Chapter Thirty-Three: Unreasonable Entanglement

Yang Qingqing barged into the hospital room and, after a bout of irrational behavior, infuriated Zhao Fan, who responded with a slap.

"The one who abandoned her daughter was you, so what are you pretending to be a saint for now?"

"You—you dare hit me? Zhao Haitian, ahhh, die, die!" Yang Qingqing, like a woman possessed, began to attack Zhao Fan with her head, looking less like a woman and more like a madwoman.

Zhao Fan deftly dodged, so not only did Yang Qingqing fail to hurt him, but she ended up falling awkwardly several times herself.

Zhao Haitian couldn't bear to watch and tried to pull her away. But Yang Qingqing had already lost her senses; she turned and shoved him hard.

In the past, Yang Qingqing could never have toppled Zhao Haitian so easily, but his body was now weakened and he couldn't withstand it. With that shove, he stumbled backward toward the wall, his head leading the way.

Zhao Fan's expression changed. "Brother!"

A dull thud sounded as Zhao Haitian struck the wall and slid to the floor, eyes shut.

At that moment, Yang Qingqing's madness vanished. As Zhao Fan rushed to help Zhao Haitian, she bolted from the room. She never saw Zhao Haitian open his eyes as Zhao Fan helped him up.

The door slammed shut with a bang so loud it made Zhao Fan laugh in exasperation, but he had no time to care about Yang Qingqing; Zhao Haitian's condition was still uncertain.

"Brother, are you all right?"

Zhao Haitian stared blankly ahead, grief written all over his face. He asked, "Little brother, am I a joke?"

He truly loved Yang Qingqing. Because of her, he had distanced himself from his own family, and yet, years of affection couldn't compare to money.

But then, Yang Qingqing could abandon even her own daughter, born after ten months of pregnancy—what could her husband possibly mean to her?

Zhao Fan said nothing, helping him into bed before calling for a nurse to check Zhao Haitian's head.

Perhaps overwhelmed by the shock, Zhao Haitian let Zhao Fan do as he pleased, only coming back to himself when their mother returned with Zhao Yuner.

"What happened here?" The moment their mother entered, she sensed the strange atmosphere and quickly pulled Zhao Fan aside to quietly inquire.

Glancing at the father and daughter huddled together, Zhao Fan whispered, "Yang Qingqing was here just now."

At the mention of that name, their mother's pupils contracted. "How did she find this place?"

"It's not a big hospital—if she really wanted to find us, it wouldn’t be difficult. It's not surprising."

"So, what do we do now?" Their mother sounded anxious.

Zhao Fan reassured her, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I'll handle it."

She lowered her gaze. "The Yang family isn't easy to deal with."

"I can manage."

There was no need for more words—those two simple ones from Zhao Fan were enough to ease her worries.

Meanwhile, Zhao Yuner had fallen asleep in Zhao Haitian's arms. Zhao Fan glanced over, then indicated to Zhao Haitian that he was leaving. But as soon as he stepped out, Zhao Haitian hurried after him.

"Little brother, about the money for the child's surgery..."

"I recently secured an investment of five hundred thousand. That should be enough to cover the medical expenses."

"Five..." Zhao Haitian's eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"You'll know when I bring the money. For now, only you know about this. I hope you can..."

"I'll keep it a secret," Zhao Haitian promised.

Zhao Fan smiled, patted his brother's shoulder twice, and left. Everything that needed to be said had been said; the rest was understood.

The next day, their mother called Zhao Fan to tell him the results of the bone marrow match—unfortunately, none of them were compatible.

"Xiaofan, what should we do?"

"If the family isn't a match, we can search the bone marrow registry. Yuner's condition is stable enough for now; she can hold on."

He comforted his mother, hung up, and stared at his phone for a long time.

Leukemia—he hadn't found any other treatments, even after being reborn. The only silver lining was that Zhao Yuner's leukemia wasn't the fatal type, and he now had the means to pay for her treatment.

In a sense, it was a situation where everything fit together.

That afternoon, Zhao Fan went to the hospital, paid for the bone marrow matching, and then discovered Zhao Haitian was gone. Their mother was evasive about his whereabouts, but it didn’t take much thought for Zhao Fan to realize his brother had ignored doctors' orders and gone off to work again.

On the hospital bed, Zhao Yuner blinked her large eyes at Zhao Fan.

"Uncle, are you looking for my dad?"

Raising an eyebrow, Zhao Fan replied, "Yes, I'm looking for your dad. Do you know where he went?"

"How would a little kid know where her dad goes? Xiaofan, if you have things to do, go ahead; I'll take care of things here," his mother cut in anxiously, almost pushing him out.

"Mom."

Zhao Fan sighed, grabbing her hand. With a bit of force, she was powerless to resist.

"I'm just going to talk to my brother, not pick a fight—why are you so nervous? Yuner, can you tell Uncle where your dad went?"

The little girl replied in her childish voice, "Daddy said he's nearby, and he'll be back soon to keep Yuner company."

Nearby? Zhao Fan’s eyes narrowed slightly. There weren’t many places close to the hospital where Zhao Haitian could work and leave at a moment’s notice. If he remembered correctly, there was a construction site a couple of blocks away—Zhao Haitian was most likely there.

"Thank you, Yuner. Uncle will be right back."

He ruffled her hair and strode out. Before long, he found Zhao Haitian at the construction site, but as he approached, a man blocked his way.

"No unauthorized personnel allowed on the site," the security guard, a burly middle-aged man in uniform, said gruffly.

"I'm here to find someone," Zhao Fan replied.

The guard scoffed, "If you want to find someone, call them. Coming onto a construction site—are you looking to get yourself killed? Get lost; you’re not allowed here..."

"Boss, you can't do this! I've worked here for half a month. You promised two hundred a day—how can you go back on your word?"

"Who's going back on their word? I did say two hundred per day, but look how many days you've actually worked. Half a month? Nonsense! Every time we're shorthanded, you take leave, and you only show up when there's little to do. You should be grateful I'm not making you pay damages. Now get lost!"

Zhao Haitian was shoved out by several men and stumbled, falling right at Zhao Fan's feet.

One looked up, the other looked down; for a moment, the air was thick with tension.

Zhao Haitian opened his mouth, face pale, then closed it again without a sound.

Zhao Fan sighed. "Brother, get up."

Zhao Haitian shrank back his neck, quietly getting to his feet and moving to stand behind Zhao Fan.

The foreman sized Zhao Fan up. "You're his brother?"

"Yes, I am."

"You heard what I just said?"

"I did," Zhao Fan replied with a smile.

Suddenly, a cry of pain rang out.