Night Rose

Zhou Zheng wanted to follow, but then he thought he was being paranoid and that his grandfather would definitely be angry if he found out.

After thinking for a while, he squatted back down in the same spot.

An hour later, Su Jin finally called.

Zhou Zheng trained in the community for a while longer. Since the competition ended, he has been unable to stay idle. Without the high-intensity training and the pressure of the competition, life felt very empty.

"Feed." Zhou Zheng was still panting when he answered the phone.

Su Jin lay down on the bed and had closed her eyes, but his noise completely woke her up.

"Zhou Zheng, what are you doing so early in the morning?"

"I'm training, sister. What nonsense are you thinking about?" Zhou Zheng asked breathlessly, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Su Jin giggled, and her cheerful laughter infected Zhou Zheng, who also joined in the fun.

"I'm in bed now. The flight was so tiring, so far. I never want to come back again."

Zhou Zheng's heart softened, and he walked slowly. "So what exactly did you go to do? Why did you have to go all that way?"

"I'll tell you when I get back," Su Jin said.

She didn't reveal her identity to Zhou Zheng at first because she was afraid that a stranger racer wouldn't accept her, and that people who don't trust each other can't cooperate.

Before the competition, she wanted to tell Zhou Zheng, but she was still a little uneasy, afraid that Zhou Zheng would blame her if he knew the truth.

Now that she's back in New York, seeking justice for herself and confronting Zhou Zheng, he should be able to understand her predicament.

She didn't want to lose Zhou Zheng because of this secret at all.

"Okay, I won't pressure you. I said I'd wait for you to come back, and I definitely will," Zhou Zheng said.

Su Jin buried her face sweetly in the quilt, recalling the details of her time with Zhou Zheng, and she especially wanted to go back to Nanyuan.

Zhou Zheng had probably entered the morning market. The surroundings were bustling, and his footsteps and breathing were still clearly audible despite the noise.

She yawned deeply. "Zhou Zheng, I'm a little sleepy."

"Then go to sleep." Zhou Zheng was a little reluctant, but he still reached for his earphones, thinking of hanging up the phone.

"Okay, let's hang up then. It's not noisy on your end. I want to hear your voice," Su Jin said softly.

She was already sleepy at this moment, and her voice was soft and sweet, irresistible to anyone who came near her.

Zhou Zheng took a deep breath. "Okay, turn the volume down. It's too noisy."

"Hmm..." Su Jin closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, no longer able to tell whether she had made a sound.

He walked quickly to the rice noodle stall and bought a serving of rice noodles.

He tried to stay in less crowded places so that other noises wouldn't disturb Su Jin.

The shopkeeper delivered the package, and Zhou Zheng carried the bag home. The journey was quiet, with only the chirping of cicadas and the sounds of birds flying by in the summer.

Zhou Zheng sat on a stone bench downstairs eating noodles, glancing at the entrance of the community every now and then to see if his grandfather had returned.

What he didn't know was that his grandfather wasn't actually going to buy breakfast at all.

Grandpa Fang walked out of the residential area, turned around and boarded a bus. He squinted and carefully identified the bus stop, then sat down at his youngest daughter's house.

When he knocked on his youngest daughter's door, the house was in complete chaos.

"Mom! The baby is crying from hunger, didn't you hear? Can't you hold him first? I told you you don't have to do anything all day, how come you can't even take care of a child properly?" The daughter-in-law shouted hysterically, wearing a wrinkled nightgown, her hair so oily it could be extracted, clinging to her scalp in clumps.

The son, dressed in his formal attire and about to leave for work, asked, "Mom, where's my tie? You always keep it for me, why didn't you prepare it for me today?"

"Didn't I wash your tie and leave it on the balcony? Get it yourself!" Fang Yuan was frantic, picking up her crying grandson and shaking the bottle with one hand.

"I can't find it! Can you get it for me? It'll only take a few seconds!" the son shouted.

Fang Yuan was carrying the child to the balcony when her daughter-in-law shouted again, "Are you just going to watch the child cry like this? Hurry up and comfort him, stop crying, his crying is driving me crazy!"

"Forget it! I can't count on you! Mom, move aside a bit!" The son rudely shoved Fang Yuan, making her startled.

Unaware of her surroundings, her son was still instructing her, "Quickly withdraw Grandpa's pension today and buy some milk powder!"

Fang Yuan listened to the noise in the room, but she didn't have the strength to respond. Her back was hurting badly, and she had to hold the child and lean against the wall to sit down. She put the pacifier in the child's mouth, and the child finally stopped crying.

The daughter-in-law was still grumbling about the argument she had with her husband the day before, saying she wanted to use a few months of her pension to hire a postpartum nanny, who she said would be much better at taking care of her than her mother, as she could take care of both the baby and her.

The son retorted impatiently, "Go ahead and call your mom! You just spend money all day and never earn anything, all you do is ask for money! Where am I supposed to get money from you?"

"Does your nephew have a rich dad? Go ask him for it! I even saw him racing cars; his dad probably gave him the money." The daughter-in-law yelled.

Fang Yuan held the child, and a strange feeling arose in her pain. Zhou Zheng's father was rich, and she had taken care of Zhou Zheng for several years. Giving her some money as a token of respect shouldn't be a big deal, right?

She couldn't hear what her son and daughter-in-law were arguing about anymore; all she could think about was how much money she could get from Zhou Zheng's father.

When the door opened, the person standing there surprised everyone.

"Dad, what brings you here?" Fang Yuan was somewhat embarrassed. The house was a mess, and they had probably overheard their argument. The door was so thin; it couldn't block anything.

She quickly waved to her son, urging him to go to work.

The daughter-in-law sat on the sofa, making no attempt to hide it, "Oh, Grandpa knows to come see your great-grandson, huh? You didn't bring anything, isn't that inappropriate?"

When Grandpa Fang entered the door, he first looked around at his daughters' living environment and couldn't help but sigh. He had two daughters, and neither of them had made a good living for themselves.

Fang Yuan was afraid that the old man was coming to take her pension, so she quickly gave her daughter-in-law a meaningful look, "You go inside and feed the baby first."

The daughter-in-law reluctantly went into the house and tried to eavesdrop on them through the wall, but the wall was too thick. She tried for a long time but couldn't find a suitable spot, and ended up getting quite angry.

Fang Yuan brewed a cup of tea and placed it in the corner of the coffee table. The rest of the table was filled with her grandson's belongings. She spent a long time tidying up, but only a few things were missing from the table.

Instead, her back pain caused her to squat on the ground, and she couldn't get up for a while.

"Is your back hurting again? Is it worse now?" Grandpa Fang asked her.

Fang Yuan looked terrible, but she still tried to be brave, saying, "It's nothing, it's just an old problem, I'll feel better after squatting for a while."

"Go get the surgery done when you have time. Aren't they looking for a postpartum nanny? Perfect timing, you can have the surgery when you have time." Grandpa Fang helped his youngest daughter up with heartache.

Fang Yuan, however, was not very appreciative and brushed his hand away. "How could I have time to have surgery? Besides, I don't have any money."

Grandpa Fang's hand remained frozen in the air for a long while before he withdrew it, knowing that his daughter resented him.

"Your sister passed away early, and Xiao Zheng had no one to take care of him, so I did have to devote more attention to him. But don't blame him for these things; if you have to blame someone, blame me."

Upon hearing this, Fang Yuan finally looked at him properly, her eyes filled with hatred.

"How can I not resent you? I resent my sister even more! How could she just leave like that?! She has no conscience at all!!"