Huo Guining's eyes lit up: "Dad!"
Huo Xiaozheng steadied his breathing, walking towards her step by step.
Huo Yueze consciously made room at the bedside.
"Hungry, aren't you?" Huo Xiaozheng skilfully opened the small dining table on the hospital bed, lifting the lid off the food container, releasing an appetizing aroma.
"Wow, it smells so good!"
Huo Xiaozheng raised the head of the bed, his smile gentle: "Let Dad let it cool down for a bit, and you can eat it in a moment."
Huo Xiaozheng expertly stirred the soup with a spoon, a scene he had rehearsed countless times in his mind over the past week.
The difference was, the food in his hand finally had an owner.
"Dad, your collar..." There was a splash of crimson on Huo Xiaozheng's blue shirt, looking very conspicuous.
Huo Xiaozheng nonchalantly wiped it off with a wet tissue, calmly saying: "I must have brushed against something by accident. The porridge is ready, come, open your mouth..."
Huo Guining obediently opened her mouth, but Huo Xiaozheng was too calm, calm to the point of making her uneasy.
She swallowed the porridge in her hand, weakly asking: "Dad, where did you just go?"
Huo Xiaozheng's movements paused for a moment, his tone unchanged: "There was something at the company, I went to take care of it."
Huo Guining wanted to ask more.
But Huo Xiaozheng's expression suddenly changed, his tone a little urgent: "What's wrong, is your chest hurting?"
Huo Guining hurriedly said: "No, I'm not feeling unwell now..."
Huo Yueze cut in: "Sister, you can't lie. You just said your head still felt a little dizzy..."
Huo Guining glanced at Huo Xiaozheng uneasily: "That's because I've been lying down for so long..."
Huo Xiaozheng's expression didn't change, continuing to feed her the porridge one spoonful at a time.
"Dad, I'm full."
After lying down for so long, it seemed her stomach had shrunk, as she felt full after just a small bowl.
Huo Xiaozheng calmly put away the utensils, handing them to Huo Yueze: "Yueze, take the trash with you when you leave."
Huo Yueze: "I'm not..."
Catching sight of Huo Xiaozheng's expression, Huo Yueze swallowed his words: "Okay, I should be heading home. Goodbye, sister. Goodbye, uncle!"
With that, he swiftly left the hospital room with the trash and his backpack.
Huo Guining: ...
"Nining."
"Yes!" Huo Guining reflexively replied.
Huo Xiaozheng's demeanor was off, he was usually a man who paid great attention to his appearance, but now, his high-end tailored suit was a little crumpled, and his bangs were disheveled.
Huo Guining timidly said: "Dad, what's wrong?"
"Are you afraid of Jiang Suyuan and Qin Zhiyi?"
Huo Guining's heart skipped a beat, her face turning pale, with a hint of panic flashing in her eyes.
"No... ah..."
Huo Guining forced a laugh.
"Nining, don't worry, Dad has taken care of Jiang Suyuan and Qin Zhiyi."
Huo Guining: !
After a long while, she finally calmed down, trembling as she asked: "Dad, what do you mean by 'taken care of'?"
Huo Xiaozheng smiled, but his eyes were cold: "Exactly what it means. From now on, they will never appear in front of you again."
Recalling the unexplained blood stains on his collar, a chill ran down Huo Guining's spine.
Could it be that Huo Xiaozheng...
Huo Guining asked with difficulty: "Dad... did you break the law?"
Huo Xiaozheng: "That's not important."
Huo Guining screamed internally: This is very important! Don't be dazed, big man, even in books it's a society under the rule of law!
Huo Xiaozheng couldn't hear her internal screams, saying very gently: "What's important is, you won't have to be scared anymore."
No, she was even more scared now.
At this moment, she truly felt that Huo Xiaozheng existed as the antagonist in the book.
Huo Guining became a little frantic: "Dad, killing is against the law, I don't want to never see you again!"
Thinking it over, she added: "Let's turn ourselves in, okay? Maybe there's a chance for a reduced sentence... Yes..."
Huo Guining mumbled as she tried to get out of bed.
Huo Xiaozheng stopped her.
But Huo Guining was too scared.
Huo Xiaozheng's actions did completely resolve her fears.
But it completely violated the plot development, and disregarded the law.
More importantly, she played a crucial role in it.
The more Huo Guining thought about it, the more panicked she became, her mind filled with visions of Huo Xiaozheng being arrested and resisting arrest, ultimately being...
She ignored Huo Xiaozheng's attempts to stop her.
Gripping his sleeve, she looked up at him earnestly: "Dad, pin the blame on me, after all, you did this because of me..."
Huo Guining felt she was making sense the more she thought about it: "Since I'm a minor, I..."
Huo Xiaozheng's expression was a little strange: "Why?"
Huo Guining was a little desperate: "Because I don't want you to go to prison, I don't want to see you become a criminal because of me..."
Huo Xiaozheng gripped her shoulders: "Nining, calm down, Dad didn't kill anyone."
Huo Guining was taken aback: "How can I calm down, you killing is against the law... Huh?"
She came to her senses: "Dad, what did you just say?"
Huo Xiaozheng said helplessly: "I said I didn't kill anyone."
"You're so young, but your knowledge base is quite substantial, you even know minors don't get punished for murder."
Huo Guining didn't believe him: "You really didn't kill anyone?"
Huo Xiaozheng pushed her back onto the bed, covering her with the blanket: "Really."
But he only told half the truth.
If the phone hadn't rung, Jiang Suyuan and Qin Zhiyi probably would have disappeared from this world.
Huo Guining sighed in relief: "You really scared me..."
"But, if you don't want Dad to become a criminal." Huo Xiaozheng added: "Then I hope you won't lie to me."
Huo Guining looked innocent: "I didn't lie."
Huo Xiaozheng sat down at the bedside: "If you're not feeling well, you have to honestly tell me. Hiding things is also a form of deception."
"You're my daughter, Huo Xiaozheng's daughter. No matter what happens, I'll be on your side."
"Just like how you misunderstood me, but still hoped to make excuses for me."
"If one day, you do something irreversible, Dad will also be the one making excuses for you."
Huo Guining's nose turned sour.
But she couldn't say it.
Should she tell Huo Xiaozheng that the world he lives in is a book, and that as long as there are Jiang Suyuan, Qin Zhiyi, and her, his ending is doomed to be tragic?
"Dad, if, I mean if..." Huo Guining hesitated: "If you knew something would definitely happen, would you choose to stop it?"
A strange look flashed across Huo Xiaozheng's eyes.
Indeed.
