Yi Luowa gave a bitter laugh. "I've been carrying this blame for seventeen years already; it doesn't matter to me anymore. All I want now is for my second uncle to wake up."
Tong Airui looked at her and only spoke after a long while. "By tomorrow evening, your voice must recover!"
Yi Luowa pursed her lips. That domineering tone—who else would dare speak like that? Whether her voice recovers or not, what business of his is it?
"Xi Meichen has scheduled the shareholders' meeting for the day after tomorrow. By then, I'll need your voice!" Tong Airui noticed her rolling her eyes at him. He raised his hand and turned her face to the side. "No one has ever dared to look at me with that expression, not in all these years!"
Yi Luowa's head turned just in time to see Yuan Hang rolling his eyes as well. With a mischievous smile, she slapped Tong Airui's arm and gestured with her lips for him to look at Yuan Hang.
Tong Airui glanced at Yuan Hang, who immediately retracted his eye-roll.
Yi Luowa couldn't help but laugh, her voice hoarse as she said, "What a slap in the face! Haha... now get your paw off me!"
Tong Airui withdrew his hand and gave a cold chuckle. "Not bad, you're finally talking! I can't stand it when you use lip-reading. Whenever you do, I have to look at your face, and every time I look at it, I end up having nightmares!"
Yi Luowa lifted her good leg and kicked at him. Tong Airui's face darkened as he grabbed her calf and gave it a gentle shove, pushing her wheelchair against the opposite wall. "If you ever manage to kick me again, I'll change my surname!"
"Pfft, you're not originally named Tong anyway. Isn't your surname actually Aldrich?" Yi Luowa pursed her lips and wheeled herself toward the surgery room door.
"Brat!" Tong Airui clenched his fists, only to loosen them helplessly. This brat—he couldn't bring himself to hit her, but every time he refrained, she drove him half to death with anger.
"Bravo!" Mi Chenxuan secretly gave Yi Luowa a thumbs-up. This was the first time he'd seen their fourth brother being bullied to such an extent without the ability to retaliate. It delighted him to no end!
"Luowa, you shouldn't be so rude to Mr. Tong!" Uncle Li finally couldn't hold back and chided her.
"He started being rude to me first!" Yi Luowa pouted and lowered her head, looking as if she'd just suffered the greatest injustice in the world.
Uncle Li sighed and said nothing further.
Mi Chenxuan, feeling a bit sorry for her, was about to comfort her when Tong Airui called out, "Old Eight, come here. I've got a task for you!"
"Oh!" Mi Chenxuan reluctantly glanced at Yi Luowa. "I'll come find you to hang out after I'm done."
Yi Luowa muttered an acknowledgment.
Mi Chenxuan scampered back into the hospital room with obvious enthusiasm.
Whatever task Tong Airui gave him, it must have been significant, as the light in the operating room dimmed, and still Mi Chenxuan had not returned.
"Young lady, the surgery went very well! Mr. Yi will wake up soon," the elderly specialist said with a smile to a visibly tense Yi Luowa.
"Thank you!" Yi Luowa looked gratefully at the specialist.
"I'm not the one you should be thanking. If it weren't for Dr. Mai's exceptional skills and insistence on performing the surgery, us old folks would not have been up to the task."
"I'll thank him personally later." Yi Luowa smiled and quickly followed as the nurse wheeled her second uncle to the VIP care unit.
The successful surgery lightened Yi Luowa's heavy burden of guilt somewhat. After accompanying her second uncle for a while and seeing that he hadn't woken up yet, she went with Uncle Li to Mai Zekai's office.
No one was there! Upon inquiry, they learned Mai Zekai had gone straight into another surgery.
Yi Luowa and Uncle Li returned to the ward, where she motioned for him to close the door.
"That Beast Tong said Xi Meichen would hold the shareholders' meeting the day after tomorrow," Yi Luowa whispered.
Uncle Li nodded. "Aolie went to deal with that. He wants to find out the agenda of the meeting."
"Doesn't Beast Tong already know the agenda?"
Uncle Li shot her a glare. "Don't give him nicknames! Mr. Tong said most likely it's about kicking you out of the Yi family, but he won't let her succeed!"
"I won't let her succeed either!" Yi Luowa pressed her lips together. "What time is the funeral for… that person?"
Uncle Li glanced at her. "Eight o'clock tomorrow morning."
Yi Luowa murmured almost inaudibly, "Arrange a car for me. I want to send him off."
"They won't let you pay respects," Uncle Li said, looking at her with concern. "Don't get into a fight if you go."
"I'll just say goodbye to him from afar, then I'll come back." Bad as he was, that person was still her father.
Uncle Li nodded. "Then get some rest. I'll make the arrangements. Don't worry about Second Master; I'll let you know as soon as he wakes up."
Yi Luowa responded softly. After Uncle Li left, she obediently got into bed. She needed to think carefully about how to deal with that vicious woman the day after tomorrow.
The next morning, Yi Luowa woke up early and went to see her second uncle. Seeing he was still unconscious, she hurriedly wheeled herself to knock on Mai Zekai's door.
Teng Ai Ni answered groggily, her face full of morning grumpiness. "So early in the morning..."
She was just about to explode when she saw Yi Luowa, and her expression turned awkward. "What do you need?"
Yi Luowa flashed an apologetic smile. "I'm looking for Dr. Mai."
"He's in my brother's ward," Teng Ai Ni said as she leaned over to look at Yi Luowa. "Are you really going to work as my brother's servant?"
"Do I have a choice?" Yi Luowa tilted her head back, looking up at her.
"Seems like you don't! If you listen to me, though, the next time you see my fourth brother, act like you're lovestruck. No matter what he says, be flattering and fawning. Play to his ego. I believe you'll escape your misery in no time." Teng Ai Ni giggled as she headed back into the room.
Yi Luowa frowned and pondered for a moment before wheeling herself to Tong Airui's ward. Stopping outside, she lightly tapped the door and shouted inside, "I'm here to work!"
Tong Airui, with Yuan Hang's assistance, had just finished putting on his shirt. Hearing Yi Luowa's shout, he couldn't help but smirk slightly. "Go open the door."
Yuan Hang quickly opened the door. Yi Luowa wheeled herself in and flashed a bright smile at Tong Airui, who was sitting on the bed. "Hi, Mr. Tong! Is there anything you need help with?"
Tong Airui froze for a moment. Did this nap make her lose a few brain cells? Why did she suddenly seem like a completely different person?
Yi Luowa wheeled herself closer to the bed and asked politely, "Mr. Tong, do you need to go to the bathroom to freshen up, or would you prefer to do it here on the bed?"
"I've already freshened up," Tong Airui said, quietly observing her. He was curious what kind of game she was playing.
"Do you want breakfast, then? Chinese or Western?" Yi Luowa pressed on relentlessly.
"Are you trying to poison me?" Tong Airui asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You got it right—so clever!" Yi Luowa quickly straightened her expression. "Just kidding! I'd never poison you. C'mon, I was just teasing. By the way, I've never really looked at you closely before, but now that I have, I realize something. Mr. Tong, you're actually really handsome! I feel like I should tell you… you're just my type!"
Tong Airui raised an eyebrow slightly. "Go on."