Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman

"Okay, calm down now," said Zed once he realized that Jean was getting angry. Her pitch started going higher as she was speaking. He tried to console and stop her but she seemed not to care. "Let's stop here and talk about something else. Should we buy some gifts before we arrive at the hospital?" suggested Zed.

Hearing Zed's words, a shift in her thought took place. She felt much more calm. Slowly, the resentment on her face faded away.

After a while, she calmed down and returned to the sane mental state. Looking around, Jean suddenly came to realize that the words she uttered had hurt Moore. Now he wasn't looking at her and remained silent. She waited for him to catch her eyes and gave him an apologetic look and said, "Moore, I'm so sorry. I was too angry just now. I apologize for saying those stupid words to hurt you."

"I've told you, I'm fine," replied Moore in a peaceful tone. With a bitter smile on his face, he looked at Jean and added, "He can't hurt me anymore."

"Sure, I'm glad to hear that. And now that it's over, we all have to be happy," said Jean as she tried to console Moore a little bit.

Moore looked at Jean with a nod. Although there was still a trace of anger on his face, his facial expression right now had visibly softened.

After getting out of the car, the three of them bought two fruit baskets from a shop that was located near the hospital. With them, they headed straight to the ward.

As they walked past the reception desk, Avery hurried up from a distance to meet them. At the sight of the fruit baskets in their hands, she said sheepishly, "I'm so glad that you come here. But you really didn't need to buy these."

"We are all friends, and these fruits are just a token of our care for Albert. How is he now?" asked Jean with concern.

"Thank god he is out of the woods. And now he is awake. At the moment, he is just resting in the ward," replied Avery as she sighed heavily. And soon, there appeared a grave look on her face as if she was contemplating about a serious matter.

"What's the matter? Why do you look so worried now? He is no longer in risk, right?" asked Jean hastily with confusion written all over her face.

"He has regained his consciousness. However, it will take at least ten to fifteen days for him to recover and leave the hospital," replied a downhearted Avery as she looked at Jean.

"Well, I don't think there is anything to worry about. Besides, you can stay in H City for a few more days. Good for you, isn't it? It is actually a good news! Why do you look glum?" asked Jean confusedly.

"No, it is about Adolf," replied Avery with a sigh. She added, "He keeps blaming himself for Albert's accident. And he kicked himself really hard when he found that Albert almost died. He feels that it is his responsibility to take good care of Albert. And he failed to do it, so he is now consumed with remorse. Nothing cheers him up, not even Albert's recovery news."

"What? How could Albert need to be cared for when he's an adult already?" uttered Jean with traces of surprise. And she added, "But I have a strong feeling that Adolf's remorse must have something to do with what had happened last night. Anyway, let's stop thinking too much about it and go to see Albert first. We'll find it out later."

As Jean was speaking, she walked close to Avery and patted her on her shoulder, trying to console her a little bit.

"Alright,"

replied Avery while she nodded her head. She then showed the three of them the way to the ward.

The moment when Avery turned and walked ahead, Zed and Moore, who had been silent earlier, looked at each other with suspicion. And they frowned uneasily as if they were both thinking of something serious.

After walking for a while, they had arrived outside Albert's ward. With the door pushed open, they happened to see that Adolf was feeding Albert some porridge.

At the sight of their coming in, Adolf hurriedly put the porridge down on the table and said, "What are you doing here? Please have a seat." He smiled at Zed as he was speaking.

"We have come to see how Albert is doing. Is he better now?" asked Zed in a polite tone.

"Yes, and he can eat now. He was having some rice porridge just now. Thank you for coming to see him," replied Adolf sounding extremely grateful.

"You seem to be recovering well," said Jean as she walked close and looked at Albert. With a vague smile on her face, she added, "Well, I found it incredibly hard to believe that you were in danger when Avery told me about it. I mean, you were in such high spirits yesterday. Man proposes but God disposes, doesn't it? Albert, do you remember how much alcohol did you drink to bring you here? I mean, look at you, you look strong on the outside! Were you just drowning your sorrows in wine?"

On the other hand, Albert's face hardened the moment he watched Avery bring these people inside.

After hearing what Jean had just said, he presented an angry expression and said, "You're not welcome here. Just get out of here right now!"

"Albert!" scolded Adolf as he frowned with severity, trying to stop Albert from saying more.

In truth, even Adolf felt dissatisfied in his heart after hearing Jean's words. But he repressed it because Zed was present.

He started yelling at Albert and asked him to behave properly.

After all, the three of them, including Jean were brought by Avery. And they had helped Avery ever since she had been in H City. Even if Adolf was not happy with them, he didn't want them to know about it.

"Didn't you hear that, Adolf? She was laughing at me! They don't really care about me,"

said a poor Albert as he looked at Adolf.

"No, I did not laugh at you. How could that be?" replied Jean looking like she felt she was being wronged. "My English may not be as good as you native speakers. But you will understand what I meant if you translate it to Chinese. Well, I don't blame you for misunderstanding me. Anyway, I meant to wish you good health. Just ask your brother or Avery to find out if I am speaking the truth. Drowning sorrow in wine is an old saying in China, and I meant to ask you not do do that. It is bad to your health. I came to comfort you here. I can't believe that I am misunderstood like this," said Jean.

"I'm sorry," apologized Adolf hastily. And he added with a polite look on his face, "Albert has just woken up. He is very tired which is why he is speaking nonsense. Please don't take it to heart!"

"Adolf!" uttered Albert immediately.

But Adolf turned and gave him a warning look.

Albert could do nothing but remain silent. Feeling defensive, he moodily turned his face.

Adolf let out a sigh of relief in his heart at the realization that the ward was quiet again. And he winked at Avery as if he was sharing his feelings to her at this moment.

Adolf and Avery had been working together day and night for four years, so there was a strong bond between the two of them.

At the realization of what Adolf was meaning by his wink, Avery then put up a smile on her face and said, "Jean, let's go back together. I feel a little tired after spending the whole afternoon here in the hospital. Adolf, Albert, you two have a good rest. We're leaving now." "All right," replied Adolf with a nod.

"What a coincidence! I've been outside the whole afternoon and I'm tired too. Therefore, Avery, I think I'd sit down and rest here for a while," said Jean in a peaceful tone as if she did not realize what Avery's words truly meant. After saying this, she sat down and showed no interest in returning.

Both Zed and Moore found Jean's behavior to be surprising. They couldn't help turning to look at her. And at the very moment when they looked, they saw there flashed a cunning look in her eyes. From what they knew about her, they seemed to foresee what she wanted to do next.

"Jean, let's go back and rest since you're tired," said Zed with a frown, trying to stop what Jean was about to do next.

'Albert has just regained his consciousness and it's not a good idea for Jean to do anything stupid here right now.

It will only bring trouble to Avery if Jean pisses Adolf off, ' thought Zed in his mind.

"But I am really too tired to move now. And somehow, there is a special feeling in my heart at the sight of Albert lying here," replied Jean.

"A special feeling? What do you mean by that?" asked Zed with puzzlement written all over his face.

All of a sudden, the others in the room looked at Jean in surprise as if they could not understand what she was trying to say.

"Here's the story. When I was in high school, one of my classmates, a boy, had been in love with a girl for a long time. And one day, he managed to muster up the courage and was about to express his feelings for her. Unfortunately, he saw the girl in the arms of another boy. The boy was so sad that he went to a bar at night and drank till dawn. He was so drunk that he spent the night on the bar table. The next day, when the bartender tried to wake him up, he found that the boy was already dead," said Jean with a heavy sigh. "What?! But why?" asked Avery all flustered.

On the other hand, Albert turned pale at Jean's words.

"He died because of alcoholism. Alcoholism is not supposed to be fatal. But he died since he was there for a long time. He couldn't be rescued," Jean finished. While she spoke this, her eyes shifted from Avery to Albert. 00000000