"Xu Second Brother, how is Nianhua?" Pei Yining approached with concern, asking about Xu Nianhua’s condition.
"He doesn’t have much strength to speak, but, once he’s awake, he should be fine." Even though Xu Nian’an hadn’t seen what happened yesterday, the clothes Xu Nianhua had changed out of were all bloodied, which was enough to frighten him.
"Xu Second Brother, I’m sorry, Nianhua got so hurt because of me—it’s all my fault," Pei Yining said with self-reproach.
Xu Nian’an sighed, consoling her, "Yining, it’s not your fault. If you were in Nianhua’s place, you would have pushed him out of the way too, right?"
Pei Yining thought for a moment and nodded affirmatively.
"It’s all that culprit’s fault!" Xu Nian’an said through clenched teeth. After Xu Nianhua’s surgery was completed yesterday, they had reported the incident to the police, and investigators had already come to look into yesterday’s events. Since Xu Nianhua was still unconscious, the man was directly taken away by the police.
He reeked of alcohol; even if you weren’t trying to notice, it was hard to miss that he had been drinking!
"Driving drunk, if he wants to court death, he shouldn’t harm others."
At the bottom of his heart, Xu Nian’an was seething. His little sister had suffered an undeserved calamity—she was following the rules, walking on the sidewalk by the road on the steps, and yet she was hit by a car; it was too wrongful.
"Exactly, we were on the sidewalk, not even standing on the road," Pei Yining said through clenched teeth. If they had been daydreaming in the middle of the road and got hit, they wouldn’t have blamed anyone else. They weren’t even on the edge of the road; they were on the sidewalk atop the steps, the driver was simply driving blindly.
Fortunately, Nianhua’s injuries will heal with some time, but the situation yesterday was so dangerous. If Su Yan hadn’t provided a timely blood transfusion, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Don’t worry, he was driving under the influence, caused serious injury to others and damaged public property—he won’t escape the law’s judgment," Pei Yicheng spoke, offering comfort. "Nian’an, you should go back to school and ask for leave to come over, and Yining, you should go back to school as well."
"No." Pei Yining turned and sat down on a chair in the corridor nearby, refusing, "I’m not leaving, I’m staying to take care of Nianhua."
Pei Yicheng patted her shoulder, "Nianhua is awake now. You should go back to school for classes, then rest a bit, and come back in the evening."
"If you don’t rest now, who will take care of things tonight?" Pei Yicheng reminded her, then looked at Xu Nian’an, "Nian’an, you don’t have to come tonight, it’s fine if Yining and I are here."
"No." Xu Nian’an directly refused, "I’m going back to school now to ask for leave. Yicheng, I’ll trouble you to look after things here for a bit, I’ll be back soon."
Saying this, Xu Nian’an stood in front of the glass window, looking again at Xu Nianhua, who had fallen into a deep sleep, then turned and left.
He had to return to school, he had to take out all the money he had.
Asking for leave was easy because his younger sister had been in a car accident and was hospitalized; the teachers were very understanding of his situation but also repeatedly reminded him of the exam on Thursday.
"Teacher, I’m sorry," Xu Nian’an said apologetically to the teacher. Right now, he couldn’t think about any exams; he just wanted to take good care of his little sister and make sure she was safe.
The teacher sighed deeply.
Xu Nian’an quickly packed up his things, and as he passed by the phone booth, he stopped, picked up the phone, and dialed the familiar number.
Ji Ying was not at the factory, she walked toward the hospital while waiting, and after probably reaching the hospital, she made another call home.
"Nian’an? Has something happened?" As soon as Ji Ying heard that Xu Nian’an had called her, she immediately ran to the factory to wait for Xu Nian’an’s call.