In the hospital corridor, Chu Yuxuan paced back and forth, his face full of exhaustion and anxiety. When he saw the doctor coming out of the room, he hurriedly approached, urgently asking, "Doctor, how is my grandmother?"
The doctor, nearing his fifties with thinning hair, closed the door and gently shook his head, sighing, "It's hard to say if she'll make it through the night. I'll prescribe some painkillers, one injection every three hours, to make sure she passes peacefully."
Chu Yuxuan felt a wave of dizziness and staggered slightly, leaning weakly against the wall for support.
After a long moment, he removed his glasses and wiped away the tears at the corner of his eyes. Summoning his courage, he walked into the room.
His grandmother had just received a dose of painkillers and was lying peacefully on the bed, an oxygen tube attached, her face turned slightly as she squinted at him with a kind smile. "Yuxuan, where is Xia Zhu?"
She probably knew that her time was running out and wanted to see her granddaughter-in-law one last time before she passed.
Holding back his tears, Chu Yuxuan sat on the stool beside the bed, forcing a smile. "Grandma, she's probably filming today, she's very busy."
The elderly woman held his hand with her cold, unchanging hands. "It's good to stay busy… Yuxuan, could you call her? I want to talk to her… I'm afraid I won't be able to wait much longer."
"How could that be? You'll live a long and healthy life!" Chu Yuxuan squeezed her hand, but seeing the determination in her eyes, he reluctantly took out his phone and dialed Xia Zhu's number.
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently unavailable…"
Chu Yuxuan frowned and said to his grandmother, "Forget it, she's really busy… Grandma, are you hungry? I'll go buy you something to eat."
The elderly woman closed her cloudy eyes and whispered, "I'd like to have some of your homemade tomato and egg soup."
The oncology hospital wasn't far from home, just a ten-minute drive. After thinking for a moment, Chu Yuxuan called a nurse to watch over his grandmother and then rushed home in his second-hand Skoda.
In the underground parking lot, after parking his car and opening the door, he suddenly caught sight of Xia Zhu's shadow in the distance—
By a white Range Rover, Xia Zhu was tightly embracing a man in a suit, crying bitterly.
Chu Yuxuan's heart skipped a beat, and his body instantly stiffened.
He recognized the man; it was Gao Ning, Xia Zhu's childhood sweetheart and the man she'd always held dear.
Three years ago, for some unknown reason, Gao Ning had cruelly left Xia Zhu and gone abroad alone.
During that time, Xia Zhu had been lost in despair, and they say that women are most vulnerable to falling in love when they are at their weakest. It was during that period that Chu Yuxuan, ever the devoted admirer, managed to marry her.
Although Chu Yuxuan knew there was someone in Xia Zhu's heart she couldn't let go of, he believed that with enough time and effort, even the coldest heart could be warmed.
But now…
Gao Ning gently patted Xia Zhu's back, softly comforting her. "Xiao Zhu, three years ago, I really thought my illness was incurable. Going to America was just a gamble, and I was sure I would die sooner or later. That's why I cruelly left you… You don't know how much it hurt me to push away the girl I loved the most with my own hands. I even sincerely wished that you would find someone who loved you more than I did."
Xia Zhu sobbed, "How could you be so selfish? So foolish! Ning, I've missed you every moment of these three years! I knew you must have had a reason for leaving me! Please… don't ever leave me again, okay?"
Gao Ning caressed her cheek, his eyes full of pain. "Silly girl, I won't leave you again! I know you don't really love that Chu guy, do you?"
Xia Zhu hesitated for a moment, biting her lip, but before she could respond, she caught sight of Chu Yuxuan walking towards them.
"Let go of her."
Gao Ning, startled by the sudden cold voice from behind, instinctively released his grip. Turning around, he was surprised to see Chu Yuxuan, and then a mocking smile curved his lips as he provocatively wrapped his arm around Xia Zhu's waist.
Xia Zhu's body stiffened slightly, and after a moment of hesitation, she removed his hand from her waist and took a few steps towards Chu Yuxuan. Unable to meet his gaze, she said coolly, "Yuxuan, you… you saw everything?"
"I'm not blind." Chu Yuxuan's face remained expressionless as he paused and then said, "Come with me to the hospital."
Gao Ning stepped forward, eyeing Chu Yuxuan's shabby appearance with a smirk, "So, you're Chu Yuxuan? I remember you chasing after Xia Zhu in high school. Even back then, you were dressed like a bumpkin, and you still look the same."
Ignoring Gao Ning, Chu Yuxuan fixed his gaze on Xia Zhu and repeated, "Come with me to the hospital. Grandma wants to talk to you."
Xia Zhu frowned, about to speak, but Gao Ning interjected, "Chu Yuxuan, you should know the bond Xia Zhu and I share, and you should also know that she's never truly loved you."
With that, Gao Ning took out a checkbook from his pocket, tore off a check, and handed it to Chu Yuxuan, speaking sincerely but with a hint of mockery, "Regardless, thank you for taking care of her these past two years. Fill in any amount you like as a token of my gratitude."
Unable to contain his anger, Chu Yuxuan pushed Gao Ning away, shouting, "Did I say I was talking to you?!"
Gao Ning staggered, his back hitting the hood of the Range Rover, and he clutched his chest, his face contorting in pain.
Xia Zhu's eyes widened in shock, and she angrily shoved Chu Yuxuan, exclaiming, "What are you doing?! He's not well—can you take responsibility if something happens to him?!"
She quickly helped Gao Ning up. "Ning, are you okay?"
Gao Ning, breathing heavily, clenched his lips, seemingly enduring great pain. "I'm fine… I'm fine…"
"You're obviously not fine! I'm taking you to the hospital!" Xia Zhu struggled to help Gao Ning into the passenger seat. As she walked around the front of the car to the driver's side, she shot a glare at Chu Yuxuan and snapped, "Get lost! I don't want to see you!"
Clenching his fists tightly, Chu Yuxuan said, "Xia Zhu, I'll say it one more time—come with me to the hospital. Grandma is not doing well!"
But his last words were drowned out by the slamming of the car door.
As he watched the Range Rover disappear into the distance, Chu Yuxuan gently adjusted his thick black-framed glasses and took a deep breath.
Then, the corners of his mouth curled into a bitter smile, and he murmured, "Forget it… forget it!"
When it came to the art of unrequited love, Chu Yuxuan was unmatched, always foolishly believing that he could win her over with enough effort.
Even though he knew that deep love wasn't as valuable as mutual love.
But there had to be a limit to one-sided devotion. In situations like this, if he continued to cling and beg for her attention, it would be nothing short of pathetic.
Reality often works this way: when the prince who haunts her dreams finally appears, the most gentle thing the princess can say to the toad who was dreaming of her is, "You're a good person," before promptly flying off with her prince, leaving the toad far behind.
...
In the end, his grandmother didn't make it through the night. She passed away peacefully at eleven-thirty.
Following the old custom of returning to one's roots, Chu Yuxuan hired a hearse from the funeral home to take her back to the countryside that night.
When the neighbors heard the news, they quickly spread the word. Soon, people began arriving to help. They knew the elderly woman had no other relatives besides her grandson, and Chu Yuxuan, being young, wouldn't know much about funeral arrangements.
After kneeling in the mourning hall all night, by noon, Chu Yuxuan, who hadn't had a decent sleep in days, was dozing off when his phone suddenly vibrated.
He pulled out his phone and saw a WeChat message from someone labeled "Number Two." The message contained four screenshots and a single sentence: "Should we make him disappear?"
The screenshots included two photos of Xia Zhu and Gao Ning walking home hand in hand, clearly taken by paparazzi.
The other two were comments from netizens—
"Is Goddess Xia about to announce her relationship?"
"Congratulations! I heard the guy is a rich second-generation heir!"
"These days, isn't that what all female celebrities are after? What's the big deal?"
Xia Zhu, now a rising first-tier star, was understandably under constant paparazzi surveillance.
As for why no one questioned her fidelity… it was because she and Chu Yuxuan had a secret marriage, supposedly to protect her career.
As it turns out, when there is enough love, future prospects are hardly an excuse.
Chu Yuxuan pinched the bridge of his nose and replied to "Number Two": "Don't do anything." Then, he put his phone away.
At the same time, someone outside the mourning hall shouted, "The filial son should return the gesture!"
Chu Yuxuan hurriedly bowed his head to the ground. When he straightened up, he noticed that the person who had come to offer condolences was a chubby man in a suit with a broad, round face.
This man easily weighed over 200 pounds, with buttons on his suit that couldn't possibly fasten. When he knelt to bow, his belly pressed against his thighs, making him look quite comical.
After burning two paper money offerings, the chubby man awkwardly shuffled on his knees until he was right in front of Chu Yuxuan. His usually honest face bore no expression, but with a stealthy air, he pulled a mobile phone from his pocket and handed it to Chu Yuxuan, like a secret agent passing off a message. In a low voice, he said, "Someone wants to talk to you."