Mu Yunyi's room was done entirely in black and white, its very appearance carrying a faint sense of oppression.
Mu Yunyi lay in bed with eyes tightly closed, long lashes dark as ink trembling faintly, as though caught in the grip of some nightmare.
A doctor in a white coat stood nearby, working through examination after examination with an array of instruments, yet simply could not rouse Mu Yunyi.
The moment Mu Yunshang stepped through the door, he saw the scene before him. Clutching An Bao, he strode forward at once and asked anxiously, "Dr. Shen, what happened to my elder brother?"
Doctor Shen was a middle-aged man in his forties, and at this very moment, he too was feeling utterly vexed.
From every vital sign, Mu Yunshang appeared perfectly fine — and yet she simply would not wake……
"From what the instruments show, there is nothing wrong. I cannot say for certain what has happened to Mr. Mu — perhaps if we wait a little longer, he may come around on his own. I have also reached out to my mentor to see if we can arrange a joint consultation."
"Dr. Shen's teacher? Could it be the president of Z Hospital, Academician Chen Bingsheng?"
Mu Yunshang looked at Doctor Shen with a hint of pleasant surprise and asked.
Doctor Shen naturally knew how illustrious his teacher's reputation was. After all, his teacher was a celebrated physician known as the National Healer — countless people sought his consultation, yet could never so much as catch a glimpse of him.
It's just…
"I can only try to get in touch — it's just that my teacher is truly too busy, so..."
Mu Yunshang also knew that Academician Chen was extremely difficult to invite. After all, every one of his research achievements was dedicated to serving the nation, and he naturally had little time to spare.
However…
At that moment, gazing at the unconscious Mu Yunyi, Mu Yunshang was overcome with worry. He turned to Doctor Shen and said, "I understand Academician Chen is busy. How about this, Doctor Shen—please pass along a message to him. If he would be willing to come and take a look at my elder brother, regardless of whether anything can be done, I am prepared to donate a laboratory building to Hospital Z. Please do pass this along for me. I am counting on you."
"Alright, I'll go reach out to the teacher again."
Dr. Shen agreed, but couldn't help marveling inwardly—the Mu family truly was something else when it came to extravagance.
With just those words, he had effortlessly donated an entire laboratory building……
"Hah! What a wretched spirit!! How dare you harm An Bao's uncle! Take that from An Bao's peach wood sword!!"
Just as Mu Yunshang watched you—Dr. Shen—step out the door to make a phone call and had barely turned back around, he saw the little dumpling pull out the peach wood sword from behind his back and bring it slashing down at Mu Yunyi.
"An Bao!!!"
Mu Yunshang was so startled that he hastily reached out and grabbed An Bao around the waist, then stepped back several paces before finally letting out a breath of relief. "An Bao," he said helplessly, "stop fooling around — are you trying to kill your own father?"
Mu Yunshang had scooped An Bao up by the waist, leaving her little stubby arms and little stubby legs kicking and flailing in midair. Finding no escape, she huffed and twisted around, craning her neck to glare up at Mu Yunshang with puffed-up indignation. "Third Uncle, *you're* the one making trouble! You're being way too naughty! An Bao was not going to rip off Uncle's skin-skin — An Bao was going to banish the ghost and save Big Uncle!"
Hearing An Bao's soft, baby-like voice and seeing that puffed-up little face, round as a steamed bun, Mu Yunshang was charmed all over again. He gave a helpless smile and said: "What I was talking about was patricide. And furthermore—spirits cannot come into being after the founding of the nation. Where in this world are there ghosts and spirits and such things? We must trust in science. If you go around spreading feudal superstitions like that, you'll be carted off for experiments, you know."
"Running an experiment?"
An Bao blinked her big eyes with curiosity, tilting her little head to one side with a look of confusion, as though she didn't quite understand what the word meant.
Mu Yunshang was afraid An Bao might really take advantage of a moment when no one was paying attention and accidentally strike Mu Yunyi while he lay unconscious, so he put on a stern face and, in all seriousness, launched into an educational scare campaign aimed at the little dumpling: "Doing experiments means strapping An Bao down to an operating table, then taking a knife and slicing An Bao's tender little flesh off piece by piece, then cutting open An Bao's little tummy, and then taking out everything inside — the intestines, the heart…"
"Ahhh!!!"
An Bao was so frightened that her little face went pale. She screamed and clapped her hands over her ears, her expression full of resistance, her voice dissolving into sobs: "An Bao doesn't want to be taken away for experiments! An Bao doesn't want her flesh cut off! Wuu wuu wuu…"
Mu Yunshang saw that An Bao had been frightened to the point of tears, and he paused mid-sentence, feeling somewhat chagrined.
What was he doing?
Trying to scare little kids here…
"Ahem, alright, alright—An Bao, don't be scared. As long as An Bao is good and listens, nothing will happen. Third Uncle will protect An Bao."
Mu Yunshang cradled the little dumpling in his arms, gently ruffling her small head. Her fine, soft hair was wonderfully pleasant to the touch, and the little bun hairstyle she wore bobbed this way and that — utterly adorable... Mu Yunshang couldn't help but poke at that little bun a few more times...
"R-Really? Is that actually true?"
An Bao looked up at Mu Yunshang through tear-blurred eyes, tears clinging to her cheeks, aggrieved and pitiable.
"Of course! But An Bao must behave — no bothering your father. You have to let him rest and take his medicine properly; only then will he get better. Understood?"
At this moment, Mu Yunshang still believed that An Bao was Mu Yunyi's daughter.
Tears clung to the corners of An Bao's eyes. She pressed her lips together in aggrievement, her voice small and hollow: "Do I have to take the yucky medicine to get better?"
"Of course, when you're sick, you have to take your medicine."
"Oh…"
Just at that moment, Dr. Shen returned from her phone call, her face bright with good news. "My teacher has agreed to come take a look at Mr. Mu," she said, "though it may have to wait until tomorrow — he's attending a conference abroad today."
"No problem, no problem! As long as Academician Chen can make it, that's all that matters."
Only after confirming that Mu Yunshang was in no immediate danger did Mu Yunyi take An Bao and leave Mu Yunshang's room.
Yet Mu Yunyi's unconsciousness was simply too strange—Mu Yunshang couldn't help but wonder whether this might have been a scheme engineered by their rivals.
But after asking Butler Li, Butler Li turned out to know nothing at all. So Mu Yunshang called Mu Yunyi's assistant Yang Li, wanting to find out who Mu Yunyi's recent rivals were, or whether he had provoked anyone lately.
Upon learning that Mu Yunyi had fallen into a coma, Yang Li was beside himself with anxiety. He compiled a list of every person who might have recently moved against Mu Yunyi — and his suspicions even came to rest on Mu Yunshang.
"Third Young Master, even though our Boss gave that HIT endorsement to your rival, he truly cares about you deep down. You can't let this matter make you harbor ill feelings against our Boss and move against him..."
"Are you out of your mind? How could it possibly be me!"
Mu Yunshang let out a helpless curse, but the moment the words left his lips he froze — then it clicked. His voice shot up, frantic and flustered: "What did you just say? My brother gave the HIT endorsement to *who*?! You—"
"Beep beep beep…"
Mu Yunshang hadn't even finished speaking when he heard the other end hang up in a flurry of fumbling — the unmistakable look of someone with a guilty conscience.
"!!!!"
Mu Yunshang was beyond furious, and suddenly felt that he'd been a complete fool to hold An Bao back just now!
An Bao should just cleave that insufferable big brother of his in two—that would be the right thing to do!
An Bao stood to one side watching Mu Yunshang's angry expression, and couldn't help but speak up in a soft, babyish voice, blinking her big eyes as she tugged at Mu Yunshang's sleeve: "Third Uncle, please don't be angry — being angry isn't good, being angry will ruin your fortune…"