Hm? Who is talking???
On the hospital bed, the girl lifted her head in a daze and looked around.
Just now she seemed to hear a string of snarky complaints?!
The sound was faint, as if at the horizon, yet seemingly right before her eyes.....
But when she tried to listen carefully, the sound suddenly vanished, and she could hear nothing.....
"Sigh, looks like my condition has worsened; I'm even having auditory hallucinations now."
"Perhaps this is just my fate....."
Chu Ling gave a wry smile; in her heart she had already given up struggling, with no intention of seeking treatment.
After years of her parents either hitting or scolding her, even abusing her for amusement when in a bad mood, her heart had withered day by day.
Now that she had gastric cancer, if she could just die like this, perhaps that would also be a kind of release......
.......
"What kind of person is that? Who acts like a father like this?!"
"His daughter is in the prime of her youth and there's a chance to cure her now; not only does he not find a way to raise money for treatment, he's in a hurry to take her away?"
"What kind of baffling move is this! This is cancer! If they keep delaying and the cancer cells metastasize into a late stage, then what? By then it'll truly be beyond saving?!"
"Child, is that man really your biological father? This isn't a joke—you can't be discharged!"
"Right, right, right! Where's your mom? Call her—your dad's not thinking straight; your mom should at least be reasonable, right?"
"And what's this about your dad saying 'carrying pigs to pay debts'? You're this ill and he still wants you to work?"
"You've only just turned eighteen! At this age, a normal girl should still be pampered like a princess by her parents! But your father's attitude just now—why was it like he was facing an enemy?"
"......."
A group of doctors and nurses asked anxiously; between the lines there was care and sympathy for Chu Ling, and indignation at her father's selfish behavior.
Physicians have benevolent hearts!
Within the scope of what they could do, they truly wanted to help this pitiful girl before them.
With her current condition, if they just let her be taken out of the hospital like this, wouldn't that be watching her life head toward its end with eyes wide open?!!
"Thank you all for your concern. But my parents, they......"
Faced with the unfamiliar kindness wrapping around her from all sides, Chu Ling was deeply grateful and at the same time felt even more aggrieved, her eyes reddening involuntarily.
She couldn't understand how even these older brothers and sisters meeting her for the first time could be so kind to her.
But how could her biological parents be so disgusted by her?!
Only after Chu Ling's account did everyone learn how hard her life had been since childhood—unloved by father or mother, up earlier than the chickens and to bed later than the dogs, eating worse than pigs, and working harder than oxen.....
Her parents always said, "A woman's virtue lies in having no talent," and would not allow her to attend even a single day of school.
Ever since she could remember, Chu Ling had endless housework and labor to do every day.....
Because her family lived in a remote mountain village with extremely inconvenient transportation, if the pigs every household raised were to be sent to the city to sell, the shipping costs were very high.
Five years ago, to make money, Chu Ling's parents took on the transport tasks for the entire village at low manual freight rates.
From then on, as soon as the rooster crowed at the village entrance, before dawn.....
She had to follow her parents' scheduled transport tasks, carrying a pig on her back to the city to sell; sometimes she had to make several back-and-forth trips in a single day.
To save time, she often missed meals, and every day had to pray there were leftovers at home.
Long-term hunger and fatigue made Chu Ling's figure grow thinner by the day.
A few days ago she had been coughing non-stop, even coughing up blood; realizing something was wrong, only then did Chu Xiong, amid the neighbors' reproaches, reluctantly bring his daughter to the city hospital to see a doctor.......
"My heavens?(????)! This is just too pitiful! Such a small child—you, you, you... ugh, your parents are really beasts!"
"This already counts as child abuse, right? Animals! I can't bear to let my daughter suffer even a little, and yet you... how could you have such heartless parents!"
"How heavy is a pig! Even as an adult I can't carry one—how could a little girl like you carry it? How much suffering must that be?"
"o(╥﹏╥)o Just hearing it makes my heart ache~~ One could still endure the rest, but what's with not letting you eat? That's simply treating a person like a machine!"
"What are we to do? With such vicious parents, child, what will you do in the future? Your illness... can't be delayed; if this goes on...."
"........"
After hearing Chu Ling's life over these years, everyone present was moved.
They looked at that thin face before them, unable to imagine how she had managed to persist through these years???
As if sensing the doctors' and nurses' pitying gazes, Chu Ling forced a slight smile onto her pale cheeks.
"It's okay, thank you for your concern."
"My parents won't spend that much money to treat me; I've already come to terms with it—let it be!"
"Who knows, maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and a miracle will happen and my illness will suddenly be cured?! Big brothers and sisters, you don't need to worry about me."
"........"
Chu Ling smiled like a flower, her brows and eyes curved.
Faced with that free-and-easy smile, the ward grew even more silent; everyone knew the girl was comforting herself, even already numb at heart, abandoning herself to despair.
After all, waking up and suddenly being cured???
Such miracles only happen in movies, whereas reality... has always been rather harsh.....
Letting her be discharged now is basically watching her go to her death with eyes wide open!!!
How could this not move everyone's hearts?!
But they were helpless too.......
They couldn't very well have this group of wage earners pay Chu Ling's exorbitant medical bills, could they?!
Just as the ward was filled with a mournful atmosphere, suddenly—
"If you need it, I can help you."
A gentle voice came from the doorway of the ward.
Everyone, including the person involved, Chu Ling, was stunned; they all turned their heads to look and saw a handsome young man walking toward them with a smile.
"Hello, let me introduce myself first. My name is Lin Xuan!"
"N-nice... to meet you, I... I'm Chu Ling."
Who is this person? He's so handsome!
And his bearing was extraordinary, as if he were a handsome man walked out of a manga......
Chu Ling stared blankly at the man before her, stammering as she replied.
At the same time, her heart was full of fantasies.
The man before her fit perfectly the prince on a white horse in her dreams.....
Because her days were so depressing, she escaped reality to gain brief mental satisfaction and joy.
In stolen moments amid busyness, Chu Ling would often browse all kinds of online novels, most of them domineering-CEO romances......
Whenever she saw the plot where Cinderella was bullied and humiliated and a domineering CEO descended from the heavens to rescue the beauty......
Chu Ling's heart would fill with yearning and expectation.
Powerless to leave the mire, she always fantasized that one day.....
Her prince on a white horse would, just like in the novels, be clad in golden armor and ride seven-colored auspicious clouds to marry her, and from then on, she would happily live a daily life of [redacted]....
Finally, my peerless hero... is finally going to appear now......
On the other side.
As soon as Lin Xuan stood by the bedside, a series of system prompts sounded in his mind.
[Ding! Supporting-female Chu Ling has entered the Close Contact Magnetic Field ! Gain 1 point/200 seconds.]
[Ding! Chu Ling's favorability increased, gain 1 point/180 seconds.]
[Ding! Chu Ling's favorability increased, gain 1 point/150 seconds.]
[Ding! Chu Ling's favorability increased, gain 1 point/120 seconds.]
........
Hm? What's going on???
I just came closer and haven't done anything yet?
How is the favorability skyrocketing already?!!
Lin Xuan was extremely surprised; unconsciously he touched his handsome face and finally came to a sudden realization.
Alright then, it's because I'm too handsome......
Having figured out the ins and outs, Lin Xuan put his gaze back on his cousin on the hospital bed.
"Chu Ling, right? When I just passed by the ward door, I heard about your situation. If you need help, I can give you a hand."
"Y-you... why do you want to help me? We don't even know each other?"
Chu Ling blinked and asked a bit nervously.
Although she yearned for the trope of "a domineering CEO falling in love with me," she also knew how tiny the chance was for such a plot to really happen in reality......
Contrary to her doubts, from the moment Lin Xuan appeared, the doctors and nurses present had recognized his identity.
Because of Su Shengtian's hospitalization, Lin Xuan had been coming to the hospital from time to time these days, with the hospital director personally accompanying him.
Over time, naturally he had become a familiar face among the medical staff.
........
"Xiao Ling, this is Young Master Lin! The Su Group, currently all the rage in Magic City, is his!"
"You don't need to worry that Young Master Lin has designs on you! He's Magic City's number one devoted lover; you don't know how much he loves his wife—a 100% peerless good man!"
"Mm! Xiao Ling, hurry and thank Young Master Lin! He must pity you and sympathize with you, so he's willing to lend a hand! Now your illness can be treated!"
"After all, for Young Master Lin, a few hundred thousand is just a drizzle! It's just lending a hand—girl, you must remember this favor forever!"
"......."
The doctors and nurses all stared at Lin Xuan with worshipful faces, flattery flying nonstop.
Among them a few young nurses (ˉ﹃ˉ) had drool seeping from the corners of their mouths, already fallen under the spell of Lin Xuan's devastating good looks.
After everyone's explanations, even though Chu Ling still only half understood, she at least knew Lin Xuan was a big figure, in a completely different social class from her.
But the most critical thing was......
This man was already married; learning that, the light in Chu Ling's eyes immediately dimmed.
Sure enough~~~
Fairy tales are all lies; he can't~ be my prince~~~
.......
'Why is my tragically fated cousin looking at me with that kind of gaze?'
'Don't tell me she's already been conquered by my looks and fallen completely in love with me?!'
'o(＞﹏＜)o Nooo! We're relatives with blood ties~~~'
'Ai, my charm has nowhere to go~~'
'Forget it, better put my energy into proper business.....'
'I need to think of a way first to let her know that her current "parents" actually have nothing whatsoever to do with her....'
......
Hm? Who???
Who is talking???
Could I be having auditory hallucinations again?!
Chu Ling was completely dumbfounded ⊙▃⊙; the voice appeared by her ear again, and this time it was even clearer, as if right within reach.
But she didn't see anyone open their mouth to speak, so she raised her head and looked around in confusion, eyes filled with bewilderment and shock.
.......
'No way, right? Has my ill-fated cousin really fallen in love with me?'
'German Orthopedics plot? No way~~ I already have a wife! As a peerless good man of the new era, I only wish to win one heart and never be parted till old age.]
'I remember Cousin Chu Ling, to escape reality, often secretly reads some dog-blood CEO romances and fantasizes about some domineering president falling for Cinderella......'
'Originally Huo Qichen would at this time force Mu Xiaowan to come to the hospital for a prenatal check.'
'He would just happen to run into Chu Ling at the hospital, who had just been diagnosed with gastric cancer and was disheartened.'
'Seeing that her looks were exactly like my aunt's when she was young, he would immediately take interest and play out a scene of a domineering CEO pinning Cinderella against the wall.....'
'"Woman, you have successfully attracted my attention." "Woman, I order you! You must get your illness treated for me!"'
'After a barrage of CEO catchphrases, my cousin who already loved to fantasize would fall immediately.'
'But due to all kinds of butterfly effects, it seems Huo Qichen can't come to the hospital now, so I've replaced him... and become the domineering CEO in my cousin's eyes?!'
'Tsk tsk tsk... Dog-blooded, truly way too dog-blooded~~~'
......
Lin Xuan kept roasting in his heart.
But he did not give up the idea of winning Chu Ling over to do things for him.
He would use his cousin to deal a blow to the Huo family and also use her to repair relations with the Tang family, thereby further strengthening his own power.
As the saying goes:
It's easy to add flowers to brocade; it's hard to send charcoal in the snow.
Right now, the other party was at her most desperate and lost.......
Only by extending a helping hand at this moment could he move her beyond measure.
Just as Lin Xuan was muttering to himself!
He didn't notice that Chu Ling kept sneaking glances at him, her beautiful eyes filled with shock!!!