Doctors here took X-rays of Song Jiaping and discovered that the stray bullet had not hit a fatal spot in his brain. If the bullet casing could be surgically removed from his head, there might still be a chance for him.
However, due to a shortage of necessary medications for surgery here, no doctor dared to perform a craniotomy on Song Jiaping, leaving him to await death.
As Meng Yao was about to enter the hospital doors, Song Jiaping's subordinate grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back.
Before she could react, she felt something graze her forehead skin at high speed, piercing the stone wall on one side of the gate.
Meng Yao then realized she had narrowly avoided being hit in the temple by a stray bullet that had appeared from nowhere, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Song Jiaping's subordinate quickly escorted her into the hospital, not daring to linger for another second.
Once inside the hospital, Song Jiaping's subordinate finally breathed a sigh of relief and told her, "The warring factions here have no bottom line. They've set up snipers at the vantage points of field hospitals and will shoot indiscriminately at anyone they identify as not belonging to their side."
Meng Yao felt this place was too terrifying. The war-torn country she and Song Jiaping had stayed in before at least didn't aim bullets at neutral field hospitals.
She saw doctors without borders from various places inside the hospital, most of whom could communicate in English.
A doctor, upon learning her identity and purpose, led her to the ward where Song Jiaping lay.
The moment she saw Song Jiaping, tears welled up in her eyes.
Song Jiaping lay there with his eyes tightly shut and his face deathly pale, two rudimentary machines maintaining his life beside him.
Meng Yao stared at him blankly, afraid to even reach out and touch him, lest he stop breathing the next second.
No! She didn't want anything to happen to him, and even less did she want him to die!
"Jiaping, I'm here! I'm here to be with you, and I won't let anything happen to you!" Meng Yao wasn't excited or distressed, but angry, her voice trembling, fear in her eyes.
Song Jiaping remained unresponsive.
With red eyes, she continued her outburst, "Why did you have to play the hero? Why did you have to come to a place like this? Couldn't you find a safe place to live properly! If you're gone, what will I do? I won't live either!"
The monitor beside Song Jiaping suddenly beeped louder. Meng Yao saw his brainwave activity strengthen. Could he hear what she was saying?
Meng Yao then became agitated and said loudly to him, "You must hold on, you must get better, or I'll go back to being with Jiaxi!"
The monitor's sound not only grew louder but also continued to beep incessantly.
Hearing the sound, two doctors rushed into the ward, both staring at the monitor in amazement at Song Jiaping's significantly stronger brainwave activity, as if he were about to wake up at any moment.
A neurosurgeon exclaimed excitedly, "Dr. Song can still be saved! If we can perform surgery, he can be saved!"
Meng Yao then remembered the neurosurgery medications she had brought. She handed them to the two doctors and said, "I'm also a doctor. Can you see if you can operate on him with these medicines?"
When the two doctors saw the medicine she brought, they looked as if they had seen a miracle drug and quickly nodded, "We were missing these exact medications. This is wonderful! We can operate on Dr. Song immediately!"
"I was also a surgeon. Do you need my help?" Meng Yao pulled herself together. No matter how sad or distressed she felt at this moment, it was useless. She had to help the neurosurgeons save Song Jiaping.
...
Lan City, New Year's Eve.
Meng Qi sat at the large dining table, with only her and Yao Feili eating their reunion dinner.
She had originally planned to have reunion dinner with Meng Yao, but Meng Yao had suddenly left Lan City a few days before New Year's Eve, saying she was going abroad for a vacation.
When she received the news, Meng Yao was already at the airport. She asked Meng Yao where she was going for vacation.
Meng Yao refused to say, and after a brief conversation, said she had to board the plane, hanging up hastily.
Yao Feili placed a piece of sweet and sour pork rib into her bowl and said, "How about I turn up the TV volume, and after dinner, we can go to the yard to set off fireworks? I originally wanted to bring the children over for the Spring Festival so they could experience how we celebrate New Year in China, but their schools abroad are not on holiday."
"It's alright, spending the New Year together, the two of us, will have its own unique flavor." Meng Qi recalled last year's New Year when both her parents were still alive, and her uncle's family also stayed in their main house. The lively atmosphere of the whole family celebrating the New Year.
In her memory, apart from the years she studied abroad, the family celebrated New Year together every year. Only this year felt very desolate.
Although the internal conflict between her and her uncle had been temporarily resolved, and her uncle was still working in the group, they had become estranged.
Yao Feili urged her to eat more and turned up the volume of the TV embedded in the wall.
Meng Qi picked up her phone and said, "I'll contact Meng Yao again to see if she's doing well alone abroad."
But her call to Meng Yao still couldn't get through. She didn't know where she had gone, or why she didn't even have a phone signal. Meng Qi couldn't help but worry.
Yao Feili, sensing her thoughts, said, "Meng Yao is an adult. I heard she used to be a doctor without borders. She'll take care of herself abroad, so don't worry too much."
Meng Qi suddenly thought of something and said, "She wouldn't have gone to a war-torn place again, would she? That's too dangerous!"
"She's an adult now. Even if she went, could you drag her back?" Yao Feili could only advise her not to overthink it.
Meng Qi stopped talking, watched the gala on TV, and ate a little more before feeling full. She said, "I still have some official documents to sort out, I'm going to the study."
Yao Feili was about to stop her, but he knew that if she didn't go to look at the documents, she would continue to worry about Meng Yao.
After she left the dining room, Yao Feili also stopped eating and went to the yard, arranging the fireworks he had bought in a row under the study.
He asked the household staff to light these fireworks simultaneously with him.
Meng Qi had just opened a folder in the study when she heard deafening sounds from outside. Looking through the window, she saw fireworks blooming like a hundred flowers, illuminating the dark night.
She put down the folder, walked over, pushed open the window, and looked at the beautiful fireworks blooming in the sky, a smile appearing on her face.
Yao Feili stood in the yard, looking up and waving at her, shouting, "Come quickly, let's set off fireworks together!"
Meng Qi responded and immediately went downstairs to find him.
Her mood had been rather low lately, but Yao Feili was trying his best to cheer her up.
She hadn't expected him to buy enough fireworks for them to set off all night. In the midst of these brilliant fireworks, her mood finally improved considerably.
...
On New Year's Eve, Susu invited Kang Xi's entire family over. Unfortunately, An Jing's family had already gone abroad, so only their two families gathered for reunion dinner.
Susu and Ya Nan helped in the kitchen, while Tian Yi and Kang Xi chatted on the sofa outside. The children were the happiest, running around the house laughing and playing together.