Huo Yueze's question seemed to fall into a void, with no response.
Huo Jing's pupils contracted. "Shen Shiyan, what do you mean by not saying anything?"
Shen Shiyan shook his head helplessly. "Jingjing, I can't answer that question."
Huo Jing turned to look at Xie Lingluo, her gaze sharp and intimidating.
But it was useless.
Huo Jing's heart suddenly sank.
After Xie Lingluo left, Huo Yueze curled up in Shen Shiyan's office, his face buried in a pillow, shoulders shaking.
Huo Jing patted his back. "Why are you crying? Are you mourning? Ningning is still alive. As a man, are you not as strong as Ningning?"
Huo Yueze suddenly raised his head, shouting through his tears, "If Ningning had been with our family since birth, how could this have happened to her!"
"And you, Aunt, you were so fake towards Ningning at first. If you had loved her even a little more, she wouldn't be in a coma now."
"And Grandpa, Grandpa wasn't good to Ningning either!"
"Only I... waaah... but I couldn't protect my sister either... waaah..."
"The Huo family didn't protect her either, and she was kidnapped. Who knows if she was traumatized and just didn't tell us."
"She could only cope on her own... waaah... adults are so terrible... waaah..."
Seeing him becoming more and more outrageous, Huo Jing suppressed her discomfort and gave him a slap on the back of his head.
"Stop crying! Instead of wailing here, why don't you go talk to your sister!"
This reminded Huo Yueze. He immediately stopped crying and hastily wiped his face.
"Aunt, you're right. I should talk to Ningning more. This way, she won't want to leave me!"
With that, he rushed out of the office.
Shen Shiyan couldn't help but give Huo Jing a thumbs up. "As expected of you. Aze's crying almost... blew... off... my... skull..."
Before he could finish, he saw the usually elegant and aloof Huo Jing's eyes turn red, tears welling up in her almond-shaped eyes.
Cursing while crying, she said, "Damn it, Aze's accusations were spot on."
Shen Shiyan: ... He couldn't tell if she needed comfort or not.
...
During this time, the Huo family members took turns looking after Huo Guining.
Huo Xiaozheng simply moved into the hospital room.
In just a week, Huo Xiaozheng seemed to have aged several years.
Stubble had grown on his chin, but Huo Xiaozheng paid no attention to it.
Following the doctor's instructions, he turned Ningning over and wiped her back every day.
Shen Shiyan suggested he leave this task to the nurses, but Huo Xiaozheng ignored him, stubbornly insisting on doing it himself.
It was as if doing this could slightly alleviate his guilt.
Xie Lingluo intermittently conducted two more hypnosis sessions.
But perhaps due to the near-exposure the first time, Huo Guining's vigilance had clearly increased.
Even in her dreams, she no longer spoke freely.
Huo Guining remained in this neither-good-nor-bad state, day after day.
As soon as classes ended, Huo Yueze would rush to the hospital, chattering endlessly.
He talked about the little past he shared with Ningning, and his experiences at school.
Occasionally, when Huo Xiaozheng wasn't around, he would talk about Huo Xiaozheng's daily life.
"Ningning, can you feel it?"
"Uncle is by your side every day."
"But he's lost a lot of weight. I've never seen Uncle look so haggard."
"You should wake up soon, okay? You wouldn't want to see Uncle remain so depressed, would you?"
When Huo Yueze talked to Ningning, her heart rate would occasionally show brief fluctuations.
Shen Shiyan strongly encouraged Huo Yueze's behavior.
Huo Guining naturally noticed that something was off.
The girl in the white dress appeared less and less frequently, while the time she spent in darkness grew longer.
When the girl in the white dress did appear, her words carried a hint of probing.
Having learned from the previous lesson, Huo Guining dared not answer easily.
If it weren't for occasionally hearing Huo Yueze's voice, she would have lost all sense of time passing.
Listening to Huo Yueze's chatter, Huo Guining felt increasingly anxious.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't open her eyes.
This state, like sleep paralysis, made her unsure whether she was in a dream or if this dream was her reality.
Winter passed, and spring arrived.
After shedding winter's severity, the Spring Festival holiday quickly passed, and time moved to the day of the Spring Equinox.
The wind no longer carried a biting chill, new buds sprouted on the bare trees lining the streets, and sunlight streamed through the raised gauze curtains, casting dappled shadows on the floor.
The spring breeze seemed to bring new hope to Huo Xiaozheng, who suddenly roused himself.
He bribed people and, at an extremely high price, acquired that piece of land in Yun City.
After washing up and dressing neatly, he came to Huo Guining's bedside.
Huo Xiaozheng bent down to stroke his daughter's hair, revealing an extremely gentle smile. "Since you're worried about Dad getting into trouble, Dad will nip your worries in the bud."
"This way, you should be able to wake up, right?"
His voice was low, with a hint of madness.
On the heart monitor, Huo Guining's heartbeat suddenly accelerated.
Seeing this, the smile on Huo Xiaozheng's face grew even wider.
"Dad will take that as a yes. After Dad deals with them, I'll come back to keep you company."
...
That day after school, when Huo Yueze entered the hospital room, he didn't see the familiar figure by the bed.
He asked the nurse, who said Huo Xiaozheng had gone out in the afternoon.
Huo Yueze was puzzled: Recently, Uncle had been practically glued to Ningning's side, how could he leave without saying a word?
He asked around the family, but everyone said they didn't know where Huo Xiaozheng had gone.
Huo Yueze stopped dwelling on it, pulled up a chair, and began his daily ritual of talking to Ningning.
The comatose Huo Guining, however, couldn't remain calm.
Huo Xiaozheng's words echoed in her ears, and Huo Guining couldn't help but ponder their meaning.
If it was just about getting revenge for her, Huo Xiaozheng's words needn't have been so resolute.
But if not...
The more Huo Guining thought about it, the more alarmed she became.
Her mind, which had been foggy recently, suddenly cleared.
She helplessly cried out in the darkness, "Hey, whoever's keeping me here, come out! Let's talk!"
No response. The surroundings were as silent as snow.
"Hey!!!"
"Shi Ning! You've been here all along, haven't you?! Come out! Help me!!"
'Beep beep beep beep'
The heart monitor sounded an alarm, startling Huo Yueze, who immediately pressed the call button.
"Doctor, something's wrong with Ningning!"
Shen Shiyan rushed in with the nurses.
Huo Yueze watched helplessly as the emergency scene from before replayed itself.
The sharp alarm echoed through the room, constantly pulling at his nerves. Everything around him seemed to recede like the tide.
His heart beat violently, pounding against his chest.
On the hospital bed, Huo Guining suddenly took a deep breath and opened her eyes.
Shen Shiyan stopped the doctor who was about to use the defibrillator and tentatively called out, "Ningning?"
Huo Guining turned her head somewhat stiffly and said in a hoarse voice, "Dad, stop Dad..."