As the two of them kissed, a crystal-like tear fell from the corner of Yan’s eyes. It slipped onto the back of Han Qing’s hand and seemed hot enough to sear him. When he released her, he pressed her firmly into his embrace. There was a thick huskiness from the depths of his low voice as he said, “I won’t do it again. I promise that there will not be a second time. I won’t let anything happen to myself.”
Throughout his life, he had lost three of his relatives, one after the other. Thus, he was well aware of the pain losing a loved one would bring. The dead were blissfully unaware, but the ones left behind would have to lick their wounds for the rest of their lives. Those days were incredibly painful and difficult. In the past, he had tried to shoulder everything on his own. However, now that he thought about it, what she was saying was true.
When two people came together, it was about taking care of each other and sharing their burdens. If they only relied on the strength of one person, it was vulnerable and could easily collapse. Most importantly, if something were to happen to him, there would be nobody left to fight for his wife and two children. This time around, this incident had served as a huge lesson to him—blindly protecting a person was not necessarily the best choice.
After Han Qing woke up, Yan took over his hospital bed and slept next to him. Thus, he watched over her by her side. Unfortunately, she was unable to sleep peacefully. Occasionally, she would call out his name in her sleep; she looked anxious as she clawed desperately with her hands. In the end, he reached out toward her. In response, she clutched at his hand tightly; she seemed to be hanging on for dear life as she seized his hand in a death grip. Then, he glanced down at her hand—she was exerting so much strength that the marks were outlined clearly against his arm. Although it hurt, he found it rather sweet. This young lady’s heart and mind are completely filled with thoughts of me. Then, he lowered his head and lightly planted a kiss on her fair forehead, whispering, “Sleep. I’m right here.”
Throughout the three-day observational period at the hospital, Yan remained at the hospital. During that time, Luo Huimei visited twice. The second time was just before Han Qing was discharged from the hospital. She stood outside the hospital room as she gave Yan a dressing down. “You damn brat! You only have eyes for your husband! While he’s injured, you can accompany him in the hospital every day, but you can’t even come home for a visit.”
Yan also felt that she had been too complacent in the past two days, so she scratched her head in embarrassment. Then, she stuck out her tongue and apologized, “Mom, isn’t that because I know you are taking care of my children? That’s why I feel so at ease. Besides, just the other day, you were telling me that you have more experience in taking care of children than I do. I was raised single-handedly by you after all. The reason I’m so healthy right now can all be credited to your efforts. Therefore, I feel extremely confident leaving my two children with you, Mom.”
Tsk. Luo Huimei did not believe Yan’s words; she bluntly showed her disdain for her daughter. “You’re a real piece of work. The moment you see Han Qing, you’re so mesmerized that you lose all sense of reason. Now that I’m nagging you, you turn around and lick my boots. Did you forget about everything that happened before?” Then, she disappointedly shook her head. “Sigh. This girl only cares for love and romance. Your parents don’t even have these genes, so how did you turn out like this? Thank goodness you met a good man. If you had met a scumbag, what would have happened?” Luo Huimei was truly thankful. Had her obstinate daughter fallen in love with a scumbag and refused to listen to anything her family said to her, she would have ruined her entire life.
“Mom, fate has its own plans. Besides, I don’t have a romance-addled brain. Well, even if I do have, my romance-addled brain is morally righteous. I don’t take part in any immoral activities such as breaking apart families, being the mistress, or going after somebody else’s man. Seeing as your daughter has such great principles, how can she fall in love with a scumbag?”
“Hah,” she sneered, glancing sideways at her daughter. “Are you proud of your romance-addled brains?”
“That’s not it, Mom. I’m just explaining a possible scenario. Let’s put it like this then: when Dad got into the car accident previously, didn’t you accompany him in the hospital too?”
“Is that so?” Luo Huimei made an expression that said she couldn’t remember anything. “Why do I get the feeling that you spent more time accompanying your father than I did? Besides, I still did whatever I needed to do at the time.”
Yan had nothing more to say after that. Han Qing only suffered a mild concussion. Moreover, his overall physical fitness was quite good. So, he recovered quickly. After the doctor examined him again, the doctor confirmed that there was nothing wrong with him and discharged him. Thus, Han Qing and Yan finally arrived home that afternoon.
The first thing Yan did the moment she got home was to take a shower to rid herself of the inauspicious air surrounding her. At the same time, she washed away any bacteria she brought home from the hospital. Only after settling everything did she dare to hold her two children.
Although it was only a few days since she last saw them, it felt like she had not seen them in a decade. When she held them, she even remarked to Luo Huimei, “Mom, why do I feel as if they have gotten heavier?”
The corners of Luo Huimei’s mouth twitched when she heard that. “Did you mean to say that they have grown taller? Only three days have passed; how much heavier could they have gotten?”
“They really do feel heavier.”
“Yes, yes. Go and take a rest since you just came back from the hospital. I’ll boil some nutritious soup for the two of you tonight.”
Just before dinnertime, Luo Huimei and Mr. Zhou came over. Then, she personally made dinner and cooked up a nutritious soup. While they were having dinner, she bluntly said to Han Qing, “Qing, don’t blame me for being straightforward with you, alright? This time around, for you to get yourself into this incident is no small matter. Mr. Zhou and I have been very worried. Of course, the biggest issue was that Yan experienced a huge fright. Before this, you two youngsters were being willful. I can imagine that you didn’t take good care of your bodies due to your youth. Still, after this incident, I believe there are some things I have to bring up.”
Han Qing straightened his back. “Mom, please continue.”
Luo Huimei was very satisfied with his attitude. Thus, she blurted out everything in one go. “While you were hospitalized, Yan and I have discussed it. In the future, the two of us will help to take care of your children. We are getting older, so we aren’t capable of running around too much anymore. So, it’s not a bad idea to help you watch your children at home. We only have one daughter, so watching your children won’t cause any issues such as favoritism and whatnot. If you youngsters want to work hard, you can. But, you need to take care of your health first before you do anything else. We are only humans; we all have one nose, a pair of eyes, two pairs of limbs, one heart, and one brain. The things we can do are limited.”
She put down the chopsticks in her hand. “So, what do you think of my suggestion? The two of you can continue to work while we watch your children for you. If you don’t wish for us to help you raise your children, then you shouldn’t sleep together with them. They make too much noise at night.”
“Mom,” he said seriously. “I believe what you’ve said is true. In the past, I tried to do everything by myself. The incident this time has served as a lesson to me. Your proposal is very agreeable. If the children are under your care, Yan and I will rest assured.”
Han Qing took Yan’s hand and placed their clasped hands on the table. “We both agree to it.”
