Chasing My Husband! The "Crown Prince" of the Beijing Circle Is Wildly Unruly! - Chapter 21

VIP Room, Kyoto Hospital. 3:00 AM.

Lu Jingze, dressed in black, sneaks into the room.

“Squeak—” The sound of the door hinges is particularly clear in the middle of the night.

Zhao Yan, who was dozing by the bed, is startled by the sudden noise. He jolts awake from his semi-conscious state. He turns his head and looks through the dim light at the person in black standing by the door, wearing a baseball cap and a black mask.

It’s Lu Jingze.

Zhao Yan doesn’t dare offend Ji Yuheng, and he certainly doesn’t dare offend Lu Jingze. Even though he hates him, he is in Kyoto. He can only grit his teeth and respectfully greet him, “Master Lu.”

Lu Jingze walks into the room, bringing with him a chill. His gaze never stops on Zhao Yan. “You, go out.” As Lu Jingze’s words fall, Zhao Yan gets up and leaves. In Kyoto, no one dares to defy him.

The light in the hospital room is dim and soft. Lu Jingze sits by the bed and looks at the pale, thin person lying there. He feels a deep, dense pang of heartache. He lowers his eyes and gazes at the person, as if to condense all his emotions into this moment of silence.

“You’ve gotten thinner,” Lu Jingze’s voice is low and hoarse, echoing in the dim room. No one responds.

“Eat well from now on,” Lu Jingze says to himself again.

He takes a blank check he has already prepared and gently slips it into his coat pocket.

“I’m leaving, Xinghe,” Lu Jingze stands up. His footsteps gradually fade away and disappear at the end of the corridor.

On the bed, Wang Xinghe opens his eyes in the dark. He stares at the closed door, lost in thought for a long time. Then he closes his eyes again, pretending he never woke up.

Even if he were a woman, they could never be together. What’s more, he is a man who can never be exposed to the sunlight. Between him and Lu Jingze, there is a chasm of status and background. Lu Jingze was born on a cloud, and he can’t fly up to him.

Three Days Later.

Wang Xinghe is discharged from the hospital. He books a high-speed train back to Qingcheng. He didn’t have much luggage when he came, so naturally, he has little when he leaves.

He looks at Zhao Yan, his expression gentle again. “Yanzi, thank you. If you ever come to Qingcheng, remember to find me for a drink. We will always be friends.”

Zhao Yan has a lot of business in Kyoto. These scions of noble families may seem carefree, but their every word and action must be considered for the life and death of their families. He can’t abandon everything and continue to follow Wang Xinghe back to Qingcheng.

“Xinghe, I’ll come find you,” Zhao Yan says. “If you are willing to come back to Kyoto one day, remember to find me.”

Wang Xinghe stands facing the morning light on the east side, smiling at him. “I will.”

Looking at Wang Xinghe in the light, he is still as gentle as he was when he was a teenager. Zhao Yan’s eyes finally turn red, mourning his lost youth and his unattainable first love.

Back in Qingcheng.

The BYD in front of the shop is completely covered in dust. The noodle shop door is very clean, however. The uncle from the fried dough stick shop next door quickly opens his door. “Little Wang is back!”

“Little Wang, where have you been all this time?”

“Little Wang, why are you so thin?”

The neighbors gather around, asking questions.

Wang Xinghe smiles and replies, “I went traveling. The noodle shop will reopen in a few days.”

“That’s great, great!”

“We’ll all come and eat!”

Wang Xinghe smiles gently and nods. “Okay, I’ll add the biggest pieces of meat for everyone.”

Wang Xinghe pulls up the roller door of the shop, and dust flies everywhere. As he pushes open the glass door, a rotting smell wafts out, along with the smell of mold. He puts his luggage at the entrance, walks to the stairs leading to the second floor, and opens the back window. The cool spring breeze rushes in.

Wang Xinghe claps his hands together and goes into the room. He pulls out a stack of checks. There are fifty of them, each for ten million yuan. Five hundred million yuan. Wang Xinghe didn’t expect that in their short two months together, he would be worth five hundred million yuan to Lu Jingze.

He shakes his head, takes out an iron box from the bedside table, and places the note and the Patek Philippe watch that Lu Jingze had left behind inside. He then puts the stack of checks inside. He closes the box and puts it at the bottom of the drawer.

Wang Xinghe changes into an old tracksuit, puts on gloves and a mask. He cleans the shop from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. He is so tired that he lies in bed, feeling a bit dazed. He looks at the new pillows and new quilt. Everything feels like a dream.

He doesn’t know what kind of dream it was for Lu Jingze. But for Wang Xinghe, it was a short-lived beautiful dream. He feels as if he briefly saved his past self. He was happy for a little while, and he was briefly content.

The Next Day.

Wang Xinghe still doesn’t open the shop. He goes to a funeral supply store and buys incense, paper ingots, and paper clothes for all four seasons, as well as some other paper items. He folds paper ingots all day in the shop, blows a breath on them, and passes them through a sieve. He has heard that this makes them more useful in the underworld.

Wang Xinghe lowers his eyes, and in the orange light, his long, thin fingers quickly fold the paper.

The Day After.

The sky is gloomy. Dressed in black, he arrives at the cemetery. He burns paper money and incense for his parents and lays out some offerings. He bows three times, and then he sits on the steps of the cemetery, not knowing what to say. But he feels wronged, and silent tears fall one by one.

He sits for a long, long time before getting up and leaving. He doesn’t even dare to look at the names and photos on the tombstones.

He finds the grave of Aunt Song from his village. Her grave is still very new. Wang Xinghe burns paper money, lights incense, and bows his head. He seems to have cried all his tears at his parents’ grave and can’t cry anymore.

“Aunt Song, I brought your favorite Osmanthus cake… I steamed it early this morning. After you left, I heard from other merchants that these two streets are going to be demolished…”

“In the future… it will be a long, long time before we can meet again…”

“Aunt Song, if you see my parents, remember to say a few good words for me, so I don’t get beaten when I go down there.”

“Little Wang, you’re here.” The voice of Brother Lin sounds from behind him. Wang Xinghe’s eyes are a bit swollen, and he is too embarrassed to look up.

Brother Lin chokes up, steps forward, and hugs him. “Thank you…”

Wang Xinghe shakes his head, gently pats his back, and leaves the cemetery.

Five Days After the Qingming Festival.

The noodle shop reopens.

Spring passes, and autumn comes.

Wang Xinghe continues to run his noodle shop as usual. Customers come and go. Time flows by in the early mornings and the hard work.

One day, as usual, a village committee member walks in with a red cloth bag, his face full of smiles. “Little Wang, these two commercial streets are within the demolition area. They’re going to build roads and plan the area. Here, take a look at the mobilization letter.”

These two commercial streets have had property deeds for decades, and they are all privately owned, just like the homesteads in the village. They will be assessed and compensated based on the size of the land, the renovation, and the houses built on the homesteads.

“Aunt Song’s son next door signed the agreement this morning. You’re a young person; your mindset can’t be outdated.”

Wang Xinghe nods. “Okay.”

“I’ll go sign after I clean up the shop.”

The news of the demolition had been circulating for six months, and most of the merchants were willing to be demolished. These old houses are too old and not only look bad but also affect the future development of the whole area. To get rich, you have to build roads first, and these two streets should be widened.