My Alleged Husband

Chapter 389 - 368 Li Haixiao Seriously Ill_1

While they were exchanging sweet nothings, a phone call came from Zhang Yichen’s uncle’s family. It turned out that his uncle’s biological father was critically ill.

"Yichen, where are you? Your uncle needs you urgently!"

Zhang Yichen, hearing Xiao Wei tell him about an emergency, couldn’t quite believe it and felt at a loss for words. When had his uncle ever needed help? In his eyes, his uncle could always handle any trouble personally, and now there was suddenly an issue that needed his assistance. Could something really have gone wrong?

"Uncle, you don’t need to be so formal with me. You’re my uncle, and without you, I wouldn’t be where I am today. You’ve helped me a lot on my journey to adulthood. I should do something for you, but I’ve never known how to repay you or what I could do for you. If today presents an opportunity for me to repay the kindness you’ve shown me in raising me, then let me do something!"

"Well, it’s like this, your aunt’s father suddenly fell from upstairs and is now in critical condition. You know he had a kidney removal operation before, and since then he has been living on one of your aunt’s kidneys. I had already succumbed to uremia before; to have lived till today hasn’t been easy. Time has passed so quickly over the years, and now on top of his recurring old ailment, the risk from the fall is too high, which has led to the current separation. No, I don’t know who to turn to. I hope you can persuade your aunt and your cousin with whom you grew up."

Only then did Zhang Yichen understand the gravity of the situation. His grandfather had told him about the kidney transplant; his aunt had given one of her own kidneys to save her father’s life. He had always been so proud to have such an aunt, never expecting a woman so seemingly weak to make such a huge sacrifice for her father’s life — a sacrifice that could cost her own. Being without one kidney must have had a significant impact on her bodily functions, and it was astonishing for her to have lived this long under such risky circumstances. Her father was suffering a relapse of his old condition.

"Uncle, rest assured, I will do my best to persuade them. We grew up together like brothers, and I’ve always treated them as if they were my own siblings. I won’t let them down. In such a situation, their hearts must be extremely heavy, and maybe only my persuasion will be effective. I will do my best to soothe them, to prevent them from becoming too heartbroken over this incident!"

"That would be very kind of you..."

Zhang Yichen rushed to the United States, where his ailing cousin looked so fragile in the hospital that it was almost too much for him to bear. How could his once boastful brother have become like this? Can people really become numb and wither away from the loss of a loved one?

"Lei Jian, don’t be too heartbroken. I’ve heard about your grandfather’s situation, and I know it’s hard to find the words to comfort you. But I still hope you understand that his fate was set long ago, and you should look forward rather than be overwhelmed by sorrow. If he saw your grief, he would not pass away in peace. Do you really want him to leave this world with regrets? I believe you don’t want him to leave with such burdens. You should fulfill his last wishes, allowing him to leave this world happily and peacefully, without an ounce of pain."

"Yichen, although I knew this was the destined outcome, when the day arrives, I still can’t accept it, you know? My grandfather has been so good to me. He would give up everything for me, just as your grandfather did for you, even more than your grandfather loved you. My grandfather would have given me the world if he could. But me? I haven’t even started to repay him, and now he’s about to leave me. Sometimes, even when an ending is foreseen, the heart still can’t accept it when the moment comes because deep down, you keep telling yourself that even when that day arrives, he will still be with you, never leaving your side. In the end, this is just a form of self-delusion. I had feared this moment, having watched my grandfather’s health decline day by day, knowing that he might not have many days left. I tried to be extra good to him during that time, hoping he could leave without regrets. I even hoped that heaven could grant him a few more years of life, even if it meant trading decades of my life for just one more year of his peace. But in the end, I realized that the heavens are not swayed by our pleas, it just coldly strips away all we hold dear, to let us taste every sorrow of the human condition, to understand the sting of utter loss. Right now, I’m in such pain, watching my grandfather lying there unconscious, his body pierced with tubes and hooked up to a ventilator, and my soul is wracked with guilt. If only I had spent more time with him, would he not be suffering like this now? What if I had been just a little nicer to him; would he not be lying there now, ignoring all my calls..."

"My dear brother, pull yourself together. Your grandfather wouldn’t want to see you so distraught. If he saw you grieving like this, it would haunt him even in the afterlife. You should face your grandfather with your best self, ensuring he always remembers your smile, keeping you forever in his heart, even in the afterlife, he could rest with a smile."

"I just don’t understand why the heavens wouldn’t grant my grandfather just one more year. So much can happen in a year, so much can change. I could have spent that year, forgoing all else, just to be with him, letting him spend his last year with joy and carefree happiness. But time is always so cruel..."