An An lifted his head and looked at Pei Ge. His childish voice soothed his mother’s heart. “If there are rocks to scratch you next time, younger brother and I will throw them away for you.”
“Sure. That’s my sweet child.”
She pulled them into her embrace and spoke in a choked voice. “I won’t be so careless next time.”
The woman knew that Huang Zhian had purposely lured her there, but because she wanted to know the truth, she took the bait. At that moment, she had honestly forgotten to consider her three children or her mother who was overseas.
“Mommy, promise us that you won’t get bullied by rocks again.”
“Yes, I promise.”
The room was filled with warmth suddenly.
Not long after, Madam Ji arrived at the hospital with Qu Jingwan. Just as they stepped into the ward, they saw the happy family of five. Ji Ziming and Ran Ran were playing chess on the sofa, while the oldest of triplets and Ji Chi were peeling oranges for their mother. The water flask on the table was releasing white steams, and the pale lilac curtains were gently fluttering with the breeze.
“Pei Ge, I’m here to visit you; how are you?”
The older woman entered the ward and shot a glance at the one lying on the sickbed.
“Auntie, you’re here.”
The latter hurriedly sat up as she greeted. She then saw the lady standing behind the older woman. “Miss Qu is here, too.”
“That’s right. I’m here to see how you’re doing; are you feeling better now?”
Pei Ge snorted internally. Does she think I’m a deity? I just got injured five hours ago, yet this lady was actually asking if I’m doing better. Even if she wants to pretend to care, she should put in more effort. Although she felt disdain for the lady, she still answered politely, “I’m feeling much better now; thanks for visiting me.”
Formalities like this were truly disgusting.
“You need to take good care of yourself and not let Baby and us worry about you. If not, I can only fuss over your injuries and consider if I should visit you here. If this goes on, my body may give up first.”
“I understand, auntie. Thanks for bringing me the soup; I’ll take good care of myself next time.”
Hearing the older woman’s words, she hurriedly gave herself an out.
She did not want the kinship that she had painstakingly built with Madam Ji to crumble because of this.
“I’m fine, but the problem lies with the children.”
The three kids seemed uninterested in what the adults were discussing as they immersed themselves in the game. Meanwhile, when Ji Ziming saw his mother and the lady, not only did he not greet them, he did not bother answering, too.
“The children have no idea, right?”
Madam Ji was slightly uncertain.
“They have no idea; we didn’t let them know.”
Pei Ge admitted. Whenever she looked at her kids, her eyes would be filled with motherly love. If they knew that she had been held hostage and was at risk of dying then, they would probably live in fear from here on. She did not wish to see that and only wanted her children to grow up healthily and happily.
“That’s fine, too.”
The older woman placed the thermal flask containing the soup on the side table. She shot a glance at her son, who was engaged in a fun game with her granddaughter, before turning to speak to her. “Since the kids are spending the night here with you, I’ll just come over tomorrow to bring them home.”
“Let them stay for a couple more days. My injuries need a few days to recover.”
Pei Ge could not bear to see her children go. It was a rare chance for her to be with these three, so she would not give it up for anything else.
“That’s fine, too. Seeing that you’re recovering well, I’m at ease. I’ll bring Jingwan home. Take good care of yourself, and if the helpers aren’t enough, inform the hospital director immediately.”
The older woman’s nagging reminded her of her mother who was currently far from her.
“I got it, auntie; please don’t worry anymore.”
She nodded in agreement.
The darkness oozing from Qu Jingwan’s heart was overwhelming her as she looked on. What went wrong? I’ve painstakingly schemed for so long, and because this b*tch got admitted to this hospital, I lost all the favorable impressions that I’ve earned before.
“Auntie, why don’t you let me stay here to take care of Pei Ge?”
When she suggested that, the couple looked up at her, feeling baffled over what she was scheming this time.
“That’s fine, too.”
Since they had this agreement before leaving the house, the older woman did not intend to reject. She turned to tell Pei Ge, “Why don’t you let Jingwan stay here to take care of you? You’ll get bored staying here.”
“No need; she has me.”
The man stood up; his tall frame made it seem as if a new moon had appeared in the room.
“Miss Qu, thanks for your offer, but she doesn’t need you. Other than the helpers whom I recruited personally, the senior nurses in this high-class ward don’t earn their salary for nothing. There’s no need to trouble yourself with taking care of her.”
Qu Jingwan thought that the woman would reject her offer but never expected the man to speak before the other did.
“Alright, then; if you need my help in any way, do tell me, and I’ll come immediately.”
A look of impatience surfaced beneath her exquisite makeup. If not for the need to do well in front of this man, she would never offer to take care of this woman no matter how much favor she got in return for it.
“If there’s any need, I will trouble you, but…”
Ji Ziming looked at her with a look of viciousness and mockery. “There’s only one thing I must trouble you with now.”
“What is it?” she asked hurriedly. If he raised any requests, she would agree to all of them and do each well. What she did not expect was for his request to be…
“Please help us close the door when you leave.”
His cold eyes seemed like a knife smeared with poison as he kept them trained on her. Whether it was the disgust that had flashed across her face or her fists that had clenched tightly, he could see them clearly.
“Okay.”
She smiled gently. In order to regain his trust, she would smile and tell him that she could do everything he wanted even if he asked her to scram.
“Jingwan, since they don’t need our help, let’s go back home and have a good rest. We’ll come visit Pei Ge again tomorrow.”
“Sounds good, auntie; let’s go home now.”
