Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A deafening silence hung in the air.

Tian Ruan kept his head lowered, his eyes darting around anxiously, his mind racing. He’d acted too impulsively—he should have gathered all the information before approaching Yu Jingmo.

Now, instead of clearing his name, he had become the main suspect.

"You don’t even know your own mother’s name?" Yu Shang asked, puzzled.

Tian Ruan snapped back without thinking, "Do you?"

Yu Shang: "...How would I know?"

Realizing his mistake, Tian Ruan frantically backpedaled: "My parents are divorced, and I wasn’t close to my mother. Let me check the household register..."

Scraping together money for his mother’s treatment had been Tian Yuan’s biggest way he showed filial love. Though Tian Ruan had never experienced parental love, he believed this was one of Tian Yuan’s few genuine concerns—he couldn’t betray that.

"Your mother’s name is Sha Meijuan," Yu Jingmo suddenly interjected. He had long since investigated Tian Yuan’s background thoroughly and guessed that financial struggles over medical bills were part of the reason for his approach.

Tian Ruan’s eyes widened in shock, then a chill ran down his spine. Who did he think Yu Jingmo was? Of course he would have investigated his marriage partner’s background before the wedding. Yu Jingmo had likely married Tian Yuan in part because he saw some redeeming filial devotion in him.

Now, even that shred of virtue had been stripped away by Tian Ruan.

His stomach dropped. "I..."

Yu Jingmo watched Tian Ruan tremble again, biting back a smirk. "Since you brought it up, I’ll give you a satisfactory outcome."

Tian Ruan’s mind raced, but in the end, he only managed a weak, "Thank you, Mr. Yu."

"Words are cheap."

Tian Ruan’s voice was faint. "Then what do you mean?"

"Figure it out yourself. I don’t like forcing people."

Panicked, he wracked his brain, then shuddered. Could Yu Jingmo be implying... that he wanted him to... pay him back *that* way??

Absolutely not!

As long as he hadn’t taken the college entrance exam, Tian Ruan still considered himself a high school student. Marriage was already sudden enough—getting into bed with someone, even Yu Jingmo, was out of the question.

Besides, he was still small all over. At the very least, he’d need to wait two more years to grow a bit...

At this thought, his face burned. Fidgeting, he muttered, "I won’t."

"Won’t what?" Yu Jingmo was baffled.

"I won’t... sleep with you." Tian Ruan’s ears turned beet-red as he forced the words out.

Yu Jingmo fell silent.

Yu Shang nearly spat out his fruit for the first time, coughing before standing up. "Dad, I’ll leave you two to talk. I have homework." His father’s love life was the last thing he wanted to hear about.

Once the "child" had left, Yu Jingmo asked, "When did I ever suggest sleeping with you?"

Tian Ruan went white as a sheet. "Not on the sofa either, not in the study, and *absolutely* not the bathroom!"

Yu Jingmo pressed a hand to his temple with a sigh, a loose strand of hair slipping between his slender fingers, adding to his cool detachment. The mocking tilt of his lips was unmistakable. "You look innocent, but you know *way* too much."

Tian Ruan: "..."

"Don't look at that nonsense," Yu Jingmo said, sizing up Tian Ruan. "And don't overthink it. I'm not interested in washboards."

Tian Ruan: "..." Calling him a washboard was going too far.

After speaking, Yu Jingmo rose gracefully and headed upstairs.

Tian Ruan followed behind, fuming with indignation. "Making you happy counts as showing gratitude, right?"

"What?" Yu Jingmo slowed his steps, glancing sideways at him.

Standing below, looking up, Tian Ruan said, "You completely humiliated me."

The corner of Yu Jingmo's mouth twitched, and his usually expressionless face revealed a hint of inexplicable amusement as he turned to continue upstairs. "Fine."

Tian Ruan felt even more frustrated. Yu Jingmo really was the kind of person who took pleasure in others' embarrassment.

That said, when Yu Jingmo promised something, he usually delivered satisfactory results in no time.

The next afternoon, Tian Ruan was picked up by a dazzling golden Ferrari. Luxury cars certainly had their perks—every vehicle on the road kept a wide berth, giving Tian Ruan a firsthand taste of what "owning the road" felt like.

Only when they drove through the hospital gates did Tian Ruan suddenly realize. "Did Mr. Yu find my mom?"

The driver, the son of the Yu family’s longtime chauffeur, had been chatty the whole ride, but Tian Ruan had paid him little mind. Now, seeing Tian Ruan finally engage, he grinned, embodying the estate's usual flattery. "Of course. Mr. Yu spoils you rotten, Madam."

Tian Ruan: "..." He really shouldn’t have responded.

These background characters lived quite comfortably, mostly serving as yes-men. Even their most jaw-droppingly absurd remarks went unquestioned.

Entering the inpatient building, Tian Ruan braced himself for a heartwarming mother-son performance.

The elevator ascended straight to the 12th floor. Tian Ruan glanced at the floor directory inside—the 12th floor was dedicated to cardiology, with dermatology and gastroenterology below...

As he stepped out of the elevator, his beat-up phone finally caught a signal. A WeChat notification popped up from Yu Jingmo: *12th floor, Room 1209.*

Yu Jingmo's profile picture was the emblem of the Yu Group—a soaring gyrfalcon.

Tian Ruan's WeChat avatar, on the other hand, was a heavily filtered selfie: big eyes, a sharp chin, and plump pink lips, looking like a snake spirit reborn—courtesy of Tian Yuan, of course.

Tian Ruan: *Got it, thanks.*

Yu Jingmo didn’t reply further.

Tian Ruan went to his settings to change his profile picture. While there, he noticed his username: *Flowers Bloom, the Unrivaled Prince.*

His vision darkened. Had Yu Jingmo just seen him send messages under that name?

He quickly changed it to simply *Tian Ruan*. Yu Jingmo might assume he’d mistyped earlier. As for the avatar, he looked around, then tilted his head up by the window to snap a photo of a cloud in the sky.

The sky was a clear blue, the clouds pure white like cotton candy. Satisfied, Tian Ruan pocketed his phone and headed for Room 1209.

It was 3:30 in the afternoon. Patients who’d been napping were now awake, and visitors bustled about. Occasionally, muffled sobs came from some rooms as nurses wheeled medicine carts back and forth.

Tian Ruan reached Room 1209. The door was left ajar for hospital staff.

He pushed it open and stepped inside. It was a private room, and lying on the bed was a woman in a blue-and-white striped hospital gown—his supposed mother in this identity.

"Xiao Yuan?" Sha Meijuan's pale face lit up with sudden delight. The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes deepened as she smiled, revealing traces of her beauty in her youth, though time and neglect had worn her down.

Tian Ruan walked up to Sha Meijuan, with a strange feeling in his chest. He addressed this woman he barely knew as "Mom" flatly: "Are you feeling better?"

Sha Meijuan, used to her son's "cold face but warm heart" attitude, knew that her hospitalization fees, including the expensive surgery costs afterward, were all covered by her son, who had been pulling strings to arrange it all.

"I'm much better," Sha Meijuan said, reaching out to grab Tian Ruan's wrist, her eyes welling up. "Xiao Yuan, Mom doesn’t want treatment anymore. There’s no point."

Tian Ruan: "Did the doctor say there’s no point?"

Just then, the attending physician entered for rounds and overheard. "Ms. Sha, you must stay strong. Heart bypass surgery has been routine for decades. Your condition is very optimistic."

Relieved, Tian Ruan patted the back of Sha Meijuan’s hand. "Mom, you have to stay strong."

Sha Meijuan: "..."

The doctor only came for routine inquiries. Before leaving, he said to Tian Ruan, "Aside from her heart condition, your mother is otherwise very healthy. If the surgery succeeds, I guarantee she’ll be able to bounce a grandkid on her knee in three years."

Tian Ruan nodded, then paused. "Bounce a grandkid?"

"Yes, it takes some arm strength."

"Oh."

Hearing this, Sha Meijuan suddenly found motivation to live and eagerly asked, "Really? I can bounce a grandkid?"

The doctor: "As many as you’d like."

Sha Meijuan beamed, lapsing into her hometown accent: "Oh, splendid! Just grand!"

A question slowly formed in Tian Ruan’s mind—did Sha Meijuan not know her son was married? And to a man, no less... How exactly was she supposed to bounce a grandkid? Wait, could she bounce Yu Shang??

The mental picture was too ridiculous; Tian Ruan couldn’t even go there.

The doctor offered a few more words of encouragement before leaving without fanfare.

Tian Ruan sat on the chair by the bed, peeling an apple for Sha Meijuan, playing the dutiful son.

Sha Meijuan tried to connect and hesitantly asked, "Xiao Yuan, do you have a girlfriend?"

Tian Ruan froze. "No."

"Then... is there a girl you like?"

"No."

Sha Meijuan couldn’t hide her disappointment. "A good-looking boy like you—you’ll definitely find a girlfriend. Do girls think you’re poor?"

"No," Tian Ruan handed her the peeled apple, eager to end the conversation. He wasn’t even into women...

At 5:30 p.m., Yu Jingmo texted again: *I’ll arrive in about ten minutes.*

Tian Ruan: *Okay.*

Their WeChat exchanges were brief at this point. If not legally married, they might as well have been strangers.

Like an employee scrambling before the boss arrives, Tian Ruan tidied up the cluttered items on the bedside table. Glancing out the window, he spotted several flashy luxury cars in the parking lot, one of which was a Maybach.

It was the hospital cafeteria rush, with people coming and going. Tian Ruan couldn’t spot Yu Jingmo—he was probably already upstairs.

"Xiao Yuan, what are you looking at? Are you hungry? Should we scan the QR code to order?" Sha Meijuan piped up.

"Not hungry..." Tian Ruan sat obediently in his chair.

Sha Meijuan took out her phone, muttering about how "Kids these days never look after themselves," while scanning the meal-ordering QR code by the bedside. "This is so convenient—the food gets delivered right to the room."

Tian Ruan agreed, "It is convenient."

Sha Meijuan was already quite satisfied. Her son hadn’t been cold toward her all day, speaking gently and naturally, unlike before when his words were sharp as knives, like he was always spoiling for a fight.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. The door had a small glass window, and from inside, only a dark gray collar was visible.

"Come in," Sha Meijuan answered curiously. Doctors and nurses never knocked, and she had no relatives or friends in Su City—who else knew she was hospitalized?

The moment the door opened, it was like a spotlight had turned on. Tian Ruan could only describe it as main character energy.

Yu Jingmo was dressed in a tailored suit, his tie impeccably knotted, his hair neatly combed back, his sideburns sharply defined. His long eyebrows and sharp, upturned eyes exuded an air of aloof nobility, like a god surveying mortals. Combined with his tall, imposing stature and the air of someone used to being in charge, a single glance from him was enough to make people tremble.

Tian Ruan instinctively stood up to greet him.

Sha Meijuan stared at the newcomer in shock, stammering, "Uh—did you get the wrong room?"

Yu Jingmo strode forward with long steps, his expression shifting effortlessly into a warm, practiced smile—the same polite demeanor he used with business associates. He extended his well-defined hand toward Sha Meijuan. "Hello, Mrs. Sha. I am Tian Ruan’s husband, Yu Jingmo."

Tian Ruan, too tense, missed how Yu Jingmo had referred to him.

No one else caught it either.

Sha Meijuan’s face went slack with disbelief, as if she were hearing an illusion. She turned helplessly to her son. "Xiao Yuan, y-you… got married?"

Tian Ruan glanced at Yu Jingmo, then nodded grimly. "Yes, I’m married."