Chapter 33: Cuckolded

Looking at the old woman's reddened eyes, Li Tian'er suddenly thought of her own grandmother, and involuntarily shifted her body slightly forward.

Without needing to ask, the old woman before her was the mother of this body's Li Tian'er.

"It's all my fault as a mother for coming to see you so late."

"I'm fine."

Although she felt a certain fondness for the old woman and didn't want her to worry, calling her "Mom" was something she simply couldn't bring herself to say no matter what.

"As long as you're fine, as long as you're fine. Since Songyuan arranged for you to stay in such a nice hospital, I knew for sure that any ailment could be cured."

Zhou Meixiang straightened her posture, leaned back naturally, let go of Li Tian'er's hand, and pressed the corner of her shirt to her eyes. Her cloudy, worried face cleared up. She raised her eyes to survey the ward, clicking her tongue in praise.

Located by Bailu Lake in the center of Rongcheng, Anhe Gynecology Hospital consisted of two connected six-story buildings made of red bricks and grey tiles. Covering over a hundred acres, it was nestled among lush woods and blooming flowers. Every window framed a scenic view, and the software and hardware facilities inside the ward were of cutting-edge, high-tech standards.

It was said that the founding ancestor of Anhe Hospital had the surname An and was once an imperial physician in the royal court. Starting from a small medical clinic and enduring over two hundred years of ups and downs through the efforts of several generations of the An family, it had grown into a noble specialist hospital renowned throughout the province and even the entire country.

"This room must be twenty or thirty square meters, right? It looks even bigger than your younger brother's new house. How much does it cost to stay here for one night? Look at this bed, this cabinet, the sofa, and these curtains..."

Zhou Meixiang felt her eyes weren't enough to take it all in, pinching the curtain and reluctant to let go. She crumpled the misty-blue silk curtain into a ball and then smoothed it out, marveling at how it returned to its flat and lustrous state, and exclaimed:

"This must be made of brocade. I remember seeing people use this kind of material for quilt covers when I was little. When placed under the sun, that quilt showed a ripple-like luster—it was so pretty."

The curtain fabric of the hospital was indeed fine, but it certainly wasn't bedding material from decades ago.

Li Tian'er was torn between tears and laughter at this provincial and ignorant old woman. Turning her head to look at the hanging IV bottle, she saw that it was already empty, so she quickly clamped the infusion set and pressed the call button.

Nurse Li Ya swiftly replaced it with a new bag of solution, cast a glance at Zhou Meixiang who was still rubbing the curtains by the window, suppressed her words, and hurried out.

Zhou Meixiang finally let go of the curtain and sat down on the sofa, pressing hard on the cushion with both hands before leaning back with a look of satisfaction.

"Li Tian'er, your brother wants to partner with friends to open an art training school. Do you think you can pull together two hundred thousand yuan?"

"Open an art training school?"

"Yeah, Tao Xin wants to start a business and be his own boss. As his elder sister, you need to support him."

Only then did Zhou Meixiang carefully observe Li Tian'er's expression. Li Tian'er's indifferent demeanor made her feel somewhat guilty.

"I know, when your brother got married, you forked out a million yuan to buy him a house, and a million is a large sum for you too. It's only been half a year, so you definitely need some breathing room. But you also know how good your sister-in-law's background is; being able to fancy your brother is a blessing cultivated by our family in past lives.

It's definitely no good for your brother to not have a proper livelihood. Now that he finally has the determination to do something practical, we can't just not help out. Discuss it with Songyuan and have him take two hundred thousand out from the factory, considered as a loan from Tao Xin. Your brother said an art training school can recoup its costs in just a year, and he'll return the principal plus interest to you then."

"Oh, you should go discuss this matter with Songyuan."

After listening for a long time, Li Tian'er understood that the old woman in front of her wasn't here to check on her daughter's condition at all...

"It's better for you and Songyuan to talk about it. You are husband and wife, so you're certainly closer than I am as his mother-in-law."

Zhou Meixiang stood up happily from the sofa, walked over to the bed, and reached out to take Li Tian'er's hand. Not wanting to be grasped by Zhou Meixiang's withered hands any longer, Li Tian'er slid her hand under the quilt and smiled apologetically at her.

"You should talk to Songyuan."

Calling him by the name Songyuan felt much smoother this time.

"That's fine too, but you still have to help put in a good word. Songyuan loves you the most and is completely obedient to you; whatever you say, he will make happen for you."

Good grief, there was no such thing as unconditional love in this world! Even the most affectionate couple wouldn't reach the point of absolute obedience!

Li Tian'er thought to herself that even a twenty-year-old girl like her understood this simple truth, yet an old woman in her sixties couldn't see through something so superficial.

Talking about money ruins relationships!

Li Tian'er chuckled inwardly, unwilling to chatter any further with this mother of hers. She closed her eyes slightly and began to ponder once again the miracle of transmigrating last night—under what circumstances had it occurred? As long as the same conditions were met, transmigrating back would be no problem at all.

Could it be because of the moon?

Thinking of that bizarre, orange-red full moon from the previous night, the more she thought about it, the more she felt the gate of time and space was connected to that moon. She could try again tonight...

"Li Tian'er, are you listening to me?"

Zhou Meixiang patted the top of Li Tian'er's quilt.

"Oh, go ahead."

Li Tian'er looked out the window. It was March in springtime; despite a lingering chill in the air, the sunshine was quite pleasant.

"I said you need to give me my living expenses for this month. It's already two days overdue."

"Oh, you can go ask Songyuan for it."

Pushing everything onto that uncle-like husband was the most appropriate thing to do.

Li Tian'er continued to gaze out the window. The top of the quilt was suddenly yanked open, revealing Zhou Meixiang's displeased face, forcing Li Tian'er to pretend she was looking at her intently.

"The three thousand yuan for monthly living expenses is what you take from the household funds for me. We can't let Songyuan know about this."

"Oh?"

"What do you mean 'oh'? You need to give it to me quickly today, I have an urgent need for it. I went to your house last night to get it and got the door shut in my face, which almost messed up my plans."

A wronged expression appeared on Zhou Meixiang's long, thin cheeks.

Li Tian'er had no idea what was going on and didn't know how to respond. Seeing her daughter remain silent, Zhou Meixiang grew anxious. She had come today specifically for the three thousand yuan; if she couldn't get the money, she would lose face in front of that person, and how would she be able to get along with them in the future...

"You must have brought money with you when you came to the hospital, just give me three thousand for my urgent use first."

"I don't have any money on me. Why don't you look for it yourself."

"You, you ungrateful wretch! Are you harboring a grudge because I didn't come to the hospital to see you right away?! You didn't even tell me, how was I supposed to know you were hospitalized for surgery."

Zhou Meixiang flew into a rage out of embarrassment. Whenever she asked her daughter for money in the past, Li Tian'er would obediently hand it over before she even finished stretching out her hand. Today, not only was she stalling and refusing to give the money, but she hadn't even called her "Mom" once since entering the room.

"I really don't have any money. Why don't you wait until Songyuan comes over, and I'll ask him where my money is."

"Stop playing games with me! Your money is given to you by Songyuan anyway, just ask him for it directly. I'll come back again this afternoon, you better have the money ready. If I can't get the money this afternoon, I'm not leaving."

Zhou Meixiang stormed out aggressively. Li Tian'er stared blankly at the empty doorway, wondering what kind of mother this was—she was simply a tiger that devoured people without spitting out their bones!

Long after Zhou Meixiang left, Tang颂元 (Tang Songyuan) still hadn't returned. After the three bags of IV fluids finished dripping and a warm herbal pack was placed over her navel, Li Tian'er drifted off to sleep in a haze.