Chu Tingyun’s gaze paused on that line of tiny gray text for a moment before he suddenly let out a soft chuckle.
The top of the chat box kept flashing “The other party is typing…”, but the reply was endlessly delayed.
President Chu wasn’t in a hurry either. He waited nonchalantly, even feeling a bit leisurely. Right then, his other phone began to ring.
Chu Tingyun answered: “Hello?”
“President Chu, news just came in.”
Special Assistant Fang’s voice came through the receiver.
“Many of the anonymous reports against Hongyuan Group from a month ago have been verified. The Chongyan Island Resort project has now been completely halted, their funds have been frozen by the bank, and a bunch of bad debts have been dug up. Right now, the Chen family’s situation… is not looking good.”
“What did the old man say?”
“The Chen family went to City A overnight to beg the Chairman, but they weren’t even let through the door. However, Madam probably won’t have the heart to watch her maiden family suffer, so she’ll likely help out somewhat in secret.”
The Madam that Special Assistant Fang mentioned was Chu Tingyun’s stepmother.
“Got it.”
President Chu chuckled.
“Then cut ties with Hongyuan as quickly as possible, and fully cooperate with the investigators from the bank and the government.”
Special Assistant Fang hesitated slightly: “But President Chu, we have many close project collaborations with Hongyuan. If we cut ties completely, our losses…”
Chu Tingyun interrupted directly: “Disregard the losses. I will handle the rest.”
“Understood.”
After a pause, Special Assistant Fang still asked one more question:
“President Chu, should we investigate that anonymous whistleblower? The evidence they provided was far too detailed and precise, much of it top-secret. I suspect it’s an insider, and someone in a high position.”
Chu Tingyun fell silent for a moment. When he replied, his tone carried a hint of warning.
“Don’t do unnecessary things.”
“…”
Special Assistant Fang understood his meaning and smartly dropped the subject.
“The matter you instructed yesterday has been taken care of. However, the producer over there wanted to ask if you need us to look after Mr. Yan’s friend a bit more.”
“No need.”
Chu Tingyun watched the night rain rushing past the car window, his tone indifferent.
“Just let that chubby kid stay honestly in the mountains for a few months.”
Special Assistant Fang understood immediately: “Understood.”
“Additionally, Miss Jingshu’s wedding is set for the 10th of next month. The Chairman said you absolutely must attend.”
“Got it.”
Just as the call ended, Chu Tingyun’s personal phone received Yan Xun’s reply:
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. It was an accidental touch.”
—An expected answer.
President Chu tossed his work phone aside and replied to the only contact on his personal WeChat:
“It’s fine. It was just something set as a joke in the past, I forgot to change it.”
A joke?
Only after looking it up did Yan Xun learn that the content of the “pat” message could only be set by the person being patted. In other words, Chu Tingyun had set this phrase himself.
Perhaps something like this really had happened in the past, which was why the other party had set such a lighthearted, intimate phrase, tinged with the flirtatious charm of a young couple.
But the most powerful beautification tool in the world is probably human imagination, so everything the brain deduces gets filtered through rose-tinted glasses.
Yan Xun was well aware of this.
His fingertips lingered over the phone’s keyboard for a moment, but he ultimately skipped past this topic.
“I’ve received everything, thank you. Also, I forgot to return your coat. Should I wash it and bring it over to you?”
Snowy Mountain: “No need, just bring it back for me.”
Bring it back?
Back where?
Yan Xun froze, only belatedly realizing the other party probably meant bringing it back home.
—His and Chu Tingyun’s home.
“…”
After a moment of silence, Yan Xun replied with an “Okay.”
Snowy Mountain: “The business trip schedule got moved up. I have to fly to City A right now.”
Tonight? In such a hurry?
Yan Xun went to check the weather forecast for City A before replying:
“It’s raining heavily in City A too. Stay safe.”
“Will do.”
The brief chat ended there.
Yan Xun exited WeChat and started checking his financial situation.
Regardless of whether they ultimately divorced or if his memory recovered, figuring out how much money he currently had was very important.
Relying on search engine queries, Yan Xun quickly learned how to use modern online banking. Twenty minutes later, he had his answer—
WeChat Wallet: 2461.32
Alipay: 1032.54
Three bank cards totaling: 20210.76.
For a high school student, twenty thousand was indeed a massive sum. But in this first-tier metropolis, for the current twenty-five-year-old Yan Xun, it was pitifully little.
Not to mention, he was likely facing exorbitant medical bills. He might even be held back upon discharge because he couldn’t afford to pay.
Yan Xun: “……..”
He immediately got up and went to find Nurse Zhao.
“—You want to check your medical bills now?”
Nurse Zhao found it slightly odd, but still replied with a smile,
“Don’t worry. When you transferred here, your husband pre-deposited 500,000 yuan. You should still get quite a bit refunded when you’re discharged.”
“…”
Five hundred thousand.
He indeed didn’t need to worry about medical bills.
“…Thank you for your trouble.”
After bidding the nurse goodbye, Yan Xun returned to his ward. At the very least, being detained by the hospital for being unable to pay wouldn’t happen. He took out his phone, intending to ask Chu Tingyun about the medical expenses, but then decided against it.
The other party was probably on the plane right now.
Yan Xun began planning for an early discharge. Dr. Wang said his fracture didn’t require hospitalization and he could just rest at home. As for the intracranial blood clot, it wasn’t a major issue and would dissipate on its own over time. So he should be able to complete the discharge procedures in a few days.
However, he didn’t expect that during the routine ward rounds the next morning, Dr. Wang would suddenly change his tune for some unknown reason. He said the location of the blood clot in Yan Xun’s brain was a bit dangerous and required further hospitalization for observation.
“As doctors, we have to be responsible for our patients. Besides, staying in the hospital will help you recover faster, Mr. Yan. Your memory might even return sooner.”
“…Alright.”
Lured by the phrase memory might recover sooner, Yan Xun eventually agreed to stay in the hospital, actively cooperating with treatment every day and doing some rehabilitation exercises under the doctor’s guidance.
During this period, he contacted the friends in his contact list one by one and through them, found his former university counselor.
The Yan Xun they described was taciturn, hardworking, won scholarships every year, frequently took on part-time jobs outside, and rarely interacted with classmates.
The only exceptions were that he had dated the campus belle, Jiang Jingshu, and had once won the grand prize in a college student artificial intelligence innovation competition. However, after graduation, no one had heard any news from Yan Xun.
Zhou Ze had basically said all this already.
Yan Xun didn’t glean much useful information. After going around in circles, he would probably still have to start with Chu Tingyun.
But the other party didn’t want to tell him; Yan Xun could sense that.
Fortunately, the month wasn’t too hard to endure. Yan Xun’s injuries recovered quickly, his cast was removed, and he successfully completed his discharge procedures.
The medical expenses were indeed as Nurse Zhao had said; more than half of the pre-deposited 500,000 yuan was refunded.
The staff processing the refund asked Yan Xun:
“Do you need this refunded to a different account?”
“Just refund it to the original payment method.”
—He answered thus.
Leaving the hospital this time on his crutch, Yan Xun had finally remembered to buy a set of regular clothes online in advance, so the incident of wearing a hospital gown and scaring pedestrians didn’t happen again.
He had also bought a backpack online because the items near the hospital were just too expensive. There wasn’t much in the backpack: his ID card, a charging cable, and the divorce agreement.
Aside from those, there was only Chu Tingyun’s trench coat.
After being discharged, it was naturally time to go home.
The divorce agreement stated that he and Chu Tingyun jointly owned three properties post-marriage, and the corresponding addresses were noted.
However, Yan Xun had checked his bank statements and delivery addresses, discovering that before losing his memory, he hadn’t lived in any of those three properties. Instead, he rented a two-bedroom apartment in an old residential complex on the outskirts of the city.
After a moment of deliberation, Yan Xun decided to return to his rental apartment first.
The location was a bit far. The navigation app showed the subway would take an hour and a half, requiring two transfers.
On the subway, Yan Xun sent a text to Zhou Ze saying he’d been discharged. The other party still didn’t reply. Who knew what that guy was busy with; in this past month, he’d just sent one message saying he was busy with work and hadn’t contacted him since.
On the contrary, Chu Tingyun, who was equally busy with work, occasionally sent him a message or two.
That person told Yan Xun that Baobao had been sent to a friend’s house for foster care, had a huge temper, not only broke out of its enclosure three times, but even beat the friend’s dog until it cried.
He also asked if Yan Xun wanted him to bring anything back when he returned.
“I don’t lack anything,” he had answered at the time.
But after thinking about it, Yan Xun sent another message:
“If it’s convenient, please bring me a postcard.”
Chu Tingyun smiled and said “Okay.”
Perhaps because it wasn’t very convenient while on a business trip, most of the messages Chu Tingyun sent Yan Xun were voice notes. His tone was familiar and natural, carrying an unconscious trace of intimacy.
If it weren’t for the divorce agreement still existing, Yan Xun would probably have forgotten the fact that their marriage had already broken down.
—But those messages were from three days ago.
Right now on the subway, Yan Xun’s gaze rested on the other’s contact name for a few seconds before he started typing.
“I’ve been discharged.”
He waited a few minutes, but the other side didn’t reply.
So Yan Xun sent a second message:
“Thank you for paying my medical bills in advance. After the settlement today, 356,531.57 was refunded. Please check your account.”
He took pictures of the receipts and invoices and sent them to Chu Tingyun.
Yan Xun originally wanted to say, “Don’t worry, if we end up getting divorced, I will pay you back the medical expenses.”
But right then, he received a new message.
Snowy Mountain: “No need to thank me. They swiped your card.”
The hand Yan Xun was using to type instantly froze: “…”
He was silenced by this sentence for a full minute.
My card?
But Yan Xun remembered checking his online banking accounts; he didn’t have a bank card with 500,000 yuan on it.
Yan Xun frowned slightly and asked: “Then where is that card of mine now…?”
Snowy Mountain: “With me.”
Yan Xun continued typing: Then after you return from your business trip, could you return the card to…
Before he could finish typing “me,” the other party sent another message—
Snowy Mountain: “In the past, I’ve always been the one managing the money in our family.”
“…”
Yan Xun’s typing hand froze once more.
After a few seconds of silence, he finally pressed backspace and typed anew:
“Then, thank you for your hard work.”
“Mm.”
Snowy Mountain gave a reserved one-word reply.
Next, Yan Xun received a transfer from the other party.
52,000, with the note: “Pocket money.”
“…”
Yan Xun stared at the transfer labeled “pocket money,” remained silent for a few seconds, and asked:
“Was it always… like this in our family?”
“Mm.”
President Chu remained sparing with his words.
Yan Xun didn’t rush to accept it, asking again: “Then do I need to hand over my salary every month too?”
“Otherwise what?”
Chu Tingyun said as if it were a matter of course.
“Shouldn’t it be expected that you support me since we aren’t divorced?”
Yan Xun: “…….”
He actually couldn’t find a way to refute that.
