Copycat - Chapter 20.2

Chapter 20.2

The entanglements of the older generation shouldn’t involve the younger one. But his daughter had only gone to City A University to study, and she had not only become a lesbian, but also gotten involved with the Zhou family from City A. He simply couldn’t accept it.

The girl pacing in front of the operating room door paused. She had thought Wen Jiao’s father might investigate her, but she hadn’t expected him to find out her information so quickly.

Her eyes showed a hint of surprise.

Ren Jinggeng frowned. “Are you Zhou Shansheng’s granddaughter? What’s your father’s name? How many older brothers, sisters, younger brothers, and sisters do you have? Where do you rank in the family? How are your studies?”

A string of questions was thrown at her, leaving Zhou Ziyan a little stunned. She answered instinctively, “Yes, my father is Zhou Yan. I have two older siblings. I’m the third child. My studies… are average, I guess.”

Ren Jinggeng’s brows were tightly furrowed. “Oh, Zhou Yan.”

“I saw your father at a charity gala in City A last year.”

“…Oh.” Zhou Ziyan lowered her eyes, her long lashes hiding the complex emotions within them. Ren Jinggeng stared at her, his sharp, hawk-like gaze piercing through her thoughts.

He probed, “Your family probably manages you pretty strictly, right?”

“I heard the Zhou family is preparing to exit the real estate market. They’ve teamed up with the Cheng Group, which has technology patents in City A, to slowly transition. They’re planning to cooperate in the tech industry?”

Her heart pounded like a drum.

Zhou Ziyan’s fingers, which were hanging at her sides, clenched slightly. She gave Ren Jinggeng an awkward smile, a little flustered as she gave a perfunctory answer. “Maybe so. Sorry, uncle, I don’t know much about that.”

Ren Jinggeng narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing her. “I also heard that the Zhou family is planning a marriage alliance with the Cheng family…”

The light in the operating room suddenly went out, interrupting their conversation. Zhou Ziyan breathed a sigh of relief, but her heart quickly leaped into her throat again.

The surgery was over, but the doctor hadn’t come out yet.

After five minutes, the operating room door finally opened. The doctor took off his mask, looked left and right, his gaze first falling on the man in the chair, then settling on the girl who was watching him with a worried expression.

He walked over with his hands in his pockets and stood beside Zhou Ziyan. “The suturing was successful. The stitches will be removed in a week. Just apply the scar cream regularly after the surgery, and there’s a high chance there won’t be a scar.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Zhou Ziyan said, bowing repeatedly in gratitude.

The doctor waved his hand, indicating it was unnecessary. He pointed to the operating room, where the lights had been turned back to normal. “You can go in now, miss.”

“Oh, right.” After saying that, he added, “Her body has been over-exhausted for a long time and is extremely weak. This is a chronic issue. You need to remind her to eat on time, and don’t let her work so hard. It would be best if you were with her often to supervise.”

Zhou Ziyan opened her phone’s notes app, jotting down all the key points the doctor had mentioned, and asked for more tips on how to take care of her. The doctor nodded at her in satisfaction, then stepped to the side, letting her go in.

Outside the operating room, only the doctor in the white coat and the father sitting in the family waiting chair remained.

The atmosphere was eerily quiet.

The doctor, with his hands in his pockets, smiled kindly at his old friend. “Long time no see, President Ren.”

Ren Jinggeng crossed his arms, raised his eyes, and glared at him. “You ignored me and gave all of Wen Jiao’s post-operative instructions to a strange girl you’ve just met.”

“Li Bai, is this the welcome gift you’re giving me?”

Dr. Li spread his hands and gave a wild smile. “A doctor’s duty is to save lives and heal the wounded. Everything must be for the patient’s sake. That young girl cares more about Wen Jiao than you do. She’s clearly a better person to entrust with the doctor’s orders.”

“You!” Ren Jinggeng’s brow furrowed, his face darkening as he warned him.

“Control your temper. That act only works on people who are after your money and power. I’m a neutral party,” Li Bai said, taking off his white coat and putting on his casual clothes.

He looked back at his friend. “Be a little nicer, and try to understand others more. Maybe Wen Yilian will agree to remarry you. Who are you showing that scowl to all day?”

Having his sore spot hit, and with nothing to smash, Ren Jinggeng kicked a trash can in frustration.

Li Bai finished changing, walked over to him, and patted his shoulder. “Alright, a lot of things can’t be solved with money. Slow and steady wins the race. Let’s go grab a bite to eat, and I’ll talk to you.”

With that, he gave a meaningful glance towards the operating room. “And you can tell me what’s going on with your daughter and that little girl.”

VIP ward.

When Wen Jiao opened her eyes, she was in a quiet hospital room. The bleeding wound on her forehead had been meticulously stitched. The anesthetic had worn off, and the stitched area was a little itchy. She instinctively reached out to scratch it, but it tugged on her left hand, which was receiving an IV drip. The needle shifted, causing a slight prickling pain in her vein.

She let out a low groan.

“Don’t move,” a familiar voice said from her right.

Wen Jiao turned her face. Zhou Ziyan carefully adjusted the needle, putting it back in its original position and securing her left hand. She instructed her seriously, “You’re getting an IV drip. You can’t move around, or the needle will roll out of place.”

Wen Jiao looked up, staring at the medicine bottle that was only a third full. “What’s this medicine?” she asked.

“It’s an antibiotic. This is the last bottle. Besides that, the doctor also gave you glucose. Your bl00d sugar was terribly low when you were sent to the hospital.”

“The nurse was surprised and asked me if you had no money to eat.”

Wen Jiao: “…”

Zhou Ziyan kept talking while she worked. Wen Jiao looked at the mutilated apple in her hands. The exposed fruit had faint black spots from oxidation, and the red skin that had been successfully peeled off was about as thick as a finger.

Wen Jiao: “Stop torturing the apple.”

Zhou Ziyan paused, giving her a chiding look. She cut the apple, which was now just a core, into small pieces and fed a piece to her with a fork. Wen Jiao bit into the fruit. The sweet juice of the apple washed away the metallic taste of bl00d in her mouth.

“That’s not bad,” Wen Jiao praised. Encouraged, Zhou Ziyan excitedly continued her battle with the second apple in her hand. Her expression was extremely serious. Wen Jiao watched her silently and then suddenly said, “Zhou Ziyan.”

“Hm?” The peeler sliced through the peel. Zhou Ziyan looked up, her eyes a little lost. “What is it?”

Wen Jiao was silent for a long time, just quietly staring at her. It was long enough that Zhou Ziyan’s cheeks started to flush. She pouted slightly. “Why are you staring at me? Have you just realized I’m pretty now?”

“Are you sure you want to be with me? Do you want to reconsider?”

Wen Jiao asked.

Zhou Ziyan was stunned, her beautiful brows furrowing. “Of course, I do.”

Her voice was a little angry. “Wen Jiao, what are you thinking? I’ve liked you for so long, and I’ve been dying to be with you. Unless you actively give up on me, I’ll never let go. Or are you regretting it now?”

“Well, it’s too late! I’ll never let go!”

“…I’m not,” Wen Jiao said, lowering her lashes to hide the self-doubt in her eyes. “It’s just that being with me might not be as good as you imagine.”

Zhou Ziyan put down the half-peeled apple. “What do you mean?”

“I plan to find a job after I graduate; I don’t plan to continue my studies,” Wen Jiao said, pausing for a moment. “The kind of life you’re used to, I can’t provide for you in a short amount of time.”

Without the title of the Ren family’s only daughter, she was nothing more than an “elite” employee who had to rely on a long journey and the accumulation of work experience to rise from an ordinary employee to a management position.

Even so, to achieve the wealth that the Zhou family’s century-old business could provide, it would also depend on opportunities.

“If you…” Wen Jiao bit her lower lip, unable to finish the sentence.

For the first time, she felt so powerless as an ordinary person.

“If what?”

“If I can’t stand this kind of life, should I just go home?”

“Or should I leave you and find a rich second generation to marry early, to live a life of wealth and leisure?”

Wen Jiao frowned. “That’s not what I meant.”

The red peel was suddenly cut short. The peeler was slammed down. Zhou Ziyan’s voice was tinged with anger. “Wen Jiao, what kind of person do you think I am?”