Chapter 424: Chapter 424: You Will Still Care About Me, Right?
Lin Zhiyi brought over the medical kit and broke open a povidone-iodine stick, lowering her head to disinfect Gong Chen’s wound.
The more she looked at the wound, the more something felt off.
Suddenly, a light bulb went off in her mind, and she gripped the iodine stick tightly.
“Third Young Master, how did you get this wound?”
“Cutting lamb meat carelessly… sss…”
Gong Chen frowned sharply as he watched Lin Zhiyi press the iodine stick into the wound forcefully.
Lin Zhiyi looked up at him and smiled slightly. “Sorry, Third Young Master, I didn’t mean to. Shall I let Assistant Chen help you clean it instead?”
He was actually trying to fool her.
Did he think she never cooked before?
The angle of the cut was wrong.
Gong Chen remained unfazed. “It doesn’t hurt.”
Lin Zhiyi applied more pressure: “Really doesn’t hurt?”
“Doesn’t hurt.”
“Liar.”
Lin Zhiyi let out a cold scoff, set down the iodine, and turned to leave.
Just as she turned, her body was pulled back and confined within a strong embrace.
The man’s chin rested on her shoulder. “It hurts a little.”
Lin Zhiyi tugged his hand, a little angry. “How could you deceive me like this?”
“Zhiyi, you still care about me, don’t you?”
Gong Chen gave a light cough, as if to mask some previously unexpressed emotion.
Lin Zhiyi hesitated, thinking about how to respond.
Her feelings toward Gong Chen were as complicated as always.
In her past life, it was both love and hate.
In this life, even though one truth after another had been uncovered, she didn’t feel resolved.
On the contrary, the emotions from her past life became more vivid.
It seemed no matter what choices they made, the two of them were destined to the same ending.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed an obvious indentation on Gong Chen’s finger.
If her guess was correct, he must’ve been wearing the wedding ring with Sang Ran before coming to Gang City.
Lin Zhiyi lowered her gaze and didn’t answer his question.
Suddenly, Gong Chen unfolded her hand.
He placed something in her palm.
When she saw what it was, Lin Zhiyi froze for a moment.
“This is the wedding ring I designed for you and Sang Ran.”
“Mhm.” Gong Chen picked up the ring and slid it onto his finger, the indentation perfectly matching the ring’s shape.
“You’ve always been wearing this?”
“Mhm, you designed it, and I like it a lot,” Gong Chen said lightly.
“Then why did you have Sang Ran return the ring to me?” Lin Zhiyi looked at him, asking the question that had lingered in her heart.
“I didn’t want you to attend the wedding. If you didn’t crash the wedding, I was afraid I might run away myself.”
Gong Chen caressed the ring, his half-lowered eyelids concealing the real turmoil within.
There were other reasons, but Lin Zhiyi didn’t need to know them.
Lin Zhiyi didn’t notice his gaze and kept speaking. “I thought you didn’t want it, so I locked it in the apartment’s cabinet…”
She seemed to suddenly get stuck in her thoughts.
Gong Chen fixed his eyes on her. “Why aren’t you continuing?”
Lin Zhiyi’s lips pressed into a tight line. How was she to say it?
Everything related to Gong Chen, she had locked away in that cabinet. The key, she had asked Liu He to give to him.
Since he was wearing the ring, he must have seen the contents of that cabinet.
Including those two letters.
At the time, she hadn’t planned on seeing him again; she simply meant to bring closure.
Now that it was brought up, how was she supposed to face the confession letter she wrote when she was nineteen?
Lin Zhiyi immediately got up to leave, but as soon as she turned, Gong Chen’s arm blocked her path.
“I’m Lin Zhiyi, I… mmf mmf.”
Hearing Gong Chen recite her confession letter, Lin Zhiyi reached back and covered his mouth.
“If you keep saying it, I’ll… I’ll…” Lin Zhiyi wracked her brain for a comeback and, in the end, just loudly shouted, “Uncle! Uncle!”
He hated it most when she called him “Uncle.”
Sure enough, half of Gong Chen’s expression darkened, and he moved closer ominously.
But before he could say anything, Liao Yi came running out of the room, holding Xingxing in his arms.
“Zhiyi, something bad happened. The shop assistant said the guesthouse was vandalized.”
Lin Zhiyi froze momentarily, then grabbed her phone from the sofa.
Only then did she realize she had put it on vibrate while putting Xingxing to bed and forgot to switch it back.
The screen was filled with missed calls and WeChat messages from the shop assistant.
“Boss, Doctor Du’s parents have gone insane. They brought a whole bunch of relatives to wreck the shop, and the guests are terrified.”
“I’ll be back right away.”
Lin Zhiyi knew that if she didn’t handle Du Qian, there’d be no way to keep her business running.
The guesthouse was something she had built up bit by bit, and she would never allow others to destroy it.
“Liao Yi, can you look after Xingxing for me? I’ll head back real quick.”
“No, I’ll go with you. Du Qian’s parents have sharp tongues, and if you can’t argue with them, at least I can help,” Liao Yi said worriedly.
Gong Chen took Xingxing into his arms and handed him to Chen Jin.
“I’ll call Li Huan to come over. He and Chen Jin can look after Xingxing. I’ll go back with you both.”
Lin Zhiyi looked at Xingxing. She didn’t mind Chen Jin or Li Huan taking care of the child.
Having a man with them at a time like this would indeed be safer.
“But your identity…”
Gong Chen skillfully took a mask out of his pocket and put it on. “Let’s go.”
Lin Zhiyi didn’t say anything more and quickly pulled Liao Yi along as they headed for the guesthouse.
…
The guesthouse.
On the way, Lin Zhiyi got a general idea of the situation from the shop assistant.
Du Qian had been fired from the hospital.
When his parents found out, they went berserk.
They asked him why, but Du Qian refused to tell them.
So they linked it to Du Qian’s online post about liking Lin Zhiyi.
They were convinced that Lin Zhiyi’s questionable behavior had gotten Du Qian into trouble.
The Du family prided themselves on their son Du Qian above all else.
They would tell anyone they encountered how proud they were of him.
The residents of Hai Yue Bay knew better than to joke about Lin Zhiyi and Du Qian in front of his parents.
Because the Du parents took it seriously.
They had even come to Lin Zhiyi’s door once before, mocking her for dreaming beyond her station.
Lin Zhiyi had no interest in such things and had chosen to ignore them.
So other than bringing Xingxing in for follow-ups, she had never sought out Du Qian on her own.
She wanted to avoid trouble.
But trouble had found her anyway.
As soon as the car arrived, Lin Zhiyi hurried toward the guesthouse, only for Gong Chen to grab her arm.
“No matter what happens, don’t fight back. Let me handle the physical confrontations.”
“Huh?”
Lin Zhiyi was momentarily stunned, not reacting in time.
At this moment, Liao Yi tugged her forward, quickening their pace.
Outside the guesthouse, the display case she had designed had one of its glass panels smashed. Whether anything had been stolen, she couldn’t tell at this point.
Three shop assistants and some neighboring residents were trying to stop the Du family from causing more chaos.
One of the shop assistants angrily exclaimed, “Aunt Du, stop this madness! It was Dr. Du himself who posted online about liking our boss. But our boss has always maintained there was nothing between them.”
“A single woman with an out-of-wedlock child would of course say that. Otherwise, how else could she string men along?” Mrs. Du retorted, hands on her hips, seething.
“Exactly! If she hadn’t seduced Du Qian, how could our son have been coming here every Saturday to see her?” Mr. Du countered.
“How can you say that? Every time Dr. Du came, it was strictly to discuss Xingxing’s condition. Our boss was always courteous, offering good tea. She never did anything improper!”
“Then she must’ve been trying to use the child to get close to Du Qian. It’s written all over her sly face that she’s no decent woman. Making money off a guesthouse and selling those flashy gems—who knows where her money really comes from?” Mrs. Du shouted loudly. “If she doesn’t come out, I’ll smash everything here today!”
With that, the Du family began acting out again.