Chapter 38: After the Car Accident

  "Here are two photos. I've been carrying them with me all these years." Xia Xian took out two photos from the inner layer of his wallet and handed them to Li Jina.

  "This is my dad. Can you tell how much time has passed between these two photos?" Xia Xian smiled faintly, a rather forced smile.

  "At least five years!" Li Jinao compared left and right, looking much older than before. Saying ten years would also be believable, but after weighing it, five years seemed more plausible.

  "It's only four months." Xia Xuan shook his head and said.

  Li Jina was stunned, covering her mouth with her hand. No one would believe that four months could make someone look so old.

  "In the four months since my car accident, my dad has aged so much and also fallen ill. These years have not been good to him either." Xia Xian furrowed his brow, trying hard not to let tears fall.

  "What I regret the most is my sister. During that time when I was hospitalized after the car accident, my sister was two months pregnant and it was the early stage where miscarriage was most likely to happen. In order to take care of me, she didn't sleep or rest, and ended up collapsing, losing the child..." Xia Xian couldn't continue speaking, covering her mouth with her hand as tears flowed from between her fingers.

  Jiang Jie Zhe finally understood why Xia Ge was so angry...

  "Jiang Jie Zhe, you still have the face to come to the hospital!" Xia Ge grabbed Jiang Jie Zhe's collar and punched him mercilessly. If not for Zhou Yu Yang holding her back, Xia Ge wouldn't have let him off so easily.

  "You put my sister in the ICU, fighting for her life, and ruined our family! And yet you still dare to come here and pretend to be innocent?! I'm going to avenge them today!" Xia Ge furiously waved his fists and kicked non-stop, while Zhou Yu Yang tightly hugged his waist, not letting him continue making trouble.

  "Xia Ge, if you don't want your sisters to get into trouble, then calm down a bit! Your parents have already fallen, what else do you want?! Don't forget, there's only you left in the family, take charge of it for me!" Zhou Yu Yang's eyes were red and his voice was hoarse as he shouted.

  "Jiang Jie, get out! No one in the Xia family wants to see you again! Get out! Don't let me see you again!" Xia Ge furiously gave the order to expel him.

  Everything has changed, they can never go back.

  "My sister's mother-in-law has always had a prejudice against her, and she thought that having a child would ease the tension between them. But instead of easing it, their relationship became even more strained. Taking advantage of this opportunity, my sister's mother-in-law forced them to get a divorce. My brother-in-law loved my sister for nine years before they finally got married, so he wouldn't agree to a divorce. However, the conflict in their family had only just eased up two years ago. My sister's body took three years to recover before she became pregnant again." Xia Xian wiped away her tears and said with a sob.

  "It's all in the past now, everything is on the right track. You have to treat yourself well, so you can live up to their sacrifices back then." Li Jina tightly grasped Xia Xuan's hand, and found that Xia Xuan's hands and feet were still as cold as ice in the summer.

  "I will never forget, the slap my father gave me back then..."

  At that time, Xia Xuan was still in the intensive care unit, his life was very weak, and a critical illness notice had been issued. It was at this time that Xia Ri had a miscarriage and lay on the hospital bed.

  "Xianxian, I've always considered you my most proud child, why are you making me so worried! Look at your sister, she's been tormented by you until she's like this! I owe an apology to your sister, and to your brother-in-law!" Xia Dad cried while slapping his own face, standing outside the ICU window, overcome with emotion.

  "Dad, what are you doing? Xianxian doesn't want this either! Dad!" Zhou Yuyang tightly grabbed Xia's father's arm, not letting him do anything stupid.

  His wife lay in bed, still unconscious, and the child was already gone, never to return. At this point, no matter how much resentment there was towards others, it was all pointless; what had happened had happened.

  Jiang Jie's tears kept falling, what's the use of crying even more?

  Wu Jiajia didn't know how to comfort Jiang Qile, who had already made up his mind that Xia Xian's car accident was closely related to himself. Even if he wasn't the one who caused it, if it weren't for him, Xia Xian wouldn't be so depressed, wouldn't have a persistent fever, and wouldn't have relapsed into her old illness...

  "If all this is in the past, then the impact on Xia Ge will be for a lifetime. At that time, in order to take care of the whole family, Xia Ge delayed his studies and his college entrance exam scores plummeted. His brother-in-law suggested he retake the exams, but the family couldn't afford the tuition fees, so he simply chose a school and studied a major he didn't like." Every time Xia Xian saw his younger brother, he could almost see his longing for medicine, but it was too late, the opportunity had already been missed.

  "Xuan Xuan, don't blame yourself anymore. If you feel guilty towards them, then treat them well in the days to come and take good care of yourself, that's the greatest repayment to them." Li Jina said with a choked voice.

  "I knew all this, so from now on, I'll be twice as good to myself and not let them worry anymore." Xia Xuan squeezed out a faint smile and said.

  "If that's the case, your stomach disease is so severe, why don't you choose surgery?" Li Jina had always suggested that Xia Xuan hurry up and have surgery. Maybe it wouldn't cure him, but at least he wouldn't be in pain all the time, like he'd lost half his life.

  "My body is no longer suitable for any surgery, I can't bear it." Xia Xuan shook her head, she also wanted to end this suffering, but after the car accident, she was sentenced to a lifetime of suffering from stomach disease.

  "Why is heaven so cruel to you!" Li Jina was heartbroken, tightly embracing her good sister, tears streaming down her face.

  "Maybe I've committed too many sins in my past life!" There's really no excuse to make, can only pull out this feudal superstition rhetoric.

  It's my fault, don't blame you, Xuanxuan. Tell me, what can I do to make you happy? What can I do to alleviate my guilt? Xuanxuan, I'm sorry!

  Jiang Jie's heart was torn to shreds by Xia Xian's words, one word at a time. Do you hate me? You should hate me, you should forget about me. Even if there is retribution, it should be directed at me, not you - you are innocent!

  "It's actually good this way, surgery always has risks, not having surgery means there won't be any risks, and I can live a safe and stable life." Xia Xuan seemed to be comforting Li Jina, but his tone was so forced, he was clearly scraping the bottom of the barrel to find excuses to comfort himself.

  "But it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing!" Li Jina didn't believe such an excuse at all.

  "Perhaps I've experienced life and death, so many things seem lighter to me than they do to you. Birth, aging, illness, and death are like plain water to me - no feeling at all. I'm already beyond caring." Xia Xuan said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

  "I'll go change out of this skirt, let's go!" Xia Xuan smiled faintly and turned into the dressing room. This ghostly appearance was better not seen by too many people.

  "I'll take this skirt. Can you wrap it up for me later?" Li Jina said, wiping away her tears and touching up her makeup as she spoke to the sales associate.

  "Alright." The waiter's cheerful smile had disappeared, leaving only a faint smile.

  "Let's go." Jiang Jie stumbled out of the boutique, he didn't know how he walked out, the surrounding hustle and bustle was frozen in an instant, his mind was filled with Xia Xian's self-reproachful expression, hurt expression.

  He had no idea that in the years he was away, Xia Xian had endured so much pain, and the car accident had brought her such heart-wrenching agony. How much courage did she need to bear it all?

  Xia Xian, if we hadn't started, would there be such a mess today?