Diva Alpha Meets Her Biological Daughter on a Parenting Variety Show - Chapter 49

Ming Nuo insisted on donating blood. Even if it was just a small amount, she wanted to do something to make up for her failure to protect the children.

Another doctor emerged from the operating room, whispering to a colleague. Everyone else held their breath, waiting in the heavy silence for news.

Ming Nuo was consumed with anxiety. More than anyone, she needed to know the children were safe. She remembered lifting them onto the high branches of the tree; she herself hadn’t been gravely injured, which suggested rescue had arrived quickly. How could the children be in such a state that they needed a transfusion in that short span of time?

Ning Xueqing pulled Ming Nuo aside, carefully inspecting the back of her head, and led her toward the ward. “You have a head injury. Go back to bed and rest.”

Ming Nuo twisted her neck to look back. “I’m fine. I’m waiting for the kids to come out.”

A nurse hurried over, lifting Ming Nuo’s hand to check her IV site.

A cloud of worry hung over Ning Xueqing’s brow as she spoke to Ming Nuo: “Rest first and heal. I will tell you the moment they come out, okay?”

Ming Nuo frowned. It felt wrong. The situation in the operating room was critical; every bit of help offered more hope. Why was Ning Xueqing stopping her? Mengmeng was Ning Xueqing’s daughter, after all.

“I’m fine, I’m awake! Xueqing, a child in there needs blood!”

“I know that. The doctors haven’t given specifics yet, and the hospital has a blood bank. There are plenty of people here. You were hit by debris in a flood; you need to stay for observation. You are a patient yourself. Please, listen to the doctors and cooperate with the treatment.”

“I really am fine!”

“Ming Nuo, do you even know what blood type is needed? I know you care about the children, and I’m so grateful for everything you did for Mengmeng, but I need you to take care of yourself right now. Don’t make me worry even more than I already am…”

Ming Nuo’s frantic heart felt as if it had been doused with ice water, turning cold from head to toe.

At the end of the day, she had no biological relation to Mengmeng. She didn’t know the girl’s blood type. If they weren’t a match, no matter how much she panicked or how much blood she offered, she couldn’t help the child at all.

She had led the two children into the forest. They had faced a storm and a flash flood. She had only been hit by a rock and woke up mostly fine, but the young children were lying in surgery…

Ming Nuo opened her mouth, and the dry, cold air stung her swollen throat, making even breathing painful. She squeezed her eyes shut, wiped her face, and said huskily, “I’m Type A. What does Mengmeng need?”

Ning Xueqing looked at her with a deep, unreadable gaze and didn’t answer.

The doctors finished their consultation and spoke to the group waiting outside: “The child’s blood type is quite rare. The hospital’s blood bank is currently low on Type B Rh-negative. We need to transfer it from the central bank, but there is a risk in the delay.”

Type B?

Ming Nuo remembered Ning Xueqing was Type A. That meant Mengmeng’s other parent must be Type B…

As the medical staff prepared the paperwork, the doctor checked the files and adjusted his glasses. “Guardians for Chi Yuchen and Ning Xiaoruo, please come here.”

Chi Shu and Ning Xueqing hurried over, with Ji Lang sticking close to Chi Shu. Ming Nuo pulled away from the nurse supporting her and followed.

The doctor handed the documents to Chi Shu and Ning Xueqing. “I’ve explained the general situation. Ning Xiaoruo’s injuries are controlled now, but Chi Yuchen’s situation is a bit more complicated.”

“The child is thin and malnourished, and the injuries were more severe. Bringing blood from the nearest center will take at least thirty minutes. We will do our best. This is the risk disclosure form—”

“No need to transfer blood!” Chi Shu interrupted.

Ning Xueqing, who had just breathed a sigh of relief for Mengmeng, looked up in surprise at Chi Shu’s firm voice.

“I am Type B negative,” Chi Shu declared.

The doctor sighed; he had seen many relatives lacking medical common sense. “Ma’am, direct relatives cannot donate blood directly for a transfusion.”

Chi Shu’s brow was furrowed, her gaze resolute. Facing the surprised stares of everyone around her, she asked the doctor to step aside. “Please come with me for a moment. I have something to tell you.”

Ning Xueqing watched in confusion as Chi Shu and the doctor entered the office. Beside her, Ji Lang’s expression had shifted the moment she heard “B-negative.” She stared coldly at the ceiling for a second before following them into the office.

Inside, Chi Shu was showing the doctor a medical certificate on her phone. “Doctor, I am not Chi Yuchen’s biological mother. And here is my blood type test report.”

Ji Lang stood at the door. The doctor saw her and said, “Ma’am, please respect the family’s privacy and wait outside.”

Ji Lang closed the door behind her, ignored the doctor, and asked Chi Shu with her chin tilted up, “What a coincidence. Qiao Jing once told me out of the blue that she had met a friend with a rare blood type.”

Chi Shu fell silent.

The child wasn’t Chi Shu’s biological daughter, yet Chi Shu raised her with all her heart. She must belong to a wealthy ex-partner. Little Pea’s blood type was inherited from her biological mother, and coincidentally, Chi Shu’s blood type matched Little Pea’s—meaning there was a high probability Chi Shu’s blood also met the “benefactor’s” requirements.

Ji Lang let out a sigh.

Heh. She knew it. Why else would a penniless, unknown person like Chi Shu suddenly be picked up by a wealthy CEO, packaged, and made famous? And why was she always so physically weak?

“How many times have you done this before?” Ji Lang’s gaze was sharp, her voice like a dissecting scalpel—cold and piercing.

Chi Shu met her eyes but quickly looked away. She ignored her and asked the doctor urgently, “Can you take me to draw blood now?”

The doctor cared only about saving lives, not the family ethics or drama of the patients. He nodded and immediately arranged for Chi Shu to provide blood for Little Pea.

As the doctor opened the door, Chi Shu walked past Ji Lang. A voice filled with anger erupted from Ji Lang’s chest: “You are truly pathetic!”

Yes. Chi Shu admitted it. She had been someone who would do anything for money and was afraid of trouble since she was a child. Not just Ji Lang said so; the people who stole her crayons in elementary school, tore up her homework in middle school, and stole her commissions while handing out flyers—they all said the same.

Chi Shu didn’t dare look at Ji Lang, who stood there like a proud eagle.

“She calls me Mammy.”

Regardless of whose blood flowed in Little Pea’s veins, or how her biological mother treated her, Little Pea had been with Chi Shu since birth. The first time she smiled, the first time she gripped Chi Shu’s finger with her tiny hand, the first time she stumbled into her arms while learning to walk, the first time she called her “Mammy” in that tender voice—Chi Shu was her only solid support.

The red liquid slowly filled the tube.

The surgical lights glowed. Time passed. The light above the operating room turned from red to green. With a click, the doors opened, and medical staff pushed the thin Little Pea out. Everyone waiting outside rushed toward them.

Mengmeng had come out an hour earlier. Her injuries weren’t severe; her airway had been blocked by mud, but she regained consciousness quickly after emergency treatment. Ning Xueqing and Ming Nuo stayed by her side.

Mengmeng was in the same ward as Ming Nuo. Across the hall was the fire escape. The moon hung in the night sky. Ming Nuo, with gauze wrapped around her head, sat at the head of the bed reading a children’s book to Mengmeng.

“What’s in the vegetable market?” Ming Nuo opened the book, a large picture book, holding it up for Mengmeng to see while she read. “The market has many sections: vegetables, fruits, eggs, ribs…”

Ning Xueqing used warm water to dampen a towel and wiped Mengmeng’s arms. Looking at the child and then at Ming Nuo, the weight in her heart finally lifted.

“Nuo Nuo Mammy.”

Mengmeng also had gauze on her head and a cast on her leg, her small foot suspended—a piteous sight. She stared with large eyes, tears swirling like egg-drop soup. “I’m sorry. I didn’t look after Little Pea. She fell off the tree. I tried to catch her and fell into the water too.”

Ming Nuo’s heart tightened, her eyes moistening. She stroked Mengmeng’s head. “No, Mengmeng was wonderful. I’m the one who should say sorry for not protecting you two.”

Mengmeng shook her head. “If Little Pea and I had run faster, we would have made it out. You lifted us onto the big tree. I saw a huge rock hit you. You protected us.” She pouted. “We didn’t get to eat any mushrooms.”

Ming Nuo was beginning to have a complex about mushrooms, but because the child wanted them, she said, “They sell them at the market! When we go back to Shenjiang, how about I take you to the biggest market to buy mushrooms?”

Mengmeng’s eyes curved into smiles. “Okay!”

The air in the ward was a bit stuffy, so Ning Xueqing left the door half-open. Faint sounds of an argument drifted in from the hallway. During filming, although the crew took precautions, privacy was easily compromised in public places like a hospital. Ning Xueqing worried about intruders and got up to close the door.

As she reached the door and gripped the handle, a furious scolding erupted from the fire escape.

“Is this how you take care of a child?!”

“Enough, Leng Ling. Xiao Chi didn’t do it on purpose. The director said Ming Nuo was the one who took Dou-dou into the mountains; you can’t blame Xiao Chi. It is strange, though—Ming Nuo is fine, but the child ended up in surgery…”

“Darling, don’t speak for her. Chi Shu, did you fulfill your responsibility as a guardian? The crew arranged for someone else to take her into the forest, and you were just fine letting a suspicious outsider take her? And you still have the nerve to ask me for money? Do you even know Dou-dou is malnourished? The scar on her forehead is likely to be permanent!”

Ning Xueqing had no intention of eavesdropping, but hearing two strangers pinning the blame on Ming Nuo made her furious. This flash flood was an accident; mountain climates are complex, and even the weather bureau hadn’t predicted the storm. Ming Nuo was injured too. Why were these two implying that Ming Nuo had intentionally harmed the child?

Chi Shu’s muffled voice replied, “Manager Leng, I’m sorry…”

Creak!

The fire escape door was thrown open. Someone stepped into the dark corridor, followed by two sharp, crisp slaps.

“Apologize for what?!” A haughty voice pierced the gloom. “Chi Shu, lift your head up!”

The woman called Manager Leng was livid. “Why did you hit us? You’re crazy! Do you know who I am? No matter where you are or what you do in this country, I can make sure you lose your job!”

“Are you even worthy of me knowing who you are?”

“Darling, don’t stop me, I’m going to teach this nutcase a lesson—”

“Leng Ling, stop! She’s… just listen to me and don’t get involved with her. Let’s leave.”

Since the patients were resting, Ji Lang didn’t kick the door too hard. “Get lost.”

A moment later, two people walked out of the fire escape. The lights in the inpatient department weren’t bright, but their faces were clearly visible—both had red, swollen cheeks from being slapped.

Ning Xueqing actually recognized one of them. Her eyes shifted as she stepped out of the ward and called the woman’s name in a voice that was not quiet: “Qiao Jing!”

Qiao Jing—another prestigious Best Actress in the film industry, often mentioned alongside Ning Xueqing as the “Twin Stars of Cinema.” So it was Qiao Jing secretly slandering Ming Nuo.

Ning Xueqing walked toward her, her lips curved but her eyes devoid of warmth. “I haven’t worked with you since The Water-Dropping Goddess of Mercy. It’s been a long time. How have you been lately?”

“Xueqing, long time no see. I didn’t expect to run into you here. I’m doing fine.” Qiao Jing gave an awkward smile, covering her face with her hand.

Ning Xueqing leaned in to look closely. “Oh my, you’re doing fine even with your face so swollen? You haven’t been hit by someone, have you?”