“Tuanzi!”
Qiao Xinyi screamed and ran forward. She had thought Tuanzi would also fall into the sandpit with Ye Guanguan. The latter, however, turned around and fell on the ground with a thump. Tuanzi was protected, up in her breast pocket.
There came a heart-piercing pain from Ye Guanguan’s right arm. She looked down and saw her injured arm covered by rubbles and gravels. She was bleeding from the wound on the arm.
“Are you alright? Clinic, send her to the clinic!”
Miss Yu was also terribly frightened. Parents gathered around. Qiao Xinyi was the first to get Ye Guanguan up.
“I’m fine. Just a flesh wound. Come and check if Tuanzi is okay,” said Ye Guanguan.
When she got up, she felt some pain on her knees, too. She lifted her dress and checked. As expected, her knees were also bleeding. Luckily, she fell onto the sandpit. If she fell directly on the runway before the finish line, she would have been more seriously injured.
Tuanzi raised himself from the ground, pouting sadly. He said in a sobbing voice, “I’m okay. Mummy, but you’re bleeding.”
“I don’t feel hurt. The game isn’t over yet. Tuanzi, continue it with Aunt Qiao. I’m going to the clinic.”
Tuanzi, however, stayed stubbornly and didn’t want to leave, “No!”
Ye Guanguan stood up, with pain. She gasped every time she kept her knees straight, still trying not to make a sound.
“Tuanzi, listen to me. I just won the first part with you. You’re the monitor. You shouldn’t be absent for the remaining parts of the game.”
Ye Guanguan still remembered how those parents who regarded themselves as elites despised her. All those parents had high expectations for their children. But none of them ever considered if their children wanted such a life.
Ye Guanguan tried her best, just to show them that parents should be flexible when educating their children. For a serious event like this, she wouldn’t be careless.
Great tenacity began to burn in Tuanzi’s eyes. He clenched his fists tightly and nodded.
“Okay, Mummy. Don’t worry. I’ll be the champion!”
After finally persuading Tuanzi to continue the game, Ye Guanguan let out a sigh of relief. With the help of Miss Yu, she limped to the clinic. The kind school doctor shook her head when she saw Ye Guanguan’s wound that was filled with a lot of tiny gravels.
“She must be sent to hospital for sterilization, Miss Yu. We don’t have such an advanced device.”
The school doctor of the nursey was professional. But she normally took care of children. Under the protection of assistant teachers, children seldom got hurt. Ye Guanguan, as a matter of fact, was her first urgent patient.
“I’m okay. Just clean my wound with some disinfectant.”
Ye Guanguan was usually spoiled and pampered. All over her, no obvious scar could be seen. Now, no matter how hard she frowned with pain, she didn’t want to go to hospital. The game had just begun. She didn’t want to be absent.
“Miss Ye. Don’t overlook small wounds. There are too many bacteria in the wounds. The disinfectant can’t clean your wounds thoroughly. You’d better go to hospital.”
The school doctor kept persuading Ye Guanguan with earnest words. At last, Ye Guanguan gave in and was sent to No. 3 Hospital.
It took her totally two hours to make an appointment with the doctor in the surgery. Miss Yu kept her company all the time, trying her best to help.
Ye Guanguan had small wounds, but she felt so painful that she frowned hard when the doctor was cleaning up her wounds. She never knew the disinfectant could hurt so much. In the end, gauzes were taped over her right elbow and her knees. Luckily, the wounds managed to be covered by her long dress and sleeves.
Ye Guanguan was anxious to watch the game in the nursery. Miss Yu persuaded her when helping her to walk out.
“Miss Ye, I didn’t know you could be trying so desperately. I know it’s hard to be a stepmother. But you still have to take care of yourself.”
Ye Guanguan wasn’t listening at all. When she was rushing out hurriedly, she caught sight of a couple arguing with each other. They seemed quite familiar.
“What do you mean, Lu Mingye? Is it so hard to tell your grandpa you want to marry me? If you don’t believe me, let’s get in and have a body check!”
“Qiuran, you know I’m having a hard time! There’re too many people around. Don’t draw their attention. Let’s go home and talk, all right?”
Lu Mingye interrupted Ye Qiuran impatiently. Ye Qiuran was upset with his cold attitude. He always talked softly to her before.
“You don’t believe I’m pregnant, do you? Why don’t we just get in and have a check?”
Ye Guanguan gradually came to a stop. She pulled Miss Yu and stopped behind the glass door across a thick pillar from Lu Mingye and Ye Qiuran.
“Forget about the check. Qiuran, stop it, could you? Even if you’re pregnant, we can’t keep the baby! Do you want Grandpa to leave all his properties to his illegitimate son?”
“I don’t mean that…”
Finally, Ye Guanguan understood what they were talking about. Ye Qiuran was pregnant? Ye Guanguan had no idea at all. If Ye Qiuran was pregnant, why did still she drink so much wine?
Well, it was meaningless to keep on eavesdropping. Besides, Miss Yu was still around. Ye Guanguan turn around and said, “Miss Yu, why don’t you wait for me in the car? I met a couple of friends. I’ll come to you after having a little conversation with them.”
Ye Guanguan had been terribly anxious to go back and watch Tuanzi’s game. But now, she was gazing at those two guys quarreling outside the door with staring eyes, as if turned into a different person.
Miss Yu was totally confused about what she just heard. However, she knew it well that a nursery teacher like her shouldn’t interfere with old scores between rich families.
Miss Yu nodded and exhorted, “Fine. Miss Ye, come back early.”
Ye Guanguan waved her hand without even looking back. And then she continued to eavesdrop.
“Mingye, do you really not want to marry me? Tell me your decision and I’ll have an abortion right away.”
“Qiuran, you know I don’t mean that! Why must you get me wrong? We must take care of our overall interests first. I will marry you, but not now! Don’t you understand?”
This could be the longest sentence Lu Mingye had said to Ye Qiuran over the past few days. His cold eyes, however, made Ye Qiuran think it was nothing, but a nasty excuse.
When Ye Qiuran remained silent, Lu Mingye sighed and held her into his arms, with his chin against her forehead.
“Qiuran, trust me, okay? I’m doing everything for our future. Please wait a bit longer, just for me. All right?”
Ye Qiuran looked up and a mixture of complicated emotions flashed in her eyes.
“What about the baby?”
Lu Mingye lowered his head and fell silent. He let go of her and replied, “Have an abortion.”
He walked out quickly, leaving a tall and thin figure viewed from behind. Even standing behind the glass door, Ye Guanguan managed to hear his rapid footsteps. Lu Mingye was always a proud man, not to mention he was quarrelling in public.
Ye Qiuran was left alone, outside of the hospital across a wall from Ye Guanguan. For a moment she said nothing. Ye Guanguan thought about it for seconds before she pushed the door open and walked out.
As expected, when Ye Qiuran looked up, Ye Guanguan saw tears rolling down her cheeks.