Waiting always seems to stretch on endlessly.
Finally, after more than ten minutes, the train arrived at the station. The Sheng family disembarked, repurchased their tickets, and boarded a return train back to the city.
By the time they arrived once more at the capital’s train station, Xingxing and Yueyue were temporarily entrusted to the care of guard Xiao Zhang.
“Uncle Zhang, please take Xingxing and Yueyue back to the Sang family first and explain the situation to my grandparents. Ningning and I need to head straight to the hospital,” Sheng Zexi instructed.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of the children.”
Sheng Zexi nodded, then turned to Xingxing and Yueyue, ruffling their hair. “Daddy needs to take Mommy to save Grandpa. You two go back to Great-Grandma’s house and take care of yourselves, okay?”
“Daddy, we understand.”
Just as the couple was about to leave, Xingxing grabbed Gu Jianing’s hand, his eyes filled with worry. “Mommy, Grandpa has always been so good to Xingxing…”
The implication was clear—he hoped Gu Jianing would do her best to save Sheng Xinhao.
Gu Jianing patted his head and reassured him, “Mommy knows. Don’t worry, Xingxing.”
Without further delay, Gu Jianing and Sheng Zexi rushed to the military hospital where Sheng Xinhao was admitted.
Soon, they arrived.
As soon as they entered, Sheng Xinhao’s guard, Xiao Chen, spotted them and hurried over.
“What exactly happened? Tell us everything,” Sheng Zexi asked.
Xiao Chen quickly explained.
It was already known that Sheng Xinhao’s left arm had been diagnosed with a condition requiring surgical intervention to fully resolve. However, over the years, Sheng Xinhao had never found a suitable doctor to perform the operation, so he had opted for conservative treatment instead.
Unfortunately, the conservative approach had proven ineffective, and his condition had gradually worsened. Recently, the episodes had become more frequent.
Last night, for some reason, Sheng Xinhao had sat in silence the entire night, lost in thought.
In any case, before leaving this morning, he had suffered another episode. His condition didn’t look good—his face was pale and his energy low.
Yet he had insisted on seeing Sheng Zexi’s family off at the station and had even visited the cemetery afterward.
Eventually, he collapsed from another severe episode and was rushed to the military hospital by Xiao Chen.
The doctors at the military hospital had issued a final notice: surgery was now imperative.
As Sheng Xinhao’s guard, Xiao Chen knew that the only person capable of performing the surgery was Gu Jianing.
Since Sheng Zexi was Sheng Xinhao’s son, Xiao Chen had called him immediately.
After hearing the explanation, Sheng Zexi fell silent.
He had sat silently all night? Was it because they were leaving the capital?
What had the old man been thinking about all night without sleeping?
Sheng Zexi wondered if perhaps Sheng Xinhao had struggled all night to muster the resolve to say what he had that morning.
For a moment, Sheng Zexi’s emotions were complicated, and he didn’t know what to say.
Meanwhile, the director of the military hospital arrived.
He had been overseeing Sheng Xinhao’s treatment all along and now provided Gu Jianing with a detailed explanation of his condition. After all, she would be taking over and performing the surgery.
Although the capital’s military hospital hadn’t invited Gu Jianing to give lectures like the capital’s general hospital had, news traveled quickly among military medical circles.
Thus, they were well aware of Gu Jianing’s reputation in the Northwest Military Region.
From the beginning, they had believed that perhaps only Gu Jianing could successfully perform Sheng Xinhao’s surgery.
Now that Gu Jianing had arrived, they breathed a sigh of relief.
Despite her youthful appearance, the doctors regarded her with deep respect and admiration, without a trace of condescension. They carefully went over Sheng Xinhao’s condition in detail.
Gu Jianing nodded—their explanation matched the results of her system scan, though her scan provided even more precise information.
“Are the preoperative preparations ready? If so, let’s begin the surgery,” Gu Jianing said as she put on the surgical gown provided by the hospital and adjusted her mask.
“Everything is ready, but…”
The director hesitated. “Dr. Gu, would it be possible to have two additional assistants in the operating room?”
Though called “assistants,” they were actually the hospital’s own doctors, hoping to observe Gu Jianing’s surgical techniques firsthand. It was a rare learning opportunity.
Gu Jianing understood the director’s intention and had no intention of keeping her methods secret.
“That’s fine, as long as the room doesn’t get too crowded or chaotic.”
The director beamed. “It won’t, it won’t.”
“Ningning, I’m counting on you,” Sheng Zexi said solemnly.
Behind her mask, only Gu Jianing’s striking eyes were visible. “Don’t worry. I’m quite confident.”
With that, she entered the operating room.
As the doors closed behind her, Gu Jianing saw Sheng Xinhao lying on the operating table. After a quick scan, she spoke calmly, “Begin anesthesia…”
…
While Gu Jianing performed the surgery, Sheng Zexi waited outside.
He wasn’t overly worried—he had full faith in Ningning’s abilities.
Taking a moment to borrow the hospital’s phone, he called the Sang residence and confirmed that Xingxing and Yueyue had arrived safely. Only then did he relax.
As he waited, Fang Manping unexpectedly arrived.
“Brother…” she greeted timidly when she saw Sheng Zexi.
Sheng Zexi was surprised to see her. He responded with a faint “Hmm,” his tone indifferent.
His feelings toward Fang Manping, his stepsister, had always been lukewarm—neither particularly close nor outright hostile.
Hearing his acknowledgment, Fang Manping exhaled in relief and sat down, setting her bag aside. She asked the guard about Sheng Xinhao’s condition.
Once she finished, Sheng Zexi spoke up. “Now that your mother and the old man are divorced, you don’t have to call me ‘brother.’ And you didn’t have to come today.”
His feelings toward Fang Manping were complicated.
Truthfully, she had always been timid and had never done anything particularly malicious.
But because she was Fang Wanrong’s daughter, Sheng Zexi had treated her coldly in his youth.
Later, after leaving the Sheng family, he paid her even less attention.
This time, when Fang Wanrong had schemed to have Xingxing and Yueyue kidnapped, Fang Manping hadn’t directly exposed the plot—but at least she hadn’t colluded with her mother and had even helped rescue the children.
And now, she had come when Sheng Xinhao was undergoing surgery.
She really didn’t have to.
From what he heard, after the divorce, Fang Manping had moved out of the Sheng household.
Fang Manping twisted her hands nervously over her bag.
If she didn’t call him “brother,” she wasn’t sure how else to address him.
But…
“Uncle raised me for so many years. Now that he’s having surgery, I felt I should come since I knew about it.”
All these years, she had lived in the Sheng Residence.
Sheng Xinhao had never treated her like a true daughter, but he hadn’t mistreated her either.
At the very least, he had given her everything she needed.
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