Chapter Twenty-Three: A Word Is a Bond
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“That boy is alive.”
The old man’s words settled into Lin Ruyu’s heart like a dose of reassurance. Even she did not understand why she had instinctively believed that he could do it.
But before long, she could no longer smile.
Did this not mean that she would have to keep her promise and refrain from seeing Lin Tian again until she turned twenty-one?
“Girl Lin, you should understand what I mean next.”
With that, the old man turned and walked away without looking back. His pace appeared slow, yet in truth it was astonishingly swift.
Soon, Lin Ruyu heard footsteps coming from the operating room. A middle-aged man emerged and called out, “Where is the patient’s family?”
“That’s me.” Lin Ruyu hurried forward. “How is my brother?”
Light shone in the middle-aged man’s eyes, and he was filled with delight. “The patient must have been blessed by Heaven. He actually survived what should have been certain death—a true miracle!”
Lin Ruyu was so overjoyed that she could hardly find the words to express it when a hurried figure approached at a brisk pace.
“Doctor, how is my brother?”
Xiao Ruoli’s question left the middle-aged man momentarily speechless. He looked suspiciously at the two young women and frowned.
“You’re both family members of the patient?”
“I’m his second older sister,” Xiao Ruoli replied.
“Then this must be your eldest sister?” The middle-aged man turned to Lin Ruyu.
Xiao Ruoli froze for a moment. “No. I don’t know her.”
“But she just said she was the patient’s family member.” The middle-aged man eyed them warily and asked anxiously, “Who exactly is the patient’s family? Whoever it is, sign here. Don’t waste any more time!”
Xiao Ruoli’s expression darkened. “Can’t you tell that the patient and I look somewhat alike?”
The middle-aged man thought about it. “I suppose you do…”
“Wait!” Lin Ruyu immediately took out her phone and opened her digital identification card. “Look carefully. My surname is Lin, and the patient’s surname is Lin too. I’m his sister. Isn’t that clear enough?”
Hearing this, the middle-aged man nodded. “You and the patient do share the same surname. Besides, you clearly care so much about him. You can sign.”
Lin Ruyu took the form and pen from him and swiftly signed her name. When she was done, she cast a sidelong glance at Xiao Ruoli’s gloomy face.
Hmph!
“You people from the Xiao family are so utterly unhinged. Do you really think you’re worthy of being Little Tian’s family?”
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“Watch your mouth!”
Xiao Ruoli shrieked like a cat with its fur standing on end, furious and bristling with rage.
Lin Ruyu was not someone who had been raised to cower before others. She met her head-on. “If you want others to respect you, you should first consider whether you’re worthy of that respect!”
She did not care in the slightest about Xiao Ruoli’s fury. When it came to throwing tantrums, Lin Ruyu was the true expert.
“I can’t be bothered to argue with you. You’re not worthy of hearing what I have to say!”
Leaving those words behind, Lin Ruyu stepped aside and allowed the nurses to wheel Lin Tian, who had narrowly escaped death, into a private room.
As she followed them, Lin Ruyu tentatively asked the middle-aged man, who was about to leave, “Doctor, did you see an elderly man with graying hair and a vigorous bearing in the operating room just now?”
“An elderly man?” The middle-aged man paused, then flatly denied it. “I didn’t see anyone like that. None of the other doctors are elderly either.”
“No?” Lin Ruyu asked again, unwilling to give up. “Did anyone go in through the door during the operation?”
“I told you, no one did!” The middle-aged man thought she was questioning the hospital and angrily added, “The hospital has explicit regulations, and the law has relevant provisions as well. How could a matter involving someone’s life possibly be interfered with in the slightest?”
He was too angry to lie. Lin Ruyu nodded stiffly and lowered her head, but her eyes sharpened and her heart grew even more unsettled.
Could it be that only she had been able to see that old man? Was he truly some immortal who appeared and vanished without a trace?
If so, it seemed she had no choice but to keep her promise…
After an unknown length of time, Lin Tian felt that he had dreamed a wonderfully comforting dream, as though someone had gently stroked his neck within it.
He slowly opened his eyes. At last, he saw the world again, and tears he could no longer restrain streamed down his cheeks.
He was still only a child, after all. He had a vulnerable side too.
“Little Tian, you’re awake!”
Seeing the tears on the boy’s cheeks, Lin Ruyu also burst into tears before she could stop herself.
Hearing the commotion inside the room, Xiao Ruoli’s first reaction was to go in and see him. However, the middle-aged man stepped out and blocked her path.
“What a touching and heartwarming scene!”
Even this middle-aged man, whose heart had long been steeped in fame and profit, was moved by the sight. He could not help murmuring his admiration.
Xiao Ruoli felt deeply uncomfortable upon hearing that, especially when she realized that the man had noticed her and was preventing her from entering.
“I already told you. No one except the patient’s family may enter.”
“I told you too—I’m his second older sister!”
The middle-aged man’s body completely blocked her way, leaving her no chance of getting inside. So she called toward the room, “Little Tian, it’s me—your second older sister!”
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Inside the hospital room, Lin Tian had been speaking with Lin Ruyu. He had never expected his second older sister to come as well.
Noticing his embarrassment, Lin Ruyu soothed him. “She seems to genuinely care about you. Let her see you. Even if I’m no longer around in the future, you must take good care of yourself and keep yourself safe.”
“Sister Lin, you…” Lin Tian looked at her in confusion, unable to understand what was happening.
The last time they had met, she had said she would be staying at the orphanage for a while. Why was she suddenly planning to leave now?
“Don’t ask. It won’t do you any good.”
Lin Ruyu gazed reluctantly at the face on the hospital bed—a resolute face that still retained a trace of childishness. Her heart was filled with an indescribable melancholy.
She did not know why she cared so deeply for this little brother she had only just come to know. The sense of closeness between them felt almost innate.
“Then I won’t ask,” Lin Tian said weakly.
Only after seeing that he neither cried nor made a fuss did Lin Ruyu finally relax. She rose and headed outside.
“Doctor, let this young lady in. She really is Little Tian’s second older sister.”
“Oh, all right.”
The middle-aged man had long since given up trying to sort out the relationship among the three of them. Since the patient was no longer in serious danger, he decided to leave and attend to his other duties.
When Xiao Ruoli entered, she clearly noticed that Lin Ruyu’s eyes were swollen and red from crying. She found it completely incomprehensible.
“She’s only Little Tian’s honorary older sister. Why does she look as though they share such a profound bond?”
Indeed, Xiao Ruoli vaguely felt that the other woman looked more like Lin Tian’s true sister than she did.
“Goodbye, little brother.”
Only after stepping outside did Lin Ruyu finally allow herself to turn back for one last look.
Then, in a daze, she walked out of the hospital.
The moment she emerged, several figures hurried over from the side.
“Miss, are you all right?”
The bodyguards gathered around her, their eyes filled with concern. They were terrified that anything might have happened to the young heiress of the Lin Corporation, one of the most influential families in Riverbend Province.
The consequences would truly have been disastrous.
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