Chapter 450: The Devoted White Lotus
The cause of Wu Sheng’s injury had been pieced together from the circumstances at the time, and it was certain he’d been hurt saving Little Hei.
However, the exact details of what happened were still unknown.
Upon hearing this, Wu Qihua fixed Bai Xinyue with an intense gaze.
"What exactly happened then?"
Bai Xinyue conveniently omitted the fact that she had gone up the mountain without permission, claiming only that she had been scared and followed him up the tree.
"...I had just found my footing and was about to check on Little Hei, but a gust of wind seemed to make him lose his grip, and he suddenly fell."
"Wu Sheng instantly reached for him without a second thought. I was terrified and rushed to grab Wu Sheng, but I couldn’t hold on, and my eye..."
Bai Xinyue’s face was a mask of misery, and her entire body trembled.
She stopped there, and while she hadn’t said it outright, her meaning was clear.
She had injured her eye—had gone blind—trying to save Wu Sheng.
Wu Qihua’s expression shifted slightly. Looking at Bai Xinyue, she asked, "How badly is your eye injured?"
Bai Xinyue lowered her head and covered her mouth, desperately holding back sobs. She was too choked up to speak, so Mrs. Bai answered for her.
"She can’t see for now. If we’re lucky, she might regain her sight in the future. This child... my heart aches for her, and yet she insisted on coming to see Wu... to see your son."
As her mother, how could Mrs. Bai not understand what was on Bai Xinyue’s mind?
She had been quite pleased with Wu Sheng herself, but he had unexpectedly rejected her precious daughter for a divorcée—and one with a child, no less.
After learning this, Mrs. Bai had become very displeased with Wu Sheng. The corner of her eye flicked toward Su Li, her gaze sharp and piercing.
Though she was displeased—furious, even—her proud daughter had chased Wu Sheng across the country and ended up like this. How could she not help her?
"Don’t cry, Yueyue. It’ll be alright. Everything will be alright."
Mrs. Bai comforted Bai Xinyue, helping her to the side of the hospital bed. Bai Xinyue gazed at Wu Sheng, her face contorted in pain.
"You have to get better, Wu Sheng. You just have to..."
Wu Qihua glanced from Bai Xinyue and Mrs. Bai to Su Li, who was being completely ignored off to the side, and frowned.
"Miss Bai, could you please tell me the specifics of what happened?"
Bai Xinyue nodded frantically. She took a deep breath, about to speak to Wu Qihua, but then her body seemed to give out, and she slumped to the floor.
"Xinyue! Yueyue!" Mrs. Bai cried, rushing to catch her.
Hearing the commotion, Ye Xilan—who had brought Bai Xinyue over but hadn’t dared to enter—could no longer hold back. She rushed in to help Mrs. Bai support Bai Xinyue.
After a nurse helped take Bai Xinyue back to her room, Ye Xilan returned to the doorway.
She didn’t come inside, just stood in the doorway and spoke to Wu Qihua.
"I was just so worried... I came over because I was worried about Wu Sheng..."
At that moment, Wu Qihua had neither the time nor the energy to deal with her. She was preoccupied, mulling over Bai Xinyue’s ambiguous words.
Seeing Wu Qihua’s preoccupied expression, Ye Xilan was emboldened.
"I’ve always said that Bai Xinyue is a good girl. She comes from a good family, she’s a good person, and she’s a great match for Wu Sheng. She cares so much for him, and this time she even lost her sight in one eye trying to save him. That kind of devotion is truly rare."
Ye Xilan was truly both heartbroken for and moved by Bai Xinyue. When Bai Xinyue had woken up and learned she was blind in one eye, her first thought wasn’t for herself; she had immediately grabbed Ye Xilan’s arm and asked about Wu Sheng.
She had seen the genuine emotion with her own eyes.
No matter what, she had to help Bai Xinyue. The Bai Xinyue she supported was far superior to Su Li.
Ye Xilan shot a hateful glare at Su Li, then cautiously glanced at Wu Qihua.
"I just feel we can’t let down someone with a heart as devoted as Bai Xinyue’s..."
Wu Qihua finally processed what Ye Xilan was implying and cut her off, her expression turning cold.
"We don’t know the specifics of what happened yet. You should watch what you say."
’Lost her sight saving Wu Sheng? Can’t let down her devoted heart? What nonsense is that? Not only is it uncertain if that’s even what happened, but even if it were true, that’s no basis for talking about not ’letting someone down.’’
’If Wu Sheng didn’t have Su Li, then maybe it would be a different conversation. But he does, so saying such things is completely inappropriate.’
’It’s not that I’m ungrateful, but you don’t repay a debt of gratitude by marrying someone, especially when Wu Sheng doesn’t even like Bai Xinyue.’
Interrupted by Wu Qihua, Ye Xilan looked like she wanted to argue, but one look at Wu Qihua’s icy glare and she reluctantly held her tongue.
She cast a worried glance at Wu Sheng, then reluctantly left.
’Where else would you find such a perfect, devoted daughter-in-law? She’s blind in one eye for him, how could he possibly let her down? Xinyue, I’ll definitely help you!’
Ye Xilan muttered, "’Su Li, let’s see how you have the gall to stay with Wu Sheng now...’"
She hurried back to Bai Xinyue’s room.
After an examination, the doctor said Bai Xinyue was fine and had likely fainted due to emotional distress.
"Who does this child take after? So hopelessly stubborn."
Mrs. Bai was both angry and heartbroken. Ye Xilan rushed to comfort her.
She didn’t notice Bai Xinyue’s eyes twitch slightly.
As Ye Xilan comforted Mrs. Bai, she slowly turned her back to them and quietly opened her eyes.
Her gaze was perfectly calm.
The stinging pain in her left eye, along with the aches in her hands and feet, were impossible to ignore.
The more it hurt, the clearer her mind became, and the determination in her eyes hardened.
Bai Xinyue heard the news about Wu Sheng’s condition the moment his surgery ended.
Of course, she had also already heard about Little Hei.
When she heard that Little Hei would never wake up, she felt not a flicker of emotion.
She didn’t care about Little Hei’s condition at all. Hearing he would never wake up was actually a good thing for her.
’Wu Sheng will wake up,’ Bai Xinyue thought. ’He’ll be fine...’
Bai Xinyue focused on the pain, on the world seen through a single eye, and her hands, resting in front of her, slowly clenched.
Vision was meant for two eyes. Now that she couldn’t see out of one, it didn’t just affect her field of vision; the sight in her right eye was severely impacted as well.
Everything looked blurry. The sensation was awful...
’Hmm, and then there’s Ye Xilan,’ Bai Xinyue mused. She was rather satisfied with what she’d heard her say.
’Working so hard on my behalf... it makes all the patience I spent befriending her worthwhile. But... it’s not enough. I need to add more fuel to the fire.’
When news got out that the daughter of the Bai Family had been hospitalized, visitors came in droves.
Wu Sheng was hospitalized too, and everyone, whether they knew him well or not, came to pay a visit.
After two days in the intensive care unit, the most critical period for Wu Sheng passed. Although he still hadn’t woken up, he was moved to a regular ward.
Meanwhile, Bai Xinyue said nothing—or at least, nothing explicit. Yet, the steady stream of visitors all came to the same mistaken conclusion: she had lost sight in one eye trying to save Wu Sheng.
Visitors who heard the news would probe for details.
Bai Xinyue would either be evasive or say nothing at all with a cool detachment, but her behavior only served to cement this "fact" in everyone’s minds, compelling them to speak up on her behalf.
They lamented her injury and felt heartbroken for her, hoping even more that she and the man she loved would finally get their happy ending.
Everyone seemed to have forgotten Su Li.
They forgot about the woman who kept a daily vigil at Wu Sheng’s bedside.
Or perhaps, they simply treated her as if she didn’t exist.