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After Cheng Chen sent the message, he didn’t rush back to the ward. He looked at the [the message was sent successfully] notification on the screen, waiting for a reply that he didn’t get, even after waiting for a long time.
Reluctance painted clearly on his face, he pursed his lower lip and finally turned off his phone.
As soon as he turned around, he bumped into Auntie Cheng who was coming out of the ward.
“Who are you sending a message to? You’ve taken so long.”
Cheng Chen said calmly, “I tried to contact Tongtong’s classmates… Why did you come out from inside?”
Auntie Cheng replied, “I have something to tell you – do you know Jiang Wan? I heard that you had a project some time ago that sought investment from the Jiang family?”
Cheng Chen said, “I did make a contact with her. Is there something wrong?”
Auntie Cheng: “Before Tongtong returned from the banquet, he met Jiang Wan in the lounge. When he went back, his face was not quite right. I think Tongtong’s fainting this time may not be as simple as his poor health as usual.”
Cheng Chen was stunned for a while. Then he suddenly frowned and said, “Tongtong has met Jiang Wan at the banquet?”
His reaction was a little big, making Auntie Cheng think that something is really wrong. Her heart sank as she asked, “Do you know what she’s trying to do?”
“…”
Cheng Chen did not speak.
He thought of what Jiang Wan had said to him when she met Zhu Tong in a bar that day.
But he had warned her at the time.
Jiang Wan was not someone who knew her limit. What was she going to do with Zhu Tong?
Cheng Chen squinted and said, “I’ll go and ask her.”
Zhu Tong slept for a whole day, but it wasn’t restful. He only woke up the next night.
When he woke up, he saw a couple of people guarding his bed.
What surprised him even more was that his grandfather was here.
Everyone looked at him with an expression of distress and hesitation.
‘…What’s going on here?’
Auntie Cheng took the lead and said, “Tongtong, is there any discomfort in your body?”
Zhu Tong mechanically shook his head.
“Anything you want to say?”
Zhu Tong: “…No.”
He was a little confused.
His auntie continued to ask, “Are you hungry now? Thirsty? Do you want to drink water?”
Zhu Tong glanced at his IV drip, hanging there since who-knows-when. His voice was quite wispy as he said, “I want to go to the bathroom.”
“Go to the bathroom?” Auntie froze for a moment. “Okay, okay, let your cousin take you there.”
Saying that, she directly kicked Cheng Chen next to her. “Stop playing with your phone, hurry up.”
Cheng Chen: “…”
He was already moving.
There’s no need to kick him! Sigh, it’s not that he can complain, right?
Cheng Chen put away his mobile phone and was about to maneuver the IV drip so it won’t get in the way. But then, he saw Zhu Tong had already skillfully pulled the needle, lifted the quilt and landed on his feet.
“…”
However, since he had slept for so long, when he got up, he inevitably felt dizzy. He still needs outside help.
As soon as Zhu Tong entered the bathroom, Auntie Cheng sighed heavily, “This child is still the same as before, burying everything in his heart. I don’t know how many injustices he has suffered over the years… That beast Zhu Shoushan isn’t a human! He can even sell his only son! He…”
The more Auntie Cheng rambled, the more angry and distressed she became, causing her chest to feel heavy. She looked at Cheng Qingsong and said, “If we had known that Tongtong would suffer like this, we shouldn’t have left the twins at the Zhu family in the first place, even if he and Xiao Xin were crying!”
“…”
Children always longed for a loving home.
Cheng Qingsong was angry that Cheng Lan refused to listen to his persuasion and insisted on marrying Zhu Shoushan.
After all, Zhu Shoushan was the father of the twins, and he was still caring for the family before Cheng Lan died. Compared with the grandfather who they had only met a scant few times, it’s no brainer that they chose to stay with the father they had known their whole life.
That’s why when they heard that their maternal grandfather was going to take them away, the twins cried out in shock.
Cheng Qingsong was helpless and could only leave his grandchildren at the Zhu family’s house.
Over the past ten years, he has also had the intention of bringing Zhu Tong back to the Cheng family, but each time, he was rejected by Zhu Tong’s glib “no need, Grandpa”.
Zhu Tong, who frequently stays in the hospital, exudes an aura of keeping others at arm’s length, both inside and out.
He left the two children at the Zhu family out of respect for their own wishes, not to let Zhu Shoushan treat them as objects to be manipulated at will!
His face darkened.
In the bathroom, Zhu Tong didn’t rush back to the ward after going to the bathroom. He was a little uncomfortable being stared at by his elders. He felt much better in front of his peers.
He bluntly asked, “Do Grandpa and the others know something?”
Cheng Chen put his hands on the door frame and said, “They don’t know, are you not going to tell them?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
Zhu Shoushan planned to marry him with the Jiang family, but he really didn’t plan to tell his grandfather at first.
Firstly, if it’s something he could handle himself, his father wouldn’t dare to really force him.
Secondly, when Jiang Wan asked about his relationship with his cousin yesterday, he didn’t understand it at the time. But upon closer consideration, he realized that Jiang Wan had proposed the marriage alliance herself and then easily reneged on it, even betraying her own father, Zhu Shoushan. Her strange behavior stemmed from the fact that her goal from the beginning wasn’t the marriage alliance, but rather the Cheng family.
She is testing something.
Testing what? Was she prodding about his relationship with Cheng Chen? Maybe a little deeper, his relationship with his grandfather.
But how did Jiang Wan know? Did Qin Junhong tell her?
But if it’s about his grandfather, would Qin Junhong have such courage?
He suddenly fell silent, surprising Cheng Chen, who said, “Really? You’re not going to say anything? Do you really care that much about your worthless father? Sold out and still counting money for him? Are you so angry that you’d rather be driven to death by him before you’d feel satisfied?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
Once the term “being sold” was mentioned, Zhu Tong was certain that they had all found out.
But his faiting this time really wasn’t caused by his father’s short-sighted selfishness.
“It wasn’t because of him that I fainted.”
Cheng Chen asked, “So who’s the cause? Shao Ming?”
Zhu Tong was stunned and raised his head sharply.
Cheng Chen was even more stunned than him. “Damn it, really?”
“…”
Zhu Tong asked, “How did you know?”
The incident at the milk tea shop was something he asked his cousin to help with, but he couldn’t connect it to Shao Ming causing him to faint no matter how hard he tried to think about it, right?
Does his cousin know something?
Astonished, Cheng Chen directly said, “After you passed out, you talked in your sleep and called his name all night. How could I not know?”
Zhu Tong immediately blurted out: “Impossible.”
He never sleep talk.
“I knew you wouldn’t admit it.” Cheng Chen said and took out his mobile phone, “I even recorded it last night.”
Zhu Tong: “…”
Without so much of asking his permission, his dearest cousin played the recording directly in front of Zhu Tong.
The sound might be faint, but it’s clear.
The evidence is conclusive, and Young Master Zhu can not argue with it.
He said dryly, “Did I really say that last night?”
Cheng Chen raised his phone, dangling it in front of Zhu Tong. “Can’t you recognize your own voice?”
“…”
“What’s wrong? A young couple’s quarrel? Or did that brat bully you?”
Zhu Tong was startled, his face flushed instantly, “What did you say? What kind of young couple are we, ah?”
Cheng Chen said, “If you two aren’t dating, then why would you call his name all night…”
Suddenly realizing something, Cheng Chen said in shock, “D-don’t tell me… Did you break up yesterday? You fainted suddenly because you were dumped?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
Why does his cousin have such a wild imagination?
He felt incredulous. “We’re not together in the first place.”
Cheng Chen’s eyes widened even further. “It’s an unrequited love, then?”
Zhu Tong: “…”
What is this all about?
Cheng Chen was surprised for a moment. If it was unrequited love, then perhaps it was better not to mention the matter of him providing information out of friendship for now.
If he learned that the news didn’t reach the person and there wasn’t even a phone call, how disappointed would his cousin be?
Cheng Chen encouraged him again, “It’s okay to have unrequited love. If you like someone, go for it. As long as you work hard, even an iron rod can be ground into a needle. What’s there to be afraid of?”
Zhu Tong blurted out, “You want me, someone with a body that can give out at any given moment, to chase someone? For what…”
The youth’s unfiltered words, clearly coming from his heart, stunned both of them at the same time.
Although Cheng Chen always teases Zhu Tong for being adventurous and reckless, he still cares a lot about this cousin.
Zhu Tong has always been calm and steady in front of them all, never showing his emotions on the surface. When others worry about him, he always calmly reassures them, despite being the sickly patient himself.
‘Tongtong… Since when did he say such depressing words?’
“You…”
“Cousin, let’s go out.”
“…”
Zhu Tong interrupted Cheng Chen’s questioning, and his heart was numb for a while.
What did he just say?
As the words left his mouth, it was as if something inside him suddenly opened up, allowing him to realize something.
In the past, he was frail and sick, and his daily thought was to live one more day.
He no longer cared when he’s going to die, because there was nothing worth caring about.
After the system appeared, Xiao Xin became his concern, because he saw Qin Junhong and his mother’s scheme. He knew that Xiao Xin would not have a good life in the future.
He accepted the system’s mission, all because he wanted to change Xiao Xin’s fate. Suddenly, he had a goal worth living.
He went to Gongshui County to find Shao Ming, just to prolong his life.
He treats Shao Ming well because of the favorability level requirement.
But then, he started to feel other things.
He felt moved because Shao Ming took care of him and gave him lessons.
He always couldn’t help but blush and feel his heart race because Shao Ming always said things and did things that made him blush and his heart raced.
He didn’t resent or reject it because Shao Ming was his life-saving talisman, so he could tolerate anything Shao Ming did to him.
But.. there might be another reason for the compromises and indulgences he gave Shao Ming again and again.
He never thought deeply about it, did he?
Because of his physical condition, he never thought that he would enter a romantic relationship with another person.
The inexplicable concern, the uncontrollable heartbeats, and the person he couldn’t stop thinking about after returning to A City might not be because of the mission, but simply because… he liked that person.
He likes Shao Ming.
When this answer emerged, Zhu Tong only felt enlightened.
After he walked out of the bathroom, he quickly walked back to his hospital bed, trying to find his phone from under the pillow. However, he didn’t find it.
“Where’s my phone?”
Auntie Cheng asked, “What phone?”
Zhu Tong: “My ph–”
Before he could finish answering, he suddenly remembered.
Before fainting, he held the phone in his hand in order to receive a reply in time.
After he fainted, his phone fell to the ground.
It should be still in the Zhu family’s villa currently.
Zhu Tong raised his head and asked, “When will I be discharged from the hospital?”
Cheng Qingsong’s complexion wasn’t great to begin with, but in front of his grandson, he couldn’t afford to look stern. He asked, “Why are you in such a hurry to leave the hospital?”
Zhu Tong said, “I want to go back and get it…”
As he trailed off, his grandfather’s face turned black at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Cheng Qingsong went straight to the point. “You don’t need to return to the Zhu family. Tomorrow, I will hold a press conference to announce your and Xiao Xin’s identities. From today onwards, you…”
“Grandpa, no need.”
Zhu Tong blurted out another refusal.
Cheng Qingsong’s face turned even darker.
Zhu Tong said anxiously, “Grandpa, can we not hold a press conference?”
He still remembered that time when his cousin invited Zhuo Yunan to come forward to defend Shao Ming’s milk tea shop, and the speculation swirling around at school was already a nuisance. Now, with the announcement of his relation to his grandfather, someone on the Forbes’ richest list, tomorrow’s press conference will undoubtedly thrust him into the headlines of major news outlets. In this case, can he still go back to school in Gongshui County?
He was afraid that the gossip in the school would drown him.
He didn’t want to have to be followed by bodyguards when he went to school!
But Elder Cheng obviously misunderstood. He looked at Zhu Tong and said nothing.
Zhu Tong quickly realized what his grandfather wanted to do, and changed his approach. “Can we… be more low-key?”
Cheng Qingsong: “…”
“And actually, I don’t want to go back to the villa. I just want to get my phone I left there.”
“…”
In the end, through persistent persuasion, Cheng Qingsong agreed to cancel the press conference, but he still insisted that Zhu Tong couldn’t return to the Zhu family.
Uncle Liu brought the mobile phone to him.
The frustrated Zhu Tong, who couldn’t get his phone immediately, sat on the hospital bed feeling disappointed.
“Want to contact your sweetheart?” Cheng Chen handed him his mobile phone.
“…”
Zhu Tong was silent for a moment, but he didn’t refute, just shook his head.
Cheng Chen said, “Why? You don’t remember his phone number? Then you are too insincere.”
Zhu Tong: “…”
It wasn’t Shao Ming who he wanted to contact – he didn’t dare to do that.
He wanted to contact Luo Suo.
He had to figure out what the hell happened yesterday. Why did the favorability level suddenly plummet? Why is it suddenly soaring again?
He couldn’t ask Shao Ming directly about this matter. What if Shao Ming forgot about it after a day, and so, if he suddenly brought it up again, the favorability would plummet again?
He didn’t want to faint again.
The first thing Zhu Tong did after getting his phone was to check his notification.
He had a missed call.
From Shao Ming.
