Murong Yanran answered the phone, paused for a few seconds, and asked, "Dad... is something wrong this late?"
"What... the hospital? I'll be right over... Ah, I see, okay, I'll go tomorrow."
"What's wrong?"
"My dad said he's in the hospital, didn't say what it was, but asked me to go over tomorrow. I could tell he wasn't in a good mood, though," Murong Yanran frowned, looking worried.
"It's probably nothing. I'll go with you tomorrow," Li Haochen said, holding Murong Yanran's hand to comfort her.
"Okay, then... I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight!" With that, Murong Yanran turned her back and fled upstairs.
"Sigh, it's not... over yet!" Li Haochen looked at Murong Yanran's retreating figure with annoyance.
He glanced down between his legs and gave a wry smile, "Don't be so upset, brother. A cold shower should help cool you down."
After showering, Li Haochen tossed and turned in bed. He counted tens of thousands of sheep before finally drifting off into a daze. However, his sleep quality wasn't good, as he was plagued by amorous dreams all night. When he woke up in the morning...
He tiptoed to shower, rubbing his underwear repeatedly. After checking that nothing was left behind, he secretly hung it outside, covering it with his long clothes.
"Haochen, what are you doing!"
Murong Yanran's sudden shout made Li Haochen's heart leap out of his chest. His pulse raced, and he tried to remain calm, saying, "N-nothing! I just woke up and wanted to cook breakfast."
"You're cooking breakfast in the yard?" Murong Yanran looked suspiciously at the somewhat unnatural Li Haochen.
"Fine, I won't cook today. I'll go upstairs and talk to Ziyun."
"Phew~ That was close!"
After breakfast, Murong Yanran excitedly got into the driver's seat. She fumbled for a while before successfully inserting the key, starting the engine, and shifting gears. She looked the part, but the car lurched and stalled, causing Li Haochen to grip the interior door handle tightly.
"Can I get out of the car?"
"Don't distract me," Murong Yanran retorted, her face blushing slightly, and then she focused on driving.
After driving for a while, the car finally smoothed out a bit, and the speed increased slightly. Li Haochen glanced sideways at the speedometer: 30 km/h. Not bad, faster than his little Aima. Fortunately, there weren't many cars at this hour, otherwise, horns would be blaring all along the road.
Half an hour later, they miraculously arrived at the hospital. When parking, it took the eighteenth attempt to finally get the car straight into the spot. Li Haochen had been counting and knew exactly.
Li Haochen felt stifled but dared not laugh out loud, so he resorted to pinching his thigh twice to suppress his amusement.
Did Murong Yanran not know? She was just pretending not to.
After buying a fruit basket and some nutritional supplements from the hospital's fruit shop, they headed to the inpatient department.
Murong Hongyan was staying in a VIP room, equipped with everything. Nurses were on duty twenty-four hours a day. The room was as luxurious as a presidential suite, likely costing five figures per night.
He knocked on the door and entered. Murong Hongyan was covered in various medical instruments, his face sallow and pale, his eyes sunken. It was evident he had lost a lot of weight.
Seeing this, Murong Yanran could no longer hold back her tears. She ran over crying, reached the bedside, grasped Murong Hongyan's hand, and sobbed, "Dad... Dad, what happened to you? Don't scare me..."
Hearing the cries, Murong Hongyan slowly opened his eyelids, raised his hand, and caressed Murong Yanran's cheek. His voice was weak, "Yanran, Dad has late-stage lung cancer. My time is short. There are many things I want to tell you."
"Dad, what are you saying? It's not true, it's not true..." Murong Yanran covered her mouth and cried bitterly, her suppressed pain escaping in choked sobs. Tears streamed down like a broken dam, unstoppable.
"Yanran, during my time in the hospital, I've thought a lot. The happiest times were watching you grow up. I've failed you over the years. I hope you don't resent me."
"Dad, don't say that. Rest well. I don't resent you, I really don't. When you get out of the hospital, we'll go to Bali for a while, like you always said," Murong Yanran cried uncontrollably, her face instantly looking haggard.
"Get out of the hospital?" Murong Hongyan gave a bleak, bitter smile. "I'm not reconciled either... Perhaps this is retribution. It's for the best, though. I'll go down to atone with your mother."
"Yanran, don't cry. Dad has nothing left to give you. A few days ago, I entrusted a lawyer to sell the hotels in the West District. All the savings at home have been used to compensate the Mu family. These are the mistakes I made then. Fortunately, I managed to preserve your mother's legacy.
In the future... the Binhai Grand Hotel will be up to you... Cough... Ugh..."
"Beep..."
Murong Hongyan slowly closed his eyes. Two tears traced paths down his gaunt cheeks, and his hands fell limply. He passed away with regret.
"Dad... Dad...!"
Murong Yanran was devastated. A surge of emotion overwhelmed her, and she lost consciousness, falling forward. As she fainted, Li Haochen rushed to catch her and shouted towards the door, "Doctor... Doctor!"
About ten minutes later, Murong Yanran slowly woke up. As if remembering something, she jumped out of bed and rushed out. Li Haochen, caught off guard, quickly followed.
Murong Yanran burst into Murong Hongyan's room. Seeing the cold corpse, she ran to the bedside and knelt, weeping heartbrokenly. She didn't notice Liu Shuhui standing in the room.
"Crying like a crocodile, you're no longer a member of the Murong family. Why are you here? You won't get a single cent." Liu Shuhui wasn't particularly saddened by Murong Hongyan's death; in fact, she was quite happy. With his death, all the Murong family's assets would fall into her hands. She was already planning how to sell off the property, take her son, leave the country, and enjoy life abroad.
"What are you crying for? Get out, you're annoying just looking at you."
Just as Liu Shuhui was about to pull away the kneeling Murong Yanran, Li Haochen pushed her aside and glared fiercely, "Damn it, this is Yanran's father. What business is it of yours, you foxy stepmother? Get lost, don't force me to hit a woman."
Liu Shuhui was startled by Li Haochen's ferocity and stumbled back a few steps, pointing at him, "You... you..."
Li Haochen made a fist, as if to strike her. This scared Liu Shuhui half to death, and she scrambled out of the room, "Oh my god, he's hitting me!"
"Yanran, you need to stay strong. The first thing to do now is to help Uncle with the necessary procedures and handle the funeral arrangements."
Murong Yanran's tears continued to flow. She hugged Li Haochen, her voice hoarse and trembling, "Haochen, why... why did this happen? I really don't know what to do, sob..."
Li Haochen, having experienced the pain of losing his own parents, forced back his tears and said, "I'm here for you. Don't worry."
Li Haochen, holding the dazed Murong Yanran, completed the necessary procedures by afternoon. He didn't dare let her drive and hailed a taxi back to the Murong family villa.