Du Jingtang waited for Gao Yi to leave before he sank his buttocks down onto the sofa. “Brother, do you have anything against Doctor Gao? Why are you so hot-tempered?”

Chu Lui touched his shoulder refusing to reply.

“Do you know him?”

He remembered Du Jingtang and Gao Yi had greeted each other as if they were friends.

“Not really.” Du Jingtang took an apple from the table and bit into it, making a crunchy sound. “He had a daughter, and I know her. She is really beautiful like an angel. I’m really very fond of the little cutie. Why do you think other people are able to give birth to such a beautiful girl?” He took another bite. “It’s a pity that I didn’t get to see her today.”

Chu Lui closed his eyes in silence. It seemed to weigh down on his eyelids to his whole body.

Would he have a chance? He had no idea, but he was reluctant to admit defeat.

The little imp ran towards him the second he entered the house. He had to be quick to catch her. Otherwise, she would end up rolling on the floor like a rubber ball.

“Be careful.” Gao Yi squatted down and steadied the little girl who had gained some weight.

“You haven’t seen me for the whole day. Do you miss me?” Gao Yi realized he missed Rainy like crazy while he was at work. He wasn’t sure why he could forge such a close relationship with her, doted on her, and loved her from the bottom of his heart even though she wasn’t his biological daughter.

“I miss Daddy.” Rainy kissed Gao Yi’s cheek hard.

That almost melted Gao Yi’s heart. He carried her and, at the same time, saw that she had put on weight again. He felt comforted that she had gained some meat on her. Her body must not be as frail as before in order to gain weight.

Xia Ruoxin came out of the kitchen, carrying a tray of food. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling when she saw Rainy playing happily with Gao Yi.

“Dinner time.” She called for both of them while she set the table.

“Baby, let’s have our dinner.” Gao Yi carried Rainy and placed her on a chair. Then, he took his seat. Dinner consisted of three dishes, one soup, and fragrant white rice which was Rainy’s favorite.

She picked up the spoon and started digging into her bowl of rice. Meanwhile, Xia Ruoxin carefully removed the head and bones from the fish meat, and then she would send it into Rainy’s little mouth that was constantly chewing. Her daughter would also scoop rice onto the spoon herself. With a little effort, half the bowl of rice was already in her stomach.

“Ruoxin.” Gao Yi put his bowl and chopsticks down. There were some things that he wanted her to know.

Xia Ruoxin looked up. “What’s wrong? You don’t like the taste of the food?”

“No. You know that’s not true.” Gao Yi picked up his chopsticks and resumed eating. “Your food tastes delicious. All these years, I have been living without a fixed residence or three stable meals. Ever since I started eating the food cooked by you, I began to have a regular routine.”

As a doctor, there were instances when he would miss his meals because of the busy workload. In the past, it was normal for him to have only one meal per day. However, his situation was different now. Whenever he returned, there would be hot food on the table for him to eat. Nothing could be healthier in this world than having three stable meals a day.

Xia Ruoxin’s culinary skills were top-notch. The food she cooked for him was specially tailored according to his taste buds. There was a variety of meat and eggs which was full of nutrition and complemented each other. Each meal for him was an enjoyable experience.

He loved eating all the food that was prepared for him every day. Very often, he would be looking forward to his next meal and, at the same time, wondered what it would be.

However, that wasn’t what he was trying to tell her.

“Ruoxin, Chu Lui has been hospitalized.”

Gao Yi picked another dish and continued eating, but his eyes were fixed on Xia Ruoxin’s face while he observed the change in Xia Ruoxin’s expression.

“Is that so?” Xia Ruoxin picked out another fishbone and fed the meat to her daughter. There wasn’t much expression on her face.

“He’s staying in the hospital.”

“Yes.” Gao Yi nodded. “It has been three days.”

“Is he going to die?” Xia Ruoxin’s question was simple yet heartless. She had learned to be a heartless person from Chu Lui.

“It’s nothing major to cause death.” Gao Yi laughed. “That man is tough. How can he die so easily?”

“Oh.” Xia Ruoxin’s lips curled into a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Why wouldn’t he die? How many people was he going to harm if a man like him was alive?

Gao Yi was eating without tasting his food. Truth be told, he had wanted to prevent Xia Ruoxin from having this sudden gush of emotions whether it was from her hatred or her love. Nevertheless, it was quite obvious that Xia Ruoxin was oblivious about her feelings. When she spoke about him, her mannerism had subconsciously been filled with disgust towards that man. Behind her disgust for him, there might be resentment accumulating inside her for a very long time.

Rainy looked at her mother and then her father. She could feel the strange atmosphere in the air. However, she merely continued to scoop the rice and put it into her mouth obediently until she was done stuffing the last grain.

“Are you finished?” Xia Ruoxin collected her daughter’s bowl. As expected, she had sent the whole bowl of rice into her tummy. This small bowl was Rainy’s limit. She couldn’t eat anymore. If she did, she would be so stuffed.

“Mmm. My tummy is full. Burp…” A burp escaped from Rainy’s mouth when she tried to speak.

Gao Yi immediately carried her. “Come. Daddy will bring you out for a walk to deflate the air in your tummy.”

Rainy blinked her eyes. She seemed to be unaware that she had overeaten. Gao Yi took her hand, and they circled around for a while. He had carried Rainy on their way back. It was good to be a child. When a child couldn’t walk any further, she could always depend on an adult to carry her.

“Sleep well.” Gao Yi placed the child on her bed and tucked her under the blanket. Rainy would spend half the day sleeping because her body was weak. She would outgrow that.

In the hospital…

Besides the smell of disinfectant, the hospital was filled with the fragrance of food. It was lunchtime. Du Jingtang had brought some things with him. He was such a poor thing. He was crushed under the extreme stress on his shoulders. Apart from managing the company which was his sole responsibility, he also had to send food to his cousin three times a day.

“Brother, it’s your shoulder that was injured, not your legs. Why won’t you get your own food?” he complained. Running around like this daily had caused him to lose a few kilograms of body weight.

“I am willing to.” Chu Lui picked up the chopsticks. The taste of the food wasn’t that great, but it would suffice as long as it filled his stomach.

Du Jingtang touched the tip of his nose. He pointed at Chu Lui’s shoulder. “Brother, you can be discharged. Am I right?”

“I am willing to.”

Chu Lui repeated.

“You are willing. You may be willing, but I’m not.”