24 "Have you ever thought about the future after wasting so many years?"

In the following week, Huang Zheng and He Yu took turns to stay in the hospital to take care of him.

The two of them were unwavering. Day and night, even without discussing it with Tao Wanjia, they made sure that there were family members in the ward at all times.

With meticulous care, Tao Wanjia recovered quickly and was able to walk normally after the stitches were removed. However, the wound was too deep to allow her to stand for long, so she still had to spend 90% of her time in bed.

For her, this was far more unbearable than physical pain.

Because she can't sit still.

She was so bored that she had to play with her mobile phone to kill time, but Huang Zheng controlled her on the grounds of protecting her eyes.

She had myopia before, and it seemed to have worsened in recent years due to work. However, Tao Wanjia didn't pay much attention to it. However, Huang Zheng was very persistent and took away her mobile phone out of concern.

Tao Wanjia couldn't persuade Huang Zheng, but she could control He Yu. She tricked him into giving her the key to her rental apartment and asked him to bring his computer. Then she racked her brains to find something to do. She couldn't stop. Having nothing to do would make her feel empty, and she dreaded that kind of failure and stagnation.

But Tao Wanjia didn't expect that when she logged back into her account, she'd find nearly twenty more of her colleagues had left the group chat. Their era had come to an end, and everyone around them had chosen a different path amidst the currents.

She didn't feel sad, just regretful.

"Why are you sighing?"

When He Yu returned to the house after washing the fruit, he saw her staring at the screen with a worried look on her face.

It was already nine o'clock in the evening. In the dim light, Tao Wanji looked up at the man standing beside the bed. He had taken off his coat and was wearing only a shirt since arriving in the ward an hour ago. The cool-colored fabric seemed to warm up in the light, and his facial features softened as well.

"It's okay, just a little boring."

She closed the computer, ate the strawberry he handed her, and suggested, "Play chess with me, He Yu. It's too boring and I can't sleep."

When Huang Shengsheng came to see her during the day, he brought a bunch of toys, including a colorful set of checkers. She asked Huang Shengsheng for it. However, because it was a child's toy, she felt embarrassed when Huang Zheng was around.

He Yu looked around when he heard this, "Where are the chess pieces here?"

“Here it is!”

Tao Wanji smiled and took out the plastic box from under the pillow.

"Shengsheng gave it to me. I can't play it alone. Luckily you are here."

As she spoke, she reached out to take the computer off the bedside table.

He Yu saw her move and took over what she wanted to do in advance. After clearing the things on the table, he smoothed out the rustling plastic chessboard paper in the chess box, just like he always prepared for her before she did anything.

When his fingers touched the low-quality plastic chess pieces, he couldn't help but smile and raised his eyebrows.

"Are we... reliving our childhood?"

He vaguely remembered that the shop outside his elementary school had a lot of these things, and his classmates would squat on the ground and play with them after buying them, using rocks to hold the corners down. When he first arrived in Rongcheng, he was a loner, and wouldn't dare approach a group of people. Even if he was curious, he would just take a look and walk away.

"Not really," Tao Wanjia's words brought his thoughts back from the brink of deviation.

She stared intently at the chessboard and replied briskly, "We never played together as children, and you were only interested in your paintings back then, so that doesn't count."

Her eyes were bright under the light, and she was enjoying playing checkers with a row of children. He Yu looked at her with a bright smile and for a moment he forgot to play against her.

After being stunned for a while, Tao Wanjia saw that he didn't move and raised his hand to touch him, "It's your turn, He Yu."

He looked at her, like a person walking on the night road looking up and seeing the sky full of stars. His heart was in his throat for a moment, and he lowered his eyes and moved the chess piece forward a few spaces.

"Tao Wanjia."

“Are strawberries delicious?”

"It's okay, quite sweet." After she said that, she thought of something, turned around, took one from the plate and handed it to him.

He Yu didn't answer. Tao Wanji frowned and looked up at him. He gently pulled his hand over, and then his face gradually enlarged in front of him.

"What on earth do you eat—"

Halfway through the conversation, a warm breath suddenly came over.

He Yu carefully pressed his lips against Tao Wanji's, left a mark like a dragonfly touching the water, and then left.

Before Tao Wanjia could react, he felt as if an electric shock had passed through his body.

He Yu, who was sitting across the table, had already taken the forgotten strawberry with a smile and put it into his mouth under her gaze.

“It’s really sweet.”

Their eyes met, and she felt as if a fire was burning in her ears. Perhaps it was because of her illness that she was slow to react, otherwise she wouldn't have experienced such a thing before.

He Yu's smile deepened as he stared at her and reminded her, "Are you still going to make a move?"

"No more playing,"

Tao Wanjia turned her face away, her chest beating more and more violently. She held onto the bedside railing and tried to get out of bed. He Yu reached out to support her.

Seeing the unusual panic in her eyes, he didn't say anything else, but just silently supported her all the way to the bathroom.

A door separated the two people in different spaces, but the sounds of their hearts beating were almost synchronized.

After Tao Wanjia was discharged from the hospital, He Yu temporarily sent him back home.

He repeatedly stressed her safety, saying she must be cautious considering the possibility of accomplices, and that she must not return to the rented house under any circumstances. Wen Dongyang also advised her in the same way, informing her of the progress of the case and asking her to pay attention.

Tao Wanjia understood everyone's concerns and stopped being pretentious at this point, simply asking Huang Zheng and the child to accompany them. It wasn't because she didn't want to be alone with He Yu, but because she was worried about the two of them.

He Yu was naturally willing to do so, and he was visibly happy when he was discharged from the hospital. Wen Dongyang joked that he looked like he was getting married.

The empty house in the past was no longer lonely. He Yu prepared dinner himself. When he was halfway through making the noodles, Huang Zheng came in and helped him make the New Year's Eve dinner that he missed last time.

Huang Shengsheng excitedly followed them, and from time to time some strange questions popped up.

"Uncle He, why did you put away all my aunt's paintings in the study?"

"If you show her your paintings, she won't hate you anymore."

Huang Shengsheng was very serious, and when he said this he pouted and gave him some advice.

"Or you can give my aunt a gift, like the beautiful ring Uncle Wen gave my mother. She will definitely like it!"

He Yu was just wondering when Wen Dongyang made such fast progress. Outside the door, Tao Wanji, who had just walked into the kitchen, heard what he said and cast a curious glance at Huang Zheng.

"When did it happen?"

"Don't listen to the nonsense!"

Huang Zheng quickly denied it, but a hint of expression in the corner of her eyes betrayed her true thoughts.

Half a month is enough for the wound to heal, and naturally many things can also change.

After dinner, Tao Wanjia went into Huang Zheng's bedroom and lay down with her while Huang Shengsheng fell asleep.

The two of them had a lot to say, because this crisis also resolved the grudges between the two sisters in advance. Huang Zheng knew what she had done over the years and felt distressed, and she was still afraid when she saw her wounds.

Tao Wanjia didn't want to talk about serious matters, so he asked her about Wen Dongyang out of gossip.

"You're with me in the hospital all day, how would you have time to accept a beautiful ring?"

She lay on her side beside Huang Zheng's pillow, reaching down to search for the ring she wasn't wearing. She smiled and teased, "Let me see, let me see what Dapang Wen thinks. Is it gold or diamond?"

"Don't come here~"

Huang Zheng's cheeks turned slightly red, and she felt a little shy under her gaze.

She didn't really know how to put it. Human emotions were often inexplicable, and the bonds between people were even more uncontrollable. She had long known Wen Dongyang's feelings for her, yet she repeatedly pushed him away, deliberately keeping her distance.

It’s not because she had experienced a failed marriage, but because she simply lacked the courage. However, if a heart is closed for too long, it will waver in the face of repeated and steadfast love.

After a moment of silence, Huang Zheng spoke truthfully to Tao Wanjia, with a smile on her face at the end.

Tao Wanjia was also in a good mood after hearing this. She raised her arm and smoothed the ends of Huang Zheng's hair. "I think Wendong Yang is a good person."

"It's up to you. It's up to you. Just don't let Sheng Sheng make you feel wronged."

Huang Zheng looked at her in the darkness, her eyes serious. "What about you? He Yu...what do you think?"

"You two have wasted so many years, have you ever thought about the future?"