In his dazed state, Lu Heng had several dreams.
He dreamed of when he was just old enough to remember things. He found an injured sparrow in the garden and brought it home. As soon as he stepped inside, he ran into Lu Shenghua.
He held up the sparrow to Lu Shenghua, hoping he would help save it. Lu Shenghua merely gave it a cold glance and ordered, “Throw it away.”
Lu Shenghua said sympathy was the cheapest emotion, and those who possessed it would never succeed. He told Lu Heng not to make the same mistake again.
Lu Heng didn’t quite understand the rest of what was said, but he didn’t dare disobey his father’s order. He took the sparrow back to where he found it but couldn’t bring himself to let it go.
The house helper saw him and, after asking what happened, took him to a nearby pet hospital. The vet took in the sparrow and promised to heal it.
Lu Heng never knew if the sparrow recovered because Lu Shenghua found out about the incident.
That day, Lu Shenghua punished him, and the next day, the house helper was replaced.
The scene shifted to when Lu Heng was eighteen. It was a sunny day, surrounded by vaguely familiar faces.
Everyone was excited about starting university and invited Lu Heng to graduation parties, but he declined every invitation.
Right after the graduation ceremony, he rushed to catch a flight back to Beijing and took over the subsidiary company Lu Shenghua had assigned him.
He spent the entire summer adjusting and learning. Despite having been involved with company affairs for two years prior, being part-time was completely different from full-time.
For eight years, Lu Heng worked continuously without distractions or a sense of self. He gained endless praise and flattery, earned more money than he could ever spend, yet he could never see the path ahead clearly.
The final scene froze on his last day.
Lu Shenghua wasn’t there, but the stark white room was crowded with people. Gu Lanzhi, Lu Ying, and Lu Tian were closest to him, with the siblings holding his hands while Gu Lanzhi lay on top of him.
He lay on the hospital bed, eyes closed peacefully, surrounded by the sound of crying.
“Hengheng, don’t sleep, don’t leave, mommy needs you.”
“Ge, you can’t leave me and Lu Ying, please wake up…”
…
Lu Heng opened his eyes to see the stark white ceiling.
For a moment, dream and reality overlapped. Lu Heng sat up abruptly, his heart pounding.
A familiar voice called out, “Ge! Don’t move around, the IV might come out.”
…this felt familiar.
Lu Heng turned his head slightly to look at the worried Jiang Yunxing, and his tense body gradually relaxed.
When he first arrived in this world, they seemed to have had a similar conversation.
This time, however, Jiang Yunxing didn’t frantically grab Lu Heng’s wrist to check if the IV had leaked because he’d been holding his hand the entire time.
Lu Heng curled his fingers slightly, and Jiang Yunxing came to his senses, saying sheepishly, “I was a bit drowsy earlier. I held onto your hand because I was worried you might wake up while I was asleep…”
As Jiang Yunxing tried to withdraw his hand, Lu Heng’s fingertips curved gently to hold him in place.
Jiang Yunxing’s movement had already been hesitant, and with that gentle grasp, he stopped trying altogether, curling his fingers to hold back.
Lu Heng lay back down and asked, “What time is it?”
Perhaps because he hadn’t spoken for so long, Lu Heng’s voice was very hoarse.
“Seven o’clock,” Jiang Yunxing replied.
Judging by the light outside the window, Jiang Yunxing must have meant seven in the evening. He had only slept through the day; it wasn’t late yet.
Lu Heng had just started to feel relieved when Jiang Yunxing added, “Seven o’clock on Friday.”
“…” Lu Heng’s expression immediately darkened. He propped himself up on his elbow again and asked with a frown, “Where’s my phone?”
Yesterday morning, he had sent Zhang Pu screenshots but hadn’t discussed the follow-up. The value ranking had been something he’d rushed to achieve, and if it had dropped after a day, what if Zhang Pu refused to acknowledge it?
He even ended up in the hospital for this; these past few days of effort couldn’t go to waste.
Getting up just now had been reflexive, but thinking about it again, Lu Heng found it quite difficult.
His body hadn’t fully recovered yet, and he couldn’t muster much strength. Just as he managed to prop himself halfway up, Jiang Yunxing pushed him back down.
“Ge, don’t move around. The doctor said you need rest.” Jiang Yunxing pushed him back onto the bed and adjusted his blanket. “Don’t worry, your brother came by yesterday. He told your father he’d handle the company matters.”
Lu Heng struggled suddenly and was now out of breath. He didn’t say anything and clearly wasn’t comforted by those words.
After all, the subsidiary company currently belonged to Lu Shenghua, and he was merely acting as a proxy. These past few days, Lu Shenghua had been focused on negotiating with Nantian Group, and things were probably almost settled. If Lu Shenghua decided to take back control of the subsidiary company, there was nothing he could do about it.
He had hoped to use this opportunity to both secure the business deal and prove his capability to Lu Shenghua, but he ended up in the hospital before finishing everything.
Although the current results were hard-earned, Lu Shenghua was an extreme perfectionist. The mere fact that he’d been hospitalized was enough to erase any good impression.
As his physical discomfort gradually eased, Lu Heng closed his eyes and shook off those thoughts. He wasn’t a pessimist. Now that he was in the hospital, being negative wouldn’t help anything. Better not to think about it.
Getting his body back in shape was the most important thing right now.
He turned slightly to find a more comfortable position and asked, “What happened to me yesterday?”
“You were overworked, your immunity was already low, and then you slept in short sleeves without a blanket yesterday.” Jiang Yunxing explained, “When I arrived yesterday, you had already passed out. You were running a fever of 39 degrees when we got you to the hospital. It’s lucky we found you in time, otherwise…”
Jiang Yunxing stopped mid-sentence, pressing his lips together.
Lu Heng knew what he wanted to say and reassured him, “It wouldn’t have come to that. It wasn’t that serious.”
Although these past few days had been draining, Lu Heng knew his limits. He wasn’t suicidal. Having already died once from overwork in his previous life, he had no intention of meeting the same fate just days after transmigrating.
However, Jiang Yunxing couldn’t help but nag, “Of course, you don’t think it’s serious now that you’re awake. But yesterday when I got to the office, your pheromones had filled the entire room and spread into the hallway. Several Alphas were lurking outside. Who knows what might have happened if I’d arrived any later…”
Lu Heng opened his eyes. “So? Did you mark me again?”
“…No! You were unconscious, how could I do something like that!” Jiang Yunxing protested heatedly, then deflated. “I called an ambulance, and the doctor gave you suppressants.”
Lu Heng fell silent for a moment. “Is that why I slept until now?”
He had been out of it since yesterday morning, almost forty hours ago. Even with his recent lack of sleep, he shouldn’t have slept this long.
“Ah, yes.” Jiang Yunxing seemed to remember something. “I just came from school and found you still unconscious, so I asked the doctor. They said you’ve become more sensitive to suppressants. If you keep using them, you’ll stay unconscious longer each time.”
He’d already been out for a day. Who knew how long it would be next time.
“I can’t use them anymore,” Lu Heng said softly, as if talking to himself.
Jiang Yunxing’s face flushed at those words.
Before he could speak, Lu Heng continued, “I’ll need to reconsider school too…”
“Reconsider what?” Jiang Yunxing didn’t understand.
“It’s too exhausting,” Lu Heng said. “I’ve been away from school too long. I can’t handle both school and the company at once. I’ll have to choose.”
This past week and more had drained most of Lu Heng’s energy, with most problems coming from school.
Class times overlapped too much with work hours. Lu Heng hadn’t even gotten to know the company executives yet, and couldn’t attend the weekly meetings he should have been at.
Many things couldn’t be handled over the phone, but he had no authority yet and couldn’t expect others to work overtime.
Classes would officially start on Monday, and seniors would stay until 10 PM. By then, he wouldn’t even have time to visit the company after school.
“So what are you planning to do?” Jiang Yunxing asked.
“Take a leave of absence,” Lu Heng replied.
“…”
Jiang Yunxing stayed quiet, and Lu Heng didn’t notice. Although taking a leave sounded simple, it wouldn’t be easy. Despite being an adult, he was still a high school student. He would need his family’s permission to take leave.
Forget whether Lu Shenghua would agree, he wasn’t even sure if his father would let him continue working at all.
Speak of the devil. The hospital room door opened, and Lu Shenghua came for the first time.
He barely glanced at Jiang Yunxing before dismissing him completely, smiling at Lu Heng instead. “Lu Heng, you’re finally awake. You nearly scared Lu Tian to death yesterday.”
Lu Heng moved to sit up. Jiang Yunxing quickly reached out to help him. Using the support, Lu Heng sat up and turned slightly to mouth to Jiang Yunxing, “You should go.”
Jiang Yunxing nodded, got up, bowed slightly to Lu Shenghua, and left the ward.
“I slept for a while after dealing with work yesterday and caught a cold. I’ll be more careful next time.” Lu Heng smiled after speaking. “Why did you come, Dad?”
Lu Shenghua sat where Jiang Yunxing had just been. Instead of answering directly, he said, “The matter with Zhang Pu has been resolved, and the contract is signed. His issues have been troubling me for a long time. I never expected you to handle it in just a week, Lu Heng.”
“I was just lucky. I didn’t expect it to go so smoothly,” Lu Heng said modestly.
Lu Shenghua chuckled and shook his head.
Lu Heng maintained a neutral expression, but inside he felt disgusted.
Although the face before him was familiar, Lu Heng didn’t see him as the same person as the Lu Shenghua in reality.
While both were harsh and critical, this Lu Shenghua was more hypocritical and arrogant, even more detestable than the real one.
“You’re usually so unproductive, yet you show such talent in this area,” Lu Shenghua said.
“You’re too kind, Dad,” Lu Heng replied.
“However, you’ve fallen quite ill this time,” Lu Shenghua said. “It must be difficult to balance both school and work, right?”
Lu Heng hesitated, surprised to hear these words from Lu Shenghua. Something felt off, but he could only follow along. “Senior year is demanding, and it does affect work somewhat. But I’d like to focus my energy on the company, if that’s alright with you, Dad.”
“Such decisions should depend on what you want,” Lu Shenghua said.
Lu Heng paused. Although he couldn’t explain why, he felt Lu Shenghua must have some plan.
He had no time to think it through and couldn’t stay silent too long. He could only choose to achieve his goal first and sort out his thoughts later.
“I want to continue working at the company,” Lu Heng said. “For school, I hope Dad can help write an application allowing me to arrange my class attendance freely.”
This seemed a better option than taking a leave of absence. Lu Heng had no plans to take the college entrance exam or attend a top university. Graduating quickly would be better, and his exam scores didn’t matter.
But his thinking was based on being twenty-six years old. Although Lu Shenghua didn’t show displeasure, he didn’t seem pleased either.
Sure enough, he said, “You can’t sacrifice your future for the company. As my son, you can’t perform poorly in university.”
“When the company isn’t busy, I’ll attend school. I won’t fall behind,” Lu Heng said.
Lu Shenghua waved his hand, and Lu Heng fell silent.
“If you want to work, focus on managing the branch well,” Lu Shenghua said. “As for school, I’ll have someone arrange for a one-year leave of absence.”
A one-year leave meant he would have to come back to school after a year.
The company wouldn’t run for just one year. Lu Shenghua appeared concerned for Lu Heng but had already planned everything.
Lu Heng didn’t really care what Lu Shenghua was planning, but even one year was important to him.
Lu Heng smiled again, appearing satisfied with the outcome though the smile didn’t reach his eyes.
“Thank you, Dad,” he said cheerfully.
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