The Wealthy Family’s Adopted Son (21) Who on earth, are you in love with?
In Gui Wen’s memory, Madam Zong was the epitome of a gentle mother. She was never stingy with her care toward Yan Guanbai, her adopted son with whom she shared no blood relation, and in his early childhood, she would even personally pick him up from school.
Hearing this, Gui Wen couldn’t help frowning. “How is she?”
“She’s currently relatively stable, still in the observation period, with a possibility of deterioration.”
Gui Wen instantly tuned out the chirping of the wild ducks nearby, tightly gripping Zong Xian’s palm. “Let’s go see her right now.”
His phone was returned to Gui Wen by Zong Xian.
Zong Xian had his assistant book the earliest flight. Upon landing, they were driven directly to the hospital by a chauffeur, taking the elevator to the top-floor private ward. Madam Zong lay on the pure white hospital bed, quietly and deeply asleep.
Not wishing to disturb his adoptive mother, Gui Wen deliberately slowed his pace, but to his surprise, the patient in the bed still opened her eyes. With a slight turn of her head, she spotted the two children she had raised for over a decade. “Why are you two walking so slowly?”
“We were afraid of waking you up.” Seeing that his mother was about to sit up, Zong Xian hurried to the bedside to help her up. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m much better. Did someone tell you I was in a critical state? You rushed back in such a hurry.” His mother stroked Zong Xian’s cheek, then beckoned Gui Wen to the bedside, leaving the two of them standing side by side in front of her bed.
“It’s fine,” Gui Wen grasped his adoptive mother’s slightly chilled hand. “Of course we had to come back to see you just to be sure.”
Smiling, his mother pulled Zong Xian’s hand over and placed it on the back of Gui Wen’s hand. “I was worried at first that your relationship wasn’t good. When I heard your older brother took you on a trip, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.”
Subconsciously, Gui Wen cast a glance toward Zong Xian. “Older Brother Zong Xian is very good to me, so there’s no need to worry.”
Madam Zong shifted the topic back to Zong Xian. Her views remained rather traditional; she believed that when a person reached a certain age, they ought to settle down and start a family. Zong Xian was already twenty-seven, and most of his peers already had partners, yet there wasn’t the slightest sign of one for him.
“Don’t worry about my affairs,” Zong Xian tucked the duvet in around his mother. “Just focus on taking care of yourself.”
His mother let out a helpless, light laugh. Whenever this topic was brought up, Zong Xian always maintained this attitude, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Gui Wen poured a cup of warm water for his adoptive mother, but upon returning to the bedside, he found Zong Xian conversing with the attending physician. Although he couldn’t make out the conversation, he could tell from Zong Xian’s expression that his adoptive mother’s condition was evidently far from optimistic.
“Auntie seems quite spirited, is it…” Gui Wen pressed his lips together, lacking the heart to continue.
“Temporarily stable,” Zong Xian rested his forehead against Gui Wen’s shoulder. “It could deteriorate at any moment.”
Unable to help himself, Gui Wen raised a hand and stroked the top of Zong Xian’s head.
Back in the ward, the two of them once again put on a casual facade, recounting to their mother the sights and experiences from their trip. Gui Wen’s thoughts unconsciously drifted away to the bird Zong Xian had caught for him, the high-end mountain bike, and the flocks of wild ducks along the lake. It all felt like a dream, destined to completely vanish into thin air upon waking.
Until his mother fell asleep, Zong Xian showed no intention of leaving, keeping a prolonged vigil by the bedside.
Gui Wen stayed seated by the bed with him until the sky grew completely dark, at which point Zong Xian turned his face toward him. “Let’s go back.”
Yielding to Zong Xian’s pressure, Gui Wen had made an extra set of keys after the other man moved into his apartment. At this moment, the latecomer was fishing a small metal object out of his pocket and inserting it into the keyhole to open the door. Zong Xian had suggested changing to an electronic lock, but due to a busy schedule, the matter was continually postponed.
Zong Xian was unusually silent. Inside the apartment, only the white cat was enthusiastic; as if having missed its owner for too long, it rubbed against Gui Wen’s ankles before darting over to Zong Xian in the next second, reaching out a paw to pat the man’s leg.
“Don’t make a fuss.” Zong Xian scooped the cat into his arms and lightly scratched it a couple of times.
Clearly unable to understand the meaning behind Zong Xian’s words, the white cat sprawled directly across his lap.
“It hasn’t seen you in a long time.” Gui Wen sat down beside Zong Xian and stroked the cat’s back.
Following suit, Zong Xian placed his palm on the cat’s back, eventually shifting it to the back of Gui Wen’s hand.
Gui Wen didn’t move, letting the other man take body heat from his skin. Realizing it seemed redundant, the cat abruptly leaped down from Zong Xian’s lap.
Silence seemed to linger for a long time before Zong Xian suddenly spoke, “Good night.”
“Don’t think too much, get to sleep early,” Gui Wen replied.
After the better part of a day traveling, Gui Wen fell asleep almost the instant his head hit the pillow.
Half-asleep and half-awake, Gui Wen fancied he heard movement from the bedroom door. Someone pushed the door open from the outside and walked with softened footsteps to his bedside.
Like a summer gnat, it bit him unawares on the forehead, cheek, tip of his nose, and lips.
Seeming unsatisfied, it continued its journey toward Gui Wen’s shoulder.
Tickled by the contact, Gui Wen instinctively raised his hand to scratch, causing the gnat to stop biting him.
He didn’t give this late-night interlude another thought, having even forgotten it entirely by the time he woke up.
The guest room was right next door. Walking out to the living room, Gui Wen found Zong Xian’s bedroom door wide open and instinctively stepped closer to check.
Zong Xian had already left, goodness knows when.
Pulling out his phone to contact him, he instead saw a message from the domestic worker who usually cared for his adoptive mother, stating that Madam Zong could be discharged in the morning and Young Master Yan could come pick her up if needed.
The message had been sent two hours ago, so it was presumably already too late.
Gui Wen felt a lingering sense of guilt that his adoptive mother wouldn’t see him upon discharge. He meticulously tidied his appearance, changed clothes, headed downstairs to buy a basket of fruit, and hailed a taxi to the villa.
There were noticeably more guards stationed outside the villa’s gates, and two or three luxury cars parked in the entranceway, giving the impression that important guests had arrived.
Greeting the domestic staff, Gui Wen entered through the villa’s front door to find several unfamiliar faces in the main hall.
Madam Zong and Mr. Zong sat in the primary seats, followed by another middle-aged man, with Professor Xu who used to teach his major courses seated nearby.
Lu Yuteng wore a crisp, tailored suit, a stark contrast to his image at school, carrying quite a bit of a young master’s handsome air.
Seated directly across from them in formal wear as well was Zong Xian, whose expression revealed neither favor nor disfavor.
“Guanbai, come sit,” Madam Zong beckoned with a wave of her hand. “You must have slept in, not even coming to pick up your aunt when she’s discharged.”
Ingratiatingly, Gui Wen squeezed his adoptive mother’s palm and placed the basket of fruit he had brought onto the table. “It’s my fault; once I fall asleep, I lose track of time. I bought some fruit for you.”
Madam Zong smiled and said she wasn’t angry with him, stroked Yan Guanbai’s hair, and immediately shifted the topic, whispering in his ear. “That’s Mr. Xu, the head of the Xu family.”
Across a short distance, Gui Wen instinctively looked at the face of the unfamiliar middle-aged man.
Finally, his adoptive mother turned her attention to Lu Yuteng, asking how well-matched Young Master Xu and Zong Xian looked together.
“Well-matched.” The protagonist gong and shou were a match made in heaven; Gui Wen had nothing to question.
Gui Wen listened to a rather lengthy conversation at the table. Whether it was the Zong Corporation or the Xu Group, their internal enterprises were on an upward trajectory, and carrying out an exchange of benefits at this moment was advantageous to both parties.
While Mr. Xu certainly cherished his newly reunited son, the Zong Corporation was immensely powerful and wealthy, and he considered himself to have found a good destination for Lu Yuteng.
Lu Yuteng himself kept his lips tightly sealed throughout, uttering not a single word. Zong Xian acted as though his mind wasn’t on the conversation, keeping his gaze lowered on his teacup and having the servant refill it once he drank it dry.
Paying little heed to the others, Gui Wen ate at his own leisure. By the time the Xu family left the table, he had eaten his stomach round and full.
Noticing his good appetite, Madam Zong specially had hawthorn water brewed to aid digestion.
Just as Gui Wen swallowed the very last mouthful, Zong Xian suddenly reached under the dining table and gripped his wrist hard.
He instinctively tried to pull away, but the other man only tightened his hold, even whispering in his ear right in front of his parents: “Come with me.”
Compelled by external force, Gui Wen was forced to leave the table with Zong Xian. The latter pushed open the door to the room Gui Wen used to live in on the first floor, pulled him inside, and locked it behind them.
“Do you know what the Xu family came to discuss?” Zong Xian pressed Gui Wen against the wall by the door, clearly intent on preventing him from breaking free.
“I know,” Gui Wen said, appearing quite calm. “Lu Yuteng is going to be my sister-in-law, right?”
The hand Zong Xian had pressed against Gui Wen exerted a bit more force unconsciously, causing the latter to let out a soft grunt of pain from the ache.
“Then I shouldn’t stay too close to Older Brother Zong Xian anymore, right?” Gui Wen gave a feigned, mocking smile. “What a pity.”
Zong Xian abruptly yanked open the collar of Gui Wen’s shirt, where the bite marks on his shoulder were still clearly visible. “Anything else?”
“I won’t have much contact with my sister-in-law anymore either.” For some reason, Gui Wen wanted to avoid Zong Xian’s gaze. “You guys won, I don’t get anything.”
“Yan Guanbai.”
Zong Xian pronounced his name with exceptional earnestness.
“Who on earth, are you in love with?”
Gui Wen looked into Zong Xian’s eyes; it was just like the multiple-choice question on the hospital rooftop, completely meaningless.
He was merely the third party meddling in this story. Whether there were feelings, or who those feelings were entrusted to, didn’t matter at all.
Blinking helplessly, Gui Wen said, “I’m not in love with anyone. What I love is money.”
Without warning, Zong Xian released his hand. Looking at him as though viewing a disgusting fly, he cast one cold final glance at Gui Wen, opened the door, and vanished from before his nominal younger brother.
Buttoning his shirt back up and confirming his appearance was in order, Gui Wen prepared to step out of the room, only to find that the doorknob refused to turn no matter how he twisted it.
Clearly, Zong Xian was the primary suspect.
He first used his phone to call for help from the domestic workers in the villa. Someone told him from outside the door that an iron chain had been thrown across it and a lock put on, and it couldn’t be opened without tools.
As Gui Wen instructed them to find a locksmith, Zong Xian’s voice happened to materialize right by his ear: “All of you, go back.”
The domestic worker’s footsteps receded into the distance. Gui Wen pressed close to the crack of the door. “Older Brother Zong Xian, I can’t get out.”
“I know.” The iron chain began to rattle; Zong Xian seemed to be unlocking the door from the outside. “The Xu family wants me to cultivate a relationship with him, so he’ll be staying here for this period.”
The door was pushed open once more. Zong Xian gripped the heavy iron chain and the padlock hanging from it.
“So, you have to stay here too.” Zong Xian’s hand lightly circled the back of Gui Wen’s neck. “Understood, good younger brother?”
The chain in his hand rattled slightly.
“Don’t make me force you.”