“No need to worry too much. It might take some time due to her old age, but she’ll recover eventually. However, I must warn you that it would be impossible for her to fully recover. There will definitely be some lingering side effects,” the doctor answered honestly.
Nodding in understanding, Su Zhan followed, as the nurses wheeled his grandmother to a room.
The doctor checked her over and made sure that the machinery hooked up to her was working fine. After that, he instructed them on what to look out for, before stating, “This is just a temporary room for her. You can choose either a normal room or a VIP room according to your financial situation. Please head to the In-patient Department to settle this matter.”
“I want the VIP room, of course!” Su Zhan did not even need to think about it. He had worked so hard to earn money just so his grandmother could enjoy the rest of her remaining years.
The doctor nodded in reply before leaving with the nurses.
Qin Ya draped Grandma Su’s coat on the back of the chair and offered, “I’ll go handle the hospitalization procedures while you stay here with her.”
Silence met her words.
With how close he is to his grandmother, he probably wants to be left alone right now. Hence, she quietly stepped out of the room and set off for the In-patient Department.
In truth, Su Zhan had heard her but deliberately kept quiet. His mind was in a mess and he thought that they both needed some time to calm down. Only when their minds were clear could they actually talk.
By the time Qin Ya had finished the hospitalization procedures, one hour had passed. The hospital was filled with people and she had wasted a lot of time because she had to wait in line, everywhere she went.
With the help of the hospital staff, Grandma Su was soon brought to a VIP room. Su Zhan had just finished tucking her under the blankets when his phone rang. Fishing it out, he saw that it was Shen Peichuan.
He accepted the call. “Peichuan.”
“Are you free tonight? Let’s have a meet-up! I’ve already called Jinghao.”
Su Zhan hesitated. With his grandmother in the hospital like this, he could not exactly leave her alone.
Not knowing that Grandma Su was ill and that Su Zhan was on the outs with Qin Ya, Shen Peichuan teased, “What, have you forgotten us buddies, now that you have a pretty wife at home? How could you put a woman before your friends?”
Not waiting for Su Zhan to answer, Shen Peichuan continued in a serious tone, “That matter with He Ruize has been settled. You had wanted to teach him a lesson, right? Now’s your chance to do as you please.”
“Where?” Su Zhan queried.
“The usual place.”
“What time?”
“Seven.”
“Got it. I’ll be there.” With that said, Su Zhan hung up. When he turned back around, he was surprised to see Qin Ya wiping the old woman’s face and hands.
His expression tightened. “Qin Ya…”
She did not even lift her head as she replied, “I’m not taking care of her because of you. She has treated me very well so I feel obliged to do the same. That’s just how us human beings are.”
Pursing his lips, he uttered, “Can I ask you for a favor?”
Afraid that he would bring up their relationship again, she remained silent.
“Shen Peichuan invited me out so I was hoping that you could look after Grandma for me.” Worried that she would refuse, he added, “That issue with He Ruize has been settled. He called me and Jinghao over, probably to talk about it.”
Mulling over this briefly, Qin Ya agreed, “Sure.”
She did not trust anybody else to take care of Grandma Su anyway.
He came closer to her and opened his mouth but then paused. After a while, he shut it with a click and sighed. Turning, he left the room.
The law firm was already closed for the New Year holidays. All across the city, the streets were bustling with people, hurrying to go home while a happy and lively atmosphere enshrouded B City.
Su Zhan spent the rest of his day at the hospital and did not even stop to eat. Despite that, he found that he had no appetite. He was the first to arrive at their usual haunt, so he ordered a bottle of alcohol for himself. Shen Peichuan was next to arrive. Upon noticing that his friend drinking alone, he shut the private room door and teased, “Hey there, Mr. Groom, what’s wrong? Why are you drinking all alone?”
He was ignored.
Knowing that Su Zhan would normally not have taken that tease lying down, the smile on Shen Peichuan’s face vanished. He took a seat beside the other man. “Why are you drowning your sorrows in a bottle?”
Taking another gulp from the bottle, Su Zhan answered, “Liu Feifei is back.”
Shen Peichuan’s eyebrow twitched. How did he find out so quickly?
Acting like he had not known that, he asked, “What do you plan on doing then? Qin Ya is a good woman, you know. Don’t do anything that might hurt her.”
Su Zhan simply looked at him before drinking another mouthful of alcohol. “She’s changed.”
“Duh. As if you haven’t changed? How many years has it been? Look, you’ve even gotten wrinkles at the corners of your eyes now!” Shen Peichuan reached out to poke at the eye bags beneath the other man’s eyes.
It had been more than twenty-four hours since Su Zhan had last slept and he had terrible dark circles underneath his eyes. In fact, his face was rather pale too.
He glared at the other man, growling, “Don’t touch me.”
Pouring a glass for himself, Shen Peichuan answered flippantly, “You think that I’d want to touch you? You’re not some pretty woman.”
“Qin Ya wants to divorce me.” Su Zhan breathed a long sigh. “My grandmother had a stroke this morning and she is currently in the hospital.”
A solemn look crossed Shen Peichuan’s face and he asked in concern, “Is your grandmother alright?”
“She’s out of danger for now.”
“That’s good… Qin Ya found out about Liu Feifei?”
“Yeah. There was a misunderstanding, and now, she’s determined to leave me.” Just thinking about her now had Su Zhan’s heart clenching in his chest.
“What are your thoughts?” his friend questioned.
Su Zhan shot him a glance from the corner of his eyes. “What do you mean?”
Is there any hope for this man? Shen Peichuan sighed and clarified, “I mean, do you still love Liu Feifei or do you love Qin Ya now? How could you not understand this? It’s not like you’re still a young boy. With how things are currently, you have to look deep into your heart. Think about who you actually love now. If the answer is Liu Feifei, then you’d better tell Qin Ya before it’s too late and do your best to compensate her. Unfortunately, I don’t think that even money would be able to make up for this kind of hurt.”
Pouring a full glass for himself, Su Zhan downed it all in one gulp. His brows furrowed. “I don’t love Liu Feifei anymore. Those feelings are long gone.”
Shen Peichuan perked up in interest. “So that means that you love Qin Ya?”
“But she wants to leave me,” Su Zhan moaned in frustration. “I don’t know what to do! She doesn’t trust me at all!”
“You have to earn it.” Shen Peichuan patted his shoulder comfortingly. “The only way to earn her trust is if you’re honest with her.”
Nobody can help you in this sort of situation. It’s all up to you, man.
Creak. The door to the private room was pushed open and the two men’s heads whipped around to take a look. Zong Jinghao appeared in the doorway before striding inside.
His gaze calmly swept across the alcohol bottles on the table. Pulling out a chair, he sat down.
Su Zhan and Shen Peichuan instantly kept silent.
“He Ruize is in prison.” Since his crimes were not enough to warrant a death sentence, the judge merely added more years to his prior sentence.
Zong Jinghao hummed in acknowledgment, seemingly in a foul mood as well.
After Shen Peichuan had finished speaking, silence descended upon the room. The three men sat there quietly, the atmosphere growing increasingly tense and awkward.
“How about we order something to eat? I haven’t eaten yet. Have either of you eaten?” Shen Peichuan tried once more to break the silence.
Nobody answered him.
Su Zhan filled his glass and downed it, the soft thunk as he slammed the glass down being the only sound in the room.
Shen Peichuan could not help but think, Just what is going on here? Why are they both in such a bad mood?
“Let’s eat! We can chat as we eat, right?” He called a waiter over as he placed his order.
“Jinghao, you’re in a terrible mood too?”
He could understand that Su Zhan was plagued by his relationship problems. However, Zong Jinghao was a married man with a kid to boot. His career was also on the up and up. What did he have to worry about?
No matter how he looked at it, he could not fathom why Zong Jinghao seemed so troubled.
