Chapter 32

Huo Jilin quietly watched Chen Jue before him.

The cards were finally on the table; no more pretending.

Or rather, it wasn't pretense—it was a vague unease he couldn't quite put into words.

He knew that once Chen Jue recognized him, he wouldn't coexist peacefully with him anymore.

Chen Jue neither smiled nor was he angry. He simply looked up at the sky once more, wondering when this absurd game would ever end.

He scoffed at himself for his thoughts from a few days ago—back then, he'd still thought he could get along with this man. To that end, he'd made a bunch of meds for him, trying to get him back in shape, as a way to repay him for letting him crash at his place during this period.

But look, even heaven won't let me forgive you.

Chen Jue looked at that cold, aloof, and impossibly domineering face. Up until now, he had rarely met his gaze, because even in patched, rough-spun clothes, even with his hair pinned up with a wooden hairpin, he couldn't look past that face.

He figured there was no way he could ignore that face either.

Huo Jilin, Jiang Xinhe's husband.

The indirect killer who caused Jiang Xinhe and her unborn child to die.

He rarely loathed anyone. It was just his nature—he'd never hated his birth parents for abandoning him, never hated the people who made him the subject of gossip, never hated the online trolls who badmouthed him. But Huo Jilin was different.

Just mentioning him made him feel a huge sense of revulsion—a formless rage and helplessness that overwhelmed him, making it impossible for him to stay calm around this man.

Clients were always a pain to deal with, but Huo Jilin was absolutely the most demanding and domineering client he'd ever met. The head nurse at the hospital had even nicknamed him "Living King of Hell, the Lone Wolf."

Once he set his mind on something, no one could change it. Holding press conferences and discussions was just going through the motions, just putting on a show for the public. The projects he wanted to set up left no room for anyone else's input.

He was like a cold machine, treating people like guinea pigs. His cold-bloodedness kept setting new records.

Many people felt sorry that Jiang Xinhe had married such a cold, heartless man. If marrying into a rich family came at such a price, she might as well not have married. If he could ignore his own wife's life, what kind of man was he?

Of course, the head nurse only dared to say that behind his back. No one dared to say that to Huo Jilin's face.

Because Huo Jilin was a big shareholder at Zhonghai Hospital. Not only could no one badmouth him, they couldn't even stand up to him.

Except for Chen Jue.

At first, Chen Jue didn't have any bias against Huo Jilin. Their clashes were only ever at work.

Because their values and worldviews were totally different, and their medical views were completely at odds. So the medical projects they worked on didn't align, not to mention their interests and stances were completely different.

Before Chen Jue was Jiang Xinhe's attending physician, he'd still run into Huo Jilin from time to time. Because he was Dean Chen's son, the future heir to Zhonghai Hospital.

Huo Jilin was a major shareholder at Zhonghai Hospital, so they were bound to be on opposite sides.

Disagreements over certain research findings were a regular thing. He didn't care about saving Huo Jilin's face and just said what he thought.

Likewise, Huo Jilin didn't spare his face either—he immediately objected, even using him as a negative example to make an example of him.

Two important figures confronting each other at a press conference reflected poorly on the hospital.

So afterward, aside from occasions where he was required to interact with Huo Jilin, Chen Jue rarely had dealings with him.

But at that time, although Chen Jue didn't care for Huo Jilin, he didn't despise him either. He voiced his opinions from his own standpoint, just as Huo Jilin opposed them from his businessman's perspective. Different positions naturally led to different opinions.

He didn't hate a person for that reason.

What truly made him find Huo Jilin detestable was the matter of his wife.

His wife clearly suffered from such a severe heart condition, yet he still let her carry a child—this was disregarding his wife's life entirely.

Chen Jue was a person with little emotion himself, but Huo Jilin was simply too cold-hearted.

During the seven months he treated Jiang Xinhe, he had communicated with Huo Jilin about the patient's condition a few times.

He was a doctor; everything he said was the truth. Although Huo Jilin wasn't a physician, he was in the pharmaceutical company, so he had to understand the medical industry better than most.

So he told him directly.

Jiang Xinhe's condition was severe. There was a ninety percent chance that neither the mother nor the child would survive.

The larger the baby grew, the heavier the burden on the mother's heart. The best course of treatment was to terminate the pregnancy.

He had hoped Huo Jilin would veto his wife's decision with his usual decisive attitude. Yet Huo Jilin chose to be "democratic" at that moment, saying he would listen to his wife's opinion.

Jiang Xinhe's opinion was self-sacrifice.

She would risk death to have this child.

This was also why Chen Jue had spoken to Huo Jilin—because Jiang Xinhe, dragging her ailing body, was so stubborn on this matter, as if she had made up her mind completely, refusing to listen to anyone. She was disregarding her own life.

He thought the always-assertive Huo Jilin could make the call, yet Huo Jilin turned out to be the one standing by idly—worse, he was the one indulging her. As a husband, agreeing to his wife's decision—what was that if not indulgence?

He was indulging Jiang Xinhe's death.

At that time, Chen Jue looked at Huo Jilin's helpless expression and suppressed the fury within him. He hadn't been angered in a long time. He had seen too many families forced to give up treatment, too many natural and man-made disasters. He thought he had grown cold enough to observe all the vicissitudes of life in this world, but he never expected Huo Jilin to shatter his worldview once again.

His tone at the time must have been cold and harsh. He said to Huo Jilin, "Then find a better doctor."

"I refuse to be this executioner."

But his words seemed to have the opposite effect on Huo Jilin, producing the reverse result. Huo Jilin retorted:

"Switch doctors halfway through treatment? I wasn't aware that was Zhonghai's policy. Remember, you're the Director of Cardiac Surgery—or do you think you're not up to the position?"

Chen Jue thought that the reason he didn't turn and walk away wasn't because of his good upbringing, but because he still cared about Zhonghai Hospital's reputation. This was Dean Chen's hospital—how could he tarnish its name?

When it came to ruthlessness, Chen Jue conceded defeat. He couldn't abandon Jiang Xinhe. Her husband didn't care whether she lived or died, but he was her primary physician.

He couldn't abandon her halfway.

From then on, Chen Jue never discussed Jiang Xinhe's condition with Huo Jilin, the family member, again.

He devoted himself entirely to her care, but in the end, he still couldn't save Jiang Xinhe's life.

Jiang Xinhe still died in his hands. He still became the executioner.

And then, in a fit of rage, Jiang Xinhe's younger brother pushed him down the stairs, and he ended up here.

So Chen Jue thought, how could he possibly change his attitude toward Huo Jilin?

He was the executioner who killed Jiang Xinhe—wasn't Huo Jilin one too?

He was even the root cause. And if one traced it further, he was even the root cause of Chen Jue's own death.

He and Huo Jilin were sworn enemies.

But heaven really had eyes.

It was laughable that the two of them not only ended up under the same sky again, but under the same roof, of all things.

Sometimes he felt this world was one giant machine—an experimental machine—sucking everyone in to run its experiments over and over.

Heaven and earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs.

At this point, saying anything more was pointless. When you're on different wavelengths, even a few words are too many—let alone with a sworn enemy.

Chen Jue turned and went into the house.

He should pack his bags and get out of there at the first chance.

But Zhang Yan still hadn't woken up.

He'd just had such major surgery.

Chen Jue took a deep breath before opening the door, forcing a smile onto his face.

Just like the head nurse had trained him—that standard doctor's smile. He couldn't let the patient think the sky was falling.

Zhang Yan's surgery had been successful, but complications could still arise later.

A C-section sounded routine, but take away the "section" and you'd realize how terrifying it really was.

This was major surgery—opening up the abdominal cavity. Cutting open your own belly was no joke.

Chen Jue pushed down his grief and anger and threw himself into taking care of Zhang Yan.

The baby was pretty healthy.

Zhang Yan woke up in the early evening, the sky painted with sunset glow, its colors as lovely as orange-red silk. Autumn here always brought good weather—a sunset stretching a thousand miles meant a fine day tomorrow for everyone.

When Zhang Yan woke up, Zhou Dajiang was laughing and crying at the same time, repeating, "I knew you'd be okay. You're okay, and we're never having another kid."

He was rambling, but it sounded sincere. People in this era valued having kids above everything. After all, in this ancient world where labor was everything, more kids meant more land to till and more grain to harvest.

"Don't talk nonsense," Zhang Yan said, smiling. Even though he was terrified of childbirth, he knew it was impossible to have just one. Zhou Dajiang had two older sisters and a younger brother—he was the only man in the whole family. How could they stop at one kid?

But Zhang Yan was still touched by what he said. Zhou Dajiang's hand, still holding his, was trembling. His feelings for him were real.

Zhang Yan lay flat, afraid to move, turning his head to look at the baby beside him, who was waking up with soft whimpers.

"Bring the baby over so I can see him," Zhang Yan said eagerly.

Zhou Dajiang clumsily hurried over and scooped up the big-headed boy sleeping on the other side.

"Don't sit up. Jue Geer said not to move yet. I'll hold him up so you can see."

Zhang Yan looked at the baby he'd risked his life to bring into the world, tears welling in his eyes.

The baby looked a bit better after those two hours, but only a little. He still had his eyes closed, whimpering.

So Zhang Yan said, "Why's he so ugly?"

Zhou Dajiang grinned: "He looks like me." Then he quickly added, "Good thing he's a little man. If he were a boy-wife, he'd be hard to marry off."

Zhang Yan, looking at the soft, pink little thing now, wouldn't want him to marry out at all. "Even if he were a boy-wife, he wouldn't be married off. I gave birth to him—he's staying by my side..."

Zhou Dajiang laughed foolishly: "Good, good, good."

Chen Jue heard the couple had finished talking and came in with the medicine: "Don't move. How do you feel now?"

Zhou Dajiang picked up the child and stood, making room for Chen Jue. He had forgotten that Chen Jue, seven and a half months pregnant, had saved his husband's life and hadn't rested since early morning.

Realizing this belatedly, Zhou Dajiang, both ashamed and grateful, thanked Chen Jue repeatedly.

Chen Jue sat on the edge of the kang and waved his hand: "Take the child to drink some goat's milk. He's been fasting for two hours, so he can have a little something. Just a small amount, only one spoonful."

Xiaohua, raised for so long, had finally come in handy. Aunt Zhou squeezed two large bowls, giving one to Chen Jue first. In their panic all day, they had forgotten to cook, and Chen Jue had gone hungry the whole day too.

Liu Dashu came back from the fields and learned Zhang Yan was in labor. He was now in Huo Lin's kitchen helping kill a chicken.

It wasn't Chen Jue's chicken being killed, but it scared his chickens so much they tucked their necks in and behaved extra obediently.

Inside the room, Zhang Yan held Chen Jue's hand, and tears finally fell. He had wanted to cry before the surgery, but Chen Jue had scolded him into holding back. Now, looking at Chen Jue, he couldn't control it. He hadn't shed a tear when he saw the child, but seeing Chen Jue, he couldn't hold it in any longer.