"You just had a serious operation, so according to our protocol, I have to ask you the standard questions to make the necessary arrangements for you. Our hospital staff treats all our patients equally and fairly, so if you don't have faith in us, I suggest you move to another hospital," The doctor said coldly without bothering to look Jiang Changdai in the eye. His big white coat floated behind him as he turned around and left the ward.

"I'll go get your medication." The nurse said before quickly turning around and leaving as well.

After a short while, Jiang Changdai felt that the excruciating pain coursing through her body was so overwhelming that it could possibly even result in her death. Only then did the nurse come back and add more painkillers to her IV drip.

"The painkillers will take effect within the next half hour." The nurse said, "If there's anything else you need, just press the bell."

After she said this, the nurse turned around and left. She lightly opened the door before exiting and letting the door slowly close by itself.

However, the door only lightly touched the door frame and was not tightly shut. It gently b.u.mped against the door frame a couple of times before stopping, revealing a silk-like gap that allowed a tiny sliver of light from the corridor to pa.s.s through.

Inside the dark ward, Jiang Changdai could make out the shadows that were walking past her ward via the gap and immediately realized that someone was pa.s.sing by. 

It seemed like there was another nurse walking pa.s.s. If Jiang Changdai strained her ears a bit, she could hear them talking by the door.

The dark ward was quiet, and the door was not properly shut. Therefore, as long as Jiang Changdai listened carefully, she was able to make out even the slightest sound.

"Is the patient in this room awake?" Jiang Changdai heard the voice of a young female asking quietly. The volume of her voice was lowered slightly; it was a volume that you would subconsciously lower your voice to when someone was sleeping nearby.

"She's awake and was being quite troublesome." The other person whispered. It was the nurse that Jiang Changdai had called over a while ago.

"What kind of person is she? There's no one visiting her, and not even a caretaker was a.s.signed to her. It won't even be convenient for her to press the bell on her own." The young nurse said. 

"Didn't you watch the live broadcast this afternoon?" The other nurse whispered.

"No. I'm just an intern, remember? I can't let the boss catch me slacking off. What if I leave a bad impression on him?" The young intern nurse said.

"I don't know the specifics, but I caught the live broadcast this afternoon. In short, the woman inside this ward had an affair with another man and gave birth to his son. As a result, the son had come forth to make a bogus accusation against her along with the man that she had an affair with and revealed the scandal without her knowledge with the intention of swindling her former husband's family out of their money. However, her former husband's family found out so they couldn't get away with it. She tumbled down the stairs while was trying to s.n.a.t.c.h away the evidence. Isn't this the end for her? Naturally, her former husband's family refuses to take care of her at this point. It was extremely benevolent of them to even arrange for her to get a ward to recuperate." The nurse said in a whispering tone. Nevertheless, she did not bother to hide the disdain in her voice as she was speaking. 

Jiang Changdai could not see the expression on the nurse's face but was able to imagine the disgust in her eyes. It was as if she could see the nurse rolling her eyes in the ward's direction.

"Oh wow…really? Once you've been in the hospital long enough, you'll meet so many different types of people." The intern nurse snorted. She covered her mouth slightly as her eyes sparkled with curiosity from the gossip. 

"Her former husband's family is unwilling to take care of her, and they've only left behind two phone numbers. One is her brother's number while the other one is the phone number of the son whom she had birthed from the affair." The nurse said, "It was left behind in the afternoon and we've tried calling them. We've contacted her brother, but her brother only got angry at her when we mentioned it to him. He did not indicate that he would be coming to take care of her and proceeded to hang up the phone. As for the extrmarital son, the call couldn't get through. After all is said and done, the two culprits are nowhere to be seen, so we don't even know if they're coming for her. If she's able to pay for her own bill it'd be fine, but if she can't, we can't allow her to continue staying here."

"You're right. At the end of the day, we're still a private hospital. Our services are primarily geared toward high-end customers, and even if we were to do something charitable, we ought to offer it to someone who really needs it. We can't simply help everyone who walks through our doors." The intern nurse nodded understandingly

"That's what I'm saying, this was completely her own doing. The head nurse agreed as well, she was living a good life and was not lacking in terms of happiness and prosperity. Nevertheless, she just had to fool around. She even had two children with her ex-husband, a son and a daughter, so I'm sure both of them have been hurt by her actions. Miss Yan from room 1206, do you still remember her?" The nurse whispered.

The two chatted by the door for some time and did not seem to be in any hurry to leave.

Jiang Changdai listened to them and became anxious. However, her body was so incapacitated and sore that she was unable to move an inch. At this point, even clenching her fist seemed to be out of the question.

An IV needle had been inserted into the uninjured hand, whereas the injured arm had been placed inside a plaster cast. She could not even transmit an ounce of strength into it.

No wonder the ward felt so deserted. It was because no one had come to take care of her at all!

Did Yan Beicheng and Yan Zhiqing stop caring about her?

She knew that Yan Zhiqing hated her because of the incident. However, she was involved in an accident as well. Was Yan Zhiqing actually just going to stand by and ignore her?

How difficult would it be to find a care worker to take care of her? All they had to do was lift a finger and people would clamor to do their bidding.

In any case, Yan Zhiqing had been with her for 18 years. How could she be as cold toward her as Yan Beicheng?

She did not expect Yan Zhiqing to be such an ungrateful wretch. No good could come from someone who shared the Yan Family's blood!

As for Jiang Changzai, did he not care about her as well? He was her brother!

She understood why they could not get through to Lu Zhengting and Lu Zhenghang's phone. The incident happened so suddenly that the two might still have their hands full trying to resolve their matters. There must be a large number of reporters just waiting to contact them, so it was expected that the two would turn off their mobile phones.

Just as she was thinking of this, she heard the intern nurse reply, "I remember her. What about her?" The intern nurse suddenly gasped. "The one lying inside this ward. Could she be Miss Yan's mother? There was a huge ruckus about the Yan Family this afternoon."

The nurse nodded. "Think about it. The one sleeping inside had done such treacherous things, so why would the Yan Family still care about her? The whole family came over to visit Miss Yan earlier this afternoon as she was discharged today. However, they've left the woman here behind without saying a word, so it's clear that they're unwilling to take care of her."

"It's to be expected since in practice they basically aren't even family anymore. She has her own family now with that true love of hers and their son. It's not like no one will take care of her." The intern nurse said as she nodded.

Jiang Changdai seethed with hatred. That gang of people really had no sense of conscience. They really did not care about her whatsoever!

Now that she had ended up in this way with a body that was essentially paralyzed, she needed their care and support now more than ever. Yet, they had left her here without even batting an eyelid.

Outside the ward, the intern nurse's voice suddenly spoke up again. "c.r.a.p, you didn't close the door properly."

"What?" The nurse's voice cracked in surprise. Then, she turned around and immediately closed it.

"She didn't hear us, right?" The intern nurse asked worriedly as she turned around from time to time, feeling a little antsy. 

"I don't know, but the anesthetic probably hasn't taken effect yet. She might be in so much pain that she doesn't care about what we're talking about." The nurse said uncertainly.

After this, the voices of the two gradually drifted further away until they could no longer be heard.

Jiang Changdai could not care less about the aching she felt throughout her body as she abruptly pulled the needle out of her hand and struggled off the bed. The leg that was not in a plaster cast was by no means uninjured. Although the leg was not fractured, it was still covered in bruises.

As soon as her foot landed on the floor, a sudden jolt of pain shot through her leg. Moreover, Jiang Changdai had not been prepared for this at all.

Jiang Changdai screamed from the pain as the leg that was wrapped in the plaster cast involuntarily stepped on the floor. As soon as that foot landed, a piercing pain surged through her knee.

"Ah!" Jiang Changdai screeched as she threw herself forward and fell face-first on the ground. 

The piercing pain in her knee felt as if the bones in her leg had been shattered into pieces. Even painkillers were of no use to her now. Jiang Changdai began to twitch from the pain, and for a moment, her tears and snot flowed uncontrollably down her face.

She used her trembling hand to touch her knee. However, her fingers were only met with the thick wall of the plaster cast. It absolutely impossible for her to touch her own leg. There was nothing else she could except to simply let the pain continue to overwhelm her, causing her body to twitch all over.

Suddenly, the door of the ward was opened by a nurse that was pa.s.sing and had happened to hear her screams. Upon seeing Jiang Changdai laying on the ground and rubbing her plaster cast, she muttered a cuss word and immediately called the doctor over.

By the time Lin Chu found out about what had happened, it was already the next morning.

In fact, it was almost dawn when Yan Beicheng received the phone call from the hospital. The hospital had no choice as there had been no news from the Jiang Family after they had first contacted them. They were acting as if they never heard of the incident. Moreover, they could not get in touch with Lu Zhenting and his son either. Hence, they had no other choice but to tell Yan Beicheng about Jiang Changdai's situation.

Jiang Changdai's knee was fractured, so her leg should have been kept immobile from the start. It should not have been moved at all. However, since she insisted on moving it, even though her foot had only touched the ground for a split second, the little bit of impact had caused the injury to become even more severe.

Once the nurse had discovered her and called the doctor over, she was immediately wheeled back into the operating room for a second surgery.

"The doctor said that after her first operation, if she had taken good care of herself, then she would have been able to heal fine and there would've been no effect on her daily activities upon her recover. But now that she'd injured herself again before she healed, even if the surgery goes well, that leg won't recover as well as it would have from the first surgery. They're afraid her legs will not heal right, and she will be lame in the future. Naturally, this will depend on her postoperative care as well. If this goes well, there'll be a slight limp but it won't be obvious. Otherwise, it'll her impairment will be much more obvious." Yan Beicheng told Lin Chu while they were seated at the breakfast table.

He took a piece of toast, spread a thin layer of strawberry jam on it, then gave it to Lin Chu. "The hospital contacted Jiang Changzai, but Jiang Changzai only acknowledged the situation. He is yet to show up. They straight up couldn't get through to the Lu Family father and son duo."

"What do you plan to do?" Lin Chu took the toast and bit into it. She frowned slightly as the strawberry jam had been spread too thinly. It was only a little bit sweet and was much too bland for her. Moreover, the toast was a little too dry for her liking.

Yan Beicheng poured a gla.s.s of warm milk for her. "Just bear with it. Fruit jams are way too sweet. You eat a lot of fruits every day, so we need to cut down on your sugar intake. Otherwise, it'd be bad for your body. It's got nothing to do with the baby, it's just that it's easier for you to get diabetes when you're pregnant." 

Lin Chu pouted. Even though she knew that Yan Beicheng was doing it for her own good, she had not been able to eat a lot of things she liked. So, after some time, she was beginning to feel frustrated. 

"Just listen to me. I know being pregnant isn't easy and that you have suffered a lot of grievances. If I could, I would bear all this pain for you. Men can't have children, but I really do wish your suffering could be transferred unto me." Yan Beicheng pushed his plate to Lin Chu's side of the table before going around and sitting down beside her. 

Lin Chu was still holding the toast in her hand when he stealthily wrapped his long arms around her waist, embracing her affectionately. 

Lin Chu could sense that he was moving closer even without looking at him.

Fortunately, Aunt Zhuang always ate breakfast later than them and usually would not eat alongside them. In the morning, both of them had to leave early to go to work so it was only natural that they eat their breakfast earlier. At the same time, Aunt Zhuang would usually take this opportunity to clean up their bedroom.

Once she had finished with the tidying up, she would be just in time to see them off to work at the front door.

Hence, Aunt Zhuang was not around at this moment. Lin Chu felt her ears beginning to burn up as he slowly snuggled himself up next to her. His burning breath coated her ear and neck as he kept a slight distance and did not touch her. Even though she was not looking at him, she could feel him hovering just a few millimeters away, his warm and tingling breath seeping out of his good-looking lips. 

She could even feel the relative location of Yan Beicheng's nose and thin lips. It was as if he was painting the side of her face with his breath.

As Lin Chu's whole face began to feel numb, she forgot the fact that she still had not eaten her breakfast. Thus, she simply held on to the toast foolishly without biting into it. Then, she heard Yan Beicheng's low and husky voice slowly coax her ear.

"I'm sorry that I've wronged you. I'll serve you properly tonight, alright?" Yan Beicheng said in a low voice as he gently pinched the side of her waist that he had been holding on to earlier.

This almost made Lin Chu jump; it was not because it hurt, but because his fingertips felt like there was a current pa.s.sing through them, which made the numbness spread all through her waist.

Lin Chu's hand went limp as the toast she had been holding fell onto her plate. Her hand trembled from Yan Beicheng's hot breath while she spat out softly, "How shameless, who… who wants to be served by you!"

It was strange, after she had become pregnant, her desire in that department had increased as well. Last time Yan Beicheng was always the one that would pester her. However, after getting pregnant, she began to feel the longing for it as well. Nevertheless, she was thin-skinned and was too embarra.s.sed to take the initiative to say anything. So, every time Yan Beicheng tried to tease her about it now, she was very cooperative, unlike in the past when she would struggle as she was often tired and unwilling.

Nowadays even if she was tired and asleep, if Yan Beicheng wanted to do it, she would cooperate obediently. 

This type of change was difficult to hide from Yan Beicheng as he was someone that slept beside her every night. Meanwhile, Yan Beicheng had gone online before and learned that pregnant women indeed became more vigorous than they would have been before the pregnancy. Upon reading this, he immediately felt ecstatic. 

During the first three months, he could not really do anything, but there were other ways for him to take advantage of this change. Suddenly having this new novelty did initially offer him some excitement, however, after a period of time, the novelty slowly died down. Then, he silently reaffirmed to himself that being whole-heartedly intimate with Lin Chu was still the best.

After the long and arduous first three months had pa.s.sed, he would also have to brave the final three months of the pregnancy whereby he would be forbidden from doing anything as well. Thus, he could only s.n.a.t.c.h at the opportunity during this middle trimester of her pregnancy. Yan Beicheng could not let a single night go to waste.

Therefore, even though Yan Beicheng was suggesting that he would serve her well, he was also taking advantage of the situation to benefit himself.

"Wifey, I know being pregnant is really hard. Let's just get through these few months for now, and after the child is born, I'll get you all the food that you wanted to eat. No matter what your wishes are, I promise that I'll satisfy them." Yan Beicheng rested his chin on Lin Chu's shoulder. "Then, we'll wait a few more years before deciding if we want a second child. If the first one is born healthy, there will be no rush to get a second child."

Lin Chu wanted to have two children. She saw how Yan Ningbai was always on his own and how he seemed so lonely. Even though he had buddies, his buddies could not be with him every day.

Lin Chu snorted twice but did not express her opinion on the matter.

"What are you going to do about Jiang Changdai?" Lin Chu suddenly remembered the topic from earlier.

Yan Beicheng's expression turned cold when Jiang Changdai was mentioned. He picked up the toast and took a bite. "I don't want to bother about her. I'll give Jiang Changzai a call later. After all, she's part of the Jiang Family so it doesn't matter how they choose to handle the matter. It will be Jiang Family's problem, so we don't have to concern ourselves with whatever happens to her."

Lin Chu was not planning to worry about it anyway. She just wanted to know how Yan Beicheng was going to approach the matter. Since Yan Zhiqing would be stuck in the middle. Even though Yan Beicheng could be indifferent toward Jiang Changdai's current situation, it was not the case for her. After all, she had lived with Jiang Changdai for 18 years, so she had actually formed a relations.h.i.+p with her. 

Although Yan Zhiqing looked firm on the matter, that woman was still her mother, and Lin Chu did not want Yan Zhiqing to be put in a difficult position. Also, she did not want Yan Beicheng to stress over the matter concerning Yan Zhiqing and Jiang Changdai either.

Handing Jiang Changdai's matter over to the Jiang Family would kill two birds with one stone.

After the two had finished eating, they packed up their things and got ready to go to work. Lin Chu's belly was getting so big that she could no longer see her own feet.

Meanwhile, her movements had gotten slower as well. While she was preparing to put on her shoes, Yan Beicheng had already finished wearing his. He always carried the same poise whether he was inside or outside the house and had never once become sloppy just because he was at home. He was just a lot more free-willed at home than when he was outside, but other than that, there no difference in his character.

He did not wait for Lin Chu to bend down and had already knelt to put on her shoes for her.

"My feet seem to have gotten a little bit more swollen than before." Lin Chu began to scrutinize her foot Yan Beicheng's was holding. It still looked delicate and small, and her fair instep looked beautiful on his hand.

However, Lin Chu's feet had always been thin and narrow. Also, because her skin was fair, the blood vessels under her skin could clearly be seen. When she wriggled her toes, one could see the bones protruding out as well.

Now, even though the blood vessels were still visible, the bones no longer poked out. It was obvious that she was a little meatier than before.

"I don't think so." Yan Beicheng squeezed her foot like a toy. After pinching it for a while, he refused to let it go. He fiddled with it repeatedly and said, "It's softer and has a better feel than before."

This naturally made Lin Chu feel uncomfortable. So, she pulled her foot back subconsciously. 

Yan Beicheng looked up without saying anything. His pupils looked up at her as if to ask, "What's wrong?" 

"They're feet. Don't you think they're smelly?" Lin Chu said with a flushed face.

"You wash them well every day, so what smell will they have?" Yan Beicheng toyed with her smooth and round toe. "Wifey, thanks for all your trouble during your pregnancy."

Ever since her belly had become bigger, Yan Beicheng did not want Lin Chu to bend over to wear her own shoes or take them off. He took up the job of helping her and thus, slowly noticed the changes in her feet. 

Her ankles had also become slightly more bloated than before the pregnancy. However, these changes were not obvious so no one would pay attention to these small details. It was only because Yan Beicheng looked at them every day and would often hold her ankle in his hand so naturally, he began to unconsciously detect the changes.

He thought about the way she had to suffer just to give birth to his child. In the next trimester, he had heard that the bloating would become more difficult to endure as well.

Lin Chu also began to experience the symptoms of needing to rush to the bathroom in the middle of the night. This had never happened before her pregnancy as Lin Chu was someone who could sleep dead through the night without a care in the world. 

Now, she would toss and turn at night, while her legs would occasionally get cramped. 

Nowadays, as long as Lin Chu made the slightest noise at night, he would immediately wake up. Every time he looked at her being uncomfortable, he would think to himself that he would not want her to go through this again.

"That's sudden. What's wrong with you?" Lin Chu said in a low voice. Seeing Yan Beicheng suddenly become so serious and gloomy scared her. 

"I'm watching you suffer but I can't help you with anything." Yan Beicheng looked at her and sighed. "I suddenly feel like this pregnancy has been difficult on me too. Do you think that I've got prenatal depression or something?"

"..." Lin Chu almost cried and laughed at the same time. "That is a sickness that pregnant women get. It has nothing to do with you."

Yan Beicheng helped her with the other shoe and saw Lin Chu gesturing for him to get up.

Yan Beicheng stood up in confusing. Then, he bent slightly forward and moved closer to face Lin Chu.

"It's not convenient for me to bend over now. So, I can only ask you to come closer to me." Lin Chu smiled as she placed both of her hands on Yan Beicheng's face. "This is nothing. Just knowing that you feel distressed because of me and that you understand the difficulty of pregnancy is good enough for me."