Chapter 158: They Are My Family Too

Before leaving work at noon, Xiaoxiao requested a half-day off from the Human Resources department. Just past one o'clock, Lin Shuo's car was parked downstairs of the building. Xiaoxiao happily skipped down and cheerfully got into his car.

"Where are we going?" Lin Shuo asked, deliberately keeping her in suspense. "You'll know in a moment."

When Lin Shuo parked the car in the hospital parking lot, Xiaoxiao asked in surprise, "Are you not feeling well?"

Lin Shuo smiled and shook his head, pointing toward someone seeking shelter from the sun beneath the shade of a tree over there. Xiaoxiao looked in that direction, and her mother happened to see her as well. Suddenly, she had a premonition that today would be a day worth remembering for the next several decades.

Although it was not visiting hours, Lin Shuo always had a way to bring the mother and daughter inside. The medical staff temporarily afforded them a great deal of privacy. Her mother sat by the bedside holding her father's hand, while Xiaoxiao wrung out a towel to wipe her father's face. Lin Shuo hurriedly said, "Let me do it."

Both mother and daughter were slightly startled, but Lin Shuo had already taken the towel from Xiaoxiao's hand. He walked to the bedside with light steps, not daring to use too much force, yet wiping with meticulous care. His brow was relaxed, as if he thoroughly enjoyed the process. When his own father had been critically ill, he was separated by an ocean. By the time he sensed his father was failing and rushed back through wind and dust, it was a case of the child wishing to care for the parent only to find them gone. In truth, he had had very few opportunities to be a dutiful son at a hospital bedside, and there were many things he did not know how to do. Thus, seeking confirmation under the mother and daughter's astonished gazes, he asked, "Is this how it's done?"

Xiaoxiao was dazed for a moment. She felt that what he did was in no way inferior to her own efforts, yet somehow it felt improper. She softly said, "Let me do it instead."

Lin Shuo returned the towel to her and instead began giving her father a massage. His gestures were professional; he had studied this for a long time, always thinking that the heavens were giving him a second chance to fulfill all the things he had wanted to do back then but missed out on.

"These rough tasks aren't suitable for you," Xiaoxiao urged Lin Shuo to stop. He was a wealthy young master; historically, others only ever served him. How could she dare trouble him to serve anyone else?

Yet Lin Shuo did not stop, saying quite matter-of-factly, "They will be my family in the future, too."

A single sentence instantly disrupted Xiaoxiao's breathing. Her mother clearly had not prepared herself enough psychologically, and for a moment she did not know how to react. She simply stared dazedly at the young man before her, who was lowering his head to tend to her companion. His untroubled face radiated maturity and reliability. Moreover, she could see the shimmering brilliance in her daughter's eyes whenever their gazes met. As a woman, she understood why that was; as a mother, she could not find a single flaw to pick.

"Uncle, I know you understand everything." Lin Shuo did not stop the movements of his hands. He turned to Mrs. Ni, speaking with earnest sincerity, "In the past, I truly wasn't good to Xiaoxiao. But how many people in a lifetime can you find whom you truly want to cherish? I've missed out once, and I don't want to miss out a second time. Uncle, Auntie, I may not be the most exceptional man, but I am certainly the one who loves Xiaoxiao the most! Therefore, I earnestly implore you to grant us your blessing."