Chapter 5 Red Sugar Sweet Fermented Rice Glutinous Rice Balls, Plump and Rich…

Bai Yuanzhi arrived at St. Maria Hospital.

Since Zhou Sier was still in the ICU, visits were not permitted.

Bai Yuanzhi wanted to inquire about Zhou Sier’s condition from a doctor,

but was informed that doctors must keep patient information confidential, especially since Zhou Sier’s fall involved a criminal case currently under investigation. Therefore, unless Bai Yuanzhi was a relative of Zhou Sier, detailed information could not be disclosed.

Bai Yuanzhi immediately pushed Zhou Zhaodi forward, “I am Zhou Sier’s cousin, and she is Zhou Sier’s biological sister.”

The nurse scrutinized Bai and Zhou for a moment, hesitated, then brought over a visitation form for Bai Yuanzhi to fill out.

Bai Yuanzhi signed her name with a flourish and then had Zhou Zhaodi fill it out.

Zhou Zhaodi looked at the beautiful handwriting on the registration book and asked in surprise, “Third Sister, when did your handwriting become so good?”

Bai Yuanzhi replied, “Just write your own name properly!”

Zhou Zhaodi: …

Zhou Zhaodi picked up the pen.

Looking at stylish names like “Zhou Sier” and “Bai Yuanzhi,”

Zhou Zhaodi’s face flushed as soon as she wrote the character “Zhou.”

She simply couldn’t bring herself to write the rustic name “Zhaodi.”

With a twist of the pen—

Zhou Zhaodi wrote “Zhou Zhaoer” in the “Visitor’s Name” column,

and then wrote “sister” in the “Relationship to Patient” column.

After finishing, Zhou Zhaodi glanced guiltily at Bai Yuanzhi.

Bai Yuanzhi showed no expression.

Only after the nurse took away the visitation form did Zhou Zhaodi, her face still red, explain to Bai Yuanzhi, “I just… I think I wrote my name wrong.”

Bai Yuanzhi scoffed.

Zhou Zhaodi couldn’t help but ask, “Third Sister, why did you change your name to something completely different from before? Why is your surname Bai? Is there a reason? Could it be that you were adopted by our parents? Does your biological father have the surname Bai?”

But then she thought it was impossible.

—Their family was so poor, and her father wished he could throw away all his daughters, keeping only his precious son.

So Bai Yuanzhi couldn’t possibly have been adopted.

Besides, all the sisters resembled Zhou Xiangmei in appearance, sharing similar features and all being quite beautiful.

“Third Sister, why?” Zhou Zhaodi pressed again.

Bai Yuanzhi remained silent.

She didn’t want to say that she had chosen the name arbitrarily.

She simply didn’t want to be called Zhou Pandi or Zhou Pan’er anymore.

Actually, when she changed her name at the police station that day, she had felt a bit lost, unsure what name to give her reborn self.

Just then, she was extremely hungry and remembered seeing a vendor near the train station selling red sugar sweet fermented rice glutinous rice balls—it was truly a heavenly delicacy.

Thus, the three characters “Bai Yuanzhi” naturally came to mind.

The nurse came over to notify them, “Miss Bai, Miss Zhou, I have registered you both. You may now go to the ICU entrance to visit Miss Zhou Sier. Please follow me… Oh, and please note that ICU visitation time is limited to ten minutes per day.”

Zhou Zhaodi muttered, “Wow, in the mainland, I’m a dead girl, a money-losing burden, a stinky beggar, but here I’ve become Miss Zhou…”

Then she looked down at the old clothes she was wearing, hand-me-downs from her mother Zhou Xiangmei, and couldn’t help but sigh.

Seeing that Bai Yuanzhi had already followed the nurse far ahead, she exclaimed in surprise and hurried after them.

Bai Yuanzhi and Zhou Zhaodi followed the nurse to the ICU visitation room.

This was part of the ICU intensive care unit, with a small glass wall constructed inside.

Visiting relatives must apply in advance, and at the scheduled time, nurses will bring the patient here.

After a while, several nurses from the ICU pushed a mobile hospital bed over and placed it beside the glass wall.

Bai Yuanzhi saw Zhou Sier lying on the mobile bed, covered in tubes, her eyes tightly shut and motionless.

The nurse accompanying Bai Yuanzhi handed her a microphone. “Miss Bai, you can use this microphone to speak to Miss Zhou Sier. However, due to limitations, you won’t be able to hear what she says.”

After a pause, the nurse added, “But Miss Zhou Sier has fallen into a deep coma and may not be able to hear you either.”

Bai Yuanzhi thanked the nurse and picked up the microphone.

She didn’t rush to speak but instead gazed intently at Zhou Sier.

Zhou Sier was beautiful.

Her skin was as white as snow, her eyebrows delicate and faint, her eyelashes thick and curled, and her lips full and moist.

In both her past life and this one, this was the first time Bai Yuanzhi had seen her eldest sister alive.

Though, at this moment, her eldest sister looked no different from a corpse.

“Eldest Sister, I’m here,” Bai Yuanzhi said, her voice choked with emotion as she held the microphone.

“Don’t be afraid. What you’re worried about hasn’t happened, and it won’t happen.”

“Eldest Sister, can you be brave?”

“Get better, you must get better… We’ll all be fine.” Tears streamed down Bai Yuanzhi’s face as she spoke incoherently.

Bai Yuanzhi had reflected on her past life more than once and truly felt it wasn’t worth it.

She had always struggled to climb out of the foul mire,

yet she remained trapped, never truly breaking free.

It wasn’t until the moment before her death in her past life that she realized her eldest sister was the only one who had genuinely cared for her.

Thinking more carefully—

it seemed her eldest sister was the same.

Always struggling, yet never breaking free.

Heaven have mercy!

Since fate had given her a second chance, Bai Yuanzhi now only wanted to save her eldest sister.

Unexpectedly, in her past life, Bai Yuanzhi had been misled by Zhou Xiangmei into believing her sister’s accident happened on April 20th.

It wasn’t until today that she learned her sister had actually been in an accident on April 16th. After several days of emergency treatment at the hospital, she had closed her eyes forever on April 20th in her past life.

Otherwise, Bai Yuanzhi would have rushed here before the 16th.

Meanwhile, Zhou Zhaodi was also weeping nearby. “How did Eldest Sister end up like this? Is she going to die? This hospital is so big and luxurious, and Eldest Sister is hooked up to so many tubes and machines. The treatment costs must be sky-high! Third Sister, what if the hospital forces us to pay for Eldest Sister’s treatment later?”

Bai Yuanzhi snapped, “If you’re scared, you can leave first.”

Zhou Zhaodi stammered, “You make it sound so easy. If I really leave alone… what if the hospital detains you? Mom won’t take me in, so what would I do alone outside? Wait to die?”

Zhou Zhaodi retorted angrily, “I might as well stick with you! If we live, we live together; if we die, we die together—”

Bai Yuanzhi wished she could slap her. “Can you just shut up?”

Zhou Zhaodi fumed, “What? I don’t even have the freedom to speak? Bai Yuanzhi! Don’t think just because you changed your name, you can cut ties with me! I’m telling you, you’re my sister, so you have to take care of me! Don’t even think about abandoning me like Mom did!”

The nurse hurried over and said, “Family of Zhou Sier, visiting time is over!”

Upon hearing this, Bai Yuanzhi tightly gripped the receiver, looking at her eldest sister with reluctance. “Eldest sister, I don’t know if you can hear me. I hope you can. Wake up soon, don’t give up—”

The nurse urged Bai Yuanzhi once more.

Bai Yuanzhi spoke into the receiver, “Eldest sister, get well soon. I’ll come see you again tomorrow.”

After saying this, she took a deep look at her eldest sister and returned the receiver to the nurse.

The nurse then took Bai Yuanzhi to see Zhou Sier’s attending physician.

The doctor explained Zhou Sier’s condition in detail to Bai Yuanzhi and added, “Miss Bai, regarding your sister’s surgery, we did our very best. The operation alone took over eight hours.”

“Currently, your sister’s condition isn’t very promising. For her, the seventy-two hours after the surgery are the most critical.”

“If she can make it through these forty-eight hours, she’ll likely improve.”

“Otherwise—” As he spoke, the doctor’s expression turned troubled.

Bai Yuanzhi silently calculated in her mind.

Her eldest sister was admitted to the hospital in the early hours of the 17th. The doctor said the surgery took eight hours, and the critical period was forty-eight hours. That meant—

Now?

It was around nine in the morning on the 19th. Forty-eight hours had already passed, but her eldest sister showed no signs of improvement!

Then…

The doctor seemed to notice Bai Yuanzhi’s sorrowful expression and comforted her, “Miss Bai, please rest assured. As long as Miss Zhou Sier still has vital signs, we won’t give up on her.”

After solemnly thanking the doctor, Bai Yuanzhi prepared to leave St. Maria Hospital.

Standing under the bright sun, Bai Yuanzhi felt deeply saddened.

Meanwhile, Zhou Zhaodi, trailing behind Bai Yuanzhi, seemed incredulous and began muttering, “Really? The hospital didn’t even ask us for money!”

Bai Yuanzhi shot Zhou Zhaodi a fierce glare, thinking this person was truly heartless.

Her eldest sister’s condition was already so critical, and yet she…

Then it occurred to her: when her eldest sister was still at home, she handled all the farm work and household chores. At that time, Bai Yuanzhi was young but eager to help her eldest sister lighten the burden, so their bond was the strongest.

Her eldest sister left home at sixteen, while Bai Yuanzhi was twelve and Zhaodi only ten.

The feelings between her eldest sister and Zhaodi, or Zhaodi toward her eldest sister, probably weren’t very deep.

Bai Yuanzhi ignored Zhou Zhaodi and strode purposefully toward the exit.

Suddenly—

A group of young men and women walked into the hospital, chatting as they went.

There were five of them in total—four men and one woman.

The four men mostly wore jeans, white sneakers, and T-shirts, with plaid shirts over them.

The woman wore a blue knee-length cotton skirt and a thin cardigan sweater, her appearance delicate and refined.

The reason Bai Yuanzhi paid attention to them was—

She actually recognized someone among them!

Song Junshu!!!

To be precise, Bai Yuanzhi from her previous life had met Song Junshu five years later.

By then, Song Junshu had already risen to prominence, a distinguished young entrepreneur in a high position.

As for the current Song Junshu, perhaps because he had just graduated, he was still a bookish and somewhat naive university student.

The ages and demeanors of the four men and one woman were quite similar, leading Bai Yuanzhi to believe they were likely all her eldest sister’s classmates.

After a moment’s thought, she said to Zhou Zhaodi, “Wait here for me. I’m going back to the hospital to use the restroom before we leave.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhaodi quickly said, “I’ll go with you! This hospital is so luxurious, the restroom must be quite fancy too, right? I definitely have to see it for myself!”

After a pause, Zhou Zhaodi added sheepishly, “Mainly because once we leave this place, it’ll be hard to find a restroom outside.”

Bai Yuanzhi took Zhou Zhaodi to the restroom.

As they passed by Song Junshu and the others, Bai Yuanzhi deliberately slowed her pace,

just in time to hear the woman in the blue dress say, “…Ah, Sier’s situation is really complicated! For us researchers, character matters even more. Who would have thought Sier would run into such trouble at this critical moment!”

“Jun, what about the upcoming Technology Exhibition?”

“Now, in everyone’s eyes, Zhou Sier is a woman with poor morals! If our team and project still include Zhou Sier’s name, won’t it make others look down on us?”

“In my opinion, we should temporarily remove Sier’s name… Jun, what do you think?” the woman in the blue dress said.

Hearing this, Bai Yuanzhi scrutinized the woman in the blue dress closely.

She felt the woman looked somewhat familiar.

But for the moment, she couldn’t recall who she was.

Over there, Song Jun frowned deeply but remained silent.

The other young men seemed more concerned about Zhou Sier’s safety and were more protective of her:

“I believe in Sier’s character; there must be some misunderstanding! And I think Sier’s safety is more important than the project. Ah Jun, why don’t we participate in the next exhibition instead? This one was rushed anyway, and none of us were fully prepared. Once Sier recovers and the matter is cleared up, and we’re fully prepared… we’ll have a better chance of winning awards and securing investments!”

“Right, how about we pool some money to transfer Sier to Victoria Hospital, where the conditions are better? The most important thing now is to help Sier recover as soon as possible.”

“I’m really worried something might happen to Sier… Ah, she’s only twenty-one. I’ve watched her since her freshman year, working part-time while diligently studying her major. Someone so hardworking and diligent shouldn’t suffer like this!”

“Yeah, Sier is too pitiful. I disagree with removing her name from the team, and I especially disagree with removing her name from the project!”

…

Bai Yuanzhi wanted to hear more.

But Zhou Zhaodi turned around and called out, “Third Sister, hurry up!”

Bai Yuanzhi had no choice but to lower her head and walk away.

As soon as they entered the restroom, Zhou Zhaodi started muttering again, “Wow, capitalist society really is… tsk tsk, even the restroom is so clean and fragrant, and it’s individual cubicles too! Wow, the doors even lock!”

After watching Zhou Zhaodi enter the restroom, Bai Yuanzhi quickly left.

Fortunately, Song Junshu and the others hadn’t gone far yet.

And just then, Song Junshu spoke up, “…Don’t worry about the treatment costs. Sier had the accident at Bilanting, and regardless of the reason, at least until she regains consciousness, Bilanting must cover her treatment expenses—I’ll take responsibility for contacting Bilanting about this.”

“As for the upcoming Technology Exhibition, I think we should still attend.”

“No matter what happens, Sier is a member of our team, and she’s the soul of this project. Whether she’s healthy or not, I believe she wants our team to keep improving.”

…

Bai Yuanzhi smiled.

But the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

At this moment, she simply couldn’t look Song Junshu in the eye.

Because—

She was afraid she wouldn’t be able to hold back.

Afraid she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from strangling him!

Author’s note: