Xiao Hesheng walked into the hospital room as Fu Jichen folded the newspaper and placed it on the bedside cabinet.
The bowl of porridge that Fu Yuling had poured out remained untouched, showing no signs of having been moved. In the breeze from the air conditioner, the warmth had mostly dissipated.
Xiao Hesheng ca empty-handed, not looking like soone visiting the sick, but rather as if he was there to verify sothing.
"Mr. Xiao, please have a seat." Fu Jichen gestured to the sofa not far away.
Xiao Hesheng didn’t sit on the sofa but instead pulled a chair over to sit by the bed.
The ti since their parting in Switzerland had been considerable, and upon eting again, a change in mindset was inevitable.
Xiao Hesheng was intent on avenging his sister, constantly keeping an eye on the movents of the Fu Family, not just in business but in other areas as well. After Fu Zhengjun’s death, his hatred had diminished by half. After all, tracing the origins, Fu Zhengjun was the main reason for all that Xiao Heting had suffered. But this outco was far from enough for him, so he continued opposing the Fu Family, sabotaging any projects cooperating with Junshan that he could take or destroy.
In this process, he naturally heard the rampant rumors within Junshan Group, concerning the current person in power, Fu Jichen’s background.
It’s like soone walking in the fog suddenly sees a gleam of light.
During his last eting with Fu Jichen, Xiao Hesheng had an indescribable feeling, especially when looking at the man’s brows and eyes, he always felt he could capture the shadow of another person.
As for who that person was, it seed he didn’t need to spend much ti pondering.
He and his sister resembled their mother, but relatively speaking, his sister looked more alike.
After eting Fu Jichen, he harbored suspicions, once considering investigating the events of that year, but then doubting if he was overthinking.
His sister passed away in Yicheng at that ti, with no one by her side; her phone and docunts were all lost. The nanny responsible for taking care of her had taken ti off due to family matters. By the ti he received the news and rushed over, it was more than a week later.
It was September, the temperature was still hot, making it difficult to preserve the body for long. The mortuary people had cremated her, with the urn stored in an unclaid grid, a photo of her living days attached, marking the date of her death.
Holding his sister’s urn, at that mont, he felt as if the sky had collapsed.
His parents had already passed away, and now his only relative was gone too.
He regretted deeply, believing he shouldn’t have let his sister have her way, staying in Yicheng while pregnant... But unfortunately, the affairs of the world are never reversible just because of regret.
The mories abruptly ceased as Xiao Hesheng looked at Fu Jichen in the loose hospital gown. His spirit was good, devoid of much illness. Only his complexion seed slightly worse.
"I may be presumptuous in saying this, but I’d like to ask how Mr. Fu got injured."
Fu Jichen smiled ambiguously: "I was admitted yesterday evening, and yet Mr. Xiao ca visiting first thing this morning. Would there be anything that Mr. Xiao doesn’t know?"
Xiao Hesheng didn’t deny having sent people to monitor him.
To clearly understand everything related to the Fu Family, not just Fu Jichen but the other family mbers as well, he had stationed personnel to follow them.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have appeared before Fu Yunhan at just the right mont, buying 3% of Junshan’s shares from him.
Even with round-the-clock surveillance, so matters couldn’t be fully observed, like knowing that Fu Jichen was admitted due to an injury, contrary to the public claim of a severe cold. Regarding the cause of injury, he was still left in the dark.
He regretted not having anyone monitor Wei Ronghua, dismissing her as a re woman unlikely to have any useful information, only discovering she too had been hospitalized last night.
Xiao Hesheng wasn’t angered by his reluctance to reveal the truth, showing considerable patience: "Recently, I’ve heard a rumor concerning Mr. Fu’s background, which Mr. Fu is probably aware of too."
Fu Jichen: "What exactly does Mr. Xiao want to say?"
"There’s a rumor that Mr. Fu isn’t the son of the deceased eldest son of the Fu Family, which I do not believe." Xiao Hesheng, deeply imrsed in the business world for decades, certainly couldn’t be blinded by such rumors.
Mr. Fu wasn’t naive; there’s no way a confusion of lineage could occur.
This background rumor was rely one reason for his suspicion, combined with the doubt he had held since Switzerland, and added on by the news of Fu Jichen’s injury.
Threefold doubt, sufficient for Xiao Hesheng to personally make a visit.
"I’ve heard the Fu Family’s first wife was also admitted, due to fainting with blood spilling - what could cause soone to faint and bleed? Aside from physical reasons, it might also be tied to emotions." Xiao Hesheng dropped the coyness, not waiting for Fu Jichen to speak, he continued of his own accord, "There might be another story behind the rumors, approaching the truth of the matter."
Fu Jichen remained silent and did not interrupt him, feeling an inkling that Xiao Hesheng had already guessed the events.
Sure enough, Xiao Hesheng’s words were like a nail in the coffin: "You are indeed Fu Zhengjun’s son, but your biological mother is not Wei Ronghua. After she learned the truth, she was heartbroken, hurt you, and did not end up well herself."
Fu Jichen’s hand, resting on the blanket, quietly clenched but still he did not speak.
"Ordinary people wouldn’t speculate like this, nor dare to make such presumptions. The reason I dare to think this way is because..." Xiao Hesheng paused for a long ti before finishing, "You resemble my sister. I don’t deny that there are indeed two people in this world who look similar but have no blood relation. However, my sister once had a relationship with your father and was pregnant with a child. On the eve of her delivery, she died unexpectedly. I thought it was a mother and child both dying, but it is very possible that the child survived, was brought back by the Fu Family, and raised as Wei Ronghua’s child. I don’t know how all this was covered up, but once I had the suspicion, I couldn’t help but verify it."
Xiao Hesheng took a deep breath, unable to maintain composure, overwheld by sadness, yet not entirely sorrowful, holding onto a small hope and fantasy: "Because my sister may have left a bloodline in this world, and I might have another relative still alive."
If the events of that year were arranged by Mr. Fu, then hiding it from everyone shouldn’t be difficult. He had the financial ans and resources.
Fu Jichen closed his eyes. Yesterday evening, when he returned ho, he heard Wei Ronghua’s heart-wrenching cries, and the information conveyed in her words indicated she already knew the truth.
And now with Xiao Hesheng standing before him seeking confirmation, he realized this secret was like a window paper with leaks that couldn’t be patched, only tearing larger.
Fu Jichen slowly opened his eyes, eting Xiao Hesheng’s expectant gaze, and said: "To turn a declining company around and make it a leader in Hong Kong, Mr. Xiao’s intelligence isn’t sothing ordinary people can match."
This effectively confird his suspicions.
Xiao Hesheng was emotionally charged, standing up from the chair, his gaze towards Fu Jichen was complex and hard to describe — there was surprise, guilt, and even more, joy.
Joy in his sister’s child’s survival, joy in having another family mber alive.
A thousand words swirled in his chest, Xiao Hesheng was sowhat at a loss on how to express, eventually only saying: "I am your uncle."
*
Yesterday evening, Wei Ronghua regained consciousness shortly after being admitted, refusing to undergo examinations, staying in the ward without eating or drinking, and speaking very little.
By this morning, under Fu Feibai’s persuasion, she finally relented.
Based on her symptoms, the doctor issued examination papers, which she went through one by one. After receiving the examination report, the doctor called Wei Ronghua’s family to the office.
Which was Fu Feibai.
"Her coughing was accompanied by blood, fever, occasional chest pain, why didn’t she co to the hospital sooner for examination?" The doctor tapped on the examination report with a pen, "This is a malignant tumor in the bronchial mucosa of the lungs, not a severe cold."
Could an ordinary cold persist for this long without improvent?
Fu Feibai’s mind buzzed, followed by a long hum in his ears.
He did not argue with the doctor, in fact, it was because Wei Ronghua had never ntioned coughing blood that her condition was overlooked. Every ti asked over the phone, she insisted it was a cold. Even the family doctor prescribed cold dicine. After all, without examination, the specific condition couldn’t be known.
Were it not for her sudden collapse and hospitalization this ti, who knows how long it might have dragged on.
After a long ti, Fu Feibai said blankly, "Malignant tumor?"
"It’s what we commonly call lung cancer." The doctor looked at him and sighed, "The cause is not clear, but she does have lung cancer. It’s recomnded to discuss with the patient and proceed with chemotherapy as soon as possible."
Fu Feibai walked out of the doctor’s office in a daze, rubbing his hands over his face, his eyes reddened, not knowing how to break the news to his mother.
His mother had always been strong; she had just lost her husband recently, how could she accept the fact that she had cancer?
In the corridor, Fu Feibai saw Qu Mo’s figure, holding a file bag, entering Fu Jichen’s ward.
Xiao Hesheng had already left, and the ward contained only Fu Jichen. Qu Mo handed the file bag to him: "This is what Mr. Xiao asked to give you."
Fu Jichen unwound the cotton thread at the opening of the file bag, extracting the docunt from inside, it was a stock transfer agreent.
Xiao Hesheng wanted to transfer 3% of Junshan stock, obtained from Fu Yunhan, to him as a gift.
The agreent couldn’t have been drafted in the few minutes after Xiao Hesheng left, which could only an he was ninety-nine percent confident before coming to the hospital, believing that Fu Jichen was indeed Xiao Heting’s son.
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