The journey from the airport to the hospital was somewhat long. Assistant Qiu drove attentively, occasionally glancing through the rearview mirror to see the upward curve of Tang Mo’s lips.
Tang Mo had been in a very good mood since getting into the car.
From time to time, he would peek at their interlaced hands. Even though his palms were slightly damp with sweat, making them feel a bit sticky, he remained incredibly happy.
So much so that he would unconsciously use his fingers to gently scratch Su Chengning’s palm.
Whenever the numbing sensation in his palm became unbearable, Su Chengning could only give him a silent glare.
Tang Mo always responded with a faint smile.
He looked rather silly and naive as he laughed.
Because of the memories stirred up by his dream, even though Su Chengning was somewhat bothered by his behavior, he maintained his patience and endured it the entire way.
It wasn’t until the car stopped at the main entrance of Shengjing First Hospital that Su Chengning immediately released his hand and got out of the car.
Tang Mo remained stunned in the back seat, seemingly complaining that they had arrived so quickly.
His fingers curled slightly; they felt a bit empty.
Tang Mo’s somewhat resentful gaze pierced Su Chengning’s thin back, and his sticky vision lingered repeatedly on those fair, white palms.
He was hesitating, wondering if he could take the initiative to hold hands for a while longer.
While Tang Mo was still hesitating, Su Chengning had already finished giving instructions to Assistant Qiu, asking him to go back and pick up some things for him.
Once Assistant Qiu left, Su Chengning finally noticed that Tang Mo’s expression was somewhat unusual.
He stopped in his tracks, turned to Tang Mo, and asked, “What’s wrong?”
The fingers hanging by his legs twitched. Tang Mo suppressed the small thoughts in his heart and asked Su Chengning, “Brother Chengning, are you going to stay in the hospital to accompany my brother?”
Su Chengning looked at him asking this with a lonely expression and found it amusing in his heart.
“Do you want me to accompany him?”
Naturally, he did not.
Tang Mo really wanted to answer that way, but he hesitated.
How could Su Chengning not see through his thoughts? It was clear he didn’t want it, yet he stood there with a conflicted expression.
“I am very busy,” Su Chengning said.
Tang Mo suddenly heard him say this and didn’t react for a moment.
“I’m busy accompanying a little idiot.”
“That idiot always likes to hide his thoughts in his heart, so I have to work hard to dig them out.”
Tang Mo realized belatedly that the “little idiot” Su Chengning was talking about might be himself.
Where was he stupid?
Even if he was stupid, it was only in front of Su Chengning.
Tang Mo stepped forward two steps and excitedly grabbed Su Chengning’s hand.
“Since that little idiot requires so much of your effort, how about I help you?”
“You?” Su Chengning glanced at the hand being held but did not pull away. “I’m afraid you’re just here to cause trouble.”
The two of them talked back and forth as they boarded the elevator.
“I am very capable.” Since there were only the two of them in the elevator, Tang Mo felt it was necessary to show off a bit. With a light sweep of his arm, he pulled Su Chengning into his embrace.
The moment Su Chengning realized he was being lifted into the air, he was startled.
He could clearly feel how powerful the arms encircling him were, but he also found it somewhat funny that this guy would do something so childish.
Just as Su Chengning thought Tang Mo was doing this to demonstrate his strength, Tang Mo pressed him against the elevator wall and quickly kissed him.
After the kiss, he immediately set him down.
In those brief few seconds, Su Chengning had just felt the warmth brought by the contact of their lips before the other person pulled away.
When the elevator stopped, he clearly saw the big boy who claimed to be “very capable” but actually blushed from a single kiss walk out with his arms and legs moving in an uncoordinated, stiff manner.
Seeing a tall, handsome young man act this way made Su Chengning unable to help himself; he leaned against the wall and laughed loudly.
The heavy mood originally triggered by that dream on the plane had dissipated significantly at this moment.
Hearing the unrestrained laughter coming from behind him, even the tips of Tang Mo’s ears turned red.
He felt as though he had done something very foolish.
Tang Guoming stood outside the Intensive Care Unit, looking at his son who was wrapped up like a mummy, feeling his anger rising.
“Wasn’t he in Linhai City to handle affairs? Why did he suddenly come back and get himself into this state?”
Manager Gao shrank into the corner. Seeing Tang Guoming questioning him so aggressively, he answered vaguely, “Chairman Tang, you should ask President Tang that. I also found it strange why President Tang insisted on dragging me along to return to Shengjing.”
“If he could answer me, I wouldn’t need to ask you!”
Tang Guoming paced back and forth in anger. Seeing that the manager hadn’t even scratched a bit of skin, he shifted his anger: “The two of you came back together, why are you perfectly fine?”
Manager Gao: “…”
I am truly sorry for not being injured, sir.
“Guoming, why are you blaming Manager Gao?” Lin Wenlan couldn’t bear to watch and spoke up to help. “Manager Gao accompanied A-Chen back from thousands of miles away; even if there is no credit, there is hard work. If you say such things, not only will Manager Gao be unhappy, even I feel embarrassed for you.”
“Manager Gao, don’t take it to heart,” Lin Wenlan said apologetically to the manager. “Guoming is just worried about his son. After all, he went out perfectly fine and came back lying down; what kind of situation is that?”
Manager Gao replied with a forced smile, “I understand, I understand. With President Tang in this state, I also have a hard time explaining things to President Su.”
Hearing him mention Su Chengning made Tang Guoming even angrier.
But he couldn’t easily lose his temper at Su Chengning, so he could only let Manager Gao endure it.
Manager Gao simply had a bitterness he couldn’t speak of; why did he have to suffer this?
By the time Su Chengning and Tang Mo arrived, Manager Gao had been scolded so much he was practically about to shrink into a ball.
It was truly difficult for him with that bloated, fat body.
Su Chengning walked over and directly granted Manager Gao amnesty: “Manager Gao, there’s nothing else. You may head back first.”
There was never a moment where Manager Gao felt more grateful to President Su than now. Almost the moment the words fell, he ran away with an agile posture.
Tang Guoming glared at Su Chengning with great dissatisfaction. Seeing Tang Mo following behind him, he turned his temper toward him.
“Your brother worries himself to death every day for the sake of the company, and now he’s met with a car accident and is lying inside needing emergency treatment. And you? Aside from being idle all day, where are you when you are needed?”
This merciless scolding caused Tang Mo’s expression to turn ugly instantly.
Su Chengning’s face also darkened, but Lin Wenlan’s reaction was faster.
“What kind of talk is that!” She glared angrily at Tang Guoming. “Xiao Mo usually has to study; what’s wrong with him going out to play during his rare weekend break? Is it only your son who is precious, while my son is like weeds?”
Lin Wenlan was furious; she swung her expensive handbag and hit Tang Guoming directly with it.
Only then did Tang Guoming realize his wife was present. Why had his tongue slipped, leading him to curse at his younger son?
“This, this, this—isn’t it because I saw A-Chen in trouble and my heart panicked?” Tang Guoming hurriedly begged his wife for mercy, lacking any of the dignity a chairman of a large group should have.
“A-Chen is your son, is Xiao Mo not your son as well?” Lin Wenlan wasn’t satisfied with one hit and hit him two more times in succession.
Tang Guoming could only obediently shut his mouth. “I have a clumsy tongue, I said the wrong thing, I won’t speak anymore.”
Tang Mo whispered to Su Chengning, “My dad has especially low status in front of my mom; don’t mind him.”
Su Chengning was indeed somewhat speechless.
Tang Guoming was also known in the business world for having a explosive temper; his mouth had offended countless people. It was always he who made others suffer, yet this was the first time seeing his submissive appearance.
But it could also be seen that Tang Guoming truly loved his wife; otherwise, if such a thing happened to anyone else, they would only feel they had lost face.
Once Tang Guoming finished coaxing his wife, he remembered that Su Chengning was also present.
The scene suddenly became a bit awkward.
Of course, the only one actually feeling awkward was Tang Guoming.
Su Chengning greeted them as if nothing had happened and then said, “I’ve come to see Tang Chen’s condition.”
He walked over and looked directly at Tang Chen in the ICU through the glass. Judging the severity of the other’s injuries, he felt a slight sense of regret in his heart.
If Tang Chen had died directly, perhaps he wouldn’t have to worry about Tang Mo following the path of a villain.
However, seeing that he himself, who was supposed to have been in the car accident, was perfectly fine while Tang Chen the protagonist was lying in the hospital, he felt somewhat refreshed.
Su Chengning didn’t know if the plot would continue to crumble because of this, but he didn’t mind adding more fuel to the fire.
“Uncle Tang,” Su Chengning suddenly spoke up. “Regarding the Linhai project, it is necessary for me to clarify some things with you.”
The hospital was not a good place to discuss matters. With a grim face, Tang Guoming took his wife directly home.
With people left at the hospital to look after Tang Chen, there was nothing to worry about.
As soon as they returned to the Tang residence, Lin Wenlan pulled Tang Mo away.
In the study, there was only the composed Su Chengning and the grim-faced Tang Guoming.
“We signed a cooperation agreement for the Linhai project long ago. For you to suddenly go back on your word, you indeed owe me an explanation.”
Tang Guoming sat in a leather chair. He lacked the irritability he had shown at the hospital and possessed more of the sharpness gained from decades in the business world.
“Actually, there isn’t much to explain,” Su Chengning said. He sat down in the chair opposite Tang Guoming and handed over a bag of document materials that Assistant Qiu had specifically delivered.
Tang Guoming’s gaze shifted from staring at Su Chengning to looking at the documents, his eyes filled with scrutiny.
“Uncle Tang, as long as you look at these, you will understand why I went back on my word.”
Seeing that Tang Guoming did not proactively take them, Su Chengning placed the documents on the desk.
Silence suddenly filled the study.
The two stared at each other across the desk, as if competing to see who had more patience.
The clock ticked away, every second clearly audible.
After a long time, Tang Guoming moved first.
He picked up the documents in front of him. At first, he opened the envelope unhurriedly, but as the contents of the files entered his eyes, his expression became increasingly ugly.
Su Chengning seemed to enjoy his changing face, waiting quietly in a pleasant mood.
There were many documents, but it took less than half an hour to finish reading them.
After Tang Guoming finished reading, his breathing was clearly unstable.
He had never imagined that his son would do such things behind his back, and the truth was being exposed right in front of him by an outsider.
For a moment, he resented Su Chengning, but he could also understand.
After a long silence, Tang Guoming finally spoke, his tone lacking the high-and-mighty arrogance and appearing much more amiable.
“I will consider this document as owing you a favor.”
Su Chengning smiled. “A small matter like embezzling public funds is easy for Uncle Tang to settle. But if I hadn’t discovered this early, I’m afraid I would have been facing imprisonment in the future.”
Tang Chen was indeed bold. He had used some dirty methods on the Linhai project and was even involved in a loss of life; it was only through good luck that the person did not die.
Tang Chen had directly used money to silence the other party.
Su Chengning had absolutely no interest in cleaning up his mess. He only brought this matter to Tang Guoming’s attention because Tang Mo also had a share in the Tang family.
Tang Guoming knew this matter could be large or small. He said solemnly, “I will arrange for others to take charge of the Linhai project. Let A-Chen recover from his injuries properly.”
Su Chengning didn’t care much about this expected result; he had a more important matter.
He faced Tang Guoming with a serious expression and said in a cautious tone:
“I want to dissolve my engagement with Tang Chen.”