“Professor Huo, are you very upset?” Liu Yan leaned closer to the hospital bed and asked softly. He had been specially assigned by higher authorities to protect Huo Jingsheng.
After Sister-in-law Huo left with her son, only three people remained in the ward: the patient Huo Jingsheng, the specially assigned guard Liu Yan, and the capable assistant Lin Cheng’an.
There was also a personal assistant responsible for Huo Jingsheng’s daily meals, schedule, personal care, and health management, but he was not in the ward at the moment.
Huo Jingsheng was the youngest physics professor in China. At eighteen, he had won the World Natural Science Third Prize and the Chinese Physics First Prize.
Those around him were naturally no ordinary individuals; they were also his trusted confidants, so Huo Jingsheng held nothing back from them.
He weighed his words carefully and said, “I’m not sad. Liu Yan, Cheng’an, don’t be surprised. Actually, this isn’t exactly a marriage swap.
It should be said that everything is returning to the right track. After all, the engagement between her and me was something I actively sought. I admire her, and now it’s finally being set right.”
What a way to set things right!
Lin Cheng’an inwardly gasped, his heart burning as if on fire. He gritted his teeth, wishing he could rush over and drink Su Yiwei’s blood, devour her flesh.
He rubbed his temples, his eyes filled with weariness. He was already annoyed, and being forced to recall Su Yiwei made his stomach churn violently.
Their professor, mindful of her life-saving favor, had worried that her life in the countryside might be difficult. He specifically asked his family to go to Kaoshan Village in Qingzhou to deliver money and supplies, and even mentioned having an engagement with her.
Who would have thought she would turn out to be a vain, unscrupulous, ungrateful person?
To live a good life, she abandoned the parents who had raised her for over a decade without a second thought.
To climb up to Jiang Wentao, she actually gave away their professor—such an outstanding man—to her hypocritical adoptive sister. It disgusted him to death.
What made it even harder for him to accept was that everyone could see how much the professor disliked Su Yirou, yet he actually agreed!!
If the professor were to marry that country bumpkin Su Yiwei, Lin Cheng’an could still understand—after all, she had a stroke of luck: she saved the professor’s life when she was young.
But what right did she have to reject the professor?
If she didn’t want him, fine—they would have been immensely grateful to her. But she had the audacity to give the engagement to someone else.
Lin Cheng’an frowned and advised, “Professor, the way you talk makes it sound like she’s some celestial beauty. I think both sisters are unworthy of you.”
Liu Yan had only been by Huo Jingsheng’s side for a little over a year and didn’t know much. He looked concerned and said, “Professor Huo, since Cheng’an says both are unworthy of you, why not break off the engagement?”
“If it really can’t be broken off, I suggest you choose Su Yirou. Although she’s not the Su family’s biological daughter,
she grew up in the capital. Her refinement and education are beyond what a country girl could match.”
The personal assistant who pushed the door open and entered overheard Liu Yan’s words. He couldn’t help sighing, “Yes! What a fine girl Su Yirou is!
The daughter the Su family raised with such care not only got into university, but over the past year or so, she has been extremely enthusiastic toward the professor.
Ah! What a pity, Professor. Your marriage is going to be swapped back to that country girl again.”
Huo Jingsheng glanced at him and warned, “Country girl? Watch your wording.”
The personal assistant straightened his neck and said, “Professor, I don’t mean to look down on rural people, but that Su Yiwei is crude and selfish.”
“Without even having met anyone, she threatened the Su family to give her the Jiang family’s engagement, or else she wouldn’t be willing to return home. That’s a classic case of not knowing what’s good for her!”
Speaking of women from the countryside, it’s truly hard to describe in a few words. Take the wife of Assistant Professor Zhang, for example—she picks up manure and then cooks for him without even washing her hands. Tsk tsk…”
Upon hearing this, Liu Yan couldn’t help but think to himself, Professor Huo is such an outstanding man; there’s no one in the research institute who doesn’t respect him.
Such a fine man, yet he’s going to marry a country girl. Marrying her out of gratitude for saving his life is one thing, but in the end, he’ll still be looked down upon.
He wouldn’t want to marry such a woman himself, but he didn’t dare say it out loud.
“I’m telling you once again, seriously—Su Yiwei is the person I, Huo Jingsheng, love most in this life. Disrespecting her is disrespecting me.”
Huo Jingsheng’s voice sounded as if it came from an ice cellar, sending chills down the spines of the three people in the hospital room.
He closed his eyes, pretending to rest. To say he had no resentment at all would be a lie, but his longing had long since overshadowed that bit of grievance.
That passionate yet resilient little girl had long been etched into the very marrow of his bones.
When he was five years old, he followed his parents and three sisters to the countryside. His father had been framed by rivals and labeled as having a problematic background.
Wherever he and his sisters went, they were targets of bullying. His capable eldest and second brothers hadn’t gone to Kaoshan Village, and his three sisters were too delicate to defend themselves.
That year, he was only five. The local ruffians would bully his sisters in secluded places. How could he stand for that? He often ended up being pinned to the ground and beaten by those ruffians.
Though he took the beatings, he always managed to scare them off—because each time, he was beaten half to death.
He thought life would continue like that, until she appeared.
Also five years old, she stood with her hands on her hips, stomping her short legs on the ground. “My dad is the brigade leader. Dare to hit my friend? Are you looking for death?”
Her fierce yet childish demeanor scared off the two ruffians. She shouted after their retreating figures, “Get back here! Pay for his medical expenses, and I won’t tell my dad and brothers.”
“Little ancestor, I don’t have any money on me,” said the ruffian who had been so arrogant in front of him, his voice trembling.
“If you don’t have money, go catch two fish from the river to compensate him. If you have money, pay up.” The little girl pointed her index finger at the other ruffian.
It was winter then. Compared to fishing in the river, the ruffians would rather pay, but they truly had no money. In the end, they had to settle for the next best option.
“Little ancestor, how about I sneak into the neighboring village tonight and steal a chicken for him to nourish himself?”
“The neighboring village? Alright then. You better keep your word, okay? From now on, he’s my person. None of you are allowed to bully him. Now, carry him to my house.”
Her voice was clear and melodious, ringing in the air like silver bells. As he lay on the ruffian’s back, he stole glances at her.
The little girl, with lips red and teeth white, wore a bright, radiant smile, like a sunflower blooming in the sunlight. In that instant, she illuminated his somewhat gloomy heart.
That was the first time he entered her “boudoir.” Though it couldn’t compare to his bedroom back in the capital, it was far better than their house in Kaoshan Village.
She fetched water for him to wash up and brought out delicious treats for him to eat. Up close, her skin was so fair it seemed to glow, smooth as jade without a single flaw. Her features were exquisite, like a carefully crafted doll.
That was the first time his heart stirred. Later, she asked her father to arrange lighter work for his entire family.
Her father became the production team’s storekeeper, and her mother became a teacher at the village primary school.
His third sister was fifteen that year and could assist the village’s barefoot doctor. His fourth sister was ten, and his fifth sister was his twin.
They could attend the village elementary school, and in the following years, their lives were uneventful yet peaceful. He and she grew up together as childhood friends.