Chapter 52: Don

The next day, the hospital.

Gu Yunci carried a bowl of millet pumpkin porridge and two dishes of her favorite foods to her side, "You haven't eaten for two days; eat a little first, then we'll think of a solution."

Meng Shutang, eyes reddened, turned to look at him, "Leave. I don't want to see you."

Gu Yunci said cautiously, "I'm not disturbing you, but this worries people."

Meng Shutang replied coldly, "My affairs are none of your business; I hope President Gu won't bother me in the future either."

After speaking, she left the ward and went to the director's office.

"Director Zhang, my mother's condition has worsened a lot compared to last month."

Director Zhang nodded, "Miss Meng, your mother has been in a coma on the hospital bed for 14 years; her body maintaining this state is already a medical miracle."

"Is there any other method?"

Meng Shutang pleaded.

"We've tried all the appropriate treatments."

Jiangcheng Yiyuan is Hua Guo's most authoritative hospital for awakening comatose patients; even Director Zhang said it was impossible, and Meng Shutang panicked instantly.

Could her mother really have to die so desolately like this?

"However, I do know someone, Huo Yanchen, a world‑leading neurosurgery expert who specializes in awakening comatose patients and repairing brain injuries.

He has led many awakening cases; his most famous one revived a patient who had been bedridden for 28 years."

Meng Shutang rose excitedly, "In that case, please invite him from abroad!"

Director Zhang stared at her, slightly stunned.

Meng Shutang assumed he was worried about money, and said, "Director Zhang, regardless of cost or price, I'm willing to try."

"But he… is currently conducting a special research project; when I spoke with him, his willingness to return to the country was almost zero.

However, Miss Meng could ask acquaintances to inquire whether he would be willing to come over."

Meng Shutang took the list from Director Zhang's hand, grateful and incoherent, "Okay, thank you."

As soon as she stepped out, she called the contacts listed, but after several attempts, no one answered.

They probably don't answer unknown numbers, especially international calls.

So she asked friends from the Gu Zhu Circle, but none of them knew him.

Later she turned to Lu Shenyang, hoping his father's connections might reach Huo Yanchen, but hit dead ends each time.

Meng Shutang's mindset approached despair.

She stood in the corridor, looking through the window at Zhou Xingfan on the bed, whose face showed no hint of color.

Could… this be her mother's fate?

She was unwilling, but what else could she do?

She slowly lowered her gaze, and the last glimmer in her eyes extinguished.

No hysteria, no tears, no hope, only a bone‑deep emptiness.

It turned out that exhausting all effort to the end was just emptiness.

She gave a bleak, sorrowful smile.

The world was terrifyingly quiet; every light faded inch by inch.

Meng Shutang felt her legs go limp; she had no strength to walk.

In the corridor, she could barely hold herself and was about to fall.

Gu Yunci, who was nearby, saw it and grabbed her, "Tang Tang…"

Meng Shutang didn't want his help and tried to push him away, but she didn't even have that strength.

She barely knew how she got back, and when she saw Lu Shenyang in the ward, she collapsed onto him helplessly.

Lu Shenyang held her, "President Gu, having me here is enough; you don't need to trouble yourself by coming every day."

After speaking, he helped Meng Shutang to a chair and reached out to close the door.

Gu Yunci didn't leave; through the window, he saw Meng Shutang remaining in a state of collapse.

She held Zhou Xingfan's hand, her eyes filled with utterly shattered, clean‑swept despair that couldn't even be picked up.

Gu Yunci watched, feeling very heart‑broken.

Lu Shenyang also felt heart‑broken; he sat beside her and took out fruit, rice, and dishes.

Meng Shutang said she had no appetite and didn't want to eat.

But under his meticulous care and gentle coaxing, she finally gave in, silently ate two bites, then set them down.

Gu Yunci watched, turned away with pain.

In the corridor, he took out his phone and dialed the number that had blocked him a few days earlier.

Unsurprisingly, it connected quickly.

"She can't hold on much longer, Yanchen, consider this my plea to you."

From childhood to now, Huo Yanchen knows Gu Yunci better than anyone.

He's very stubborn, never bows his head voluntarily, never drops his pride; even when it's hard, he'll shoulder it alone.

After a moment of silence on the phone, "Alright, I'll return to the country next Monday."

Gu Yunci couldn't wait, "I've bought you the next available flight back; the morning after tomorrow, I'll go to the airport to pick you up."

Huo Yanchen replied, "That's excessive; I'm the project's primary leader. If I leave, what will happen to the project?"

Gu Yunci said, "You've been clever since childhood; you'll surely find a proper way to handle it."

After speaking, he hung up the phone directly.

Huo Yanchen did not call again.

In the ward.

Meng Shutang looked at Lu Shenyang, "Brother Shenyang, do you think I'm like they say, that I should prepare my mother's funeral?"

Lu Shenyang looked at her, his thin lips parting as if to speak, but not a single word came out.

The door was suddenly pushed open from outside, and Director Zhang, impeccably refined, appeared in the doorway, "Miss Meng, Doctor Huo suddenly contacted me saying he was willing to come,

He was very hard to persuade; you and your mother are both fortunate."

The world seemed to collapse, and the next second it was violently pulled back to reality.

From utter despair to a narrow escape from death, it was only an instant.

It turns out the heavens leave no dead end; after the darkest night, dawn truly comes.

She rose excitedly, thinking she had misheard, "Really?"

Director Zhang nodded, "Really."

Two days later.

Jiangcheng International Airport.

Gu Yunci waved from afar toward a slender, refined man with a steady temperament, "Yanchen."

Huo Yanchen dragged his suitcase over to him, "Ignore me," and then walked straight away.

The man pressed his lips together and gave a faint smile.

Shamelessly he took the suitcase from his hand, "After traveling thousands of miles back home, how could we let Doctor Huo haul the suitcase?"

Huo Yanchen ignored him, but after getting into the car he said to him in a flat tone, "In a moment I'll go see whether that person who stripped you of even your dignity is worth it."

Gu Yunci remained silent.

After a pause, he finally said slowly, "Don't tell her you were invited by me."

Huo Yanchen turned his gaze coldly toward him, "If she asks, what would I say."

"I sent you her information; you know how to answer."

Jiangcheng Yiyuan.

Director Zhang introduced Huo Yanchen to Meng Shutang, "Miss Meng, this is Doctor Huo,"

Meng Shutang looked at him and extended her hand, "Hello, Doctor Huo."

The man didn't shake her hand; either he was deliberately cold, or his mind was entirely on the patient, so he didn't see.

"Director Zhang, Miss Meng, let's begin!"

Director Zhang, "Alright."

Meng Shutang withdrew her hand, "Listen to Doctor Huo."

While he examined her mother, Meng Shutang observed him carefully.

He was cultured and slender, his demeanor self‑restrained and courteous, wearing gold‑rimmed glasses, and at a glance seemed silent and reticent.

She just felt he looked very familiar, as if she had seen him somewhere before.

Just as she was pondering, her phone rang; she took it out, and it was a call from her daughter Xin Xin.