Prev | Table of Contents | Next
Chapter 115: He didn’t even know if he would finish this course in the future.
Chen Wengang walked toward the parking lot, and Lu Chenlong asked, “Is there anywhere else you need to go?”
Chen Wengang sighed in relief, “These days… I’ve troubled you.”
Lu Chenlong caught up, saying, “Hey, what’s the fuss between us, no trouble at all.”
These days, he had left his younger brother at Grandma Zhou’s house, and the old lady knew that her grandson had gone abroad to find someone, sighing at home while worshiping Buddha.
The scenery outside the window changed as the car stopped, arriving at the Zheng residence. Chen Wengang honked twice, and a security guard popped out to park his Lexus. Uncle Lin had already known he was coming through the doorbell camera and stood on the steps waiting for Chen Wengang, comforting him with a pat on the shoulder.
Chen Wengang hugged him briefly and followed him upstairs. Lu Chenlong sat awkwardly on the sofa in the living room, his first time stepping into the Zheng family’s mansion.
Looking around, he felt uncomfortable, as if someone might come down the dark stairs at any moment to question why there were outsiders here.
Half an hour passed like this, until the sound of footsteps descending the stairs finally came. It was Zheng Yucheng accompanying Chen Wengang.
Their eyes met, and there was a subtle sense of rejection and disdain between them.
Zheng Yucheng turned to Lu Chenlong, saying, “The Zheng family has offices in major port cities in Southeast Asia, and many employees there, so you don’t have to worry. Dad promised to help you, he will definitely find a solution for you.”
Chen Wengang seemed to be listening, but his mind was elsewhere.
His face was as pale as if he had just recovered from a serious illness, and Zheng Yucheng couldn’t bear it. “Just in case…”
He wanted to say “just in case”, just in case something happened to Huo Niansheng, could you give me another chance? I know I’ve gone down the wrong path, can we try to start over? But that would be too cruel, even if he really thought so, he couldn’t say it now.
In the end, Zheng Yucheng just spoke to keep him there: “Do you want to have dinner here?”
Lu Chenlong stepped forward, “No, we’ll just go back.”
Chen Wengang didn’t have much of a thought, at most feeling like his life was reduced to just three meals a day, with everyone pushing him to eat on time, unable to do anything else. He didn’t want to owe anyone, but at this juncture, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and ask Zheng Bingyi for help.
On the other hand, Huo Zhenfei was also searching for people; he couldn’t afford to overlook any possibility.
On the way back, the car transitioned from the mountain road to the main road. Chen Wengang drove slower and slower until he eventually stopped the car on the side of the road.
Lu Chenlong didn’t understand why, but he saw Chen Wengang open the center console and fumble around until he pulled out a pill bottle, shaking as he tried to pour out a pill, but failed.
Chen Wengang squinted at the bottle, and this time, a bunch spilled out with a clatter. He tilted his head back, ready to swallow the pills.
Lu Chenlong quickly grabbed his hand. “What are you doing?” He glanced at the bottle, seeing “Alprazolam” printed on it.
Chen Wengang whispered, “Give me one.”
Lu Chenlong took all the pills from him, leaving only one, and then got out of the car to fetch a bottle of water from the trunk.
After taking the pill, Chen Wengang slumped over the steering wheel, burying his face in his arms, motionless and silent for a long time. Lu Chenlong finally grew anxious, apologizing to him, and opened the car door. “I can’t drive you anymore. You’ll have to take a taxi back…”
He hesitated again, then continued speaking as he slumped down.
The ambulance rushed Chen Wengang to the hospital, where he underwent examinations, but no issues were found. The experienced doctor suggested it might be some form of cardiac neurosis, which Lu Chenlong didn’t fully understand. After paying the fees and receiving the paperwork, he returned to the hospital room.
Chen Wengang leaned against the bed, fiddling with his phone. “Yu Shanding sent me a message.”
Lu Chenlong asked, “Any progress?”
Chen Wengang hung his head. “The taxi driver has been found. The driver and the car were in a remote area, and there was a car accident on the scene. The driver was injured and found unconscious, so… we still don’t know what happened.”
Lu Chenlong exclaimed, “Ah.”
Saying they didn’t know opened up too many possibilities for speculation. Lu Chenlong didn’t dare to say more, but he couldn’t stop Chen Wengang’s mind from wandering.
Chen Wengang glanced out the window. “I dreamed about Huo Niansheng last night.”
He felt like it was a lifetime ago, even though upon closer inspection, it hadn’t been that long.
But upon further thought, he didn’t know if he would ever see him again.
Lu Chenlong snapped back to reality and analyzed for him, “Think about it, if something really happened, at least he wouldn’t be missing, right?”
Compared to various accidents, at this moment, he would rather hope that Mr. Huo had really done something wrong and fled abroad out of fear. After all, Mr. Huo Niansheng had so many industries and investments, and his social connections were quite complex. Who knows what secrets there might be that even Chen Wengang didn’t know.
The more Lu Chenlong thought about it, the more he felt that maybe it was true. At least that way, everyone would still be accounted for, which would be easier for Chen Wengang to accept.
After a while, Chen Wengang only said, “Before the worst happens, let’s finish what needs to be done first.”
These days, to not miss any news, he had set his phone’s volume to the maximum. Just then, it rang loudly, startling both of them, but it turned out to be something irrelevant. An old classmate, Cheng Bo, sent a private message, informing him of a weekend hiking trip together.
Chen Wengang couldn’t even sigh, so he just locked his phone screen in frustration.
The next day, the mentor suddenly notified Chen Wengang to return to school.
Lu Chenlong continued to accompany him as they left, finding a spot on campus to wait.
Chen Wengang went upstairs alone and knocked on the door of the dean’s office. After a while, he understood what was happening. His graduate school application had been approved, and they could have issued the offer. However, during the public announcement period, someone reported that he had obtained his admission qualifications through improper means.
In front of the dean, his mentor cautiously inquired about the situation, hinting at whether he had offended someone.
Chen Wengang hesitated for a moment and instinctively said no.
The dean also asked a few questions, his expression unreadable.
Finally, the mentor half-soothed, half-explained: “The college naturally wouldn’t easily suspect you. After all, they know what kind of student you are, and the college leaders are aware of it. However, according to the procedure, since there’s a report, an investigation must be conducted. Don’t burden yourself too much.”
After hearing the whole story, Chen Wengang had a name flash through his mind, but he was disinterested and couldn’t even muster the mood to gather evidence.
In fact, the way the mentor asked indicated that he also knew something was amiss. This report wasn’t a grassroots report; someone used the relationship of a school director to pressure the school to try to push him out directly.
However, the situation wasn’t so dire. Fortunately, the professor Chen Wengang was going to work with had a strong and straightforward personality, refusing to cancel the student’s admission without good reason, no matter how much pressure was applied.
The mentor accompanied Chen Wengang towards the school gate and advised him, “If you have time, you can go talk to Professor Kong again. Just for this matter, he was quite angry. Don’t worry, if he thinks you’re fine, then there’s basically no problem. His temperament for protecting his students is well-known. Once he speaks up, others won’t be able to tamper with the investigation results.”
Chen Wengang understood the mentor’s good intentions, and it was only proper for him to express gratitude to the professor.
So he went, and Professor Kong patted his shoulder and reminded him to maintain academic integrity. But in reality, Chen Wengang felt quite sorry. He had taken up this study position, yet he didn’t even know if he would finish this course in the future.
In the evening, when they reached Jiangchao Street, Lu Chenlong went home, and the nanny was cooking at Chen’s house.
It was another night without any news. Before going to bed, Chen Wengang received a call from Director Liu—she originally didn’t want to bother him again, but her daughter, who had contact with him before, unfortunately caught a cold and had a high fever. For a child with congenital heart disease, fever and respiratory difficulties caused by a cold would increase the oxygen consumption of the myocardium, making it prone to cardiac incidents. It was a relatively dangerous situation.
Chen Wengang was worried after all, so after spending half a day persuading the nanny to stay at home, he went to the welfare institute to visit.
Helping to take care of the children was volunteer Auntie Huang, and they were old acquaintances. Chen Wengang wore a mask and went to the isolation dormitory. Upon pushing the door open, he saw a small child lying on a small bed, cheeks flushed, hugging a teddy bear, curled up in the blanket with less curvature than the bear.
His heart softened, and he sat down beside the bed, reaching out to gently stroke her soft hair.
Diandian opened her eyes, her forehead burning hot. Feeling the coolness of his hand, she whimpered and rubbed his hand against hers.
Chen Wengang smiled and asked if her head hurt. She pretended to cry and said it did. Then he asked what she wanted, and she said she wanted to go out and play.
He moved his lips, originally intending to agree, saying they could go wherever she wanted when she felt better. But the words rolled around on his tongue, and he couldn’t bring himself to say them, afraid of making promises he couldn’t keep. So he just tucked her in and said she would feel better after a nap.
He didn’t leave until she fell asleep. Dean Liu felt embarrassed. “She’s in a bad mood, uncomfortable, and keeps crying. She’ll be a bit happier when you’re here. That’s why I called you over.”
Chen Wengang politely replied, “It’s nothing, it’s what I should do.”
Just as he thought he could relax and that the child’s condition was stable, the children’s hospital urgently called him again.
Urgent…
Come quickly…
Chen Wengang accompanied Director Liu to the hospital. It was the little boy Taotao who had originally had a cold that turned into pneumonia. He had improved a bit, but the nurse didn’t watch him and let him sneak out downstairs for a walk. He caught a chill and was sent back, and his high fever returned.
The nurse hung an IV drip, and Director Liu stayed up all night watching over Taotao, constantly wiping his hands and feet to lower his temperature.
Chen Wengang didn’t return all night; he stayed at the hospital too.
Just as dawn was breaking, Chen Xiangling came looking for him and learned the situation. She asked if he wanted to go back and rest for a while.
Chen Wengang didn’t feel like it. “To be honest, I feel like I can be useful here, and I won’t think too much. Besides, if I go back, you’ll all treat me like a patient who can’t take care of himself. I’m starting to find it a bit unbearable.”
Unexpectedly, the illness progressed extremely rapidly. Taotao soon started to talk nonsense, experience nightmares, and lose consciousness.
He was diagnosed with viral encephalitis. Just yesterday he was fine, but in less than twenty-four hours, he was moved to the ICU, and the doctors brought a critically ill notification form for them to sign.
The children’s hospital was filled with young lives, where death felt both light and heavy. Director Liu’s expression was solemn as she spoke with the doctors, while Chen Wengang couldn’t articulate his feelings.
In the past, due to work reasons, he had seen too many sick children pass away. Such sudden occurrences were not unheard of. Sometimes, it wasn’t a matter of neglecting one’s duty, but rather accepting fate. However, his mood today was particularly desolate and bleak.
He dropped off Chen Xiangling at Jiangchao Street. When they reached the street corner, he didn’t get out of the car himself but said he needed to go somewhere.
Chen Xiangling asked in suspicion, “Where are you going?”
Chen Wengang assured her, “I definitely won’t go to any dangerous places. I just need some time alone to clear my mind.”
Prev | Table of Contents | Next
For every Ko-fi received for a perticular novel, I will release a new chapter!
