Not long after, Tang Xiaomin's hazy eyes opened. The dryness from crying, coupled with pain, made her frown involuntarily.
The moment she saw Yan Jue, she immediately felt at ease.
"How long have I been asleep?"
"Not long," Yan Jue said dotingly.
In reality, Tang Xiaomin had slept for an entire night, and it was now nine in the morning.
"Minmin, while you were asleep, I took the liberty of notifying your brothers to come over. You won't blame me, will you?"
"They were going to find out sooner or later anyway. How could I blame you?"
Fortunately, Yan Jue had suppressed the matter of Tang Zhongcheng beforehand. Otherwise, in that situation, who knew what would have happened.
Tang Xiaomin suddenly remembered something.
"Does my mother know about this?"
Yan Jue shook his head.
"Her condition is still unstable, so naturally, she cannot be told."
Zhang Meiyu was a woman who loved fiercely and hated deeply, possessing her own pride.
If she knew that Tang Zhongcheng had sacrificed himself to save her, given her fiery temper, who knew what she would do.
"That's right, she cannot know about the heart. This matter must be kept from her, preferably for her entire life," Tang Xiaomin decided immediately.
At this moment, in the morgue, Tang Yu and his two brothers were just as grief-stricken as Tang Xiaomin had been over Tang Zhongcheng's passing.
Tang Yu stood at the doorway, silently smoking, his expression dejected, his eyes red.
Tang Ye was inside, his crying having not stopped.
Tang Yan stood beside Tang Yu, his eyes also red, but he harbored more suspicion.
"After the engagement banquet, Dad went missing for several days. Why weren't we notified when he had an accident? And why was he sent to the morgue of Xianfu Group instead of a hospital? Isn't that suspicious?"
"This is Yan Jue's company. Tang Xiaomin and Yan Jue must have something going on," Tang Yan stated with certainty, as if his suspicions were already confirmed.
Tang Yan was the type of stubborn person who jumped to conclusions, believing whatever came to his mind without much thought.
"The matter isn't clear yet. It's too soon to say such hurtful things," Tang Yu, as the elder brother, felt compelled to correct him.
Given Tang Yan's temperament, he was too easily manipulated.
Tang Yan remained firm in his own opinion.
"Tang Xiaomin being abandoned was all Dad's fault. Although she didn't do anything inhumane to Dad on the surface, she has always resented him in her heart."
"Now that Dad is dead, isn't it natural for me to be suspicious?"
Tang Yu was surprised that, even now, Tang Yan's opinion of Tang Xiaomin was still so negative.
"Tang Yan, if you have a brain, think carefully. If someone harbored resentment, would she have let you out of prison to accompany Mom when she fell ill?"
Despite this, in Tang Yan's view, whatever Tang Xiaomin had done before was all with ulterior motives.
"Haven't you considered that she did it on purpose? To kill with a thousand cuts. Mom was sick, and she deliberately let me out to watch Mom suffer. That would be a good way to torment me too."
...
To condemn someone, one need not find fault.
Tang Yu was about to argue with Tang Yan when Tang Xiaomin walked in, interrupting them.
She genuinely did not want to see them arguing outside Tang Zhongcheng's body when things could be explained.
"Stop arguing, all of you. Listen to me."
"Xiaomin, we hope you can clearly explain the circumstances of Dad's car accident," Tang Yu said earnestly.
Tang Xiaomin nodded and went in to call Tang Ye.
Tang Ye stood silently by Tang Zhongcheng's body, weeping, his face filled with the pain of losing a loved one.
"Second Brother, please come out and listen to me for a moment. Dad is gone, and he wouldn't want to see you grieving for him. Mom is still in the hospital, and we cannot lose our composure right now."
Tang Ye sobbed a few times, his grief profound.
"I never imagined he would just leave so suddenly."
Life is unpredictable; no one knows whether accidents or tomorrow will come first.
After coming out, Tang Xiaomin told them the entire story of the car accident.
"The heart Mom had transplanted was donated by Dad."
"What!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Tang Ye and the other two were stunned, their faces etched with shock, just like Tang Xiaomin had been earlier.
"Dad had signed the organ donation documents not long ago, and before that, he secretly had his blood type matched with Mom. Do you remember what Dad said when Mom fainted at the engagement banquet? Back then, Mom had already given up treatment and chose to go home and wait for death."
Even Tang Xiaomin and the others had planned to follow Zhang Meiyu's wishes and take her home.
But Tang Zhongcheng had been very insistent on sending her to the hospital, saying that Zhang Meiyu had a chance. At the time, they all thought it was just Tang Zhongcheng's wishful thinking.
No one could have imagined that he had already made all the arrangements and sacrificed himself.
When all the evidence was laid out clearly, Tang Ye and Tang Yu were once again moved to tears.
Even Tang Yan, who suffered from severe paranoid delusions, fell silent, quietly processing all that was heartbreaking.
Tang Xiaomin remained silent, standing to the side, waiting for them to compose themselves.
After a long while, she spoke again.
"Mom's condition is still not completely stable. She absolutely cannot know that the heart in her body is Dad's. For the sake of her health, I hope everyone will keep this a secret."
They had already lost their father; they could not afford to lose their mother as well.
People fear loss because they become attached to the feeling of possession.
After a long pause, Tang Yu slowly nodded.
"For Mom's sake, everyone must not let slip a word."
"It's just that Dad has been gone for so many days. We can't keep the body like this indefinitely. It's best to lay him to rest as soon as possible."
"The funeral arrangements have already been made. Tomorrow is a good day for interment," Tang Xiaomin said.
"However, whether to publicize this matter still requires your opinion."
The Tang family was, after all, a prominent family in Modu, even if their glory had faded.
Tang Zhongcheng sacrificing himself to save his wife was an act of great love and righteousness, deserving of a grand funeral.
Tang Yu immediately made a decision.
"Father's funeral must be grand. This is our duty as his children. Go ahead and release the news about the funeral."
"What about Mom then?" Tang Xiaomin asked again, truly undecided.
"Let's keep it from her for now and tell her at an appropriate time," Tang Yu said.
He thought that since his mother hated his father so much, wishing him dead, as long as she didn't know that the heart in her body was from her father, she shouldn't be overly sad.
However, in doing so, his father's life-saving heroic deed would remain unknown to his mother.
On the top floor of Xianfu Group, Tang Xiaomin sat at the edge, gazing at the brightly lit Modu in the distance.
Beside her, Tang Zhongcheng's ghost was earnestly persuading her.
"Xiaomin, it's too high and too dangerous here. Why are you sitting here? Come down quickly."