Chapter 94: Treatment
The doctor gave You Ruxu a thorough examination and prescribed some painkillers. Yu Qiao sat by her bedside. You Ruxu said, “Godmother, you should go home, I’m fine on my own, and my colleagues are here too.”
“Don’t trouble your colleagues.” Yu Qiao said, “Your godmother will stay with you.”
She tucked You Ruxu in and continued, “Xiao Tian has always been independent, never telling me anything, always enduring everything on her own, I don’t even remember the last time I took care of her.”
Yu Qiao looked at You Ruxu, “With her personality, it’s difficult for people to get close to her, so she doesn’t have many friends, they all say she’s fierce, but actually, she’s just cold on the outside, warm on the inside.”
You Ruxu nodded, “Yes, she’s a good person.”
“Her personality, she didn’t inherit it from me or her father.” Yu Qiao said, “I’m worried she’ll be stubborn and never get married. You asked her about marriage last time, what did she say?”
Her tone was warm and trusting, treating You Ruxu like family. You Ruxu looked at Yu Qiao, the guilt towards Zhou Qiming.
The guilt towards Zhou Tianzui.
The guilt towards Yu Qiao, all intensified at this moment, her hand clenching, fingernails digging into her palm, leaving deep marks. Meeting Yu Qiao’s gaze, she remembered Zhou Tianzui’s words.
“A Ran, just for me, be a little more selfish, okay?”
You Ruxu’s hand relaxed. She said, “She didn’t say much.”
Yu Qiao wasn’t surprised.
Although Zhou Tianzui had a bad temper, she was very good to Yu Qiao, but they had just argued about this. It was understandable that she didn’t want to talk about it with You Ruxu. Yu Qiao shook her head, “It’s my fault for being too pushy.”
But how could she not be anxious? Other children her age were already married with children, while Zhou Tianzui had never even been in a relationship. She used to worry about Zhou Tianzui dating prematurely during her school years, but Zhou Tianzui had been obedient, not giving her any cause for concern. But then she didn’t date anyone in university either, and after graduating, she became even busier with work at the hospital, not even a hint of a relationship.
Thinking of this, she looked at You Ruxu, “Xiao Xu, do you think there’s something wrong with Xiao Tian?”
You Ruxu was puzzled: “Huh?”
Yu Qiao said, “I mean, with her health, or mentally…”
She stopped mid-sentence.
You Ruxu, seeing her freeze, called out, “Godmother?”
Yu Qiao returned to her senses, “Nothing, it’s nothing.”
That afternoon, Captain Zhou came to ask You Ruxu a few questions. Yu Qiao excused herself, saying she was going home to prepare dinner. You Ruxu asked someone to drive her home. Yu Qiao, after a moment of thought, decided to visit Zhou Tianzui on the way.
Zhou Tianzui had slept after returning home. The image of You Ruxu sitting on the ground, covered in blood, lying in a pool of blood, not responding to her calls, replayed in her mind. She had held You Ruxu, trying to stop the bleeding, but it wouldn’t stop. She called You Ruxu’s name, but there was no response. She looked down, and You Ruxu was gone.
She woke up.
Zhou Tianzui sat on the edge of the bed, You Ruxu’s teddy bear beside her pillow, clearly she had tried to cuddle with it. Zhou Tianzui wondered if she could sleep in the hospital ward. She rubbed her temples, her head aching. She opened her phone, many notifications, all work-related, nothing from You Ruxu.
She turned off the screen, her fingers lingering.
She looked away, out the window.
The sun was shining, a gentle breeze, a rare sunny day. You Ruxu looked away from the window and heard Captain Zhou say, “Zhou Heng is starting to crack, we should be able to close the case soon, once we find the informant.”
You Ruxu asked, “It was Zhou Heng?”
Captain Zhou said, “Not necessarily, but he’s definitely involved.”
Zhou Heng’s reaction last night, after hearing about You Ruxu jumping from the car, and the arrest of the construction site manager, was clearly different. Even the officer interrogating him noticed a change, although he quickly resumed his feigned ignorance.
You Ruxu said, “If he’s involved, he won’t get away with it.”
Captain Zhou said, “We’ve changed our approach.”
Since they knew he was involved, they couldn’t use their previous methods. So, today, they kept Zhou Heng on edge, constantly questioning him, hoping for a breakthrough soon.
Captain Zhou said, “We owe this to you.”
Without You Ruxu, they would still be stuck trying to find the informant. There were no other clues on Xu Jinwan. And if they had let the manager escape last night, if he had become alerted, the case would have been much more difficult to solve.
Public opinion was escalating, like a snowball rolling downhill, gathering momentum. Even her superiors had said if there was no progress soon, they could all pack their bags and go home. Captain Zhou didn’t care about public opinion, but she had to find the person behind this.
They were too brazen, even daring to harm a TV anchor, what would they do next?
It was a chilling thought.
You Ruxu, lost in thought, said, “Don’t mention it, I was just doing my job.”
“You—” Captain Zhou looked at her, sensing a lonely stubbornness in her demeanor, a difficult to describe mix of strength and vulnerability, “Don’t do that again, wait for the police next time.”
You Ruxu said, “I understand.”
Captain Zhou, seeing her exhaustion, said, “Then you should rest, contact me if you need anything, and I’ll keep you updated on the progress.”
You Ruxu nodded.
After Captain Zhou left, the ward was quiet, so quiet that You Ruxu could hear her own heartbeat.
“Being a reporter is so important, then what about me?”
“If you had to choose one?”
You Ruxu couldn’t turn over easily, so she just lay there, looking at the ceiling and the fluorescent light above. After a moment of thought, she messaged Zhou Tianzui, typing and deleting several times, before finally sending: [Godmother just went home.]
Zhou Tianzui was still lying in bed, listless, her head heavy, a cold coming on, wanting to cough with every breath. She got up and made herself a hot drink, then turning back to her room, she glanced at the clothes rack, You Ruxu’s jacket from yesterday was still there, but her press pass was gone.
You Ruxu was always meticulous about her belongings, especially something so important. She remembered when they first met, You Ruxu had been resting in her office, and after waking up, she had frantically searched for something. It was the first time Zhou Tianzui had seen her so anxious, asking curiously, “What are you looking for?”
You Ruxu had looked at her, her eyes slightly red, “I lost my press pass.”
Meeting that gaze, Zhou Tianzui’s heart ached, a strange mix of pain and tenderness. She had wanted to say it was just a press pass, she could get a new one, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it, helping her search for half an hour, finally finding it in her bag.
You Ruxu had smiled, “Thank you.”
A smile that Zhou Tianzui found incredibly sweet.
She had said, “You’re welcome, buy me dinner tonight.”
And You Ruxu had readily agreed.
It wasn’t exactly a pursuit, just a gradual escalation of their ambiguous relationship. She had come out of the operating room and seen You Ruxu, who had just finished her report, looking up at her. In that moment, even dinner seemed sweet.
Zhou Tianzui closed her eyes, remembering.
You Ruxu always treasured her press pass, why wasn’t it here? Did she take it with her last night?
She looked at the clothes rack, her face grim.
A voice called out from the doorway, “Xiao Tian?”
She put down her cup and walked over, “Mom?”
“You’re home, just woke up?” Yu Qiao walked in. The heater was on. She took off her jacket, “I just bought some pork ribs and vegetables from the market, I’ll make you dinner first, then send some over to Xiao Xu.”
Zhou Tianzui felt weak and listless, coughing.
Yu Qiao frowned, “Do you have a cold?”
Zhou Tianzui said, “Yes, a little, I just took some medicine.”
“Then go rest, don’t just stand there, I’ll go check on the food.” Yu Qiao didn’t come here often. Before, it was because of her awkward relationship with You Ruxu, and later, even after their relationship improved, they were both too busy. Zhou Tianzui nodded and, while Yu Qiao was in the kitchen, tidied up her bedroom and the bathroom, closed both doors, then sat on the sofa. Yu Qiao called out, “Why aren’t you resting in your room?”
Zhou Tianzui said, “I just woke up, not sleepy yet. How is she doing?”
“Who? Xiao Xu? Her hand hurts, she even cried, it must be really painful.” Yu Qiao said while preparing the ingredients. Zhou Tianzui’s face paled slightly, and she sat heavily on the sofa. Yu Qiao called out again, “Xiao Tian!”
Zhou Tianzui returned to her senses and looked at her mother.
Yu Qiao asked, “Which pot should I use for the rice?”
There were two pots, one for soup, one for rice. Yu Qiao hadn’t used them before. Zhou Tianzui walked over to the kitchen, took a pot, and handed it to her, “This one’s for rice.”
Yu Qiao took it, rinsed the rice, and said, “It’s really not easy living alone, look at Xiao Xu, such a big accident, her parents don’t even know, and she’s dealing with it all by herself, how distressing.”
Zhou Tianzui said, “Then you should take good care of her, Mom.”
“Of course I will.” Yu Qiao said, “Don’t just stand there, go and lie down for a bit.”
Zhou Tianzui was shooed out of the kitchen again.
She sat on the sofa, bored, turned on the TV, then went to her room to get her phone. The moment she opened it, she saw a message from You Ruxu, saying Yu Qiao had gone home. Zhou Tianzui glanced at her mother, busy in the kitchen, lowered her head, her fingers on the screen, not knowing what to reply, when Yu Qiao came out of the kitchen and called, “Xiao Tian.”
Zhou Tianzui closed her phone, placed it on the sofa, and looked up.
Yu Qiao wiped her hands, sat beside her, clearly wanting to say something, but hesitant.
Zhou Tianzui waited patiently. Yu Qiao said, “Dinner will be ready soon, eat and go to bed early.”
Zhou Tianzui said, “Mom, it’s 3:30 pm.”
“Oh.” Yu Qiao said, “You can eat at 3:30 too, what did you have for lunch?”
Zhou Tianzui paused.
Yu Qiao said, “You didn’t eat?”
Zhou Tianzui said, “I fell asleep, just woke up.”
“Why don’t you take care of yourself?” Yu Qiao said, “Eat more later!”
Zhou Tianzui, feeling guilty, “I know.”
She watched as Yu Qiao stood up, then sat back down, looking at her. She couldn’t help but ask, “Mom, what do you want to say?”
Yu Qiao said, “Xiao Tian, I haven’t asked you before, you don’t want to get married, you don’t want to date, is it because…” She seemed to find it difficult to say the words. Zhou Tianzui frowned, “Mom, what is it?”
Yu Qiao blurted out, “Is something wrong with you?”
Zhou Tianzui said, “What could be wrong with me?”
Yu Qiao said, “I know you’re physically healthy, but what about mentally?”
“I’m not—” Zhou Tianzui looked at Yu Qiao, “What if there is something wrong?”
“Then we’ll get it treated. Mental illness is also an illness, you’re a doctor, why would you avoid treatment?” Yu Qiao’s voice was filled with concern. Zhou Tianzui looked down and said, “What if it can’t be cured?”
Yu Qiao said, “What kind of illness can’t be cured? I think you just…”
Zhou Tianzui said, “Mom, can homosexuality be cured?”
Author’s Note:
PS: Dr. Zhou doesn’t believe homosexuality is an illness.
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