Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The Preceptor was truly someone not to be trifled with.
Now, The Preceptor ignored everything that was happening around him and focused entirely on Xia Ling. He followed the stretcher into the ward.
No one dared delay the provision of treatment to Xia Ling after witnessing all that had happened.
The doctors on board the ship were already waiting in the ward and administered treatment immediately.
As they injected her with anesthesia, Xia Ling drifted off under the bright lights of the surgical room. When she woke up, she found herself lying on a comfortable bed in a wide room with the curtains drawn and a subtle natural fruit fragrance.
She moved a little and let out a groan.
A man sitting by the bed put the book in his hands down. His voice was clear as he asked, “You’re awake?”
Xia Ling looked over at him and realized that it was Xia Moyan. He was still wearing a white robe, and the blinds in the window cast a light shadow on his body. She wanted to greet him, but her throat felt like it was burning with pain and she couldn’t make a sound.
Xia Moyan poured her a glass of water and raised the bed so that she could drink comfortably.
He wasn’t particularly good at caring for patients, thus causing a stream of water to trickle down her neck onto the blue-striped patient uniform she was wearing.
Xia Ling said, “That’s enough.”
He stopped feeding her the water.
Little Shaohui materialized beside him, calling out to Xia Ling. “Mama, mama!”
Seeing that the child that she was so worried about was safe and sound, Xia Ling felt the huge stone in her heart get lifted. Despite having just woken up and still being weak, her mind was now completely focused on Shaohui. “How are you? Are you hurt? Did those bad people bully you?”
She was really afraid that the messed up environment of Blissful Paradise had left an indelible scar on Shaohui.
Hearing her words of concern, Shaohui was quiet for a moment before he shook his head. “I’m alright, mama. Don’t worry. Those bad people only whipped me a little when they caught me, before locking me up in that isolated cell. They sent me food every day, but otherwise, no one bothered about me.”
Was it truly as simple as he described?
The owner of Blissful Paradise had wanted to just lock him up since the agreement with Old Master Li was to keep him here for a little while. However, Li Feng came aboard the ship later on and showed great interest in Shaohui. If Li Lei hadn’t been on board as well to save Shaohui, he would probably have already been taken hostage by Li Feng.
Shaohui suffered a great deal as well.
But he knew not to say these in front of his mother.
He was afraid that she would worry.
Xia Moyan was clearly aware of all that Shaohui had been through but didn’t reveal any of it as well. He merely said, “The child will be fine.”
Xia Ling nodded. “Thank you for coming, Brother.” If not for Xia Moyan, she knew that the three of them might not have survived the ordeal. After being forced into the corner on the deck of the ship, she had mentally prepared herself for the worst.
Xia Moyan responded nonchalantly, “We’re family. What’s there to thank?”
As he spoke, his expression turned mildly irritated. “What lousy sycamore did you find? He’s so useless! Why is it that I had to interfere and help him out for this small matter?” To be fair, it wasn’t a small matter at all since it was a matter of life and death, and Li Lei had already done very well.
Yet, Xia Moyan was not satisfied.
The best result was that Li Lei was able to protect Xiao Ling himself and save Xiao Ling.
However, he had failed and Xiao Ling had to call Xia Moyan for help. When Xia Moyan received the phone call, he hesitated, wondering if he should step in. He had calculated that there was a 70% chance that Li Lei would be able to pull through himself, and if he did, their lives would be smooth-sailing thereafter.
But there was still a 30% chance of death.
Xia Moyan was unsure and nervous about the situation, and that was when he received his sister’s call for help.
Hearing her tearful and helpless voice, Xia Moyan’s rationality flew out of the window. He didn’t care about the probabilities or remaining calm anymore and headed straight to the ship.
When he arrived at the scene, he saw that Li Lei had a good chance of holding the fort.
However, Xia Moyan had already interfered and it was destined to be an imperfect ending.
Xia Moyan didn’t blame himself for being a busybody. Instead, he blamed that sycamore for being too weak, such that he and his sister couldn’t put their full confidence in him. Yes, it was all Li Lei’s fault! Xia Moyan felt that his logic was infallible and that Li Lei deserved to shoulder all the blame.
Poor Big Boss Li didn’t realize that he had again unknowingly incurred the wrath of his brother-in-law.
Xia Ling spoke up in Li Lei’s defense. “He’s already tried his best.”
Xia Moyan gave a cold laugh.
Little Shaohui was sitting on the bed and looking first at his uncle, then at his mother. He contemplated for a long time before deciding to also speak up in his father’s defense. “Thankfully daddy came to save me. Otherwise, the bad people were going to hit me again.”
After hearing Shaohui’s words, Xia Ling felt pain shoot through her heart. She pulled Shaohui into her arms.
Xia Moyan felt that they were being ridiculous. He said decisively, “I’m taking the both of you back to the Xia Family with me. What daddy? What great-grandfather? Do they deserve those titles?”
“Go back to the Xia Family?” Xia Ling had never truly been back home, and couldn’t help feeling excited at the idea of meeting her birth parents.
Xia Moyan said, “Yes, we should go back to the Xia Family now. Then, that Old Man won’t ever get to see his great-grandson again and can forget about having a granddaughter-in-law.”
So this was her brother’s true objective.
Xia Ling pushed aside her excitement of going home and said, “I’m not going back.”
To save Shaohui and protect her, Li Lei had chosen to act as her slave. Later on, when she was in danger, he had risked his life to save her.
Xia Ling had thought that she wouldn’t be able to survive the ordeal and was regretting not being able to spend more time loving him when she could. They had wasted so many years because she was afraid to accept his love and had pushed him away. She had vowed in her heart that if she survived, she would never let him go again.
She lifted her determined gaze to look at her brother.
Crap, she’s truly turned rebellious.
Xia Moyan was getting agitated, and his usually calm demeanor was broken by a tinge of unhappiness. “What’s so good about him?”
Xia Ling gently ran her hand over Shaohui’s soft hair. Hmmm… what exactly was so good about Li Lei? Even though he had money and power, he wasn’t the richest or most powerful person she had ever met. Even though he was handsome, he wasn’t the best looking person she knew. And his temper? It wasn’t as if he hadn’t hurt her before…
So why did she love him so much?
“I don’t know.” Xia Ling shook her head and replied softly. “Perhaps it’s because every time I’m in danger, the person I think of and appears by my side is always him.”
Xia Moyan burst out in anger. “But when you were in danger this time you called me!”
Xia Ling said, “That was because he was in danger.” She gave a bitter smile. “Brother, do you know? In my two lifetimes, I’ve called for help just twice. Both times… it was for him.”