Volume One, Chapter 14: Adding Insult to Injury

I thought Su Qingya would give me an immediate answer. After all, even Liu Ying—the only one who could save me—had already doomed me.

Not long ago, news came from my father-in-law’s side that several investments suffered losses exceeding eighty million yuan, wiping out the principal. If Su Qingya agreed to divorce me and took half of my company’s shares, she could not only cover the losses but also make a hefty profit. She would remain the same wealthy, carefree little princess as before.

Freed from my ties, she could be with whoever she liked—no matter how many Xus she found. Or perhaps she wanted to hold on to my life, continuing to make me atone, watching me die surrounded by tubes, wracked with unbearable pain.

But to my surprise, Su Qingya was silent.

She looked at me with eyes I could not interpret.

Before, I would rack my brain trying to decipher her meaning, unwilling to miss even the slightest thought of hers. But now, I was simply exhausted; I didn’t want to guess anymore.

“The patient needs rest. Family and friends, please leave for now,” Liu Ying said promptly, ushering everyone out.

Night had fallen. The room was lit, but I missed the enchanting night outside. All I saw was my reflection, surrounded by medical instruments.

Though the temperature was just right, the lifeless hospital room and the steady beeping of machines made me feel inexplicably cold.

Would I die in a place like this?

A shiver of fear ran through me.

Dying here, wrapped in cold machines, in a room no one cared about.

Before I closed my eyes again, a familiar voice shouted at the door: “My son! How is my son?!”

It was my mother.

An involuntary smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

Since I graduated from university, my father—long bedridden from years of drinking and gambling and refusing medical care—finally passed away a couple of years ago.

Since then, my mother had lived alone. I often urged her to find a companion, but she never gave a proper answer. Instead, she sank deeper into gambling.

The on-duty doctor brought my mother into the ward. I looked at the white strands in her hair and the deep wrinkles on her face, feeling a sudden pang of sadness.

Though every time she contacted me it was to ask for money, and though I occasionally felt resentment, seeing her like this made my heart ache: “Mom, how have you been lately?”

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“Hmm.” She answered indifferently. “It was your friend who asked me to come.”

Just as Lu Feng had said.

I sighed lightly.

My mother wouldn’t have thought to visit me otherwise; she only remembered me when she needed money.

“What a hassle. I’ve never been to the city before, sigh!” She looked around and plopped down on the chair beside me. “I thought something had happened to you, but here you are, alive and well.”

“Your friend told me to bring you some things, so I brought some eggs from home. But judging by how you look, you probably can’t eat them.”

She picked up an egg, tapped it twice on the bed rail, then threw the shell on the floor and stepped on it.

“Mom… there’s a trash can over there.” Seeing her bring her rural habits with her, I couldn’t help but speak up.

“Who are you to boss me around?” she snapped, holding the half shell and gently squeezing the boiled egg into her mouth.

For me, who was hooked up to IVs with a bitter taste in my mouth and confined to liquid food, this was a tremendous temptation.

“Well, you remember Old Li next door, the one whose wife died?” After chewing, my mother spoke with her still-sticky mouth, “He said he likes me a few days ago.”

That was good news, I thought.

I had hoped she could find a companion, not necessarily someone she loved deeply, but at least someone to lean on. That would make me feel relieved.

“But his son doesn’t want him living in that house anymore. You know our house, it’s old, small, and drafty. So I came to see you, and while I’m here…”

“…You want money?” I finished her sentence.

“What money? I’m your mother! You should be giving me money!”

I looked at her aggressive stance, feeling colder inside.

As expected, she only came for business.

“Mom, I’m sick,” I said with a bitter smile, hoping to see a flicker of concern in her eyes. But there was nothing.

“You’re the CEO now. You can’t be so stingy as to not give your own mother tens of thousands, right?” She spat on the floor as she spoke. I closed my eyes in despair.

“You must be making a million or so a day, right?” My mother looked at me as if she had seen through everything. “How’s your company? Easy to run? Lying in the hospital these days, does it affect your earnings?”

I sighed silently. I should have just kept pretending to be asleep, as if she had never come.

“Can I take over the company in your name?”

---

I almost spat blood. What was she saying?

She wanted to take over my company because I wouldn’t give her money?

When I ignored her, she lost interest and started asking about other things.

“How much does that bottle of medicine cost?”

I glanced at it—it was glucose. I thought for a moment and said, “It’s to replenish energy. Not much, about ten yuan.”

My mother looked at me as if I had said something unbelievable. Her eyes widened: “That little bottle of water costs ten yuan?”

She looked at the medicine bottle, then at her basket. “Let me peel an egg for you. You’re weak because you have no strength. Eat an egg, and you’ll have energy, come on.”

She tried to feed me the egg still stuck with shell bits but stopped herself: “Son, if they only give you half the medicine, can you return the rest? Otherwise, the egg would be wasted.”

Hearing her, I almost laughed. I realized I didn’t even weigh as much as an egg in her eyes.

Originally, I didn’t want to eat it. No matter how much Su Qingya hated me, she had spent ten million on me.

Lu Feng had pleaded with teary eyes for me not to die. Despite her dislike of me, Liu Ying was meticulous in treating my illness.

They had all given me some will to live.

But my mother, who gave birth to me and whom I sent over a hundred thousand yuan every month, still had to weigh spending ten yuan on me.

Maybe it was the physical discomfort, or maybe my mood swings were worse, but at that moment, a faint desire to give up on life filled my heart.

“…Son, you can buy a whole basket of eggs for a dozen yuan at home. Don’t be unreasonable! Tell me if you can return the medicine; otherwise, the money would be wasted!”

I looked at her anxious gaze and smiled bitterly: “Yes, I can return it.”

No sooner had I spoken than my mother sprang up, yanking the IV tube off. Pain stung the back of my hand—the sudden change in height and pressure caused the blood to flow back.

Soon, blood began to trickle out.

My mother’s face was no better than mine; she looked pale as she rushed out to call the doctor, not forgetting to shove the egg into my mouth before leaving.

I stared at the flowing red blood, then at the direction my mother had gone. Ignoring the dull ache in my stomach, I chewed the egg slowly and swallowed it.