Chapter 7: Managing Men

The hospital room was dead silent. Tang Songyuan leaned against the chair by the window, resting with his eyes closed. Even his faint breathing was audible.

The afternoon sunlight cast a layer of golden oil paint over his head, making his facial features look like a figure in a classical portrait.

Li Tianer secretly observed Tang Songyuan, always feeling as though a wisp of sorrow was knitted between his brows.

Tang Songyuan opened his eyes, massaging his temples with both index fingers as if trying to relieve the exhaustion in his brain. Li Tianer slightly turned her body, not wanting Tang Songyuan's gaze to take her in completely.

After massaging his temples, Tang Songyuan slowly let out a breath, like a silent sigh, or perhaps as if he had made up some sort of mind. He glanced at Li Tianer in the hospital bed. Just then, a nurse walked in to inform Tang Songyuan to go to the doctor's office, and Tang Songyuan's expression immediately grew tense.

Presumably, the doctor was calling him over for a pre-surgery consultation and to have family members sign agreements. Li Tianer also grew so nervous that her palms were sweating and her heart was beating faster; after all, in her past life, she had never set foot in an operating room.

Soon, the sound of Tang Songyuan's footsteps echoed down the corridor. His bespoke leather shoes stepped on the ceramic tiles, every step exuding the exceptional quality of superior grip and slip resistance.

Li Tianer slowly sat up and stared at the doorway so that she could immediately see the expression on Tang Songyuan's face when he walked in. If Tang Songyuan looked tense and anxious, it meant the medical examination indicators from that morning were unfavorable and the surgery might carry risks.

Before Li Tianer could even imagine Tang Songyuan's second possible expression upon entering, he walked through the doorway like a gust of wind.

"Good news! Great news! Li Ya, you would never guess. Your illness was a misdiagnosis! You don't need surgery, and you can be discharged from the hospital right away."

Because of his excitement, Tang Songyuan's eyes seemed to shimmer with moisture as he grabbed Li Tianer's hands, holding them like a hand warmer in the depth of winter.

"What's going on?"

Li Tianer hurriedly slid her hands out of Tang Songyuan's grip and instinctively scooted backward.

Tang Songyuan paused slightly, immediately sensing Li Tianer's feeling of alienation toward him. He retracted his hands, which had previously been leaning forward to hold hers, straightened his posture, and his eye twitched slightly.

"The doctor just informed me that your case was a misdiagnosis. All of your bodily indicators are completely healthy."

"Isn't it breast cancer?"

Though she said this aloud, Li Tianer's heart skipped a beat. She wondered if the limited-edition divine elixir pill she had redeemed from the Fortune Base had actually taken effect.

"No, everything is completely normal. I can finally rest easy."

Tang Songyuan said he could rest easy, but a flash of pain suddenly swept across his expression.

"Wait here for a moment. I'll go handle your discharge paperwork right away."

Being healthy and free of illness was naturally better than anything else, but the thought of returning home with Tang Songyuan immediately presented another harrowing dilemma. Li Tianer bit her lip and hesitated inwardly. Rather than going home with Tang Songyuan, returning to her parents' home might actually be better.

However, thinking of Li Ya's elderly mother, who had brazenly demanded money with harsh threats, Li Tianer shrank back.

That old woman seemed even more difficult to get along with than Li Taohua's mother-in-law. Aside from demanding money, she showed not a shred of familial affection. Fan Lihua alone was already more than enough for her to handle, and returning to her maiden family would be akin to walking right into a trap.

If she went home with Tang Songyuan, she could at least find an excuse to request some personal space and mutual non-interference. After all, the older man was generally quite reasonable. As for marital life, middle-aged men probably weren't as impulsive or demanding as they were in their youth.

For some inexplicable reason, scenes of marital matters she had overheard while treating women in Little Crow Village popped into her head, and a blush of rouge crept imperceptibly onto Li Tianer's cheeks.

"We can leave now."

Upon entering and suddenly catching sight of Li Tianer's blushed cheeks, Tang Songyuan's gaze flashed with a hint of surprise. Immediately afterward, his gaze shifted away with a melancholy dimness. He took the clothes out from the locker, walked over to the bed, and handed them to Li Tianer, his expression having already returned to normal.

Over the past few days, Tang Songyuan's mood had been tormented like walking through ice and fire, alternating between freezing cold and scorching heat. His wife's sudden terminal illness had completely disrupted the rhythm of his life and ruined his plans. Yet, in the end, it turned out to be a false alarm. Not only did his heart feel not a shred of joy, but it seemed even heavier than yesterday.

Once they got home shortly, it would be time to have a showdown with his wife. If he didn't make things clear now, it would only make their living situation even more awkward and dull...

Li Tianer stood at the entrance of the hospital's ground floor, waiting for Tang Songyuan to drive over and pick her up. Wu Xiuli and her mother pushed the door open and walked out, immediately surrounding Li Tianer upon seeing her. Hearing that it was a misdiagnosis and that she had been discharged, the two women laughed from ear to ear, and then began to angrily denounce Anyuan Hospital for simply wanting to make money and subjecting patients to over-treatment. They were certain there must have been misdiagnoses in the past as well, yet the hospital hadn't refunded a single penny. Afterward, there wasn't even a word of apology; they had scared the patient half to death, forcing some families to borrow money from all directions just to stay in such a high-end hospital...

Some of what Wu Xiuli said actually made sense. The cost of medical treatment was simply too high, and many families were plunged into poverty due to illness. However, Li Tianer didn't want to talk to her much. Further discussion was futile. Whether Anyuan Hospital had misdiagnosed others, she didn't know, but she was well aware of the real reason behind her own "misdiagnosis."

"Sister Li Ya, let me tell you, after you go back home, you must take good care of yourself and maintain your appearance—clothes make the man, after all. You have no idea how much young girls nowadays adore men like your husband. They throw themselves at them one after another, completely reckless. Even if your husband has strong willpower and can resist temptation, he won't be able to handle it if it happens too many times, or if someone purposely schemes against him.

"When men socialize outside, they sometimes fall for honey traps without even realizing it. Things like this happen all the time, and you simply have to be on guard. At home, you need to show your husband a little more care and tenderness—though I'm sure I don't need to remind you of that. Still, men are visual creatures at the end of the day, and they tend to think with their lower halves. A woman always needs to keep herself looking glamorous and radiant in order to keep a tight leash on her man..."

"Ha, there are plenty of men with pretty wives who still stray. Managing a marital relationship is just cheap chicken soup; I think it's better to let nature take its course. A woman needs to have her own personality and her own living space."

"Well said! I never bother to please my husband. He has to rely on me, and my word is law at home. If he dares to mess around outside, I'll strip him of every single cent and kick him out with nothing in a minute flat."

As Wu Xiuli spoke, the fat under her chin quivered, and her face was filled with smug satisfaction.

"Exactly! Being a wife means holding your man tightly in the palm of your hand, just like my girl does. I've never understood those women who fall apart and throw tantrums just because they get dumped—it's all brought upon themselves anyway. Forget about all that lovey-dovey nonsense; holding onto the family's money is the only thing that truly matters."

Wu Xiuli's mother looked at Wu Xiuli with an expression of doting fondness.

Li Tianer watched as Tang Songyuan's Bentley slowly drove up. Wu Xiuli also spotted the car, a lovesick expression washing over her face before she suddenly remembered to ask for Li Tianer's mobile number.

"We were roommates in the same ward and shared the same misfortune. Let's exchange numbers so we can hang out together sometime."

Without waiting for Li Tianer to reply, Wu Xiuli grabbed Li Tianer's phone, punched in her own number, and saved it for her.