Sweetie, sleep with me tonight.

Meng Lan smiled with relief: "That's good."

The family ate together, chatting and laughing.

Perhaps because He Zhuo was there, Meng Lan recovered well and met the criteria for discharge a week later.

Upon discharge, the doctor gave them some instructions, telling them to pay close attention to any changes in the elderly person's health.

He Zhuo and Jiang Youxi nodded repeatedly.

The hospital where they were treated was in town. After they were discharged, He Zhuo arranged for a car to take them back to Yuzhong Village.

It was already evening when they got home.

In order to provide Meng Lan with better living conditions, He Zhuo arranged for people to demolish the old, dilapidated house and rebuild a bungalow at Meng Lan's request, not long after returning to the He family.

Meng Lan's living conditions and life are much better than before.

She was often tormented by illness and longing for He Zhuo.

On his way back, He Zhuo bought some groceries in town. As soon as he got home, he rolled up his sleeves and started cooking.

Jiang Xu went to assist, while Jiang Youxi stayed with Meng Lan.

Looking at the bright lights in the kitchen and the man's skillful cooking movements, Jiang Youxi was touched.

She could sense that He Zhuo seemed more relaxed after returning to Yuzhong Village.

The man before me is the real He Zhuo.

This refers to Chi Kuo before he returned to the He family.

"Grandma, why didn't you go back to Jianghai City to live with A-Zhuo?"

"Grandma is used to life in Yuzhong Village, and she'd rather not be used to other places." Meng Lan sighed. "Xiao Kuo is still very young, and he has a long way to go. Grandma is a burden, and she doesn't want to hold him back or become a stumbling block in his life."

"Grandma, don't think like that. What A-Zhuo longs for most is for you to be by his side."

"Grandma knows, but Grandma hopes he can have a good life." The old woman said helplessly, "Xiao Kuo is not my grandson. I only adopted him for a few years. We are not related by blood. The He family is well-off, his father is rich, and he can give him a bright future."

As if recalling the past, Meng Lan's voice was full of guilt: "Back then, Xiao Kuo was rescued by fishermen from the nearby area. He was soaking wet and his lips were pale. No one dared to touch him."

"My husband and I felt sorry for him, so we took him home and gave him some water. We thought he wouldn't make it through the night, but Xiao Kuo had a strong will to survive and actually made it through the night."

"This child has a confused memory. We don't know where he came from. We reported him to the local police station, but there was no result for a long time." Meng Lan said with heartache when talking about He Zhuo. "We couldn't bear it, so we adopted him and named him Chi Kuo."

"Actually, we had ulterior motives in adopting Xiao Kuo." Meng Lan looked sad as she mentioned this. "Xiao Kuo's grandfather and I had a child together, but he passed away unexpectedly."

Meng Lan's eyes welled up with tears: "We've been in so much pain because of this child, and we felt like we had no hope for the future. It was Xiao Kuo's arrival that gave us, the two of us, a reason to keep living."

At that time, the villagers of Yuzhong Village lived a very difficult life, so for a six-year-old boy like He Zhuo who had no ability to work, he was undoubtedly a burden.

They dare not, and cannot afford, to take in such a burden, which would increase the family's financial strain.

It was only the appearance of the elderly couple, Meng Lan and her husband, that gave He Zhuo a glimmer of hope.

He Zhuo's arrival indirectly filled the spiritual void for these two elderly people who had lost their only child, allowing them to find meaning in life and the motivation to keep going.

After hearing this, Jiang Youxi was deeply moved and could not calm down for a long time.

It turned out to be the case.

Unlike developed cities, Yuzhong Village was extremely backward more than ten years ago, with its medical care, people's mindset, and overall development being very underdeveloped.

Everyone was struggling to make ends meet. In these villages with poor medical care, the child mortality rate was extremely high, and the villagers held an indifferent attitude towards death.

In their eyes, human life is as worthless as cats and dogs, as insignificant as grass; the death of a child in someone's family wouldn't cause them any ripples.

Everyone lives by their own abilities.

Especially for children, once they die, they're gone. Adults won't try to save them; instead, they'll just think it's your bad luck that you couldn't make it through.

Therefore, under such circumstances, if it weren't for the Meng family elders, He Zhuo's fate would have been one of only two things.

First, they couldn't survive the hunger and cold and died.

Secondly, even if they survive, they will become homeless children if no family members find and recognize them.

Meng Lan recounted many stories about how He Zhuo was rescued by fishermen years ago.

This naturally includes every little detail of He Zhuo's life in Yuzhong Village over the years.

Back then, Yuzhong Village wasn't like it is now. More than a decade ago, Yuzhong Village was underdeveloped, and everyone lived a hard life. Families with some savings could afford to buy boats and earn a living by fishing. Poor families didn't even have the capital to buy a wooden boat, and many people had to work in coal mines ten kilometers away.

Meng Lan's husband was the same; he worked in a coal mine, barely making ends meet by digging coal.

They thought all this would continue until the second year after adopting He Zhuo, when a coal mine collapsed and Meng Lan's husband was crushed, resulting in paralysis from the waist down, and he could only spend the rest of his life in bed.

The husband's collapse made their already impoverished family even worse off.

From then on, Meng Lan had to support the family on her own, earning money by doing odd jobs to support He Zhuo's studies.

He Zhuo is also very sensible. Every time he comes home from school, he takes good care of his grandfather, so that Meng Lan can work without any worries.

He Zhuo took care of her for more than two years.

Later, Meng Lan's husband fell seriously ill and could not be cured, eventually passing away.

From then on, only Meng Lan and He Zhuo remained, relying on each other for survival.

"Xiao Kuo is a good child. He is very obedient. When he was just a little kid, he took on the heavy responsibility of taking care of his grandfather. He never complained about the hardship or the fatigue." Meng Lan wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. "But I know that he just didn't want me to worry. He has always worked very hard. He is so sensible, so sensible that it breaks my heart."

Jiang Youxi gently comforted her.

No wonder He Zhuo is so good at taking care of people, especially patients. He is very meticulous, which is something many people, especially a young master from a wealthy family like him, would find difficult to do.

It turns out that he had taken care of Grandpa Chi, who was severely paralyzed.

The old man was filled with deep self-blame: "If I hadn't been so useless back then, Xiao Kuo wouldn't have been tortured like that by those people. It's all my fault for being so useless and unable to protect him."

What happened back then?

Just as Jiang Youxi was about to ask a question, Jiang Xu suddenly interrupted her by calling for dinner.

The meal was quickly prepared, and the family gathered around to eat.

The house hadn't been this lively in many years. Meng Lan was in a particularly good mood, and her smile never faded during the meal. She ate half a bowl more than she had in the hospital, and her spirits were much better than they had been during the day.

After dinner, Jiang Youxi wanted to wash the dishes with He Zhuo, but He Zhuo slapped her away.

"What? I saw you were working hard and wanted to help you wash the dishes, and you're not happy about it?"

He Zhuo wiped the water off her hands with a tissue: "These hands are for surgery, not for washing dishes, understand?"

Jiang Youxi smiled and said, "He Zhuo, you're becoming more and more like a married man."

He Zhuo chuckled lightly: "How about I stay home and be the stay-at-home husband, and you take care of earning money to support the family?"

"No way! You're so smart, and you'll be one of the top three billionaires on the Forbes list in the future, with a net worth of hundreds of billions. How could you possibly settle for living in this tiny kitchen?"

"Someone has to cook, right?"

"We'll hire a nanny!" Jiang Youxi patted her chest, very generously. "Don't worry, I'll pay for the nanny. You just need to earn money for me to spend."

He Zhuo flicked her nose with his finger: "You've got a pretty good plan."

"Didn't you say that before? You earned money precisely for me and Xiaoxu to spend!" She put her hands on her hips. "What, are you going back on your word?"

As soon as she finished speaking, her wrist was suddenly tightened, and the next second she was pulled into the man's arms.

Jiang Youxi was startled: "What?"

"Why bother being so cute?"

Jiang Youxi laughed in exasperation, poking his chest with her finger: "What's wrong? Did I ever do something to you?!"

"They did indeed do something wrong."

"What did I do to you?"

"It's something that's been on my mind."

"what?"

He Zhuo grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest: "It's beating very fast here."

Jiang Youxi spoiled the mood: "If you don't jump, you'll die."

He Zhuo smiled: "I won't die, but I'll feel a little uncomfortable."

"Feeling unwell?"

"Mmm, it hurts..." He pressed his forehead against hers, his high, straight nose gently brushing against hers, his breath carrying suppressed desire—

I want to kiss you.

As soon as he finished speaking, the man's hand touched the back of her neck and then covered it.

His actions were forceful and domineering, leaving her nowhere to escape.

Jiang Youxi was startled and instinctively covered her mouth, but the man opened his mouth and bit her hand, taking it away and "throwing it away".

A burning kiss landed precisely.