Lu Shenghua didn’t stay long before getting called away by a phone call.
Lu Heng felt relieved when Lu Shenghua left. The fake smile that had been plastered on his face faded away.
In the twenty-six years of his real life, Lu Shenghua never smiled at him, nor allowed him to smile. In Lu Shenghua’s mind, smiling was a sign of weakness. Only the weak would show gentle or ingratiating smiles.
The only exception was the cold sneer when mocking others.
Although the Lu Shenghua in the book often wore a smile, Lu Heng found that smile even more disgusting than his cold demeanor in reality.
It seemed like he was hiding something and was insincere to everyone.
Lu Heng leaned against the wall, his stomach empty after nearly two days without food.
Jiang Yunxing hadn’t returned yet. Lu Heng found his phone, wanting to call him, but saw his message instead.
–Ge, my mom just called and wants me home for dinner. I’m leaving first QAQ
“…”
Lu Heng stared at the message for a long time, then scrolled up to read their previous conversations.
He noticed Jiang Yunxing liked adding different symbols at the end of his messages. Each time was slightly different, but Lu Heng couldn’t figure out what they meant.
Lu Heng opened the message box, his fingers hovering over the keyboard for a long while before giving up without sending anything.
He put his phone aside, feeling exhausted both mentally and physically.
He wanted to smoke.
Just as he was about to call the nurse to remove his IV, the hospital room door opened again.
Lu Heng’s expression changed for a brief moment, even he didn’t notice it himself. When he saw who it was, his face returned to its usual cold demeanor.
He watched Lu Tian enter the room. “Why are you here?”
“You’re awake?” Joy flashed across Lu Tian’s face before he quickly suppressed it. He said grumpily, “I brought you food. You haven’t eaten for two days. Are you trying to starve yourself to death?”
Lu Tian walked over, opened the small table attached to Lu Heng’s hospital bed, and placed the food on it.
Lu Heng glanced at the food through the plastic bag and frowned. “Porridge?”
“Yeah.” Lu Tian replied indifferently. He opened the plastic bag and the porridge container, then held out a spoon to Lu Heng.
Lu Heng didn’t take it. He kept frowning. He didn’t like porridge, or more specifically, he didn’t like any kind of sticky rice. He couldn’t even stand having soup touch his rice.
He couldn’t tell Lu Tian directly, so Lu Heng asked tactfully, “Nothing else?”
“No, the doctor said you can only have porridge now.” Seeing Lu Heng’s reluctance to take the spoon, Lu Tian shoved it into his hand and said irritably, “I really don’t understand why you took over the company. Look how you’ve worn yourself out. Anyway, that company… never mind. Can’t you just stay at home quietly?”
“I’m a perfectly capable adult. Why should I stay at home?” Lu Heng stared at the porridge for a long time. Although he didn’t want to eat it, he was too hungry to refuse. He could only scoop up the liquid part and force himself to swallow it.
He couldn’t taste anything in his mouth now, not even the flavor of the porridge. Although the texture was unsatisfying, he could still manage to eat it.
Lu Heng ate slowly. After watching him for a while, Lu Tian clicked his tongue impatiently. “Why are you eating so slowly?”
Lu Heng paused. “Do you have something else to do?”
Lu Tian pressed his lips together, staring at Lu Heng. Since entering the room, his attitude had been bad, and his tone was also unfriendly.
After staring for a moment, Lu Tian said, “Since you’ve taken on an Alpha’s role, don’t bring that Omega weakness with you.”
“You’re an Omega. Even if you do nothing, no one would blame you.” Lu Tian gritted his teeth and continued, “Everything you’re doing now is pointless. You won’t get any benefits in the future. Do you really think Dad will give you the company?”
Lu Heng ate his porridge silently, as if he didn’t hear Lu Tian. He put down his spoon temporarily and said, “I’ll need more time to finish this porridge. If you have nothing else, you can leave.”
“…” Lu Tian looked even more irritated. “You’re staying here tonight. Shouldn’t I stay to take care of you?”
Lu Heng replied calmly, “I’m not disabled. I don’t need care.”
“…”
Lu Tian remained seated but looked completely out of place. He watched Lu Heng, who no longer looked at him and focused on picking at his porridge.
“Suit yourself.”
Lu Tian left with those words.
The hospital room was large, and after Lu Tian left, it became especially quiet.
Lu Heng put down his spoon, moved the porridge aside, and pressed the call button.
The nurse removed his IV, and as Lu Heng pressed the bandage, he asked, “Can’t I be discharged?”
The nurse shook her head. “Your fever lasted too long, and you used suppressants during it. You need to stay for observation for two days.”
Lu Heng asked, “Can I eat anything besides porridge?”
“Not yet. Wait until you’re discharged.”
Once the bleeding stopped, Lu Heng discarded the bandage and went to shower.
After changing into a fresh hospital gown, Lu Heng returned to sit on his bed for a while.
It was too quiet.
Although there was bustling noise outside the room and the TV was playing something, Lu Heng felt an overwhelming silence.
His health had never been poor. Even with his previous intense work schedule, he rarely got sick. When he did, private doctors would come to his home, with housekeepers accompanying him, along with his mother, brother, and sister.
Only now did he realize that except for Lu Shenghua, all his family members had cared for him.
Unlike this place.
In this place, Lu Heng couldn’t even exchange a word with Gu Lanzhi and Lu Ying, as if they were strangers. Although Lu Tian still cared for him, in his heart he only saw Lu Heng as an Omega who needed to rely on others.
They wore such familiar faces, yet housed different souls inside.
If only he had paid more attention to those around him back then.
Turned out Lu Shenghua’s expectations and approval weren’t that important after all.
Lu Heng sighed, got up, and walked to the window, staring blankly outside.
After some time, his phone vibrated. Even though it was on the hospital bed two meters away, Lu Heng snapped out of his daze.
He walked to the bed and picked up his phone for a quick look.
–Ge, have you eaten? =3=
Instead of replying, Lu Heng called directly.
“Ge.” The voice on the other end called out obediently.
“Mm.” Lu Heng leaned against the window and asked after a thought, “What are you doing?”
“Just finished dinner, and got back to my room to do homework,” said Jiang Yunxing. “School officially starts next Monday, so there isn’t much homework.”
“Mm.” Lu Heng replied.
Both ends fell silent. Time ticked by slowly, but neither mentioned hanging up.
“…Ge?”
“Mm.”
“Do you have work to do?”
“Dad’s handling the work for these two few days, so I don’t have anything to do right now.”
“Then you can get some proper rest.” Jiang Yunxing paused before asking tentatively, “Can I come see you tomorrow?”
“Sure,” Lu Heng answered without hesitation, then added, “Bring me some food.”
“Okay.”
Time passed again. Lu Heng heard some rustling from the other end, like a pen scratching on paper.
“Started writing?” Lu Heng asked.
“Mm.”
“Then go ahead, I’ll hang up now.”
“…Okay.”
After hanging up the phone, Lu Heng returned to his hospital bed.
Although he didn’t need to work now, he had nothing else to do, so he asked Fang Zaiqi to send him a few files.
After sleeping for over thirty hours, which made up for his recent lack of sleep, Lu Heng’s mind was clear.
After reviewing several files and making some simple revisions on his phone, time finally passed a bit faster.
When a message popped up at the top of the screen again, it was already midnight without him noticing.
–Ge, are you asleep?
Lu Heng lay on his side in the hospital bed, looking at the message, and tapped it before it disappeared.
Another new message popped up.
–I’m about to sleep, good night )-3-)
This time Lu Heng didn’t call back, but typed a reply instead.
-What does this symbol mean?
–…
-You’ve sent several before
–Nothing, just a typing habit
Lu Heng accepted Jiang Yunxing’s explanation.
He remembered how Lu Tian in real life also liked to send inexplicable emojis when messaging him, as if he couldn’t communicate normally without them.
Since Jiang Yunxing couldn’t send pictures on his phone, he probably used these symbols as substitutes.
-Go to sleep, come early tomorrow
–Okay >3<
–Then I’m going to sleep, Ge should sleep early too >3<
–Good night >3<
Three messages came in succession, all with the same symbol.
Lu Heng stared at them for a while, thinking he must be getting old and couldn’t understand the fun of young people.
For once having nothing to do, Lu Heng wanted to act a bit younger, so he long-pressed to copy Jiang Yunxing’s message.
-Good night >3<
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