On the day of the winter solstice, Jiang City was blanketed in snow.
In the corridor of the hospital, Chu Yuxuan, looking haggard, was pacing anxiously back and forth. A moment later, seeing the doctor emerge from the ward, he hurriedly approached, urgently asking, "Doctor, how is my grandma?"
The doctor, nearing fifty with sparse hair, closed the door of the room, shook his head gently and sighed, "It's hard to say if she can pull through the night. I'll prescribe several doses of painkillers, one injection every three hours. We'll try to make her passing as peaceful as possible."
A wave of dizziness hit Chu Yuxuan, making him unsteady on his feet. He sank weakly against the wall.
After a while, he removed his glasses, wiped away the tear stains at the corners of his eyes, then plucked up the courage and walked into the ward.
Having just had her painkiller injection, his grandmother was peacefully lying in bed with an oxygen tube attached. She turned her face towards him, squinting at him with a kindly smile, "Yuxuan, where is Xia Zhu?"
She probably knew that she was on her last legs and wanted to see her granddaughter-in-law before her departure.
Barely holding back his tears, Chu Yuxuan sat down on the stool next to the bed, managing a smile, "Grandma, she's probably filming today, she's very busy."
She held her grandson's hand with her icy cold hands, her expression unchanged, "It's good to be busy…Yuxuan, could you give her a call for me? I want to talk to her…I'm afraid…I won't be able to wait for her."
"Oh come on! I'm sure you'll live to be a hundred," Chu Yuxuan squeezed his grandma's hand, but seeing her determined expression, he felt helpless, and could only take out his phone to call Xia Zhu.
"I'm sorry, the user you are trying to reach is currently unavailable…”
Chu Yuxuan furrowed his brows, said to his grandmother, "Never mind, she really is busy…Grandma, are you hungry? I can go and buy something for you to eat?"
The elderly lady closed her clouded eyes, her pale lips moved slightly, "I would like some tomato and egg soup made by you.”
The cancer hospital was not far from home, about a ten-minute drive. After pondering for a moment, Chu Yuxuan instructed the nurse before rushing home in his second-hand Skoda.
In the underground parking lot, Chu Yuxuan parked the car. As he opened the car door, he thought he spotted Xia Zhu's figure—
Not far away, next to a white Range Rover, Xia Zhu was in the tight embrace of a well-dressed man, her tears falling like rain.
A pang struck Chu Yuxuan's heart, instantly freezing him on the spot.
He recognized the man. This was Xia Zhu’s childhood sweetheart, her first love, Gao Ning.
Three years ago, for reasons unknown, Gao Ning had ruthlessly abandoned Xia Zhu to go abroad alone.
During that time, Xia Zhu was utterly desolate. They say a woman is at her most vulnerable when heartbroken, and because of this, Chu Yuxuan, a self-deprecating 'loyal dog', had the opportunity to marry her.
Even though Chu Yuxuan knew there was someone Xia Zhu could never completely let go of in her heart, he believed that there was no 'cold stone' in the world that couldn't be warmed up eventually.
And now…
Gao Ning patted Xia Zhu's back gently, comforting her softly, "Little Zhu, three years ago, I genuinely believed that my illness was incurable, and going to America was nothing more than a chance in hell. I thought I was fated to die. That’s why I had the heart to abandon you… You don’t know how painful it was for me. I had to push away the girl I loved the most myself, hoping that you would meet a man who could love you more than I do!"
Xia Zhu sobbed, "How could you be so selfish? So foolish! Brother Ning, these three years, I’ve been thinking of you day and night! I knew you must have had a reason for leaving me!... Don't you dare ever leave me again, okay?"
Gao Ning caressed Xia Zhu's cheek, his eyes filled with sorrow, "Silly girl, I won’t leave again. I know that you actually don’t love that Chu guy, right?"
Xia Zhu jolted, biting her lip slightly. Before she could answer, her eyes fell onto the slowly approaching Chu Yuxuan.
"Let her go."
Gao Ning, hearing the sudden chill in the voice behind him, instinctively let go, turning around to see Chu Yuxuan. He was first taken aback and then smirked provocatively, hugging Xia Zhu's waist even tighter.
Xia Zhu stiffened slightly, hesitated for a moment, and then removed the hand from her waist. She took a few steps towards Chu Yuxuan, her voice wavering as she avoided his gaze, "Yuxuan, did... did you see everything?"
"I'm not blind." Chu Yuxuan’s face was expressionless. He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, "Come to the hospital with me."
Gao Ning also stepped forward, examining Chu Yuxuan's shabby attire from head to toe. He smirked, "You must be Chu Yuxuan, right? I remember in high school, you were chasing after Xia Zhu. Back then, you were rather rural, like a country bumpkin. And now… you hardly seem any different?"
Chu Yuxuan was staring unwaveringly at Xia Zhu, repeating his words: "Come with me to the hospital. My grandmother wishes to have a conversation with you."
Xia Zhu frowned, just about to speak when Gao Ning said: "Chu Yuxuan, you should know the special bond Xia Zhu and I share. And you must understand that she has never actually liked you."
Having said that, Gao Ning took a bundle of checks from his pocket, tore one off and handed it to Chu Yuxuan. His tone was sincere yet somewhat mocking, "Regardless, I appreciate how you've looked after her in the past two years. Consider this a token of my gratitude. Fill in an amount."
Unable to hold his patience, Chu Yuxuan pushed Gao Ning forcefully and yelled, "Did I ask you to speak?!"
Taken aback, Gao Ning stumbled backward, colliding with the hood of the Range Rover. He clutched his chest with a pained expression.
Xia Zhu's eyes widened in shock. She pushed Chu Yuxuan away and cried out, "Chu Yuxuan! What are you doing?! Gao Ning is unwell, can you take the blame if something happens to him?!"
With that, she hurried to help Gao Ning, asking in concern, "Gao Ning, are you okay?"
Gao Ning was panting heavily, gritting his teeth in what appeared to be extreme pain: "I'm fine… I'm fine…"
"If you say you're fine, then what's all this? I am taking you to the hospital!" Struggling, Xia Zhu helped Gao Ning to the passenger seat. As she moved to the driver's seat, she glared at Chu Yuxuan and snapped, "Get lost! I don't want to see you!"
Chu Yuxuan's fists were clenched. He said, "Xia Zhu, let me repeat. Come with me to the hospital. My grandmother isn't doing well."
The final words were drowned out by the closing car door.
As the Range Rover faded away, Chu Yuxuan adjusted his thick black glasses, took a deep breath, and a bitter smile appeared on his face. He murmured, "Forget it…forget it!"
Chu Yuxuan was indeed the epitome of misguided loyalty, always hoping his relentless efforts would earn him a smile from the belle.
Despite knowing that deep affection does not amount to mutual love.
The will of one's own mind should always have a limit. Such as the present circumstance, if he continues to pester and beg her just for a glance, he would, indeed, be asking for trouble.
Reality is often like this. When the prince of one's dreams appears, the kindest words the princess can give to the daydreaming toad is "You're a good man". Then, guided by the principle of "I know I owe you, but you must stay away from me", she will fly away with her prince.
........
In the end, Grandmother didn't make it through the night. At half-past eleven, she peacefully passed away.
The older generations always believe in returning to one's roots after death. Chu Yuxuan hired a funeral home vehicle to return his grandmother to her old village the same night.
Hearing the news, neighbors passed on the message and spontaneously came to help. They all knew that the old woman only had a grandson left. Moreover, how would a young man like Chu Yuxuan know how to handle funeral affairs?
He kneeled in the memorial shed all night. At noon, due to sleep deprivation these past few days, Chu Yuxuan was dozing off when he felt a vibration in his pocket.
He took out his phone to see, it was a WeChat message from someone he saved as "Second Brother". There were four screenshots accompanied by a simple statement: "Want him gone?"
Among the screenshots, two were sweet photos of Xia Zhu, hand in hand with Gao Ning, obviously taken by paparazzi.
The other two were comments from netizens-
"Is Goddess Xia going to announce her relationship?"
"Congratulations! They say the man is a rich second generation!"
"In this era, isn't it just female stars chasing after rich second generations? What's so surprising about this?"
Being a popular A-lister, it's only normal that Xia Zhu is followed by paparazzi 24/7.
As for why no one questioned her disdain for woman conduct... because she and Chu Yuxuan were married in secret, the reason being, not wanting to affect her future.
As it turned out, if one loves enough, a future doesn't constitute a reason.
Chu Yuxuan rubbed his temple, sending a reply to "Junior": Don't move.
Then, he put away his phone.
Simultaneously, someone from outside the spiritual hall shouted, "The pious son returns courtesy!"
Chu Yuxuan hastily kowtowed and when he stood up, he found out that a large, rotund man wearing a suit was the one who came to express condolences.
This big fellow, weighing no less than 220kg
440lbs
was unable to button up his suit. His belly was against his thighs when he knelt down to kowtow, which looked quite ludicrous.
After burning two slips of joss paper, the large man crawled over to Chu Yuxuan while kneeling. His honest face devoid of any expression, he sneakily pulled out a phone from his pocket and handed it over to Chu Yuxuan. As if it was a spy meeting, he whispered, "Someone wants to talk to you."