Chapter 41: The Problem Chen

Zhi decided to visit the child every week, dragging Feng Ran along.

He was a little reluctant to go, but Chen Zhi said no, saying He Chuan would definitely come looking for him if he left.

He couldn't figure out how He Chuan would find him, or what the dire consequences would be, but Chen Zhi was adamant and insisted on going together. Unable to persuade him, he went along and waited at the door.

He didn't like the orphanage. During an argument, his parents had suggested sending Feng Qing to an orphanage. Although it didn't work out, whenever the siblings said or did something they didn't like, they would be warned: "Be careful, or we'll put you in an orphanage and the adults there will beat you to death!"

By then, Feng Ran was old enough to see through such false threats. But his sister was still young. The orphanage was a disaster for Feng Qing.

Before leaving, Chen Zhi said, "Just wait patiently. Call me if you have anything."

"Okay."

"The teacher said they named the child Ruoruo. I always feel that the meaning is not very good. It sounds weak. What do you think?"

"Not bad."

Chen Zhi was helpless and pinched his face: "Wait for me." "Okay,

okay."

He got out of the car to breathe some air. He wanted to smoke for the first time in a long time.

Thinking that Shen Zhi had just gone in, he couldn't catch him in the time it took to smoke a cigarette, so he slipped into a convenience store and took out a box of Liqun.

When he came out with the cigarette, there was a person standing next to the car.

Under the midday sun, the open space was warm. The person had his hands in his pockets, staring into the distance.

He stopped and the other person turned around.

Deep eyes looked straight at him from under the brim of his hat, and he put out the cigarette.

Really... what Chen Zhi said was right.

Could these two brothers have telepathy?

He Chuan strode toward him with steady, powerful steps. They exchanged a silent glance. He glanced behind him and said, "What a coincidence! You're at the orphanage too?"

He Chuan, not understanding his humor, stared at him intently.

"You've lost weight."

"Yeah, really? Maybe..."

"Excuse me for a moment."

What was that tone? Feng Ran wanted to laugh, but held it back.

"What?"

"How long do you plan to live like this?"

"Don't worry about me." Feng Ran rubbed the half-smoked cigarette between his fingers. "I told you, live your own life."

"Then you—"

"Don't worry about me." Feng Ran's face darkened. "Go ahead, he'll be out soon."

He Chuan, perhaps overawed by his aura, turned away, staring at the car not far away.

"Because of this?" he said. "Eight hundred or nine hundred thousand isn't bad."

Feng Ran looked up at him.

"It's enough to buy a life. Not to mention," He Chuan said, each word eloquently, "to buy a man."

He put the cigarette between his teeth without lighting it, enjoying the aroma of tobacco, suppressing his rising emotions, and turned and left.

He Chuan followed behind and continued, "How long do you plan to do this business?"

Feng Ran looked back at him: "I never realized you were so annoying before."

He Chuan said, "What do you want?"

What was he after? Feng Ran was momentarily lost. He'd wanted love, money, something Chen Zhi seemed to have given him, yet it seemed he hadn't. Later, he'd wanted freedom, a breakup, but neither had succeeded, and he'd suffered heavy losses instead. So now, he just wanted peace and quiet.

He asked back: "What do you want?"

He Chuan pursed his lips.

He looked down at his watch and said in a gentle tone, "It's almost time. If you really want to do this for my own good, don't do it now..."

An hour had passed, and Shen Zhi had been in there for an unusually long time that day.

He suddenly shut up, opened the car door and took out his phone. There were two incoming calls, both from five minutes ago.

I called back and got a busy tone.

He walked to the door of the orphanage and the security guard looked at him warily.

He explained, "The man who went in this afternoon was young and dressed in white. I was with him. Can I go in and look for him?"

The security guard said, "So many people went in this afternoon, how would I remember? You've been wandering around here for a long time, acting so stealthy. What are you trying to do?"

He gave up and walked aside, silently rubbing his deformed cigarette.

He Chuan still didn't leave, but came over and stood beside him.

"Is your shop okay?" he asked, trying to make small talk.

"Closed."

"So casual?"

"Yeah."

"You can't do business like this." Feng Ran said, "You can't keep moving and closing down. You have to maintain customers, especially long-term cooperation. Otherwise, no matter how high your skills are, it will be in vain and you will lose everything."

"Yeah."

"How is your friend?"

"Fine."

The two were silent for a while. Feng Ran looked at his watch frequently and said, "You really don't want to leave? Don't frame me when he gets out. You found him, it has nothing to do with me."

"I know."

This guy has always been lukewarm, and Feng Ran is speechless: "What on earth are you... What do you want to do for so long? Are you afraid that I'm bored, so you want to entertain me?"

"Take you away."

Feng Ran's eyes rolled. "Take me away? Why should I go with you? What's in it for me?"

He Chuan was overwhelmed by the three blows. After a moment's hesitation, he said, "There's no future for you and him." Before Feng Ran could say anything else, he added softly, "I'm afraid something might happen to you again."

Feng Ran's thoughts were instantly drawn back to endless memories. His heart sank, and he said stubbornly, "You're overthinking it. I'm not that stupid."

"No?" He Chuan suddenly approached, gripping his shoulders. Feng Ran's blood froze. He continued to exert more force, and his unhealed bones and meridians ached slightly. Before he could instinctively resist, He Chuan finally let go.

It took only two seconds.

Feng Ran took a half step back, glaring at him, and twisted his arm slightly.

"Sorry, I didn't use enough strength."

"How did you know?"

He probably hadn't told anyone else about this.

"You left the medical records at his house."

The doctor Shen Zhi called was well-educated and had written a clear and concise medical record. It announced a breakup on a certain night, tacitly left behind by the two of them.

"Have you been in there? How did you get in?"

"My dad has the key."

Feng Ran sighed and said, "Okay. That time, it was an accident. It won't happen again. I didn't know he had some skills before, otherwise I wouldn't have been so tough with him."

He Chuan suddenly said, "There's not much affection between you two."

Feng Ran became inexplicably irritated and said, "Who knows? Or maybe it doesn't matter whether there is affection or not? Sometimes feelings are just a momentary thing, and we just want to feel refreshed at that moment. It's pointless to really study it carefully and discuss whether he has more feelings and I have less, or vice versa."

He realized he was trying to explain himself, falling for He Chuan's trick, and immediately shut up.

The sound of an ambulance rang out nearby, and he jumped to his feet, having a bad feeling.

Medical staff carried a stretcher out of the car. The orphanage gate opened, revealing a chattering crowd of teachers and children surrounding a middle-aged male teacher, who was carrying the pale, paper-white Chen Zhi on his back.

Feng Ran's heart pounded, and a huge slump fell. His body, already moving faster than his mind, rushed to the center of the crowd.

"Chen Zhi, what's wrong with you?!"

Chen Zhi's eyelids fluttered slightly, perhaps an illusion, but then he remained silent.

The medical staff pushed him out of the way, and as he watched Chen Zhi get into the car, he darted through the crowd and jumped into the SUV.

The passenger door opened, and He Chuan stood beside him.

"I'll drive," he said. "You're emotionally unstable, something's going to happen."

"No need. I'm very calm." He

followed the ambulance closely all the way and finally arrived at the hospital as soon as possible. Chen Zhi was rushed to the emergency room.

As soon as the test results came out, the doctor said that the patient had gastric perforation and must undergo surgery immediately, otherwise his life would be in danger.

Lists after lists appeared in front of him, with glaring lines of "massive bleeding", "organ failure" and "death" on the risk column. Feng Ran was still stunned. He Chuan said, "I'm a family member, I'll sign. Where do I pay?"

"Pay the deposit first, scan the code to pay. You need to get a list before you can be hospitalized." The nurse left in a hurry.

The operation was a laparoscopic operation. Feng Ran sat on a bench in the hospital and couldn't believe it.

For such a long time, he never knew that Chen Zhi's stomach disease had reached this point.

He was obviously fine, without any abnormality. This morning, he came over to taste his wine as if jokingly... How could it be?

"Don't worry, it will be fine. He is young." He Chuan said softly.

Feng Ran opened his mouth and said, "I hope so."

The operation lasted two hours, and he did almost nothing. At first, he was determined to find information about gastric perforation. Looking at those shocking words and pictures, and listening to the patient's monologue, his heart ached like a knife. Later, he put away his phone and just sat on the bench in a daze, thinking back to all of

Shen Zhi's actions during this period, looking for clues. He was uneasy, not only because Shen Zhi was in the operating room, but also because of his own unqualifiedness.

He was not a qualified partner.

During the operation, he was informed that Shen Zhi's condition was not good and he had to switch to laparotomy through laparoscopy. He Chuan signed the signature.

In the end, the operation lasted more than five hours, and Shen Zhi was still unconscious when he came out. There was no single room in the inpatient department. There was a grandmother in the bed next to him. Her surgery was scheduled for next week, and no one had lived with her. When she saw them coming, she enthusiastically peeled a few oranges and asked about Shen Zhi's condition.

He Chuan was not good at dealing with this kind of situation, and Feng Ran did not have the energy. The grandmother said something but got no response, and she felt bored, so she pulled the curtain in the middle to separate them.

Feng Ran sat with his head bowed before Shen Zhi. The only sounds in the ward were the beeping of an oximeter, a pain pump, and other unfamiliar equipment.

Shen Zhi's face was completely bloodless, his lips pale, his eyes tightly shut, and faint traces of tears etched in the corners.

He Chuan broke the silence: "The doctor said he'll wake up in two hours. Try to be more positive."

"I know."

"I'll go get food."

"Okay."

He left, and soon after, Shen Zhi's eyes cracked open. Feng Ran stepped forward, his nose tingling. "You're awake. I'm here." Shen

Zhi frowned, his body trembling. He reached out to grab Feng Ran, but perhaps he pulled on a wire, and the ward's alarms went off. A nurse came in and said, "If it hurts, press this. Don't push it." Shen

Zhi closed his eyes again, finally trembling less violently. Feng Ran sat beside him, holding his hand tightly.

The nurse examined the wound, lifted the hospital gown, and revealed a long, horrifying scar across his abdomen, making the exposed skin appear almost transparent.

Feng Ran listened silently to the nurse's instructions on various matters. At last, the nurse said, "Be more positive and put the patient in a good mood."

Feng Ran forced a smile and said, "Okay."

He Chuan came back after buying food, and looked out to see that Shen Zhi had woken up.

He stood at the door and didn't dare to go in, so he waved to him. He whispered to Shen Zhi that he would be out for a while, and when he saw that Shen Zhi had his eyes closed and no response, probably in a semi-coma, he left the ward.

He Chuan handed him the lunch box and said, "Thank you so much for today." He Chuan

shook his head.

He hesitated and said, "To be honest, you should go back. You saw that I can't leave now if he gets into trouble."

"It's okay." He Chuan said, "I'll wait."

"Really, no need..."

"Do you need me to tell Dad?"

Feng Ran was stunned: "Not for now." It depends on what Shen Zhi means.

He Chuan nodded: "I'll go buy things for you, and call me if you need anything."

Accompanying someone requires various daily necessities, towels, toothbrushes, water cups, etc. Feng Ran was so anxious that he forgot to prepare them in advance during the operation.

He Chuan had taken everything into consideration, so Feng Ran couldn't say no and could only say, "Thank you so much for your help. I'll transfer the money to you later."

He glanced at him and said softly, "You're still talking about this."

Feng Ran was stunned for a moment, his ears burning. He wanted to say something to make amends, but the other party turned and walked away