For a long time, Lin Jinran still clutched the bedsheet, with her head hanging low, silent and motionless like a statue.
The nurse watched for a while, then looked up at Duan Dongwei and whispered, "Dr. Duan, she..."
Duan Dongwei knew what she wanted to say. He sighed and nodded. He walked to Lin Jinran's side, bent down and gently patted her on the shoulder.
He was afraid that a sudden awakening might startle her.
"Lin Jinran, your mother has..." The hand on Lin Jinran's shoulder was slapped away forcefully by her. Duan Dongwei was stunned and stared at Lin Jinran in shock.
In his sight, Lin Jinran got up shakily, then turned around and stared at him fiercely like a hungry wolf, questioning word by word, "Dr. Duan, I hope you can give me a reasonable explanation."
Duan Dongwei immediately understood that she was coming to settle the score with him. He glanced at the nurse beside him and said in a deep voice, "Let's go to my office to talk about this in detail. I will give you a reasonable explanation. I hope you can understand."
"No, it's okay to talk here. I want to hear your explanation. There's no need to go to your office," Lin Jinran said with a cold look in her eyes and a pressing tone. "My mother's condition was not optimistic more than a month ago. Why didn't you tell me? Why did you and others in the hospital hide it from me?"
The nurse glanced at Lin Jinran, whose state was not right, and explained for Duan Dongwei, "Lin Jinran, it's all for your own good. You'll take the college entrance examination in a few days. It's better for you not to know about this."
"But my mother is gone. She passed away today. You deprived me of the right to know. How dare you do this!" Lin Jinran shouted hoarsely. Her dry eyes suddenly welled up with tears, and the light in her eyes gradually dimmed.
This... The nurse stared blankly at Lin Jinran, then looked up at Duan Dongwei, who was the cause of the matter.
Lin Jinran caught this small movement. She seemed to understand something and slowly curled up a sneer, which gradually spread.
Duan Dongwei sighed again. He tried to soothe Lin Jinran's emotions and said with grief, "Lin Jinran, you're really about to take the college entrance examination. No one wants anything to go wrong with your exam, not even your mother. Without accident, you'll be the top scorer in the province."
"We're all doing this for your own good. We've tried our best to slow down the speed of your mother's organ failure. But your mother has been lying in bed for nearly ten years, which is the main reason for her organ failure. No one wants to see this situation."
"Put yourself in the shoes of Xiang Yanhua. If you were her, would you want your own daughter to leave school regardless during the final sprint stage of the college entrance examination for a slim chance of survival and accompany you, thus resulting in an unsatisfactory college entrance examination result?"
"If I were Xiang Yanhua, I would never allow this to happen! The following words may be a bit harsh. I hope you don't mind. She was already a dying person. Why should she harm her daughter with a bright future and drag her into hell with her?"
"Yes, Lin Jinran. Your mother definitely didn't want to delay your college entrance examination because of herself," the nurse beside him chimed in.
Lin Jinran fell silent. Looking at Duan Dongwei and the nurse aunt singing in chorus, she felt infinitely desolate.
"But what if it wouldn't affect my exam? What you did made me only able to see my mother for the last time..." Lin Jinran's lips trembled slightly as she spoke.
During this period, she had been busy with her studies and rarely came to the hospital.
She trusted Duan Dongwei so much, but what did Duan Dongwei do? He hid this matter in the name of doing good for her.
"You said it was just your assumption. You know how important the college entrance examination is. Your mother definitely hoped that you could focus on your studies. At first, I said that getting into Tsinghua or Peking University might wake up your mother. There's nothing wrong with that. Doesn't this also reflect from the side that your studies are crucial to your mother..."
Duan Dongwei stared at Lin Jinran carefully and explained gently.
Those words seemed to come from the distant horizon. They went in one ear and out the other. She couldn't hear anything. The world had turned completely black, silent and desolate.
She saw Duan Dongwei's mouth opening and closing, and endless words came out of his mouth, which were annoying.
Those words simply couldn't get into her ears.
Lin Jinran stared at Duan Dongwei slowly, with a cold look in her eyes.
She was very grateful to Duan Dongwei for treating her mother carefully. She was also grateful to Duan Dongwei for bringing her warm dumplings on New Year's Eve.
But now, she hated Duan Dongwei even more for colluding with others in the hospital to hide this matter. She didn't know the truth until her mother was on the verge of death. Even the nurse she hired didn't know when she started to side with Duan Dongwei.
Was Duan Dongwei too shameless? Maybe he meant well and hoped that she could get into a good university, Lin Jinran thought. But she didn't need this kind of kindness from Duan Dongwei at all. She just wanted to know her mother's condition.
Her mother's awakening was the motivation for her to study hard!
Now that her mother was gone, what was the use of getting good grades? Who could she show her good grades to?
The belief that she had been persevering and struggling for suddenly collapsed.
Lin Jinran stood there, staring at Duan Dongwei. Her glass-like eyes were filled with extremely cold ice cubes.
Duan Dongwei keenly sensed that something was wrong with Lin Jinran and said carefully, "Lin Jinran, are you... okay? Your mother has passed away. We should send her to the morgue as soon as possible for proper arrangement, which will facilitate your subsequent arrangements..."
Lin Jinran didn't say a word. The suppressed anger and unwillingness welled up. She clenched her fists tightly and smiled at the man in front of her.
A chill slowly rose from the soles of her feet. Duan Dongwei frowned and took a step back uneasily.
Suddenly, Lin Jinran grabbed an apple on the bedside table and threw it directly at him. The action was smooth.
Duan Dongwei narrowly avoided it. He turned his head and saw that the apple had been smashed open and the juice was splashing everywhere.
"Lin Jinran, what are you doing? Stop right now. I can overlook this!"
Another apple was thrown over. Duan Dongwei was prepared and immediately dodged. He looked at Lin Jinran with lingering fear, suspecting that she had gone crazy.
Throwing a few fruits to vent her anger.
Maybe out of guilt, Duan Dongwei didn't shout to attract others. He dodged the thrown fruits everywhere in the room alone.
The nurse was afraid of being involved and left the ward early.
Lin Jinran reached for the fruit basket on the bedside table again but grabbed nothing. She turned her head and saw that there were no more fruits.
Lin Jinran slowly put down her hand and looked at Duan Dongwei calmly.
Duan Dongwei was a little scared and stared at her warily.
Unexpectedly, Lin Jinran didn't do anything else. Instead, she collapsed on the ground like a child and couldn't help shouting. Her face was full of despair and pain, without any hope. She was almost on the verge of collapse.