Night Rose

Zhou Zheng went to the hospital to visit his maternal grandfather and heard his older sister and grandfather chatting from outside the door.

My grandfather's health has improved a lot. He recovered well after the surgery and has more energy now, no longer needing to sleep for long periods of time.

The older sister wiped his hands, saying, "Grandpa, you're so lucky! Your grandson is so filial and handsome; he'll never have trouble finding a partner!"

"He's a bachelor, so there's no rush for him to find a partner. He's only twenty, so let him be," Grandpa said with a smile.

His maternal grandfather never put any pressure on Zhou Zheng, and almost indulged him as he grew up. His aunt was worried that he would be like his mother, get depression, or become a troublemaker. But Zhou Zheng never disappointed, and instead became the pillar of the family.

Zhou Zheng's maternal grandfather was in poor health, and his aunt had to take care of her pregnant daughter-in-law. Despite receiving an acceptance letter from a university in another city, Zhou Zheng resolutely suspended his studies and insisted on staying by his grandfather's side to take care of him.

Grandpa would occasionally sigh, blaming himself for delaying Zhou Zheng's studies, but Zhou Zheng would say that as long as Grandpa got better, he could go back to school and that Grandpa shouldn't think such things.

Zhou Zheng pushed open the door and came in, carrying two breakfasts. "Big sister, I bought one for you too. You can go back and rest after you finish eating. I'll take care of Grandpa here this morning."

"Okay! If you're busy this afternoon, go ahead and do your thing. My son will come and cover for you this afternoon," the older woman said with a smile.

Grandpa glanced at him again. "Isn't today Wednesday? Why don't you have to go to work?"

"I took the day off to watch TV with you." Zhou Zheng sat down with his legs spread apart, propped his head up, and helped his grandfather select channels.

After finishing her chores and cleaning up, the older sister left with the trash bags and breakfast.

The old man in the next bed has been discharged, so my grandfather is the only one in the ward now. It's quiet, which is good for his health.

Zhou Zheng pressed the button to continue watching the TV show he hadn't finished watching yesterday.

Grandpa patted the back of his head and said, "You need to start thinking about your own important life events too."

"What's the big deal? You were doing your job perfectly fine," Zhou Zheng feigned ignorance.

Grandpa remained silent for a long time, a tear glistening in his eye, which he quickly wiped away.

"Grandpa is getting old and may not be able to stay with you for much longer. You should also make plans, because Grandpa is afraid you'll end up like your mother..."

Zhou Zheng leaned on the railing, knowing his grandfather's expression without turning around. He was thinking about his grandfather's future while also worrying that he wouldn't be able to stay with him and that his grandfather would end up like his mother, unable to find a place to call home and jumping off a high-rise building.

"My mother committed suicide because she was completely disappointed in that man and couldn't think straight. I don't blame her, and I won't follow her example. I have things to do; I haven't even finished my studies yet."

After hearing these words, Grandpa's feelings were very complicated. He patted Zhou Zheng's head, hesitated, and finally only managed to squeeze out a few words.

"Xiao Zheng, you've worked hard all these years."

Zhou Zheng didn't feel it was hard. He never regretted following his grandfather out of that gloomy villa. They returned to their hometown with his mother's ashes and lived a peaceful life, which was wonderful.

Grandpa didn't have enough energy to watch TV all morning. After the nurse came to give him an IV drip, he started to feel sleepy.

Zhou Zheng paused the TV and stared intently at the IV drip, feeling the rhythm of each drop falling.

Time passed, but he maintained that pose without getting bored.

It was nearly midnight when the nurse put the last IV drip on my grandfather.

Zhou Zheng finally looked down at his phone; Su Jin hadn't sent him any messages yet.

Coach Su overslept, even though we were supposed to have extra training today?

Zhou Zheng: Shall we grab some lunch? Engineer Su

Zhou Zheng: Where is he?

Su Jin ignored the message notification on her phone. She hadn't slept well all night. The living room was eerily quiet, but she was restless, constantly wondering what Lu Mingzhou was looking for.

He tossed and turned for half the night before finally falling asleep at three in the morning. He didn't even notice Lu Mingzhou leaving until he was woken up by Zhou Zheng's phone call.

She barely opened one eye to look at the screen, which displayed two messages from Zhou Zheng, as well as a ringing phone notification.

"Feed".

Su Jin had just woken up, and her voice was soft and muffled, sounding like some kind of feline whimpering.

She doesn't have a bad temper when she wakes up, and she doesn't get angry when her sleep is disturbed.

"Sister Su, shall we practice more?" Zhou Zheng leaned against the wall outside the ward, his right leg crossed over his left, his toes pointing vertically to the ground.

Su Jin sat up, her eyes not fully open, and couldn't quite tell the time. "What time is it?"

"It's 12:30," Zhou Zheng emphasized.

The eldest sister's son had already brought food, including Zhou Zheng's portion, but it was a sick person's meal, which was too bland. Zhou Zheng would rather eat something with chili oil than this.

But he couldn't let their kindness go to waste, so Zhou Zheng ate a little and gave the rest to the stray dogs near the hospital.

"Where should we eat?" Su Jin patted her cheeks, feeling much more awake.

"I'll come pick you up," Zhou Zheng said and then hung up the phone.

In the ward, the eldest sister's son was helping his grandfather remove the needle. He often takes care of patients and is already skilled at removing needles.

Seeing Zhou Zheng come in, he smiled sheepishly, "Brother Zhou, go ahead and do what you need to do. I'll stay here at the hospital."

"Xiao Zheng, go ahead and get busy," his grandfather urged him.

Zhou Zheng nodded. "Then I'll go get busy. I have to...work overtime."

"Alright, Brother Zhou, if you're not free to come tonight, just call my mom and I'll keep watch. It's no trouble at all," the eldest sister's son said warmly.

Zhou Zheng trusted the mother and son, but he still wanted to keep watch over them himself at night. After all, they had agreed on a time, and they had their own things to do, so they couldn't always come.

"It's okay, I'll be back tonight. Thank you for dinner."

"It's what we should do. We took your money, so we can't just sit back and do nothing!" the eldest sister's son said, patting his chest.

Zhou Zheng felt that his burden was much lighter than when his aunt took care of his grandfather. He was grateful to Tu Ying for introducing him to a caregiver; otherwise, he would still be working several jobs and wouldn't even have time to do Su Jin's training.

Although he felt he was fine, he still had to make the most of Tu Yinghua's money, Su Jin's modified car, and Xiao Pang's new knowledge in this competition!

Zhou Zheng drove to pick up Su Jin. Su Jin was in good spirits when she came downstairs. She had her hair in a bun and was dressed in a smart outfit. She didn't look like an engineer, but rather like a white-collar worker in an office building.

Zhou Zheng's gaze was captured by her; he stared at her for a few seconds before looking away as she closed the door.

Su Jin fastened her seatbelt and asked him, "Let's go, where are we going?"