The operation was finally over, and Li Meili was drained and exhausted from the long wait. Still, she didn't complain one bit and waited patiently with Tang Moyu outside the operating room. It didn't take too long, and Zhang Jiren was wheeled out and was taken to the ICU for recovery.

  The surgeon had managed to cut most of the tumor away, and he believed that with radiation therapy, the rest would disappear.

  The lump on his colon was a different issue though. According to its biopsy, it was malignant and would prove life-threatening if left untreated. Thankfully, the doctors were able to diagnose Zhang Jiren early, so he still had a huge chance of survival if they could treat it as soon as they could.

  Feng Tianyi wasn't able to accompany them today as he couldn't leave his work at Xiao Xing, but he made sure to give his wife a call to make sure that everything was fine on their end.

  Tang Moyu sighed in relief, hearing that the operation went well without encountering any problems. After a short talk with the doctors, she brought Li Meili with her to the cafeteria to get something to eat and to get some air after waiting for hours without doing anything.

  She hadn't forgotten that she was pregnant and shouldn't miss her meals, but knowing that her twin brother was on the operation table made the empress lose her appetite earlier. Now that Zhang Jiren was out of the operating room, she could feel her hunger coming.

  Once they were done, she parted ways with Li Meili to find her brother's doctor to discuss the next steps they needed to do for his treatments.

  Li Meili then headed to the ICU where her husband was. Zhang Jiren was still asleep, which she already had expected. She took a seat next to him and pondered if she had done right. Tears welled up her eyes again as she saw his fragile body. He was attached to a ventilator to help his breathing.

  She knew she needed to be strong, but she couldn't help but be worried about Zhang Jiren. Until he wakes up and tells her he was feeling alright, Li Meili wouldn't be able to calm down.

  The door opened behind her and found Li Yuanyi dressed in a hospital gown and had a mask on his face. He pointed outside where Li Meili could see her daughter being held by Meng Yanran as they looked at the glass wall that separated them.

  Leyan was looking confusedly at her stepfather, wondering why he was inside. She wasn't allowed to go inside and see Zhang Jiren up close, and so she and Meng Yanran could only take a peek from outside. Her eyes lit up when she spotted her mother and reached out her arms to get Li Meili's attention.

  "How is he?" Li Yuanyi asked as he looked at his brother-in-law. He had heard of what happened from their father and was surprised to hear that Li Meili sought their help first. He had never thought that there would be a day when his hard-headed sister would willingly yield to their parents.

  "The doctor said that they removed as much as they can, but he would still need to get radiation therapy later," Li Meili said in a hushed tone.

  "I see…" Li Yuanyi wasn't good with words and didn't know how to make his sister feel better. He could tell that Li Meili was still worried about her husband, but to think that she would change so much because of Zhang Jiren, he wondered if their relationship had gone past their contract.

  "Meili, you and Zhang Jiren…" He was aware that their two-year contract was about to end soon and wondered if they would still proceed to divorce once Zhang Jiren recovered.

  "We will not divorce," Li Meili said with finality. "Not ever."

  She had already promised that she would never leave Zhang Jiren, and they both agreed to stay married without being bound to their contract anymore. While it's true that their marriage started out for convenience, Li Meili had come to love him along the way.

  It was enough for Li Yuanyi to understand what was happening, but he wouldn't dare to question her. As long as Zhang Jiren would treat her well, he was willing to turn a blind eye to his being a Zhang.

  Li Yuanyi had heard what happened yesterday when Zhang Liang paid a visit, and he was appalled to hear what the man had told Li Meili. No wonder he received a beating from his sister. Li Yuanyi would have done the same thing if he heard it himself. It was really surprising how Zhang Jiren came out as a decent person, given how wicked and corrupted the Zhang family was.

  …


  When Zhang Jiren finally opened his eyes, he heard his sister's voice.

  "How do you feel?" Tang Moyu asked worriedly.

  Zhang Jiren spotted his wife next to him, sleeping with her head laid on her arms on the bed. He reached out a hand and touched her head. She must be exhausted from worrying all day about him.

  "I feel drowsy," he said honestly to his sister. He also noticed that he had a bandage on his head, covering his surgical wound.

  Tang Moyu nodded. It was the same thing the doctor told her earlier. He said it was normal for Zhang Jiren to feel drowsy once he woke up. Even the slight swelling in his head was already expected.

  "How long was I out?" he asked.

  "About eight hours. Leyan came to visit with Meili's brother to see you." His sister informed him.

  "Leyan?" Zhang Jiren frowned. He didn't want his daughter to see him like this.

  "Is she alright?" He didn't want the girl to worry about him like her mother. It was bad enough that Li Meili was worrying about him like this. Zhang Jiren didn't want to give Leyan a traumatic memory at such a young age.

  "Don't worry. Leyan is fine. The important thing for you to do now is to recover to full health," Tang Moyu said before the doctor came in to do some routine neuro obs to check how alert Zhang Jiren was after his surgery.