He turned his head and looked at Pei Jingdu, who had fallen completely silent with a complex expression on his face. His eyes regained the previous coldness and determination.
"So, big brother, stop talking to me about the Pei family and my future."
"If she doesn't wake up, none of these things matter to me."
"The people from the Du family almost killed my Zhaozhao. They must pay the price."
"As for you guys..."
He twitched the corner of his mouth and emphasized again, "If you think I'm crazy and I'm dragging you down, you can just abandon me. Anyway, I'm already... used to it."
After saying that, he didn't look at Pei Jingdu anymore and turned around again.
Across the insurmountable distance, he greedily stared at the sleeping figure in the ward, as if she was the only fulcrum in his whole world.
His tall back was lonely and determined, as if it would blend in with the cold hospital corridor at any moment, or... shatter completely.
Pei Jingdu stood there, looking at his younger brother's thin and stubborn back, feeling mixed emotions in his heart.
Anger, heartache, regret, helplessness... all kinds of emotions were intertwined.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found that any words seemed so pale at this moment.
For the first time, he clearly realized that his younger brother, who seemed to have walked out of the shadow and was powerful and calm, was actually full of holes inside.
And Meng Ruozhao was not only his lover, but also the... medicine he relied on to survive.
He didn't dare to imagine what Pei Jiangmu would be like if this medicine was gone.
In the corridor, there was only the regular ticking sound of the instruments and the heavy and suppressed breathing sounds of the two men.
One was silently repenting and guarding, while the other was on the verge of the abyss of despair, tottering.
In the next few days.
Pei Jiangmu completely stopped all his work and stood guard outside the intensive care unit like a rock, without sleep or rest.
Company affairs, family contacts, everything was left behind by him.
His world shrank to this small area, and there was only the sleeping figure behind the glass window left.
Pei Jingdu tried to persuade him to go home and rest, even if it was just to change his clothes, but he was coldly rejected.
Most of the food Qi Yu brought was taken away untouched.
He was like a soulless shell, and all his vitality and reason were tied to Meng Ruozhao's weak heartbeat.
Just when he was in this extreme depression and waiting, the four people from the Du family who were let go weren't doing much better either.
After the initial two days of fear and despair of waiting for death, they found that their bodies didn't seem to experience the expected intense pain.
Even, they went to the hospital for various examinations, and no abnormalities were found.
However, this "calm" only intensified their panic.
Pei Jiangmu's words "Organ failure all over the body after seven days" were like the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, and every minute and second was a torment.
They firmly believed that Pei Jiangmu wasn't just scaring them.
The missing Wu Qian was the best proof.
Otherwise, how could such a big living person disappear completely?
Driven by this extreme fear and resentment towards death.
Du Xixi, this always arrogant and vicious woman, completely went crazy.
She wasn't willing to die quietly like this.
She hated Meng Ruozhao, hated Pei Jiangmu, and hated everyone who had caused her to end up in this situation!
She firmly believed that Meng Ruozhao must be fine and was hiding under Pei Jiangmu's protection, enjoying their pain while perfectly staying out of sight.
Why?
Why was Meng Ruozhao so lucky? She was born a young lady.
Even after being thrown out, she managed to turn misfortune into fortune and was picked up by Young Master Pei.
After coming back, she was even favored by Yan Qiubai. It didn't matter that she lost the Yan family's engagement, because there was still Young Master Pei backing her up.
Now, Young Master Pei was even playing them like puppets just to avenge her...
"Meng Ruozhao! You want to hide behind and be a goody-two-shoes? Dream on! I'll ruin your reputation! I'll make Pei Jiangmu suffer too!"
In her luxurious apartment, Du Xixi was putting on a makeup that made her look pitiful but couldn't hide her haggardness in front of the mirror. Her eyes were shining with crazy and venomous light.
She contacted some media people she knew who were good at hyping and guiding public opinion and carefully planned a live broadcast of "a desperate struggle".
As soon as the live broadcast started.
Du Xixi was wearing a plain white dress, with a pale face and red and swollen eye sockets. Tears welled up in her eyes before she even spoke.
She looked like a weak girl who had suffered a great deal of grievances and was on the verge of collapse.
Facing the camera, her voice choked with sobs. After the live broadcast's popularity reached its peak, she began her "accusation" intermittently.
"…Hello everyone, I'm Du Xixi. I'm doing this live broadcast today because... because I'm really at the end of my rope..."
She sobbed, with excellent acting skills.
"Our whole family, my dad, mom, younger brother, and I, may... may not live much longer..."
As soon as she said this, the bullet comments in the live broadcast room didn't show much reaction.
Even at first, many people were joking around.
"What kind of live broadcast room is this? Why is she crying as soon as she comes on? A new genre?"
"Where has my phone taken me to again?"
"To be honest, this young lady looks quite pitiful when she cries. Hehe, I admit I'm a sucker for this."
…
But soon, someone dug out that Du Xixi was the young lady of the Du Group.
Suddenly, the bullet comments became even more lively.
"Wait, is it the Du Group I know? The young lady is crying for me in person?"
"Come on, just tell me what you're selling. I'll buy it, okay? Stop crying, young lady, I'll buy!"
"Young lady, tell this old servant if you have any difficulties. This old servant will lend you his broad chest..."
…
When the popularity of the live broadcast room reached ten thousand people, Du Xixi began to "tell" a completely distorted story through her sobs and tears.
She said that Meng Ruozhao was her younger sister who had gotten lost when she was a naughty and willful child.
The whole family had always felt guilty over the years and had never given up looking for her.
"Until eleven months ago, we finally found her in France!"
Du Xixi wiped away her tears.
"She had been in a car accident at that time, lost her memory, and was all alone and helpless."
"My dad went to pick her up without hesitation, and our whole family regarded her as a long-lost treasure, wanting to make up for the years of absence..."
She showed some carefully selected photos and videos.
There was Du Feng "concernedly" looking at Meng Ruozhao in the hospital bed in France.
There was Xia Lian "gently" picking up food for Meng Ruozhao.
There was Du Xixi herself "affectionately" holding Meng Ruozhao's arm.
There was also Du Changlin holding a huge welcome sign at the airport waiting for Meng Ruozhao...
There were even a few Du family servants who had been bribed to appear on camera.
Facing the camera, they swore that the Du family had "doted on" Meng Ruozhao and "gave her everything she wanted".
Through all these descriptions, they created an illusion that Meng Ruozhao had been highly favored in the Du family.
"But... but we never expected..."
Du Xixi's cry suddenly became shrill, full of "grief" and "anger" that were hard to believe.
"She wasn't the simple and pitiful younger sister we thought she was."
"She somehow managed to get involved with Young Master Pei from the Pei family."
"And then! Then she used Young Master Pei's infatuation with her to take revenge on our Du family!"
"Just because we once wanted her to come home and live a normal life, maybe... maybe we accidentally blocked her path to power..."