Attention Sir, I Have Your Heart Handcuffed!-Chapter 353 - 233 (2 updates, part 2)

"Maybe it will."

After Tang Yanqing finished speaking, he put the cigarette back into the box, his gaze indifferent and lonely.

Guan Liang’s heart sank.

Recently, there had been some minor issues between Shi Nian and Mr. Tang, which he was not completely unaware of. Shi Nian was getting closer to Huangfu Huazhang, preferring to trust him, letting him search for Xiong Jie’s whereabouts, and then further letting him handle Xiong Jie’s case... This was naturally a blow to Tang Yanqing, who had always had high aspirations.

Mr. Tang might thus gradually drift away from Shi Nian, and under such circumstances, it’s not impossible that he might turn his attention back to Tang Yanyi, who had always admired him...

Thinking this way, Guan Liang felt his mind was in chaos.

He lowered his head, like a child unwilling to admit defeat, yet facing a situation with no hope of victory.

"Mr. Tang, at least give me a definite answer, don’t tell me ’maybe’."

Tang Yanqing glanced at him lightly: "I also wish someone would give me a definite answer, but who would? If you really want stability and certainty, don’t wait for someone else to give it to you, you have to fight for it yourself."

With that, he got up and left.

Guan Liang stood in place for a long while.

.

On the weekend, Shi Nian went to visit her mother.

Arriving at the "Deep Valley," she first went to communicate with the sanatorium, wanting to persuade them to only accept her payments in the future, and not Xiang Jingsheng’s. Unexpectedly, the financial staff looked at her a bit startled and smiled, saying, "You’re too polite, from now on, whether it’s your money or Mr. Xiang’s money, we naturally won’t accept it anymore."

Shi Nian was surprised: "Why?"

A senior member of the sanatorium personally came to explain, saying that when Deep Valley Sanatorium applied to be established years ago, it went through many troubles. Because it was mainly a sanatorium for psychiatric patients, several initial locations were rejected by nearby residents who didn’t want such a facility in their community.

Finally, after many twists and turns, it was an incredibly young businessman who offered a piece of family land free for the sanatorium to use. No set term, as long as the sanatorium existed, the lease agreement would remain valid.

The senior member of the sanatorium apologized deeply: "...Our sanatorium, after all, is not purely charitable, we do have surplus profits, so over the years we’ve tried giving that gentleman some compensation, but he consistently declined."

"The use of this land has spanned over ten years, and that gentleman has never made any demands of us. It wasn’t until recently that he mentioned your mother’s name."

"We’re really sorry, it’s also our negligence, we never knew your mother was a senior whom the gentleman greatly respected, and we kept charging you for over four years of sanatorium fees... Thinking of it now is truly disgraceful."

Shi Nian took a deep breath: "That gentleman wouldn’t happen to be the chairman of the Fude Group, would he?"

The senior member smiled: "See, you’ve known in your heart all along, but never mentioned it over the years. Truly makes us feel even more ashamed."

.

Shi Nian walked into her mother’s room, holding her mother’s hand, whispering, "Mom, why don’t you come home with me?"

"For the past four years, I’ve been Xiang Yuan’s wife, living in Xiang Yuan’s house, and I couldn’t bring you home to live with me. Now there’s just me left in that house, I can take you home now. Will you come back with me, please?"

Xu Xinzhen listened quietly, but her eyes still looked in another direction, clearly distracted.

After hearing, she shook her head aggrievedly: "Why should I go back to your house? I have my own home; this is my own home. I want to stay in my home, I won’t go to yours!"

How could this ever be a hometown, how could this be home?

Shi Nian felt her nose sting, hurriedly lowering her head.

Mrs. Liu saw this and couldn’t bear it, quickly stepping forward to comfort her: "Shi Nian, you’re a sensible child, don’t misunderstand your mom. She has lived here since coming to M Country; for such a long time, this is the only place she recognizes."

"I understand." Shi Nian tried to smile.

In truth, the sanatorium had also mentioned before that since they understood Huangfu Huazhang’s intentions, they considered moving mom to the best room. But mom immediately threw a fit, kneeling on the ground, clutching the bed leg tightly, refusing to go. The sanatorium had no choice but to give up, instead putting more care into diet, medication, and other aspects.

Mrs. Liu is right; mom only recognizes this place, doesn’t recognize her house; even if still within "Deep Valley," just moving to another room, she wouldn’t do it.

Mom wouldn’t understand her urgent desire to take mom away, and she could only give up.

She nodded with a smile: "Yes, you’re right. I just miss her so much, and my house is so empty with just me, so I can’t help but think this way."

Mrs. Liu spoke earnestly: "For your mom’s sake, you shouldn’t make her re-adapt to a completely unfamiliar environment. Her mental resilience is very fragile, forcing her would only make her collapse. If the situation worsens again, the efforts of the past four years would be in vain."

.

Shi Nian walked out of "Deep Valley," unable to help but hug her arms tightly.

Huangfu Huazhang, Huangfu Huazhang, he was indeed everywhere. Moreover, every time he appeared, there was an extremely reasonable cause, just like this time. When the hospital mentioned why he donated such a large piece of land to "Deep Valley," they mentioned a heartfelt issue Huangfu Huazhang had talked about—Huangfu Huazhang said he also had a close relative who suffered from a mental illness.

Back then, he wanted to find that close relative an earthly paradise, a place where they could escape the troubles of the mundane world and live quietly. But at that time, he was young and powerless, with only that idea, utterly incapable of realizing it.

Later, he grew up, gained power, and coincidentally encountered such an opportunity. That piece of land was perfectly suited, so he donated it to be used.

Shi Nian immediately understood that Huangfu Huazhang was talking about his mother, Huangfu Xi’an.

Hence, his involvement in this matter was completely reasonable, making it impossible for her to doubt, even though her suspicion was hard to dispel, she still couldn’t help but feel a bit of heartache on his behalf.

She took out her phone and brought up Huangfu Huazhang’s number, contemplating sending a text message.

Her mind went back and forth with many things she wanted to ask, such as the ins and outs of the matter, or when did he find out that Mom had been staying here? Did he just find out, or did he know four years ago?

If it were the latter, why didn’t he help back then and instead waited until this critical juncture?

But if she were to ask like this, the answer would certainly involve him bringing up those sad past incidents relating to his mother... Touching on painful memories, it’s cruel, no matter what. Moreover, if she mentioned Huangfu Xi’an, someone as keen as he would know she was secretly investigating his background.

After much thought, she typed and deleted the words in the input box until only two words were left: "Thank you."

After sending the text, she stood in the night wind, her long hair tousled by the breeze. Some strands entangled with each other, forming knots.

Too complex to cut, too tangled to sort.

Better to express the most basic gratitude, as for the rest, leave it to be pursued in detail another day.

.

Putting away her phone, she looked up towards her car.

A pre-owned Beetle, although it was pre-owned, when she bought it, the seller tidied up its appearance to look almost perfect. The green shell was smooth and shiny, looking like a little green bug basking in the bright sunlight, making her like it the first time she saw it.

Even though it was nighttime now, she still felt cheerful looking at it under the lights.

Yet, there stood a man beside the car, tall and elegant.

A slender body leaned slantwise against the car door, slowly puffing a cigarette. In the dark, the little red glow flickered, rhythmically beating like a heart, thumping steadily.

Shi Nian took a deep breath and hurriedly walked over.

"Why are you here?"

His face was obscured by the night, only the flickering red glow barely illuminated a part of his face.

—Lonely.

Shi Nian dared not look further, quickly lowered her head: "Put the cigarette out. This is a medical facility; state law prohibits smoking within the grounds of a medical institution."

He quietly gazed at her, finishing his cigarette slowly at leisure, then casually flicked it away with his hand. The small red light traced an arc in the dark, landing precisely in the trash can.

The technique was flawless, the posture elegant, yet Shi Nian still let out a cry of surprise, hastily running forward.

"The butt’s still burning, why did you throw it in the trash can? What if it sets the trash on fire?!"

She rushed to the trash can, rummaging in her bag, only to find it contained no fire-extinguishing water, only cosmetic lotions and the like. Those liquids, instead of dousing the fire, might even fuel it.

Panicked, she hesitated no longer, bent down by the trash can, and spat into it.

She spat on the cigarette butt again and again, and with perseverance, it surprisingly worked.

Only then did she let out a long breath, smiling with relief.

Yet she knew what she did was quite disgusting, very embarrassing, and she quickly turned back, peeking a guilty glance at him, cheeks flushed.

He stood in the darkness, features unclear, but his tense posture was visible.

Was he angry?

Did he find her previous action—really disgusting?

Would he impatiently turn away and leave next?