Chapter 21 part 1
In the end, Lin Li didn't take her father to the hospital. Before she had even called her daughter, her parents had already been there; however, the attending physician who had performed her father's surgery was off for the weekend, meaning they would have to wait until the following Tuesday for his specialist clinic hours.
Lin Li drove her parents home. As she unlocked the door and stepped inside, she deftly retrieved slippers from the shoe cabinet—a series of actions that caused her parents, following close behind, to exchange a puzzled glance.
Once inside, Lin Li asked her parents to sit on the living room sofa and brought out two glasses of water from the kitchen. All the while, her brow remained furrowed with worry over her father's condition.
Her parents took the water and glanced around the house, taking in its general appearance. Just as they were about to ask their daughter about it, Lin Li spoke first: "Mom, Dad, have a seat for a moment. I need to make a phone call." With that, she turned and went straight into her room.
Left sitting in the spacious living room, her parents were momentarily bewildered, unable to process exactly what was going on.
"Old Lin," her mother said, nudging her husband while her eyes darted around the house, "What... what is the story with this place?"
Lin Li's father shook his head; he was just as confused. It wasn't just the house—there was the car, too. Where had Lin Li managed to get such a nice car and such a fine home? And then there was the child—what was that about? She had never once mentioned a child during their phone calls!
They sat in silence for a while until Lin Li's mother suddenly thought of something and exclaimed, "Oh!"
Her husband glanced at her, frowning, and asked, "What is it? Why are you making such a sudden fuss?"
Mother Lin looked at Father Lin and asked anxiously, "You say — do you think Xiaoli has gotten back together with Cheng Xiang?" She simply couldn't imagine any other reason for her having this house and car.
"Impossible. I know my daughter; once she’s let go of something, she never looks back. Besides, that young man Cheng Xiang hurt our Xiaoli so deeply back then—even if she could forgive him, I certainly wouldn't agree to it!" Father Lin declared firmly.
"Then... then how do you explain this house?" Mother Lin asked him.
Father Lin glanced at the furnishings in the room and remained silent for a long moment.
----- please read the translation from https://irisatdusk.blogspot.com/
Under normal circumstances, Lin Li would have hung up to avoid disturbing her, knowing that pregnant women often need extra sleep. However, she was in a real rush today and couldn't afford to be so considerate. She spoke directly into the phone: "Anzi, wake up—I need a huge favor. It’s an emergency!"
An Ran seemed to pick up on the urgency in Lin Li’s tone; her grogginess vanished, and she instantly became more alert. "What is it? What happened?"
"Anzi, could you ask Su Yicheng to get in touch with Dr. Li—the one who performed my dad's surgery last time?"
Su Yicheng had been the one to arrange that previous surgery. Thanks to his connections, they had secured the hospital's best medical resources; the hospital president had even gotten involved, personally checking on the patient's condition during rounds. Lin Li knew all of this was due to Su Yicheng’s status. She figured that if she asked him for help this time, things like scheduling examinations would likely move much faster.
"Lin Li, what’s wrong? Is it your dad?" An Ran asked, sounding worried.
Lin Li fell silent. After a long moment, she nodded. "Dad has been coughing badly lately, and the symptoms are much like before, so I'm worried..." She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence; it was a situation she didn't want to face.
An Ran, on the other end of the line, also fell silent. After a while, she spoke up: "I'll call Su Yicheng right now!"
Hearing this, Lin Li nodded and said into the phone, "Thank you, An-zi."
"Don't be silly," An Ran said with a touch of exasperation, though she was clearly worried about Lin Li. "Lin Li, are you okay?"
Lin Li looked up at the ceiling, forcing a smile onto her face as she held the phone. "I'm fine. What could possibly be wrong with me?"
Knowing how stubborn Lin Li was, An Ran didn't press the issue. She simply said she would contact Su Yicheng immediately to have him get in touch with Dr. Li, and then hung up.
----- please read the translation from https://irisatdusk.blogspot.com/
She lingered in the room a while longer, working out a story. If her parents asked, she would say she was Xiao Bin's tutor; since she helped look after the child, she was staying at his house for the time being, and the car was just something she was borrowing for a while.
Lin Li knew the explanation was clumsy and full of holes, but her parents had arrived completely unexpectedly, catching her off guard. There hadn't been time to craft a perfect story. For now, she just needed to bluff her way through it. Later, once An Ran had arranged things with Dr. Li, her parents would be preoccupied with her father's medical check-up and wouldn't have the energy to dig into these other details.
With that thought, Lin Li took out her phone again. Making this story work required Zhou Han's cooperation, so she needed to give him a heads-up now to ensure he didn't accidentally let something slip. The call connected quickly.
It was unclear whether he was in his office—the surroundings were very quiet—but Lin Li didn't care about his location at the moment; she spoke up immediately: "Zhou Han, are you busy right now? Could you spare me a few minutes?"
----- please read the translation from https://irisatdusk.blogspot.com/
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