Chapter 74

The Light Was Not On at Home. Chen Shuze sat in front of the huge French window, facing the neon lights flowing in the distance, and called Feng Ran for the twentieth time. From the tenth call onward, Feng Ran did not answer. He pressed the call button again and again in a fit of anger... although he also knew that this behavior was childish.

The twenty-first call, Feng Ran finally picked up. Chen Shuze did not speak. The voice of the other party was extremely anxious. He said that Shen Zhi was in shock and was in the emergency room. He had just signed and could not leave.

Chen Shuze reluctantly accepted his explanation.

It was more like being forced than reluctant. Feng Ran never gave him any other options.

He tentatively asked, what should he say if his parents asked him where he had been.

Feng Ran said without hesitation, "It's up to you.

" He asked again, "Do you need him to go to the hospital?"

Feng Ran flatly refused.

The phone was hung up. Night had fallen and the house was empty.

Chen Shuze lied. His parents only stayed for half the afternoon and went back before dark.

Because their little daughter Ruoruo was home alone.

The huge house was quiet and seemed even more lonely. He stood up and went back to the bedroom, passing by the dining table. The table was exquisitely laid out, the dishes were plentiful, and there were carefully designed flowers and red candles...

At this moment, it was completely ironic.

Chen Shuze suddenly stopped, and a nameless fire rose in his chest. He pulled off the white tablecloth that was as smooth as silk, and the plates and cups fell to the ground with a clatter. The various foods that were still warm mixed together, and the soup splashed everywhere.

Chen Shuze ignored it and rushed into the bedroom. He made a phone call, and soon someone knocked on the door and came in. They cleaned up the mess for him, then took a shower and went into the bedroom.

When the desire came overwhelming, Chen Shuze closed his eyes and thought, isn't this good? Why bother to provoke someone who has no interest in him?

At the hospital, Feng Ran called He Chuan, who hurried in, his hair disheveled and his cheeks slightly red. It was obvious that he had just woken up in a hurry.

"What's going on?" He Chuan said.

Feng Ran pointed to his misplaced shirt buttons and said, "I don't know at the moment. The doctor didn't say anything. You need to wait for your signature first."

He Chuan hurriedly tidied his clothes.

Until late at night, the two sat on the bench at the door of the operating room, each thinking about their own things, and didn't talk about anything nutritious.

Feng Ran asked He Chuan if he was sleepy, and He Chuan shook his head. Feng Ran asked if he was busy recently, and He Chuan also shook his head.

The doctor came out to call the family members, and both of them stood up. Finally, the doctor pulled He Chuan over to talk. Feng Ran entered the operating room and looked at Chen Zhi through a door.

Chen Zhi was still not awake, with an oxygen mask on his face and tubes inserted into his body again.

Feng Ran stood quietly for a long time until He Chuan came back.

"He took aspirin and drank alcohol...which caused bleeding." He Chuan said.

"...Drank alcohol? How is that possible?"

"The doctor specifically told me that it was aspirin and alcohol that caused the gastric mucosal bleeding. He can't take any medicine without permission now. Aspirin is an analgesic and antipyretic, but it's an anticoagulant." Shen Zhi showed him the report, "The alcohol content in his blood is very high. He drank alcohol."

Feng Ran felt light as if he had fallen into the clouds. Staying up late and the huge blow made him dazed: "I really don't know... I had something to do today and didn't go to his place."

He didn't know that Shen Zhi had taken medicine and drunk alcohol.

Were these two things in the rental house? He didn't remember.

He patted He Chuan on the shoulder: "I'm going out for a while."

The rental house was still in the mess it was in before he left. The bloodstains on the sheets and quilts had dried. Feng Ran went over and searched Shen Zhi's clothes. Sure enough, he found a small glass bottle filled with small white pills in his trouser pocket.

There was an empty glass on the bedside table. He didn't know what it was in not long ago.

He opened the wine cabinet and found several bottles of liquor inside, all of which were white wine, with signs of being opened, but he couldn't remember if he had opened them, nor could he be sure if Shen Zhi had drunk any of them.

He sat on the sofa, staring at the photo of aspirin on his phone.

He didn't know what he wanted to verify or what he wanted to get when he came back this time.

In order to keep him, to make him leave Chen Shuze, Shen Zhi was so cruel to him at all costs that he shuddered.

He didn't know how to face it. Feng Ran didn't get up

until He Chuan sent a message: "He's awake."

Before leaving, he put the cold medicine bottle on the coffee table into his pocket. After

Shen Zhi woke up, he only saw He Chuan, and despite the IV drip, he struggled to get out of bed. Despite having been to the emergency room, he looked fine and still moving briskly. He Chuan didn't dare to restrain him, so he said, "He'll be here soon."

"Where did he go?" Shen Zhi asked, panicking. "Did he go to see Chen Shuze?"

He Chuan replied, "He said he went to your place."

"No way, why would he go to my place?"

He Chuan paused and said, "Probably to get your aspirin."

Shen Zhi suddenly froze and sat back down on the bed.

He Chuan understood everything and said nothing more, sitting aside, scrolling through his phone.

Shen Zhi said, "Feng Ran asked you to sign for me again? Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"And your father, didn't he give you any trouble?"

"No."

Although Shen Zhi didn't know He Chuan well, he knew he was honest. If he said no, then he meant it.

He said softly, "I didn't block him on purpose. It's just that he called three times a day during that time. I was really upset."

"I know."

"I heard he went to your house. Did he know you lived with Feng Ran?"

He Chuan was silent. He hadn't expected Feng Ran to tell Shen Zhi about this. It's just that Feng Ran didn't know the second half of the story.

Feng Ran didn't ask. Maybe because he forgot, or maybe because he didn't care.

But Chen Zhi seemed to be very concerned about the answer and asked again: "Does he know about you...? He also knows that Feng Ran and I were together."

He Chuan thought, then let him get what he wanted.

He said calmly: "I know. I came out."

Shen Zhi was stunned.

"You are, serious." He said after a while.

How could Shen Zhi tell whether he was serious or not. He Chuan lowered his head and put his phone in his pocket, pressed the brim of his hat and said: "I'll rest for a while."

"You can go home. I'm not serious."

He Chuan shook his head: "I'll wait for him to come."

The ward was silent for a long time. Suddenly, as if talking to himself, or to him, he murmured: "I can't give him to anyone. Although you..."

The second half of the sentence was so soft that it could not be heard. Although what? Although he loved him so much, or, although he was his half-brother?

He Chuan opened his sleepy eyes in the dim vision. He wanted to say that you think too much, I'm not trying to fight for anything. Feng Ran is a person, not an object that can be pushed around by others.

He has always been free, like the wind. Whether he was a teenager or in his twenties.

But he never said it out loud.

Sure enough, Feng Ran arrived soon. When his footsteps sounded outside the ward, He Chuan raised his head, adjusted his hat, stood up and left the ward.

Shen Zhi didn't know what they talked about, but when the door opened again, only Feng Ran came in.

He walked closer to Shen Zhi with a normal expression and asked with concern: "How do you feel?"

Shen Zhi said: "Fine."

"What did the doctor say?"

"He said it's nothing serious and it will be fine after a few days of taking medicine."

"That's good," Feng Ran shook his hand, his tone very relaxed, "I promised Chen Shuze to help him, but I stood him up after only having lunch. He must be very angry."

"He deserves it." Shen Zhi felt short of breath when he heard those three words, "Did he cause you trouble?"

"No, I just made about twenty phone calls." Feng Ran said, "Tomorrow is Monday, and I have to meet him again."

"You still have to go to work?"

Feng Ran thought for a while and said: "Yes."

Shen Zhi was a little desperate. He knew that he couldn't persuade Feng Ran, nor was he qualified to do so. Asking him to resign would only cause him trouble. So he stopped talking.

Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he understood He Chuan's wisdom in dealing with things. Could it be that to deal with Feng Ran, he had to endure it all the time?

As long as he endured it, Feng Ran would one day get to know him, and slowly become friends, and even live under the same roof with him... In comparison, how ignorant he was, yelling and pushing everything away.

Feng Ran said again: "I was planning to go out for a drink tonight, but I didn't expect..."

Shen Zhi was a little nervous.

For today's play, he drank almost every day. He didn't drink too much, but it was able to delay the illness well. But Feng Ran was rough and careless and couldn't notice those details.

"I didn't expect you to be in trouble." Feng Ran spread his hands, "But it doesn't matter. We can go another day."

Shen Zhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and asked: "Are you going alone?"

"With others. Many bars in Jiang City have blacklisted me, and I can't get in by myself." Feng Ran talked nonsense.

But Chen Zhi didn't know that, thinking that what he had done in the past was still affecting Feng Ran, Feng Ran took the opportunity to secretly blame him.

"I'm sorry." Chen Zhi lowered his eyes, "I've done a lot of wrong things..."

But Feng Ran didn't say anything.

Chen Zhi added, "I will definitely treat you well in the future."

He felt that he was speaking with great sincerity, but Feng Ran didn't buy it like he used to.

He didn't know when Feng Ran's smile had become much less common, and he didn't even bother to smile back at his sweet words. He no longer played games or watched games, and he didn't have time to go to the gym, but he smoked more and drank more... He made Shen Zhi a little confused.

It was like he was running forward in a lost place, but he couldn't catch up with the person's back.

All that was left of that person now was the back of him. After a

long while, Feng Ran said, "You just need to be good to yourself."

The next day when he returned to the company, Chen Shuze really ignored him. Feng Ran knew he was in the wrong, so he didn't go to him to get angry.

He finished his work as usual. At lunchtime, he and his colleagues ordered takeout. Back at their workstations, Chen Shuze approached him and asked about his work. After

Feng Ran finished his report and Chen Shuze said it was no problem, he continued eating.

But Chen Shuze didn't leave. He asked, "How is Shen Zhi?" "He

's fine. I don't know what happened yesterday but he suddenly had gastric bleeding and fell into a coma. But fortunately, nothing serious happened later."

Chen Shuze said with a forced smile, "Are you sure he is really sick and not a self-torture tactic? How is it such a coincidence that he suddenly relapsed when I asked you to take care of some family matters?"

"I don't know."

Chen Shuze was silent for a moment and said, "You still like him very much."

Feng Ran pointed to the time on the computer screen: "There is still half an hour until two o'clock. Can I have a good meal and take a lunch break?"

"Get out, you are not taking a fucking lunch break." Chen Shuze cursed in a low voice, "I asked you something, why are you arguing with me? I asked you if you are interested in him? Just answer 'yes' or 'no'."

Seeing that he was anxious, Feng Ran couldn't help but laugh: "Why do you care so much? Mr. Chen is too overbearing. You didn't tell me what I wanted to ask, but I had to tell you when you asked me."

Chen Shuze asked, "What did you ask me?"

"I asked you if you told your parents about it later?"

Chen Shuze slammed the table in anger. "You just had dinner with me yesterday, and you disappeared after dinner. You handled this matter with so many loopholes. What should I say to my parents now? Make it clear that I called you in to fill in the gaps? Do you think you have the right to ask me for that?"

"...You are so angry. I was asking you what you said to your parents after I didn't go."

Chen Shuze realized that he had misunderstood and his face turned as pale as pig liver.

Feng Ran succeeded and laughed heartily.

Then Chen Shuze realized that he had been fooled. It was just a word game.

Feng Ran laughed until tears came out. Colleagues who had gone out for dinner came back one after another. Some heard the laughter in the office and looked over curiously.

Jiang Huiyi peeked through the doorframe, asking, "What happened? Why are you so happy? Did Mr. Chen give Brother Feng a bonus?"

Feng Ran was actually laughing, slamming his head on the table and saying, "Hahaha, yes, Mr. Chen has done so much good, hahahaha..."

Idioms like "furious," "fuming," and "furious" couldn't describe Chen Shuze's mood. He rushed over and slammed the door, then turned back to grab Feng Ran and said, "Are you itching for trouble?"

Feng Ran's smile was effortless. He opened his eyes and said innocently, "No, no."

"What's your grudge against me?

Why are you provoking me like this every day?" "We're friends. We've been friends for years." Feng Ran patted his shoulder with a brazen gesture.

Chen Shuze stared at his lips for a long time. They were thin, the kind of thin lips that physiognomists describe as heartless. They were beautifully shaped and always red. But why did that mouth look so annoying? He really wanted to plug it with something... Perhaps it was because his eyes were becoming unnatural, Feng Ran coughed lightly.

Chen Shuze calmed down, looked away and said, "If you don't want to continue with me, then don't..." He said what he had been thinking about all night, "You can resign, I won't stop you."