly useless, Zhou Cheng wouldn’t have bothered with him, let alone become such close friends.
“Let’s head back to the hospital first. Kang Wei might be awake.”
Xia Xiaolan and Zhou Cheng followed Kang Lianming back to the hospital, with Xie Yun and Guan Huie behind them. At the hospital, Xia Xiaolan received a big “surprise” from Xia Dajun. When he suddenly appeared, Xia Xiaolan didn’t seem very surprised.
“Xiaolan!”
Xia Dajun called out to her from his wheelchair.
In just a year, he was no longer the farmer from Dahe Village.
The rusticity had faded from Xia Dajun’s appearance. His skin was dark, his muscles robust – looking at his appearance alone, he fit Western beauty standards quite well.
Xia Xiaolan was only slightly surprised. After all, Du Zhaohui was a true villain, something she’d long known. True villains might have the upper hand against hypocrites, but when facing normal people, they always complicate simple matters.
It wasn’t just Du Zhaohui – the Ji family had the same problem!
Since Xia Dajun worked for Du Zhaohui, how could Young Master Du not parade him around? Capitalists calculated every bit of profit carefully – having paid Xia Dajun a salary, they would certainly want to maximize his use.
Xia Xiaolan thought Du Zhaohui was being too clever for his good.
Had Young Master Du not listened to what she’d said?
She and Xia Dajun had no father-daughter bond – if he stayed out of her sight, she’d treat him with a stranger’s indifference. If he appeared before her, she’d regard him with an enemy’s disgust!
Kang Lianming was present, Zhou Cheng was present, and Guan Huie supporting Xie Yun would soon catch up. At this moment, Xia Dajun called out to her.
Xia Xiaolan paused briefly. Zhou Cheng wondered who this person was.
Xia Xiaolan’s face was swollen, her hand wrapped in bandages. At first glance, Xia Dajun thought she looked quite pitiful, but her distant expression towards him made him angry.
What did this mean – not even recognizing her father?!
“Xiaolan, are you pretending not to know me?”
Xia Dajun’s voice carried hurt. In front of so many people, Xia Xiaolan’s cold attitude made him lose face.
“No, Mr. Xia, of course, I recognize you. I’m just surprised to see you here. Did Du Zhaohui frantically bring you from Hong Kong thinking he could influence me through you? Mr. Xia, you must not have explained our relationship clearly to Du Zhaohui. Since you divorced my mother, only our surname remains as a connection between us.”
So this man in the wheelchair was Xia Xiaolan’s father, Xia Dajun!
Every family has its difficulties. Kang Lianming only knew that Xia Xiaolan’s parents were divorced and that her father worked for Du Zhaohui in Hong Kong. Du Zhaohui had moved surprisingly quickly to bring Xia Dajun here.
Worried that staying would make Xia Xiaolan uncomfortable, Kang Lianming nodded and headed to Kang Wei’s room alone.
Zhou Cheng stood in front of Xia Xiaolan: “So it’s him?”
This was the man who had been blindly filial, and violent, favoring his niece, watching as rumors drove Xiaolan to attempt suicide… With Xiaolan’s strong personality, how desperate must she have been to consider suicide?
If someone had been there to support Xiaolan, she wouldn’t have taken that step.
Where was this man then? Despite his robust build, he hadn’t protected Xiaolan at all!
Xia Dajun gripped his wheelchair handles tightly. Xiaolan calling him “Mr. Xia” in public infuriated him. She casually brought up his divorce from Liu Fen, seemingly intent on trampling his dignity. Family shame shouldn’t be aired in public, but Xiaolan was determined to destroy his face.
And that young man beside Xiaolan – this must be her boyfriend that Young Master Du mentioned?
This man showed no respect, none of the attitude a junior should have!
“Yes, it’s him. Du Zhaohui really won’t give up.”
Zhou Cheng agreed with the situation.
Xia Dajun wanted to shower his cheap “fatherly love,” and his timing was too obvious – he was acting as Du Zhaohui’s messenger.
“You truly serve your master faithfully! But the timing isn’t quite right… don’t you think? Mr. Xia, believe me, Xiaolan treating you as a stranger is her greatest mercy.”
Both were ice-cold. Xia Dajun, full of frustration, wanted to explode, but remembering Du Zhaohui’s instructions, he suppressed his anger.
Young Master Du was smarter than him; he should follow his instructions.
“I don’t blame Xiaolan for hating me. I was wrong before, but I’m trying to change. When Young Master Du said Xiaolan was in Pengcheng, I came from Hong Kong just to see her. Xiaolan, I’m sorry for wronging you and your mother, for making you suffer. I learned about you getting into university from TV. This is my saved-up salary – it should be enough for your university education… if it’s not enough, I’ll save more.”
Xia Dajun pulled out a bulging, unsealed envelope from the side of his wheelchair.
Colorful Hong Kong dollars, the thickness suggesting at least ten thousand.
He held out the envelope, drawing attention from many in the hospital. An elderly man passing by with an IV drip volunteered what he thought was fair: “What grudge between father and daughter can’t be resolved? Take it – your father is truly repentant.”