A rather uneasy Mrs Xu carefully asked Mr Xu when they were finally alone, “Are we really trusting that Miss Lu just like that? See, Tingsheng’s already found a girl. What if because of that, she just can’t accept it and hates him instead……that’s always what happens in the dramas.”


  Mr Xu thought about it before he admitted frankly, “Actually, I’m sending her away, putting a distance between her and Hucheng for the time being.”


  “What? She can’t be trusted?” Mrs Xu naturally concluded at once.

  “Actually, I really don’t know that.”


  “What do you mean you don’t know?”


  “I don’t know if she can’t be trusted, but if there is even a one percent chance of that being true and it happens, the result would be the same as if it were a hundred percent. To safeguard that ninety-nine percent of the full hundred percent, the best bet is to never bet on that one percent.”


  Mrs Xu still didn’t get what her husband was saying.

  Mr Xu could only explain, “To put it simply, and also more severely, this is seeing the worst in everyone out in this dangerous world of business. As someone who has experienced failure before, I’ve seen many things. Whoever it is, whatever it is, we cannot just have faith in the goodwill and conscience of others, depositing our hopes there. Moreover, we are all complex beings living in this world as there are many circumstances surrounding us. Good people, with consciences and feelings, can also have times where they commit bad deeds.”


  “So sending her away will solve all of that?”


  “This is the best option right now. Also, it’s a peaceful method that won’t harm anybody. At least, I feel that Hucheng is actually facing the riskiest situation right now. With the shares distributed, there now exists the possibility of someone taking control of them. We cannot allow anyone to wrest away primary authority. Secondly, Xingchen Technologies’ shares, for the time being, have still yet to be split apart. If Zhixin goes over, whether she has good intentions or is scheming something, she would only be able to contend with those two from higher management with the company suffering some losses in its operations at most.”


  “.……Just now, you were telling everyone that Hucheng’s the safest, with the least to worry about……”


  Hearing his wife’s words, Mr Xu sighed a little awkwardly.

  “Am I wrong? Since when did you also become calculating like this?”


  “Over the past two years, you don’t think that it is just conscientiousness that has enabled me to make Happy Shoppers what it is today, right? Feelings are just for a select few. Outside exists a battlefield.”


  Mrs Xu sighed, “If both father and son are like this, farming back at home might be more stable and reliable. We won’t be able to finish spending the money we have now, anyway. Tingsheng and his current condition……I’m already regretting it. I’d rather he was an average, incompetent person and just marry a wife and have children back at home.”


  “A few years later. I’ll come back to plow the land for you then,” Mr Xu extended a hand and patted Mrs Xu on the back.

  “Okay,” Mrs Xu said, “Well then, is our Xu family really going to recompense Miss Lu like you said?”


  “Of course we will. I’ll tell Tingsheng about it after he wakes up. While being wary of others is necessary, treating others well is essential too. Zhixin is entitled to all this in the first place. All that she has done for Tingsheng-he definitely owes her. Even if Tingsheng can’t give her what she most wants, he can’t treat her badly in other areas……”


  “That’s true. I’m just afraid that we can’t give her enough. That Miss Lu isn’t like the other two. It’s like she could be a tribe leader even in the Amazons,” Mrs Xu frowned, saying, “Actually, pretty much nobody would be able to take this well. If you like someone, being willing to do anything for them, doing it with all your heart, yet in the end, his mind is completely filled with thoughts of how to be good to someone else and all that you have worked so hard for falls to someone else……It’s not like she’s a Bodhisattva. Just who can be so generous, magnanimous……”


  Mr Xu nodded, “Exactly. Because of that, I can empathise with whatever it is that Zhixin might be thinking. While there is a need to guard against her, we must also pay back what we owe her. As for afterwards, let Tingsheng think about it himself. I’m not caring about his troubles related to women.”


  Mrs Xu sighed rather mournfully, “Sigh, this kid, provoking so many……it’d be so much easier if we were in ancient times. He could just marry them all then, it’s not like our family can’t afford them……some years down the road, I’d have grandsons, granddaughters everywhere……”


  Mr Xu simply smiled wryly at this.

  “But why hasn’t he woken up yet? It can’t be that……”


  “No.”
……

  Actually, all this would no longer be important and necessary as long as Xu Tingsheng woke up.

  Yet, he remained in a coma nevertheless.

  In the afternoon, the specialists ran another series of checks on him.

  They discussed the matter for a long time but were just unable to come up with anything new. It was still that his vitals were very stable as his life was in no danger at all……logically speaking, he should be waking up very soon.

  Unable to take it any longer, Huang Yaming suppressed his rage as he stepped forward, asking coldly, “By your logic, he should have woken up long ago, right? Stop talking rubbish. Give us a definite timeframe or at least explain just why things are like this……”


  The specialists were rendered speechless for a long time before one of them glanced at Xu Tingsheng and muttered aloud, “Well, maybe……unless he himself isn’t willing to wake up……”


  It was not just Huang Yaming as everyone’s tempers collectively flared now.

  “What? Do you think there can be someone in a coma who isn’t willing to wake up?”


  “Well, it’s possible,” The guy explained weakly, “It could be that due to certain reasons, he doesn’t want to wake up as he is frantically repressing his own awakening. If he has a strong and resolute will that is very good at resisting, this is indeed a possibility……otherwise, there’s just no other explanation we can think of.”


  An argument broke out in the room. Mr Xu calmed both sides down, but in truth, he was actually already considering sending Xu Tingsheng overseas for treatment.

  Still, the specialist had actually spoken rightly.

  Xu Tingsheng was unwilling to wake up as he was unconsciously struggling resolutely against it. At the present moment, he was incomparably firm and adamant in his resistance.

  Actually, he should have woken up long ago. He was quite physically fit. Considering his physique, he should actually already have been able to wake up the day after the incident.

  Yet, as intense pain had coursed through his body with his senses returning to him, within Xu Tingsheng’s still chaotic subconscious mind……had appeared two possibilities.

  Has this just been a very long dream of mine, with this being the pain after the car crash? Or is it that the fire was real, and this life is real, with my father alive and Xiang Ning sixteen? As we meet and fall in love again, with everyone peaceful and safe……

  These two blurry, indistinct possibilities entailed two completely different lives, causing him to feel fear as he was afraid to face the truth of reality.

  Thus, when his regained physical faculties pushed him to wake up, he was frantically trying to repress this in his subconscious mind, powerfully exerting all his willpower just so not to face it.

  He did not know that the sixteen-year-old Little Xiang Ning was truly there, sitting by his bedside everyday as she had already shed countless tears. Having always been thin in the first place, the little girl looked frail beyond compare now.

  He did not know that his father had also been right next to him all this time. Not only had he been worrying about his health everyday, he was also busy worrying about and exerting immense effort over his career.

  He did not know that they were all waiting for him to wake up.

  If only he would wake up, he would be able to see his father, would be able to hug Little Xiang Ning. All the good times would be able to resume then……

  Lu Zhixin finished the arrangements for interviews and made a trip home before dragging her tired self back to the sick ward. There, she got a rare chance to be alone with Xu Tingsheng.

  The comatose Xu Tingsheng had his eyes tightly shut as he inhaled and exhaled slowly.

  “I won’t be able to accompany you after this. I will be going off to Shenghai.”


  Lu Zhixin extended a hand, gently stroking Xu Tingsheng’s face.

  “Sorry, I really don’t have such a big heart. I really can’t willingly accept it. I hope that you won’t hate me when the day comes.”


  She kissed Xu Tingsheng lightly on the forehead.

  Once, Wu Yuewei had said she wished that Xu Tingsheng could have nothing. Even if nobody wanted him any longer then, she would.

  Lu Zhixin wanted to personally make Xu Tingsheng lose everything. Afterwards, regardless of whether other people still wanted him, she would.

  Just an hour ago, at the Lu family home.

  “Just some fake trust, and you’re swayed just like that?” Lu Pingyuan hollered at his daughter.

  “I’m not. It’s just that now’s not the right time. Also, I’ll be leaving for Shenghai right away. I haven’t had the time to finish my preparations here at Hucheng,” Lu Zhixin replied calmly.

  “What do you mean? When could there be a better time than now?”


  “There will be many chances. As long as I am still in Hucheng, there’s a lot that I can do. Although Xingchen Technologies’ Weibo appears to be very successful, it has actually been suffering a loss ever since its inception. I believe that this will continue for another two years at least, unless he is willing to sell it. It’s even more impossible for him to move money away from his real estate venture. So, Hucheng is his foundation……”


  Lu Pingyuan thought about it for a bit before he smiled, feeling reassured, “That’s fine too. It’s good that you’ve properly thought it through.”


  Lu Zhixin smiled.

  She had properly thought it through. Not only had she thought about how she would face Xu Tingsheng, she had also thought about how she would face Lu Pingyuan, making use of the money in his possession to take away everything Xu Tingsheng possessed. Still, she would never allow this to fall into Lu Pingyuan’s possession.

  With Xu Tingsheng being in possession of all this, Lu Zhixin would be unable to control him.

  Hand it over to Lu Pingyuan? It would only be ruined then……that belonged to Xu Tingsheng, formed with the joint efforts of the two of them. Lu Zhixin would never allow such a thing to happen.