Chapter 1578 Power of Time


    Grandma Li tlined two more times in a 48-hour period. Everyone was on edge, and the doctors and nurses looked increasingly grave as time passed.


    Jin Liwei looked like a zombie. He barely slept.


    Iris forced her husband to sleep—and he would—but she knew he would still wake up and sneak away from bed while she slept to continue worrying about his grandmother.


    Watching him like this was breaking her heart. She wished that she could help ease his fear and anxiety. But all she could do was stay by his side, never letting him feel that he was alone.


    All of them were unable to leave the hospital, just in case something really did happen to Grandma Li. Except for Grandpa Lu, who was too old, they all squeezed into the VIP suite.


    Granted, the VIP suite wasrge, but with two couples and Huang Yuyan, it was still a tight squeeze with barely any privacy between them.


    As for Grandpa Lu, the old man originally wanted to squeeze with all of them and watch over Grandma Li, but Lu Zihao had enough of Grandpa Lu''s obstinacy, so he directly carried the old man and dragged him away to the hotel.


    Grandpa Lu''sints fell on deaf ears. He tried acting pitiful to his granddaughter-inw, Long Jinjing, but she pretended not to hear, looking quite guilty doing so. In the end, the old man couldn''t overpower his grandson.


    By the third day since Grandma Li tlined for the first time, Iris woke up from her makeshift bed on the couch. Her husband was nowhere to be seen.


    Chen Fei and Jin Chonglin slept together on the other couch.


    Huang Yuyan took the only proper bed besides the patient''s bed. She, too, was still sleeping.


    Iris was still sleepy, but not finding her husband beside her bothered her too much. She rose and tiptoed around, careful not to wake up anyone.


    Finally, she saw her husband standing outside on the balcony. The sky was still mostly dark, but hints of sunrise were already starting to show on the horizon.


    Jin Liwei stood, leaning against the balcony railing, and stared at the horizon.


    If he were a smoker, Iris could imagine him puffing away smoke after smoke. Good thing that he wasn''t a smoker. Nevertheless, seeing him like this was still quite pitiful, as if he had the weight of the entire world resting on his shoulders.


    She slid open the ss balcony door and stepped outside.


    He heard the sound and turned to look. His cold and hard expression visibly softened upon seeing her.


    "Good morning, love," he murmured before pulling her into his embrace.


    She wrapped her arms around his waist. She felt some chilly dampness on his clothes which made her frown.


    "How long have you been standing here?" she asked, inspecting him. "You must have been up for a while. You''ve been soaked by too much dew."


    He didn''t reply, only smiled at her.


    She sighed and decided to restrain her temper. This wasn''t the time to scold him.


    The poor man was already suffering. What he needed was for her to be there for him and not to nag at him.


    "I''m sorry," he murmured against her ear.


    Her frown deepened. She looked at his face and studied his expression. "Why are you apologizing?"


    "You missed Orchidia Germany''sunch because of our family matter," he said. "I know how long you''ve been looking forward to it. At this rate, you might also miss theunch for Orchidia Philippines and possibly the one in Singapore as well."


    She shook her head. "Don''t worry about it. You''re my husband and I''m your wife. Your family is my family. Grandma Li is also very important to me. Even before knowing that we were dating, she already wanted me to be part of your family. I also can''t rest easy knowing that her health is failing like this."


    "Thank you, Evelina." He kissed her forehead, then her nose, and finally her lips.


    It felt like a butterfly''s touch.


    She knew that he was worrying about a lot of things but was still doing his best to keep it together.


    "I''ve seen Grandma''s medical records," he said while continuing to look at the now-lightening horizon. "Her health is worse than we thought."


    She sighed.


    In truth, she already suspected that Grandma Li might be frailer in health than they all thought. The olddy rarely ventured outside her mountain vi. Grandma Li would only meet them on important family asions. Despite the olddy acting lively whenever the family gathered together, the fact that she tired easily and retired in her room before anyone else should already be a clear indication that old age was already catching up with her.


    Iris already epted it deep inside. Her husband and her inws, however, were still in the process of denial.


    Perhaps it was because Grandma Li had been the Jin family''s old matriarch for the longest time. She had be a symbol of stability for the Jins ever since her husband and son''s deaths.


    Also, maybe Jin Liwei and the others couldn''t help but associate Grandma Li''s health with Grandpa Lu''s vigour especially whenever the two elders bantered with one another. They must have assumed that since Grandpa Lu was still brimming with energy, then Grandma Li must also be the same.


    Unfortunately, this wasn''t the case at all.


    Grandpa Lu was an exception. He was abnormally too healthy for his age.


    Cases like Grandma Li were actually moremon with people their age.


    Iris sighed again. She could only continue hugging her husband.


    A phone vibrated between them.


    "Sorry, love. I need to take this." Jin Liwei nced at his phone with a tired but serious expression.


    She nodded.


    Although she and Jin Liwei had been staying at the hospital for more than a week now, both of them still continued working remotely in running their businesses.


    Chen Fei was in the same situation.


    Jin Chonglin and Huang Yuyan had the most free time. Unfortunately, the two of them were also the most emotional. The mother and son''s eyes had already be red and swollen. Their faces had also be puffy.


    Compared to Jin Liwei, Iris, and Chen Fei, the mother and son were not that dependable when it came to watching over Grandma Li. They were the type to be the first to copse from all the dread, fear, anxiety, and depression. The others agreed that these two shouldn''t be left alone by themselves.


    Back to the present, Jin Liwei continued speaking with his assistant and other subordinates about pending issues in thepany.


    Iris didn''t bother him. She returned inside the suite. Chen Fei had already woken up.


    "Good morning, Chen Fei," Iris greeted.


    "Morning, Xin." Chen Fei was still a little drowsy, but her eyes were starting to clear up by the second. "Want some coffee? I''ll buy some at the café downstairs."


    "Please."


    Chen Fei quickly freshened up and left to make a coffee run downstairs.


    They could always ask someone else to buy and deliver anything for them, like the bodyguards, but they still preferred to do some of the errands themselves just to temporarily shift their attention away from the depressing situation of Grandma Li''s failing health.


    Iris also freshened up. When she stepped out of the bathroom wearing fresh, clean clothes, Huang Yuyan had also woken up. The mother-inw and daughter-inw greeted each other.


    Only Jin Chonglin hadn''t awakened yet.


    Iris peeked outside and saw her husband still busy speaking on the phone. She also checked on Grandma Li.


    So far, Grandma Li looked stable. Her appearance, however, was a far cry from her usual cold elegance.


    Iris felt a twinge in her heart. This was a clear demonstration of the power of time. Nobody could escape aging.


    No matter how much money a person owned, no amount of money could prevent a person from aging and suffering from illnesses. Yes, money could help people live healthier lifestyles and ess top-notch medical care. However, at the end of the day, one couldn''t pay another to suffer one''s illnesses. Everyone needed to go through their own illnesses and aging.


    One day, she and her husband would also have to go through this.


    But for now, they had the privilege of living healthy, fulfilling lives raising their own family and building their own sessful careers.


    After checking on Grandma Li, Iris sat down on the couch and turned on herptop.


    Alona Bauer had already sent her a detailed report about the sessfulunch of Orchidia in Germany. The opening day sales were through the roof and exceeded their initial projections.


    Iris also checked the people who attended theunch. Many familiar names popped up.


    Her friends at Cross Academy—AJ Zheneres, Theresa Blipsburg, and Amanpio Kileksky.


    Alona sent photos of a sea of congrattory flower arrangements sent by friends and acquaintances, most of them through the Cross Academymunity.


    Surprisingly, the nerd tech billionaire attended to support theunch.


    It wasn''t only him. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    The French magnate and his wife attended. His wife loved the products so much, especially the ones under the Orchidia Beauty brand, that she offered to be an ambassador, even going so far as to list her aplishments as a semi-sessful runway model.


    Of course, Alona didn''t ept the offer right away and instead consulted Iris about it first.


    "I won''t interfere too much about how you run Orchidia Germany," Iris said. "I''ll give the final decision to you. I want to see whether you''ll sign her or not."


    "I feel more pressured all of a sudden," Alona replied. "But I ept the challenge. My team and I will check on her background first before making the final decision."


    "I trust in you."


    While Iris chatted with Alona Bauer, she continued reading other reports.