Chapter 58
Similar to last time, short Elder Sun, dressed in traditional Chinese attire, was standing beside the car with two brawny men in black suits.
Seeing Hao Ren walk out with his grandmother, Elder Sun hurried over. " Gongzi 1 Hao, Taijun 2, congratulations on your recovery. Please get in the car."
Hao Ren's grandma was uncomfortable to be greeted like this by Elder Sun who looked older than her. Baffled, she turned to look at Hao Ren.
Hao Ren was feeling awkward as well when he saw people in and out of the hospital looking at them. Hurriedly, he helped his grandma into the car.
Bam! Bam! The car doors closed after Elder Sun got into the car after them, and the stretch Lincoln Limousine drove away from the hospital steadily.
On the way, Elder Sun was all smiles but remained silent. Hao Ren's grandma was full of questions, but she refrained from asking them.
The car arrived at Zhao Yanzi's home.
This time, Elder Sun didn't go in and say h.e.l.lo like last time. Instead, he left with the car after dropping off Hao Ren and his grandma at the door.
Zhao Hongyu heard the car and hurried out to welcome them.
At the sight of welcoming Zhao Hongyu, Grandma's mood got better. "Oh, I'm so sorry to trouble you again after all the inconveniences I caused you when you brought me to the hospital," she said.
"Well, it's really no trouble at all. We are a family, and that's our duty," Zhao Hongyu took Grandma's hand and led her into the house.
It was Grandma's first time inside Zhao Yanzi's home. She looked around at the luxurious interior and the large high-end rugs on the floor of the living room and knew that Zhao Hongyu's family was very well off.
"Here you are! Welcome!" Zhao Guang walked out of his study room and came to greet them with a smile.
Grandma had never seen Zhao Guang before, but she guessed that he must be Zhao Hongyu's husband. She nodded at him amiably and said after some thinking, "Your home is so beautifully decorated, but I think I'd better not stay here."
"Why, didn't you promise yesterday to stay in our home after you're discharged from the hospital?" Zhao Hongyu interrupted anxiously.
Grandma had thought that Zhao Hongyu was from an ordinary family when she saw her simple clothes the day before. But after knowing that Zhao Hongyu's family was wealthy, Grandma got a little uncomfortable. After all, Grandma was from the countryside and lived a very simple lifestyle.
"Grandma…" hearing the sounds from downstairs, Zhao Yanzi, dressed in a hooded s.h.i.+rt and a pair of denim shorts, ran down.
She looked
However, Grandma was charmed by Zhao Yanzi's cute and innocent look. She took her in her arms and patted her head. "Good girl! I just came out of the hospital and hadn't get you a gift," Grandma said.
"Grandma's health is the only gift I want!" Zhao Yanzi said sweetly. She meant what she said since she had been quite concerned about Hao Ren when she saw him so anxious and lost when Grandma was in the hospital. That was why she had gone with her dad to pick up Hao Ren and hoped that she could help out.
Of course, caring for Hao Ren didn't mean that she liked him.
"Auntie, please stay with us!" Zhao Hongyu urged again.
Looking at Zhao Yanzi in her arms, Grandma hesitated and said. "Well, fine. I'm just afraid to disrupt your beautiful home."
"Let's sit down for lunch," Zhao Guang called to them.
Hao Ren looked up and saw delicious-looking dishes on the table.
Hao Ren helped his grandma to the table. With a reclining chair added to the table, the five of them sat down and had lunch in high spirits.
After the incident with his grandma, Hao Ren was very grateful towards Zhao Yanzi's family. Even if they could find another solution to the problem between him and Zhao Yanzi, he would never forget this big favor that Zhao Hongyu and Zhao Guang had done for him.
After lunch, Zhao Hongyu helped Grandma to rest in the room that had been newly cleared for her, Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi were put in charge of cleaning up, and Zhao Guang had left as there were some urgent business matters he had to take care of.
Zhao Yanzi stood shoulder to shoulder with Hao Ren in the kitchen while was.h.i.+ng the dishes. To tell the truth, Zhao Yanzi sucked at was.h.i.+ng dishes as none of the plates she washed was clean, so Hao Ren had to wash them again.
"Thank you for all the things you did," Hao Ren said while he rewashed the plates.
"I didn't do anything," Zhao Yanzi pursed her lips.
Hao Ren smiled and said, "Do you want me to play games with you this afternoon?"
"I don't need your company! I'm going shopping with Ling this afternoon!" Zhao Yanzi pushed all the dirty plates to Hao Ren and skipping out of the kitchen. Afterward, she dried her hands and thought her task was over.
Hao Ren turned and saw Zhao Yanzi tiptoeing out of the door and running to the street through the gla.s.s door of the kitchen.
"This girl is going out shopping without her mom's permission. She must have gone pocket money from her Third Uncle to buy girly things..."
Exasperated, Hao Ren shook his head and continued was.h.i.+ng the dishes.
Maybe it was her way of telling Hao Ren not to be smug, Zhao Yanzi had dinner in Ling's home after shopping with her. Then, she asked Ling's parents to call home to tell her parents that she was staying the night at Ling's home.
Knowing that Ling and Zi were best friends, Zhao Hongyu agreed to Zhao Yanzi's request. After all, it was the weekend, and she wanted her daughter to have some leisure time. Hao Ren stayed the night in Zhao Yanzi's home to keep his grandma company. The next day was Sunday, and he returned to school after being a.s.sured of his grandma's comfort.
After the eventful weekend, Hao Ren returned to the dorm and went back to the messy and happy life with Zhao Jiayi and his other buddies. Another week began.
After two cla.s.ses in the morning, Hao Ren carried an armful of library books and went to the library alone to return them.
After returning the books, he borrowed some new ones. In the past, he had some time for reading. Now, he had to tutor Zhao Yanzi and cultivate outside of his regular cla.s.s schedule; he almost had no time of his own and couldn't play cards and games like Zhao Jiayi and the others.
Hao Ren gradually felt like Zhao Yanzi's home was his own since he went there every day after school and now even his grandma lived there.
He walked out of the library with those thoughts on his mind. When he walked toward the stairs, he saw Cla.s.s President Xie Yujia dressed in a white s.h.i.+rt studying in the periodicals reading room.
She seemed to have sensed his presence as she turned and saw Hao Ren on the stairs.
Hao Ren smiled and waved at her. After that, he continued going downstairs with books in his arms. He went into the hall and out of the library.
When he was turning towards the direction of his dorm, he heard hurried footsteps behind him.
He turned and saw Xie Yujia rush towards him with books and notebooks in her arms.
"Hao Ren, wait! I need to talk to you!"