Chapter 42 I only need you.
However, the relationship between the Zhang family lad and Zhenzhen was unusual back then, and now that he's back, they've run into each other again.
Thinking of all this, Bai Chuxiong put down the newspaper, cleared his throat, and looked at his daughter, "Zhenzhen, I remember you and him were quite close when you went to the same high school. Do you still keep in touch?"
"Dad, why did you suddenly ask about that? That happened so long ago, we haven't been in touch for ages," Bai Zhenzhen said, putting down her bowl without much concern.
On the other side, Shen Huai'an and Zhang Chenglin walked out of the ward together, and stopped at the stairwell after seeing the man off. "Mr. Zhang, thank you for visiting your father-in-law. I'll see you off here. See you next time."
“Mr. Shen, you’re too kind. I’ve known Uncle Bai and Zhenzhen for nearly twenty years, and our families have always maintained a close relationship. It’s only right that I visit Uncle Bai when he’s ill. There’s no need for thanks.” Zhang Chenglin smiled faintly, glanced at Shen Huai’an, and then casually asked, “Uncle Bai suddenly withdrew from the business world a few years ago. I thought he had given up fame and fortune to cultivate his mind and body, but I didn’t expect it was because he was ill. Mr. Shen, do you know what illness Uncle Bai has? Is it serious?”
Shen Huai'an looked at him calmly, without a trace of emotion, and said instead, "Mr. Zhang, you misunderstand. My father-in-law is in good health. He was only hospitalized this time because of some minor ailments. He will be discharged in a couple of days. I thank you for your concern, Mr. Zhang. I will definitely pass on your regards later."
Zhang Chenglin's smile froze for a moment, his eyes narrowed slightly, and his voice slowly turned cold, "That's not necessary, it's just a small token of my appreciation as a junior."
"Oh, by the way, I brought a gift for Zhenzhen when I came back from abroad. I just had someone go back to get it. I'd appreciate it if you could wait a little longer, Mr. Shen, and give it to Zhenzhen for me." Seeing Shen Huai'an nod in acknowledgment and turn to leave, Zhang Chenglin suddenly said with an ambiguous tone.
When he saw him stop, Zhang Chenglin laughed again. "I don't know if Zhenzhen has told you, but when we were in high school, we made a promise to study abroad together. Don't misunderstand, we made this promise because Zhenzhen and I grew up together as childhood sweethearts and know each other very well. It would be good to have someone to look after us when we went abroad."
At the end, Zhang Chenglin's tone was slightly regretful, "Unfortunately, in the end, the agreement had to be broken because Uncle Bai was reluctant to let her go abroad. Zhenzhen and I both felt regret about this."
“The gift I brought back for her this time was specially brought back from abroad. I’m sure Zhenzhen will like it,” Zhang Chenglin said, then paused and explained, “I’m sorry, Mr. Shen, I’ve been abroad for the past few years and didn’t know you existed, so I didn’t prepare a suitable gift for you. I hope you can forgive me.”
He called out to Shen Huai'an, and only he knew the true meaning behind his words. Although Shen Huai'an understood, he did not point it out.
By deliberately bringing up his and Bai Zhenzhen's past promise to study abroad together, and then casually mentioning their childhood friendship, it would be hard to believe that Zhang Chenglin had no intention of sowing discord.
However, he acted very generously and then brought up the matter of asking him to help deliver the gift. If Shen Huai'an refused, he would be at a disadvantage. But if he didn't refuse, he would be Bai Zhenzhen's legal husband. What would it mean if he helped another man deliver the gift?
"No need. It's probably not appropriate for me to deliver Mr. Zhang's gift." Shen Huai'an's expression was calm, showing no anger or displeasure.
Zhang Chenglin chuckled and asked in return, "It's just a bag, there's nothing wrong with it. Mr. Shen, are you perhaps afraid that Zhenzhen will be too happy to accept the gift and forget about you, her husband, so you're unwilling to help?"
“That’s true. With Mr. Shen’s current job, he would probably have to save every penny for a year to afford this bag,” Zhang Chenglin said, before offering a somewhat insincere explanation. “Mr. Shen, please don’t misunderstand, I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Mr. Zhang, although you keep claiming to be familiar with the Bai family and close to Zhenzhen, I have never heard of you from Zhenzhen. I’m sorry, I can’t help you with this. Please take care, Mr. Zhang. I’ll be going back now.”
Shen Huai'an didn't linger this time. He left immediately after speaking, leaving Zhang Chenglin behind, who was somewhat surprised and uncertain.
Before returning to China, he had indeed heard rumors from a friend that Bai Zhenzhen and Bai Chuxiong's arranged marriage partner were not getting along after marriage. However, after witnessing the two behaving intimately today, he was no longer sure if the rumors were true.
“Shen Huai’an…” Regardless of whether the rumors were true or not, the man surnamed Shen had indeed left a deep impression on him this time.
When Shen Huai'an returned to the ward, Bai Zhenzhen looked up at him and asked, "Why did you take so long? What did you two have to talk about?"
Shen Huai'an sat down next to her, then took an apple from the table and slowly peeled it with a fruit knife. "It's nothing. Mr. Zhang was concerned about Dad's health and asked me about his condition. I thanked him, which caused the delay."
"You didn't tell him about my dad's health condition, did you?" Bai Zhenzhen asked, her gaze involuntarily drawn to the movements of his hands.
The man had a pale complexion, long and strong fingers, and neatly trimmed nails. On the surface, his hands were larger than a woman's, but you would only know that his palms had many calluses from his past farm work.
"No, I know what I'm doing." Shen Huai'an's hands didn't stop moving, and a long strip of apple peel hung down.
Her gaze remained fixed on his hands. After peeling the apple, Shen Huai'an paused for a moment, then handed it to her. Bai Zhenzhen took it without hesitation and took a bite.
Shen Huai'an's gaze fell on her, a slight smile appearing in his eyes, and he picked up another apple to continue peeling it.
Bai Chuxiong, leaning against the hospital bed, saw this scene, shook his head slightly, but felt quite pleased with himself.
“You’ve all had a long day, so don’t stay here tonight. Go back and rest,” Bai Chuxiong said. He couldn’t stay in bed, but the doctor wouldn’t let him get out of bed and move around freely, so he had to worry about other things. “I’ll have Xiao Wang come over to look after you tonight. You’ve been up since last night, you can’t take it anymore.”
Secretary Wang was originally by Bai Chuxiong's side in the company. After he left, she now takes care of some of his daily chores. She is a case of the capable doing more work, but Bai Chuxiong pays her a pretty good salary.
Bai Zhenzhen kept yawning all afternoon. Although Shen Huai'an had taken leave, his phone kept ringing. It was about the cases he had been handling. After handing them over to his colleagues, he had some things to explain in detail.
Bai Chuxiong has people watching over him at all times, and his condition is currently stable. After having dinner with him, the two left the hospital, planning to go home to rest for the night and come back to visit him tomorrow.
Uncle Liu came to pick them up. After returning to the family compound, Bai Zhenzhen remembered the things she hadn't finished explaining last night and couldn't help but turn to look at the person beside her.
On the way back, Bai Zhenzhen said she felt very tired and wanted to take a hot bath. Shen Huai'an was about to go to the bathroom to run a bath for her.
Bai Zhenzhen reached out and hooked the hem of his shirt. "Wait a minute, I have something to tell you."
Shen Huai'an stopped, looked down at the slender white hand on her waist, reached out and pulled it down into his palm. He then led her to sit down on the sofa before saying, "Okay, go ahead and say it."
"It's about what happened last night. There are some things I haven't explained to you yet," Bai Zhenzhen said, glancing at his reaction before continuing. "I didn't mean to hide from you the fact that the Li family caused significant losses to the company. Otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen Zhou Minghui as my lawyer."
"Yes, I understand. You don't need to explain. I understand everything." Shen Huai'an had indeed been concerned about this matter before, but he had figured it out later. Now, he was more concerned about something else.
After unexpectedly learning about Bai Chuxiong's condition last night, Shen Huai'an quickly connected it to Bai Zhenzhen's unusual behavior during this period, and things that he couldn't understand before suddenly became clear because of this incident.
Bai Zhenzhen was unaware that Shen Huai'an had already guessed her agreement with her father, and was surprised that he was so easy to coax and didn't care at all about what she had kept from him.
"You really understand? You're not secretly sulking, are you?"
Shen Huai'an looked at her intently. "No, but there's something else I want to ask you."
Bai Zhenzhen knew it wouldn't be that simple, but seeing Shen Huai'an's serious expression, she couldn't help but straighten her back, becoming a little nervous. "What do you want to ask?"
"When I saw Mr. Zhang off this afternoon, he told me that you two had made a promise to study abroad together. Zhenzhen asked me if that was true?" Shen Huai'an ultimately did not ask about that matter, but instead brought up Zhang Chenglin, "He also asked me to give you a gift, but I refused."
Upon hearing him mention Zhang Chenglin, Bai Zhenzhen felt inexplicably guilty for a moment.
She and Zhang Chenglin did indeed have this agreement, but it was later stopped by her father.
She did have some feelings for Zhang Chenglin, but those were just her thoughts when she was young and naive. She had known Zhang Chenglin for a long time, and he was the most outstanding among all the men she knew. In addition, Zhang Chenglin usually took good care of her and was almost always obedient to her. Their friends often teased them, so it was quite normal for her to develop feelings for him.
However, as Zhang Chenglin went abroad to study on his own and Bai Zhenzhen stayed in Pengcheng, the two gradually lost contact and are now just ordinary friends.
Bai Zhenzhen didn't know why she felt guilty, but she subconsciously used her special move, lunging forward and falling directly into Shen Huai'an's arms. She nuzzled her head against his chest before saying, "That's all in the past. I haven't been in contact with him for a long time."
That meant it was true. Shen Huai'an held her, his eyes lowered, his long fingers gently stroking her waist. "I understand, about the gift..."
"Oh, I don't need any gifts from him," Bai Zhenzhen said softly, hugging the man's narrow waist and shaking him vigorously. "I have you, that's enough for me."
"What?" Shen Huai'an leaned closer and asked again, "What did Zhenzhen just say? I didn't hear clearly. Could you repeat it?"
Bai Zhenzhen didn't think twice, and repeated herself again, her face slightly flushed and her voice louder, "I said I have you, that's enough for me, I don't care about the gifts he gives me!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a low chuckle escape from the man's throat.
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Author's Note: Chen Jian (It sounds nice, I like it): Pretend I didn't hear clearly, and trick my wife into repeating it again.
[Dog head carrying a rose][Dog head carrying a rose]
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