Chapter 38#

When Liu Shun arrived at Zhao Rong’s place, he pushed the door open directly as Zhao Rong had instructed.

As soon as he entered, he saw the living room with not a single light on. The French windows at the far end were wide open, a chilly wind blowing in, and the drawn curtains on either side swayed in the breeze, giving a desolate feel.

There seemed to be a bundle of bedding by the window, bulging, as if something was hidden underneath.

For a moment, Liu Shun thought he had the wrong door.

He immediately stepped back, closed the door, and checked the house number on the wall again.

“Six,” Zhao Rong’s voice came from inside, “you’re at the right place.”

Liu Shun pushed the door open again. From the bulging bundle of bedding, Zhao Rong poked his head out: “Come over and sit.”

Liu Shun then realized that the “giant dumpling” he’d seen by the window was actually Zhao Rong.

He: “…”

He walked over, found a spot on the carpet to sit down, looked at the open window and Zhao Rong bundled up like a dumpling, and blurted out: “Third Young Master, why are you wrapped up like that?”

“Cold.”

“Then why not close the window?”

Zhao Rong shook his head: “I want to feel the wind.”

Liu Shun: “…”

Their Third Young Master hadn’t lost his mind due to the family’s bankruptcy, had he?

Ever since the Chen family’s downfall, Zhao Rong seemed increasingly different from before.

Whether it was his attire, his words and actions, or his demeanor, he no longer resembled the Chen family’s Third Young Master who had navigated their social circle with such ease. When Zhao Rong came to the bar today, at first glance, he looked like a student who had wandered into the vibrant nightlife scene by mistake.

Then there was his attitude toward Yu Xian earlier. Before, anyone who knew Zhao Rong would say he was easygoing. Even when he heard others calling him a playboy, a fool, or an illegitimate child who wasn’t even legitimate, Zhao Rong would just smile and say nothing. He would never have been as assertive as he was tonight.

And now it was strange again. Although Zhao Rong used to know how to have fun, he always carried a sense of restraint in his words and actions. Even when sitting, he would sit properly, his entire being meticulously neat from head to toe. He would never have casually wrapped himself in a blanket and sat on the floor like this, without a care.

He had become much more spontaneous and less restrained.

The strangest thing was what happened with Qiao Da today…

Liu Shun was bursting with questions, but there were so many that he didn’t know where to start.

Seeing Liu Shun’s conflicted expression, Zhao Rong could guess that he must have many questions.

He said, “The bar we went to tonight—I did invest in it. But it was quite a while ago, and it was under a friend’s name, so I never mentioned it. I’m planning to transfer it in a couple of days, so it won’t have anything to do with me soon. Just pretend you don’t know, it’s fine.”

Liu Shun, a genuinely good-for-nothing rich second-generation heir, didn’t really understand such matters.

But he wasn’t interested anyway.

Rather than that…

“Um, what exactly happened with Qiao Da tonight…? He saw the person I found for you today, didn’t he? He’s not going to find out you’re trying to pursue Lu Xingping, is he? Geez, what if Qiao Da comes after us?”

Zhao Rong squinted, gazing lazily at the night view outside, and said softly, “Actually, I don’t know either.”

“Huh?”

Zhao Rong truly didn’t know.

He knew that Qiao Nanqi had come tonight specifically for him, but he didn’t know why Qiao Nanqi had done so.

He had chased after this man for ten years, foolishly gaining nothing. He had never blamed Qiao Nanqi; it was his own choice. So he had eventually chosen to give up, parting with Qiao Nanqi on amicable terms. He went off to pursue the life he wanted, while Qiao Nanqi continued a life where his presence or absence made no difference.

They should have each lived their own lives.

Yet now, when he had finally managed to extricate himself, this man easily told him “I like you.”

As if he were the one pining without being loved in return.

But if Qiao Nanqi truly had any affection for him, how could they have ended up where they were today, step by step, over all those years?

“Six, let me ask you a question.”

“Yeah?”

“What do you think… is there anything about me worth scheming for?”

“That’s easy!” Liu Shun answered without thinking. “Haven’t I been helping you find someone these past few days? Tsk, with today’s guy, I just showed him your photo, and he agreed to come right away. Don’t worry, I vetted today’s guy. He doesn’t have a messy personal life. Sure, he wants money, but he’s not completely obsessed with it. It’ll definitely go smoothly!”

Zhao Rong was caught between laughter and tears: “That’s not what I was asking.”

For a moment, after learning that Qiao Nanqi had witnessed everything tonight, Zhao Rong had wondered if Qiao Nanqi was after the assets he still had.

In the original text of Return Journey, He Nan and the Chen family had been in cahoots for many years, and in recent years, the Chen family had bled the Qiao family dry. That was why Qiao Nanqi had brought the Chen family to its current state, wiping out all of their visible assets.

If Qiao Nanqi knew that he still had some money, would he think he was still hiding some of the Chen family’s assets? Or… would he guess that he was connected to the half of the Chen family’s inheritance that had vanished?

That shouldn’t be.

Even in the original story, the reason Qiao Nanqi was able to slap down his cannon fodder character and successfully obtain that half of the inheritance was because he learned about it from Lu Xingping.

Thinking about it this way, perhaps it was simply because he had always been too foolish.

So foolish that even after they broke up, Qiao Nanqi still saw him as the secret “lover” who had lived in his home.

So foolish that after he moved out, Qiao Nanqi still thought he would continue to take care of every little detail in that house.

Maybe Qiao Nanqi truly wanted him to return. But rather than Qiao Nanqi liking him or missing him, it was more accurate to say Qiao Nanqi just missed and liked the obedience and meticulous care of the past year or so.

But what was that all about?

Was he supposed to move back, continuing to spend every day guessing how to make Qiao Nanqi happy and how not to upset him? Constantly worrying about the details of caring for him, being at Qiao Nanqi’s beck and call to satisfy his needs, only to be kicked out without dignity once Qiao Nanqi grew tired of him?

That would be truly pathetic.

“So Qiao Da…” Liu Shun scratched his head. “I still don’t get it. What exactly happened at the bar earlier? I didn’t dare tell my friends that was Qiao Da, otherwise they wouldn’t sleep well tonight either.”

“It’s nothing. Long story short, the person I was with before was Qiao Nanqi.”

Liu Shun nodded: “Oh, I see. That makes sense— WHAT!?!?!?”

As Liu Shun’s voice shot up uncontrollably, Zhao Rong’s phone lit up on the carpet, several notifications popping up in quick succession.

Zhao Rong yawned wearily, reached his hand out from under the blanket, and brought the phone up to look at it. Before his yawn was finished, he froze.

Meanwhile, the notifications kept appearing.

Zhao Rong frowned.

It was voice messages from Qiao Nanqi. Three or four of them, and still counting.

After returning home, Qiao Nanqi did nothing but stare at the stomach medicine Zhao Rong had given him for a long while.

He had drunk quite a bit today, and even after getting home, his head was still pounding fiercely. Even the slightest movement made him feel like he was going to vomit.

But his stomach had long since emptied itself. Even if he did vomit now, it would only be dry heaving, his insides churning, his stomach aching.

He should have drunk some water, taken his medicine, and gone to rest, but his mind was unusually clear.

Because of the stomach medicine in his hand.

If it was just a bottle of stomach medicine that had been opened, something someone had carried with them, it could be that Zhao Rong had gotten it from a friend, or that the bar had provided it. Maybe it wasn’t anything to think too much about.

But he thought of the cup of tea in front of Zhao Rong.

He had always thought Zhao Rong enjoyed such occasions. When Lu Xingping had first brought Zhao Rong into their social circle, Zhao Rong had navigated it with ease, holding his own and drinking plenty. After they got together, he said he didn’t like Zhao Rong going, and Zhao Rong never went again. But sometimes he would still go out with Liu Shun and the others, occasionally coming back smelling of alcohol, which he’d catch him at.

It seemed clear that Zhao Rong could hold his liquor.

But if Zhao Rong truly enjoyed those things, why had he, in the setting earlier, only had a cup of hot tea in front of him from beginning to end?

Qiao Nanqi also thought of the phone call from the pet store receptionist to Zhao Rong a couple of days ago.

At that time, Zhao Rong hadn’t dealt with the cat situation immediately. Instead, he had asked the girl to give the phone to him, saying he would handle it later.

The receptionist had mentioned that Zhao Rong was at the hospital for a check-up.

Each of these events, taken individually, seemed ordinary.

But when connected, the answer was clear.

Qiao Nanqi unconsciously tightened his grip on the medicine bottle, the plastic container denting under his fingers.

The headache and stomach ache he’d had earlier couldn’t compare to the pain he felt at this moment of realization.

A suffocating wave of frustration suddenly overwhelmed him, rendering all the grace and restraint he’d cultivated over the years useless. He abruptly stood up and, in a burst of venting, kicked over the coffee table in front of him.

The clattering and crashing sounds pierced the air.

He looked at the mess on the floor, his thoughts as shattered as the scattered glass.

When had Zhao Rong reached the point of needing to carry stomach medicine with him?

No, he didn’t even know Zhao Rong had a stomach condition. He didn’t even know what the check-up at the hospital was for.

When had this problem started?

And… why did it happen?

Was it recently? Or was it while he was with him? Or even earlier, when he thought Zhao Rong was always enjoying drinking and socializing with them?

They had lived under the same roof, slept in the same bed for over a year, yet he had never known Zhao Rong had such health issues.

It was only today that he realized why Zhao Rong had gone to the bathroom several times back then, always returning with water droplets on his face.

Yet Zhao Rong, when he had stood up to leave, knew he was going to the bathroom, knew he would have a headache, a stomach ache, and would need tissues.

Was this considerate thoughtfulness, or… experience born from having been through it himself?

“Tick—tock—”

“…”

The pendulum clock swung.

For a long time.

Qiao Nanqi slowly emerged from his chaotic thoughts, noticing his phone lying on the floor along with the overturned table.

The phone was amidst the broken glass scattered from the table.

Ignoring it, he stepped forward and picked up the phone directly.

It seemed a piece of glass had pricked his fingertip, a trace of blood seeping out.

Qiao Nanqi paid no attention.

He opened his chat with Zhao Rong—Zhao Rong wasn’t answering his calls, so messaging was his only way to contact him now.

The last message in the chat remained his earlier line: “It’s not that I don’t like you.”

It sat there, as calm as stagnant water.

He hesitated yet urgently typed and deleted many things in the input box, finally pressing the voice message button.

“Zhao Rong, I…”

“The stomach medicine you gave me today… is it yours?”

“I don’t have any other intentions… I’m just a little worried.”

“Let me find you a reputable doctor.”

“I…”

He paused, looking at the series of voice messages he had sent, experiencing the feeling of unease for the first time.

He sent another one.

“—I’m sorry.”

But this time, as soon as the message was sent, a red exclamation mark immediately appeared at the end of the voice message bar.

This carefully worded, sincere apology hadn’t gone through at all.

Zhao Rong had deleted him.