“Want Both Career and Man”
Seeing Jiang Zhi suddenly calm down, Fu Yunting guessed that he had sobered up.
“Drink the porridge, and take the medicine together.”
“Why are you just like my mom.” After saying this, he glanced at the time, “Thanks for coming over to see me so late.”
“You insisted on keeping watch at the hospital while sick yesterday. Grandpa was very happy after he found out, and I should thank you too,” the man said.
Hearing this, the romantic sentiment in Jiang Zhi’s heart suddenly vanished without a trace. The more they needed to express gratitude to each other, the more it meant their bonds were increasing.
His plans and ideas would only become harder to implement.
Watching Jiang Zhi drink the porridge and take the medicine, Fu Yunting didn’t stay long and left, carrying the garbage he had tidied up.
He looked exactly like a “twenty-four filial” fiancé.
Jiang Zhi glanced at the time: 12:23 AM.
In a marriage arrangement like theirs, for Fu Yunting to be able to do all this, Jiang Zhi’s head ached even more.
If he keeps tossing and turning like this, won’t he really get struck by lightning?
Leaning against the head of the bed, he hadn’t been awake for long before Jiang Zhi fell asleep again, and he had a dream.
Recently, he had been too busy to catch his breath, and he was always so tired that he would fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow; he rarely had dreams.
He didn’t know what was wrong today.
This time, the dream was somewhat fantastic to Jiang Zhi; it was from Fu Yunting’s perspective, and he himself was only a bystander from beginning to end.
Most of the time, for most dreams, the timeline is chaotic, bizarre, and has no logic.
This time, it seemed to be after the old master had passed away.
The Fu Yunting in the dream was somewhat familiar, but also not quite the same as the one in reality.
He wore no glasses on his face, and he didn’t smile.
He sat in front of Grandpa’s remains, motionless, like a statue without emotions.
No matter how hysterical the Fu family members were behind him, he remained indifferent. Jiang Zhi heard them swearing and shouting, but it was as if Fu Yunting couldn’t hear them at all.
Until the pitch-black heavy door opened and a cold-looking youth appeared, the man’s expression finally showed a crack.
Seeing the boy’s face clearly, Jiang Zhi gasped and suddenly woke up from the bed in a startle.
Turning his head to look, it was already dawn outside, but that expression of Fu Yunting’s remained engraved in his mind.
Usually, it is hard to remember the faces of people in dreams after waking up, but Jiang Zhi just remembered.
Perhaps he had slept enough; Jiang Zhi kept his eyes open until daybreak after waking up this time, his mind like a ball of yarn that could not be untangled.
Once seven o’clock passed, the sound of the door password being entered rang out. Jiang Zhi didn’t move; as long as he had a schedule, the assistant would arrive early at the apartment to deliver breakfast.
However, this time he didn’t wait for the knocking sound. The other party seemed to have gone to the kitchen. After a burst of noise, Jiang Zhi’s ears twitched; this person seemed to be lighting the stove.
He got out of bed, opened the door, and found the other person busy behind the kitchen island.
This person’s back was tall, his shoulders and back were broad—how could this be Chang Ran? The gender didn’t even match.
“Assistant Sheng?” Jiang Zhi was stunned.
Sheng Yuan turned his head, his face showing embarrassment, “Young Master Jiang, did I wake you up?”
“No, no, I was already awake.” Jiang Zhi waved his hand.
“President Fu asked me to send the food over to you. It’s all nutritional meals brought from the hospital. It was a bit cold, so I’m reheating it for you,” Sheng Yuan explained.
“Then thank you for the trouble.” Jiang Zhi turned his head to the room to get his phone, and sure enough, he saw a message from Fu Yunting.
Thinking of yesterday’s dream, Jiang Zhi hesitated for a moment, stood behind the island, and asked Sheng Yuan, “Is Grandpa’s health alright today?”
“Nothing wrong for the time being. President Fu went to another city overnight. The old master was worried about you and originally wanted President Fu to bring you breakfast, but there was no other way, so only I could come,” Sheng Yuan explained.
“It really is too much trouble for you.” Jiang Zhi felt a bit embarrassed.
“No need to thank me. You are President Fu’s fiancé, and the old master likes you too. As a family, these are all things that should be done,” Sheng Yuan said.
Jiang Zhi didn’t refute, because everything Sheng Yuan said was true. Deliberately explaining would only make him appear unappreciative.
Not long after Sheng Yuan left, Chang Ran came over. Seeing this table full of breakfast, his face showed envy.
“President Fu came by?”
Jiang Zhi was still eating; after sleeping for a day, his body finally felt a bit lighter.
“He’s become a fortune teller now. I think the assistant’s position is not going to have room for you.”
“That can’t be.” Chang Ran stuffed a small steamed bun into his mouth, “President Fu called me yesterday, at nine o’clock in the evening.”
“Did you send him the password?”
“It should have been Auntie who sent it. He just asked me if I was watching you take your medicine when I came back in the evening,” Chang Ran said, “I didn’t expect President Fu to care about you so much. At first, I thought you two just had a normal marriage-alliance relationship.”
“It is indeed a normal marriage-alliance relationship.” Only, he didn’t know when it had become like this.
“Is that so? Don’t you have any feelings for him at all?” Chang Ran looked at Jiang Zhi with great suspicion, “Not to mention anything else, his looks and figure are truly top-notch. Standing among so many artists that night, he didn’t lose his edge at all. You have no idea how many people surrounded Assistant Sheng asking for his business card.”
Jiang Zhi frowned. Of course, he knew all this. In the past two days, occasionally browsing social media platforms, he even discovered that Fu Yunting had a fan support group—it was truly absurd!
Seeing that he seemed to have listened, Chang Ran continued to make an effort, “So, if you like him, then hold on tight. Absolutely do not say that you want to focus on your career.”
“With our ability, only kids make multiple-choice questions. We are adults, we should want everything!”
Jiang Zhi, “…You really are a ‘big clever person’ (ironic sarcasm).”
Chang Ran shook his hair and stuffed another mouthful of food.
“Let’s go, let’s work on the career for a bit first, and then deal with the man’s business when we get back.”
Jiang Zhi, “.”
With Jiang Zhi’s nature of work, there was almost no vacation time. That same day, the two flew to a neighboring city.
Fu Yunting would occasionally send text messages to remind him to take his medicine. Jiang Zhi would reply a couple of words when he was free, but when he was busy, he couldn’t even look at his phone. Besides working, he was catching up on sleep.
When they met again, it was more than ten days later. Zhang Ru’an called to remind him that Fu Old Master likely didn’t have much time left, asking him to find time to come back and see him.
Jiang Zhi suppressed his sinking heart and suddenly thought of that dream from that night.
He took a look at the itinerary, asked Xiao Lei to coordinate, and returned to Yuncheng that same evening. After getting off the plane, he opened the dialogue box with Fu Yunting and found that the last record was already a week ago.
Fu Yunting asked him when he would return to Yuncheng.
He had seen it that day, but he was in a hurry to get on stage and rushed to hand his phone to Chang Ran; when he returned, it was midnight, so he simply didn’t reply.
Jiang Zhi returned in a rush this time, and Chang Ran didn’t follow him back. He dragged his luggage himself and took a taxi home.
Because he was brooding over matters in his heart, he didn’t pay attention to the surrounding environment and didn’t know when he was photographed by someone with ulterior motives.
Before he even got home, the headlines had already come out.
[Genius pianist Jiang Zhi arrives in Yuncheng alone; his marriage with his fiancé seems to be at odds.]
Newspaper articles covered Jiang Zhi’s gloomy expression as an interpretation of the current status of business marriages, questioning if marriages involving interests really couldn’t have good results, and other overly interpreted news.
When Jiang Yan showed it to Jiang Zhi, he almost rolled his eyes out of his head, “These entertainment reporters are so good at writing, why don’t they become screenwriters!”
“Actually, such speculation is not without grounds.” Jiang Yan put down the phone.
“Recently, because of the estate matter, the Fu family has been making a huge scene. Fu Yunting’s identity as an illegitimate child has been dug out, and even his deceased mother has been brought out to be scolded, even escalating to discussing legal clauses on whether an illegitimate child should have inheritance rights.”
“And you have been absent from beginning to end, so many people guess that Fu Yunting is insisting on marrying you just to hold onto the Fu family and curry favor with the old master,” Jiang Yan said.
“What is all this? Who doesn’t know that it’s our family taking advantage of the Fu family? How come no one has come out to explain?” Jiang Zhi didn’t understand.
“The Fu Corporation is not peaceful right now either. The reason Fu Yunting can sit steadily on top is because of the shares in the old master’s hands and the board of directors believing he has the ability. Once the old master passes and the major shareholder changes to Fu Yaoming, the Fu Corporation of that time won’t be the current Fu Corporation.”
“Then how many shares does Fu Yunting have in his hands now?” Jiang Zhi asked.
“Three percent—and that was gifted by the old master when he took office.”
Jiang Zhi went numb, “… Then what are they fighting for? Just Fu Jiayang’s hands hold more than this, right?”
“Both of them have three percent. The bulk is with the old master and Fu Yaoming,” Jiang Yan said, “And I heard that recently, the Fu Yaoming couple has been privately acquiring shares of Fu Corporation.”
Jiang Zhi frowned, “Something’s not right.”
“What?” Jiang Yan didn’t hear clearly.
This was too wrong. Relying on three percent, how could Fu Yunting continue to hold onto Fu Corporation? How could he be his “big villain”? Jiang Zhi suddenly had a bad hypothesis.
Could this person really have some “black industry” behind him?
The book didn’t explain it in such detail; he didn’t even know when the old master would leave. Jiang Zhi couldn’t think of anything else Fu Yunting could rely on to make a comeback.
Seeing Jiang Zhi’s complexion not looking good, Jiang Yan touched his head, “Don’t be too worried; Fu Yunting is not the kind of person who sits and waits for death.”
“I’m not worried about him.” I’m worried about myself, Jiang Zhi thought silently. “Forget it, I won’t wait for Mom and Dad; I’m going to the hospital to check on him right now.”
Jiang Yan watched him sit up with a “zoom” and walk outside, feeling quite worried.
“You stop!”
“Ah?” Jiang Zhi turned his head to look at his brother, “What’s wrong?”
“The Fu family members must all be at the hospital. Must you go at this time?”
“So what? They can’t eat me.” Jiang Zhi didn’t like these people and didn’t care about them, “Just tell Mom and Dad later.”
Jiang Yan sighed; he knew he couldn’t stop him.
“I’ll take you there.”
Jiang Zhi blinked, “No need, right? I know the way.”
“Look at how you’ve dented that car; you are not allowed on the road as you please from now on.”
“It hasn’t reached that level, has it?” Until now, Jiang Zhi still felt that it was just an accident; as for driving skills, it was about the same as playing the piano, just practice more and it will be fine.
Jiang Yan drove him all the way to the hospital. On the way, Jiang Zhi called his parents; neither of the Jiang parents had any objections. Regardless of whether there was a marriage-alliance relationship, someone from the Jiang family should go to visit.
Jiang Zhi had already heard about the old master’s health from the doctor, but he didn’t expect that in less than half a month, he would be unable to get out of bed.
When they entered, the four members of the Fu family were all sitting in the outer lounge.
Seeing Jiang Yan and Jiang Zhi come over, the two families greeted each other symbolically. Fu Yaoming was okay; after all, he was an elder and couldn’t say anything too unpleasant in front of the younger generation.
“Go in, Yunting is inside.” He said.
Jiang Yan sent him in and then went out with his phone. After all, it was the Fu family’s domestic business, and it was inappropriate for him to stay, no matter what status he held.
The old master was asleep. When Jiang Zhi entered, Fu Yunting was sitting blankly by the bed with no expression on his face.
He raised his hand and patted the other person’s shoulder, not knowing what to say for a moment.
“…How come your phone couldn’t get through?”
Fu Yunting took out his phone and looked at it; it had long since run out of battery.
Jiang Zhi sat down beside him, “How is Grandpa?”
“The time he is awake is getting shorter and shorter,” Fu Yunting said, “The doctor said it might be these two days.”
“I’m sorry, I’ve been too busy lately.” Jiang Zhi didn’t have a real sense of it when he heard Zhang Ru’an say it, but until this moment, when Fu Yunting’s face overlapped with the one in his dream, he realized that the old master might really be leaving.
“People get old; there will be such a day sooner or later.” Fu Yunting’s voice was very calm.
Seeing Jiang Zhi arrive, Fu Jiayang also came in. Usually, he was “missing a screw,” but he could tell what time it was now.
“Jiang Zhi, you’ve come at just the right time. Yunting hasn’t rested for a day, and hasn’t eaten anything since yesterday. Hurry and persuade him; how can this be? If Grandpa wakes up and finds out, how sad he would be.”
Hearing this, Jiang Zhi frowned; Fu Yunting’s lip color was indeed not good.
He reached out and pulled the man’s sleeve, “I’ll accompany you to eat something? Everyone is keeping watch outside; Grandpa will be fine.”
Fu Yunting lowered his eyes to look at Jiang Zhi’s hand, a trace of warmth passing through his heart.
The two walked out of the ward side-by-side, but they didn’t go far, just to the next-door lounge.
This lounge had many more traces of daily life than when Jiang Zhi came last time: computer documents, coffee and instant noodle bowls, and changes of clothes in the bedroom all proved that Fu Yunting had been resting here lately.
Jiang Zhi tidied up the small tea table outside, waiting for Jiang Yan to bring food over.
Fu Yunting cleaned up with him as usual, but the laughter he previously had was clearly missing from his eyes.
“Fu Yunting, I remember you told me last time…”
The man turned his head back; Jiang Zhi sat down on the low table after finishing tidying up.
“Life value is more important than length. Grandpa has already stayed in the hospital for a long time, unable to go out, unable to eat at will, and now he can’t even walk. Do you think he is happy? Perhaps Grandpa is also looking for an escape deep down… he just can’t bear to let you go.”
Fu Yunting was silent for a moment, poured a cup of warm water, and placed it before Jiang Zhi, “I know.”
“So, don’t be too sad. I will accompany you to take care of Grandpa at the hospital these two days,” Jiang Zhi said. “And if the Fu family dares to bully you, I…”
“You what?” Fu Yunting raised an eyebrow.
Jiang Zhi suddenly rolled up his sleeves in a righteous manner, “I’ll have Jiang Yan beat him up.”
Fu Yunting, “.”
Jiang Yan, who had just reached the door, “???”