Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

County Hospital

Zhao Xiaoyu's consciousness slowly emerged from a chaotic, blood-red mass.

First comes the sense of smell.

The strong, bitter smell of Lysol, mixed with the musty smell of old cotton, was like a rusty iron nail, piercing straight into the brain through the nasal cavity.

She struggled to open her eyes; the light from the incandescent bulb was so bright it hurt her eyes, like being pricked by needles.

She instinctively tried to turn to the side, but a searing pain instantly shot through her left cheek, as if her flesh had been repeatedly pierced by thousands of tiny steel needles.

The pain was both taut and numb; if you breathed even slightly heavier, it felt like the stitches on your face were digging into your flesh.

She managed a broken groan, and her trembling fingers reached out but before they could touch the gauze, they were gripped tightly by a rough, warm hand.

There was a rustling sound from the bed next to me.

Wang Xiulan, who was a light sleeper, immediately sat up upon hearing the noise: "Xiaoyu?"

"You're awake?"

Zhao Xiaoyu stared at her blankly, her lips moved slightly, her throat hoarse and dry: "...Where is this?"

"County Hospital".

Wang Xiulan quickly got up and pressed her down, saying, "Don't move around. The doctor just bandaged you up. You have stitches on your face and an injury on your head."

Zhao Xiaoyu's eyes glazed over for a moment, as if she had just remembered something. Her fingers trembled as she touched her face again, and the pain made her shoulders hunch over.

"What happened to my face...?"

Wang Xiulan's throat tightened, but she still whispered, "The wound is not shallow."

"Just let it heal for now, don't overthink it."

Zhao Xiaoyu didn't respond to that.

She stared at the roof, taking several deep breaths, as if she was finally recalling the blood on the ground, the gunshot, and the bench leg that had crashed down behind her, bit by bit.

After a long pause, she asked in a hoarse voice, "Is Lai Zi... dead?"

Wang Xiulan paused for a moment.

"They're still trying to save him."

"Whether he's completely dead or not, we don't know yet."

Zhao Xiaoyu's eyelids twitched slightly, but she didn't say anything.

A few breaths later, her lips turned pale. Staring into the void, she softly asked again, "...Where is she?"

Wang Xiulan knew who she was asking about, and after a moment of silence, she spoke in a low voice, "Also in the hospital."

"Right here, another commotion broke out. Your mother and your third brother, along with the Lai family, carried people to confront your eldest brother."

Zhao Xiaoyu's eyelids twitched slightly, but she didn't say anything.

Wang Xiulan glanced at her and continued, "Your older brother really got angry yesterday, and no one could stop him."

"Your third brother was already badly injured, and with this commotion, he'll probably be crippled for life."

"Your mother was also punished, and she hasn't woken up yet."

The ward was quiet for a while. Zhao Xiaoyu lay there, her face wrapped in gauze, but her eyes gradually grew cold.

After a long pause, she gave a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth, her voice hoarse and weak: "...Well done."

Just then, the ward door creaked open.

Li Baotian carried a thermos flask and walked in from outside. He looked up and saw that Zhao Xiaoyu was awake, and he stopped in his tracks.

"woke up?"

When Zhao Xiaoyu saw him, her eyes visibly narrowed, her lips moved, and after a long while, she called out softly in a hoarse voice, "...Brother Li."

Li Baotian hummed in response, but his expression was not pleasant.

He placed the thermos on the bedside table, walked closer, and glanced at her twice: "You're quite resilient."

Zhao Xiaoyu's lips turned white, and her fingers gripped the corner of the blanket tightly.

She paused for a moment before asking in a low voice, "...Did Auntie get injured like that because of me?"

Li Baotian's face immediately darkened.

He placed the thermos on the bedside table, stared at Zhao Xiaoyu for a moment, and said in a harsh voice, "What do you think?"

"Your aunt hasn't slept a wink these past few days because of you. She was afraid something would happen to you, afraid that that family would really drive you to the brink. And what happened?" He pointed to the end of the corridor, his voice hardening: "She tried to stop them, but in the end, they still pushed her down. She had stitches in her forehead, and the back of her head hit the table, leaving half her face bleeding."

Zhao Xiaoyu's knuckles turned bluish-white from the force she exerted.

"If you truly remember your aunt's kindness, then don't drag her into your messes anymore!" Li Baotian's chest heaved, his anger rising with each word: "She's soft-hearted and willing to help you, that's out of kindness. But she's not made of iron, nor was she sent by God to shield you from disaster!"

"Alright!" Wang Xiulan frowned and tugged at Li Baotian. "She just woke up. Can't you shut up for a second?"

Li Baotian gritted his teeth, the fat on his cheeks twitching twice, but he swallowed the rest of his words and said in a muffled voice, "Take your medicine and recover from your injuries as soon as you wake up. We can talk about other things when you can sit up."

The room was eerily quiet. Thin wisps of white steam rose from the thermos, hissing softly, making the ward seem even more empty and cold.

Zhao Xiaoyu lay there, her breathing heavy and labored. After a long while, she finally managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "...I understand."

Li Baotian didn't respond, and turned around to fiddle with the thermos.

Seeing Zhao Xiaoyu's miserable state, Wang Xiulan felt a pang of sympathy. She reached out and tucked the blanket up a little more for her: "Xiaoyu, listen to your aunt. Don't try to be brave right now, and don't overthink things. Getting your health back is more important than anything else."

Zhao Xiaoyu tried to open her mouth, but even the slightest movement of her chin caused the wound that ran across half her face to make her gasp in pain.

She closed her eyes, took a couple of deep breaths, and then opened them again. "...Can my face still heal?"

Upon hearing this, the air in the room seemed to freeze.

Wang Xiulan's hand, which was fiddling with the quilt, suddenly froze. Li Baotian also fell silent. He turned his head to look out the window, his back as stiff as a stone.

Wang Xiulan didn't dare to say anything definitively, but simply said in a low voice, "Let him recover first."

"The doctor said the wound is deep and we'll have to examine it carefully. Don't touch it or pick at it now; we'll talk about the rest after the swelling goes down."

"Whether Changping can be achieved or not, no one dares to guarantee it to you right now."

They tried to phrase it as lightly as possible, but Zhao Xiaoyu still understood.

Her eyes went blank for a moment, and the corners of her mouth twitched slightly, as if she wanted to laugh, but the laugh didn't come out. Instead, a little moisture welled up in the corners of her eyes.

She didn't cry. She just stared at the yellowish ceiling above her for a long time.

So long that Wang Xiulan thought she would never speak again.

After a long pause, Zhao Xiaoyu suddenly asked very softly, "...Could I see my older brother?"