Chapter 55: Huo Niansheng had truly been moved
With the heavy rain persisting and the temperature dropping suddenly, the number of people catching colds and fevers indeed swarmed the hospital.
Men and women, young and old, sitting and lying down—the clinic was packed full, much like dumplings thrown into a boiling pot.
The cleaner swung a long-handled mop back and forth across the floor, only for it to be immediately covered again in muddy footprints.
Chen Wengang had an IV needle stuck in the back of his hand, resting it somewhat awkwardly over the back of his chair.
He was sitting in a plastic armchair. God knows who dragged it from where, but its comfort level was practically zero. When he came in, the beds and sofas were already full. It was only because another patient had just finished their IV and was getting ready to leave that he barely managed to claim this small spot in the corner.
Yu Shanding was still yammering in his ear: “I was ignorant when I was young. No dad, no mom, grew up with my grandma. Her mindset was ‘all occupations are base, only scholars rank high’. Me? I didn’t even finish middle school. Fought with people every day, smoked…”
Chen Wengang was so annoyed he couldn’t think straight; his head felt like it was going to explode.
He actually knew long ago that Yu Shanding was the ‘worthless thing’ old Granny Zhou often talked about—her beloved but deeply disappointing grandson. But the last time he went to Medusa, Yu Shanding had played a trick on him. Feeling mischievous himself, he kept this secret hidden and said nothing.
He was waiting to see when Yu Shanding would figure it out himself.
A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. In his past life, after Lu Chenlong went abroad, the only person from the old street Chen Wengang occasionally saw was this old lady. Sometimes he would visit Granny Zhou’s house and buy some things. Later on, he unexpectedly ran into Yu Shanding at her house—a true coincidence.
The old lady falling down in the rain was unexpected; Chen Wengang hadn’t known about this in his past life.
Fortunately, they found her in time, and she wasn’t seriously hurt.
Yu Shanding was still recounting his turbulent early years: “Later on, we got into a fight once. Steel pipes, machetes were all brought out. I smashed a brick over a guy’s head and almost crippled him. That’s when I finally got scared. The cops came to arrest people, and my grandma paid the compensation for me and even spent some time locked up. After that, I didn’t have the face to see her, so I left a note and ran away. I said I wouldn’t come back until I made something of myself… Who knew I’d be out there hustling for nearly twenty years. Look at her now, she still tries to chase me out the door when she sees me…”
“Boss Yu,” Chen Wengang tactfully interrupted him. “Are your grandma’s scans done yet?”
“Everything that needs to be scanned has been scanned. We still have to wait two hours for the results,” Yu Shanding said. “It’s fine, she’s lying in a hospital room upstairs. She was worried about you, so she told me to come down and check on you. I told her from the start, I wanted to bring her to live with me, but she just isn’t willing. Too attached to the past…”
“Or maybe you could just stop talking for a bit,” Chen Wengang finally interrupted him. “My ears are ringing.”
“Oh, right, right, I’ll stop talking. You rest,” Yu Shanding said. Half a minute later, he asked, “Do you need to use the bathroom?”
Chen Wengang closed his eyes, his head buzzing, pretending he was deaf. Suddenly, he opened them again: “Boss Yu.”
“What is it?” Yu Shanding asked.
He said, “Stop bothering me. There’s a Wanghai Restaurant on Jiangchao Street, opened by your benefactor. Go support his business when you have time. I’ll give you his number; add him right now.”
With his neck unsupported, Chen Wengang kept his back straight. He shifted slightly to maintain the posture, feeling incredibly exhausted sitting there. That was until the back of his head bumped into a soft wall—a wall that had actively leaned in, a gentle force supporting his head and resting it against itself.
At the same time, Yu Shanding stood up: “Hey, President Huo—did you come by yourself? Where’s your driver?”
“Downstairs.” Huo Niansheng lowered his head and kissed the top of Chen Wengang’s hair. “How did you manage to get yourself into this state again?”
The moment he walked in, his entire vibe clashed with the chaotic public hospital outpatient clinic. He was still wearing his tailored suit, looking like a model who had just stepped off the runway and into a wet market, drawing stares from everyone in the hall. Pleasantly surprised, Chen Wengang unconsciously revealed a small smile and offered his free hand to him.
“Did the flights resume? Didn’t you say the heavy rain delayed you and you wouldn’t be back for a few more days?”
“My driver drove me back.” Huo Niansheng held his hand.
“That must have been exhausting. Even if you don’t rest, you should let him go back and get some sleep.”
“Always worrying about everyone else. Have some pity on yourself, baby, otherwise I’ll be the one hurting for you.” Huo Niansheng touched the plastic chair. “You can’t sit properly or lie down on this. I’ll have Old Li go get a hospital room for you.”
Yu Shanding slapped his forehead with a sheepish smile: “Look at me, I completely forgot to arrange that while I was at it…”
Huo Niansheng waved him off: “It’s fine. You have a lot on your plate, just go upstairs and take care of the old lady.”
Feeling guilty, Yu Shanding cast a glance at Chen Wengang.
That morning, Chen Wengang had caught a fever from the rain. His temperature read 38.1°C, so the nurse brought him to the outpatient clinic for an IV drip. You didn’t need to be hospitalized for a cold and a fever, and even if you wanted to, it had to be paid out of pocket. Most people wouldn’t want to spend the money or go through the hassle. Yu Shanding had helped him register, while Chen Wengang urged him to take the old lady to get her scans. Lu Chenlong’s younger brother was still locked at home, so after hastily exchanging a few words, Lu Chenlong was also quickly shooed back.
Yu Shanding had been running up and down all morning, completely overwhelmed, and didn’t have the time to think things through.
Only now did he notice that Chen Wengang was still wearing half-dry, damp clothes.
Chen Wengang lazily rested his head against Huo Niansheng’s waist, his eyes half-closed, filled entirely with Huo Niansheng’s presence. When the old and the young were around, he put himself last. But it seemed that once this man arrived, he found his support, became someone who needed taking care of, and comfortably settled into the role of a patient.
The scene before him left Yu Shanding stunned. On one hand, he felt a bit ashamed that he hadn’t even thought to ask the nurse for a hospital gown.
On the other hand, he had never seen anyone act spoiled like this with Huo Niansheng.
Before long, Huo Niansheng’s driver arrived. A young nurse gave directions: “Go to the doctor to get an admission slip, then go to the cashier to pay the fee.”
Relying on his height, Huo Niansheng held the IV bag high with one hand and supported Chen Wengang’s arm with the other, taking him up the elevator.
The hospital room was a single. It wasn’t very large, but it was already a vast improvement over the dumpling-pot-like lobby. Huo Niansheng hung the IV bag on a hook. Supporting his hand, Chen Wengang sat on the edge of the bed and was quickly pressed down to lie flat. He didn’t dare exert force on his arm, resting it lightly on the edge of the bed.
Huo Niansheng grasped his hand; it was icy cold.
With a sigh, he bent down, took off Chen Wengang’s shoes, and lifted his legs onto the bed.
Lying there, Chen Wengang teased him: “Is it that I’m too delicate, or that you have more money than sense…”
Huo Niansheng scoffed at him: “If I don’t take care of you, who will?”
With that, he walked out. Chen Wengang could hear the poor tone in his voice but wasn’t too intimidated. When Huo Niansheng returned, he held a hot water bottle printed with the hospital’s name, wrapped it in a towel, and placed it under Chen Wengang’s hand.
Chen Wengang turned his head, gazing at his face.
As his palm warmed up, his body followed suit. Once he was lying comfortably, his eyelids gradually began to fight each other, and soon his breathing slowed.
When Huo Niansheng looked again, Chen Wengang had already fallen asleep.
The blanket was bunched under his head like a pillow. Huo Niansheng dug out another one from the storage cabinet and made do, draping it over him. A hand with an IV needle stuck in it reached out from under the blanket, its pale, slender fingers half-curled, resting on the hot water bottle.
Huo Niansheng reached out and rubbed the back of his fingers against Chen Wengang’s wrist.
After sleeping for a while, Chen Wengang coughed a few times. Huo Niansheng, sitting by the bed, leaned in to check on him. Chen Wengang opened his eyes to a slit, looked at him, and Huo Niansheng bent over, brushed aside his hair, and touched his forehead with his lips. It still felt hot. “Go to sleep, I’m right here.”
Chen Wengang smiled peacefully, turned his head slightly to the side, and closed his eyes again.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Huo Niansheng had been gone for nearly a month and had missed him dearly. His previous thoughts had completely changed; he couldn’t even remember why he had insisted on torturing himself by playing the celibate gentleman. His mind had been completely consumed with coming back, tying him up, locking the door, and making him realize that crying was useless—
Reality was always less than ideal, though it did cool his head. It felt as if a ring of burrs had taken root in his heart; an inescapable, nagging ache and itch slowly seeped upward.
He wondered if this person was made of paper—the moment someone started taking care of him, he completely stopped taking care of himself.
Aside from his poor health, Chen Wengang was practically a perfect lover: gentle, kind, uncontentious, and unconditionally trusting of him. Whether it was his looks or his character, there was nothing to find fault with. Huo Niansheng had undeniably developed earthly affections, a fact he himself could no longer deny.
He even felt a bit unsure of what to do with him.
He was propping his head up, watching Chen Wengang’s sleeping face, when his Third Uncle suddenly called.
“That Guan Shizhang, he’s an old friend of your grandfather’s for many years. What did he say when you went to see him?”
Huo Niansheng stepped out into the corridor to take the call: “I only saw his son this time. Guan Shizhang passed away during the Spring Festival last year.”
Third Uncle Huo was silent for a moment. “Oh, I didn’t even know that. When people get old, you never know when these things will happen. But he must have been in his nineties, so it’s a long, full life—What about his shares then? Did his son inherit them all?”
Huo Niansheng smiled faintly: “However, his precious son isn’t very good at holding onto wealth and is willing to cash out all the shares. It’s less than 5%, so it doesn’t need to be listed publicly. If you want to buy them, you can find someone else to make contact. Otherwise, I think Second Uncle might also be tempted.”
He heard his Third Uncle sigh: “Let’s see if your grandfather can hold out until then.”
After hanging up, Huo Niansheng stood outside for a moment, pulled out his cigarette case, and tapped one out.
A nurse pushing a cart passed by him: “Sir, you can’t smoke in the hospital—”
He placed the unlit cigarette between his lips: “Don’t worry, I don’t have a lighter.”
During this period, Huo Niansheng had become intimately familiar with the smell of hospital disinfectant.
Huo Kaishan’s decaying body, the various sophisticated medical equipment in the hospital room, the constant exchange of looks far more complex than the equipment itself—all these constituted the symbolic imagery of impending death. The patient received meticulous care, yet an unshakable scent of decay and old age lingered in the room, mixing with the disinfectant. Huo Niansheng smelled it every time he visited him.
Compared to his cheap grandson, Third Uncle Huo’s feelings for Huo Kaishan were much deeper; they were biological father and son, after all.
But feelings were one thing; fighting for power was another, and it was imperative. If he didn’t make a move, others would. It wasn’t just the reporters; the children and grandchildren were also counting on their fingers, calculating which day would be most advantageous for him to pass away.
Huo Niansheng observed all this with cold detachment.
In truth, this kind of major upheaval wasn’t the first time. A few years ago, when Huo Kaishan was first diagnosed with cancer, there had already been an attempt to force his abdication and seize power.
These kinds of scripts had existed since ancient times and would continue into the future; there was nothing particularly rare about them. As people age, they become stubborn, only feeling secure when holding onto ultimate power. But his children and grandchildren’s wings were fully grown; if he still refused to let go, his sons would soon be grandfathers themselves. How could they not be anxious?
Privately, one truly couldn’t be the head of a family if they were detached and inactive. Publicly, the times were moving forward, and the conglomerate needed reform. Being clutched by an octogenarian would only cause it to sink to the bottom of the sea like an obsolete ship.
Everyone felt their reasoning was perfectly justified.
But Chen Wengang wasn’t wrong in his assumption; Huo Niansheng intentionally kept him insulated from all this.
It was one thing for Chen Wengang to read about these things as gossip somewhere else, but hearing them from Huo Niansheng’s mouth would turn them into his burden.
If he were a future Mrs. Huo marrying into a wealthy family, perhaps he would have an obligation to know how to handle these complex relationships.
But there was no need for that right now. Huo Niansheng would rather only talk of romance with him, leaving him with romantic memories.
When the nurse came to remove the IV needle, Chen Wengang woke up. Huo Niansheng was sitting by the head of the bed, currently watching that public service announcement on his phone.
On the screen, children flashed their smiles one by one, ending with the volunteers. Hearing the familiar music, Chen Wengang instantly woke up. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he reached out his taped hand to grab the phone, but it was caught by Huo Niansheng. Their fingers intertwined, and his hand was pressed against the blanket.
Huo Niansheng touched his forehead again: “It went down a bit, right? Doesn’t feel as hot anymore.”
Chen Wengang turned his head away: “Stay away, I’ll pass it to you.”
Huo Niansheng chuckled, not bothering to argue with him.
On that same day, Old Li went to the nurses’ station to handle the discharge procedures. The car drove back, but it wasn’t taking the route to the Zheng residence.
Chen Wengang noticed the wrong route: “Where are we going?”
Huo Niansheng said: “Kidnapping you.”
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Author’s Note:
The Huo family’s internal drama will be mentioned a bit, but it’s not the main focus. Just like the title Daily Life of Rebirth suggests, Wengang deserves to live his own life this time around. Of course, he can’t completely step off this stage. Old Huo currently feels he’s too sensitive and anxious; dragging him into the scheming will only over-consume him, so he’s still weighing his attitude toward it.
