Chapter 93#
Chapter 93#
Qiao Nanqi’s words hammered into Zhao Rong’s eardrums bit by bit. He was dazed for a moment and opened his mouth, but didn’t know what he wanted to say.
Outside, people seemed to be busily walking back and forth. The sound of footsteps came and went, as if sliding across the beat of his heart.
“I like you, but I’m saying this,” Qiao Nanqi added, “not because I like you.”
It had nothing to do with romance.
Even if they were just chance acquaintances, or as they were now—without the relationship they once had—it was still an apology and an admission that Qiao Nanqi had to voice.
Zhao Rong understood the meaning behind it.
He suddenly felt a bit of sighing emotion, yet also a sense of relief.
It wasn’t just because of Qiao Nanqi.
It was also because of Zhao Ming, Fang Zhuoqun, Liu Shun, Xiao Wu, Liang Youjun…
Even the Chen family members who wanted to harm him.
He lowered his head, then slowly raised it again. Although he was lying in a hospital bed, although his face was slightly pale, and although his words carried the frailty of illness, what he said was filled with strength.
“Okay, I understand.”
Qiao Nanqi seemed to be waiting for him to unleash his pent-up emotions, but he only heard this simple verdict.
“You can scold me.”
“Why would I scold you?”
“I used to always say you were rotten inside, but actually, I was the one—”
“Neither of us are.” Zhao Rong’s eyes curved slightly, and his expression returned to its usual gentleness. “If I were still trapped in the past, I might have questioned you sarcastically upon hearing those words. From a friend’s perspective, I might say thank you.”
But if…
There was clearly more to his words, but as Qiao Nanqi waited, he paused, glanced at Qiao Nanqi, and brought up a completely unrelated topic: “Why are you wearing a black shirt today?”
Zhao Rong didn’t want to soften his stance just like that, exposing that he really wasn’t a hard-hearted person. So, he brought this up with the intention of casually changing the subject.
Unexpectedly, Qiao Nanqi’s expression flashed with panic for an instant.
It’s just asking about his clothes, isn’t it?
What’s there to be panicked about?
Zhao Rong’s confusion flashed for a moment, but before he could ask, dinner was delivered.
Their attention was diverted. Qiao Nanqi opened the door to bring in the food containers and said to him, “These past two days have been takeout. If it’s not to your taste, tell me immediately.”
Zhao Rong mumbled, “…I’m not that picky.”
For the next few days, Zhao Rong stayed in the ward to recover.
His injuries were external, and if handled properly, he could have actually gone home to rest. However, neither Qiao Nanqi, Xu Xin, nor Liang Youjun felt at ease, insisting that he stay in the hospital. Zhao Rong had no choice but to lie in the ward, feeling out of place while everyone else was scrambling around.
Zhao Rong naturally didn’t want to stay idle.
While waiting for Zhou Yueqing’s response, even though he was in the hospital, he remained in constant contact with his subordinates. Mere verbal threats weren’t enough to scare someone like Zhou Yueqing.
He needed a substantial gesture.
He found a breakthrough point, wanting to uncover the Zhou family’s minor maneuvers in certain projects.
He didn’t refuse Qiao Nanqi’s help as he had before. He consulted Qiao Nanqi from time to time while making the primary decisions himself. Within a few days, he indeed found an issue.
As expected, given the Zhou family’s situation, it was impossible for them to be clean elsewhere.
He had Xu Xin relay this discovered leverage to Zhou Yueqing. By the next day, he received her response.
— Zhou Yueqing chose the first path: to surrender and confess about the security guard. As for the competition between the Zhou family and Zhao Rong, it would be decided by their respective strengths.
Thus, the matter was settled.
The doctors Qiao Nanqi had brought in also began to understand and work on Zhao Ming’s treatment plan. The hospital gradually resumed operations, and the project Zhao Rong was working on with Ruan Cheng proceeded as planned without being affected.
It seemed that everything was orderly and the dust had settled.
Except…
Except for the matter between Zhao Rong and Qiao Nanqi.
Qiao Nanqi had been taking care of him the entire time. He clearly could have hired a nurse or let Liang Youjun stand guard, but he insisted on doing it himself, turning Zhao Rong’s ward into his temporary residence.
In addition to this, he also had to handle work. After Zhou Yueqing’s response came out, Qiao Nanqi was called away by Xiao Wu to handle company affairs.
Thinking about the man’s rather poor complexion lately, Zhao Rong felt a complex mix of emotions.
When Li-jie brought in Zhao Rong’s meal, he was looking at the white clouds outside the window, his gaze aimless, his mind cluttered with thoughts about the recent events.
“…Xiao Zhao?” Li-jie called him. “I’ve put it on the table for you.”
Zhao Rong snapped out of it: “Thank you, Sister. I heard from Youjun this morning that you moved into the hospital. I’m really troubling you, having you cook for me for so long and then moving here to take care of me.”
Li-jie didn’t have many reservations with Zhao Rong. She smiled and said casually, “How has it been long? I haven’t cooked for you in over six months. If Mr. Qiao hadn’t called me here two days ago, I wouldn’t even have known you moved.”
Zhao Rong was stunned.
He was a bit dazed by Li-jie’s reaction, his mind going blank for a second.
“…Two days ago?”
Li-jie didn’t notice anything was wrong. She set out the meal, patted her forehead, and said, “Oh, my memory. Xiao Zhao, Xiao Wu gave me the gift yesterday. You’re too polite. I’ve only been here for two days, and besides, I’m getting paid by Mr. Qiao. Why send a gift? I’ll bring it back to you tomorrow.”
“No…” Zhao Rong slowly sensed something was off, but he kept his face neutral and continued to smile. “Just keep it, Sister. If you don’t accept it, I’ll be too embarrassed to eat. I was even worried you wouldn’t like it and was thinking of what else to buy you.”
Li-jie had no choice but to let it go.
Zhao Rong’s heart, however, was in turmoil.
While eating, amidst his chaotic thoughts, Zhao Rong remembered that ever since he was injured, Qiao Nanqi had been handling these things. Even when the meals were delivered, it was Qiao Nanqi who placed them in front of him.
Only today, because Qiao Nanqi had urgent business and had to leave first, leaving only Li-jie to deliver the meal, did he finally find out.
Li-jie had only come to Zhuxi after he was injured, but the breakfasts he had eaten before were definitely in her style. They were different from the food he usually had in Zhuxi; some were even things Li-jie used to make specifically for him, which others might not know how to do.
Zhao Rong felt his heart thumping, seemingly accelerating in a hidden way.
He felt that such a speculation was too unrealistic.
Even when he was with Qiao Nanqi for over a year, he only occasionally made simple breakfasts. Most other things were handled by nannies and housekeepers.
Not to mention Qiao Nanqi.
Someone like Qiao Nanqi…
He lowered his eyes and head, hurriedly sipping some soup to hide his expression, and whispered, “I’m craving red date cake. I had it once last week, and now I’m missing the ones you make.”
Li-jie replied without thinking, “Then I’ll make it for you tomorrow! You must have eaten the one Mr. Qiao made before, right? He really learns things quickly. After a few tries, he’s almost better at it than I am.”
So…
So that was it.
He suddenly felt his suspended heart slowly land, but for some reason, it was stained with bitterness.
He still remembered that when Xiao Wu first brought him breakfast, in order to make Qiao Nanqi give up, he had even used Liang Youjun as an excuse out of spite.
But Qiao Nanqi still insistently sent a new portion.
If that meal was actually made by Qiao Nanqi’s own hands…
What kind of feelings did that man have back then—casting aside his dignity, breaking his proud spirit, and as if having rolled through the dirt—to silently make a new portion and send it to him?
When he met Qiao Nanqi in his youth, what he loved most was the man’s youthful vigor and gentleness, yet he always hid a core of pride. That pride seemed like it would never bend for anything, but after they were together, it became Qiao Nanqi’s arrogance toward him, which eventually made him both love and hate the man.
Now, he finally discovered that the man had already forcefully bent his pride for him long ago, after chasing him all the way to Zhuxi.
Zhao Rong’s eyes flashed with a daze. His left hand holding the soup spoon loosened, and with a “plop,” the spoon fell into the soup, splashing a small amount of liquid.
The soup splashed onto the tray table over the hospital bed. Li-jie exclaimed, “Oh, why were you so careless? Let me wipe it for you.”
“…Sorry,” Zhao Rong said quickly, “I was lost in thought.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
Is it really okay?
But his heart was already a tangled mess, like a ball of yarn that couldn’t find its end; one pull resulted in knot after knot, completely impossible to unravel.
There are so many things in this world that are impossible to sever or untangle; why did it seem like they all fell on his head?
Outside the ward.
Lu Xingping walked to the door, holding a thick stack of documents in one hand and his phone to his ear with the other, saying to Qiao Nanqi on the other end: “I still need to check these hospital matters with Zhao Rong in person. What on earth did the previous administrative people do? Just sat around eating for free.”
“…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll just tell him that you asked me to come help him take care of the hospital’s affairs.”
“…”
“Deal with your injury. Nanqi, I’ve heard the doctor next to you call your name four times already.”
“…”
At this moment, the ward door opened, and Li-jie walked out carrying the leftovers.
After closing the door and seeing Lu Xingping leaning against the wall on the phone, Li-jie didn’t make a sound. She smiled, waved to him, and left.
On the other end of the phone, Qiao Nanqi’s instructions were finished.
Lu Xingping yawned—clearly, it went in one ear and out the other.
He just listened as Qiao Nanqi stopped talking, curled his lips, glanced at the door to Zhao Rong’s ward, and suddenly said, “I’m going to let Zhao Rong decide on some of the expenditures after the hospital fire. Although there was no medical equipment on the top floor, a lot of records were burned, and the hidden losses are not low. It all depends on whether Zhao Rong is willing to spend a bit more money to make things easier.”
“You’ve said that already,” Qiao Nanqi said.
“Mm, then no matter what he asks me, I’ll tell him the truth, okay?”
Lu Xingping’s previous sentence was about being afraid Zhao Rong would think the costs were too high, and the next was asking if he could tell the truth. An ordinary person would naturally think he was talking about the same thing.
The area where Qiao Nanqi had been hit by falling equipment while saving Zhao Ming was acting up severely. At this moment, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his thinking wasn’t as precise as usual. He simply replied, “Okay, let Zhao Rong decide.”
Lu Xingping smiled and hung up the phone.
Holding the documents, he knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Zhao Rong called out instinctively from inside.
His mind was currently a mess, and his heart felt like it was beating irregularly, as if he were short of oxygen. He wanted to think, but didn’t know how.
If it weren’t for his unhealed injuries, Zhao Rong would have wanted to get up right then and find a windy place to clear his head.
Once the person entered, he turned his head and was surprised: “Senior!?”
Lu Xingping pulled up a chair and sat by the bed, saying calmly, “You sound energetic; your recovery is going well.”
Zhao Rong: “…”
He was stunned for a long while, looking at Lu Xingping and saying, “How are you…?”
“I heard something happened here, so I came two days ago. Nanqi and Yuantu aren’t as experienced as I am regarding hospitals. I’ve handled your hospital affairs; take a look at these documents. If you agree, we can proceed according to the plan.”
Zhao Rong had just recovered from the shock of Lu Xingping’s sudden appearance and said instinctively, “Thank you, Senior. I’ll finish processing these in a bit. You…”
“I didn’t expect to trouble you. Did Qiao Nanqi tell you? You guys…”
At this point, his feelings were complex, even a bit embarrassed.
His words faltered, and his fingers idly rubbed the documents as his gaze wavered. It took a long while before he calmed down and said, “It seems you know what happened after I came to Zhuxi.”
This naturally referred to the matter between him and Qiao Nanqi.
Zhao Rong felt that he was really useless.
In order to make Qiao Nanqi give up, he hadn’t told him the truth about the engagement. Although Qiao Nanqi found out on his own later, during the wedding, Lu Xingping had still shielded him from a lot of pressure.
“You look like you have a lot to say,” Lu Xingping directly pointed out his thoughts.
Zhao Rong hadn’t communicated so directly with someone in a long time and was momentarily dazed. He said slowly, “I have many thoughts, but when I say them, they don’t seem like much. I’m just… a bit embarrassed.”
Lu Xingping raised an eyebrow.
“I asked you for so much help, Senior, just so I could start over. When I left Yangcheng, you told me that if I was truly wavering, I might as well try new people and new things.” Zhao Rong sighed, “I really did try. But I…”
Lu Xingping was concise: “You failed?”
“Yes, I found that other people simply cannot move me.”
Lu Xingping immediately caught the key point: “You said, ‘other people.’”
Zhao Rong’s heart tightened.
He didn’t speak, clenching his hands. He felt that lying down like this made him seem vulnerable. He propped himself up to sit, and Lu Xingping didn’t stop him; instead, he helped raise the head of the bed and placed a pillow behind him.
Sitting up a bit straighter, Zhao Rong finally had some courage to admit it.
“Yes, it’s ‘other people’ who cannot.”
But Qiao Nanqi could.
Lu Xingping asked him back: “And then? Haven’t you started over?”
Zhao Rong was taken aback.
Lu Xingping asked again: “Haven’t you broken free from your previous constraints?”
“…Yes.”
“Haven’t you let go of your past regrets?”
“…I’ve let them go.”
“So, did you fail to successfully realize your ambitions and show your capabilities?”
“No… I succeeded, and even did better than I expected.”
“Then I don’t understand why you’re acting like you haven’t been able to start over.”
This question stumped Zhao Rong.
“I don’t know,” he finally gave up on logic. “Senior, I’m… very confused right now, extremely confused.”
“No matter how messy things are, there’s always a reason. Where is the root of your heart’s ailment?” Lu Xingping was quite calm. He even took out his phone and started playing a match-three game, saying while tapping the screen, “I know you might not tell others these things, as not many people know the full story. I happen to know, so I can listen, and maybe even…”
Lu Xingping frowned—he lost the game.
He started another round. “Maybe I can even tell you something, if you want to ask. Oh, by the way, don’t worry, I have Nanqi’s permission.”
On another floor of the hospital, Mr. Qiao, who was having his injured waist treated, had no idea that his simple nod of agreement was being used by Lu Xingping as a command from on high.
Although Zhao Rong didn’t quite understand what Lu Xingping’s last sentence meant, having held it in for so many days and finally finding an outlet, he couldn’t help but say: “Actually, after all this time, I’ve more or less heard his words and seen his actions.”
“Senior, you mentioned a root cause. There actually is one, and I’m not unaware of it.”
“It’s just that every time I’m on the verge of turning back, or when my heart is about to soften, I always think—on what basis?”
On what basis was it Qiao Nanqi who showed absolutely no love for him at the beginning, and also Qiao Nanqi who now reveals deep affection in every word and action?
On what basis can a reason like “didn’t realize I loved you” explain the past missed opportunities?
“I can’t help but think,” he finally said it out loud, “no normal person could be that cold to someone they like. I always thought it was my unrequited love and my own ignorance, but if he really is as he says, then what was that year or so we spent together?”
“Every time I think about this, I can’t help but feel that he doesn’t like me as much as he claims now. In the end, he’s just nostalgic for how well I treated him.”
Lu Xingping nodded: “That’s very logical. You’re right.”
Zhao Rong was stunned.
Seeing Lu Xingping appear in Zhuxi and take the initiative to lead the conversation toward Qiao Nanqi, he thought the man would mostly say things to take sides.
But in reality, after everything that had happened, he could no longer harden his heart. Qiao Nanqi’s actions had even given him courage again; what he lacked was the determination to let go of this obsession.
So even though he knew Lu Xingping might try to persuade him, he let it happen, even secretly hoping Lu Xingping would tell him: Forget it, don’t be so stubborn.
That way, he could convince himself to let go.
But this answer…
“Senior, you’re not here to persuade me? I thought you were here to give me some guidance.”
“Why would I persuade you? If I wanted to do that, I would have directly refused before fulfilling the engagement—wouldn’t that be easier than traveling thousands of miles to Zhuxi?”
“Then you…”
“But I can answer your questions, as long as you want to ask. What did you just ask?”
Zhao Rong’s head felt a bit dizzy. “I was just saying Qiao Nanqi…”
“I remember now. You asked why Nanqi would tell you he’s loved you for a long time only after you left?”
Zhao Rong nodded slowly.
If he truly walked away and never looked back, even if he could never feel for anyone else again, he would be clean and alone. That would perhaps just be a period of wasted time in his past memories.
But if he opened his heart…
…then this would become his greatest heartache right now.
“Actually, there might not be an answer to this question. Maybe he really is just that kind of person,” Zhao Rong said before Lu Xingping could speak. “I couldn’t help but say so much to you, Senior. It’s actually because I’m useless and my heart has softened. I need an excuse to settle.”
Lu Xingping laughed.
“You and Nanqi are really alike.”
Zhao Rong’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words were on the tip of his tongue and he didn’t know what they were.
“…How are we alike?” he just asked.
“You both insist on seeing certain things through to the end. But in reality, only by not being so stubborn can you see different perspectives.”
“If you don’t ask, I’m not here to persuade you; I would have done that long ago. But if you do ask, I told you on your wedding day: I’ll help you to the very end.”
Only now did Zhao Rong vaguely sense that Lu Xingping seemed to know some things he didn’t.
“I’m asking,” he didn’t hesitate at all. “I want the answer.”