Jiang Lai stared at the popup on her phone, her heart suddenly growing frantic.
She glanced around her surroundings—it was clearly a hospital room.
If she answered the Video Call, the other side would definitely notice something was wrong.
Instinctively, she wanted to decline.
After all, her daughter still needed someone to take care of her.
But now that her sister-in-law knew she was in the hospital, there was no way she would let Jiang Lai take care of her daughter.
Jiang Lai wanted to stay by her daughter’s side, but she didn’t want to be overly cared for.
She didn’t want to become a burden to anyone.
Hesitating for a moment, Jiang Lai made a quiet “be silent” gesture to Xu Ruobing beside her, then finally chose to turn off the camera and answered the call.
“What’s wrong?”
Jiang Lai forced her hoarse voice to sound normal, but with the suppressed tone, it came off as somewhat improper to the listener—at least to Chi Yingyu on the other end, it sounded odd.
To prevent her sister-in-law from saying anything inappropriate on the call, Jiang Lai quietly reminded her, “I’m not wearing Headphones right now.”
Looking at the video on her phone, watching Chi Yingyu’s expression, Jiang Lai was even more afraid to turn the camera back on.
Jiang Lai had made her sister-in-law angry before.
When Chi Yingyu got angry, she wouldn’t scold or argue with others, but when dealing with Jiang Lai, she was no longer as gentle as before.
Now, even just looking at each other through a screen, Jiang Lai could feel a kind of low pressure radiating from her.
Jiang Lai knew Chi Yingyu was a sensible girl—she wouldn’t get angry without reason or act irrationally.
If she was upset, it was undoubtedly Jiang Lai’s fault.
Noticing her sister-in-law’s bad mood, Jiang Lai wanted to tell her about her current situation instinctively but ended up swallowing the words lodged in her throat.
Chi Yingyu wasn’t stupid either.
When she heard her brother-in-law wasn’t wearing Headphones, she immediately knew what should and shouldn’t be said at this moment.
Even though she felt a little upset, she hid her displeasure and spoke with a cold tone on the other end.
At this moment, Chi Yingyu was desperately trying to understand why she had made so many calls and sent so many messages to her brother-in-law but hadn’t received a single response.
“I just wanted to ask, what time will you be back today?”
“I might still need a little longer……………”
Jiang Lai looked at Xu Ruobing beside her.
Even if she got up now to leave the hospital and handle the discharge procedures, it would still take some time.
Besides, Jiang Lai couldn’t just leave without Xu Ruobing’s consent.
“Is there something urgent? Or did Leyi have a problem………….?”
If it were anything else, Jiang Lai might not care, but if it was her daughter, no matter that she was wearing a Patient Gown, she would rush over immediately.
“No, nothing like that. Don’t worry. I just want to know what time you’ll actually be home.”
Truthfully, Jiang Lai wasn’t sure about that either, so she cast a pleading glance at Xu Ruobing.
Just hearing the conversation was enough to annoy Xu Ruobing.
Because Chi Yingyu’s first reaction wasn’t concern for Jiang Lai but rather questioning when Jiang Lai would be home.
Jiang Lai was an adult with her own affairs.
Why did she have to be controlled even about what time she got home?
But that was only the beginning.
What made Xu Ruobing the most furious was the next sentence.
Even though Jiang Lai had already muted the phone, in the quiet hospital room, Xu Ruobing still heard it clearly.
“Why haven’t you replied to a single message or call for so long? Are you busy with something important?”
Hearing this, even the mild-tempered Xu Ruobing couldn’t help herself.
She wanted to snatch the phone from Jiang Lai and scold Chi Yingyu head-on.
Under those circumstances, how could Jiang Lai possibly reply?
Was she supposed to be doing surgery or unconscious and still consciously sending messages?
Xu Ruobing moved as if to stand up but was pulled back by Jiang Lai, whose look seemed to say it was okay.
Jiang Lai knew full well that this was her fault for breaking their agreement.
They had clearly said she’d be back by noon.
Now, she had made her sister-in-law wait a long time.
Jiang Lai had briefly glanced at the messages Chi Yingyu had been sending since 10 a.m., and she had seen the carefully prepared Lunch from Chi Yingyu at home around 11 a.m.
She had said Jiang Lai had worked hard these past few days and personally cooked a delicious meal to reward her.
Now, nearly three to four hours had passed, and the meal in the photo must have gone cold.
On the other side, Chi Yingyu also felt heartbroken.
They had agreed yesterday, and even if Jiang Lai had informed her in advance, she wouldn’t have acted this way.
Chi Yingyu’s unhappiness was mainly because her brother-in-law had been missing all day, likely spending time with Xu Ruobing.
Originally, her brother-in-law had invited her to a meeting.
Now, he still hadn’t returned by afternoon—it had to be with the other woman.
Chi Yingyu wasn’t alone at home either.
She was sitting at the dining table in her Apartment with Jiang Leyi.
Chi Yingyu had brought Leyi to her Apartment early that morning, just to give Jiang Lai a Surprise when she returned.
On the table was the rich Lunch the two of them had prepared together, but much time had passed since it was ready.
What was once a fragrant, colorful meal had now turned cold.
On the way back, Leyi had been excited to learn from her aunt that her father had actually been around all along.
She had wanted to show her best spirit to her dad, but after waiting from noon until now, Leyi looked a bit deflated, slumped in her chair.
In her heart, she just wished her father would come home soon.
Leyi gently tugged at her aunt’s sleeve, whispering in a voice only the two of them could hear, “Dad, when will you be back?”
They had wanted to give Jiang Lai a big Surprise, but Leyi didn’t dare speak too loudly for fear her dad would hear on the other end and be disturbed if he was busy with something important.
Chi Yingyu gently stroked her niece’s head, soothing her.
She clearly remembered the time her brother-in-law told her last night—that the meeting would be over by 10 o’clock.
To avoid disturbing him, Chi Yingyu had patiently waited until 10 to send the first message.
When Jiang Lai didn’t reply, she sent another half an hour later.
By 11, she started calling, but all her attempts received no response.
Even if he was busy, was there no way to spare ten seconds to reply?
Thinking that her brother-in-law was with Xu Ruobing, forgetting about them, Chi Yingyu’s heart ached.
Chi Yingyu wanted to say more, but hearing her brother-in-law’s silence on the other end, her tone softened.
She turned the camera to the cold Lunch on the table and said simply before hanging up.
“Come back early for Dinner.”
After the call ended, Jiang Lai stared silently at the chat history with her sister-in-law until finally, with a dazed look, she gazed at Xu Ruobing beside her.
“Ruobing… can I go through the discharge procedure now?”
Xu Ruobing bit her lip.
She really wanted to tie Jiang Lai to the hospital bed to rest properly, but in the end, she reluctantly found an excuse to delay things as long as possible.
“But we don’t have suitable clothes to go out in yet. I’ve already arranged for some fitted clothes to be delivered. Even if we leave now, we’ll have to wait a bit.”
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