"Brother, what’s going on here?"
Li Zihan’s voice shattered the silence. In his hands, he held two shining small trophies, both for first place.
The Lai Family had faced an incessant number of problems over the past few days, and as a result, Li Zishen had outright forgotten about Jinda University’s announcement of the autumn sports meet winners today.
According to past traditions, this called for a celebration.
"Not yet. I stayed for a while then left early to visit the hospital and see Uncle Yuan."
All of a sudden, Li Zishen realized that his younger brother had grown up.
Speaking of which, Uncle Yuan Feng had been a maternal relative that the two brothers had never encountered prior, so they didn’t have much of an impression of him.
But now, Yuan Feng had experienced two surprise attacks upon his arrival in Jin City and was still unconscious, staying alive only with the help of IV nutrition and machines. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
It was quite distressing for anyone to see.
"Don’t worry, he will wake up soon."
"Oh, that’s good! Brother, that, Xiao Wan, is she really with Leng Lingxiao..." Li Zihan hesitated as he asked.
"Everyone has their own choices."
"I went to the comprehensive building in the afternoon to receive my awards, and I was just thinking... then I saw a guy... he was the one who collected Xiao Wan’s trophies."
Nanny Chen: Is she really not coming back?
Nanny Wu: Sigh, Lady Tang, it’s a shame. Madam Lai was still hoping you could be her daughter-in-law.
Li Zishen gave a faint smile: "Oh, okay."
"Brother, I followed him and saw the guy on the phone... he seemed to be Leng Lingxiao’s man. Why did Xiao Wan apply to self-study at home?"
Recently, Li Zihan’s main focus had been on his mother, so he was unaware that on the day their mother had her accident, Tang Xiaowan had also been taken hostage. Li Zishen had deliberately kept it from him, with the goal of having him take good care of their mother without distractions.
Li Zishen had only learned about Tang Xiaowan’s application for home study that afternoon.
"Go to sleep earlier, I’ll head to the study."
"Brother, Xiao Wan is okay, right?"
"She’s fine, went to Chicheng."
After saying this, Li Zishen turned and left, with Nanny Chen following close behind, leaving only Nanny Wu and Li Zihan to accompany the already asleep Madam Lai in the bedroom.
[Not coming to school and not even saying a word, isn’t that a bit insincere?]
[Even if you chose Leng Lingxiao and can’t be my sister-in-law, don’t we still have our friendship? Couldn’t you at least send a message or something? How can you forget your friends for love?]
After sending the slightly miffed message to Tang Xiaowan, Li Zihan noticed it was already ten o’clock.
Looking at Nanny Wu, she was massaging their mother.
"Nanny Wu, please go rest. I’ll watch over her tonight."
Just after he finished speaking, a reply to his message arrived.
[It was a last-minute decision, sorry sorry, I’m in Chicheng. Come visit me when you’re free. Entertainment, dining, the whole package, consider it an apology.]
After reading the message, Li Zihan felt much more at ease, and a hint of a smile flickered in his eyes.
Thus, he immediately replied: [Hmm, that’s more like it. I’ll forgive you for now, handsome as I am. It’s getting late; let’s talk tomorrow.]
Putting away his phone, Li Zihan looked up only to see that Nanny Wu had not left yet.
"Nanny Wu, please go get some rest."
"No, young master, I should stay."
"Nanny Wu, what happened just now... I saw my brother holding a small wooden box, what is that for?"
Originally, Li Zihan didn’t want to ask again, considering he had already inquired when he first came in, but it seemed everyone, especially his brother Li Zishen, was deliberately avoiding something.
But now, with Nanny Wu’s head bowed and tears in the corner of her eyes, it was clear something was wrong.
"What happened to my mom?" Li Zihan asked anxiously, his gaze swiftly turning toward Madam Lai.
"It’s all my fault, I had to run an errand back at Bie Yuan. I delayed giving Madam her medicine, so her mood just now was... very bad."
As she finished speaking, her eyes were brimming with tears.
Nanny Wu wasn’t sure where to start with the matter of the wooden box, after all, it had been 25 years ago. So she opted for a lighter approach.
Upon hearing it was about that matter, Li Zihan immediately took a deep breath and stepped closer to Nanny Wu. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
"Nanny Wu, how could this be your fault? Aren’t all those scoundrels, for the sake of money, who did that to my mom... This has nothing to do with you. You should go rest early, don’t worry, I am here."
"I should stay though. Madam has grown accustomed... to my care. Should she wake again in the night, she will still call for me."
Seeing Nanny Wu insist, Li Zihan smiled faintly and said no more.
After leaving the bedroom, he went up to the fourth floor.
The night was deep, and the whole Li Garden seemed to have sunk into slumber, extremely quiet, with only the occasional security guard coming out for a patrol.
Just as Li Zihan was hesitating whether or not to enter the study, Li Weilian came out of the elevator.
"Zihan? Why are you...?"
Li Zihan quickly gestured to Li Weilian to keep it down, "Why are you looking for my brother?"
"The matter with the pharmaceutical factory."
"Oh, then go in. Don’t mention that you saw me, pretend as if you didn’t see me, okay?"
Li Weilian nodded and then started to knock on the door.
Having received permission, just as he opened the door, Li Zihan tiptoed away, choosing the stairs instead of the elevator.
Meanwhile, in Chicheng.
Moonlight spilled across the land of Lingxiao Manor, the whole estate shrouded in a quiet stillness.
At this moment, Tang Xiaowan was still on the rooftop.
Situated at the highest point of the villa, she sat on an original wooden bench, her legs dangling over the railing, with occasional breezes caressing her cheeks, bringing a sense of freshness and comfort.
Under the sprinkling of lights, the night-time Lingxiao Manor looked like a beautifully detailed painting.
Tang Xiaowan’s gaze penetrated the misty night, looking into the distance, and she couldn’t help sighing to herself, "In the future, this will be my home! Sigh, grandma doesn’t want to bother with me anymore, she’s going to leave me with Huahua."
"What do I do, what do I do?"
"Huahua, surely we will be very happy, maybe we’ll even have a whole bunch of kids, right?"
"Pfft, at most two, any more would be too noisy!"
Then, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried hard to find the scent of flowers in the air, trying to cheer herself up.
In fact, Tang Xiaowan simply didn’t understand her grandmother’s intentions because she had been avoiding it, afraid to face the fact that she was an orphan, afraid of growing up, afraid of losing her grandmother’s affection.
"Why the hell do I have to get married? It’s not mandated by law?"
"Huahua, stinky Huahua, hmph!"
"Why should I? I just won’t, hahaha."
Tang Xiaowan laughed foolishly as she opened her eyes, having spent so much time there, and finally felt sleepy.
So, she prepared to go down and sleep with her grandmother.
But just as she turned around, she saw Leng Lingxiao not far away. Thıs text ıs hosted at noⅴelfire.net
When did this guy come over?
Seeing Tang Xiaowan’s shocked expression, Leng Lingxiao smirked mischievously, then whistled at her in an upward tone.
"Hey, girlie, come on, let’s go down with big brother for a bite to eat and a bit of family chit-chat."
"Pfft, I’ve eaten too much lately."
With that, Tang Xiaowan pouted.
"Really? Where have you gained weight?" Leng Lingxiao said seriously, his bright eyes deliberately roaming over Tang Xiaowan’s shapely figure, "Are you talking about here? Or... here?"
Originally feeling quite depressed and confused, but after being teased by Leng Lingxiao, Tang Xiaowan completely forgot why she had gone to the rooftop in the first place.
Her worries seemed to dilute at that moment, and her confusion suddenly unraveled.
But she only responded with two words: "Pervert!"