Chapter 1644: Chapter 961: No Longer His Precious, Questioning Fifth Master’s Abilities? (32 Updates)

Huo Ran returned to the private room; he couldn’t participate in the parenting conference, and now he was even more downhearted.

"What’s up with this guy? He went out for a bit and came back a completely different person?" Qi Zeyan asked Jiang Chengsi.

"Ran into his ex-girlfriend, I suppose."

"Pfft—" Qi Zeyan nearly spat out his water.

In the whole room, Huo Qinqi was the closest to him, being the older brother, so Qi Zeyan sneakily asked him about Huo Ran’s past relationships, to which Huo Qinqi surprisingly replied:

"When did he date? What kind of girl was she?"

"You don’t know about their breakup?"

"I was on assignment at the time. By the time I got back, he had already ended the relationship, broken up, and gotten over it."

"..."

Huo Ran didn’t want to bring it up, so they didn’t press him for details. However, Huo Ran’s phone soon vibrated, and after he went out with it, he didn’t return until after they finished the gathering.

Huo Qinqi went out with him, and before leaving, naturally had to ask where he was.

Called him:

"Bro, you go ahead. I’m staying at home tonight, not going to your place."

Huo Qinqi wasn’t the type to gossip or meddle in trivia; they’re adults, and they should know what they’re doing.

But afterwards, Huo Ran called Jiang Chengsi, asking if he ordered drinks and a fruit platter in his name for someone else.

Jiang Chengsi certainly didn’t deny it, but later he heard from the bar staff that he left with a girl, and as for what happened afterwards, no one knew.

After that, Huo Ran rarely showed up at the Huo Family place. Initially, people thought he was busy with work, but as time went on, even Xiaowu started to wonder why the uncle who used to frequently pop over for dinner hadn’t appeared for a while.

He even asked Huo Qinqi:

"Has Huo Ran Uncle started going to other places for dinner?"

"Maybe." Huo Qinqi had just transferred back not long ago, with a pile of things to deal with, having no time for him.

"Is someone else’s food tastier than ours?"

"Depends on who he’s eating with."

"So, it means eating with others is better than eating with us?"

"..."

Huo Qinqi didn’t know how this kid came to this conclusion.

Mutang didn’t hang out with me lately, and now Huo Ran Uncle is like this too...

Xiaowu was distressed; I’m no longer Mutang’s best friend, nor the most beloved little one to the uncle.

**

Meanwhile

Zhou Zhongqing was about to leave the next day, coinciding with the Ghost Festival, and mid-July was also the Jiang Family’s gathering day. He went to the old house for dinner and brought along a stethoscope to check on the elderly lady.

"You mentioned that your appetite hasn’t been great lately? Is it lack of appetite or are you feeling uncomfortable?" Zhou Zhongqing asked, also inquiring about recent diet and medications.

"Pretty normal."

"Nothing serious, probably just due to seasonal change."

Zhou Zhongqing packed away the stethoscope and blood pressure monitor, catching someone standing diagonally behind him out of the corner of his eye, "Chengsi? Need anything?"

"No."

"Let me help you with your things then." Saying so, he hurriedly took over the task, helping with organizing.

Zhou Zhongqing frowned and looked at him:

"Speak up, what do you want?"

Jiang Chengsi coughed twice, smiled sheepishly, "Nothing at all."

"Being overly accommodating for no reason, you’re either borrowing money or setting a trap. You’re not short on money, so it must be the latter." Zhou Zhongqing scrutinized him, picking up the sorted items, "If you really have nothing, I’ll go find Xiaowu now."

Jiang Jinsang has been doing fine health-wise over the years, but whenever Zhou Zhongqing has the chance, he checks him out, especially since he’s leaving for several months this time.

"Wait..." As he was about to leave, Jiang Chengsi still stopped him.

From Si Yushan’s backache problem, he kept conversing about which nutrients children should be supplementing at this stage, until Zhou Zhongqing was fed up, only then did a certain someone finally hesitantly say:

"I wanted to ask about having children..."

Zhou Zhongqing opened his mouth, stunned into silence for a while, "You’ve held me back all this time, to talk about having children?"

"First of all, I’m not a gynecologist or andrologist, not specialized in this area."

"You’ve already had a child, haven’t you? So? You’re not even middle-aged yet, and your body can’t keep up?"

Doctors tend to speak more bluntly, shocking Jiang Chengsi into being speechless.

"If there’s something physically wrong, just say it outright. Avoiding diagnosis is serious business; as for patient privacy, I adhere to professional ethics and won’t tell anyone."

Jiang Chengsi shook his head in disbelief, "No, no... I’m quite healthy."

Zhou Zhongqing assessed him, "If it’s not a physical issue, then I can’t help you. I’m not the kind of doctor who can treat everything. If you’re physically uncomfortable, come to me; I can handle ordinary problems. As for having children..."

"You’ll have to put in the effort yourself."

...

When Zhou Zhongqing went to Jiang Jinsang’s room, he had already been waiting for a while. Although the surgery was years ago, his body now appeared as normal as anyone else’s, but the scars from the surgery were still there, reminding the two of them how he had been pulled back from the brink of death time and again.

To Jiang Jinsang, these surgical scars might just be a thing of the past, but to Zhou Zhongqing, they witnessed too much of his professional career.

"Alright, you look great." Every time Zhou Zhongqing looked at Jiang Jinsang, he felt that if he had a child, the time spent would probably be less than the time spent with this rascal.

"Godfather, is it time to eat?" Tang Wan knocked on the door from outside.

"It’s ready."

Jiang Jinsang needed to change clothes, so Tang Wan helped carry the stethoscope and other medical equipment, leaving with Zhou Zhongqing first.

"You’re going away for so long this time, and you’re not going to be in Beijing for Mid-Autumn Festival again." Tang Wan mentioned, feeling somewhat disappointed.

"It doesn’t matter whether we celebrate it or not."

Tang Wan coughed lightly, "So... is Brother Wu’s health okay?"

"Didn’t I tell you already? He’s in great health, why do you always ask me privately again each time? What, you don’t trust me, worried about his illness recurring?"

Tang Wan has occasionally worried over the years...

From marriage to the child’s birth, first month, first birthday, she worried when he might have an incident again; the critical conditions during the surgeries back then were still fresh in her memory.

"What’s wrong with you, child? He’s really fine, in very good health." After speaking, Zhou Zhongqing laughed and went downstairs to find Jiang Xiaowai.

Tang Wan was still fretting in her heart...

A muted voice came from behind:

"After so many years, you’re still worried about my health?"

Tang Wan’s body stiffened, immediately followed by that voice getting closer, coming from the side; she could feel his breath lightly brushing against the strands of her hair near her temple...

"Wanwan, am I in good health?"

"Do you still not know? Huh?"

The final syllable was deliberately prolonged, making Tang Wan’s heart tremble.

Jiang Jinsang felt a bit sullen; after so many years of marriage, she was still worried about his health?

It’s said that practice is the only criterion for truth, so he could only show her by experience.

Tonight was also the last night Zhou Zhongqing could help them take care of the child, and when Tang Wan returned to the room, she found a certain person already lying in bed.

Without saying anything, he just raised his hand and patted the side next to him, the hint was very obvious.

...

At this moment, Jiang Xiaowai was snuggled in Zhou Zhongqing’s arms, listening to him tell the story of the Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood.

Zhou Zhongqing asked him what insights he had after hearing the story, and the little guy just touched his belly: "The wolf ate Grandma and Little Red Riding Hood, and finally the hunter saved them from the wolf’s belly, this wolf..."

"Sure can eat, huh."

Zhou Zhongqing chuckled helplessly, "Grandpa is leaving tomorrow, really can’t bear to leave you."

Over this time, with constant companionship, children tend to be clingy. Zhou Zhongqing, who is childless, although he watched Jiang Jinsang grow up, was entirely focused on treating his body then, unlike now, enjoying familial bliss with Jiang Xiaowai.

"Can’t you not go?"

"Grandpa has to go heal and save people."

"Then why don’t they come here to treat you, and instead, you have to go find them?"

"The patients are not in good health, and can’t come all the way here, so I have to go."

"Being a doctor is really hard." Jiang Xiaowai sighed dramatically.

Zhou Zhongqing just patted his head, has a mind to let Jiang Xiaowai inherit his profession but hesitated, thinking about the hardships of studying medicine, unwilling to let his little grandson endure them.

When Jiang Xiaowai fell asleep, he still resembled Jiang Jinsang from the side; that kid was too frail before, as if raised spoiled in a greenhouse, barely able to take care of himself, how could he treat others? Otherwise, with his intelligence, if he became a doctor...

Zhou Zhongqing mused to himself, early next morning, not disturbing Jiang Xiaowai, he bid farewell to Tang Wan and the others quietly sneaked away.

When Jiang Xiaowai woke up to find Grandpa was gone, he felt something on a deeper level, ran outside barefoot, his eyes red, only to be carried back to bed by Jiang Jinsang.

"You miss Grandpa that much?" Jiang Jinsang bent down, helping him wipe his feet.

"Yeah." The little guy nodded earnestly, "Can I video call with Grandpa every day?"

"For a while he’ll be in the mountains, the signal might not be great, he might not be able to receive calls."

"Oh." The little guy looked dejected.

"But you can write down what you want to say to Grandpa, draw pictures, or I can record videos for you to send to him later."

Jiang Xiaowai nodded seriously. Though still young, speaking directly to the camera about missing you made the little guy seem a bit shy, saying he wanted to write down what he wanted to say to Zhou Zhongqing.

At his age, he can’t really write, so Jiang Jinsang suggested using pinyin for unknown words, and if pinyin wasn’t known, then draw circles.

The result was the little guy wrote:

[OOdeOO...]

"What do you want to write?"

"Dear Grandpa."

Jiang Jinsang felt a slight headache; originally, it was about practicing writing, ultimately realizing the struggle was his own.

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