"Okay then, be careful." Xia Ran hung up the phone and then walked into the yard without thinking.
Grandpa had already gone to sleep, and Dazhuang had gone out to buy food, leaving him alone at home.
He had already discussed it with his grandfather, and they were going to take him on a trip for a few months starting tomorrow, after which they would come back and get back to normal life.
only……
Xia Ran stood in the courtyard and looked next door. The lights were still on in the neighboring courtyard, so Gu Zheng hadn't left yet?
The thought of his child rejecting him filled Xia Ran with an indescribable sadness.
He initially thought he could maintain his previous relationship with his child, but he realized he had been overthinking things.
How could someone like Gu Zheng allow his child to come looking for him again?
"Baby, grow up happily. Your dad will always be thinking of you."
Xia Ran murmured something to herself, then turned and went inside.
Dazhuang returned not long after.
"Are there so many people today? It took us so long to get here."
"Hahaha... Yeah." Da Zhuang chuckled twice. "There are indeed a lot of people. I don't know why. Let's just eat in the yard. I even bought some beer."
There was already a table in the courtyard, and sitting in the courtyard to eat would be a unique experience, so Xia Ran naturally didn't refuse.
The slightly bitter taste of the beer went down her throat, and its icy coolness calmed Xia Ran's heart considerably.
"Dazhuang, thank you for always being my good friend."
Xia Ran suddenly said something, and Da Zhuang couldn't help but roll his eyes and say,
"Should I also say something to you? Say thank you for always being my good friend?"
Xia Ran chuckled softly and said nothing more, or rather, everything was understood without words.
But his thank you just now was sincere. What had happened these past few days had really devastated him. If Dazhuang hadn't come and stayed by his side, he probably wouldn't know what would have happened to him.
The two drank until almost dawn, and the lights in the neighboring yard stayed on all night.
They were going to take the high-speed train to Dazhuang's house the next day, and tickets were only available in the afternoon, so they weren't worried about not waking up the next day.
However, Xia Ran didn't sleep for long, waking up around nine o'clock the next day.
When he woke up, his grandfather was sitting in the yard drinking tea.
Xia Ran also went over, and as soon as she sat down, she heard Grandpa Xia's voice.
"I've lived in this house for over 20 years, and now that I'm suddenly leaving for a while, I really don't want to go."
Hearing Grandpa Xia's sentiments, Xia Ran's nose suddenly felt sore.
"Grandpa, I'm sorry, it's all because of me. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have had to leave here for so long."
Xia Ran knew his grandfather well. He knew that his grandfather was a very sentimental person who didn't like to travel far and preferred to live a simple life tending to his small plot of land.
But now, because he's leaving home for a while, he really is unfilial.
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Grandpa Xia glared at Xia Ran. "I was just making a comment. Why are you thinking so much about it? You've been guarding this place for so many years. It's good for you to go out and take a walk."
Grandpa Xia recalled his youth, when the phrase they often said was, "When we have money in the future, we'll go out and travel the world, do everything we want to do."
But once I had money, many things and ideas changed.
Grandpa Xia sighed softly, but Xia Ran didn't know what to say. She simply stood up and said,
"I'm going out to buy a few bowls of wontons."
Grandpa Xia didn't stop her, but just told Xia Ran to be careful on the road, just like he did when she was a child.
Xia Ran nodded, but when he reached the door, he couldn't help but look back.
He felt a little calmer when he saw Grandpa Xia sitting properly in his chair.
He didn't know why, but a bad feeling inexplicably crept into his heart.
The breakfast shop wasn't far away, and Xia Ran strolled along as if taking a walk. Looking at the familiar surroundings, he gradually calmed down.
Everything will be alright, it will always be alright.
After Xia Ran left, Grandpa Xia suddenly seemed to remember something and got up to walk towards his room.
There was a very old mahogany double-door cabinet in his room. It was left to him by his mother, and he had never been willing to throw it away. The quality of the cabinet was excellent, but it was a bit tall.
Grandpa Xia brought a stool and stood on it to reach the top, where the things he needed to get were also located.
Grandpa Xia reached out and groped around on top of the cabinet before finally finding an iron box.
He had deliberately forgotten about that box for many years, but today, for some reason, he wanted to take it out to look at it, or rather, to destroy it.
But just as Grandpa Xia got his hands on the metal box, for some reason, his leg suddenly went numb, and he fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Da Zhuang heard this sound just as he got up to go to the toilet.
"Xia Ran, what's wrong? Did something fall down?"
Da Zhuang asked as he walked out, still somewhat dazed.
"Xia Ran?" Da Zhuang glanced into Xia Ran's room but didn't see her. He could only turn around and walk towards Grandpa Xia's room.
When he saw Grandpa Xia fall unconscious in the room, all of Dazhuang's sleepiness vanished, and he turned pale with fright.
"Grandpa!" He ran over quickly and found that Grandpa Xia had fallen into a coma.
Chapter 273 Mental Preparation
Dazhuang picked up Grandpa Xia and put him on the bed, but no matter how he called him, he couldn't wake him up.
Dazhuang tried to calm himself down, turned around and ran out to call an ambulance.
He then turned around and called Xia Ran, only to find that Xia Ran's phone was not with her, but left in the living room.
Dazhuang had no choice but to stay with the old man. If something happened to the old man, Xia Ran would probably go crazy.
At this moment, Xia Ran was walking back with wontons in her hand, but unexpectedly she ran into Gu Zheng.
The two stopped and looked at each other in silence.
Xia Ran gripped the bag tightly in her hand, trying her best to keep her tone calm.
"Where are the children? Why didn't they come out with us?"
Xia Ran originally intended to pretend she hadn't seen Gu Zheng, but she couldn't help but ask him.
Gu Zheng hadn't expected Xia Ran to speak first. Even though she was asking about the child, he couldn't help but feel a sweet warmth in his heart.
“My child didn’t want to come out, saying he wanted to eat wontons, so I came out to buy them for him.”
Unconsciously, Gu Zheng's tone became somewhat cautious when he spoke.
Xia Ran didn't know if she understood the meaning behind those words, she just looked down at the two bags she was carrying.
Just now, when he was buying wontons, when the shopkeeper asked him how many bowls he wanted, he unconsciously said five bowls.
Since he had already said what he wanted to say, he could only take the wontons back with him.
"I bought some here, you can take it back for your child to eat."
Xia Ran handed a bag of wontons to Gu Zheng.
Gu Zheng paused for a moment, then his eyes lit up instantly.
"Bought for us?"
"No!" Xia Ran retorted immediately. "I only bought it for the child. He's old enough now, you should send him to kindergarten."
After saying that, Xia Ran finally calmed down.
He can't panic. What's there to panic about? Nothing's wrong with him. He just accidentally bought it for the child.
Gu Zheng's eyes dimmed slightly. "Alright, then... I'll take it to the child first. How are you... feeling?"
Xia Ran: "It's fine."
After he finished speaking, he didn't want to talk to Gu Zheng anymore, and after saying one more sentence, he was about to leave.
Gu Zheng opened his mouth and turned around to call out to Xia Ran, but in the end he didn't say anything.
He had absolutely no recollection of when he returned yesterday; he only heard from the bodyguard that Qin Hao had called someone to pick him up.
He then asked Qin Hao, who said that Da Zhuang had sent Qin Hao a message asking him to pick him up.
So, did Xia Ran know he was drunk yesterday? Before, Xia Ran would always worry about him when she knew he was drunk, but now…
Gu Zheng felt a bitter taste in his mouth. By the time he came to his senses, Xia Ran had already walked away.
Actually, Xia Ran on the other side wasn't much better off; she was also somewhat absent-minded.
Moreover, he didn't know why, but he always had a vague sense of unease.
This premonition made him quicken his pace, especially since his brow was twitching incessantly, making him extremely panicked.
Because of the twitching between her eyebrows, Xia Ran's complexion seemed rather unwell.
This bad feeling seemed to be confirmed when he got to his front door and saw a crowd of people gathered there.
An elderly man he knew saw Xia and immediately ran up to her, saying...
"Xia Ran, why are you still here? You need to get to the hospital right away! Something's happened to your grandfather. Your friend just got on the ambulance with him. He seems to be in serious condition; he's completely unconscious."
Upon hearing this, Xia Ran's mind went blank, and the things she was carrying instantly fell to the ground, her face turning pale.
"Grandpa Li, what...what did you just say? My grandpa..."
"Yes, your grandfather has fallen into a coma and been admitted to the hospital. We can't wake him up. You should go to the hospital to see him as soon as possible. Your friend told me to come over right away after he saw you, saying that you didn't bring your phone and he couldn't find you."
Xia Ran wanted to run to the hospital to see his grandfather, but for some reason, his legs felt weak and he couldn't walk.
When Gu Zheng returned, he saw Xia Ran being surrounded by onlookers. His face turned cold, and he immediately thought of the time when Xia Ran was slandered.
"What are you doing?" He strode over and blocked Xia Ran's path.
Some of the older men and women in the neighborhood knew Gu Zheng, so they told him about Grandpa Xia's situation.
After hearing this, Gu Zheng's expression turned extremely grim, and his eyes were filled with unconcealed worry.