Chapter 17

"Dad!" Chen Lingyun was left speechless by the elderly couple's rebuke and could only storm off to work in a fury.

She had thought the matter would pass just like that, but when she returned from work, the old man got upset again because Cheng Yu refused to come home that night. He found fault with Chen Lingyun and her husband at every turn. Father and daughter began arguing back and forth over dinner. Chen Lingyun was too angry to watch her tone and said several harsh things, triggering the old man's illness.

Chen Lingyun regretted angering the old man into a relapse herself. When she saw Cheng Yu questioning her with a cold expression, she became embarrassed and irritated. She felt that if Cheng Yu had not been so temperamental, always threatening to run away from home, things would never have escalated this far. "...And you have the nerve to ask? If you'd been willing to come home tonight, your grandfather wouldn't have taken his anger out on me... Luckily, we got him here in time."

Cheng Yu's face darkened. He blamed himself deeply. Of course he knew how much his grandfather and grandmother spoiled him. Yet because he had been angry with Chen Lingyun, he had overlooked the fact that his grandparents would worry about him and feel heartbroken for him too. Cheng Yu bit down hard on his lower lip until it bled.

Seeing this, Chen Lingyun felt a little distressed as well. She pulled a Band-Aid from her bag and handed it to him. "Stop biting. If you could just listen a little more often, that would be better than anything."

Hearing the commotion, Lin Sufen came out of the hospital room and wrapped Cheng Yu in a comforting embrace. "Don't be afraid. Your grandfather is fine now."

She patted Cheng Shao's shoulder again. "Your grandfather is awake. You can go in and see him."

Cheng Shao nodded and shielded Cheng Yu as they headed toward the room. Before entering, Cheng Yu did not forget to wash his face in the restroom so the blood on it would not frighten his grandfather.

After all that fuss, Chen Simiao had fallen asleep again by the time Cheng Yu entered the room. Cheng Yu had wanted to stay overnight at the hospital to take care of his grandfather, but Lin Sufen persuaded him to go home. "...You're still a patient yourself. Don't always think about taking care of everyone else. What happened today wasn't your fault either. Things just escalated in the heat of the moment, and everyone got a little worked up."

As Lin Sufen spoke, she glanced at her daughter. Chen Lingyun lowered her head guiltily. "Mom, I'll stay here tonight and take care of Dad. You and Cheng Shao can go home."

Lin Sufen shook her head and said bluntly, "I won't feel at ease leaving him with you. I'll stay and watch over your father myself."

Chen Lingyun hesitated, as though she wanted to say something. Lin Sufen waved a hand and directly sent them away. "Go home. Come replace me tomorrow morning."

She also instructed Chen Lingyun, "After you get home, don't go bringing up all sorts of things. It's been a long day. Wash up and get some sleep."

Then she took her two grandsons' hands and carefully reminded them, "You too. Take good care of yourselves and go to bed early when you get home tonight."

Cheng Shao was worried about leaving his grandmother alone to care for his grandfather, so he wanted to stay with her. But he was also afraid something might happen if Cheng Yu was left alone with their parents. For a moment, he was terribly torn.

Cheng Kaiyun, who had barely spoken until then, said, "I'll stay here with your grandmother. Let your mother take you two home."

Lin Sufen glanced at her son-in-law but did not object.

The family stayed at the hospital until after ten that night before Chen Lingyun finally took the brothers home. Along the way, Chen Lingyun kept secretly studying Cheng Yu through the rearview mirror. Cheng Yu sat expressionlessly in the back seat, his face turned toward the window. The flickering glow of streetlights and neon washed over his face, making the handsome contours of the boy's features seem even colder and gloomier.

Chen Lingyun deliberated for a long while but could not find a chance to speak. The family of three arrived home in silence.

Cheng Yu got out of the car without a word and went upstairs in silence. Chen Lingyun followed behind him and did not clear her throat until they reached his bedroom door. "Let's talk!"

Cheng Yu had nothing to discuss with Chen Lingyun. But considering that his grandfather was still lying in the hospital, he did not want things to remain at such an impasse. At least until the dream ended, for the sake of his grandfather's health, he and Chen Lingyun had to find some sort of balance.

"Come in." Cheng Yu opened the bedroom door and went in first.

Chen Lingyun entered after him. Cheng Shao, who had been following the mother and son, hurried in as well.

"Go on, then." Chen Lingyun sat on the sofa and asked Cheng Yu, "Who gave you that information?"

"I found it myself," Cheng Yu said. "If you don't believe me, you can send someone to investigate it yourself."

"You found it yourself?" Chen Lingyun clearly did not believe him and pressed on. "Then tell me, how did you find it?"

"I hired a private investigator and bribed Feng Guangxu's secretary." Cheng Yu raised a brow and asked, "You needed to ask something that simple?"

"Simple?" Chen Lingyun was so angered by Cheng Yu's inexplicable yet completely self-righteous arrogance that she laughed. "Do you know how complicated the internal structure of a company worth billions can be? You're investigating a shareholder and board member of a listed company with a net worth of over a hundred million. And you expect me to believe that you hired a private investigator and bribed his trusted secretary to investigate him? Do you think this is children playing house? You're a child. What makes you think you could bribe Feng Guangxu's secretary into betraying him? Is it really that easy?"

"Instead of questioning whether I'm playing house, why don't you find a way to verify whether what I uncovered is true?" Cheng Yu could not understand Chen Lingyun's way of thinking. He felt she always focused on insignificant details that did not need attention.

"I am investigating it now," Chen Lingyun said. "I want you to tell me every last detail of how you contacted the private investigator, how you won over Feng Guangxu's secretary, and how you discovered that Feng Guangxu had set up shell companies to poach business from us."

"Fine." Cheng Yu nodded. "It was probably five years from now, after you and my dad died in a plane crash—"

"Wait!" Chen Lingyun took a deep breath. "Five years from now?"

Cheng Yu nodded again, confirming it. "Five years from now."

"Cheng Yu!" Unable to endure it any longer, Chen Lingyun shot up from the sofa. "Are you messing with me?"