Chapter 429: Crisis Approaches!

Chapter 429: Crisis Descends!

Fu Tinghua's door was knocked on at eleven o'clock in the middle of the night. He and Su He were already in bed by then.

Because the gate was set back from the house, no one heard it at first.

"Dr. Fu! Open up, Dr. Fu!" someone shouted outside.

Fu Tinghua was a light sleeper and quickly noticed the commotion at the gate. He threw on clothes and rushed out to check what was happening.

When he opened the door and saw several police officers standing outside, he frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"

The junior officers looked frantic. "Dr. Fu, Young Master Xia's been hurt. Please come with us to the hospital to perform surgery on him. If we delay, he could—"

Before the junior officer could finish, the person next to him jabbed him with an elbow and said to Fu Tinghua, "Dr. Fu, it's life or death. Please come with us right away. We'll take you to People's Hospital."

Without another word, Fu Tinghua got into the car.

At that moment, Su He came running after him.

"What's going on?" she asked urgently.

She had sharp ears and had caught some of the noise outside. By the time she reacted, Fu Tinghua had already gone downstairs.

"It's fine. Hospital run. Lock the door and stay inside," Fu Tinghua reassured Su He.

When Su He kept standing there, stunned, Fu Tinghua raised his voice.

"What're you waiting for? Get inside—now! Lock the door!"

This was the first time Fu Tinghua had spoken so harshly to Su He. She was bewildered, but she knew not to argue, so she quickly ran back inside and locked the door.

"Let's go," Fu Tinghua instructed the officers.

On the way, Fu Tinghua took the opportunity to ask what had happened.

The two non-driving officers filled him in.

"Dr. Fu, Young Master Xia—that is, Xia Chengan—is in trouble. You know him, right? His family said you two are close. Cops found him at a back-alley exit on Nanmian Street. He'd been stabbed repeatedly and was lying on the ground. The rest were slashes—non-fatal. The most critical one was the stab wound to his chest. Thank God it missed his heart, otherwise—"

The junior officer didn’t finish, but Fu Tinghua understood what he meant.

Even with his usually calm demeanor, Fu Tinghua’s calm frayed over his friend’s life hanging in the balance.

"Step on it," Fu Tinghua snapped.

"We're here, Dr. Fu," the junior officer driving in front said as he turned a corner and arrived at the hospital entrance.

Then, he sped the squad car straight to the building where the surgery rooms were located.

Fu Tinghua quickly got out and headed for the operating room.

When he entered, he could hardly believe the person before him was Xia Chengan.

Xia Chengan lay on a vent, breaths shallow, as if he might slip away at any moment.

"Deputy Director, you're here," the doctor on duty said with relief.

The OR was prepped and waiting—all that was missing was the lead surgeon.

Fu Tinghua quickly changed his clothes, put on gloves, and began his surgery.

After returning home, Su He felt unsettled.

Thinking about Fu Tinghua's attitude toward her earlier, Su He didn’t feel angry at all. Instead, she sensed that something must have happened to make the usually calm and composed Dr. Fu act so out of character.

For some reason, her heart was racing, as if something bad was about to happen.

Considering the recent high-profile killings in Wencheng, Su He stopped short on her way back to her room and headed toward the children’s room instead.

Dr. Fu probably wouldn’t be back tonight, so she figured she’d sleep with the kids.

After opening the door, Su He hesitated for a moment before turning on the light.

Seeing the two children fast asleep, she breathed a sigh of relief.

She sat by the bed, quietly watching their sleeping faces for a while before feeling a little calmer.

"Mommy?" At that moment, Zai Zai, groggy with sleep, woke up and sat up.

"It’s chilly—stay under the covers," Su He quickly stopped him.

"Mommy? Why aren’t you sleeping?" Zai Zai asked curiously.

"Mommy will sleep with you tonight, okay?" Su He reached out and ruffled Zai Zai’s hair, her eyes soft with tenderness as she looked at her son.

"Mmm, okay," Zai Zai obediently scooted over to make room for Su He.

Su He smiled, stood up to turn off the light, and then got into bed.

"Go back to sleep. Look how peacefully your sister’s sleeping," Su He pulled Zai Zai into her arms, gently patting his back to lull him.

Only after Zai Zai fell asleep again did Su He withdraw her arm from around him.

She still couldn’t sleep. Why? Tonight just felt wrong to her.

Worse yet, Fu Tinghua wasn’t home.

If Dr. Fu were home, she probably wouldn’t feel so insecure, would she? Su He mused.

Lying in bed with her eyes closed, Su He tried to rest, but though her eyes were shut, her mind was completely awake, wide awake.

Fine, she’d just wait for Dr. Fu to come back. If she couldn’t sleep, that was that.

This was the drawback of no phone. If she were in her original world, she’d probably be killing time by scrolling through short videos on her phone.

She had no idea how much time had passed when, just as she was about to drift off, she suddenly heard a faint sound at the window of the room.

At first, Su He thought it was just the wind outside blowing against it.

But when the window made another sound, she realized it wasn’t the wind—it sounded more like... human movement.

Su He’s eyes flew open, but she froze.

Carefully, she shifted her gaze toward the window—only to lock eyes with a figure clad in black crouched on the windowsill, staring intently at her.