You're my wife, don't doubt it!

After knocking on the door for a while without getting a response, Xiao Yao took out his key and opened the door.

"Grandma, just now at noon—" Xiao Yao said, "Oh dear!"

All three of them exclaimed in surprise.

An old woman lay face down on the uneven ground between the soap sheets, motionless.

On January 1, 2005, Mother of God's Day, Grandma finally regained some consciousness in her hospital bed.

"Grandma, you're awake!" Xiao Yao exclaimed happily.

After the doctors and nurses who rushed to the scene completed their examinations, only the grandfather and grandson remained in the ward.

Of course, there was also the old lady in the next bed.

"Grandma, what did you say? I didn't hear you clearly." Xiao Yao brought his ear close to his grandmother's moving lips.

"I...I don't have time..." Grandma said in a barely audible voice.

"Don't talk nonsense!" Xiao Yao quickly said, "You'll get better!"

Although he knew perfectly well that the doctor hadn't told him that.

“I… know very well… in my heart,” Grandma’s voice rose a few decibels: “Let… Jie Jie come… I… I have something to say to her.”

Xiao Yao walked out of the ward, took out his phone helplessly, and stared blankly into his bloodshot eyes.

He never told his grandmother that Shen Jie had "broken up" with him. He only said that Shen Jie was being strictly controlled by her family and couldn't come out, but that she would come back later.

Winter is always a difficult time for elderly people of this age, and this fall—according to the doctor, Grandma might not make it through the winter.

Thinking of this, tears silently streamed down my face.

Xiao Yao dialed Yu Luying's cell phone.

“Hey,” the boy said in a hoarse voice, “use your phone, no, use your mom’s phone, and send Shen Jie another text message for me. Yes, just say… just tell the truth…”

Chapter 411 Hospice Care

2024-04-30

When Shen Jie arrived, the snow was falling even harder.

In hindsight, this day should be seen as the turning point when the blizzard transformed from a climate phenomenon into a climate disaster.

Looking out from the lobby of the hospital building, Xiao Yao took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment, but still didn't go back to get the umbrella before walking out.

The snow had piled up so thick that he trudged through it, one step at a time, and an unprecedented sense of loneliness washed over him like the overwhelming snow.

Xiao Yao thought, "That's simply because I am a person, just one person, and I've always been alone."

From the moment I was born until the moment I die, it has always been like this.

The snow on the asphalt road had been cleared many times and piled high on the shoulder, making the road look like a dried-up riverbed due to the difference in elevation between the two sides.

Xiao Yao wallowed in self-pity amidst the swirling snow for a while, then saw a black shadow slowly appear at the end of the road—like a boat being pulled upstream by boatmen, moving towards the hospital accompanied by the shouts of the wind and snow.

Xiao Yao was a little nervous, so he tightened his anus and inhaled.

The black Mercedes slowly stopped in front of the boy. While he was still hesitating whether he should help open the car door, the door opened by itself.

“The Baptism, Confirmation, and Final Bondage have all been completed,” Yu Bo nodded to Shen Jie, then turned to Xiao Yao and said, “The old man can no longer eat, so he was unable to receive Holy Communion. His holy name is Tert Lessa.”

Xiao Yao watched the Mercedes drive away once again.

He strode forward and reached out to embrace her.

The boy's eyes met those of the older man who was taking off and folding his sunglasses, and he felt his heart skip a beat.

"About what happened on Christmas night," Xiao Yao said with a wry smile, "I've been wanting to tell you, but you wouldn't answer the phone."

"Little Mom!" Tianyun exclaimed excitedly.

Shen Jie, her face cold, used a seemingly gentle yet undeniably firm strength to push Tian Yun aside and asked Xiao Yao, "Where is your grandmother...?"

Shen Hongsheng casually put his folded sunglasses aside, turned around and kissed Shen Jie on the cheek, waved to Xiao Yao, and rolled up the car window.

“Father Yu.” Shen Jie nodded indifferently, addressing him as such instead of calling him “Brother Bo.”

Then, while looking Tianyun up and down with suspicion, she cast an inquiring glance at Xiao Yao.

"Little mother?" Tianyun's tone was somewhat hurt.

"Are you leaving or not?" Shen Jie's response was as cold as snow hitting Xiao Yao's face.

Shen Hongsheng tossed his head, and Xiao Liang had no choice but to obey his master's order. He handed the black umbrella in his hand to Shen Jie and opened the passenger door.

"Thank you for making the trip, Brother Bo." Xiao Yao bowed slightly and thanked him politely.

Xiao Yao saw a petite girl wearing a pristine white down jacket—it was a genuine Canada Goose, though Xiao Yao couldn't recognize it. The girl's face was a bit round, probably due to her long, straight black hair with bangs—it wasn't actually that long, just much longer than when she had cut it during the summer vacation.

Shen Hongsheng rolled down the car window again: "Xiao Liang!"

"Uncle," Xiao Yao called out instinctively.

Shen Tianyun stood guard outside her grandmother's hospital room, craning her neck to look in the direction the elevator was coming from. As soon as she saw Shen Jie's figure appear, she jumped for joy and quickly walked towards her.

Before Xiao Yao could answer, the door to his grandmother's hospital room was forcefully pulled open, and a tall man dressed in black souvenirs and leather shoes walked out, followed by his niece, Yu Luying.

The boy couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement; his pulse raced and his blood vessels dilated—both his upper and lower body.

When Shen Jie saw that it was Shen Tianyun, she was obviously shocked. Her face turned pale and she took three steps back, as if she had seen a ghost.

On the way to her grandmother's ward, no matter how many questions Xiao Yao asked, Shen Jie remained silent.

The driver, called Xiao Liang, glanced back at Shen Hongsheng, then at Shen Jie, his face showing a troubled expression.

“Xiao Shen.” Yu Bo was a little surprised when he saw Shen Jie, but not that surprised.

Seeing that Shen Hongsheng had taken all the bodyguards away, Xiao Yao could no longer suppress his impulse to act recklessly.

“Hey,” Xiao Yao said, “Hello.”

Xiao Yao's hands touched Shen Jie's back, but the latter expressionlessly used her bent left arm to push him away.

A beautiful leg, clad in black trousers, dark stockings, and pointed leather shoes, stretched out—wait, that's not Shen Jie, it's the driver we met that day.

Then, Xiao Yao tried to explain what had happened to Shen Jie as concisely as possible.

"Let's go." After a long while, the girl finally spoke to the boy.

Shen Jie straightened up and finally walked towards where Xiao Yao was standing, with the driver and bodyguard holding the umbrella following closely behind.

As Xiao Yao was pondering this question, the other car window was rolled down.

Ah, right, since the "driver" is sitting next to Shen Jie, then who is today's driver?

The girl in the white down jacket was wearing sheer tights and camel-colored mid-calf boots (though Xiao Yao didn't know anything about tights, he just called them "flesh-colored stockings"), and fingerless fur gloves. Even though she was standing under the driver's umbrella, several snowflakes quickly clung to her hair.

"It's a public place," Xiao Yao promptly reminded him.

"Let's go." Xiao Yao had no choice but to step back half a step.

She was still as beautiful as ever, and when she slightly raised the corners of her mouth, two clear dimples would be clearly revealed. Unfortunately, when she saw Xiao Yao, she performed a "disappearing smile trick".

After hearing this, Shen Jie lowered her head and fell into a brief moment of deep thought. When Tian Yun came up to hug her again, she once again used the exact same action as when she dealt with Xiao Yao to deflect the hug.

Shen Jie stood two meters away from Xiao Yao, holding her own umbrella, but made no attempt to share it with Xiao Yao, who was covered in snowflakes.

Shen Jie opened her mouth, forming the shape of the word "you," but no sound came out. She simply nodded at Xiao Yao—perhaps she nodded, perhaps she didn't—before lowering her head and walking to the driver's side to talk to the driver who had rolled down the window.

The driver held a black umbrella in his hand, opened it deftly, glanced at Xiao Yao who had an embarrassed expression, and then went to the other door of the car, obviously to open the door for his owner.

“That’s all right,” Yu Boyi said, waving his hand.

"Is Grandma still conscious?" Shen Jie interjected.

"It's alright for now," Yu Bo said. "Your thinking is quite clear."

Just as Xiao Yao was about to reply, he felt a weight on his right arm. Shen Jie had wrapped her arms around his arm with both hands, as if she wanted to cling to him, just like she had done before she went home.

In an instant, a refreshing fragrance filled Xiao Yao's nostrils.

Xiao Yao knew she had arrived.

His wife returned.

For now.

"Shall we go in?" Shen Jie looked up and gently asked Xiao Yao for his opinion.

Miao Jinfang was still fast asleep or perhaps unconscious at noon, but now her eyes were bright and alert, perhaps due to the effects of receiving the initiation and final bondage rituals.

Xiao Yao tried his best to avoid thinking about the phrase "a final burst of energy before death."

When the old man saw Shen Jie enter, his dim and cloudy pupils lit up, and his eyes seemed to sparkle with stars. His breathing, hidden behind the ventilator mask, became heavy and rapid.

"Grandma, please lie down!" Seeing that Miao Jinfang was struggling to sit up, Shen Jie quickly left Xiao Yao and rushed forward to help the old woman.

Shen Jie's conversation with Miao Jinfang lasted for some time.

Maybe ten minutes.

Maybe twenty minutes.

Let's just say it's fifteen minutes. Anyway, when Xiao Yao is looking at Shen Jie, it's hard for him to notice the passage of time.