Chapter 471 The Fallen Noble at the Temple of Heaven

Chapter 471: The Fallen Aristocrat

Lu Jin'an emerged from the restroom, radiating exhaustion inside and out—both physically and mentally. He furiously scrubbed his hands seven or eight times, his mind in complete disarray.

Lu Yazhi arrived at the hospital reluctantly, dragging her heels. Seeing her son holding a dripping bedpan, she shook with fury, her eyes filled with heartache.

"Jin..."

Before she could finish, tears began streaming down her face. This couldn’t be her son—the one who’d never lifted a finger for chores? The son she had pampered for over twenty years, raising him to be outstanding, like a noble young master?

Hatred flashed in Lu Yazhi’s eyes as she slapped the bedpan out of Lu Jin'an’s hands, gritting her teeth and hissing, "Jin'an, we’re done with this. Even if there’s unimaginable wealth at stake, we don’t want it anymore. Wuwuwu~"

"I raised you with so much effort, not for you to be her personal servant like this. What kind of monster is she? How much further does she want to degrade you? Our family owes her nothing, nothing! What more does she want? Does she have to push you to your grave to be satisfied?"

"Wuwuwu, if I had known she was like this, I would never have let you marry her. She makes Su Jiao look like a saint! At least Su Jiao just held grudges and complained. But her? Her? Wuwuwu..."

"My son, seeing you like this shatters my heart. We’re done. We don’t want this anymore. Divorce her! Now! Wuwuwu, I never should have let her into our home. Otherwise, Su Jiao wouldn’t have been driven away."

"Wuwuwu, I worked so hard to raise you into such an outstanding man. I couldn’t even bear to ask you to pour me a glass of water when I had a headache. How dare that Ai Xiaoqing treat you this way?!"

Lu Jin'an could no longer suppress his anger, though he still kept his voice low. "What else was I supposed to do? It’s already like this!"

"The Ai family was here earlier, watching from outside. Did you expect me to just let her soil the bed in front of them? I just got a commendation letter a few days ago, and now there’s a chance for me. Even if I have to fake it, I have to keep up appearances!"

"Who’d have thought that fool would suddenly... Who knew she couldn’t hold it in right then?"

"Su Jiao was right—she’s a jinx, a walking curse. Ever since I met her, nothing good has happened to me." Lu Jin'an clenched his fists, his lips trembling with fury.

"Now you feel sorry for me? When I asked you to come earlier, why didn’t you? With the Ai family and everyone in the ward watching, was I just supposed to ignore her?"

Lu Yazhi felt even more wronged when her son blamed her. "Jin'an, are you blaming me now?"

"You’ve seen how I’ve lived all these years. Have I ever done anything like this? Forget that I’m her elder—even your father wouldn’t make me do such things!"

"Wuwuwu, what sins did I commit in my past life to end up with such a monstrous daughter-in-law?"

Lu Jin'an glared at his ever-tearful mother, his face dark, he turned and walked away.

Inside the ward, the mother and daughter in the neighboring bed watched Ai Xiaoqing with envy. Despite the two large scars on her face, this woman had such unbelievable luck to have such a devoted husband.

"If I ask Jianwen to do anything, he immediately scowls at me. Look at her husband—so gentle and patient. You can tell he’s a man of refinement."

"Life’s so unfair. If Jianwen treated me like that, I’d be happy even in the hardest times."

"Enough, enough. Why compare? Even fingers aren’t the same length. Happiness isn’t measured by others..."

Though the mother and daughter spoke in hushed tones, Ai Xiaoqing could faintly hear their words.

Her heart swelled with warmth and sweetness. Marrying Jin'an in this lifetime was worth it. Soon, however, a dark glint flashed in her eyes.

Her wonderful Jin'an—she couldn’t let anyone take him away.

As for the Ai family, Chen Aru only showed up once that day, left no message, and then was nowhere to be seen for days.

Meanwhile, at the bureau, it was said that Lu Jin'an had been granted half a month's leave by the higher-ups to take care of his wife at home.

When his colleague mentioned this, the pity in his eyes made Lu Jin'an's face burn with shame.

Lu Jin'an didn’t need to think hard to know this was likely the Ai family's doing.

After some consideration, he decided to seek out Chen Aru. Apart from arranging this temporary job as a Community Police Officer for him, Chen Aru had mostly only given empty promises. His savings were nearly gone, and now with this extended leave to care for Xiaoqing, he couldn’t handle it.

Moreover, what would happen to his job during this long leave?

Even if the Ai family used their connections to promote him later, his prolonged absence would only give people grounds to accuse him of favoritism.

So, this time, either the Ai family had to provide a sum of money upfront, or they should leverage the thank-you letter he received a few days ago to get him promoted.

At the very least, getting his probation period shortened shouldn’t be a problem, right?

But before he could find time to look for Chen Aru, Ai Xiaoqing’s test results came out.

Choriocarcinoma.

Lu Jin'an stared blankly at the report in front of him and croaked, "D-doctor, could this be a misdiagnosis? Xiaoqing is still so young—how could it be cancer?"

The doctor reassured him, "Choriocarcinoma is relatively common among women of childbearing age like Comrade Ai. It usually occurs after a normal or abnormal pregnancy, but Comrade Ai’s case... Well, we can't quite explain what’s going on. Moreover, the rate at which her cells are growing is unusually fast, almost as if something inside her body is accelerating it. This characteristic wasn’t present in her uterine scans before."

Lu Jin'an’s mind went blank for a moment before it hit him, and a sudden thought surged within him.

Feigning distress, he asked, "Doctor... what's her prognosis?"

The doctor comforted him, "Don’t worry. Comrade Ai’s condition was detected early, and she’s still young. The lesion hasn’t metastasized, so the cure rate is very high. Please try to stay hopeful."

The concern on Lu Jin'an’s face stiffened slightly. "R-really?"

Just then, a crash came from outside the door.

Ai Xiaoqing collapsed against the wooden door, slumping weakly to the floor.

"Wailing, Jin'an, Jin'an, I’m scared! Jin'an, am I going to die? Don’t abandon me, I’m so scared!"

Ai Xiaoqing could no longer maintain her sweet innocent act. Falling apart completely, she broke down sobbing.

She had cancer. She was going to die. She was going to die.

She didn’t want to die.

With the doctors and nurses present, Lu Jin'an had no choice but to clench his fists, bottle up his feelings, and step forward to comfort her.

"Don’t talk nonsense. Didn’t the doctor just say it’s still in the early stages and the cure rate is very high?"