Chapter 51 Sudden Fainting

Looking at her little aunt collapsed at her feet, Little Shen Yi initially thought it was a game.

Not only was she unafraid, she even mimicked the position by lying down side-by-side, occasionally letting out cheerful giggles.

“Little aunt, this is so fun!”

“The floor is cool, not hot at all!”

“Little aunt, can we sleep on the floor? Then mom won’t have to keep fanning me anymore.”

After chattering for a while without getting any response, Little Shen Yi finally grew curious and got up to approach Shen Yi’an.

“Little aunt, why aren’t you talking?”

“Little aunt, Xiaoyi is talking to you, why won’t you answer?”

After calling out several times without any movement from the person on the floor, Little Shen Yi finally felt scared and burst into tears with a loud wail.

While crying, she quickly ran out of the kitchen.

“Mom! Mom! Little aunt fell asleep!”

“Mom, little aunt won’t talk anymore, she didn’t wake up when I called her!”

“Mom, come quick to the kitchen, little aunt is sleeping on the floor!”

Hearing the crying in the living room, Shen Shasha, who had been changing Little Shen Hong’s clothes in the bedroom, quickly opened the door.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Xiaoyi don’t panic, speak slowly, mom is listening!”

Seeing her mother appear, the tearful Little Shen Yi pointed toward the kitchen with her flushed face.

“Mom, little aunt is sleeping on the floor!”

“She won’t wake up when I call her, Xiaoyi is scared!”

Hearing her daughter’s account for the second time, Shen Shasha finally confirmed that what she heard earlier wasn’t an illusion.

Earlier she had been in the living room too, but was too focused on stitching shoe soles to notice any movement nearby.

It was only when she smelled something that she turned around and discovered her young son had wet his pants again.

Though amused and exasperated, she could only carry him back to the room to change his pants.

Just as she settled her son, she heard her daughter’s distressed crying.

She initially thought the content of the crying was her imagination, but now hearing it again confirmed it was real.

Turning back to the room, she picked up Little Shen Hong and placed him on the living room sofa, instructing Little Shen Yi to watch him before rushing toward the kitchen.

When she arrived, she saw her sister-in-law—the one the whole family doted on—lying alone on the cold kitchen floor.

While it was unclear if she was injured elsewhere, her palm-sized face looked deathly pale without any color.

Without hesitation, Shen Shasha rushed into the kitchen and began pressing hard on Shen Yi’an’s philtrum.

“Little sister, little sister, wake up!”

“Little sister, you can’t be in trouble!”

“If something happens to you, our family will collapse!”

Her sister-in-law was the apple of her in-laws’ eyes, always pampered with good food and care.

She knew this situation even before marrying into the family, so it never bothered her.

Later, when the college entrance exams resumed, her sister-in-law was admitted to a university in Jingshi.

In the following years, the whole family’s hearts were tied to her.

Now that she had finally graduated and returned, the family could finally reunite.

Once her job was settled, their life should have been smooth and happy.

If something went wrong at this point, she couldn’t imagine what kind of upheaval would strike the family.

Thinking this, she pressed even harder.

Even when the philtrum began to bleed, the person on the floor showed no response.

Shen Shasha grew frightened.

She wasn’t a doctor and had no idea why her sister-in-law had fainted.

The emergency technique of pinching the philtrum was something her mother-in-law had taught after returning home, explaining that when someone suffers heatstroke or suddenly faints, applying strong stimulation to the philtrum acupoint could help restore consciousness.

But she had already pinched the philtrum until it bled, and her sister-in-law still hadn’t woken up.

Could it be… could it be something more serious?

Thinking this, Shen Shasha turned and rushed out the door.

Each floor of the apartment building had four households, with three other families besides the Shens on their floor.

Now facing this sudden emergency that she couldn’t handle alone, she could only seek help from the neighbors.

She just didn’t know if anyone would be home.

Even as this thought crossed her mind, her raised hand was already knocking on one of the doors.

“Is anyone home?”

“Aunt Tao, it’s Shen Shasha from the Shen family.”

“My sister-in-law suddenly fainted, could you help take her to the hospital?”

After waiting a moment with no response, she immediately went to knock on the other two doors.

After another round of knocking, the Lin family near the staircase opened their door.

Seeing Shen Shasha’s anxious face, the elderly woman who answered immediately asked:

“Shen Third’s wife, what’s wrong?”

“Who did you say fainted?”

“My sister-in-law!” By now, Shen Shasha’s voice carried a sob.

“Auntie, my sister-in-law suddenly fainted, I need to take her to the hospital.”

“But I have two children at home, could you please watch them for me?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll come back as soon as my sister-in-law wakes up. I won’t trouble you for too long.”

Hearing that it was the Shen family’s college student who had fainted, Grandma Lin at the doorway quickly nodded.

“Alright, I’ll watch the children for you. Hurry and take the Shen girl to the hospital.”

“Aunt Tao’s family isn’t home – they said they went back to their hometown and probably won’t return for a few days.”

“I don’t know about the other family. Right now, only our two households have people home on this floor.”

“Here’s what we’ll do – we’ll leave both our doors open so I can help with anything from either side.”

Hearing this, Shen Shasha gratefully squeezed her hand.

“Thank you, Grandma Lin!”

“When my sister-in-law wakes up, I’ll bring her to thank you properly.”

No sooner had she spoken than she turned back into her home.

Shortly after, she emerged supporting the pale-faced Shen Yi’an.

Before leaving, she didn’t forget to instruct Shen Yi in the house:

“Xiaoyi, Mommy is taking Auntie to the hospital.”

“You stay home and be good. If you need anything, call for Grandma Lin – she’ll be sitting right outside the door.”

Hearing a childish “Okay” from inside, she gave Grandma Lin another grateful nod before supporting Shen Yi’an toward the hospital.

As Lancheng’s leading model enterprise, the Steel Mill had its own Staff Hospital primarily for treating workers and their families.

Because of this, it not only established departments including administration, medical services, and outpatient clinics, but also set up internal medicine, surgery, maternity/children’s wards, and a pharmacy.

The medical staff numbered around sixty or seventy people.

With sufficient personnel and facilities, the hospital treated not only employees and their families but also outside patients.

Shen Shasha had given birth to both Shen Yi and Shen Hong at the Steel Mill Staff Hospital.

So when bringing Shen Yi’an here, she was quite familiar with the place.

“Nurse Lan! Nurse Lan!”

“Quick! Please help! My sister-in-law suddenly fainted for some reason!”

“Please arrange for a doctor right away!”

Seeing Shen Shasha supporting the young girl with her head bowed as they entered, the nurse on duty in the ward quickly rushed out.

“Sister-in-law Shen, quick, put the patient on this bed!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go notify the doctor right away.”

After settling the patient, Nurse Lan hurriedly ran out of the duty room.

When she returned, she was followed by a female doctor in a white coat.

Although social customs had improved significantly by the 1980s, the concept of “strict separation between men and women” was still deeply ingrained.

Thus, even in the Staff Hospital, male doctors typically treated male patients, and female doctors treated female patients.

Unless the situation was truly exceptional.

Swish!

The curtain was drawn, blocking the view. Isolated outside, Shen Shasha could not know the specifics of the diagnosis.

All she could do was pace back and forth incessantly.

Her tightly clasped hands and the faint paleness on the back of them revealed her current tension and helplessness.

After about twenty minutes, Nurse Lan and the attending female doctor emerged from behind the light-blocking curtain.

Both of their expressions seemed somewhat troubled.

Seeing them like this, Shen Shasha’s heart leaped into her throat.

“Doctor Zhang, Nurse Lan, is my sister-in-law’s condition serious?”

“If… if it is serious, could we wait until my father-in-law arrives to discuss it?”

“I… I alone, I’m afraid I can’t handle it!”

It was no wonder she was losing her composure.

For the usually gentle and steady Doctor Zhang to show such an inscrutable expression now, it was clear without thinking that what she had to say wouldn’t be anything favorable.

If she had someone to discuss things with, it would be manageable—at least they could support each other.

But alone… it was simply too much.

Noticing the panic on her face, Doctor Zhang had no choice but to look at Nurse Lan beside her.

“Go and call Director Shen over. Tell him there’s a matter at the hospital that requires his assistance.”

“If he asks for a reason, just say he’ll understand when he gets here.”

Nurse Lan didn’t speak, just nodded and ran out of the office.

Half an hour later, she returned, followed by a stern-faced Shen Guozhong.

When he saw Shen Shasha was also there, a rare look of surprise crossed his face.

“Third daughter-in-law, what are you doing here?”

“What, is the matter they called me about related to you?”

Hearing this, Shen Shasha didn’t reply as calmly as she usually would. Instead, her eyes began to redden gradually.

“Father, it’s not me!”

“It’s Little Sister!”

“Little Sister?” Shen Guozhong frowned in confusion.

“You mean An’an, that girl?”

“What’s wrong with her?”

Glancing at the curtain-shrouded hospital bed, Shen Shasha’s voice trembled with tears.

“Little Sister suddenly fainted at home.”

“I tried the emergency method Mom taught me, pressing the philtrum, but it didn’t work. I had to rush her to the hospital.”

“Doctor Zhang has already examined her, but I didn’t dare listen.”

She didn’t need to say anything more. Just from her expression, Shen Guozhong felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest.

His youngest daughter had fainted?

How could she faint out of the blue?

Logically, after years of careful nurturing, even if she hadn’t fully recovered, her health should have improved significantly.

Suddenly fainting… could it be that her condition had worsened again?

With this suspicion, Shen Guozhong clenched his fists with extra force.

But as a workshop director, years of work had taught him to restrain his emotions well.

After taking a deep breath, he fixed his gaze on the desk.

“Dr. Zhang, has my daughter’s condition… worsened again?”

“Go ahead and tell me.”

“After all these years of dealing with this, my heart has become quite resilient to stress.”

Though he spoke in a joking tone, the smile he forced was visibly stiff.

Hearing the implication in his words, Dr. Zhang knew he had jumped to the wrong conclusion.

But that was understandable—any parent with a premature daughter in fragile health who suddenly fainted would immediately connect the two situations.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case this time.

Lost in thought, Dr. Zhang directly stated the diagnosis.