Faced with Huo Xiaozheng's questioning, Huo Guining lowered her head.
It wasn't enough, of course it wasn't enough.
That's why she chose to take the medication.
She raised her head and began to explain in a soft voice.
"After the kidnapping, during the time my brother and I were in the hospital, I once had an allergic reaction to a medication, which caused some rashes on my body."
"The nurse gave me antihistamines."
"That day, although my head was fuzzy and I eventually fell asleep, the pain in my chest did indeed go away."
"For the next few days, when the doctor made his rounds in the morning and asked if I was itchy, I always said the rashes hadn't healed and were still itchy."
Huo Xiaozheng's fingers curled slightly, his body tense, but he didn't interrupt her.
"I overheard the name of the medication when the doctor was instructing his student to prescribe it for me."
"It was the same kind that Li... had given me before."
"He had told me that this medication could also be taken for colds, that it was available at pharmacies, and that it wouldn't kill you."
"So..."
At this point, Huo Guining stole a glance at Huo Xiaozheng. Seeing that his expression seemed to have softened a bit, she gathered her courage and continued:
"So after I was discharged, I pretended to have a cold and asked Aunt Xu to buy it for me..."
Huo Xiaozheng coldly interrupted: "You really have some nerve!"
Huo Guining's face showed a moment of surprise, and she lowered her head again.
Huo Xiaozheng took a deep breath and closed his eyes briefly.
She had nearly died in the wilderness because of this medication.
Huo Guining mumbled: "I checked the instructions, the dosage I took shouldn't have had a big impact on my body..."
Her voice became so low towards the end that it was almost inaudible.
Huo Xiaozheng was burning with anger. Unable to bear it any longer, he abruptly stood up and walked out of the hospital room.
Huo Guining stared blankly at his retreating figure, knowing she was in the wrong, not daring to follow.
Although she had expected Huo Xiaozheng to be angry, she thought his relief would outweigh his anger.
After all, that's how her father had been in her previous life.
Huo Guining's guilt was mixed with a hint of confusion.
In her previous life, when she was diagnosed with cancer, it wasn't her who was knocked down first, but her mother.
Her mother had always been frail, and after hearing the news, she quickly broke down.
Both of them ended up in the hospital.
Her father, stretched thin and unable to inform the elderly grandparents on both sides of the family, weighed his options and hired a 24-hour caregiver for Huo Guining during her hospital stay.
He himself stayed by her mother's side.
Huo Guining expressed understanding, after all, she didn't want to see her mother suffering either.
Later, when her mother gradually accepted the fact of Huo Guining's illness, she wanted to dismiss the caregiver and try her best to stay by Huo Guining's side.
Her father, worried about her mother's health deteriorating, only agreed to let her stay with Huo Guining during the day, while leaving the night care to the caregiver.
"If you collapse, what will happen to Ningning?" her father had reasoned with her mother at the time.
Huo Guining, deeply affected, chimed in to support him.
Her mother reluctantly agreed.
But her mother was too fragile.
At that time, most of Huo Guining's treatments were during the day.
Having missed the optimal window for surgery, she faced endless chemotherapy sessions.
The chemotherapy was excruciating, its side effects were horrible, and the pain from lung cancer was unbearable.
Huo Guining often lapsed into a hazy state of consciousness, and when she came to, she frequently saw her mother in tears.
But her mother didn't want her to see her vulnerability. She would immediately turn away, wipe her tears, and call out with a gentle smile: "Ningning, you're awake. Are you feeling better?"
No, not at all better.
After each chemotherapy session, she wished she would never wake up again.
But she couldn't say that, because it would break her mother's heart and make her feel guilty.
The chemotherapy continued in cycles, and Huo Guining alternated between hospital stays and discharges, not only detached from school but also from society, yet unable to escape the pain of survival.
Once, her attending doctor asked if she wanted to pause the chemotherapy if it was too difficult.
At that time, both her parents were by her side.
Huo Guining had to clench her teeth to hold back the affirmative answer she wanted to blurt out.
She lied, saying, "No need, I feel I'm doing well."
It was pure self-deception.
But her father gave her an approving smile, even nodding at her.
Her mother, equally pleased, nestled in her father's arms, her eyes sparkling.
Huo Guining thought: Ah, so this is how I can gain Father's approval.
So, until her final moments, she couldn't bring herself to tell her parents to give up on her.
Now, Huo Guining truly felt confused. They were both fathers, so why hadn't her considerate, selfless behavior earned her approval?
In fact, Huo Xiaozheng's state could almost be described as furious.
Indeed, Huo Xiaozheng was very angry.
He couldn't understand Huo Guining's self-harming, self-sacrificing behavior, just as Huo Guining couldn't understand why she hadn't gained his approval.
A wall separated the worlds of father and daughter.
After leaving the hospital room, Huo Xiaozheng went to Shen Shiyan's office.
Shen Shiyan said helplessly, "Are you going to tell me or not? If not, I'm going to sleep."
Yes, a full half hour had passed since Huo Xiaozheng entered, and Shen Shiyan had been waiting for him to speak, but he hadn't said a word.
"Shi Lili really deserves to die," Huo Xiaozheng said out of the blue.
Shen Shiyan replied wearily, "Yes, yes, yes. But brother, compared to that, I'm more curious about Ningning's illness and those medications. What's really going on?"
Huo Xiaozheng remained silent.
Shen Shiyan grew angry: "After all, I am Ningning's attending physician. What gives you the right to keep this from me?"
Huo Xiaozheng gave a cold laugh: "You just said that Ningning's body has no problems, and those medications haven't caused any harm to her."
Shen Shiyan: "Although I'm not a professional psychologist, according to our relationship, Ningning should call me uncle."
Shen Shiyan continued, becoming more confident: "Am I not allowed to care about my niece's health?"
Huo Xiaozheng fell silent.
Thinking he had made his point, Shen Shiyan continued: "As for that Shi Lili, you shouldn't dwell on it. You and Ningning need to learn to move forward, to face problems and solve them!"
"Instead of getting stuck in the problem, obsessing over it. You storming off like this, isn't it a form of cold violence towards Ningning?"
Huo Xiaozheng's brow twitched.
"Besides, you're almost 30 years old, why are you getting angry at a 5-year-old child?"
"Who's the father here, you or Ningning?"
Shen Shiyan got carried away as he spoke, momentarily forgetting Huo Xiaozheng's true nature.
Huo Xiaozheng replied in a chilling tone: "It seems Uncle Shen hasn't arranged enough blind dates for you lately..."
Shen Shiyan thought to himself: Damn it, he still hasn't fully grasped the lessons from the stories of the dog biting Lü Dongbin, the farmer and the snake, and the scholar and the wolf!
