In front of the European-style mansion, on the green front lawn, Shao Yanxiâs mother is sunbathing and listening to music accompanied by a few nurses.
Theyâre playing a soothing instrumental piece. A nurse steps forth and starts dancing to the tune. Itâs one of those simple, child-like dances.
Then, a few moments later, Shao Yanxiâs mother joins her, prompting the other nurses to also join in the song and dance.
They all seem quite happy.
Meanwhile, Shao Yanxi, Liu Yuâan and the director are observing from some distance away.
As Shao Yanxi resembles his father more, whenever his mother sees him, she goes into quite the frenzy.
âMrs. Haoâs condition has been stable recently. She would come out to take in the sun for an hour or two every day and also engage in physical activitiesâŚâ The director explains.
Shao Yanxi âmmâs, while observing his mother.
Many of the nurses can see them, but only one nods to him discreetly. The others continue dancing without interruption, so that the mother wouldnât notice anything wrong.
The last time that happened, Shao Yanxi had his face scratched a lot.
After a while of watching her dance happily, Shao Yanxi turns and says, âshe looks like sheâs in good shape; letâs go, now.â
Then he holds Liu Yuâanâs hand, the first time he does so in public.
Liu Yuâan looks over. Shao Yanxiâs poker face still seems the same as always, so he holds his hand more tightly.
The director doesnât say anything as he follows behind and sees the whole scene.
At the directorâs office, Shao Yanxi tells him what he came here for, telling Xue Zhi to haul the medicine to their stocks. A whole box of medicine.
Shao Yanxi has also delivered medicine before. In the beginning, the director feared reprisal from Mrs. Haoâs family and reported it to them, but they didnât seem to mind. If so, then hey, free medicine, of course theyâre quite welcome.
Then, when they are about to leave, Liu Yuâan realises something is off as soon as he sees Shao Yanxiâs mother, who should be at her mansion, somehow standing at the entrance to the area where the directorâs office is.
âGet back in!â Before they could do so, though, she already saw Shao Yanxi. She yells out and runs for him, saying, âShao Hao! Shao Hao! Iâm going to kill you! Kill you!â
Liu Yuâan stands before Shao Yanxi to block her, raising his arm against her attack, suffering a long scratch to his arm in turn.
Thankfully her nails have always been kept trimmed, so Liu Yuâanâs skin isnât broken, but a white line is left where her fingernail traced.
âWhat in the world?â The director quickly tells the guards already moving this way to suppress Shao Yanxiâs mother and apply a tranquilising agent.
Though before they could do so, Liu Yuâan has already raised his hand to smack Shao Yanxiâs motherâs neck with a precise chop. She faints.
Everyone else ââŚâ
The air seems to freeze.
Although not to the degree of every single person recognising him, Liu Yuâan is quite recognisable right now still. Really, if this wasnât the hospital, and if it isnât right after Shao Yanxiâs motherâs frenzy, the nurses witnessing this would probably be screaming, cheering for Liu Yuâan.
It really was amazing. She was struggling fiercely against him to get at Shao Yanxi behind him. Liu Yuâan, an idol, and not a professional nurse or guard, no less, moved even quicker than they did and gave her the âchop.â Now they didnât even need the tranquiliser.
The nurse holding the tranquiliser agent looks at Liu Yuâan, then back at her tranquilising agent, and calmly and quietly puts the agent and the needle back in her pocket.
âGet a stretcher, and carry Mrs. Hao back,â the director is the quickest to snap back to reality, and orders the seemingly shellshocked staff.
When the nurses try to take Mrs. Hao, though, Shao Yanxi makes them wait a little bit. He caresses her face a little, but then quickly retracts his hand.
Itâs been far too long. His memories of when she was still a loving mother have gone faint indeed. Even among those scenes, half are still the unpleasant scenes of her scolding or beating him for acting reckless or pulling naughty tricks. Even so, those are still a far cry from what his mother is now.
The stretcher arrives quickly enough, and they hurriedly escort her back to her mansion.
Of course, this isnât over yet â why did she suddenly appear near the administrative area? Did someone lead her this way? Did she wander off even though she should have been under watch from all the nurses?
Shao Yanxi has Xue Zhi follow up on the investigation while he prepares to go back.
When theyâre at the parking lot, they meet Shao Yanxiâs maternal uncle.
Though heâs 50-something, as he frequently trains and is still in active duty, he looks really young. It wouldnât be much of a stretch if someone mistakes him for a 30-something.
They have not seen each other in a long time, and Shao Yanxi has always avoided even news of them, so they didnât recognise him, until he opened his mouth to say, âIâm Hao Jun.â
Shao Yanxiâs looks at him, his poker face seemingly growing slightly cold, and says, âWhat is it, Mr. Hao? If youâre looking for opportunities of corporate cooperation, please arrange it with my assistant beforehand; Iâll be going now.â
Then he pulls on Liu Yuâanâs hand a bit; heâs nervous. As he has brought bodyguards and his uncle also has his own men, the two sides are almost in a stand-off. Though clearly Shao Yanxiâs side looks inferior.
His uncle sighs, and says, âI know youâre frustrated, but itâs been so many years nowâŚâ
âMr. Hao, is this what you wanted to talk about?â Shao Yanxi cuts him off, looking even colder than before.
The man stops, before saying, âyour maternal grandfather is hospitalised now; he wants to see you.â
Shao Yanxi says, with a rather chilling smile, âI do not have a maternal grandfather.â
Hao Jun continues speaking, unfazed, âyou also know how it was back then. Your sister was just⌠gone, and your mother has gone mad. She is his favourite daughter, so that is why he was so furious lashed out at you. He has regretted it ever sinceâŚâ
âRegret?â Instead of Shao Yanxi, Liu Yuâan is replying with a chuckle, âMr. Hao, if I recall correctly, Yanxiâs sister passed away when he was eight. You say he was furious, sure, when Yanxi was eight you were still angry. What about when he was nine? Ten? Eleven? Youâve only calmed down and started to regret when heâs twenty-six? My, your family need to learn some mood management.â
âWho are you, even?!â Hao Jun glares at Liu Yuâan fiercely.
Well, of course he knows who Liu Yuâan is, but he means that he is talking to Shao Yanxi; this is no place for him to interrupt.
Shao Yanxi doesnât acknowledge that though, and answers, âheâs my one and only,â and Liu Yuâan follows it up, saying, âIâm his significant other. What about you? Can I ask on what grounds Mr. Hao is asking who I am yourself? If I remember correctly, the Hao family has cut off all ties from the Shao family already. Therefore, that makes you a stranger to Yanxi. You sure meddle a lot for a stranger.â
Then Liu Yuâan continues on, âin any case, are you sure you have the correct definition of âregretâ in your mind? Are you sure it is not merely trying to make yourselves feel better? Iâm not exactly sure youâre here âregretfulâ for what you did,â then Liu Yuâan sweeps his gaze across the men he has standing against Shao Yanxiâs bodyguards, and then says, âif you truly are regretful, you would consider whether he would be unhappy or unsatisfied. You would try your best to make up for your mistake. You would throw away your pride to beg for forgiveness. But you⌠You put your family member first, making excuses for them, and telling him to come without thinking whether he wants to or not⌠and say you are âregretfulâ? Mr. Hao, quite the skilful manipulation of words, there.â
âOh, not that Iâm saying you are wrong , of course. You are strangers only, so of course, when you speak, you would consider your family member above his feelings. It is absolutely normal behaviour, isnât that right?â
âShut up.â Hao Jun has never been skilled in conversation. He came for Shao Yanxi because the old man probably wouldnât make it, and he wants to see Shao Yanxi one last time.
What Liu Yuâan just said is quite insulting to him. However, Shao Yanxi says, âmy man Youyou is right, I think. I donât really blame you for the cold, inhuman treatment I got back then, since, what was that saying? âTo help is merciful; not helping is principled.â That is the standard I will be following today, so therefore, do excuse me for being uninterested in why you are here to see me, but I would rather be myself and not help or see anyone today.â
Though he sounds like that, Shao Yanxi does feel a bit anxious inside.
He might have money, but heâs still just a businessman; the Hao family has military and political clout.
In the past, he might be fearless, but right now, he has Liu Yuâan; he would be worried the Hao family might go after Liu Yuâan, or his family.
Liu Yuâan, though, would probably tell him simply that the Hao family fell into obscurity soon after the elder died if he knew what Shao Yanxi was thinking about. The Hao family didnât do anything in Shao Yanxiâs past life, meanwhile, as he was battling hard with Jiang He right about then, and the dramatic, and rather bloody feud meant they didnât dare come look for Shao Yanxi, nor was Shao Yanxi ever interested in what was happening to the Hao family, thatâs why he didnât know.
Anyway, neither Liu Yuâan nor Shao Yanxi could have imagined now, that when Hao Jun canât get through to them with words, he would forcefully take them.
With way more men than Shao Yanxi has brought bodyguards, they quietly oblige and board the car without fighting.
On the car, Hao Jun tells them, âI donât mean you any harm.â
Shao Yanxi ignores him and turns around, planting his head onto Liu Yuâanâs shoulder, hugging him tightly, leaving Hao Jun with his butt.
Liu Yuâan dismissively âtchâs. âMean no harm,â sure, but this sure is revolting.
He adjusts his posture a little, and moves Shao Yanxiâs head towards his neck a bit, to make it more comfortable. Then he asks, as if Hao Jun does not exist, âwhat do you want to eat for the night?â
Shao Yanxi doesnât get it at first, until he hears Hao Junâs âhmph,â and raises his head, planting his chin instead, and says, âdouble-skin milk. I want some more.â
He really liked it the last time, but Liu Yuâan said he shouldnât eat too much sweet dessert, so he wouldnât make it for him again. He has been dying to eat it again for a while now.
While trying to disgust Hao Jun with as much dog food as they are able, they finally reach the hospital.