Yang Zhiqi almost stumbled.
"Your sister-in-law? Your brother’s wife? No, that’s not right, Zhao Xin, didn’t you always go on about being the only seedling in your family, with your parents anxious to find you a wife?"
Where did this sister-in-law come from?
"Reporting to Officer Yang, that is our captain’s wife!"
"What? Meng Xinian’s wife?" Yang Zhiqi suddenly coughed violently.
Zhao Xin looked at him with some sympathy. Indeed, this news could scare the life out of someone. The captain really should have thought of some other way, shouldn’t he?
After finally stopping his coughing fit, Yang Zhiqi was still incredulous, "You, tell me what’s going on! Where did Meng Xinian get a wife from?"
"Officer Yang, I’m not clear on that. If there’s anything, you’ll have to wait and ask our captain when he returns!" When Zhao Xin first joined the force from the countryside two years ago, he would always pepper his speech with "I, I, I," but he had since toned that down. However, when he was anxious or flustered, the dialect would slip out.
Knowing his own habit, he quickly took off in a hurry.
Of course, Chiang Xiao knew nothing about these matters.
She and her grandmother supported her grandfather on either side as they entered the hospital.
The hospital in Peace Town was also very small; in fact, it consisted only of two two-story buildings facing each other, with a small garden in the middle planted with fruit trees. Hibiscus flowers grew along the cement path, and there were a few cement benches with their backs leaning against the hibiscus.
It was just past nine in the morning, the sunlight was warm, and some people sat on the benches basking in the sun, paying little attention to them as they entered.
This was the only hospital in the town, simply named Peace Hospital.
It wasn’t Chiang Xiao’s first visit.
In her previous life, her grandmother was taken to Peace Hospital after being agitated and didn’t last a day. It was here she had watched as her grandmother was covered with a white sheet, which wasn’t a pleasant memory. So stepping into the hospital again, she didn’t feel very good about it.
Previously, there hadn’t been a confrontation with the Old Chiang Family time, and her grandfather hadn’t been injured. Chiang Xiao felt her own life trajectory, as well as those around her, had changed significantly. Therefore, she needed to be more careful in the future. Rebirth didn’t mean she could predict everything—there were more changes and unknowns waiting for her.
On the other side of the garden, a middle-aged couple was walking over. Across the garden, the woman spotted the back of Chiang Xiao and her family and suddenly frowned.
"What are you looking at? It’s getting late; Xiao Tong must be getting anxious. Let’s hurry," the man pulled on her hand.
The woman hesitated for a moment but couldn’t help saying, "De Jun, I think I saw Big Sister."
Ge Dejun stopped abruptly, his voice rising, "What did you say?"
"Over there," Liu Pei pointed towards the outpatient department, "they went into the outpatient department. But you know, I only saw Big Sister once from a distance last year, so maybe I’m mistaken."
Ge Dejun took a deep breath and said, "Coming to the hospital is never a good thing. You go ahead and bring breakfast to Xiao Tong, I’ll go take a look."
With that, he strode towards the outpatient department.
Liu Pei, carrying a lunch box, climbed to the second floor and entered a ward. The ward had three beds and seemed somewhat cramped. The cement floor, walls covered with whitewash but peeling in places, the white ceiling slightly yellowing, and outfitted with fluorescent lighting.
Upon entry, to the left against the wall, there was a row of metal lockers, and to the right were the three metal frame beds. With light blue sheets and white covers, it did look refreshingly clean.
Directly opposite the door was a window; the curtains matched the bed sheets. The window was open, and a light breeze blew in, lifting a corner of the curtain slightly.
Ge Xiaotong, who had been leaning on her pillow and looking out the window, turned her head at the sound of footsteps, "Mom."
Liu Pei quickly walked over, "Are you hungry?"
"Where’s Dad? Didn’t he say he would come with you this morning?"
"He’ll be up soon," Liu Pei replied, her heart aching as she looked at her daughter’s pale face. "Is Lin Jiang coming today?"