She was terribly thirsty, but there wasn’t a single person by her side.
Kang Zhi Miao’s heart felt bitterly cold.
Xu Xun didn’t come to see her until the next morning. “I bought you some porridge from the cafeteria. The doctor said you need to eat soft, light things for a while.”
“Where’s Xiao Rui?” Kang Zhi Miao was worried that her son would be upset if he woke up and didn’t see her.
“I told him you were at your family’s place and hadn’t come back. I’ll pick him up from kindergarten this afternoon and bring him over to see you.”
Kang Zhi Miao gave a cold laugh. “Why lie to Xiao Rui? Why not tell him the truth, tell him that his aunt stabbed me?”
“Zhi Miao, what Xiao Wan did was wrong, but she didn’t mean it.”
“Old Xu, she did something like this, and you’re still making excuses for her?” Kang Zhi Miao shook her head, unable to understand Xu Xun’s behavior.
“Zhi Xin makes mistakes too, and you cover for her, don’t you? So why can’t you understand me protecting Xiao Wan? Xiao Wan is my little sister, and Zhi Xin is your little sister. Let’s be fair and put ourselves in each other’s shoes.” Xu Xun pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling like Kang Zhi Miao was being unreasonable.
“Zhi Xin, she…”
Just as Kang Zhi Miao was about to say that Kang Zhi Xin was no longer her sister, the door opened and Kang Zhi Xin rushed in, crying, and threw herself onto Kang Zhi Miao, landing right on her wound. “Big Sister, are you okay?”
“Brother-in-law told me you were hurt. I was so scared I almost died! I came to see you right away.”
The pain was so intense that Kang Zhi Miao couldn’t speak. She used all her strength to push Kang Zhi Xin away, then pulled back the blanket and saw blood seeping from the wound. She glared angrily at Kang Zhi Xin. “What are you doing?”
“Big Sister, I didn’t know I was pressing on your wound. Don’t be mad. I’ll go get the doctor right now.”
After Kang Zhi Xin left the room, Xu Xun’s face darkened. “I know you’re in a bad mood because you’re hurt, but you can’t treat Zhi Xin like that.”
“I’ve been really busy lately and can’t take care of you. I happened to run into Zhi Xin, and she said she would look after you.”
“I don’t need her to take care of me.”
Kang Zhi Miao didn’t tell Xu Xun about the things Kang Zhi Xin had done. He didn’t like hearing her talk about her family’s affairs. In his view, his family was his family, and her family was her family.
She shouldn’t interfere too much in his family’s business, and he wouldn’t get involved in hers.
Besides, family disgrace shouldn’t be aired out. She didn’t want Xu Xun to use things about Zhi Xin against her in a future argument.
“If you have things to do, go ahead. I can manage on my own.”
Kang Zhi Miao waved her hand at Xu Xun, signaling that he could leave.
But Xu Xun felt like she was just throwing a tantrum. “Zhi Miao, don’t be like this.”
Kang Zhi Miao was exhausted from the pain caused by Kang Zhi Xin’s weight on her wound. She was already forcing herself to deal with Xu Xun, and still, he wasn’t satisfied.
After going through this, Kang Zhi Miao didn’t want to keep putting herself aside anymore. But she wasn’t going to start a big fight with him either.
She slowly shifted her body to sit up, picked up the porridge from the bedside table, and took small sips.
“The next time you come see me, bring me some brown sugar.”
“Okay.”
Xu Xun watched Kang Zhi Miao like this, feeling something he couldn’t quite describe. He took a step forward, but when he saw her look up at him, he hesitated for a moment, then chose to turn and leave.
He pulled the door open and bumped right into Kang Zhi Xin. She smiled at him, extra sweetly. “Brother-in-law, you’re leaving already?”
“Mm.”
Xu Xun gave a soft reply, stepped aside to let Kang Zhi Xin enter first. He didn’t think much of it.
But Kang Zhi Miao sensed something was wrong. Remembering what she had heard in Ya Ya’s inner thoughts before, she suddenly understood exactly why Kang Zhi Xin was so eager to come and ‘take care’ of her.
“Where’s the doctor?” Kang Zhi Miao asked Kang Zhi Xin.
Kang Zhi Xin blinked innocently. “What doctor? Oh! The doctor! I went to find them, they said they’d be here in a little while.”
“Big Sister, your injury isn’t that serious anyway. It doesn’t really matter if the doctor comes or not. It’s not like you’re going to die.”
Kang Zhi Miao didn’t call her out on the fact that Kang Zhi Xin would probably prefer her dead.
She drank her porridge silently, then lay down, closed her eyes, and pretended to fall asleep.
Only after she heard Kang Zhi Xin leave did she finally relax. She held on until a nurse came to start her IV, then asked the nurse to call Ye Zhi Qiu.
She thought it over for a long time and decided she still had to trouble Ye Zhi Qiu.
When Ye Zhi Qiu got the call at home, she was very surprised to hear what had happened. After work that evening, she went to the hospital with Lu Shuang Shuang.
Kang Zhi Xin’s expression turned sour when she saw the two of them. “What are you doing here?”
“I asked Zhi Qiu to come.”
Kang Zhi Miao hadn’t dared to sleep. She was afraid that if she fell asleep, Kang Zhi Xin might do something to her.
“Zhi Qiu, come here.”
Kang Zhi Miao’s complexion was terrible. The doctor had come to reapply her medicine, but then Kang Zhi Xin had ‘accidentally’ touched her wound again.
“Don’t you dare get near my big sister. Who knows what you’re trying to do.”
Kang Zhi Xin spread her arms to block Ye Zhi Qiu and Lu Shuang Shuang. Lu Shuang Shuang stepped forward, grabbed Kang Zhi Xin, and pulled her outside. “Sister Zhi Miao asked us to come. She also asked Zhi Qiu to come over. What are you yapping about out here?”
“I’m telling you, don’t you dare hurt my big sister. If anything happens to her, I’ll make your life miserable.”
Kang Zhi Xin tried to break free from Lu Shuang Shuang’s grip, but Lu Shuang Shuang was stronger. So she just deliberately shouted loud enough for others to misunderstand.
Ye Zhi Qiu ignored Kang Zhi Xin. She walked over to Kang Zhi Miao’s bedside and frowned slightly. “Sister Kang, what do you need me to do?”
“Zhi Qiu, help me find a reliable nanny. I can’t let Zhi Xin take care of me.” Kang Zhi Miao took Ye Zhi Qiu’s hand.
Ye Zhi Qiu nodded. “Okay.”
“When I get out of the hospital, I’ll pay you back.”
“Sister Kang, we can talk about all that later.”
Ye Zhi Qiu saw how bad Kang Zhi Miao looked and asked, “Should I call the doctor to come check on you?”
“No need. It’s nothing serious. I just haven’t rested well.”
Ye Zhi Qiu sat down on the edge of Kang Zhi Miao’s bed. “Sister Kang, I’ll stay right here and watch over you. You sleep.”
“Thank you.”
Kang Zhi Miao closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.
“What exactly happened to Sister Kang?” Lu Shuang Shuang had chased Kang Zhi Xin away with her yelling, then came back inside. She looked at Kang Zhi Miao and asked Ye Zhi Qiu in a low voice.
Ye Zhi Qiu shook her head. “I don’t know.”
A little while later, Xu Xun arrived with Xu Rui. He looked unhappy when he saw Ye Zhi Qiu and Lu Shuang Shuang there.
Ye Zhi Qiu and Lu Shuang Shuang briefly greeted Xu Xun. He asked, “Where’s Zhi Xin?”
“She left.”
“How could she leave when her sister is this badly hurt?”
No sooner had he said that than Kang Zhi Xin burst through the door, followed by Kang Zheng Qing, Kang Zhi Shou, and Kang Zhi Ren.
“Dad, Eldest Brother, Second Brother, it was these two who drove me away and wouldn’t let me take care of Big Sister!”
Kang Zhi Xin pointed at Ye Zhi Qiu and Lu Shuang Shuang, playing the victim first. “They’re also the ones who hurt me and got me kicked out of the troupe.”
Kang Zhi Xin didn’t know that Kang Zheng Qing and the others already knew the truth.
Kang Zheng Qing stepped forward and asked Ye Zhi Qiu and Lu Shuang Shuang, “You two young ladies, who are you?”
“We’re Sister Zhi Miao’s colleagues and her friends.”
Ye Zhi Qiu clarified: “Sister Zhi Miao called us herself and asked us to come.”
“Sister Zhi Miao needs peace and quiet to rest. Let’s go outside to talk.”
Ye Zhi Qiu gave Lu Shuang Shuang a look, signaling for her to stay behind and look after Kang Zhi Miao.
