It was as if a meticulously constructed tower built of blocks had been suddenly nudged, collapsing with a deafening roar; everything descended into chaos and ruin in an instant! Every secret painstakingly concealed was laid bare, without even a moment for cushioning.
From that evening until the deep night, Yin Cheng sat in the hospital bed, staring blankly, refusing to eat or speak, as if deaf to every sound, as if blind to everything around him.
He seemed not to hear Zhen En’s tearful regrets, nor Yin Xia Mo’s explanations, nor did he seem to see her face growing increasingly pale or her body trembling as if struck by a high fever.
The entire night passed.
Yin Cheng remained seated on the hospital bed. No matter how the doctors and nurses urged him to rest, no matter how gently or sternly Yin Xia Mo begged him to sleep, no matter how Zhen En cried that she had been lying, or what Ou Chen said in a low, grave voice—he appeared not to hear a thing.
From the inky blackness of midnight
To the dawn light filtering through the breaking sky.
Yin Cheng’s face grew paler, his silence profound; he maintained the exact same posture, sitting motionless on the sickbed.
When Dr. Zheng entered the next morning, she was shocked to find him unnaturally weak! Even more startling was what he told her—he refused the kidney transplant scheduled for that day.
In the corner of the room, a ringing sound erupted in Yin Xia Mo’s ears! A tearing, cold-and-hot pain twisted inside her mind. Her weak legs suddenly refused to bear her weight the moment she heard his refusal. It was as if, engulfed in a swirling cloud of mist, his denial of the surgery was her final, fatal blow... “No—!” Zhen En screamed in panic. A night of sleeplessness and weeping had left her eyes swollen and red. She rushed to Yin Cheng’s bedside, weeping uncontrollably, “I was just talking nonsense! I don’t know anything! Everything is set for the surgery! You can’t give up now! You must have the operation! Please! I was making it up, it’s not like that, truly, it’s not like that...” “Then where is Ou Chen now?” Yin Cheng asked quietly. “If he isn’t lying on the operating table waiting to have that kidney removed from me, then have him appear before me.”
Zhen En froze abruptly! Yes, Ou Chen had already entered the operating theater, awaiting anesthesia.
It was all her fault; she had caused the disaster, she had messed everything up. Why wasn’t she the one who was sick? How could she possibly mend this breach!! “Dr. Zheng…” Yin Xia Mo slowly emerged from the corner, her face ashen, her voice faint yet steady: “…Proceed with the surgery as planned. I entrust it to you today.”
“I refuse,”
Yin Cheng stated unequivocally.
Dr. Zheng looked worriedly at the stubbornly resolute Yin Cheng on the bed, then at Yin Xia Mo standing before her. Noticing the feverish flush breaking through her paper-white complexion, she couldn't help but furrow her brow in concern.
“Xia Mo, you…” “I am the family, and I have the right to make the correct judgment for him.”
Yin Xia Mo stared steadily at Dr. Zheng, her resolve even surpassing Yin Cheng’s. “I will sign the surgical consent form, so please arrange today’s operation as usual.”
“I said, I refuse!” Yin Cheng pressed his lips together, an unprecedented surge of anger coloring his tone. He suddenly lifted his head, fixing his gaze on Yin Xia Mo, and declared, “Even if I were to die immediately, I absolutely will not accept this surgery! I do not consent, and no one has the right to agree on my behalf! Not even you—not even you!” Summer Foam III