The little girl couldn't help pouting.
"Mom... you were mean to me..."
She was already so miserable.
And Mom was still being mean to her.
At the thought, another burning sensation welled up in the corners of her eyes.
"Oh."
Doctor Zhang leaned closer to the child so he could hear her better.
"Mom was mean to you?"
He glanced at the woman, who looked shocked and confused at hearing this.
"I wasn't mean to you."
The woman couldn't help defending herself.
"How could Mom be mean to you?"
How could she be mean to her child when she was so weak?
Even if the child had done something wrong, she wouldn't "hold it against her" at a time like this.
The little girl's cheeks puffed up.
Mom had been mean to her.
The child felt both indignant and aggrieved.
Her expression was so complicated.
The woman was speechless.
Had she really been mean to the child?
How did she not even know?
The woman looked utterly bewildered.
Xiao Xiao spoke.
"Perhaps you were so worried that you sounded a little anxious..."
That might have made it sound as if she were scolding the child.
Especially since the other person was a child.
A child who was injured and especially sensitive and vulnerable.
So even a slightly raised voice might give her quite a fright.
"That's right."
Grandpa Zou nodded.
"When you get anxious, dear, you tend to lose all restraint."
"And your voice gets loud."
The woman was speechless.
She couldn't remember how she'd acted earlier.
After all, her mind had been filled with thoughts of her injured daughter.
But she knew that when she got anxious—
And it wasn't just her.
Many people were like that.
The stronger their emotions, the