Chapter 14: Can Only Embrace in Private…

At night, the sound of a door opening came from outside.

Chen Fan stopped writing, picked up the dishes, and left the house with practiced ease.

He had freeloaded on so many Cokes before, so he felt he owed a favor.

Zhang Wanrou was in poor shape today; she looked dazed and staggered as if she had suffered a major blow.

Chen Fan’s expression turned serious and he hurried forward and asked, “Sister Wanrou, what’s wrong, has someone been picking on you?”

“No…”

Zhang Wanrou forced a smile and, to prove the truth of her words, straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin while her chest heaved.

Chen Fan grew even more worried and followed her into the room.

“Sister Wanrou, don’t be afraid; the more you put up with them the worse they’ll get, tell me and I’ll go teach them a lesson!”

Chen Fan was not bragging; he had been extremely strong since childhood, and after he went astray he often fought recklessly without caring for his own safety.

When it came to fighting, even three or five burly men were no match for him.

Worried that Chen Fan might really do something irrational, Zhang Wanrou pushed aside her low spirits and hurriedly grabbed his hand.

“Chen Fan, don’t be impulsive, I’m really fine…”

“Is that so? Sister Wanrou, don’t lie to me; if there’s any problem you must tell me immediately.”

Chen Fan took her slender hand in his other hand and studied Zhang Wanrou’s expression carefully, watching her fair face flush as she stammered, “You… you let go of me…”

Chen Fan gripped tighter and said, “Sister Wanrou, we are family; I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“I know…” Zhang Wanrou froze; her hand stopped struggling and she lowered her head to answer softly.

However, that warm, touching moment lasted only a second.

When Chen Fan’s hand unexpectedly began to knead with practiced skill, Zhang Wanrou’s body instantly tensed and she stammered, “Chen Fan… you… what are you doing…”

“…Sister Wanrou, I’m helping you promote circulation and disperse the bruising, hehe, doesn’t that feel good?”

Chen Fan’s face flushed with embarrassment; surprised at how he had acted on habit, he quickly let go of her hand.

Zhang Wanrou did not dare to look up, and the atmosphere fell into an awkward silence.

Luckily Chen Fan had a thick skin; he picked up the bowl and chopsticks and handed them to her, “Sister Wanrou, eat, or the dishes will get cold.”

“Okay.”

Zhang Wanrou took the chopsticks and ate quietly, the blush on her face never fading.

After admiring her eating to the point of making Zhang Wanrou uncomfortable, Chen Fan withdrew his gaze and asked, “Sister Wanrou, has your uncle returned?”

Based on memories from his previous life, Chen Fan believed that Zhang Wanrou’s uncle had probably returned along with his Third Uncle.

It was obvious what that implied.

To prevent the tragedy from his previous life from happening again, and to avoid any accident with his house purchase, Chen Fan felt it was necessary to take precautions in advance.

Zhang Wanrou nodded truthfully and said, “He just came back today; he even called tonight and said he’d come see me in a few days.”

“Then you need to be careful; your uncle and my Third Uncle have come back this time to raise money to invest in a wealth-management scheme. That project promises extremely high returns and claims to be completely risk-free; no matter how you look at it, it seems like a scam. I’ve already refused my Third Uncle; when your uncle tries to persuade you to mortgage your property to invest, do not believe him.”

“I won’t believe it, and besides, I’ve already promised to sell my house to help you buy your house; I won’t go back on my word…”

Midway through her words, Zhang Wanrou seemed to realize something; she put down her chopsticks, went to the bedroom, and brought out the property deed.

“Chen Fan, I’ll leave the property deed with you so there will be no worry that anyone can say I was swayed.”

“Sister Wanrou, that’s not what I meant…”

Chen Fan saw that Zhang Wanrou had misunderstood; although he did have selfish motives, more than anything he did not want a girl in the bloom of youth to be ruined overnight and have her brief brilliance snuffed out.

Zhang Wanrou insisted, “Chen Fan, you don’t need to explain; I only trust you.”

“Sister Wanrou, you’re so kind.”

Chen Fan’s eyes filled with tears; he did not take the property deed and instead scooped both the papers and the person into his arms.

Zhang Wanrou’s resolute expression vanished in the blink of an eye, replaced by panic and helplessness as she stood frozen and let it happen.

The two of them hugged tightly, and Chen Fan could clearly smell the fresh scent of her shampoo and feel her solid strength and suppleness.

But this time he kept his mission in mind and had no intention of taking advantage; after holding her for about two seconds he let go.

“Sister Wanrou, I promise I will not betray your trust.”

“Mm…”

Zhang Wanrou responded in a daze and, by sitting down to eat, avoided Chen Fan’s affectionate gaze.

After a long while, once she had calmed down slightly, she bit her lip and, in a stiff tone, said:

“Chen Fan, don’t do those intimate gestures in the future; I’m afraid Miaoyi will see them and misunderstand.”

“What’s there to misunderstand; what’s wrong with a brother hugging his sister? If she dares to fly off the handle, I’ll break up with her!”

Chen Fan acted quite domineering; after all, Li Miaoyi was just the ostensible girlfriend he had secured and was unlikely to get jealous.

Zhang Wanrou was frightened and said, “Please don’t; I don’t want to affect your relationship because of me.”

Seeing this, Chen Fan couldn’t resist joking, “Fine, we don’t have to break up, unless Sister Wanrou agrees to hug me.”

“Ah?” Zhang Wanrou had never been threatened like that before; her head buzzed and she was so flushed she could barely whisper, “Only… only in private…”

This time Chen Fan was the one who was stunned.

No, you actually agreed.

…

The next day the sky was overcast.

Chen Fan and Grandmother packed up and arrived at the County People’s Hospital.

The hospital in the new county town had only been built a few years earlier, and its environment, doctors, and medical equipment were almost on par with the big hospitals in the city.

“This hospital is really beautiful.”

Grandmother did not yet know what the future would hold; with a mind toward getting a bargain she wandered around poking and prodding like someone at a market.

Chen Fan did not disturb Grandmother’s good mood; he quietly paid the fees and accompanied her through each checkup.

After spending the whole morning on the examinations, Grandmother still had to go home and tidy up, so she left first.

Chen Fan did not leave; he waited for the test report to come out and silently prayed for a good result.

Perhaps his prayers had helped.

The doctor gave him two pieces of news, one bad and one good.

The bad news was that the tests suggested Grandmother might have breast cancer.

The good news was that the breast cancer appeared to be in an early stage and had a high probability of being cured.

At that point Chen Fan finally felt completely relieved.

No matter what, as long as it could be cured, that was enough; at worst they’d put the house purchase on hold.

The doctor looked somewhat puzzled by this.

Grandmother had cancer, yet the grandson was actually happy; that grandson was really something else.

Chen Fan could not explain why; after an awkward smile he quickly left the hospital.

When he got home, the house was even livelier than it had been yesterday.

The Third Uncle and Third Aunt’s household was there, and Eldest Uncle and Auntie had also come.

Eldest Uncle was named Chen Xueyong; he was the typical dutiful, honest sort who had never left to work in order to take care of Grandmother, and he was currently working at the brick factory owned by Li Miaoyi’s family.

Auntie was named Wei Lan; sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, she scolded harshly but had always looked after Chen Fan since he was young, and whenever there was good food she never failed to make sure he got a portion.

At this moment the two of them did not look pleased, and even Grandmother’s smile had vanished.

Third Uncle and Third Aunt, on the other hand, wore looks of schadenfreude; seeing Chen Fan come in, they immediately taunted in a jeering tone:

“Chen Fan, you’re not honest; I heard your college entrance exam score only exceeded the first-tier cutoff by about 30 points, and yet you dare to apply to Donghai University?”