Chapter 226: He knelt on one knee and embraced her

Lin Shutong nodded again.

The doctor said it was already off‑hours, so he only wrote a prescription and told her to come another day.

The abdominal pain just now might have been caused by emotional changes; to be safe, she should get a full checkup as soon as possible—this is responsible to the expectant mother, and even more so to the baby.

Lin Shutong said she would come tomorrow.

She returned home, still wondering how to tell her parents about this; if she said it directly, they would surely be angry.

Thus, Lin Shutong entered the house clutching her stomach.

Lin Fu and Lin Mu saw her suddenly return, startled for a moment, then seeing her clutching her stomach with an uncomfortable expression, their first reaction was: "Your maternal grandfather knows you're pregnant and had you abort? For such a big matter, why didn't you call Mom and Dad to come with you to the hospital?"

"Even if you came back alone, I knew your maternal grandfather would be ruthless when it comes to matters that affect his face." Lin Mu said affectionately, quickly wrapping her daughter in a blanket and having her husband shut all the windows.

Lin Fu looked at his daughter's pained expression, feeling awful himself, always feeling heartache, yet he said: "It would be fine if the child were aborted."

Lin Shutong's expression was as if she had eaten feces.

"Dad, Mom, I didn't abort; I just have a stomachache."

Lin Fu and Lin Mu's faces changed, they fell silent for a moment, then quickly became concerned, asking what had happened and whether she had gone to the hospital.

Lin Shutong: "The doctor said it was due to emotional fluctuations. Dad, Mom, I made my maternal grandfather angry, and my aunt also told me to get out of the Ji family."

Based on her parents' reaction just now, she didn't dare say she had been sued—110 million, oh…

Lin Shutong couldn't help doubting whether it really was that much.

She spends money like water, and she has no impression of it.

Moreover, how did Jiang Lai's lawyer come up with that figure? Even if sued, she could still appeal to the second instance, right?

Lin Shutong seemed to see a glimmer of hope again.

Meanwhile.

Jiang Lai and Ke Zhongyu, sitting in the hospital ward, held a brief online meeting with Zhong Poqian.

Jiang Lai also raised the issue of appeal, and brought up court mediation.

Zhong Poqian chuckled: "Dr. Jiang, rest assured—we spent so much time early on gathering evidence and perfecting the evidence chain precisely to skip the evidence‑gathering stage in court, avoid mediation and the defendant's appeal, and not waste time on that."

"I have always greatly admired Mr. Ke's principle: if you don't act, you don't act; but if you act, you put the opponent in a dead end."

Jiang Lai glanced at the composed Ke Zhongyu.

Ke Zhongyu: "Huh? Not right?"

Jiang Lai nodded: "Quite right."

The video call ended, and it was already late.

Jiang Lai wanted to stay in the hospital to accompany Ping'an, and Secretary Cen said she would also stay.

Actually, it wouldn't be appropriate to leave the two girls in the hospital, but Ping'an only speaks to Jiang Lai.

Secretary Cen stayed because she didn't want Jiang Lai to be alone.

This county town is a bit more prosperous than the previous one, and the hotel conditions are much better; Ke Zhongyu and Chi Ce walked into the hotel.

Chi Ce noticed Ke Zhongyu's fatigue and urged: "Take a shower, get a good night's sleep; if you don't sleep well, how will you keep an eye on Jiang Lai tomorrow? Those two definitely won't sleep well where they are."

Ke Zhongyu followed the doctor's orders, took a hot shower and then went to bed to rest.

The last time she fell asleep that quickly was after Jiang Lai devised her "Special Forces Business Trip Schedule" for her.

She went to sleep early, and woke up early.

Ke Zhongyu woke at 4 a. m.; in winter the days are short and nights long, and the sky was still pitch black.

Thinking of Jiang Lai sleeping on the narrow camp bed, he got up, finished washing up, and drove to the hospital.

Jiang Lai was dreaming.

An extraordinarily realistic nightmare.

She dreamed that she and Ke Zhongyu rushed to the special school, learned that Ping'an had fallen from the building, hurried to the hospital, and all that awaited was the bolt‑from‑the‑blue surgical failure.

Ping'an was pushed out.

Covered in blood.

Her face was deathly pale; she kept clutching the Ping'an talisman and her phone watch tightly, with not a breath left.

She did not kill Bo Ren, but Bo Ren really died because of her.

Her blood felt as if it had been drained in an instant, and it took a while before she reacted.

She reached out to touch Ping'an's face, opened her mouth to shout Ping'an's name, but discovered she could not make a sound.

No matter how she shouted, she could not produce a sound.

No matter how much force she used, no matter how hard she strained her throat, she could not shout Ping'an's name.

She was frantic.

Ke Zhongyu embraced her, holding her tightly, shouting her name in her ear and comforting her, saying it was all right.

Her body kept falling downward.

Ke Zhongyu also crouched down, one knee on the ground.

She pounded Ke Zhongyu's back, unable even to shout his name.

Tears smeared her face and flowed into her mouth.

"Jiang Lai, Jiang Lai?" Ke Zhongyu called again; she tried to open her mouth, but could not utter a sound.

Especially as she watched Ping'an being pushed toward the mortuary, helpless.

She wanted to say: "Ke Zhongyu, Ke Zhongyu… Ping'an, Ping'an…"

"Jiang Lai, wake up, Jiang Lai…" Ke Zhongyu, having arrived at the hospital, saw Jiang Lai trapped in the nightmare, her face streaked with tears.

Secretary Cen also woke, standing nervously to the side.

Ke Zhongyu bent over, lightly patted Jiang Lai's face, and continued calling her name.

Finally.

Jiang Lai opened her eyes, full of tears.

Ke Zhongyu was right before her eyes, overlapping with a scene from her dream.

For a moment she couldn't tell whether it was a dream or reality, and, continuing as in the dream, she sat up and threw her arms around Ke Zhongyu.

"Ke Zhongyu..."

She realized she could make a sound.

"Ke Zhongyu, Ping'an, don't let them take Ping'an away, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's all my fault, it's all my fault, Ke Zhongyu, it's all my fault..."

Jiang Lai burst into tears, her voice choking uncontrollably.

Secretary Cen was also worried, but seeing the two embraced, she silently got up and left.

Ke Zhongyu slowly raised his hand, paused half a second, then embraced Jiang Lai, gently patting her back, lowering his voice: "Jiang Lai, you were just dreaming."

"It was a dream."

"No one took Ping'an away; Ping'an's surgery was successful, and he is sleeping soundly in the hospital bed."

Jiang Lai choked back tears.

"It's okay, it was a dream; do you want to get up and check on Ping'an?"

Jiang Lai let go of him; her tear-filled eyes in the night shone brightly as she looked around, gradually pulling herself out of the nightmare.

"It was a dream..." she murmured softly.

Ke Zhongyu repeated: "It was a dream."

Jiang Lai asked: "And Ping'an?"

Ke Zhongyu pointed to the hospital bed: "There."

Jiang Lai swung her legs over, barefoot, no shoes, and the cold floor made her even more awake.

Approaching the hospital bed, she saw Ping'an still asleep.

Jiang Lai's tears surged again; everything in the dream felt too real.

Ke Zhongyu came to her side: "Look at the electrocardiogram."

Jiang Lai turned her head.

The electrocardiogram's readings were normal.

At that moment Jiang Lai finally believed she had been dreaming.

Fortunately it was only a dream.

Ke Zhongyu lifted the chair behind her and said in a low voice: "Sit."

Jiang Lai sat down accordingly.

Ke Zhongyu bent over, placed her shoes by her feet, grabbed her ankle with one hand, as if to put her shoes on.

His scorching palm touched her icy ankle, and Jiang Lai's foot jerked back.

"Don't move." Ke Zhongyu glanced at her.

Jiang Lai lowered her gaze, staring blankly at the man crouched beside her feet.

In the dream, he had knelt on one knee and embraced her.