Chapter 51: Out of all the people in the world, only she shattered his barren heart

Director's office.

Director Zhang looked at Meng Shutang, "Miss Meng, we have discussed your mother's condition many times.

We will do everything we can to save her, but we also hope you are mentally prepared."

Meng Shutang froze in place, staring at Director Zhang, while a roar rang in her ears.

She was clearly standing, yet for some reason she felt as if she had fallen to the bottom of a valley, unable even to cry.

Director Zhang placed the critical condition notice on the table before Meng Shutang, handed her a pen, and said, "This is the surgical informed consent form; if you have no objections, sign your name here."

Meng Shutang looked at the dense text on the table, her mind crystal clear: only if she signs can Zhou Xingfan possibly survive.

But when she actually grasped the pen, those exquisitely delicate hands would not obey, frozen there; not only could she not write, she could not even draw smoothly.

The assistant beside them saw this and urged, "Family, hurry! The patient's blood oxygen is dropping continuously! If it's later, it'll be too late!"

Meng Shutang felt anxious inside, but the more anxious she became, the stiffer her hand grew.

The doctor saw that this was physiological stress‑induced rigidity.

But without a family member's signature, they would not risk performing the surgery.

Just as the stalemate seemed unbreakable, Gu Yunci suddenly pushed the door open and entered.

Director Zhang saw him, rose to greet him, and gestured for him to sit down.

He came to Meng Shutang's side, looking at her pallid face; her hand was so stiff it could not write, yet her gaze was empty, still clinging on desperately.

He decisively took the pen from her hand and said, "I'll sign."

Director Zhang looked at the consent form bearing his name and said, "President Gu, this …"

Gu Yunci handed the critical condition notice to him and said, "Whatever it is, I'll take responsibility."

The moment the operating room lights came on, Meng Shutang felt all her strength drained, even the stiff force vanished.

She could barely hold on and was about to collapse.

A force from behind steadily supported her slender waist, and her wrist was also seized abruptly.

The familiar pressure, the familiar breath, after four years still etched deeply into her blood.

Gu Yunci stood before her, his sideburns slightly disheveled, and said, "I just want to help you a little."

Meng Shutang pushed him away, "You don't need to be kind."

Suddenly, she covered her face and began to cry.

These past four years, she had been abroad almost constantly, with only brief moments to return and visit Zhou Xingfan.

Mother and daughter were of one mind; Zhou Xingfan seemed to understand her hardships, and in these four years no complications such as mucus plugging or respiratory failure occurred.

Although life was precarious, Zhou Xingfan kept fighting to live.

When she returned, this happened.

She was somewhat afraid to face it.

Her slender, delicate shoulders trembled slightly, and crystal‑like tears overflowed from between her fingers.

Gu Yunci felt extreme pain; a voice in his mind told him to just stay here, not to go over.

But reason could not defeat instinct; with almost no thought, he still walked over and sat beside her.

Meng Shutang almost reflexively stood up, her tear‑filled eyes blurry as she looked at him, "Gu Yunci, what exactly are you trying to do?

I said I don't need you; why do you still come here to bother me!"

Even though he had just helped her, that could not change anything.

The man sat there, his thin lips parting, yet he said nothing.

"It's you… it's all you, really, I beg you to leave."

If it weren't for him, she wouldn't have left Hua Guo for four years.

Meng Shutang was in utter collapse, her voice trembling incoherently, tears splashing onto his back of the hand.

Seeing her devastated, Gu Yunci slowly stood up and said, "Fine, I'll go."

He took only two steps, Lu Shenyang, carrying an autumnal aura, came in from outside, wind‑blown and dusty, and said, "Tang Tang, I came as soon as I heard; is the surgery going smoothly?"

He looked at her body's slight tremor, the fragmented state where she could barely utter a full sentence.

Lu Shenyang gently pulled her into his arms, as tender as soothing a child.

Meng Shutang's body stiffened for a moment, then, as if clutching a floating log, she grasped tightly onto his coat edge.

The dusk outside pressed down, stretching the shadow of their embrace long, so long that Gu Yunci could hardly avoid seeing it.

He was nailed to the spot, his gaze heavy as he stared at them, the dead‑silent corridor trying to swallow him.

Fortunately the embrace was brief; otherwise, he would have drowned in it.

"It'll be fine, it will definitely be fine."

Lu Shenyang comforted.

Gu Yunci waited until Meng Shutang's condition improved a bit before leaving.

He went to the corridor, took out his phone, and called Huo Yanchen abroad.

The first call didn't connect; it was hung up.

Huo Yanchen had said that in such a situation one should not call, as he is usually in a very important medical conference or talking with his mentor.

Foreign scholars are notoriously ill‑tempered, not like those at home.

In the past, Gu Yunci never called again,

but today the situation was special.

He kept dialing several times; on the fifth attempt the call finally connected.

From the other end came Huo Yanchen's magnetic voice, "Crazy? I'm discussing a topic with my mentor; you called five times in a row, I didn't even have time to hang up, and now I'm being scolded!"

The man's voice was cold and deep, "Yanchen, we can't wait a month; you must return immediately."

"What's wrong?"

"Aunt Zhou just suffered respiratory failure and is now being rescued in the ICU."

After a moment of silence on the phone, "Gu Yunci, aren't you and Miss Meng divorced? Whether her mother is dead or alive has nothing to do with you!"

His chest rose and fell violently, "The relation is— I can't let her go."

He loves her wholly, so he certainly can't watch Zhou Xingfan die helplessly.

Huo Yanchen was choked off, his tone softened a bit, but his pitch remained firm, "Do you really… want to trap yourself to death in there?"

"I love her; back then I bore the weight of the whole world for her."

"Now, what does that even amount to?!"

Huo Yanchen fell silent, "I'm sorry, Gu Yunci. The current project research concerns the welfare of billions; I can't step away. Find someone more capable."

After saying that, he hung up directly.

Gu Yunci could hardly believe Huo Yanchen would hang up on him; the two had grown up together, both naked.

He called again, but the other side blocked him.

He put away his phone, then glanced at the operating room; the lights were still on.

Meng Shutang, feeling despondent, leaned back in her chair; Lu Shenyang went to get food, but she didn't eat a bite.

Two hours later, the operating room lights went out, and Zhou Xingfan was pushed out by a crowd.

Director Zhang and several experts said, "Your mother's will to survive is strong; she has gotten through a calamity."

Meng Shutang and Lu Shenyang together pushed the hospital bed back to the ward.

After settling things here, Lu Shenyang left the hospital.

He also told Meng Shutang, "You don't need to worry about the house; I'll come by tomorrow morning to see you both."

After Lu Shenyang left, Meng Shutang sat at the bedside, grasped Zhou Xingfan's gaunt hand, and pressed it to her face.

She chattered on about many things, but they were all happy.

She finally mentioned Meng Zhibang; whether it was an illusion or a misperception, she just felt Zhou Xingfan was different from usual.

"Mom, do you want to see Dad?"

"When your condition stabilizes a bit, I'm not busy with work, I'll go find him and have him come to see you."

After saying that, she leaned on the bedside and closed her eyes.

Her cheeks were covered with tear tracks.

She slept very restlessly.

To be precise, she didn't sleep at all; she just closed her eyes.

And tonight, the sleepless aren't just her alone.

Bai Cixian also hadn't slept; looking at the prenatal test sheet on the table, her eyes reddened.

She had just returned from Qian Shui Wan, and Mrs. Zhang said Gu Yunci left early this morning and hasn't returned since.

He couldn't possibly have gotten back together with that bitch again, could he?

She wanted to ask, but didn't dare.

She typed a lot on her phone, cutting and trimming, but in the end never sent it.

Meng Zhibang lay on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. While working during the day, his heart throbbed inexplicably, as if someone very important in his life were about to vanish from the world.

At that moment, he thought of Zhou Xingfan.

She had lain on the sickbed for fourteen years.

In the same city, he had never seen her.

At first he couldn't recall, later he just had no face to go.

He looked at the lonely bright moon outside the window, and after a long while, Zhou Xingfan's tear‑streaked face resurfaced in his mind.

That day, she burst onto him and Bai Lianyue, shocked and angry, she demanded, "She is my best sister, you are the person I entrusted my whole life to; how could you both do this?"

He felt little guilt, "Lianyue was my first love; after we separated, I've seen many pleasures and traversed many mountains and rivers, but none compare to that winter when she handed me gloves and called my name."

Zhou Xingfan, you don't understand—some stirrings, once they begin, are destined to trap a person for life.

Zhou Xingfan's gut was in knots, tears blurring her eyes, she looked at him word by word, "In this world, you're not the only one who can have love."

The city's lights fell on Gu Yunci's face; he stood not far away, quietly watching her.

Those past moments, sealed by time and scorching, surged at that moment, drowning him.

He still remembers, at the non‑hereditary ancient pearl restoration exhibition, she spoke confidently about a broken Han‑dynasty star‑patterned pearl, the light in her eyes making his heart, accustomed to aristocratic feuds, flutter.

He also remembers, every day after their marriage, she looked at him, her smile like crushed starlight.

Among all the people in the world, only she crashed into his barren heart.

She is his only warmth, his only light, his only redemption.

She once said, with him there, even if the sky fell, she wouldn't be afraid.

She also said they should be together a whole lifetime, bright and fulfilled, year after year peaceful.