Chapter 250
Thump—
Before anyone could react, Sheng Qingyan unexpectedly collapsed to the ground.
Old Master Ji was stunned for a moment, his mouth moving faster than his brain: "Could he be faking a fall just to stay at our Ji family home for the night?"
"Brother, brother, don't scare me." Sheng Ciyuan's face instantly turned pale. "Brother, wake up, wake up..."
Judging by his voice, he was on the verge of tears.
"A-Yuan, quickly call the private doctor over," Rong Yu said rapidly. "A-Yan, A-Ye, you two help get Sheng Qingyan onto a bed."
Old Master Ji did not actually hate Sheng Qingyan.
He just did not quite like how clingy this guy was to his mother.
At this moment, the clingy person was lying there motionless, looking extremely pitiful.
He subconsciously spoke up, "Put him on my bed. My room is fully equipped with medical devices, so it will be more convenient to examine him."
Old Master Ji's bedroom was on the first floor. It was very spacious, with many medical instruments placed by the bedside.
The private doctor quickly arrived and examined Sheng Qingyan. "All his vitals are normal. It's nothing serious; he's probably just too exhausted. A good night's sleep will fix it."
Rong Yu asked Sheng Ciyuan, "Has your brother ever had a situation like this before?"
"Yes." Sheng Ciyuan scratched his head. "When he was studying, my brother would sometimes stay up for three days and nights reading, eventually passing out in the study..."
Rong Yu nodded. "Then you two can stay the night at the Ji house."
Sheng Ciyuan did not dare to agree immediately and glanced at Old Master Ji.
Old Master Ji curled his lips. "The Ji family home is huge. If you want to stay, then stay. But agreed, just for one night."
"Thank you, Old Mr. Ji, and thank you, Rong Yu," Sheng Ciyuan said. "I'll go call my grandmother first to let her know, so she won't worry."
He went out to make the call.
Rong Yu turned to look at her elderly son. "Has anyone else ever lain on this bed of yours besides Sheng Qingyan?"
Old Master Ji's face suddenly turned red. "Mom, why are you asking this? It's quite embarrassing... This was the bridal chamber for me and my wife. What do you think?"
Rong Yu: "..."
She really was... inexplicably force-fed a mouthful of expired romantic sweetness.
She was just thinking that a bed, for the vast majority of people, was a very private item. Most people would not let an outsider lie in the bed they slept in.
Yet Yingbao naturally offered to let Sheng Qingyan, who was practically a stranger, sleep in his bed.
Did this mean that deep down, Yingbao was actually not averse to Sheng Qingyan?
Just like she was?
Could he be that person?
Rong Yu harbored a glimmer of hope.
However, his situation was completely different from hers.
Was she overthinking it?
That night, braving Old Master Ji's murderous glare, Sheng Ciyuan insisted on sleeping in the same bed as his older brother...
Old Master Ji could only huffily sleep in the guest room.
Perhaps what one thinks about by day becomes one's dreams by night. That evening, as soon as Rong Yu fell into a deep slumber, the man she yearned for day and night appeared before her eyes.
"A-Yu." His gaze was so gentle. "I am going on a mission. If I do not return in a year's time, I will probably never come back. Do not wait for me."
He took out two pocket watches.
One for her, engraved with: Ji Zheng, Rong Yu.
One for him, engraved with: Rong Yu, Ji Zheng.
This time, he came back safely from his mission.
But on the cruise ship returning to their home country, he sacrificed his life.
The moment he died, he was clutching the pocket watch in his hand.
"A-Yu, I'm sorry." His voice was very light. "A-Yu, I know the journey home is difficult, but you are a military spouse. From now on, it all depends on you... Cough, cough. Please take our child, take these intellectuals, and make sure you safely return to our country to strengthen our China..."
"Though I die, there will be millions more like me. Our motherland will surely grow strong. Only the motherland can be the greatest shelter for you and our child..."
"Ji Zheng..."
Rong Yu murmured aloud in her dream and suddenly opened her eyes.
The sky was already growing faintly light.
She saw a person standing by the bed. It was Sheng Qingyan.
When did this person sneak into her room without her realizing it at all?
Rong Yu sat up. "What are you doing in my room?"
Sheng Qingyan bent down, bringing his face a bit closer to hers. He spoke, "Looking, at you."
Rong Yu met his gaze. "Why are you looking at me?"
"Dream..." He probably did not know how to express it. His lips parted and closed, closed and parted, before he managed with difficulty, "Dreamt, of you."
Rong Yu was startled.
He had a dream too?
Was it the same dream as hers?
She asked him, "Was there a ship in your dream, a very, very big ship?"
Sheng Qingyan shook his head.
Just as he did, Sheng Ciyuan's panicked shouts suddenly came from outside the door: "Oh no, my brother is missing! Brother, where are you? Brother, where did you go?"
"So noisy first thing in the morning." Old Master Ji's voice immediately followed. "He's a grown man, it's not like he could just vanish. Old Yu, quickly arrange for people to search around."
A servant whispered, "Old Master, I saw the eldest young master of the Sheng family go upstairs. It seemed, it seemed like he went... went to Miss Rong's room."
Old Master Ji's eyes suddenly widened. "Damn it, why didn't you say so earlier? Why didn't you say so earlier!"
He dashed up to the second floor in one breath and, using his octogenarian body, burst open the door to Rong Yu's room.
Inside, he saw his mother sitting on the bed and Sheng Qingyan standing beside it. The faint morning light from the window spilled in, coating their figures in a soft, beautiful glow. This scene felt like a dream, incredibly unreal and illusory, leaving Old Master Ji frozen in place.
He was actually afraid of shattering this dreamlike scene.
"Brother!"
Sheng Ciyuan felt his head splitting with a headache.
God knows how devastated he felt the moment he woke up in the morning and saw his brother was not beside him.
He was afraid his brother had gone missing.
He was also afraid his brother would wander around the Ji family home.
Sure enough...
"Brother, brother, what are you doing here?" Sheng Ciyuan hurriedly rushed in. "This, this, this is a girl's room. Men and women should keep their distance. You can't just casually enter someone else's room. It's impolite, truly very impolite..."
He bowed to Rong Yu. "I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry. My brother doesn't understand these things. I will slowly teach him, and this definitely won't happen again in the future..."
Rong Yu smiled and spoke, "Student Sheng, why are you always apologizing?"
Sheng Ciyuan lowered his head.
Actually, before meeting Rong Yu, his brother was very normal. When he took him out to attend classes, eat, or shop, his brother would stay by his side very obediently, and he never had to worry about anything else.
But now...
Truly, he was only surviving on thick skin; otherwise, he would have loved to dig a hole and hide in it.
Rong Yu stood up. "It's fine, I don't mind."
"How can you not mind!" Old Master Ji said huffily. "A grown man entering a girl's room early in the morning is a huge deal. Although it's excusable since he's sick, we can't encourage his arrogance, otherwise..."
He was halfway through his sentence.
Sheng Qingyan suddenly took something out of his pocket and handed it to Old Master Ji, his voice raspy: "For you. Don't be angry anymore."
It was a grasshopper woven from grass leaves, brightly colored and incredibly lifelike.