With the financial resources and influence of the Oriental Group, it was no surprise that Zhuifeng wasn't being treated in a public hospital. However, the villa he was recuperating in was an odd sight. Despite its grand exterior, the interior was devoid of luxury—everything about it was simple and unassuming.
Though Ling Cheng had been adopted as a godson by Xiao Liji, he had never visited this place before. As soon as Qiu Nuo and Zheng He entered the villa, they disappeared without a trace. The second brother, however, seemed very familiar with the layout, leading Ling Cheng through the turns of the house until they arrived in the main hall.
"This… How is this possible?" Ling Cheng exclaimed, unable to suppress his disbelief as he looked around the empty living room. If he hadn't just walked through the front door himself, he might have thought he had come to the wrong place. Nothing about the sparse, modest decor matched what one would expect from the residence of a high-ranking international business tycoon.
"You've never been here before?" The second brother raised an eyebrow.
Ling Cheng nodded gloomily. "No. Not only have I never been here, but I also haven't seen the boss for three whole years. Last year, when I heard he was suddenly critically ill during the Spring Festival Gala, I rushed to N City, but by the time I arrived, he was already in the hospital. When I got there, he was in surgery. And the next day, I had to attend the group's New Year celebration, so…" He paused, then frowned. "But why hasn't godmother done any renovations here?"
The second brother handed him a bottle of mineral water. "Aunt Xiao didn't want to disturb Xiao Feng, you know. Renovations are noisy work."
"Then why not let the boss stay in a hospital for a few days?"
The second brother sighed. "It's not like we didn't suggest that. But Aunt Xiao refused, no matter what. If Xiao Feng's life hadn't been in immediate danger last time, she wouldn't even have let him leave this house or her side."
Ling Cheng was at a loss for words.
"She's trying to make up for everything," the second brother added. "This isn't just doting—it's something far deeper."
Ling Cheng fell silent. Though he wasn't a parent himself, as an actor, he could easily grasp the kind of overwhelming emotion behind such actions.
The second brother sighed again. "We can't fully understand Aunt Xiao's sacrifices. Even though the heavens have returned Xiao Feng to us, they didn't spare her from suffering."
Ling Cheng was about to offer words of comfort when he noticed Xiao Liji had quietly entered the room. Startled, he stammered, "Godmother…"
With a graceful motion, Xiao Liji wiped away her tears, walking toward them. "You're here."
The second brother scratched his head awkwardly. "Aunt Xiao, I… I…"
"It's fine," Xiao Liji said with a bitter smile. "What you said was true. But isn't Xiao Feng back with us now? We don't know how far he'll make it, but we must accompany him to the very end. That's what he wants."
"Uh… What?" Ling Cheng's jaw dropped as he processed her words. "G-Godmother, are you saying the boss… the boss knows?" He swallowed hard, barely getting the words out.
Xiao Liji nodded, though her expression was unreadable. "He wants to see you both. Go on."
At the door to Zhuifeng's room, the two men took a deep breath, exchanged a glance, and pushed the door open.
The two didn't get very far before their shadowy figures burst out of the room, nearly colliding with each other screaming.
"Did you see that??"
"I think… I think it was a ghost," Ling Cheng stammered, his voice shaking. "Did you… see it too?"
The second brother patted his chest, equally unsettled. "It looked like… it didn't have any eyes…"
"…And its face was covered in blood."
"Hey, hey, you two aren't planning to run away, are you?"
The sudden voice froze them in their tracks. They immediately turned on their heels and bolted.
"Wait." The second brother stopped abruptly, a look of realization crossing his face. "That voice… Was that Xiao Feng?"
"Sounds like the boss," Ling Cheng agreed, coming to a halt as well.
They cautiously turned around, supporting each other for courage. Though they were prepared for what they might see, they couldn't help but shudder. "You're… not a ghost, right?"
"Are you seriously that scared? It's just Sadako from The Ring. And it's broad daylight—what's there to be afraid of?"
Hearing the familiar voice, they finally exhaled in relief. Who else could it be but Zhuifeng? They hurried over, their eyes reddening as they took in his haggard form.
"Xiao Feng…"
"Boss…"
The three men threw all decorum to the wind, embracing each other tightly.
Back in the room, Ling Cheng took in the interior and let out a sigh of awe. The contrast between this room and the rest of the villa was staggering. The walls weren't tiled, but instead were covered in deep blue wallpaper, creating the illusion of an ocean. Everything in the room was blue: the walls, the carpet, the curtains, the lighting…
When he turned back, he found both Zhuifeng and the second brother watching him. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat. "Boss, take that mask off. Even though I know you're not a ghost, it's still unsettling."
Zhuifeng's body stiffened slightly.
"Xiao Feng, are you alright? Maybe you should go back to bed. You just woke up—you shouldn't push yourself," the second brother said with concern.
Zhuifeng gave a bitter smile, his hoarse voice trembling slightly. "Ling Cheng, open the curtains."
"It's already daytime. Why keep them closed?" Ling Cheng muttered as he pulled the curtains open. When he turned back, he froze in place. "Boss, your…"
"Now you see why I wore the mask to scare you," Zhuifeng said with a wry smile, touching the scars on the right side of his face. "I wanted to prepare you for this, but it seems my plan didn't work too well."
From the left, Zhuifeng's face was the same as ever—strong and determined. But the right side was another story entirely, a mass of jagged scars that resembled the uneven roads of a remote mountain village.
"Xiao Feng." The second brother suddenly pulled him into a tight hug. "It doesn't matter. It's just the surface. You're still my little brother, the one I love most."
Ling Cheng snapped out of his shock and joined the embrace. "Boss, no matter what you look like, you'll always be our boss."
After a long, emotional silence, Zhuifeng pulled back and wiped his tears. "We'll always be brothers?"
"Of course! You're our boss, and he's my second brother," Ling Cheng replied with a grin.
"Damn it," Zhuifeng laughed, kicking Ling Cheng lightly. "Then why were you so shocked just now?"
"I wasn't prepared, okay? I was just overwhelmed—it's been three years since I last saw you."
"Sure, sure. Honestly, your reactions were exactly what I expected," Zhuifeng said with a mischievous glint in his eye.
"What do you mean?"
"In my dreams, I already knew how you'd react. I didn't want to follow the script and make you cry, but we're brothers—if we share the good times, we share the tears too. So, you both owe me compensation…"
As Zhuifeng continued chatting and joking, the second brother and Ling Cheng exchanged a look, both sensing something was off. Though Zhuifeng had always been talkative, he'd never been this lighthearted or playful. What had changed?
Seeing that neither of them spoke, Zhuifeng also fell silent, the room thick with an unusual tension.
"I suppose you both already know about my CML," Zhuifeng finally broke the silence, choosing a heavy yet effective topic to dispel the awkwardness. "The truth is, I knew long before any of you."
Both the second brother and Ling Cheng froze. Ling Cheng hesitated before asking, "You knew before anyone else?"
Zhuifeng nodded. "Don't jump to conclusions. I didn't know at first either. This is… a bit of a complicated story."
He walked over to the window, spread his arms, and closed his eyes, taking in the view outside. "The world really is beautiful."
"You probably don't know why I was unconscious for so long, do you?"
The second brother nodded. "The footage of your car race only showed that bastard going off the cliff, but the camera on Shuangshuang's car clearly captured you still in your car. I've never understood what happened after that. I asked Shuangshuang, but she wouldn't say. I asked Aunt Xiao, and she wouldn't tell me either. And Liu Tang—he's been impossible to find."
Zhuifeng chuckled. "So you've been left in the dark this whole time. Let me tell you—it's because after I collided with that Japanese driver, my car started leaking fuel. The heat from the engine caused it to ignite—'vroom,' just like that, it suddenly burst into flames."
Ling Cheng let out a sigh of relief. "At least it just caught fire and didn't explode."
Zhuifeng nodded. "Exactly. After driving that long on regular gasoline, the car didn't even have enough left to explode. Then Shuangshuang and her team pulled me out of the car, but I passed out shortly after."
After a pause, Zhuifeng continued, "Just like in those TV dramas, even though I was lying there unconscious, my mind remained awake. Through the sobbing of my mom and the others, I gradually pieced everything together. So, second brother, don't worry. I'm not angry at them. They'll always be my parents. In fact, I'm luckier than most—I have two mothers and two fathers. Even though one of them is no longer here, I believe he's watching over me from above."
"Because I came to understand all of this, I wanted to wake up. I didn't want to stay trapped. I wanted to truly feel the love of my parents. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't open my eyes. The more I struggled, the worse my condition became."
"Wait, Boss, are you telling me that the health crisis you had last year—you brought that on yourself?"
Zhuifeng scratched his head awkwardly and nodded.
"You… I…!" Ling Cheng felt a wave of indignation. "Boss, do you have any idea? Because of your little stunt, I lost my chance to perform at the Spring Festival Gala last year!"
"Pfft," Zhuifeng scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I don't know how well the Gala's been doing the past two years, but even if it's amazing, it couldn't be that amazing. Besides, now that your boss is awake, what's one Spring Festival Gala? I'll make it up to you. I'll book 50 concerts for you at the Hong Kong Coliseum. If that's not enough, we'll do another 50 at the Beijing Workers' Stadium. As long as you have the stamina, I'll back you for 100 shows in a row. Still not satisfied? Name your price. Whatever it is, your boss will deliver!"
Ling Cheng's eyes gleamed mischievously. "Boss, are you serious?"
Zhuifeng's expression hardened. "Of course! Don't forget who your boss is. That kind of money is peanuts for the Oriental Group."
Unexpectedly, Ling Cheng shook his head. "I wasn't asking about the concerts—I was asking about that last promise. Is it real?"
Zhuifeng broke into a nervous sweat. "Uh… as long as it's not too over-the-top…"
"Then I'll take that as a yes," Ling Cheng said, grinning slyly.
Seeing his smug expression, Zhuifeng tread cautiously. "What's your request?"
"You'll find out when the time comes," Ling Cheng replied with a toss of his head.
"Hey, enough joking around," the second brother interrupted. "Xiao Feng, keep talking. It sounded like things got a little… supernatural."
"They did," Zhuifeng admitted, nodding. "You won't believe it, though. Do you believe in gods?"
Ling Cheng thought for a moment before replying seriously, "Personally, I believe in devils more."
The second brother didn't join in on the teasing. Instead, he looked at Zhuifeng in astonishment. "Your head's not messed up, is it?"
Zhuifeng sighed. "I knew you'd react like this." He sat back on the bed, his mood dampened. "When I had lost all hope, a monk appeared at my bedside."
"You could see him?"
Zhuifeng shot Ling Cheng a glare. "Stop interrupting, okay? If I could see him, would I still have been unconscious? It was more like a feeling—a vivid sense, as though I had seen him with my own eyes."
"And that monk—I'd seen him before, on the day of the race with the Japanese driver."
"He introduced himself as a god," Zhuifeng continued. "I said, 'If you're really a god, wake me up.' I was joking, of course. But then he replied, 'I can, but it'll come at a price.' At first, I thought he was joking too. But then I asked him, 'What price?'"
"Don't tell me he wanted your soul."
"Hell no." Zhuifeng kicked Ling Cheng. "I told you to stop interrupting. This isn't Pawnshop No. 8! He didn't want my soul. He wanted my lifespan."
"Your lifespan?" Both of their faces turned pale.
Zhuifeng nodded grimly. "Yes. But before he said that, he showed me what my life would look like if I didn't make the deal."
"Would you have stayed unconscious forever?"
This time, Zhuifeng didn't mind the interruption. "Exactly. I would have remained comatose, my body deteriorating until it completely shut down." His body trembled slightly as if reliving the nightmare. "I couldn't accept that. I couldn't bear the thought of never seeing my parents again, never seeing you guys again, never seeing the outside world. I would have died with regret. So after much deliberation, I agreed to his terms."
"And how much of your lifespan did you give up?"
Zhuifeng let out a hollow, bitter laugh. "You should ask how much time I have left. CML. Two years. Just two. Two years…" His laughter turned hysterical, blending with sobs.
The second brother grabbed the collapsing Ling Cheng, his voice hoarse as he asked, "Xiao Feng, was two short years, spent battling CML, really worth your entire life?"
Zhuifeng walked back to the window, gazing at the world outside with an air of detachment. "It's not about whether it was worth it. It's about whether I'd have any regrets. Two years… it's enough."
"You… you're hiding something, aren't you?"
"Boss, is this… is this about her?" Ling Cheng wiped away his tears and stared at Zhuifeng in shock.
Zhuifeng winced at the mention of her, his heart tightening. "Even if I looked past my scars, do you think someone with only two years left to live has the right to love?"