He gripped her hand tightly: "Alright, let’s go for porridge then. I know a place that makes fish slice congee."
"Really? Take there, take there." She clung to his arm, laughing like a child, giving no indication that she was a cancer patient. He knew she was just forcing a cheerful facade, afraid he would worry and be sad.
After eating, the couple drove back to Jingshan. Gu Qili was now easily fatigued and had already fallen asleep on the way. Mu Shuoqian carried her to bed upon arriving ho, tucking her in properly. Accidentally touching her emaciated arm, the feeling of skin and bones pained his heart deeply.
After settling Gu Qili, Mu Shuoqian picked up the phone and walked onto the balcony.
"Professor Luo, how’s it going?"
Luo Shangqing had just finished a lecture, and the students were gradually leaving the classroom, each of them saying goodbye to him.
"Goodbye, Professor Luo."
"Goodbye, Professor Luo."
He nodded to each one and took his phone to the back of the classroom: "Currently, there’s a pitifully low supply of donors. I’ve already reached out to several major hospitals, but they have yet to give any news."
"What if we can’t find a donor within a certain period?"
"Her condition will worsen, progressing to a later stage. It will beco much more dangerous to treat her at that point. And even if we do find a donor right now, we need a compatible match for it to work."
"Haven’t you ntioned the possibility of a living donation? Give her part of my liver, just as long as she can live."
"I understand how you feel, but you two don’t even have compatible blood types. What’s the use of a transplant then? Right now, all we can do is keep searching. Panicking is useless. Surely you wouldn’t kill soone just to find a donor, right?" Luo Shangqing sat down on one of the last rows. "If we must do a living donation, a direct relative of Qili would have a higher success rate in terms of compatibility, but it’s unlikely that most people could bear giving up a part of their liver. There have been cases overseas where the donor died after the surgery. Given Qili’s situation, it’s best to do a full liver transplant, or the treatnt might not be very effective."
"Direct relative, you say?"
"Does Qili have any relatives left? Even if she does, their blood types may not match. I was just providing an example."
"I understand. Keep an eye on the donor situation and inform imdiately if there’s any news."
"Alright."
Mu Shuoqian hung up the phone and stood before the window looking at two grapevines in the yard. He still rembered her wish from before, that when the grapevines bore fruit, they would sit beneath them, sip wine, and admire the moon. This year’s Qixi Festival, the grapes would ripen, and he was determined to make her wish co true.
Gu Qili was asleep when a sudden intense pain in her chest woke her up, a pain so severe that she broke into a cold sweat instantly. Although she had experienced pain before, it had always been bearable and would pass if she just endured it.
Curled up in agony, she pressed her hands tightly against the position of her liver. After a while, the pain gradually subsided. She wiped her forehead, damp with a thin layer of sweat.
She knew that such excruciating pain probably ant her condition was worsening. Yet, because they were still searching for a liver donor, she couldn’t let it show, so as not to make him even more anxious and worried.
Gu Qili lay for a while before getting up to take a bath and change clothes, then went to the living room. There she found Mu Shuoqian still at ho, standing outside making a call. Sensing her gaze, he looked over and gestured for her to wait a mont before turning back to continue his conversation.
Gu Qili went to the kitchen for a glass of water and fetched a box of yogurt from the fridge. Midway through the yogurt, Mu Shuoqian ca in: "You woke up so soon?"
He sat down beside her, his tender gaze making her a bit shy: "Why not sleep a little longer?"
How could Gu Qili admit she was awoken by the pain? She playfully wrinkled her nose at him: "I’m not a pig, always sleeping non-stop. Besides, why aren’t you at work?"
"I’ve delegated my work to others. Until you have your surgery, I’ll stay at ho with you." Mu Shuoqian lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently.
"How can that be okay? There’s work that others can’t handle. Won’t there be issues if you just abandon such a large responsibility?" Gu Qili shook her head. "I’m fine, you don’t need to stay with ."
"It’s alright, if there’s sothing important, Xiao Ran will bring it to for handling." He had made up his mind, and Gu Qili knew nothing she said would change it.
He had already missed four years with her; now she was sick like this, with her life hanging by a thread at any mont. So what were vast wealth and empires compared to her gentle smile, the fine lines by her lips, being together with her—whether it was a quiet trickle or a passionate torrent?
"Shuoqian." Gu Qili nestled into his embrace, "Are we still going to have our wedding? I an, in my condition..."
"Of course, we are." Mu Shuoqian held her gently, a promise he had made to her, and moreover, he intended to give her a legitimate status before the whole world, "Don’t worry, it’s just a al, it won’t be too tiring."
"Mhm." Snuggled against his chest, Gu Qili felt content, "Shuoqian, with you being so good to , even if I die, I would have no regrets."
"Don’t talk about dying, it’s bad luck."
"You believe in that too?"
A segnt of orange was popped into her mouth: "Eat up, you’ve beco as thin as a piece of paper."
Gu Qili squinted her eyes, took the orange he fed her, and the sweetness lingered all the way to her heart.
While the couple was enjoying their tender mont, Qiu Lan ca back ho. Seeing her son and daughter-in-law sitting in the dining room, she approached them with a smile: "Everything is ready for the wedding. Qili, I hired an amazing makeup artist for you, soone with a big reputation in the fashion industry in the States."
Gu Qili was deeply touched after hearing this. Not only did Qiu Lan not despise her for being a terminally ill patient, but she was also arranging her wedding with such care. Gu Qili sincerely thanked her: "Thank you, Mom." **
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