Chapter 56#

The next day.

Zhao Ming’s caregiver had a temporary family emergency and called to ask Zhao Rong if she could take leave.

Zhao Rong inquired and found that Zhao Ming was in good spirits today; she had been knitting a scarf on the sofa since early morning. So he let her go home to handle things first, tidied himself up, and had Xu Xin drive him to the nursing home.

Amidst the heavy traffic, Xu Xin turned the steering wheel and asked him: “What happened last night? Suddenly wanting to hire people.”

“Something neither big nor small,” Zhao Rong said. “Second Uncle’s driver came looking for money yesterday. I’m worried he might resort to violence if he doesn’t get it, so I want to find some people to watch near the house for a while.”

“I seem to have some impression of that person…” Xu Xin frowned. “A local thug, no real ability, used to only know how to throw his weight around and get physical.”

“Any findings on Ruan Cheng’s matter?”

Xu Xin shook his head: “Not that fast.”

Zhao Rong said no more, closing his eyes to feign sleep.

He planned to spend the whole day with Zhao Ming at the nursing home. Upon reaching the door, he let Xu Xin drive back to rest first.

As he pushed the door and entered, Zhao Rong heard the relatively loud sound of a variety show on the television.

He was about to walk to Zhao Ming’s side when he looked up and stopped in his tracks.

In the living room, a finished gray knitted scarf was neatly folded and placed aside. Zhao Ming was sitting on the sofa, and Qiao Nanqi was sitting on the other side, accompanying Zhao Ming in making some small handmade trinkets.

A row of things was piled on the coffee table. From the outer packaging, they were all the kind of handicrafts used to pass the time.

Zhao Ming clearly enjoyed it, working on them with a beaming smile. Although Qiao Nanqi’s smile wasn’t deep and his expression was as profound as ever, his gaze was earnestly fixed on what Zhao Ming was doing. He spoke occasionally, as if teaching her.

He was smart to begin with and could learn anything instantly. Every time he spoke a tip, Zhao Ming could immediately correct herself.

At this moment, in this square inch of space, there was actually a hint of a noisy yet peaceful feeling.

This was once the scene Zhao Rong most expected to happen, and it was suddenly delivered before him at this moment. Standing by the door, Zhao Rong was truly touched for a second.

This person came uninvited, and he was somewhat angry, yet this scene too closely matched his past expectations, making him feel momentarily conflicted. It was as if he had already walked hundreds or thousands of steps forward, and looking back at the fork in the road, he found that it had belatedly become filled with brilliant colors.

But he was going to walk even further.

He was going to hold a fake but grand wedding with Lu Xingping.

He was also going to leave Yang City.

Perhaps because the variety show was too loud, neither of them reacted when Zhao Rong opened the door.

After a few seconds, as if sensing Zhao Rong’s gaze, Qiao Nanqi looked up and suddenly met Zhao Rong’s eyes.

Upon first seeing Zhao Rong, a flash of subtle joy crossed Qiao Nanqi’s eyes.

But after seeing Zhao Rong’s expression, he seemed to panic for an instant. He failed to hold the tool he was helping Zhao Ming with steadily, and it fell onto the table with a “clack.”

He stood up: “I…”

Zhao Ming turned her head: “Xiao Rong is here? I saw your friend waiting for you outside again today, so I let him in to sit. I didn’t expect him to be so polite, bringing so many things.”

The cold face Zhao Rong had for Qiao Nanqi was put away at this moment. He walked forward slowly, as if not seeing Qiao Nanqi at all, and picked up the fluffy gray scarf.

“Mom finished knitting it?”

“Just finished. I saw you always wearing a coffee-colored one before, so I wanted to prepare a gray one for you; you like it too. It’s just that Xiao Rong has too many scarves, I don’t know if you’ll use it.”

Actually, Zhao Rong had worn all kinds of scarves. His health hadn’t been very good since childhood, and he was prone to fevers and colds, always being quite afraid of the cold. In winter, he basically never went without a scarf; he always had to wear one.

He liked plain colors; most of his scarves were black, white, brown, or similar. If there was a difference, at most some were worn more often and some less.

Zhao Ming would say he always wore that one because she didn’t actually remember things well; otherwise, she wouldn’t have forgotten what Qiao Nanqi, whom she had met once, looked like.

What she could remember were mostly things from his childhood or scenes that had happened far too many times in recent years.

Zhao Rong hadn’t only worn one scarf; Zhao Rong had also told her he had many. She thought Zhao Rong only wore that one simply because…

In the past few years, Zhao Rong had worn that scarf most frequently.

Zhao Rong knew this well and had no mind to explain it to Zhao Ming in front of Qiao Nanqi.

He just smiled and said: “I’ll use it.”

He sat down to the side holding the scarf, still not looking at Qiao Nanqi, letting him remain standing.

He continued casually: “I can’t find other scarves anymore, and I don’t like coffee color. It’s easy to get tired of things after using them too much; it’s good to change to a new one.”

Qiao Nanqi’s gaze froze. He clearly understood the meaning in Zhao Rong’s words—before they were together, in a place of entertainment, the scarf he had handed Zhao Rong to wipe his face was coffee-colored.

His breathing hitched slightly, and his eyes were bitter. He actually became dejected in an instant.

Zhao Rong didn’t see Qiao Nanqi’s expression at all.

He neither drove him away nor hosted him.

He didn’t even say a word to let Qiao Nanqi sit down, chatting with Zhao Ming on his own. He also didn’t reject the things Qiao Nanqi had brought, continuing to work on the handicrafts with Zhao Ming. For some reason, even though there was a chair behind him, Qiao Nanqi just stood there, watching.

Zhao Ming didn’t process many things and didn’t notice Qiao Nanqi was standing the whole time.

This standing lasted for over an hour.

Qiao Nanqi watched as Zhao Rong smiled from time to time. When those peach blossom eyes curved, they seemed to hook all the free spirit in the world.

Those light black eyes were even more like stars and the moon, very bright, as if they could contain everything.

But his eyes alone did not hold him.

He could only watch.

During that time, he went to pour two cups of water. Zhao Ming drank, but Zhao Rong didn’t touch his.

His legs grew somewhat numb from standing, but Zhao Rong didn’t speak. He was truly worried Zhao Rong would be angry and actually felt that Zhao Rong not speaking to drive him away was already treating him well.

Seeing Zhao Rong smile, he even thought that if standing like this allowed him to see more, it was also quite good.

When Zhao Ming grew tired and fell asleep in her room, Zhao Rong, who remained in the living room, finally looked at Qiao Nanqi.

As his gaze shifted, all his previous gentle expressions were retracted, leaving only a faint coldness.

Qiao Nanqi knew he was about to be asked to leave and spoke first: “I’m sorry for coming uninvited today.”

“Thanks to you never having come uninvited before, Mr. Qiao,” Zhao Rong laughed softly, as if telling a joke. “That’s why my mother didn’t recognize you and let you in to sit, to do these things on a whim.”

Qiao Nanqi’s face stiffened.

“It’s not on a whim.”

“…I didn’t think you’d forgive or accept me because of this.”

Zhao Rong blinked slowly, saying nothing.

It was as if he were letting Qiao Nanqi finish.

His features were naturally very gentle, with tenderness in his brows and eyes. Even when he was sharp, it was only his words that were sharp. When his face was cold, it was only his gaze that was colder.

Such a face, when quiet, was particularly disarming.

Watching him, Qiao Nanqi even had a fleeting moment of distraction; he wanted to hold Zhao Rong, wanted to bury himself in Zhao Rong’s neck as before.

But it was only fleeting; he didn’t dare think about it further.

Previously in such a situation, Zhao Rong would either directly cut him off or speak up in rebuttal. This kind of silence actually made Qiao Nanqi somewhat apprehensive.

“I know I missed a lot in the past. I didn’t help when I should have. Now everything I do is just mending the fold after the sheep is lost. But you…”

He looked at Zhao Rong’s expression cautiously and then continued: “But she is your only relative, and I also want her to be happy. I wasn’t able to help before, but I can in the future. I’ve already asked people to look for other specialists. If there’s good news, I’ll bring them immediately.”

“I’ve figured it out these past few days. My previous way was wrong. I’ll change to another way. If you’re unwilling to believe in sudden love, then I’ll make this love longer, even longer.”

“If you don’t have time, I can come and talk to her. I can also learn to do other things, to take care of her, to take care of you. I missed one year, but I can use the same year, even two or three… I won’t cause you trouble. I told your mother we’re just friends; you can even just treat me as a caregiver…”

Zhao Rong lowered his head and quietly listened to Qiao Nanqi’s words.

In the end, he only asked: “How much did the things you brought cost?”

Qiao Nanqi was stunned.

His Adam’s apple moved slightly. He didn’t want to say, yet he didn’t dare not to.

So he almost ground out half the price from his throat.

Zhao Rong nodded slightly: “I’ll transfer it to Xiao Wu and have him return it to you.”

“Zhao Rong, what I just said…”

“I heard what you just said,” Zhao Rong raised his head slowly and met Qiao Nanqi’s gaze directly. “I know what you mean.”

“But persistence is something that can only be proven after time has passed. It only has a good ending at the moment it reaches the destination. But in every single day, it faces the two forks of continuing or failing. This kind of persistence might fail. You might think now that you can persist for many years, but…”

“You’ve only been here for one day…”

“I…”

Qiao Nanqi seemed to want to rebut. But Zhao Rong wasn’t wrong, and he had no way to rebut.

“Yes, I am an ordinary person, and I indeed hope for someone who can form a family with me, accompanying me and my mother every day. But you can come today because of a momentary inability to let go of me, and you can come tomorrow. What about after a month? After a year? You have so many things, you have your career. How many people are scrambling for and watching what the Qiao family possesses now? How could you possibly come every day to do this kind of time-wasting thing?”

“I can.” Without hesitation.

“Then what about the career, property, and status you’ve schemed for all these years? What about the success and fame you’ve maintained until now?”

Qiao Nanqi froze this time.

He had never been asked such a question.

From childhood to adulthood, people who approached him either did so to take these things from his hands or to rely on them. No one had ever asked him to choose between the two—a question that was actually very naive and childish, yet the answer was extremely important.

He looked at Zhao Rong, and who knows how many thoughts flashed through his mind. After a moment, he spoke in a low voice, each word deliberate: “I can give them up.”

“You can give them up.” Zhao Rong repeated.

At this moment, he actually felt a mix of emotions.

This was an answer as heavy as Mount Tai. Perhaps if heard in a different environment or by a different person, it would steady a heart that was wandering aimlessly.

When loving someone, who wouldn’t want to hear their beloved say sweet words about being able to give up everything for them?

Unfortunately, the one saying these words was Qiao Nanqi.

Unfortunately, the one hearing these words was Zhao Rong.

Zhao Rong’s heart paused.

He discovered that he didn’t want Qiao Nanqi to be like this. Having nothing would be the best way to lock someone down and gain a sense of security, yet he simply couldn’t imagine such a Qiao Nanqi.

He once told Qiao Nanqi that Qiao Nanqi’s current inability to let go was only because he missed the goodness he had brought before and loved “his love.” But at this moment, upon hearing this sentence, Zhao Rong only thought—then what about him? Did he also… not think it through?

Was the person he used to love the Qiao Nanqi of any time, or the high-spirited Qiao Nanqi in his past memory who would rush to the hospital because of a call from a stranger?

Thinking of this, he seemed to have no energy to pretend to be sharp.

After a long while.

Under Qiao Nanqi’s expectant gaze, he sighed.

“You can give them up…”

“But I don’t want a useless person who has nothing and nothing to do.”