"What are you daydreaming about? Let's eat."

A mouthful of food, accompanied by a soft, magnetic voice, landed in Qiao Zhen's bowl.

Qiao Zhen felt as if she were facing a formidable enemy, her shoulders and back stiffening.

Lu Zheng then naturally served food to Qiao's mother, saying, "I specifically asked the owner to use less salt and oil. This bamboo shoot and tofu stew is already very delicious. Auntie, please try it."

He placed his chopsticks on the water shield and perch soup in the center and picked up another pair of chopsticks in front of him.

Qiao Zhencai then noticed that he was very particular about using serving chopsticks.

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief and buried her head in her food.

Lu Zheng ordered a table full of home-style dishes, including cold lettuce salad, stir-fried broccoli with shrimp, and stir-fried beef with scallions. The dishes were light and suitable for patients, and they were also delicious and appetizing.

Qiao Zhen carried a heavy travel bag to the sanatorium, which took a lot of energy, and she unconsciously ate half a bowl more rice than usual.

With her stomach full and her heart at peace, a satisfied look appeared on her face as she squinted her eyes and sighed.

Someone just had to get into her eyes like an annoying grain of sand.

Lu Zheng's deep gaze swept across her face, and then she opened her eyes wide as she watched Lu Zheng diligently clearing away the tableware.

At this moment, Lu Zheng is hard to imagine as the powerful and respected business magnate. His eyes and brows, softened by the orange-yellow light, make him look more like an ordinary househusband.

A stay-at-home husband? Qiao Zhen almost laughed at her own thought, but she forced a smile and held it in.

It's all an illusion.

Lu Zheng appears proper and serious in public, but behind closed doors he's a cunning and ruthless mad dog.

However, Qiao's mother and the other two aunts were blinded by appearances and thought that Lu Zheng was a very outstanding and kind person, so they kept praising him.

"This young man is really capable."

"They're much better than my son and son-in-law. I ask them to bring food over, but it's so oily and salty it's unbearable. They eat it, then just leave, leaving this old woman to clean up the mess!"

"Yes, they can't even put on a show of politeness in front of outsiders."

As Qiao's mother watched Lu Zheng busily working, her smile never faded from her eyes.

Qiao Zhen sighed in annoyance, helped her mother to wash up, and tidied herself up herself, changing into soft pajamas and pulling out a folding bed from the corner, placing it in the gap between the hospital bed and the wall.

The folding bed was only 70 centimeters wide, barely enough for her to sleep on. There was no reason for Lu Zheng to force her to stay in a ward full of female patients.

Sure enough, after Lu Zheng finished cleaning up the trash and washed his hands, he came out of the bathroom and greeted Qiao's mother and the others, "It's getting late, I won't disturb Auntie's rest, I'll go back now."

Qiao Zhen was overjoyed, but then she heard her mother say, "Zhenzhen, are you seeing them off?"

She had no choice but to bite the bullet and see Lu Zheng downstairs.

"I have three days off, so I won't be going back to work until Thursday," she emphasized, implying that Lu Zheng shouldn't bother her for the next few days.

A round trip from the city to the sanatorium takes at least five hours. If you don't want to be exhausted, you'd better stay in the city!

Whether Lu Zheng understood or not, he only gave a faint "hmm".

Qiao Zhen carefully weighed the pros and cons, not daring to say too much, for fear of accidentally popping the bomb again.

Lu Zheng started the conversation, "Have you considered changing your mother to a different nursing home?"

Qiao Zhen hesitated for a moment, then shook her head firmly, "This place is alright, and Mom is familiar with the people here. Suddenly changing to a new environment would be bad for her."

Lu Zheng glanced at Qiao Zhen. The dim streetlights made her face somewhat blurry, but they couldn't hide the stubbornness in her naturally charming eyes.

It is also an even more deadly temptation.

He swallowed hard, walked to the sanatorium parking lot, stopped, and said in a hoarse voice, "Go back."

"Oh, Mr. Lu, take care." Qiao Zhen waved cheerfully.

She turned to run away, but Lu Zheng called out to her, "Remember what I said today."

Qiao Zhen's expression turned cold. "I haven't forgotten."

“So, shouldn’t you…” Lu Zheng slightly raised his chin.

Qiao Zhen looked down at the third-floor corridor, and after confirming that no one was there, she tiptoed and gave Lu Zheng a perfunctory light kiss on the lips.

Lu Zheng pinched her waist, then turned and got into the car.

Qiao Zhen watched the Maybach speed away, breathed a long sigh of relief, shook off all her worries, put on a faint smile, and quickly returned to her ward.

Qiao's mother was not feeling well and was about to go to sleep after watching TV for a while. Qiao Zhen nodded to the other two patients, then drew the curtains, barely creating a space for the mother and daughter to be alone.

Mrs. Qiao lay on her side on the bed so she could see her daughter beside her. She reached out and took her daughter's hand, and said with satisfaction, "Lu Zheng is such a good boy. He is meticulous and considerate in his work, and he knows how to make people happy. He doesn't have the spoiled and arrogant air that comes with being from a wealthy family. I think he is definitely a good man who knows how to manage a household."

Qiao Zhen stared blankly at her mother's face, feeling as if a string in her heart had been ripped apart, making her heart pound wildly.

Although Lu Zheng used Qiao's mother to threaten her, and it seemed that everything was just a tool for him to achieve his goals, he took care of Qiao's mother without any perfunctoriness or impatience throughout the day.

He had selfish motives, yet he gave his heart.

Such a contradictory person.

She felt even more troubled and didn't know how to respond, so she maintained her smile and stroked her mother's hand.

Mrs. Qiao added, "Zhenzhen, with him taking care of you and supporting you, I feel at ease."

"Mom?" Qiao Zhen felt a pang of panic.

The doctor said that patients like Qiao's mother need the support of faith and hope the most. When others' wishes come true, everyone is happy. But for Qiao's mother, it means she can leave this world without any worries.

She quickly smiled and said coquettishly, "Mom, Luosheng is about to take the college entrance exam. After that, he'll be studying, working, and dating. Would you like to hear your future son-in-law and daughter-in-law serve you tea and sweetly call you 'Mom'?"

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!