Chapter 156: Chapter 154: Do You Want Me to Be a Widow?

He held Su Tang so tightly she could barely breathe.

She patted his back, her voice muffled with a slight chuckle. “I know. You be careful too. If you dare get hurt, I’m not nursing you back to health when you get back.”

When Lu Xiao let go, his eyes were slightly red-rimmed.

He gave her cheek a gentle squeeze, then turned to Director Zhang and said in a low voice, “Uncle Zhang, I’m entrusting my wife to your care.”

Director Zhang nodded with a smile. “Don’t worry. Doctor Su is more capable than any of us.”

But at the end of the day, Su Tang was still pregnant.

Anyone else in her situation might have hesitated to come.

But Su Tang had stepped up without a second thought.

Director Zhang had to admire her spirit.

Lu Xiao left, glancing back every few steps.

And so, Su Tang stayed behind in the quarantine zone to help.

Having dealt with large-scale epidemics in the modern world, Su Tang handled the situation with practiced ease.

Thanks to her help, the situation in the quarantine zone improved significantly.

Everyone took great care of her, too, making sure she sat down whenever possible.

And whenever it was mealtime, they always urged her to eat first.

After a few days, Su Tang actually felt fine.

One day, just as she finished showing a nurse how to change an ice pack for a pregnant patient with a fever, Wang Xinxin ran over, clutching a registration book.

“Doctor Su, they just brought in three more patients with diarrhea. Should we move them to the critical care ward?”

“Check their blood oxygen first.”

Su Tang hurried over, squatting by a straw mat to examine the patient’s lower eyelids.

“Get the oral rehydration salts that came in yesterday. Dilute them according to the instructions.”

Her pen flew across the medical chart.

“Go tell Chen Zhengnian we need two more temporary toilets. All waste must be collected and disinfected.”

Su Tang was so busy she didn’t even notice someone calling her name.

When the sun was high overhead, Su Tang realized she had been on her feet for four hours.

She leaned on a tent pole to catch her breath, and when she turned her head, she saw Lu Xiao standing outside the curtain flap, his protective suit still splattered with mud.

“I just grabbed some hot congee from the canteen.”

He stood on the other side of the curtain flap, bending down to push the bowl inside. His eyes were filled with concern.

“Uncle Zhang said you haven’t had a bite to eat.”

Su Tang walked over and took the bowl.

The congee was garnished with chopped scallions, just the way she liked it.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m on my half-hour break.”

As Lu Xiao watched her eat, his Adam’s apple bobbed.

“We have a critical patient who’s Rh-negative. The blood bank is running low, so I sent Chen Zhengnian to coordinate.”

“A rare blood type?”

Su Tang put down her bowl and said calmly, “I’m Rh-negative too.”

Lu Xiao’s face instantly darkened. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Given my condition, I can’t donate blood. Don’t worry, I know my limits.”

They chatted intermittently as the rain outside began to subside. Most of the work was now wrapping up.

On Su Tang’s end, things were fine. The situation was under control.

’We just have to get through this.’

She raised her eyes and suddenly noticed Lu Xiao’s clothes, her brow furrowing slightly.

“Lu Xiao, your protective suit is torn at the elbow.”

Lu Xiao looked down and saw a small tear in the fabric, just as she’d said.

“It’s a small tear. Nothing to worry about.”

“What do you mean, ’nothing to worry about’?”

“The air in here could be full of germs! Are you trying to make me a widow?”

She so rarely spoke to him with such severity that Lu Xiao was taken aback.

Looking at her, he gave a small smile. “I’m sorry. It was careless of me.”

Just then, a shout from Director Zhang came from outside the curtain.

“I have to go. I’ll come back during the next shift change.”

Su Tang watched him rush into the crowd and quickly disappear from sight.

As dusk fell, the rain began to drizzle again.

Su Tang had just finished checking the last medical chart when she suddenly heard a commotion.

Wang Xinxin burst in, covered in mud. “Doctor Su! My brother and his team found a trapped medical team! They’re organizing a rescue party right now!”

Su Tang’s heart leaped into her throat.

She grabbed a raincoat and ran outside but was stopped by Director Zhang. “You can’t go. The rain is too heavy.”

“My husband is out there!”

As she was held back, Su Tang remembered Lu Xiao’s words.

’He’ll be fine. He promised me.’

’The plot of the original novel never said he would die. Don’t panic, don’t panic.’

She forced herself to calm down.

Su Tang gripped the registration desk, her knuckles trembling from the strain.

“Uncle Zhang, what’s the situation?”

“The downpour washed a lot away. They can only use makeshift rafts now. Mr. Lu is a good swimmer and knows the terrain, so try not to worry too much.”

“Besides, the ground has absorbed a lot of the water. It’s not that deep.”

But the deep furrow of his brow told a different story.

Wang Xinxin came in with a stack of sterile cotton pads. “Doctor Su, Chen Zhengnian sent me for some hemostats and a suture kit. He said the rescue team might need them.”

She glanced at Su Tang’s pale face, and her voice softened.

“My brother will be fine, I’m sure of it. Only yesterday, he was saying that once things settle down, he was going to take you to pick wild jujubes.”

Su Tang knew Wang Xinxin was just trying to comfort her, but she nodded anyway. Bending over, she pulled a spare course of broad-spectrum antibiotics from a medical kit. “Take these. Tell them to be careful about disinfecting any wounds.”

Then, as if remembering something, she grabbed a handful of hard candies and stuffed them into Wang Xinxin’s pocket.

“Tell everyone to take turns drinking some hot, sweet water to stay warm.”

Wang Xinxin nodded and left with the supplies.

With every passing moment, Su Tang’s anxiety grew, her heart in turmoil.

’She had replayed the events of the original novel in her mind so many times she could nearly recite it backward.’

Finally, at that moment, she heard faint shouts in the distance.

Su Tang couldn’t stop herself from lifting a corner of the curtain. A gust of cold wind and rain blew into her face, making her cough.

A few dim, yellow flashlight beams bobbed in the distance, flickering in and out of sight.

“Doctor Su! They’re back!”

Wang Xinxin’s voice pierced the night.

One of Lu Xiao’s comrades was carrying an unconscious female doctor toward the tent.

Su Tang, having already disinfected herself, stepped outside to wait for Lu Xiao.

Seeing Su Tang, he froze for a second before breaking into a weary smile. “I told you to wait for me…”

Before he could finish, Su Tang grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the medical area.

Lu Xiao didn’t protest. He just looked at her reddened eyes. “Why are you crying? I’m perfectly fine…”

“Shut up.”

Su Tang sniffled, grabbing the medical kit to treat his wounds.

“If you ever let yourself get into this state again, I’ll… I’ll leave you.”

Lu Xiao let out a low chuckle. He reached out to touch her hair but then remembered his hands were caked with mud and stopped himself. “I wouldn’t dare. I really wouldn’t.”

Watching her focused profile, his heart suddenly melted.

“Oh, right. The medical team we rescued had a young woman who’s also Rh-negative. Chen Zhengnian has already sent her to the blood bank.”

Su Tang froze. She looked up at him, her eyes turning even redder.

The rain was still falling outside, but the light inside the tent was warm, casting a soft glow on their two figures. It felt as if they could endure any hardship, no matter how great, as long as they had each other.

“We’ll be through this soon. We’ll get through it.”

Lu Xiao murmured, comforting her.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep