Actually, the words Qiao Yu just said to Qiqi, Su Mu had said to her before as well when she first spoke up, but they hadn’t had much effect. Today, when Qiao Yu said them, it was clear that Qiqi was seriously considering them. Perhaps it was because Qiao Yu is a doctor—his words naturally carried a certain authority, making them easier to believe.
Finally, Qiqi nodded, "Okay."
Qiao Yu smiled lightly:
"Qiqi is such a good girl; your dad will definitely wake up soon."
Hearing this, Qiqi smiled faintly but didn’t say anything else to Qiao Yu. Instead, she returned to her forr position. This ti, however, she leaned even closer to Fu Shinian, cautiously lying by his ear and softly whispered, "Daddy, I miss you. Please wake up soon."
Su Mu felt a strange warmth in her chest watching this scene unfold.
Qiao Yu walked over, smiled slightly, and handed her a tissue:
"Don’t worry too much. You’ll see touching monts like this every day in the future."
Su Mu smiled, dropped the subject, and eyed the report Qiao Yu held: "Have the test results co back?"
"Yes." Qiao Yu nodded and handed the report to Su Mu. Instead of reading it, Su Mu said, "You know I can’t understand all these technical terms. Why not just tell directly?"
Qiao Yu smiled lightly:
"The results are good. The blood clot in his brain has shrunk further, and the pressure on his nerves is almost negligible now. Essentially, surgery is no longer necessary. At this rate, he’ll wake up within a week at most."
Perhaps it was because Fu Shinian had been lying there for so long, or maybe because Su Mu had ntally prepared herself for the worst from the beginning, promising herself she’d have no regrets even if he never woke up. So when she heard Qiao Yu say that Fu Shinian might wake up within a week, her first reaction was disbelief.
It felt like a dream.
But such a beautiful dream—so beautiful she almost didn’t want to wake from it.
Qiao Yu understood Su Mu’s thoughts to so extent and smiled slightly:
"Are you too happy?"
Su Mu snapped back, "I just hadn’t expected it."
"I understand. You probably prepared yourself for the worst, but haven’t you heard the saying, ’Troubleso people live long lives’? Shinian might not be troubleso to that extent, but I figure he’ll have no problem living to a hundred. Besides, after all the wrongs he’s done to you, even the heavens wouldn’t let him lie here all day enjoying himself. He’ll wake up to properly repay you for the pain, the fear, he’s caused you."
Su Mu only gave a faint smile in response and, after a long mont, said softly:
"It doesn’t matter anymore. After so much has happened, if I still cling to those petty grievances of the past, I really wouldn’t be able to move on."
"Petty grievances?" Qiao Yu arched a brow slightly. "You raised a child by yourself for three years and endured so many hardships. How can ’petty grievances’ even begin to describe that?"
"But in the face of life and death, nothing else matters. Life is the most important; without it, nothing has any aning." Su Mu looked at Qiao Yu and then at the figures—one large, one small—on the hospital bed. "This ordeal might not have taught much, but it has made understand what it ans to cherish the present. After this, I don’t think there’s anything that could separate Shinian and again."
Qiao Yu nodded:
"Mm. If Shinian hears what you’ve said, he’ll definitely be happy."
"Let’s hope he hears it... and wakes up soon."
Fu Shinian woke up four days later. At that ti, Qiqi was in the adjacent room undergoing psychological counseling. Throughout the process, Su Mu noticed changes in Qiqi. Initially, she had feared that the counseling might trigger bad mories, causing secondary harm to Qiqi. But one sentence from Qiao Yu made her set aside those concerns. He had said:
"Su Mu, everyone sees a psychologist to get better. There might be exceptions, but the vast majority of people erge from the shadows under psychological intervention. You should at least let Qiqi try; if it doesn’t work, we’ll find out and stop it in ti."
Su Mu’s decision had proven right.
That day, Su Mu had just brought hot water and towels back from the restroom. She was steadfast in her routine, cleaning Fu Shinian’s body twice daily. Early on, the caregiver had offered to help, but over ti, understood that Su Mu, this so-called Mrs. Fu, wouldn’t entrust anything concerning Mr. Fu to anyone else.
She soaked the towel in hot water, wrung it out, and gently took Fu Shinian’s hand, lightly cleaning it with the warm towel:
"Shinian, today is the first day of the twelfth lunar month. In just a month, it’ll be New Year’s. Yesterday I went ho to see Grandma. She’s doing fairly well, and the doctor said that with proper care, Grandma should be able to celebrate New Year’s with us."
Having finished cleaning that hand, Su Mu put down the towel and carefully rolled up Fu Shinian’s sleeve:
"Co on, you need to wake up soon, okay? Grandma hasn’t said anything, but I can tell—she really hopes we can spend New Year’s together. It might be her last one, and she surely wants to have all of us by her side. Qiqi is also working hard to recover; the doctor says she’ll be healthy in no ti. You can’t let Qiqi outshine you, can you? You’re her father—you should set a good example for her."
After cleaning his arm, Su Mu adjusted his sleeve, pulled down the blanket, unbuttoned his shirt, and began cleaning his upper body.
Fu Shinian had always had a great physique—well-toned and robust. But after lying here for so many days relying solely on nutrients, his fra had visibly shrunk, even the muscles on his abdon were barely discernible now. Su Mu didn’t feel regretful about this—she just couldn’t help but feel her heart ache every ti she looked at his increasingly frail body. He didn’t belong here in this bed; he had always been so ambitious, so full of vitality. He was ant to live freely and boldly.
"Qiao Yu told you’d wake up within a few days. I’ve already told Qiqi; she didn’t say much, but she smiled at . You know, right? Since returning, Qiqi’s emotions haven’t been great—she’s felt disconnected from the world. But when she heard this news, she smiled so beautifully. Seeing her smile, I couldn’t help but feel like all these unexpected tragedies hadn’t happened, that you were just asleep all along."
After cleaning his upper body, Su Mu carefully tucked him back in, washed the towel, and began cleaning his lower body:
"Qiao Yu said one week. Four days have passed already, so you don’t have much ti left. You have to seize the opportunity—I’m only giving you three more days. If you’re still not awake after three days, I won’t wait any longer. I’ll take Qiqi and leave, and you can find soone else..."
Su Mu didn’t intend for such a joke, but sohow couldn’t stop herself from thinking about what Su Shiyue had once said to her. The playful words slipped out uncontrollably. After she said it, she found herself laughing, wondering if Fu Shinian could actually hear her, what he might think.
Would he get angry? After all, it was for her, for their child, that he’d ended up in this bed. And now his closest companion said she’d abandon him—not even pledge to stay with him for the rest of her life, but instead look for soone new. That thought alone was enraging.
Fortunately, at least Fu Shinian was asleep now—he wouldn’t know what Su Mu had just said.
Thinking this cald Su Mu. She set down the towel, tucked him in again, and prepared to take the basin to the restroom. As she lifted her head, however, she froze.
The man who should have been asleep had his eyes open, staring at her unblinkingly. In her surprise, Su Mu didn’t notice the emotions in his gaze—she could only wonder if this mont was real. She instinctively wanted to pinch herself but forgot she was still holding the water basin.
The basin clattered to the ground, soaking her shoes and socks. Thankfully, the water wasn’t scalding, so she wasn’t burned. However, the sudden noise startled Fu Shinian, who instinctively tried to get up but imdiately fell back, his body too weak from being bedridden for too long.
It was at this mont that Su Mu ca to her senses. Suppressing her trembling hands, she took out her phone and dialed Qiao Yu’s number. The phone rang twice—a reasonable delay before being connected—but Su Mu was already so anxious that she had the urge to rush to Qiao Yu’s office and drag him here.
Fortunately, Qiao Yu spared her the trouble by answering the call after the second ring, sounding slightly surprised:
"Su Mu?"
"Qiao Yu," Su Mu stared urgently at Fu Shinian, as though afraid he’d close his eyes again in the next mont. "I think Fu Shinian just woke up."
Qiao Yu hesitated for a mont on the other end before Su Mu heard the sound of a door opening, likely him coming upstairs. Shortly after, Qiao Yu’s amused voice replied: "What do you an ’I think?’ Did he move?"
"No, he opened his eyes."
"Then isn’t he awake?"
Su Mu let out a soft "Mm." She added, "It just feels a little unreal."
After hanging up, Su Mu didn’t bother cleaning up the spilled water. She walked step by step from the foot of the bed to the head of it, standing close to Fu Shinian, hoping he would reach out to pull her closer—just to prove all this wasn’t a dream.
But Fu Shinian made no move. He only looked at her with an expression Su Mu couldn’t quite decipher. Suddenly, she thought of a frightening possibility: did he lose his mory? Did he not recognize her? If not, then why was he looking at her like that? Why wasn’t he reaching out? Why wasn’t he speaking?
Gripped by such doubts, Su Mu cautiously broke the silence:
"Do you... still rember ?"
Fu Shinian didn’t respond imdiately. Just as Su Mu’s heart began to sink at his lack of reaction, his lips curled into a faint smile. But it wasn’t the smile she had hoped for—it was cold, as though edged with frost. His gaze never wavered as he spoke:
"Find soone else? Who?"
His voice, rough and hoarse from disuse, sounded as though sand was lodged in his throat. Yet it was enough to make Su Mu realize his aning imdiately. Though Fu Shinian’s tone carried a hint of nace, his words were far from tender. Nonetheless, Su Mu, who only monts earlier had been worried he was suffering amnesia, found herself overwheld by relief and surprise upon learning his jealousy was the true reason for his deanor.
Su Mu grabbed Fu Shinian’s hand and gently pressed it to her face:
"You’re awake, aren’t you?"
Fu Shinian looked at Su Mu without speaking for a few seconds. Nobody could guess what he had felt when he first opened his eyes to hear Su Mu joking about taking Qiqi away and looking for another man. Even knowing that it was mostly a threat and playful banter, it still stung his pride.
In that instant, Fu Shinian had decided. He would teach Su Mu a lesson. But as he gazed at her now, all those plans lted away in the warmth of her words. Despite him having opened his eyes, spoken to her—even if his voice was weak—it seed Su Mu still needed verbal confirmation from him to truly believe he’d woken. Perhaps she needed him to promise not to leave her ever again.
He gently withdrew his hand from her grasp and lightly brushed her lips, smiling faintly:
"I’m sorry to have worried you. I’m back now."
A few seconds later, Su Mu smiled. A few seconds after that, she began to cry.
Warm tears slid down her cheeks, landing on Fu Shinian’s hand. The sensation sent a bittersweet ache through his heart. He was about to voice words of comfort when Su Mu, as though struck by lightning, suddenly stood and left the room with hurried steps.
Fu Shinian tried to prop himself up in bed when the door swung open again. Thinking it was Su Mu returning, he was surprised to see Qiao Yu enter instead, accompanied by a team of dical staff. Upon confirming that Fu Shinian was indeed awake, Qiao Yu grinned broadly and approached, asking:
"How do you feel?"
Fu Shinian nodded slightly, "I feel fine."
His answer was ant for Qiao Yu, but his thoughts were elsewhere. Before the other doctors could get close, Fu Shinian grabbed Qiao Yu by the sleeve:
"Where’s Su Mu?"
Qiao Yu blinked: "She’s probably in the next room with Qiqi. Qiqi is in a counseling session; Su Mu often goes to accompany her."
Qiao Yu’s words reassured Fu Shinian, letting his nervous heart settle down. He thought about the two most important people in his life, right next door, and couldn’t help but smile. There was no rush—now that he was awake, he’d make sure to gather them in his arms soon enough.
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