Xu Xinghe didn’t really care what happened to the Chu family. He just let System 0250 keep an eye on things and report back the arrest results when the time came. Either way, the Chu family would probably be spending the better part of their lives behind bars before they saw daylight again.
After giving their statements, the four of them went out for hotpot together.
Both Xu Xinghe and Su Yan wanted to pay the bill, but the two girls stopped them. In the end, they split it, but only Xu Xinghe and Su Yan actually paid.
No way were they letting their girlfriend/almost-girlfriend pay.
But before they could enjoy themselves for long, Xia Qingmeng received a bad call.
Grandma Xia fell down!
The four of them rushed straight from the hotpot restaurant to the hospital.
Xia Qingmeng didn’t remember how she got to the hospital or how she found the operating room. All she knew was that her mind felt blurry, and everything around her was buzzing. It felt like the sky was falling.
Xu Xinghe helped her wait outside the operating room, while Su Yan and Wen Li took the initiative to help with the admission procedures.
Even though it was summer, Xia Qingmeng’s hands and feet were ice cold. No matter how much Xu Xinghe tried to warm them, they wouldn’t get warm. Her usually rosy face also turned pale.
Xu Xinghe frowned slightly. In the original plot, Xia Qingmeng’s grandmother had already been framed by Chu Xi around this time and then struggled for two or three months before finally passing away. That also made Xia Qingmeng fall into despair and jump from the school building.
Now the plot had already changed a long time ago, but Grandma Xia still ended up in the hospital. It seemed that her health had probably been poor to begin with.
The surgery took a long time. Xu Xinghe stayed by Xia Qingmeng’s side without moving an inch until finally the operating room light went off and the doors opened.
“How is my grandmother?” Xia Qingmeng asked the doctor anxiously.
The doctor reassured her, “She’s out of immediate danger for now, but she’ll need continued observation.”
The doctor’s words seemed to float in the air, drifting farther and farther away. The scene before her eyes also grew blurry.
Xia Qingmeng felt her vision go dark, and then she knew nothing more.
“Qingmeng! Qingmeng!”
Xu Xinghe desperately supported Xia Qingmeng and scooped her up in his arms.
The doctor didn’t expect the young girl to suddenly faint and quickly instructed Xu Xinghe to cooperate for an examination.
…
When Xia Qingmeng woke up, it was the smell that roused her—a wonderful aroma filling her nose. The scent of food.
After struggling to sit up, she saw a figure beside her bed busy putting breakfast.
“Xu… Xu Xinghe?” Xia Qingmeng rubbed her eyes uncertainly. She felt something strange on the back of her hand and looked down to see a cotton ball stuck over where an IV had been.
“You’re awake? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?” Xu Xinghe turned around reflexively as soon as he heard her call his name.
“Oh, right, Grandma! How is Grandma?” Xia Qingmeng shook her head, too frantic to think about breakfast. She threw off the covers and tried to get out of bed.
Xu Xinghe steadied her. “Grandma is stable for now. The doctor said your body is malnourished and weak. Eat something first or you’ll faint again.”
Hearing this, Xia Qingmeng breathed a sigh of relief and finally relaxed her nerves. But the moment she let her guard down, she immediately felt an urgent physical discomfort, probably from all the IV fluids. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Unable to look Xu Xinghe in the eye, she fled to the bathroom.
A few minutes later, Xia Qingmeng came out of the bathroom with her head lowered. Xu Xinghe was oblivious to her shyness. He laid out all the breakfast and eagerly asked what she liked to eat. Because he didn’t know her preferences, he bought a bunch of breakfast.
Xia Qingmeng looked at the overwhelmingly abundant breakfast before her and felt indescribably moved. From childhood until now, aside from her grandmother and Wen Li, no one had ever cared about what she liked. Xu Xinghe was the first.
“I’m not picky…” Xia Qingmeng picked up a tiny red bean bun and nibbled at it slowly.
The hospital room was well decorated, a private room and the bathroom was fully equipped. It wasn’t hard for Xia Qingmeng to guess who she had to thank for that.
“You… why are you so good to me? You don’t actually have to do all this…” Xia Qingmeng’s head was getting lower and lower.
She knew herself all too well. She didn’t feel she had anything that made Xu Xinghe treat her this well. She wanted to cut her losses before it was too late. She was afraid of falling deeper and deeper.
“Because I like you,” Xu Xinghe said to Xia Qingmeng without a moment’s hesitation.
His words were incredibly direct, not a single unnecessary word, just like his personality.
Xia Qingmeng was stunned. Then a touch of sadness crept in. “I… I’m not good enough for you…”
Whether it was her family background or herself, Xia Qingmeng had no confidence.
“Not good enough?” Xu Xinghe thought about it for a moment, then broke into a grin. “So that means you like me too? You’re just worried that you’re not good enough for me?”
Xia Qingmeng was completely baffled by his twisted logic.
You can analyze it that way? And yet… somehow it makes a bit of sense?
So these strange feelings, this is what ‘liking’ someone feels like?!
Xu Xinghe cupped Xia Qingmeng’s face in his hands. “You have good grades and you’re pretty, what’s not good enough about you? You are very good. If anything, I’m not good enough for you!”
Xia Qingmeng still had an unfinished steamed bun stuffed in her mouth. With her cheeks squished like that, she looked like a hamster.
Xu Xinghe continued seriously, “Besides, as long as I like someone, they’re the best match for me!”
Xia Qingmeng’s face turned red. “You… keep your voice down…”
The two of them quickly finished breakfast. Xia Qingmeng couldn’t sit still any longer and rushed to her grandmother’s hospital room.
Grandma Xia was already old. If a neighbor hadn’t discovered her in time when she fainted at the front door, she might not have made it to the hospital at all.
In fact, Grandma didn’t have any major disease. But her age had caught up with her, so her organs were failing. The fall this time had also injured her arm, so how much time she had left was really difficult to tell.
Having grown up independent and sensible, Xia Qingmeng understood perfectly well what the doctor was implying. All she could do was grit her teeth and try to be strong. Was heaven really going to be so cruel as to take away her only remaining family?
Xu Xinghe pulled her into his arms, rubbing her shoulder in silent comfort.
No one could avoid birth, aging, sickness, and death. It was an unchangeable law. Even though he had changed the plot, he couldn’t change the fact that one day, Grandma Xia would be gone.
Still, holding onto a sliver of hope, Xu Xinghe asked the system, “0250, is there any way to restore Grandma Xia’s health?”
0250’s mechanical, icy voice rang out: “Apologies, this is a law of heaven. It cannot be defied.”
“Really no way at all?” Xu Xinghe refused to believe it.
0250 paused for a moment, as if searching for a solution. After a while, it spoke again: “There is a Longevity Pill in the store that can extend one’s lifespan, but the effect varies from person to person. The host may choose to purchase it.”
Xu Xinghe didn’t hesitate and clicked into the store. Five thousand points, damn.
He looked at his zero balance and asked quietly, “Can I buy on credit?”
The system’s voice actually hesitated.
Xu Xinghe took a look at everything he had on him. All that was left were a few Beauty and Health Pills from the welcome gift pack.
“Would a Health Pill help?” Xu Xinghe asked.
This time, 0250 didn’t hesitate. “It would not.”
Beauty and Health Pills could only nourish the face and body. They couldn’t work the kind of miracle that a Longevity Pill could.
Xu Xinghe slumped.
System 0250: “Host, given that this is your first transmigration and you have no accumulated points, after verification, credit is permitted. However, the debt must be repaid in the next small world, or penalties will apply.”
Xu Xinghe agreed without a second thought. He borrowed five thousand points and exchanged them for one Longevity Pill.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152