She sat there and waited with her husband, her three uncles and Xi Qian in the waiting room. Su Xiaofei shut her eyes and hoped that the surgery would be successful. Whoever the donor was, they had given her mother a chance to live and spend more time with her.
'Please let her be okay.' She prayed in her heart. 'Please give my mother back to me.'
Su Xiaofei started to feel restless a few minutes after the doors to the operating room were shut, the red light flashing, indicating that the surgery was ongoing. She was never great at being on the side lines and waiting.
At least now, she didn't feel alone with her family being here to be her anchor at her lowest point in her life. In her previous life, she was only allowed to see her mother after the funeral. Su Xiaofei had never truly felt alone until that moment.
Then two hospital personnel came, bringing the containers carrying the organs that would save her mother's life. According to the doctors, the donor was also within the facility, so they would be able to harvest the organs they needed and transfer them to Yun Qingrong's body immediately.
Knowing that she wouldn't be able to endure waiting here for the news, she stood up and left the waiting room. She heard her uncle's voices, asking her where she was going, but she tuned those voices out.
Lu Qingfeng and Xi Qian chose to follow her, though without a word, and when she stopped and faced them, she allowed her tears to run down her cheeks again.
"Feifei…" Xi Qian took her hand with hers and gave it a slight squeeze. "I know that you are worried about Aunty Qing, but don't do anything that you might regret later."
"I can't be there." Su Xiaofei shook her head. "I need to see who the donor is, and thank them for this favor. I need to speak to them."
"But the doctors say it's confidential. You aren't supposed to know who the donor is, Feifei." Xi Qian reminded her best friend.
It was obvious that Su Xiaofei was trying to keep her thoughts occupied with something else at this moment. Xi Qian couldn't blame her, though. She had seen many family members waiting outside the operating room throughout her time as a nurse. Some would receive great news, others will receive devastating news in the end.
"But I need to know and meet them, Qian. If you are in my shoes, won't you at least say a sincere thanks to the person who gave your mother a chance to live?" Su Xiaofei insisted.
Xi Qian fell silent for a moment. Su Xiaofei didn't need to say that, because she understood what her best friend was feeling at that moment. Yun Qingrong was like a mother to her. Heck. Yun Qingrong was more of a mother to her than the woman who actually gave birth to her.
Su Xiaofei wasn't the only one distressed seeing Yun Qingrong's health dwindling with each passing day. It also broke Xi Qian's heart that she couldn't do anything to ease the pain her Aunty Qing was enduring all this while. Even the thought of losing her disturbed Xi Qian greatly.
"I know, Feifei. It's just that it's at the donor's discretion whether they want the recipient to know their identity or not. It's clear that whoever it was, they didn't want you to know."
"Still, I would like to thank them in any way I can. It doesn't matter if I don't see their face. I just want to extend my utmost gratitude for their favor." Su Xiaofei then glanced at her husband, who nodded in response.
Xi Qian sighed. What was she expecting from Lu Qingfeng anyway? This little tyrant was incapable of denying Su Xiaofei's requests, even when they were younger. It was so obvious to her who was wearing the pants in their marriage.
Seeing that her best friend had already made up her mind, Xi Qian could only follow Su Xiaofei and the three of them headed to the ward where the donor could be found.
Su Xiaofei didn't know what to expect, but she tried to muster all the courage she had to thank the donor for their kindness and generosity. With the time constraint they were facing, every single day without finding the organs meant more stress on her mother's body.
When they strode to the reception desk, the nurse gave them a wide smile. She stared at Su Xiaofei and thought that she was the patient's family. The nurse looked younger than Xi Qian and her, and it seemed like she was a newbie.
"Are you here to see Miss Bai? The doctors are still checking on her." The nurse said with a wide smile on her face.
"I'm sorry?" Su Xiaofei looked at the nurse incredulously. Had she heard the woman right?
"Did you just say Miss Bai? You mean the actress Bai Qingyue?"
Lu Qingfeng stiffened next to her, while Xi Qian furrowed her brows in confusion. None of them were expecting to hear that Bai Qingyue was here.
"Oh? Aren't you her family?" The nurse then realized the mistake she made. "I'm sorry! I thought you were her younger sister."
Xi Qian opened her mouth in surprise and glanced at her best friend curiously. Since when did Feifei become associated with Bai Qingyue? She also couldn't blame the nurse for mistakenly taking Su Xiaofei as Bai Qingyue's family, given their resemblance to each other.
Next to her, Lu Qingfeng had a blank expression on his face, but given how his jaw hardened upon realizing what was happening, Xi Qian thought that he might know something she didn't.
She was supposed to meet and thank the donor, not to hear that Bai Qingyue was also admitted here for some unknown reasons. What the heck was Bai Qingyue doing in the nephrology ward at this time?
"Do you mean to say that the donor is none other than Miss Bai herself?" Su Xiaofei asked, her eyes narrowing. What was Bai Qingyue trying to play this time?
The young lady shivered under her gaze and bit her lower lip. She couldn't utter a word, as she had already made a mistake of disclosing Bai Qingyue's identity.
"No. I suppose you don't need to answer that." Su Xiaofei gritted her teeth as the other woman's silence was also the clear answer she needed.
"I want to speak with the donor if possible."
They were already here anyway, so might as well face the truth and see if it was really Bai Qingyue who had extended an olive branch to save Yun Qingrong's life.
The young nurse hesitated from her place and didn't give Su Xiaofei an immediate answer.
"Y-your name please…"
"Su Xiaofei." Su Xiaofei said. "Tell Miss Bai that Su Xiaofei is here and want a word with her."
The nurse scampered away in fear, leaving the three behind. Xi Qian frowned and wondered what was happening and why Su Xiaofei was acting like this. She didn't miss the venom in Su Xiaofei's words when she mentioned Bai Qingyue's name.
Was the actress caught up with Su Xiaofei's grudge towards Mo Yuchen?
Feifei had once told her that she had chosen to abandon her quest to exact revenge on Mo Yuchen in favor of leading a happy and fulfilling life with Lu Qingfeng and her mother. However, that didn't mean that Su Xiaofei was willing to forget everything in the past.
Bai Qingyue's greatest supporter was none other than Mo Yuchen. While Xi Qian wasn't aware of the dynamics of Su Xiaofei's involvement with the actress, she could sense the hostility in her best friend's tone.
It didn't take long, and the nurse returned, still looking like she was afraid of Su Xiaofei. She then led the three to one of the private rooms, knocked on the door, and opened it for them.
"Feifei, keep your calm, okay?" Lu Qingfeng said, but his wife remained silent.
As they entered the room, Su Xiaofei stopped mid-step when she saw her birth mother lying on the hospital bed, looking pale.
Bai Qingyue turned her head and looked at her before she quickly averted her gaze by looking down at her hands.
"You aren't supposed to be here."
"Why is it you?" Su Xiaofei spat out venomously, her whole body trembling as she looked at the woman who gave birth to her. She couldn't understand what Bai Qingyue was thinking this time and what was her motive for helping her.
Memories of what happened in the past played on her mind. Her time as an actress in her previous life was filled with obstacles and suffering, not only because of Ye Mingyu, but also Bai Qingyue.
The Bai Qingyue she knew would never do something like this out of kindness. It wouldn't be the first time Bai Qingyue tricked her and betrayed her in the end.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel