Chapter 181: Volume 1 Chapter 181: Study Hard, Make Progress Every Day (25)

Jiang Zhi held her hand and softly said, "Grandma, thank you for taking care of me, behind Dad and Mom's backs giving me a large amount of pocket money, whenever I return home you're always the first to ask if I'm hungry or thirsty…… Thank you, I hope you can wake up soon, you will always be my grandma."

She felt a little sad, lowering her gaze and missing the sight of tears sliding down her grandmother's eye corner.

After leaving the ward, she went to the ward where Jiang Mu was.

Dad Xi squatted in the smoking area, surrounded by cigarette butts, his beard stubbly, completely lacking the handsome aura of the former domineering male lead, only leaving decadence and sorrow.

She stood at the doorway, glanced inside, and shouted:

"Dad."

Dad Xi froze, slowly lifting his head; upon seeing his daughter seated in a wheelchair at the doorway, his eyes widened, pupils constricted, and he opened his mouth in disbelief.

A few seconds later, he stubbed out the cigarette in his hand, stumbled over, his voice especially hoarse: "Xiao Zhi, what happened to you?"

He suddenly realized he reeked of smoke, hastily took off his jacket, stepped back a few steps, raised a hand to scratch his head, still not recovered from the shock and joy, somewhat at a loss.

Jiang Zhi noticed this detail, her nose tingling, and after a while said, "Dad, I got injured that day; a classmate found me, took me abroad to see an excellent doctor, and I only just woke up, causing you to worry."

She blurred the events that happened in F Guo; if Dad Xi knew those things, he would surely worry even more.

Dad Xi listened to her light words, his breath seemed to halt; the man in his forties reddened his eyes, afraid to frighten her, he averted his gaze and covered his mouth with his hand.

After a few minutes, he took a deep breath, wiped the tears from his eyes, and forced a comforting smile: "It's fine, Xiao Zhi, you're back now—that's all that matters; Mom, Dad, and Grandpa and Grandma are all waiting for you."

Jiang Zhi nodded.

Pushed by him, they arrived at the ward and saw Jiang Mu getting up, preparing to pull out her IV and leave the bed.

Hearing the movement at the door, Jiang Mu instinctively looked up, saw Jiang Zhi, and thought she was seeing things, another hallucination.

She rubbed her eyes, looked again, and tears like broken pearls instantly welled up in her eyes.

"Mom." Jiang Zhi was tightly embraced by her, listening to her choked sobs, the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat.

One hour later.

Finally calming her emotions, Jiang Mu wiped the tears from her eyes with a tissue, held Xiao Zhi's hand, and listened to her experiences over the past few months.

Her heart trembling uncontrollably, she blurted out, "Where is the classmate who saved you?"

Li Wen Nian, still standing at the ward doorway, heard this, walked in, stopped behind Jiang Zhi, and said awkwardly, "Auntie, it's me."

Jiang Mu saw his face, found it somewhat familiar, quickly recalled, "It's you; last time Xiao Zhi was hospitalized, you often came to see her."

Saying this, she felt immense gratitude, "Thank you so much for saving Xiao Zhi, thank you."

Li Wen Nian lowered his forehead, his blond hair covering his eyes.

If it weren't for him bringing Xiao Zhi to F Guo, she wouldn't have incurred these misfortunes, nor would she have been shot.

A surge of negative emotions instantly engulfed him; Jiang Zhi noticed this, grabbed his wrist, gave it a gentle squeeze, turned to them and said, "Mom and Dad, I have something to tell you."

After telling her parents she still needed to go abroad for treatment, they wanted to accompany her, but Jiang Zhi refused, saying she had grown up and some things must be faced alone.

To dispel their thoughts, she agreed that she would return in a month and would stay in touch along the way.

Only then did her parents let her leave.

Jiang Zhi had less than a week to live, so she could only deceive them this way.

At least when she dies, they won't witness it, nor will they suffer overly.

Probably…

Jiang Zhi took a car to where Cheng Su lived, a residential complex not far from her home.

He, once a poor school bully, had self-taught programming from an early age, released software works online, and even at a young age earned a considerable amount of money.

At this moment he was using major networks across the country, searching everywhere for her.

Li Wen Nian wanted to push her inside together, but Jiang Zhi stopped him.

"I'll go in alone."

Li Wen Nian recalled some memory fragments; the deepest was of her walking with the young man on the pedestrian street, behaving intimately, brows and eyes smiling.

He hooked his thumb between his index and thumb, pouted dissatisfiedly, and said, "Got it—remember to come out early, I'll be waiting outside for you~"

Jiang Zhi: "Mm."

After knocking, the youth opened the door with a face darkened by deep eye circles, listlessly; his gaze lowered and met the girl's beautiful peach-blossom eyes.

"Cheng Su." She called out.

When Cheng Su saw her at first glance, he was completely stunned, thinking he'd hallucinated from staying up too late.

He raised his fist and slammed it hard into himself, blood appearing at the corner of his mouth, before he could believe what he saw before him.

Seeing Jiang Zhi that he had gone mad, just as she was about to speak, her body was suddenly enfolded in a tight embrace by the youth.

"Jiang Zhi!" His voice low and trembling.

She let him hold her, saying, "I'm here."

In Cheng Su's bloodshot, narrowed eyes rose the joy and delight of having regained what was lost.

Meanwhile, Li Wen Nian, who had been hiding around the corner and secretly following, couldn't help but feel jealous, extending his distinctively jointed fingers to draw circles on the nearby wall, activating a curse mode.

After a while, he crouched like a homeless stray cat, his blond hair drooping over his brows and eyes, his mouth pouted as if able to hang a water kettle, muttering to himself:

"Damn dead baldhead! Xiao Zhi isn't yours!"

"Xiao Zhi is mine."

"She belongs to me alone."

—

Indoors.

Jiang Zhi watched the youth frantically tidying the living room, with things scattered everywhere, messy and cramped.

Books of all kinds were strewn everywhere, and the table still had leftover takeout from lunch.

Meeting her gaze, Cheng Su's face flushed a little, embarrassed and lacking confidence: "I'm not usually like this; it's just that lately I've been single-mindedly trying to find……"

As he spoke further, he suddenly stopped, his face growing ever redder.

Jiang Zhi said: "Hmm, I know."

Cheng Su recalled what she had said at the doorway, and without thinking he said: "I like you; I've liked you since middle school, for a long time already. Although I don't have much money now, nor much fame, and I'm not yet worthy of you, I swear that if you give me two more years, I will surely strive to keep up with your pace and become worthy of you."

"Jiang Zhi, I've always wanted to call you Zhizhi; I envy Li Wen Nian, who can always speak his mind. I also have many things I want to say to you. These past months I've been looking for you; even if I can't find you now, I will surely be able to find you later."

"I'm not saying this to ask you to be with me; I just want to tell you how I feel."

His usual lazy, weary demeanor was now earnest and sincere, his dark eyes revealing a love for her that could not be concealed.

Jiang Zhi gazed at his face half-hidden in shadow, and a feeling rose in her heart.

It was as if Yun Jin stood there, giving her a very familiar aura.