Chapter 937: Family Trifles Are Not Simple

He Yuzhu picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said slowly, "I will have a good talk with her when I have the chance. The woman is getting on in years; the risks of childbirth are too high."

Wang Xia shot him a sidelong glance, peeling an orange in her hands, her tone carrying a hint of mockery: "Zhuzi, if you had said this twenty years ago, I wouldn't have believed it even if you beat me to death. Since when did you, He Yuzhu, start urging your daughter-in-law to have children?"

He Yuzhu sighed, his gaze falling on the group of elderly people outside the window. "People, if they haven't lived to that age, their way of looking at things is just different. I used to be annoyed by my parents urging me to have kids, thinking it was meddling. But now I understand: if you don't have them when you're young, by the time you want to, you can't."

"I support you," Wang Xia said decisively, handing him half of the peeled orange.

Before the words had even faded, the door was pushed open with a creak.

Fang Deng stood at the doorway, her face flushing red in an instant, as if scalded by boiling water.

He Yuzhu raised his eyes to look, his brows knitting into a knot.

Her face was deathly pale, and the area under her eyes was bruised and dark, as if she hadn't closed her eyes for days and nights.

"What have you been busy with lately? To look this exhausted." He Yuzhu set down his teacup, his tone softening unconsciously, filled with heartache.

Fang Deng threw herself into the sofa, struggling to sit upright, her voice as hoarse as if rubbed by sandpaper: "Dad, there's an epidemic in the Central Plains, and a lot of critical patients have been transferred here. Surgeries are lined up one after another; my teacher is worn out, and I have to step in for him."

He Yuzhu opened his mouth, the words urging her to have children swirling on the tip of his tongue, but in the end, they remained unsaid.

He was silent for a few seconds, then pulled several small glass bottles from his bag—they contained concentrated Spirit Spring Water—and pushed them toward Fang Deng: "Drink one now."

Fang Deng was close to Lin Wanning, so she naturally knew the value of this water.

She shook her head, gently pushing the bottle back, her voice very soft: "Dad, I'm not sick, I don't need this."

He Yuzhu didn't take the bottle back, his gaze resting heavily on her face, his tone brook no argument: "You must drink it."

Seeing his expression, Fang Deng knew she couldn't win, so she had no choice but to unscrew the cap and drain it in one gulp.

The moment the spring water hit her throat, her entire body felt as if it were wrapped in a warm current; every bone and joint in her body relaxed, and her exhaustion receded like a tide, replaced by strength seeping out from her very bones.

She put down the bottle, looking at He Yuzhu with bright eyes: "Dad, I heard this stuff is very expensive."

He Yuzhu waved his hand and pushed the remaining bottles toward her: "Keep these. Whenever you feel especially tired, drink one; don't skimp on it."

Fang Deng hesitated for a moment, then suddenly asked: "Then... if I encounter a patient I really want to save, can I use it?"

He Yuzhu nodded, his gaze carrying a hint of approval: "You can. However, saving people is one thing, but you must take care of your own health first. Don't push yourself too hard; burning yourself out would be the greatest loss."

Fang Deng was a perceptive person; she understood the hidden meaning in the old man's words immediately.

She lowered her eyes, silent for a few seconds, her eyes turning red and her voice growing slightly hoarse: "Dad, the He Family has a large estate, and I know in my heart that there must be successors. Can you give me two more years? I'll put having children with He Xiao on the agenda then."

He Yuzhu's expression relaxed a little, and he nodded, but then changed the subject: "Once you've accumulated enough clinical experience at the hospital, just open your own. You can arrange everything yourself then. If you raise a few capable people under you, you'll also be able to free up some Kung Fu to help He Xiao manage his investments."

Fang Deng looked troubled. "Dad... can I help He Xiao in my spare time? I still want to work at the public hospital. There, I always feel a sense of mission..."

He Yuzhu didn't answer immediately.

He sat in silence, his gaze falling on Fang Deng's slender, powerful hands—hands that had held a scalpel for over a decade: steady, clean, with distinct knuckles, and still carrying the faint scent of disinfectant.

After a long while, he nodded slowly: "I understand."

Fang Deng was stunned for a moment, as if she hadn't expected him to agree so readily.

Immediately after, her eyes turned as red as a ripe persimmon, her nose felt terribly sore, and her voice trembled: "Dad... it's me who has delayed He Xiao..."

He Yuzhu smiled and said in a gentle tone: "He Xiao isn't good enough for you. It's his good fortune to be able to marry you."

Tears fell from Fang Deng's eyes, splashing onto the back of her hand: "Dad, He Xiao is too good to me. He's actually very smart, gentle on the outside but firm on the inside."

"You're praising him too much." He Yuzhu waved his hand. "Don't I know my own son?"

"You might really not know how capable he is." Fang Deng sniffled. "His math is even better than mine!"

"What's the use of being good at math?" He Yuzhu snorted unceremoniously.

Wang Xia couldn't listen anymore and interjected: "Zhuzi, the environment you and He Xiao grew up in is different. He grew up in an affluent environment, so naturally, he didn't need to fight or scramble, making his personality gentle. In our day, we solved problems with sticks; can that be the same?"

Fang Deng's eyes were red, and she sobbed: "Dad, you were the one who saved me; you know my pain. With someone like He Xiao who treats me so well, even if he were a pauper, I would be willing to marry him. Not to mention he's so wealthy."

He Yuzhu thought to himself that this girl had quite the ability; she had actually turned the tables on him.

He pondered for a moment and suddenly asked: "Is your willingness to stay in the hospital related to your Childhood memories?"

Fang Deng's tears welled up again.

She choked out: "That big earthquake when I was little... I saw with my own eyes so many people who just passed away because they couldn't wait for a doctor. From that moment on, I swore that in this life, for every person I can save, I will save them..."

The sunset outside the window shone in at an angle, gilding her profile with a golden edge.

He Yuzhu didn't speak again. For a moment, he couldn't tell if the girl was acting or if she truly had a bodhisattva's heart.

He turned to look at Wang Xia, his tone filled with emotion: "Sister, the two of you, mother and daughter—one holding a scalpel, the other running an Old Age Home—are both doing meritorious deeds. I truly admire you."

Wang Xia curled her lip and tossed an orange peel into the trash can: "The way you say that, you're praising yourself, aren't you? The Old Age Home I run was truly given by you."

He Yuzhu stood up and patted the non-existent dust off his pant legs: "I'm leaving. If I stay here any longer and get reformed by you two, I'll really have to go to a temple and become a monk."

"Zhuzi, find time to go see Lao Zhou," Wang Xia said suddenly. "He's not going to make it much longer."

"Alright. I'll go see him after I visit my uncle," He Yuzhu said as he walked out.

The moment he stepped into the house, Chen Xueru approached him, her tone filled with fire: "Zhuzi, why did you agree to let He Zheng continue doing business in Russia? I heard Moscow is very chaotic right now!"

He Yuzhu tossed his coat onto the back of the sofa and bent down to change his shoes: "I told him, doing business is fine, but he cannot go himself. Not unless I go with him. You must also tell Qin Tianzhen that if he ever wants to go, he must tell me immediately. Russia today has long been riddled with holes by M Country. It's very dangerous for him to go."

Only then did Chen Xueru relax and sit down beside him: "Zhuzi, have you noticed? He Zheng and Ma Rui are competing openly and secretly now. This time, he's restarting the border trade business just to compete with Ma Rui. Do you think that over time, the two of them will harbor hatred?"

A hint of a reckless smile tugged at the corners of He Yuzhu's mouth: "They're men, what's a little competition? Besides, no matter how much they struggle, they can't make money as fast as I do. As long as I'm alive, they can't turn the world upside down."

Chen Xueru tilted her head to look at him, her gaze probing: "You talk day in and day out about wanting Ma Rui to be the head of the He Group; is this true or false?"

He Yuzhu deliberately kept her in suspense: "When the false is taken for the true, the true becomes false; where there is nothing, there is something."

Chen Xueru was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter: "I understand. You keep flattering Ma Rui, not because you really think he's capable, but because you're cultivating him in a roundabout way."

He Yuzhu smiled and crossed his legs: "People grow up in different environments, so the methods of cultivation are naturally different. He Zheng was pampered in the palm of your hand, while Ma Rui grew up being suppressed by the rain. He Zheng must continue to be suppressed, while Ma Rui must continue to be encouraged..."

Chen Xueru reached out and poked him, laughing and scolding: "You're too bad. Isn't this just inciting the masses to fight the masses? He Zheng has already sent people to work undercover at Ma Rui's company; do you know what news they've gathered?"

"What big news, to make you, this aunt, so gossipy?" He Yuzhu raised an eyebrow at her.

Chen Xueru leaned in closer, lowered her voice, and her eyes sparkled: "Liu Wei is pregnant with Ma Rui's child!"