Chapter 67: Using Tactics

However, after she finished speaking, the person on the hospital bed couldn’t help but redden their eyes.

But he couldn’t get too emotional now. Any sudden movement would make him uncomfortable. Wang Zhao could only touch his forehead, “You just got out of the ICU. Don’t get too excited. If you have anything to say, say it slowly.”

Despite her words, Li Zhenguan sat up in bed and hugged her tightly, burying his face in the crook of her neck. His moist breath dampened her skin.

With his face still buried in her neck, he said through his tears, “Wang Zhao, I was wrong. I promise I’ll never do anything against your wishes again.”

Wang Zhao didn’t say anything.

Li Zhenguan instinctively held her tighter, conveying his inner fear and unease.

She still raised her hand and patted Li Zhenguan’s back, making him loosen his arms. She softly called his name, “Zhenguan.”

Li Zhenguan released Wang Zhao, looking at her with reddened eyes, his face still pale. “Have you forgiven me?”

After speaking, he seemed to think of something. His hands gripped the bedsheets tightly as he hurriedly explained, “I wasn’t trying to force you with suicide.”

It’s just that night after he went home, he couldn’t sleep at midnight, so he took some sleeping pills. Later he felt really uncomfortable and was about to take a shower, but somehow his emotions suddenly overwhelmed him. He felt the wound on his wrist was somewhat annoying, so he couldn’t help but scratch it open with his nails. Then later, maybe the sleeping pills kicked in, and he suddenly passed out.

Even now, Li Zhenguan still felt a sense of fear, but undeniably, after waking up, he also had a thought: would Wang Zhao forgive him now?

But along with this thought came anxiety and unease. He was afraid Wang Zhao might think this was a ploy, a method he came up with to force her to come back.

Wang Zhao stroked the back of Li Zhenguan’s head, smiled without answering his question, and instead changed the subject: “Is there anywhere else you feel uncomfortable?”

Li Zhenguan shook his head.

But he still held onto Wang Zhao’s sleeve, staring at her intently, not backing down.

Wang Zhao finally sighed: “I forgive you.”

Li Zhenguan couldn’t believe it. His eyes fixed on the woman, suppressing his emotions, he asked anxiously, “Really?”

Wang Zhao smiled: “No, it’s not true.”

Li Zhenguan finally smiled, and couldn’t help but hug Wang Zhao again, saying with a smile: “Then it must be true.”

“Don’t be coy,” Wang Zhao said. “If you behave, it’s true. If you don’t, it’s false.”

She said this very seriously. She couldn’t change the past events, after all, she had taken each step to get to where she was today. To say that she was completely blameless when Li Zhenguan initially became pregnant with her child would be a lie.

Because she also bore responsibility, she could easily forgive Li Zhenguan today. But if one day Li Zhenguan truly crossed her bottom line, even if he held a knife to his throat to threaten her, Wang Zhao would not change her decision.

Li Zhenguan held her tightly, as if wanting to meld himself into her very bones and blood. Then he softly made an “mm” sound.

After discussing this matter, Li Zhenguan’s entire demeanor seemed to improve. He was no longer as listless as before, and his bright black eyes reduced some of the paleness and weakness on his face.

Wang Zhao had Li Zhenguan lie back down on the bed and handed him a glass of water. His lips were too dry. Then she said, “On my way here, I called Mom and Dad. They said they’d come to see you later.”

Li Zhenguan glanced up at Wang Zhao, then lowered his head to take a sip of water. He pursed his lips, knowing that he would probably be scolded by Yang Jin next.

He now felt somewhat regretful, though not entirely. If walking along the edge of the Naihe Bridge could make Wang Zhao forgive him, he wouldn’t mind taking a swim in the Wangchuan River.

What he regretted was that if he had died so easily, Wang Zhao would have become someone else’s Wang Zhao. In the future, his name would be erased from the household register, replaced by another man’s name, and his child would call a stranger “father.”

How could he bear that?

That would be more unbearable than his death.

Yang Jin and his spouse came in the evening. Li Zhenguan could only eat liquid food now, so they had the servants at home cook some rice porridge to bring over.

While Li Zhenguan was eating, Wang Zhao found a moment to go out and ask the doctor about Li Zhenguan’s current condition. Knowing there was no major problem, a heavy weight finally lifted from her heart.

Then she made a phone call to Zhang Shu, inquiring about the child. When she left yesterday, the child still had a low fever, and she didn’t know if it had improved by now.

When she called, Zhang Shu and the Li family’s servant were taking care of the child’s feeding.

“Madam doesn’t need to worry too much. The child is much better. The fever broke today, and their appetite has improved a lot,” Zhang Shu said, then politely asked, “How is the master’s condition at the hospital?”

To be honest, in all his years working for this family, neither the mistress nor the master were difficult people. Especially Wang Zhao, who was always polite and courteous to him. Every holiday, she would prepare a red envelope and gifts for him. After getting along for so long, he had developed some genuine care.

“He’s out of danger now and can be discharged in a few days.”

Li Zhenguan disliked hospitals. Before Yang Jin and the others arrived, he had already said he wanted to be discharged and return to the house on Golden Road. Partly because he feared Wang Zhao’s earlier words were just to deceive him, and he wanted her to move back from the hotel. Who knows where he got so many worries and insecurities from.

After finishing her call with Zhang Shu and understanding the child’s situation, Wang Zhao’s entire being relaxed. Although she had appeared calm these past two days, in reality, there was still a weight pressing on her heart, far from being as composed as she appeared on the surface.

In the room, Li Zhenguan was sitting up in the hospital bed eating. One hand still had an IV line, and the hospital gown made him look even thinner. It was clear he hadn’t eaten much these past few days, looking much thinner than when he was with her.

As soon as Wang Zhao entered the room, Li Zhenguan saw her and immediately looked up. “Haven’t you eaten yet?”

When Yang Jin and the others came, they didn’t think too much and only brought food for the patient. Wang Zhao made an affirmative sound, saying she would go out later to eat something, then continued, “I’ll go home first to bring some change of clothes.”

Now that Li Zhenguan had been transferred to a regular ward, she would come to care for him after work.

Li Zhenguan looked at her for a while, pursing his lips before nodding slightly. He clearly looked unwilling to let her leave. Wang Zhao left the ward with an unchanging expression, but Yang Jin, who was watching from the side, couldn’t bear it and couldn’t help but slap Li Zhenguan’s hand holding the spoon.

He could see that his son’s heart was entirely on this daughter-in-law, and he couldn’t help but worry about the future. With Zhenguan’s personality, who knows how much more suffering he would endure. If he caused a few more scenes like this, it would add more gray hairs to Yang Jin’s head.

Two words: troublesome.

Having such a son, in the past it was fine. He could be described as a little cotton jacket, much better at sweet talk and coquettishness than Li Zhenwei, making people feel warm. But now it was also troublesome.

“Dad, why did you hit me?” Li Zhenguan’s spoon fell into the porcelain bowl with a clink.

His fair skin instantly reddened over a large area.

Yang Jin gave him a look. The words he originally wanted to say to Li Zhenguan were all swallowed back. He knew they would go in one ear and out the other, not taken to heart.

But he really couldn’t stand Li Zhenguan’s expression, so he said irritably, “You deserved it.”

Li Zhenguan wasn’t convinced, but he was in a good mood now and didn’t argue with his father. He just picked up the spoon with a smile in his eyes and took another sip of the rice porridge. Then he couldn’t eat anymore. He had just had surgery and had his stomach pumped. It was already good that he could force down a few mouthfuls due to his current good mood, which also improved his appetite.

Yang Jin wanted to say something more, but was stopped by Li’s mother. He glanced at his wife beside him and finally didn’t say anything.

As Zhang Shu was clearing away the dishes, Li’s mother stopped Li Zhenguan’s movements. Her expression was more serious than usual. “Zhenguan, tell me honestly, what really happened this time that put you in the hospital?”

“Your father and sister couldn’t say harsh words to you because of your hospitalization. Your mother-in-law also thought it was because of Wang Zhao that you ended up like this, so she couldn’t say much either. Instead, she scolded Wang Zhao several times behind her back.

But I know your personality, and Wang Zhao’s temperament is also clear. To say that she did something to bully you, honestly, I don’t quite believe it. If she had wronged you, others would have suffered first, and you wouldn’t have mistreated yourself like this, learning from others to take sleeping pills and cut your wrists to attempt suicide… You caused all this commotion, but you didn’t end up too badly. You contentedly took a trip to the emergency room while unconscious, spent some time in the ICU, making us parents worry to no end.

These past few nights, Wang Zhao barely slept. She goes to work during the day, and before and after work, she’s been here taking care of you, running back and forth countless times. Now you’ve gotten what you wanted. Wang Zhao hasn’t said anything, but the relationship between two people can’t be salvaged just by hurting oneself. Even if it’s salvaged, there might still be resentment in the heart.”

This was the first time Li’s mother had spoken such a long speech to Li Zhenguan. It was also because Li Zhenguan had gone too far, daring to use suicide to threaten people.

Li’s mother wasn’t a fool. Over her many years in the business world, she had seen all sorts of people. Building their family company to its current scale wasn’t just due to ancestral fortune, but also relied on her own abilities to support it.

She could see at a glance that her son was submissive in front of Wang Zhao, but Wang Zhao was also feeling guilty. Thinking a bit more, Li’s mother understood some things. She had some understanding of her own son’s temperament and guessed that he probably did something foolish because he knew he was in the wrong.

Li Zhenguan didn’t speak. After Zhang Shu cleared away the dishes, he adjusted the bed’s height, wanting to lie down. Perhaps due to his inherent personality, this one-time show of weakness was instead seen as a ploy for sympathy. Even Li Zhenguan wondered if he had truly tried a sympathy ploy.

If even he thought this way, it was no wonder others thought so too. He touched his wrist area, feeling uneasy, and couldn’t help but reach for the phone placed nearby, wanting to call Wang Zhao.

Yang Jin also reacted, his expression changing: “Zhenguan, tell Dad, how exactly did you get pregnant with this child before?”

Compared to Li’s mother and Li Zhenwei, who had a slight perception of Zhenguan’s personality, Yang Jin could be said to be completely unaware. In his memory, Zhenguan was an obedient and well-behaved good child, just like how he appeared in front of Zhang Ke. Probably even the family driver knew more about the situation of this young master of the Li family than he did.

He also sensed a hint of something from Li Zhenguan’s current expression, and his heart tightened.

“Zhenguan, tell me honestly, did you use some tactics to marry Wang Zhao back then?”

Author’s note:

Besides the side story about the parents’ love from the child’s perspective, what other side stories would you like to see?

Thank you to the little angels who cast landmines or watered with nutrient solution during the period from 2022-06-29 22:25:12 to 2022-07-02 23:32:43~

Thanks to the little angels who watered with nutrient solution: Internet addict girl Meng Jing A.J.H. 8 bottles; Lamb skewer 7 bottles; Drama queen pig 6 bottles; Lu Asi, Jing 5 bottles; 41435632 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!