Chapter 88 – A Cunning Old Fox
That evening, everyone returned to the villa for dinner. As Lin Ganzhi was gathering his clothes to take a shower, he heard a commotion downstairs. He put his clothes down and followed Yan Shengping out to see a group of servants rushing towards a room on the second floor.
“What’s going on?” Lin Ganzhi was clueless.
Yan Shengping stopped the butler to ask about the situation. The butler quickly explained in English and then hurried into the room.
Lin Ganzhi’s English was at a high school level, so he had to turn to Yan Shengping for help.
“He said the old lady is having an episode, and they’re looking for people to help,” Yan Shengping explained. The two exchanged a look and followed.
“But wasn’t Grandma doing fine during the day?” Lin Ganzhi said unhappily as they walked. They soon arrived at the old lady’s room, where several servants were holding her hands and feet to keep her from moving erratically. Wenren Yi and Wenren Qi were also among them, each holding one of the old lady’s hands.
“Grandma, take a deep breath. Don’t get agitated. Grandpa will give you a shot in a bit, and you’ll have a nice sleep,” Wenren Yi coaxed her painfully.
The old lady’s body was twitching as she thrashed about, her features contorted in pain. She was mumbling someone’s name, but it was too garbled to make out. The old lady was frail, so the family didn’t dare to hold her down with too much force, which allowed her limbs to continue moving slightly.
Grandpa Qin held a pack of acupuncture needles, unsure of where to start.
“Of all times for your second uncle to be away,” Wenren Qi said, his brow tightly furrowed. Suddenly, his gaze fell on Lin Ganzhi and Yan Shengping as they entered.
“Little Yan, could you please help try to calm the old lady down? Your voice is a bit lower. Usually, when my mom gets confused, my second brother comes to coax her. Just… pretend to be my youngest brother and talk to her. Could I ask you to do this favor?” Wenren Qi asked sincerely.
Lin Ganzhi had studied a bit of voice acting and was worried that Yan Shengping’s personality would make him unwilling to do this. Just as he was about to step forward himself, Yan Shengping quickly nodded in agreement. “Just pretend to be Madam Li’s youngest son, is that right?”
“Yes, thank you.” Wenren Qi was just trying his luck. In truth, Yan Shengping’s voice wasn’t like his second brother’s; it was deeper and colder. But right now, it was a desperate measure.
Yan Shengping nodded and walked over, crouching by the head of the bed. The old lady was not lucid and couldn’t see clearly who was crouching in front of her. Lin Ganzhi swallowed nervously from the side, watching as Yan Shengping paused for a few seconds before slowly speaking. “Mom, I’m back.”
To be honest, if Lin Ganzhi were to grade that sentence, even with emotional points, it would be a failing grade. It was cold, emotionless, and the only genuine part was the coaxing, and even that was done half-heartedly.
But it was precisely this sentence that calmed the old lady down. Not just the old lady, but even Wenren Qi, who was holding her down, was stunned.
“Little… Little Zhuo is back?” The old lady’s voice was like a sun-dried towel, weathered and coarse, but her wrinkled eyes were filled with tears.
Wenren Qi snapped out of his daze, quickly let go, and placed his mother’s hand in front of Yan Shengping, gesturing for him to take it.
Yan Shengping lowered his gaze and took the weathered right hand. “I’m back, Mom. I was only gone for a short while. Why haven’t you been taking care of yourself?”
Hearing this, tears streamed from the old lady’s eyes, and her body completely stopped moving. Her vision was blurry, and she couldn’t see the person clearly. It was as if she was complaining, or perhaps whining to her child, “Little Zhuo, it wasn’t a short while. You… you haven’t come back to see your mother in over twenty years. I’ve lived to this age, and the thing I fear most is death. If I die, you won’t be able to see me when you come back.”
Even Lin Ganzhi, an outsider, felt his eyes redden upon hearing the old lady’s words. Wenren Yi started crying directly, and Wenren Qi also clenched his fists and turned away. The grandfather sighed, rubbing his eyes hard.
Grandpa Qin sighed and gestured for Yan Shengping to say something more while he opened his acupuncture kit and began the treatment.
“Mom, I’m back. Thank you for waiting for me for so many years,” Yan Shengping said soothingly.
The old lady rambled on, “It doesn’t matter how many years I wait for my son. Your old schoolbag, I take it out to wash it every time. And the cards and candies the girls in your class gave you, I’ve kept them too. It’s just that the candies couldn’t last this long, so I kept the wrappers. If you still want to eat them now, Mom will go buy them for you. I remember you loved candy, but you were too proud to admit it, afraid people would say a boy like you loves candy and laugh at you.” As she spoke, the old lady yawned, her hazy, tear-filled eyes gradually closing, though her hand was unwilling to let go of Yan Shengping’s.
Yan Shengping hummed softly. “Mom, thank you.”
When Grandpa Qin removed the last needle, the old lady finally drifted off to sleep, her grip on Yan Shengping’s hand loosening. Yan Shengping paused for a moment before standing up. Seeing Lin Ganzhi’s teary-eyed face, he quickly took a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to him.
“Wipe your eyes.”
This time, Lin Ganzhi took the handkerchief without ceremony and wiped his eyes hard.
“Madam Li is asleep. Let’s go out now so we don’t disturb her rest,” Grandpa Qin said.
He led the group out of Madam Li’s room. The servants went back to their duties. Wenren Qi gave Yan Shengping a rare pat on the shoulder and said, “Little Yan, thank you, both of you, this time. Otherwise, I don’t know how long my mom’s condition would have lasted. It’s so late, and we’ve disturbed your sleep. You two should go rest now.”
“Ganzhi, CEO Yan, thank you,” Wenren Yi said, coming over to thank them after composing herself.
Lin Ganzhi felt a bit embarrassed being thanked so much when he hadn’t done anything. “It was all Yan Shengping. I didn’t help with anything. Uncle Wenren, you should also get some rest.”
Wenren Qi nodded, then called out to them again, looking rather sheepish. “Little Yan, I was wondering… could I ask you for another favor?”
“Please speak, Mr. Wenren.”
“Could you possibly record something for us later? Just what you said earlier is fine. To be honest, I was just trying a desperate measure earlier, but I didn’t expect your words to be even more effective than my second brother’s. I’m afraid that if both my brother and I are not at home, my mom might have another episode like today.”
“Of course. It’s not much trouble. Being able to help you in a small way is also my way of thanking Doctor Qin. He’s the first doctor who can completely cure my illness.”
The father and daughter thanked Yan Shengping solemnly once more before leaving.
Yan Shengping closed the door to their room and looked at Lin Ganzhi, who was sitting on the bed staring at him intently. “What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t expect you to agree to Uncle Wenren’s request so readily,” he never thought Yan Shengping would be willing to call someone else “Mom.” But he was very moved. Unfortunately, Lin Ganzhi didn’t manage to say this in time before Yan Shengping walked over and administered the punishment of face-kneading.
If others liked his face for its looks, Yan Shengping definitely liked it for its excellent texture—perfect for kneading and rubbing.
“Mmph, I… I didn’t say anything wrong!” Lin Ganzhi’s round eyes were filled with protest against the injustice.
Yan Shengping almost bent down and kissed his eyes right then and there.
“Don’t you know that a businessman will never pass up a profitable opportunity?” Yan Shengping scoffed. He then added, “To help the Wenren family is something countless people can only dream of. Do you think I would pass up this chance?”
Lin Ganzhi couldn’t stand being repeatedly kneaded and finally rose in rebellion, grabbing Yan Shengping’s wrist and prying it away. The feeling of freedom made him let out a long sigh of relief. He frowned, “And here I thought you were a pure and noble businessman.”
“If you don’t know how to use an idiom, don’t use it randomly,” Yan Shengping couldn’t help but laugh, a fleeting smile like a blooming night-cereus. “How am I even remotely related to that idiom?”
“So my estimation was wrong. You are now a cunning old fox of a businessman and a good person,” Lin Ganzhi re-evaluated. Yan Shengping reversed the grip, clasping Lin Ganzhi’s wrist, bringing them extremely close.
As their eyes met, Yan Shengping’s lips parted. “Then let me give you my evaluation of you. You are a crafty, lazy, gluttonous, and slippery artist and… a good person.”
Damn it! Could he not coexist peacefully in the same space with Yan Shengping?
Lin Ganzhi climbed onto Yan Shengping and started biting. How dare he call him crafty, lazy, gluttonous, and slippery!
Lin Ganzhi’s climbing ability was plain to see; Yan Shengping had trouble prying him off. And he didn’t bite flesh, he just liked to grind his teeth on Yan Shengping’s clothes. It didn’t hurt, but it was ticklish, which was pure torture for someone with ulterior motives. Before long, Yan Shengping was sitting on the bed, and Lin Ganzhi took the opportunity to push him down, straddling him.
“Say it, who’s crafty, lazy, gluttonous, and slippery?!” Lin Ganzhi bared his teeth fiercely.
Yan Shengping was caught between pain and pleasure. Seeing Lin Ganzhi’s ruffled appearance made him want to laugh. Suppressing his laughter, he said in a deep voice, “Why don’t you break down the words and compare them to reality?”
Break them down? Lin Ganzhi’s brain stalled for a few seconds.
Crafty.
“Grandma, how much is a packet of these seeds? Two yuan? I don’t believe you!”
Lazy.
“Acting? I don’t want to go.”
Gluttonous.
“Is there more? I can devour another basin!”
Slippery.
“Should I sing ‘Jingle Bells’ or ‘Two Tigers’ on stage later?”
A blush crept up Lin Ganzhi’s cheeks, not from shyness, but from anger. Yan Shengping’s recent indulgence had made him bold enough to raise the roof. Now it was his turn to knead Yan Shengping’s cheeks, vowing to fight him to the death!
Yan Shengping could handle it at first, but as Lin Ganzhi pressed closer and closer against his body—he was a man with normal needs, after all—he flipped Lin Ganzhi over before he could notice, pinning him underneath. His fingers intertwined tightly with Lin Ganzhi’s as a low growl escaped his throat, “Stop fooling around!”
Lin Ganzhi panted beneath him, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, sticking to his bangs. A red flush tinged the corners of his eyes, and the anger in them began to subside.
“I won’t call you that anymore. I was just teasing you,” Yan Shengping coaxed softly.
Lin Ganzhi tried to move but couldn’t. He was forced to look directly into Yan Shengping’s eyes, which now held a myriad of emotions that he understood, yet didn’t fully comprehend. His palms began to sweat, but Yan Shengping’s hands still held his tightly, immobilizing him. All he could hear was his own heart, beating like a waist drum team, thumping wildly and ceaselessly.
Huh? Wait, what was he angry about again?