Chapter 293 The Wall of Promise Has a Small Hole
Assistant Jiang glanced into the ward and thought to himself, "I hope so."
When Jiang Ruan arrived in the afternoon, Huo Zhizhou was sitting on the hospital bed, scrolling through his tablet and handling some matters. When he saw her, he immediately put down the tablet and stared at her, refusing to let go.
Jiang Ruan sat down on the chair next to her.
Huo Zhizhou waited for a while but she didn't speak to him, so he took the initiative to say, "What do you want to eat tonight? I'll ask Jiang Yuding."
“No need.” Jiang Ruan didn’t fall into his category. “I’ll stay for half an hour and then leave. I have things to do at home.”
Huo Zhizhou: "Work?"
Jiang Ruan: "Mm."
Huo Zhizhou: "I'll do it for you."
Jiang Ruan refused without any emotional fluctuation: "I can handle it myself. You just need to take good care of yourself."
"You..." Huo Zhizhou had only uttered one word when Jiang Ruan's phone rang.
She glanced at it, took her phone, and went to answer it.
Even though he didn't see the whole thing, Huo Zhizhou still knew it was Ye Yanzhi calling from the voice Jiang Ruan heard on the other end.
He didn't know what Ye Yanzhi was saying to her; he could only hear Jiang Ruan talking to him.
"Um."
"Hospital."
"It wasn't me, it was Huo Zhizhou."
"No, Huo Sinian asked me to come and take a look. I made a deal with him before, and this is to repay a favor."
"I'll let you know when I leave, in about half an hour."
Even without hearing Ye Yanzhi's words, Huo Zhizhou could still guess what questions Ye Yanzhi had asked based on Jiang Ruan's answers. So much so that after Jiang Ruan hung up the phone, he asked, "Are you busy?"
Jiang Ruan told the truth: "A friend asked me."
Huo Zhizhou asked, "Ye Yanzhi?"
Jiang Ruan: "Mm."
Huo Zhizhou did not speak again.
He wouldn't say things like "Go ahead and do your work," and he certainly wouldn't push away someone who had gone to great lengths to come to him.
"I heard from Sui Sui that Ye Yanzhi confessed to you." Huo Zhizhou asked directly, wanting to understand why Jiang Ruan was still contacting him after the confession. "Did you reject him?"
Jiang Ruan was not surprised at all: "Hmm."
Huo Zhizhou stared at her: "Why didn't you look at her?"
Jiang Ruan said in a serious tone, "It's a bit difficult to switch identities after being friends for so long. It takes time to adapt."
Huo Zhizhou's dark eyes were still fixed on her.
That means...
It wasn't a complete rejection.
"Is he pursuing you now?" Huo Zhizhou asked.
“This is my private matter.” Jiang Ruan didn’t reveal much. She said these things only to make him give up completely and stay away from her. “I have no obligation to answer you.”
"Ye Yanzhi is suitable as a friend, but not necessarily as a partner." Huo Zhizhou said regardless of suitability, "He has a carefree and easygoing personality, and he wouldn't be able to take good care of you."
“Manager Huo’s words are a bit too lenient,” Jiang Ruan retorted.
"I didn't interfere," Huo Zhizhou defended himself. "I was just giving some advice to someone I care about as an observer. The final decision is still in your hands."
Jiang Ruan replied without hesitation, "Of course it's in my hands."
“Ruan Ruan…” Huo Zhizhou began.
“Our relationship isn’t suited to such intimate terms,” Jiang Ruan said expressionlessly. “Just call me Jiang Ruan from now on.”
Every soft sound was as gentle as before, filled with longing and love.
Hearing such voices too often can easily deceive oneself and make it easy to forget the pain once the wound has healed.
"Okay." Huo Zhizhou didn't try to argue for himself and simply obeyed.
In the time that followed.
The two barely spoke.
One of them would occasionally glance out the window to distract himself, while the other's gaze remained fixed on her. Despite the awkwardness of their interaction, there was a sense of serene beauty between them, so beautiful that one couldn't bear to break it.
Half an hour later, Jiang Ruan sent Gu Shixi a message: 【How much longer until you arrive?】
Gu Shixi: [Two minutes.]
Jiang Ruan put down her phone and continued waiting.
Fortunately, Gu Shixi meant it and came up in no time. Jiang Ruan didn't linger; she handed over some things to him and then left.
Looking at Huo Zhizhou, who hadn't said a single word to try and keep him from leaving, Gu Shixi started to say to him again: "Sometimes I don't even know if your emotional intelligence is high or low. If you had just pretended to be weak, Jiang Ruan wouldn't have left after just one look."
Huo Zhizhou picked up his tablet again to get things done.
"I'm serious." Gu Shixi pressed his hand down. "Do you want to use a self-inflicted injury trick?"
"Get out." Huo Zhizhou's spirits had almost recovered, but his body needed recuperation due to the damage he had sustained during this period.
“I know what you’re thinking, but things are different now. If you don’t use a self-inflicted injury to make Jiang Ruan feel sorry for you, you’ll never get her back.” Gu Shixi was genuinely worried for him. “Do you want to see her marry someone else?”
Huo Zhizhou remained steadfast and clear-headed: "She will not marry anyone else."
Gu Shixi: "?"
"Are you really that confident in yourself?" Gu Shixi looked at him suspiciously. "You were good to her during the five years of your marriage, but you hurt her quite a bit during those two months of divorce."
Anyone with a clear head wouldn't go back to an old flame.
“Most importantly, she’s rich now, good-looking, and her father is the head of one of the four major families in Haicheng.” Gu Shixi said a lot. “Although you are good, she might think her younger brother in his early twenties is better.”
Huo Zhizhou looked at him with cold eyes.
Gu Shixi immediately shut up.
“No matter how good someone else is, she won’t marry him.” Huo Zhizhou understands Jiang Ruan so well that he spoke with certainty, “At least not for the next few years.”
A series of question marks appeared between Gu Shixi's brows.
I don't quite understand where his confidence comes from.
"Aren't you overconfident...?"
“It’s not confidence, it’s fear after what happened to me.” Huo Zhizhou’s eyes deepened as he said this. “She’s afraid that if she gets married and something bad happens, she won’t be able to get a divorce.”
What happened in the past made her afraid of marriage.
That wasn't his intention, but it ultimately led to those consequences.
Gu Shixi was taken aback.
A moment later.
He tried to lighten the mood: "That's not necessarily true. Feelings are the most unpredictable thing. When the emotional filter comes on, it's easy to forget the pain once the wound has healed."
Huo Zhizhou pursed his thin lips into a straight line, his mind filled with countless thoughts.
"Let's not talk about this." Gu Shixi changed the subject, knowing that continuing the conversation might lead to trouble. "When I came up here, I ran into Ye Yanzhi at the hospital. Was he looking for Jiang Ruan?"
Huo Zhizhou's eyes were dark: "Hmm."
Gu Shixi's eyes darted around: "Should I go and find out some information for you?"
Before Huo Zhizhou could answer, Gu Shixi realized his agreement with Jiang Ruan and immediately said, "No, it should be that I'm going out for a while and might run into Ye Yanzhi. Do you need me to tell you what I see and hear later?"
"This is your business, it has nothing to do with me." Huo Zhizhou's expression remained unchanged, showing no sign of anything amiss.
Gu Shixi's anxiety subsided.
It's clear that from this moment on, Huo Zhizhou has already made a small hole in the door of his promise. As time goes on and more things happen, it's not impossible that this hole could become a door that allows free passage.
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