Chapter 56 – Real World (1)
Yu Wen looked seriously at the person standing opposite him.
After giving a brief answer, Chen Luosong said no more and turned to leave the corridor.
Yu Wen followed him out, taking one last look at the person still lying quietly in the ward.
一一
With some time to spare, Chen Luosong left the hospital and returned to his old home.
It had been some time since he last visited. The butler was a bit surprised to see him, and after taking his coat, asked about the condition of the person still in the hospital.
Chen Luosong took a sip of warm water handed to him by the kitchen staff and said the person hadn’t woken up.
The butler noticed the smile on his face, and the old eyes behind the glasses lowered, ultimately saying nothing more.
After returning to the old residence, Chen Luosong went to the Bureau the next day.
While people at the Bureau speculated about which department the star of the correction team would be transferred to, they received a resignation letter and a returned work badge.
He came quietly and left just as silently, with only the departure procedures remaining to be completed.
In the following period, he occasionally visited the hospital.
After an evaluation by the Bureau’s system, it was determined that sending anyone into the world where Zhou Kaiji resided would not successfully correct it. For the patient’s safety, the treatment was temporarily suspended.
If he couldn’t wake up during treatment, it was even less likely after the treatment was halted. Those involved in the collaboration, along with the doctors, gently hinted that the patient might never wake up.
Transferred from the special ward to a regular one, with the numerous machines gone, the room became quieter than before. Except for the ward and the equipment, everything else remained unchanged, with all treatments for the person in the ward provided at the highest standard.
People associated with the case were unsure what the person spending vast amounts of money daily was thinking. They didn’t know if he had accepted reality or was holding onto an almost negligible chance.
Unconcerned with outside speculation, Chen Luosong returned to his previous life after resigning.
Work, attending necessary events, and visiting the hospital when he could.
When busy, he visited late. When less busy, he visited earlier, but never very early, usually after dark.
So, when he arrived at the hospital unusually in the morning, the doctor was surprised and couldn’t help but take a second look.
After watching him enter the ward and close the door, the doctor stood in the corridor, looking at the people who had come to the hospital with him but had not entered the ward. The doctor asked, “Why so early today?”
The secretary and assistant, who had come along, had been to the hospital several times and were somewhat acquainted with the doctor. The secretary replied, “Mr. Chen is going abroad today and won’t be back for a while.”
The doctor’s eyes widened slightly.
Anticipating his surprise, the secretary wasn’t surprised.
Many people had the same reaction upon hearing the news. Probably because the person who had just entered the ward had behaved in such a way that many people mistakenly believed he would be tied to the person lying in the bed, unable to wake up, and would remain in this city, in this district.
But those who had worked with him for many years knew what kind of person he was.
He was not only the patient’s half-relative but also the only pillar of the Chen family, bearing the weight of several generations’ accumulated business. He had always understood his responsibilities and obligations clearly.
The doctor sighed and clicked his tongue, “Being rich is really tough.”
The leaves of the trees in the hospital courtyard had grown increasingly dense, and the sunlight was excellent today, falling on the leaves and shining into the room.
Contrary to what one might imagine, Chen Luosong sat in a chair beside the bed, not looking at the person lying there, nor at the leaves swaying outside the window. He simply looked down quietly at the documents in his hands.
Glancing at his watch and realizing it was about time, he temporarily placed the documents on the bedside, took out the pen he had casually put in his pocket after receiving it from the secretary, and signed his name.
The sound of pages turning and the pen tip scratching on paper echoed in the quiet space, familiar and natural.
Out of sight, the fingers of the person lying on the bed twitched almost imperceptibly.
Putting the pen away and picking up the documents on the bed, Chen Luosong leaned forward slightly and stood up, using the bed for support. In the process, he brushed against the hand of the person on the bed.
Retracting his hand, he turned and walked towards the door.
“Tap—”
A light but noticeable weight on his wrist made Chen Luosong turn his head, his light-colored eyes looking at the hand gripping his wrist.
After a brief silence, a short voice emerged in the room.
“Zhou Xiaoji?”
The bright sunlight illuminated every corner of the ward.
The documents fell back onto the bed as the person who had been standing by the bed was pulled backward. A warm hand buried itself in the hair at the back of his head, followed by the familiar, suffocating sensation of breath being stolen.
——
A while had passed since the appointed time. Outside the ward, the secretary and assistant glanced at their watches, then exchanged looks. Exhaling softly, the secretary stood up and moved to the ward door, reaching out to knock. Just then, soft footsteps approached, and the door unexpectedly opened, revealing the face of the person who had entered the ward earlier.
It might have been an illusion, but the secretary thought that the other’s shirt looked a bit disheveled, and the once neat tie was now loosened.
The words he had prepared stuck in his throat, leaving him momentarily speechless. All he could manage was a dry “Mr. Chen.”
“We can go now.”
Touching his tie, Chen Luosong handed the pen and documents to the assistant, then turned to the doctor and said, “He’s awake.”
The doctor: “…”
The doctor: “?”
After speaking so nonchalantly, he walked away. The doctor took a moment to process his words, then quickly realized what he meant and rushed to open the ward door.
The assistant and the secretary followed behind, their eyes lingering on the scene as they walked. They glanced back repeatedly, but all they saw was the doctor rushing into the ward and other doctors and nurses hurrying down the corridor.
As they exited the inpatient building, the secretary asked, “Is it okay for Mr. Chen to leave like this?”
“Adults can handle these things themselves.”
Chen Luosong casually wiped the corner of his mouth and got into the car after the driver opened the door.
The two cars left the hospital one after the other. Inside the inpatient building, the doctor entered the ward and immediately saw the person sitting up in bed.
The patient had his head down, one hand touching his lips, and a smile at the corner of his eyes.
It didn’t seem like he had just woken up; something seemed to have happened earlier. Noticing the presence of the doctor, the patient looked over and asked, “Did Brother Chen leave?”
Having not spoken for a long time, his voice was hoarse, but the tone and manner of speech were normal. He appeared to be thinking clearly, not like someone who had been in a coma for two years.
The doctor guessed this might be a partial success of Myriad Creation’s treatment program. Meeting the patient’s gaze, he replied, “Yes, he left.”
Recalling what he had heard earlier, the doctor added, “Mr. Chen likely won’t be back for quite a while.”
The person on the bed heard the news and looked unexpectedly unchanged. Zhou Kaiji smiled and said, “Brother Chen already told me. This time he’ll be on a business trip for two months.”
This matter must have been decided long ago. The other party was very trustworthy and would not change the plan once it was set.
Compared to the long and hopeless waiting year after year, these two months felt very quick.
The doctor always felt something was odd and took another look at him.
It was not an illusion; this person indeed smiled with a spring-like joy.
Other doctors and nurses then entered the room and conducted routine cognitive tests upon waking.
Zhou Kaiji expressed himself fluently and could write normally with a pen. His memory was intact, presenting the best possible state after awakening from a coma. As long as no other complications arose, he would just need to undergo rehabilitation training during subsequent check-ups to restore his physical functions to their best state.
The second visitor he saw after waking up was the butler. The butler brought him food prepared by the housekeeper and roughly told him about the past two years he had spent in bed.
Most of what the butler said were trivial matters. He listened without interruption.
At the end of the conversation, the butler looked at him and said, “The engagement between the master and Mr. Yu has been canceled.”
Zhou Kaiji couldn’t help but smile while drinking his soup.
He had known about this for a long time, in the virtual world.
At that time, Secretary Chen had mentioned “almost getting married.” He hadn’t heard it clearly then, but now he remembered it vividly.
Almost meant he did not marry.
Although he had suspected it, there was a big difference between deducing it himself and hearing the definite news.
Brother Chen, who was almost taken by someone else, was finally his.
The butler stopped talking at this point and did not continue. After Zhou Kaiji finished his meal, the butler took the insulated lunch box away.
He was getting older and couldn’t carry things as easily anymore. Now he had a driver/bodyguard assigned by Mr. Chen to carry things for him, making travel much more convenient, especially trips to and from the hospital.
Since waking up, apart from the butler, he had different visitors in his hospital room every day. He dealt with them when he had time, but most of his time was spent on physical rehabilitation training.
During the day, he trained, and at night, he waited in his room to call someone across the ocean at the appointed time. His days were truly fulfilling.
But this evening was slightly different.
Someone came to see him. Wearing a suit and gold-rimmed glasses, it was Yu Wen.
Yu Wen stood at the door of the hospital room, looking at him past the two attendants stationed by the door, and said, “I have something to talk to you about.”
Zhou Kaiji put his phone in his pocket and stood up from the bed.
Yu Wen suggested they talk at a nearby bar. After they sat down, Yu Wen quickly drank three glasses of alcohol.
Zhou Kaiji didn’t plan on drinking; he only ordered a glass of water and glanced at the bottles the bartender used to pour the drinks.
Yu Wen’s three drinks were all strong spirits.
When Zhou Kaiji looked over, Yu Wen spoke up and asked, “Why did you have to wake up?”
Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “Do you know how many years I’ve known him?”
Lifting his glass, Yu Wen looked through the light at the swaying liquid inside and said, “More than twenty years.”
