Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Outside the ward.
Tan Yunchang’s hand was thrown away by Luo Zhan. Luo Zhan couldn’t suppress his annoyance: “Why did you pull me out?”
“My ancestor, if I don’t pull you out, do you want me to watch you do something stupid?”
“I’m just going to tell her the truth.”
“Isn’t what I said the truth? The robot was originally destroyed by those brats in the laboratory!”
“But that was a year ago!”
“I, I didn’t tell Sister Tang Ran the specific time, did I?” Tan Yunchang lowered his voice guiltily and advised bitterly: “I beg you to sober up, ancestor, are you really going to tell her the whole truth?”
Luo Zhan clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and his cheekbones moved slightly: “What else, let me see her sad?”
“Even if you tell her, she may not be happy! That’s cheating, a complete lie from beginning to end! It’s okay for a girl to be angry with others, but if she is angry with her boyfriend, it will be the most difficult to appease her – aren’t you afraid that she will ignore you?”
Luo Zhan said coldly: “That’s better than letting her be sad alone.”
“…” Tan Yunchang choked for a long time, then gritted his teeth, “We were all blind and saw it wrong before – you are really a lovebrain[1] person.”
Luo Zhan ignored Tan Yunchang’s words, he just turned around and went back to the ward.
Tan Yunchang was so confused that he rushed over and grabbed the man and said, “Have you forgotten the bet between you and your brother?”
“!”
Luo Zhan’s steps suddenly froze in place.
Tan Yunchang gnashed his teeth in anger: “What did you promise to everyone in INT? You said you would lead us to create our own history! – What, young master, are you going to go back on your word now?”
“…”
“Have you forgotten the hardships and fatigue we’ve all endured over the years? Just before the end of the year two years ago, in order to find a bug in more than 100,000 lines of code, everyone only slept two or three hours a day for more than a week and finally found it. Then a group of people laughed and made a noise like a bunch of idiots. Even Qianhua, who is the most teetotaler in the lab and doesn’t even drink a sip of beverage at normal gatherings, opened a can of beer on the spot, tilted his head back and swallowed it, and then fell directly to the ground. Everyone was so scared that they rushed over to pinch his Ren Zhong[2], but they found that he was snoring louder than anyone else. Have you forgotten all this? In the past few years, INT has come to this point. Finally, the old antiques who used to ignore us have begun to see our potential. At this juncture, as the captain of INT, are you ready to abandon us, abandon the entire INT, and walk away?”
“I didn’t!” Luo Zhan said harshly.
Tan Yunchang was so excited that his saliva kept splashing out:
“Then what are you doing now? Don’t you regret it? Do you want to be the young master of the Luo family again? Just take this opportunity to tell Tang Ran the truth, lose your bet, and then go back comfortably to inherit your Luo family’s billions of assets?!”
“I’m regretting it?”
Luo Zhan raised his hand and grabbed Tan Yunchang by the collar. The corners of his eyes were already slightly red.
“Ever since I joined the INT team against my grandfather’s wishes, all the wishes of the Luo family have been wrapped around me like vines, pulling me back tightly. If I really wanted to go back, I don’t even have to retreat, I just need to stop without fighting – if I really had been shaken for even a second, if I had ever wanted to give up everything in INT, I just need to stop! And if I had stopped even once over the years, I would not have been able to persist until today!”
“…”
The corridor was dead silent.
Only two men were left, staring at each other coldly, their chests heaving with anger.
When none of them wanted to show weakness and their eyes were wide open, two young nurses slipped past them from the corner muttering to themselves –
“Are these two people acting out a situation play in the hospital?”
“Really? Like madmen.”
“These boys are so good-looking, but they became mentally damaged at such a young age. How pitiful.”
“Oh, how pitiful.”
Luo Zhan: “…”
Tan Yunchang: “…”
The two of them awkwardly let go of each other’s hands at the same time, took a step back and turned their heads away.
Luo Zhan retreated to the window in the corridor and thought about his childish behavior just now.
After a few seconds, he lowered his head and leaned against the wall, holding his forehead and laughing angrily.
Tan Yunchang also laughed almost at the same time.
Tan Yunchang: “My ancestor, you can’t be so stupid. You are the face of K University. It would be too embarrassing if this gets out.”
Luo Zhan glanced at him coldly, as if smiling: “Didn’t you start it?”
“…It seems so.” Tan Yunchang sighed, “How fu**ing embarrassing.”
“Okay, go back and reflect.”
Luo Zhan straightened up from the wall he was leaning against, put his hands lazily in his trouser pockets, turned around with drooping eyes and walked towards the stairs.
Tan Yunchang smiled and followed.
When they were almost at the parking lot, Tan Yunchang suddenly thought of something and asked, “Sister Tang doesn’t want us to celebrate her first birthday. What should we do?”
Luo Zhan paused: “Let me think about it.”
“Yes. But,” Tan Yunchang turned back in confusion, “Sister Tang, why did she say it has to be after her birthday?”
Luo Zhan frowned and remained silent.
After the two of them got into the car, Luo Zhan started the car. After several unsuccessful attempts to start the engine, he suddenly clenched his fist and hit the steering wheel hard.
Tan Yunchang was stunned and looked over.
The young man sitting in the driver’s seat had red eyes and pursed his lips: “Because the robot was her last birthday gift.”
Tan Yunchang didn’t react.
“…”
Luo Zhan looked up with red eyes. The sanatorium building not far away stood in the bright sunshine at noon.
His fingers slowly tightened around the steering wheel, and his voice became hoarse.
“If she treats the robot as a relative or friend, and as a living companion in her life, then it was ‘born’ on her old birthday.”
Tan Yunchang thought of something and his eyes flickered.
Luo Zhan lowered his head: “And we ‘killed’ it. Her old birthday is now its death anniversary.”
Tan Yunchang froze.
After a few seconds, he slowly sighed: “It’s up to you how to solve it, I will cooperate… Just think about the consequences clearly.”
Luo Zhan tightly gripped the steering wheel and closed his eyes: “Yeah.”
Wednesday was Tang Ran’s original birthday.
Tang Ran, who had been depressed since last Saturday, finally reached her emotional lowest point on Wednesday.
From waking up in the morning, eating breakfast, daydreaming, eating lunch, continuing to daydream, eating dinner…
Until it was dark outside the window, the little girl still didn’t say a word except for some interjections. Even if Lan Jingqian personally stepped in, it was useless.
By almost eight o’clock in the evening, the sky outside the window was as dark as ink.
Then Tang Ran issued an “expulsion order” to Lan Jingqian in the ward, which was also the only complete sentence she had said so far today:
“Dad, I want to rest.”
Even if Lan Jingqian was reluctant, he could only sigh. After giving instructions on every detail, he left the ward with a frown.
The small standing clock placed on the square table in the Tang family’s side house was brought to the sanatorium by Tang Ran.
At eight o’clock, its pendulum struck eight lonely chimes in the quiet and empty room.
Thinking back to the vivid nights of darkness that she had spent with him over the past year, Tang Ran lying on the hospital bed could not help but bend down and bury her wet face in her knees.
“Luo Luo,” she couldn’t help but choke up, “I’m sorry, I…”
The door was suddenly opened.
A light from the long corridor shone into the dark ward.
Tang Ran was so frightened that she stopped sobbing and turned her head to look at the door in astonishment.
In the light from the long corridor, a white hand with slender fingers was pushing open the door. The owner of the hand seemed to be in a hurry. He leaned over the door and Tang Ran could hear the subtle and rapid breathing in the air.
There was an inexplicable sense of familiarity in that breath.
Thinking of the source of this familiar feeling, Tang Ran’s mind went blank.
Until that figure slowly stood up and stepped into her sight. A long-lost, familiar, mechanical voice sounded hoarsely –
“Happy birthday.”
Luo Zhan stood at the dividing line between light and darkness, looking at the girl on the hospital bed who was hidden in the darkness and could not be seen clearly.
Then, after finally calming his breathing, Young Master Luo lowered his eyes and revealed a somewhat embarrassed but relieved smile.
“Good evening…Master.”
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[1] “Love brain,” or “lian ai nao” in Chinese, refers to a state of being so infatuated with love that it negatively impacts a person’s ability to think clearly and make sound decisions, often leading to a decline in work or study performance.
[2] Acupoint located at the midline of the upper lip.