Rumor Has It I Don’t Follow A-Class Morals - Chapter 54

Even though they were just grabbing a casual bite downstairs, Ming Muyao didn’t skimp on Su Yin. She still ordered four dishes and a soup.

But since Su Yin had a sore on her lip, she couldn’t eat anything spicy. Today’s meal was Cantonese cuisine—fresh, savory, and slightly sweet, without a single trace of chili.

At first, Su Yin wasn’t used to it, but eventually she warmed up to the flavor. Once they finished eating, they didn’t linger and headed straight for the nursing home.

The nursing home was busier on weekends—people who usually worked or went to school took the chance to visit loved ones, so even finding a parking space was tough. Worried that Su Yin might get impatient, Ming Muyao said, “Why don’t you head up to the room first? I’ll come up after I park.”

Su Yin shook her head from the passenger seat. “Take your time. I’m not in a rush. Mom’s not going anywhere lying in that bed—it’s not like a few minutes will make a difference.”

Hearing that, Ming Muyao didn’t insist. It took her over ten minutes circling the lot before she finally snagged a spot.

After all that, she hurriedly led Su Yin upstairs.

Inside the hospital room, Auntie Cui was in the middle of turning Su Yin’s mom over. Hearing someone come in, she quickly set the patient down. When she saw it was Ming Muyao, she greeted her, “President Ming, you’re here.”

“Yeah.” Ming Muyao noticed Auntie Cui had only half-turned the patient, so she rolled up her sleeves. “Let me help.”

“Oh, great!”

Handing her bag and coat to Su Yin, she and Auntie Cui worked together to turn Su Yin’s mom and adjust her position to avoid pressing on her windpipe and causing suffocation.

Once they finished, Auntie Cui smiled and asked, “Have you both eaten yet?”

“We have.” Ming Muyao knew she wasn’t asking out of curiosity, so she said, “Go take a break. We’ll handle things here. Come back around three or four.”

“Okay!”

Auntie Cui grabbed her things and was about to leave, but halfway to the door, she turned back and said, “President Ming, the attending doctor said if you showed up, you should stop by his office. Seems he has something to discuss.”

“Got it.” After she left, Ming Muyao turned to Su Yin. “You stay here with your mom. I’ll go see the doctor.”

Su Yin looked at her with concern. “Is something wrong with my mom’s condition?”

Ming Muyao wasn’t sure herself, so she just reassured her, “Let me check first. You stay and chat with her.”

She left the room and headed to the doctor’s office, where she found Su Yin’s mom’s attending physician.

He was a middle-aged man, maybe in his late 30s or early 40s. When he saw her, he recognized her as the family member of the patient in that particular bed and pulled out a chair. “Come, sit.”

Seeing his demeanor, Ming Muyao immediately had a bad feeling. Sitting down, she felt a prickle of unease and frowned. “Doctor, is something wrong?”

“I wouldn’t have called you here if there wasn’t.” He pulled out a file from the desk and handed it to her. “This is the result of the specialist consultation from a while back. I know we talked about it briefly over the phone, but I wanted to go over the patient’s condition in more detail with you.”

Ming Muyao opened the file. “Didn’t the consultation say the reactions were likely just muscle reflexes? Is something new going on?”

“The experts did conclude that, yes. But we recently did a CT scan and saw that a portion of the intracranial hemorrhage has been reabsorbed—about half of it.”

Su Yin’s mother had ended up in this state after being struck on the head by her alcoholic husband, leading to bleeding in the brain that compressed her nerves. Now, hearing that part of the bleeding had cleared up—could it mean she still had a chance of waking up?

“It’s not impossible,” the doctor said cautiously. “But we’ll need to keep monitoring. The main reason I asked to meet today is because a new drug has been developed overseas. It was just introduced domestically and has shown promising results for treating this kind of brain hemorrhage. I wanted to ask the family’s opinion.”

Ming Muyao understood now—he wanted to discuss switching to the new medication.

“If it works, use it,” she said, closing the file. “Cost isn’t a concern. I can afford it.”

After leaving the doctor’s office, Ming Muyao went straight back to the hospital room. As soon as she walked in, she saw Su Yin had already filled a basin with water. The moment she saw her, Su Yin asked anxiously, “What did the doctor say?”

“Nothing major.” Ming Muyao gently took the basin from her hands. “Sit down. I’ll explain.”

She repeated what the doctor had told her. After hearing it all, Su Yin’s eyes sparkled like they were full of stars as she looked at Ming Muyao. But when she heard how much the medication cost, she frowned. “Why is it so expensive?”

“It’s actually not that bad,” Ming Muyao said while wringing out a towel and gently wiping Su Yin’s mom’s back. “Imported meds like this aren’t covered by insurance. Everything’s out-of-pocket. It’s pricey, but if it really works, it’s worth it.”

Su Yin thought for a moment and nodded. “Mm. I’ll pay you back once I start earning money.”

Ming Muyao laughed. “No need to wait—you can pay with your heart right now.”

Su Yin’s face flushed red, and she turned away, ignoring her. It took a while for Ming Muyao to coax her back into a good mood.

Su Yin spent the whole afternoon with her mom. Even though a caregiver usually handled everything, whenever she visited the nursing home, Su Yin insisted on doing it all over again herself.

Washing her mom’s body, turning her over, getting her some sun.

Once all that was done, she would sit by the bed with a poetry book and read to her.

Whenever Ming Muyao saw this scene, her heart would feel warm. She often thought that if she hadn’t come into Su Yin’s life, both mother and daughter might’ve ended up very differently.

Su Yin might’ve stayed trapped in that luxurious cage—or worse, she might’ve been given away to someone by the other Ming Muyao, living every day on edge. And when she was no longer beautiful enough, she’d be discarded.

As for Su Yin’s mom, without timely treatment, she probably wouldn’t have made it this far.

Leaning by the window, watching the scene unfold, Ming Muyao felt like her heart was completely full.

At one point, she stepped out to take a work call. It dragged on and on, with the other party reporting in detail for nearly an hour before she finally hung up and returned to the room.

She walked in to see Su Yin slumped over the bed, her poetry book lying flat on the mattress. Her breathing was steady—she’d fallen asleep.

Ming Muyao tiptoed over. Seeing Su Yin’s delicate little face scrunched up in sleep, she let out a helpless sigh. She grabbed a blanket from the couch and gently draped it over her.

The girl was out cold. Ming Muyao bent over and watched her for a long while, worried that she’d wake up with a sore neck. Carefully, she reached out, blanket and all, and picked her up.

Su Yin was light and warm in her arms, her cheek resting against the crook of Ming Muyao’s elbow, sleeping soundly.

It was such a peaceful moment that Ming Muyao didn’t want to break it. But there was nowhere else for Su Yin to lie down, so after thinking it over, she sat down on the couch and let Su Yin sleep against her.

The moment she sat down, Su Yin let out a little hum. Ming Muyao thought she’d woken up, but instead, the girl murmured a soft “Mom…” and drifted off again.

Ming Muyao couldn’t help but chuckle. Looks like she really did wake up early today.

Su Yin stayed asleep on her shoulder all the way until after four in the afternoon.

When Auntie Cui returned and saw the scene, she was about to speak when Ming Muyao gestured for silence. Auntie Cui looked at Su Yin curled up in Ming Muyao’s arms and smiled warmly. “You two are really close.”

Ming Muyao just smiled without replying. She adjusted her arms to make sure Su Yin wouldn’t slip down.

Maybe she’d slept enough, or maybe their quiet conversation woke her, but Su Yin’s long lashes began to flutter. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

After sleeping in the same position for so long, she felt stiff. Lifting her head, she saw Ming Muyao’s face and froze for a moment, confused—then she realized she was being held in her arms. And she’d actually fallen asleep like this.

“I—I just…” Su Yin stared at her, wide-eyed in shock. Ming Muyao didn’t let her finish. Still holding her, she said, “You fell asleep slumped over. I was afraid you’d wake up with a sore neck, so I moved you to the couch.”

Su Yin grabbed the blanket and started to get up, but the moment Ming Muyao lifted her arm, she winced. “Ah—”

Startled, Su Yin immediately scrambled off her. “What happened? Did I hurt you?”

“It just went numb from staying in one position too long,” Ming Muyao said with a bitter smile, rubbing her arm. “I didn’t think it’d be a problem, but clearly I was wrong.”

She’d seen parents hold their kids like this plenty of times. And since Su Yin was so petite, she thought she could manage. But she hadn’t expected her shoulder to go completely numb. Even her fingers tingled, and it took several minutes with no relief.

Feeling guilty, Su Yin started massaging her arm to help ease the pain. Auntie Cui brought over a warm towel and said, “Try using this. It should help.”

Whether it was the towel or Su Yin’s massage, the numbness gradually faded. Ming Muyao shook out her arm. “Much better now. It’s fine.”

Only then did Su Yin relax, though she looked at her helplessly. “Don’t hold me like that again. I can sleep on the edge of the bed just fine.”

“We’ll worry about next time when it comes,” Ming Muyao said, still rubbing her shoulder. She turned to Auntie Cui. “Auntie, it’s getting late. Su Yin and I will head out.”

“Leaving already?” Auntie Cui was tidying up. “Okay then. Be careful on the way back. Since your arm just recovered, don’t rush to drive. Maybe go grab dinner first—might be safer that way.”

Ming Muyao agreed. Her arm felt better, but it still lacked strength.

Driving didn’t seem like the best idea. Getting dinner first, then heading home slowly, sounded much more reasonable.