Chapter 78 An Abandoned Dog

Chapter 78: The Abandoned Dog

The cooperation between Ruihai and Languang was finalized, and SDA's original plan to play both sides fell through. Li Wangyue received a call; Jiang Teng's voice was matter-of-fact and unreadable, as gentle and pleasant as always, reporting the situation.

Li Wangyue listened briefly, acknowledged it, hung up, and let out a deep breath toward the distant mountain scenery.

He had achieved his goal, yet he felt no relief, only utter exhaustion.

In a few days, he would need to go to Changdu. He hadn't had time to deal with Languang's matters recently and needed to make an appearance. Ji Zhijia was also about to return from his business trip, and he hadn't asked about the specifics yet…

Li Wangyue gently rubbed his brow.

Ting Zhenxi sent him a message, saying he had finished his check-up.

Last night, Ting Zhenxi snuck out to see him, and only got back in the morning. When he got back to the hospital, the doctor caught him and scolded him—losing a critical-care patient in the middle of the night almost caused a riot.

Ting Zhenxi sincerely apologized and promised it wouldn't happen again.

Li Wangyue didn't believe him: "Are you really not going to do it again?"

"Nah, fake," Ting Zhenxi said shamelessly. "Only if I say that will they leave me alone."

“…What exactly are you trying to do?”

Ting Zhenxi didn't answer his question but instead asked, "What are we eating tonight?"

Li Wangyue hadn't expected this from him: "You want to sneak out again?"

"Yeah," Ting Zhenxi replied matter-of-factly. "First, I promise the doctor, then I sneak out. Next time he scolds me, I'll promise again, and then sneak out again."

"You're really not afraid of something happening. You just had surgery." Li Wangyue bit the scab off his lip.

"This is part of my recovery too. I can't sleep in the hospital. How the hell can I recover if I can't sleep?" Ting Zhenxi said lightly.

Li Wangyue was dumbfounded by his logic and could only let him be.

But—"Just don't die on me, that's all," he said.

"Don't die where?" Ting Zhenxi asked. "In front of you?"

Li Wangyue said nothing.

"But I want to see your tears. Big Brother looks so gorgeous when he cries," Ting Zhenxi said slowly. "Other than me dying, I can't think of anything else that would make it happen."

He was always like this—treating everything like a game. Even this he twisted into some cheerful, prize-winning game.

Li Wangyue was speechless. After all, it was his own hot-headed remark coming back to bite him.

The line went silent on both ends.

Ting Zhenxi said, "Let's get stir-fry. I haven't had rice in a long time."

Then, without waiting for a reply, he hung up.

Li Wangyue stared at the observatory atop the far mountain for a long while. He set down the watering can and opened an app to look up flights.

---

Ji Zhijia's business trip was delayed by two days; he was stuck where he was. When Li Wangyue asked about it, Ji Zhijia was rushing around the city at night, apparently still working overtime.

But from his voice and mood, Ji Zhijia seemed pretty happy—tired but fulfilled. As long as he was satisfied spiritually and materially, that was fine.

Ji Zhijia was a little confused and asked if Li Wangyue hadn't been back recently either.

In the past few days, Li Wangyue didn't like going out. Aside from necessary work, he stayed home almost all the time. Ji Zhijia didn't know how to describe it; it felt like home had become Li Wangyue's shell, and Li Wangyue seemed like some wounded animal that wouldn't even stick out its feelers.

Ji Zhijia didn't get it. He only knew that when his friend felt sad and uneasy, he should be there for him, offering unconditional support.

Though he still didn't like Ting Zhenxi, he heard Ting Zhenxi had almost died, came back, almost died again—like a sit-up contest—and had given all his assets to Li Wangyue. A will of tens of thousands of words, not a single word about emotions, just cold, hard interests, very clearly divided, leaving no room for himself. Ji Zhijia saved him some face and didn't bring it up again in front of Li Wangyue.

Ji Zhijia always took his own people's side. If you treated his people well, he'd treat you well; if you didn't, he'd hate you right along with them.

Li Wangyue never asked how he knew, but with so many overlapping social circles, hearing it from someone was bound to happen.

He told him honestly he was in Yunling right now and planned to visit the Languang office in Changdu in a few days, so he might not make it back to the capital for a while.

Ji Zhijia felt better knowing he wasn't being held back or anything.

"Zhao Bing asked me to go hang out at Huanghunli a few days ago. Said the island is about to open. Did he tell you?" Ji Zhijia mentioned.

Li Wangyue: "No, I haven't heard. Maybe he forgot."

Just as he finished, Zhao Bing called. Li Wangyue was about to finish his call with Ji Zhijia, but the call kept coming in, sounding urgent.

He had to say goodbye to Ji Zhijia first.

As soon as he answered, Zhao Bing's voice was piercing, anxious and panicked: "Brother Wangyue, what do I do? The trees are almost dead, even after injections…"

Li Wangyue was stunned: "What trees?"

Zhao Bing was someplace with a strong sea breeze, like on a boat or an island.

"The trees on the island. Dying. Okay, not dying—half-dead, you know? They've withered, but not completely. The branches and trunk are still fine, but the top is going bald, and it's spreading downward. More than half of them. They were fine last month…"

Li Wangyue pieced together useful info from his rambling: "Are the landscape trees on the island sick?"

"Yeah."

"What are the symptoms? Send me a video. I'll come to the island later to check more carefully." Li Wangyue found it strange. When he picked the tree species, he'd matched them to the island's soil and conditions, nothing unstable, making sure they were safe.

Why would they suddenly get sick?

Zhao Bing was about to cry. Li Wangyue had to calm him down first before figuring out how to solve it.

Something like this happening before the island opened—he was partly to blame. He had done the landscaping, so he had to own it.

He booted up his computer, opened the plan he'd made for Huanghunli, and opened Zhao Bing's video to compare.

Li Wangyue watched the video for ten seconds and was completely baffled. Zhao Bing was supposed to film the trees, but he mostly filmed himself. What's this idiot up to…

Zhao Bing had sent him over a dozen videos, each over ten minutes. Li Wangyue had to pan for gold to find anything useful. His initial observation was that it might be a groundwater issue, causing the leaves to shrink, develop lesions, and fall off in large numbers. If left untreated, the whole trunk would rot hollow from the inside.

He was frowning over research when the doorbell finally rang a third time before he noticed.

He opened the door to find someone's gloomy aura in his face, eyes dark and deep.

"Took you forever to get the door. Who was on the phone?" Ting Zhenxi scanned the room and raised an eyebrow. "You got someone stashed in here?"

Li Wangyue rolled his eyes and didn't even bother to argue.

Li Wangyue followed his movement as Ting Zhenxi reached sideways to shut the door and flipped the light off.

The room went pitch black, and Li Wangyue nearly bumped into a cabinet. A hand caught his waist, his back slammed against a chest, and a weight dropped onto his shoulder.

"Next time, don't leave me waiting out there that long."