At the hospital, just as Lu Xiang ended her call, her mother came rushing over, her face pale with worry.
“How’s the child? It’s not serious, right?” Madam Lu asked breathlessly, panic edging her voice.
“The child’s inside, hooked to an IV drip. He’s still vomiting,” Lu Xiang replied, her tone anxious. “I asked the nurse to watch him for a while. I just called Mrs. Jiang to let her know.”
Her complexion wasn’t much better; her fingers twisted uneasily. She didn’t know how Mr. and Mrs. Jiang would react to this—would they blame her?
“Mom, where did you buy the vegetables this morning? The doctor said Jiang Haoyan ate spoiled seafood and developed acute gastroenteritis.”
Madam Lu froze, her eyes flickering with guilt before she mumbled, “Just the regular vegetable market.”
“Which stall?” Lu Xiang pressed. Even if Mr. Jiang blamed her, she needed something to defend herself.
“How would I remember? Why are you asking so many questions?” Madam Lu’s eyes darted away, her lips curling in irritation.
Lu Xiang knew her mother too well. Reading her evasive expression, she asked softly but firmly, “Mom, where’s the money I gave you for groceries this morning? How much do you have left?”
“It’s all gone. Didn’t I buy fish, shrimp, and crab?” Madam Lu’s back stiffened under her daughter’s probing gaze.
Lu Xiang’s stomach sank. “You went to play mahjong again, didn’t you?” She recalled the strange grayish color of the shrimp at lunch and felt her heart clench. “Did you buy cheap, stale seafood and use the rest of the money to gamble?”
“No! That’s not true!” Madam Lu waved her hands, her voice defensive.
“That’s exactly what happened.” Seeing the flicker of panic on her mother’s face, Lu Xiang’s suspicions hardened. Her voice trembled with anger. “Mom, how could you? You saved a bit of money for your game and bought stale shrimp and dead fish that had been sitting around for days. Even an adult would get sick from that, let alone a child! Children’s stomachs are fragile—how could you feed him that?”
No wonder Jiang Haoyan had been vomiting and clutching his stomach in pain.
“When I bought it, the stall owner said it was only a day old! How could I know it was bad? And I ate it too, didn’t I?” Madam Lu pursed her lips, muttering under her breath, “That child’s just spoiled. Such a fuss.”
“Mom!”
Lu Xiang’s temper flared. If this had been her sister’s child, she might not have cared as much, but Jiang Haoyan wasn’t an ordinary boy anymore—he was the son of the wealthy Jiang family. After this, how was she supposed to explain herself? Getting Jiang Haoyan to visit again would be impossible.
“Alright, alright, I was wrong! I didn’t know he was so precious,” Madam Lu grumbled. “Where is he? I’ll go take a look.”
Just as she finished speaking, a tall man and a beautiful, elegant woman approached briskly.
Lu Xiang froze in shock at how fast they’d come. They had arrived almost right after her call. “Mr. Jiang, Mrs. Jiang—”
Before she could finish, Su Yue’s usually gentle voice cut through the air, cold and sharp. “Where is he?”
“He’s getting an IV drip inside,” Lu Xiang said quickly.
Without another glance, Jiang Ci and Su Yue walked straight into the IV area.
The weather had turned warm lately, and many people were down with colds, so the IV section was crowded. Amid the rows of patients, Su Yue spotted a small figure lying weakly on a hospital bed, leaning over a trash can to vomit.
For a moment, Su Yue’s heart twisted painfully.
She and Jiang Ci hurried forward.
A nurse glanced at Lu Xiang following behind them and scolded sharply, “Why were you gone so long? The child’s vomiting again. You have to stay with him! I’ve got other patients waiting for their IVs.”
Lu Xiang’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. She had only stepped out to call Mrs. Jiang, but when her mother arrived, they ended up arguing longer than she thought. Now, being scolded in front of Mr. and Mrs. Jiang made her feel utterly humiliated.
Su Yue ignored her entirely. She rushed to the bedside and gently held the little boy’s trembling body, rubbing his small back in comfort. Seeing him dry heave until he could barely breathe, her eyes reddened with pain.
When the vomiting subsided, she carefully wiped his mouth with a tissue.
“Drink some water,” Jiang Ci said softly. He had somehow found a cup of warm water and held it to his son’s lips.
The little boy obediently took a sip, spat it out, then drank a few more before managing to swallow.
“Haohao’s tummy hurts…” The moment he saw his parents, Jiang Haoyan’s lips quivered and tears welled up in his large, dark eyes.
Su Yue gently rubbed his small belly. “Mommy’s here. Let Mommy rub it for you. You’ll feel better after the IV, alright?”
Jiang Ci bent down and said, “I’ll carry him. You hold the medicine bottle. I’ll have someone arrange a ward.”
The hallway was cold and noisy, beds squeezed close together, and the chill wind from the corridor seeped in. It wasn’t suitable for a child.
Hearing that his father would carry him, little Haohao sniffled and clung to Jiang Ci’s neck. Su Yue lifted the IV bottle carefully and followed beside them.
“Rich people really are something,” Madam Lu muttered under her breath. “They even have special wards for IV drips.”
She nudged her daughter. “Should we follow them?”
“Of course. Stop talking, Mom. Mr. and Mrs. Jiang are already upset with us,” Lu Xiang whispered, her brows furrowed.
Inside the private ward, Jiang Ci had arranged everything swiftly. The child was examined again by the doctor, who confirmed it was acute gastroenteritis from eating spoiled seafood.
Su Yue touched Jiang Haoyan’s forehead and tucked the quilt around him. His little hands had been icy cold earlier.
Once the doctor left, the ward fell quiet. Su Yue and Jiang Ci stayed by his bedside, taking turns to comfort him. When he wanted to vomit, Jiang Ci held a basin patiently.
By the time the IV finished, the little boy had calmed down and finally drifted into a light sleep.
Outside, Lu Xiang and her mother hovered by the ward door, too afraid to enter. The floor was quiet and sterile, the corridor almost empty.
“Are we just going to wait here?” Madam Lu whispered, rubbing her hands. “It’s so cold… maybe we should go inside?”
Lu Xiang frowned. “No, we should wait. Once they come out, we’ll apologize properly. After all, it’s our fault.”
Madam Lu sighed but agreed reluctantly.
After a while, the ward door opened, and Su Yue stepped out. Seeing her, Lu Xiang immediately stood up. Her pretty face was full of worry. “Mrs. Jiang, how is Haohao?”
Su Yue’s eyes—clear, dark, and usually warm—now held an icy edge. “What did you feed him today?”
“For lunch, my mother made his favorite chicken legs, with shrimp, crab, and fish,” Lu Xiang explained nervously. “We didn’t know his stomach was so sensitive. We’ll be careful next time.”
“There won’t be a next time,” Su Yue said coldly.
Lu Xiang froze, her heart sinking.
Su Yue’s tone was calm but cutting. She regretted ever allowing Jiang Haoyan to visit the Lu family. She’d thought that since one was his aunt and the other his grandmother, there’d be no harm in maintaining contact. But after only one visit, her son was hospitalized.
“Why? We know we made a mistake this time. We’ll take better care next time—”
“It’s not about carelessness,” Su Yue interrupted, her voice low and sharp. “It’s that you don’t care at all.”
Her eyes glinted coldly. “We’ve already investigated. You bought seafood that had been sitting for days. Then, in the afternoon, you left the neighborhood and went to a nearby shop to play mahjong.”
Lu Xiang paled.
Su Yue continued, voice trembling slightly from anger, “He started vomiting right after you left, didn’t he?”
Jiang Ci had ordered an investigation immediately, checking the neighborhood surveillance cameras.
Su Yue’s chest rose and fell heavily. She hadn’t felt this furious in years—furious at them, but more at herself, for trusting them with her son.
If they’d had even a shred of affection for the child, they wouldn’t have done this.
Lu Xiang and Madam Lu stood frozen, realizing they had been found out. They’d thought they could bluff their way through, never expecting Mr. and Mrs. Jiang to dig up the truth so easily.
“We…” Lu Xiang faltered under Su Yue’s cold, elegant gaze. She’d always thought Mrs. Jiang was gentle and mild, someone easy to handle. But standing before her now, Su Yue looked like a different person—her beauty as sharp as glass.
“You can stop talking. I don’t need explanations. I believe what I see,” Su Yue said evenly. “From today onward, I won’t allow Haohao to have any contact with you. If he grows up and chooses to find you himself, I won’t stop him. But for now, absolutely not.”
“Impossible!” Madam Lu burst out, her face twisting. “You’re not even his biological mother! Why can’t we see him? His mother was my daughter! I’m his grandmother!”
Su Yue’s expression didn’t change. “Because we have custody. His name is on our household register [hukou — official family registration system]. We raised him. You didn’t even try.”
Her words were soft, but they cut like steel.
Jiang Ci stepped out of the ward just then, his tall figure filling the doorway. He looked at her silently, his eyes unreadable.
“It’s fine if we can’t see the child,” Madam Lu said after a moment, her tone shifting. “Just give us some money, and we won’t bother him again.”
Lu Xiang didn’t stop her. Her silence was its own agreement.
Su Yue gave a short, disbelieving laugh. “Money? You can discuss that with my lawyer.”
It was now clear—they had approached Jiang Haoyan for money all along.
She turned away, unwilling to waste another breath.
“The little one’s awake,” Jiang Ci said softly from behind.
Su Yue turned, and he was standing there—tall, calm, his expression lazy but his presence commanding.
He looked at her flushed, angry face, her dark eyes still burning, and quietly wrapped an arm around her waist. His voice was low, almost lazy.
“They’re just insignificant pests,” he murmured. “If they bother you, we’ll crush them.”
At that, Lu Xiang and her mother blanched, fear flashing in their eyes.