Chapter 35 Good News

Before Chen Yunchao could finish his words, he suddenly felt a cool breeze brush across his face. An Changlin delivered a resounding slap, instantly causing Chen's cheek to burn and stars to dance before his eyes.

"A gentleman speaks with words, not with fists! Why are you hitting people?"

Failing a salty taste in his mouth, Chen Yunchao spat and saw streaks of blood in his saliva. His face turned pale with fright.

"I'm hitting you precisely! What on earth is going on inside that head of yours?"

An Changlin tapped Chen Yunchao firmly on the head as he spoke.

Fearing that An Changlin might strike him a couple more times and turn him into a fool, Li Tian'er quickly reached out to stop him.

"Chen Yunchao, don't project your own dirty mind onto others. I don't care to argue with you—you'd better go check on your younger brother instead. An Changlin has no obligation to make sacrifices for your family for free."

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

Chen Yunchao wiped the corner of his mouth and found it was only bleeding from the gums, which made his complexion improve significantly. He looked at An Changlin, who was standing shoulder to shoulder with Li Tian'er. Two phrases suddenly flashed through his mind: a match made in heaven, and a destined couple. His heart gave a sharp jolt, and he felt a surge of hot blood rush from his chest through his entire body.

Realizing that he was jealous of An Changlin, Chen Yunchao quickly averted his gaze and looked elsewhere. Hearing Li Tian'er tell An Changlin that she was going to take him to see Chen Haichao, he turned back with a puzzled expression. Only then did he remember that An Changlin and Chen Haichao had gone to the provincial capital a few days ago.

Chen Yunchao and An Changlin went to the neighboring room to see Chen Haichao.

Li Tian'er had no desire to witness Chen Haichao's terrified state again. Taking advantage of the absence of others, she needed to quickly prepare the medicinal pill and find a way to secretly slip it into Chen Haichao's food so he would consume it. That way, once Chen Haichao recovered, the credit would entirely be attributed to An Changlin.

While curing illnesses brought a sense of accomplishment, she was not a doctor after all, and she feared that good intentions might lead to disastrous results. If someone were to report her to the Public Security Bureau for engaging in feudal superstitions, she would be in serious trouble. Now that there was a project capable of leading the entire village to prosperity, she wanted to devote herself wholeheartedly to it without distractions, which could also be considered creating a sustainable career for Li Taohua.

Upon seeing his brother's condition, Chen Yunchao was first shocked and then terrified. Fearing that Chen Haichao might die, he actually began to sob softly. Unable to watch any longer, An Changlin pulled Chen Yunchao away from the bedside.

"Taohua said Haichao will be fine, and the doctor didn't say he was going to die. You're a grown man, what are you crying for? Hurry up and figure out how to take Haichao back home, and try not to let your mother worry unnecessarily. Taohua will find a way to help cure him, and the medicine I got at the hospital should work too. He looks a bit better today than yesterday."

Perhaps because seeing Li Taohua had stirred his emotions, An Changlin looked favorably upon everything at the moment, including Chen Yunchao, who no longer seemed quite so detestable. He even harbored the hope that Chen Yunchao might divorce Li Taohua sooner rather than later due to a third party. If Li Taohua were to get a divorce, why would he need to travel far away to escape his feelings for her?

"Taohua can treat Haichao's illness?"

Chen Yunchao found it hard to believe. He felt that while Li Taohua might fool the uncultured women in the small Wucou Village, she surely couldn't handle a serious disease. Yet An Changlin's tone was so absolute that Chen Yunchao did not dare to refute him.

Having been slapped by An Changlin without daring to retaliate, Chen Yunchao didn't dare to utter a sound now after being scolded a few times either. He silently gazed at Chen Haichao, not knowing what else he could do.

When Li Tian'er brought the medicine in, An Changlin and Chen Yunchao vied to take the medicine cup from her hand.

"Don't fight over it, you two. Be careful not to spill it."

Li Tian'er handed the cup of medicinal liquid to An Changlin. Having cared for Chen Haichao for several days, An Changlin was experienced in feeding medicine and his movements were practiced.

"What kind of medicine is this?"

Chen Yunchao lifted his chin and stared as An Changlin supported Chen Haichao's head to feed him. Seeing the black medicinal liquid spilling from the corners of Chen Haichao's mouth, he furrowed his brows.

"It's the medicine An Changlin prescribed at the hospital. I crushed the pill and dissolved it in warm water so it would be easier for him to absorb," Li Tian'er said casually. Watching the limited-edition golden elixir—redeemed at the cost of one hundred thousand popularity points—flow into Chen Haichao's mouth, she finally felt relieved. Subconsciously glancing at her popularity points, she noticed they seemed to have increased by one hundred. She remembered that when she met An Changlin, her popularity points had jumped by ten thousand, and upon seeing Chen Haichao, they had increased by another ten points, which had left the total at exactly one hundred and ten thousand. Now that there were one hundred extra, could they have come from Chen Yunchao?

"Taohua, let's call a car and head back early tomorrow morning then. Do we need to take Haichao to the hospital for another checkup? He looks so sick, are you sure you can cure him?"

Chen Yunchao looked at Li Tian'er.

Li Tian'er shook her head; she still needed to collect the payment for the consigned fruits.

Seeing that Li Tian'er was not returning home with him, Chen Yunchao looked somewhat disappointed, his expression appearing quite pitiful as he gazed at her.

With no other choice, Li Tian'er explained that she had promised the village to initiate medicinal herb cultivation, and she needed to understand the market conditions better the following day. She couldn't just focus on planting without considering the sales revenue, as economic returns came first.

Chen Yunchao nodded repeatedly and immediately offered to provide technical support for the cultivation.

Li Tian'er had momentarily forgotten that Chen Yunchao was an agricultural technician who had graduated from a top national agricultural university.

Li Tian'er had booked two standard rooms. Chen Yunchao wanted to stay behind to accompany Chen Haichao, but he had no desire to share a cramped bed with An Changlin. He wanted to share a room with Li Tian'er, a request she explicitly refused. In the end, having no other options, Chen Yunchao had to beg An Changlin to let him squeeze into his room, saving him from having to trudge back to the dormitory only to run all the way back early the next morning.

"Aren't you going downstairs to see your girlfriend off? It's so late, and it's not safe outside."

An Changlin said with a pointed tone.

"What nonsense are you talking about! Who said she's my girlfriend?"

Chen Yunchao immediately flared up.

"A female friend then. A man should still have some gentlemanly manners; since you invited her out, you ought to send her back safely."

Taunted and ridiculed by An Changlin, Chen Yunchao's face burned. He figured An Changlin made a valid point; since Angela had invited him to the movies, he should at least see her safely home.

Descending to the ground floor, Chen Yunchao failed to find Angela. When he asked the front desk clerk, she replied that she hadn't paid attention and she might have already left, accompanying her words with a roll of the eyes toward Chen Yunchao.

Embarrassed for a second, Chen Yunchao made his way back up to the third floor and knocked on the door. He intended to share a bed with An Changlin so he could tend to Chen Haichao at any moment. This excuse left An Changlin with no grounds for refusal.

The two men, who despised the sight of each other, squeezed onto a single bed from night until dawn. Neither shifted their sleeping posture once, and upon waking up, both felt numbness in their limbs and a lightheaded, heavy-headed sensation.

Observing the sleepless and exhausted expressions of An Changlin and Chen Yunchao, Li Tian'er shook her head helplessly.

Men truly were children who never grew up!

Li Tian'er went to the bank to open a passbook and deposited all the earnings from the fruit sales into it, deciding to start building assets for Li Taohua from that moment on. That afternoon, carrying a bag of books, she returned home and heard Fan Lihua's excited voice before she even stepped through the door. Chen Haichao's ulcerated skin had scabbed over and healed.

Three days later, Chen Haichao had fully recovered.

Fan Lihua hurriedly ran to the village committee office to make a phone call and share the good news with Chen Yunchao, and then rushed over to the medicinal herb cultivation base to report the happy news to Li Tian'er.