Chapter 626: Chapter 626: Chemotherapy Starts Tomorrow
 

Shen Di took a box of chocolate beans, she hadn’t had chocolate in a long time and she was really missing the taste now.

“You can’t eat too much candy,” Qin Chen said, “It’ll give you cavities.”

“Alright, I know.”

Shen Di opened the packaging box like a child and popped a chocolate bean into her mouth.

Just then, a little girl beside her saw her eating and, sucking on her finger, edged towards Shen Di.

At first, she just watched, not daring to come closer, but after a while, she timidly spoke up, “Auntie… I want some too…”

Shen Di smiled, squatted down, and touched the little girl’s head, “Want some chocolate?”

“Yes.” The little girl blinked her big eyes, greedily gazing at Shen Di.

Shen Di took out a chocolate bean from the box and put it into her mouth, “Here you go, it’s really tasty. Auntie has lots of different flavored candies here.”

Qin Chen also squatted down, smiling. He touched the little girl’s head and asked, “How old are you?”

The little girl swallowed the candy and held out one hand, “Five years old.”

Shen Di noticed she was wearing a blue and white striped hospital gown and felt a twinge of sadness; such a young child.

The little girl was very well-behaved. After eating one piece of candy, seeing that Shen Di didn’t offer her another, she didn’t ask for more.

“Is it tasty?” Shen Di asked.

“It’s tasty.” The little girl gazed up with her big eyes, sticking a finger into her mouth.

Her watery, large eyes kept watching Shen Di. She seemed to like Shen Di very much.

Sometimes her gaze moved between Shen Di and Qin Chen and occasionally ogled the candies in the shopping bag.

Shen Di simply brought the entire shopping bag over and offered, “You can pick for yourself, take whatever you like.”

As Shen Di was squatting, her long hair fell down softly. The little girl didn’t reach for the candies but instead touched Shen Di’s long hair.

She chuckled with her finger in her mouth, “Auntie, you are so pretty.”

The eyes of a child are the most innocent and their smiles the most genuine and kind.

Upon hearing this, Shen Di also happily stroked her head, “What a sweet talker you are, little girl.”

Qin Chen chuckled, “She’s telling the truth.”

The smile on Shen Di’s face grew even wider as she took out a box of fruit candies, “Do you want this?”

Seeing Shen Di’s gentle and approachable manner, the little girl finally relaxed, pointing at the bag, “Auntie, can I pick anything I want?”

“Of course, take anything you’d like.”

“Auntie is so nice.”

The little girl buried her head in the shopping bag, picking for a while, then she held up a box of fruit candy.

“I’ll take this,” she said, shaking the candies in her small hand.

The colorful candies made a “dong dong dong” clashing sound inside the box, crisp and pleasing to the ear.

“Is one box enough? Auntie will give you some more,” Shen Di offered.

After saying that, Shen Di took out a few more boxes of candies from the bag and stuffed them into the little girl’s hands.

“Auntie is so nice,” the little girl said, blinking her large eyes.

Shen Di patted her head and squatted next to her.

Seeing the girl in the hospital gown made her especially heartbroken.

Shen Di opened the packaging box of the fruit candy for her and picked out one piece to put into her mouth.

“Is it good?”

“It’s good,” the little girl said in a babyish voice, “It’s strawberry flavored…”

“Mhm, there are also banana flavored ones, blueberry flavored ones, apple flavored ones…”

Shen Di squatted and played with the little girl, whose braid had come undone. She carefully braided it back for her.

She was patient as she did the braid and the little girl didn’t fuss. While eating the candy, she let Shen Di fix her hair.

When Wen Zhiyuan walked in through the door holding a medical kit, he saw this scene.

Shen Di crouched down, her head bowed as she tied a little girl’s hair, while Qin Chen watched them with a smile.

Wen Zhiyuan’s steps halted; he gazed at them for a few seconds, a tumultuous undercurrent swirling in his profound, deep eyes.

Gradually, he picked up the medicine box and headed upstairs.

When Qin Chen turned his head, he saw a flash of white. By the time he looked again, the figure had vanished.

Could it have been… Wen Zhiyuan?

“Where has your mom gone?” Shen Di gently asked the little girl.

“Mom went to find a doctor,” the little girl said, eating candy.

“Did you sneak out?”

“It’s nasty in the ward, so I sneaked out. They were going to give me an injection, and I’m scared it will hurt…” The little girl sounded very aggrieved.

“Do you feel unwell?”

“I don’t feel unwell. It’s just nosebleeds…” the little girl said, “I can also sing and dance. I want to go back to kindergarten, but Dad and Mom won’t let me…”

Shen Di felt a sudden twinge in her heart, a bad premonition.

Sure enough, a young woman approached them at that moment.

The woman seemed very anxious and called out as she walked, “Guoguo, so you are here. Why did you run out alone? Do you know how worried mom is?”

The woman reached the little girl and picked her up, “Guoguo, didn’t we agree you shouldn’t run off?”

The little girl said nothing more, simply continued to chew stubbornly on the fruit candy.

“Thank you for your kindness; sorry to disturb you, but I must take Guoguo back to the ward,” the woman gratefully addressed Shen Di and Qin Chen.

She held the little girl, urgency written all over her face.

Shen Di stood up, her brows furrowing, and asked cautiously, “Guoguo… what’s wrong?”

The woman hesitated, shook her head, unwilling to disclose the truth as tears rimmed her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Shen Di apologized, sensing she might have inquired about something inappropriate.

The woman bowed her head, remaining silent for a long time.

After a long pause, she softly said, “Leukemia.”

Shen Di was stunned; so that was it…

Obviously unaware of the severity of her disease, the little girl continued to eat the candy Shen Di had given her without a care in the world.

Holding up the box in her hand, she smiled sweetly, “Auntie, your candy is delicious…”

“Auntie has more for you. In the future, you must listen to your mom and not run around anymore, okay?” Shen Di’s voice was slightly choked.

After speaking, she handed several more boxes of candy to the little girl.

The little girl’s smile grew even brighter, clutching the stack of candy boxes as if they were a treasure.

The woman gently patted the little girl’s head, her eyes rimmed red with emotion.

She looked up at Shen Di and said, “The chemotherapy starts tomorrow.”

Shen Di was taken aback again, remembering how she had just been fixing the girl’s braids…

Qin Chen fell silent as well, feeling somewhat disturbed.

In the noisy hospital, it seemed as if all one could hear was the incessant rain outside.

The sky grew darker, the rain showed no sign of stopping, and thunder rumbled one clap after another, lightning flashed amid the roaring wind and torrential downpour.

Although it was Saturday, the hospital was still crowded.

The woman lifted the little girl and forced a smile to greet Shen Di, “Thank you for taking care of Guoguo. I’ll take her back to the ward now.”

“Mhm,” Shen Di nodded heavily.

She felt a piercing pain in her chest, as if a needle were continuously pricking her.

Qin Chen stepped forward, wrapping an arm around her shoulder to comfort her, “Don’t be sad…”

Shen Di bowed her head, her eyes brimming with tears.