Gu Yao followed Shangguan Qingmu into the ward, while the aide hesitated for a moment and stayed outside the room.
When Mrs. Shangguan saw her husband arrived, she was about to greet him, but then noticed Gu Yao following behind.
"Yao..." She almost blurted out ’Yaoyao’, but quickly corrected herself: "Miss Gu, you’ve come too."
As Mrs. Shangguan greeted Gu Yao, she used her eyes to question her husband about what was happening.
Shangguan Qingmu simply looked at her with gentle eyes and said nothing more.
"Hello, Aunt Shangguan."
Upon hearing Gu Yao’s greeting, Mrs. Shangguan smiled immediately and replied, "Hello, Miss Gu, it’s so considerate of you to come so early to see our Yuyu. But your elder brother Gu Li just visited, why didn’t you come together? It’s still dark, and it’s somewhat unsafe for a young girl to go out alone." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel•fire.net
"I... didn’t know my brother came too." Could the man who just entered the room be my brother?
"I see, regardless, thank you for caring about Yuyu."
Shangguan Qingmu invited Gu Yao to sit down and proactively poured her a cup of water, making her uncomfortable and quite awkward.
"How is Yuyu? Is he still running a fever?" Shangguan Qingmu asked his wife.
"A nurse just took his temperature ten minutes ago. It’s down to thirty-seven point eight. A doctor should come soon."
"You’ve been busy all night; why not open a room next door to rest? I’ll call you when Yuyu wakes up."
"You’ve been watching over him all night. You should rest. I’m a man, and a soldier at that; going a night without rest isn’t a problem for me."
Gu Yao watched the loving Shangguan couple, feeling very envious and longing for such a relationship. She couldn’t help but look at the unconscious Shangguan Yu on the bed.
Unexpectedly, Shangguan Yu, who had been repeatedly febrile, once again called out her name... No, just two words now.
Gu Yao’s body stiffened, her hand holding the cup tightening continuously, revealing her inner turmoil without reservation.
Listening to Shangguan Yu repeatedly utter those two words, Gu Yao’s eyes welled up. But since the Shangguan couple was present, all she could do was watch and wait for him to wake up, unable to do anything else.
Mrs. Shangguan, witnessing all this, panicked and looked to Shangguan Qingmu for help.
Shangguan Qingmu used his eyes to reassure her, telling her not to worry.
He never involved himself in Shangguan Yu’s romantic affairs nor commented on them.
Understanding that Shangguan Yu, Gu Yao, and Gu Sheng’s feelings were tangled and unresolved, he chose not to support or interfere, letting things unfold naturally.
Shangguan Yu was no longer a child, and no matter how he handled his emotions, he would not intervene.
Mrs. Shangguan wanted to find a topic to divert Gu Yao’s attention, but seeing Gu Yao’s tear-stained eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to do it, nor did she know what to say.
For a moment, aside from Shangguan Yu’s murmuring, there was no other sound in the room.
Gu Yao secretly took out her phone and turned it on.
A few seconds later, the phone, which had been turned off since she boarded the plane until now, finally came back to life. Watching the phone’s green icon display the red number 23, Gu Yao hesitated to open it.
She knew without looking that they were all missed calls from Gu Sheng.
Gu Yao stared at the red number 23 for nearly half a minute, and eventually opened it.