Chapter 66: A Seed of Doubt

  (I have something to attend to tonight, so I'm updating ahead of time ~~ thank you everyone for your support ~~)

  Back in their dormitory, all four of them were a bit tipsy, and Hao Ren was the most sober among them.

  Originally, when such a thing happened, Hao Ren was supposed to stay in the dormitory with Zhao Jiatian, but he also missed his grandmother who had just been discharged from the hospital. Moreover, for this matter, he wanted to ask Zhao Guang's opinion, so he took the materials and went to Zhao Yanzi's home by car.

  When they arrived at Zhao Yanzi's home, it was already past 7 o'clock in the evening. Zhao Hongyu had just finished cleaning up the table and was watching TV with Grandma Hao while chatting about family matters.

  Hao Ren entered the house and saw his grandmother's face flushed with excitement, looking somewhat surprised.

  "Ah Ren, we were just talking about you and thought you weren't coming today." The grandma sitting on the sofa said with a smile.

  "What's grandma's condition now?" Hao Ren asked. "There was something going on at school today, so I came a bit late."

  "Haha! It's better than before, even my blood pressure has gone down!" Grandma replied in a loud and clear voice.

  Hao Ren looked at his grandmother's complexion and indeed it was very good, not like someone who had just recovered from a serious illness, but rather seemed to be several years younger than before she left the hospital.

  Zhao Hongyu stood beside her grandmother, smiling silently.

  "After all, it's all thanks to Hongyu's care. These two days, she has been cooking chicken soup for me every day, so my body is recovering better than before!" Grandma said, looking at Zhao Hongyu beside her.

  Hao Ren thought that Zhao Hongyu might have put some kind of magical medicine in the chicken soup, judging from her smile, it was very possible. Of course, it was also possible that Grandma's mood was good, so she recovered quickly.

  Seeing his grandmother's body getting healthier and healthier, Hao Ren finally felt at ease and asked Zhao Hongyu, "Where is Zi?"

  "Go upstairs and do your homework, I'll stay here and chat with your grandma for a while." Zhao Hongyu said gently.

  "Hmm!" Hao Ren picked up his documents and headed downstairs.

  He turned around and took a look at Zhao Hongyu and his grandmother in the living room, and found that they were really getting along well, even better than his grandmother's relationship with his own wife. This world was indeed wonderful.

  He came to Zhao Yanzi's room door, quietly pushed the door in, and found Zhao Yanzi lying on the desk, doing his homework with his head down.

  She heard the sound and turned her head to see Hao Ren, immediately letting out a "hmm".

  "What's wrong? What have I done to you again?" Hao Ren walked over and returned the few textbooks that Zhao Yanzi had lent him last time.

  "My mom cooked a lot of dishes you love to eat, and with just one phone call from you, you said you're not coming over to eat anymore." Zhao Yanzi pouted her small mouth and said.

  "Huh?" Hao Ren didn't know about this matter, he was somewhat surprised and also a bit moved.

  "There was something going on at school today, so I couldn't come over." Hao Ren sat down beside her, pulling out the materials from his bag as he explained.

  Zhao Yanzi puffed out his cheeks like a blowfish and ignored Hao Ren.

  "This Friday is the school's mid-term exam, right?" Hao Ren asked her.

  "Hmm." Zhao Yanzi nodded slightly.

  She was wearing a floral blouse and khaki shorts, lively and lovely, with an extra touch of sweetness. Her slender body emitted a faint fragrance after bathing, slightly stimulating Hao Ren's sense of smell.

  As expected, she is indeed the daughter of famous designer Zhao Hongyu. Even wearing casual clothes at home, her outfit still looks so beautiful.

  "Let's review it one last time then." Hao Ren said as he spread out the materials.

  After reviewing Zhao Yanzi's textbook, Hao Ren had a clear understanding of their sophomore teaching schedule and knew which knowledge points were mainly concentrated in which parts. For Zhao Yanzi's mid-term exam, he had a clearer direction for tutoring.

  This time, Zhao Yanzi didn't argue anymore and actually followed Hao Ren's train of thought to review. Today's tutoring session was also the smoothest one since Hao Ren started helping her with her homework.

  Hao Ren felt that this time Zhao Yanzi was really willing to learn something, it seemed that she was going to take the mid-term exam seriously.

  She went through and consolidated all the important knowledge points for each subject, and before she knew it, two hours had passed.

  Hao Ren suddenly stopped lecturing and said to her, "Get some rest early, I'm going to visit my grandmother."

  "Oh." Zhao Yanzi nodded slightly and bowed her head to organize today's lecture notes.

  Seeing her obedient appearance, Hao Ren was taken aback and almost doubted whether the person in front of him was really Zhao Yanzi.

  He quietly exited the room and went next door to visit his grandmother.

  "Has Ah Zi finished her supplementary lessons?" Grandma was lying in bed, but she hadn't fallen asleep, as if she knew that Hao Ren would definitely come to the room to see her.

  "Yes, there are some left, I'll talk about them in the next few days." Hao Ren replied, sitting down beside his grandmother's bed.

  "Ah Ren, I always feel that your relationship with Ah Zi's family is not so simple. But when I ask Hong Yu, she says you're just Ah Zi's home tutor." Grandma looked at Hao Ren, "Are you hiding something from me?"

  "Hmm... nothing much," Hao Ren shook his head, "I just have a good relationship with their family."

  "Alright, anyway, the Hongyu family owes a debt of gratitude to Grandma for saving their lives. You must take good care of Little Ah Zi." Grandma said with a gentle pat on Hao Ren's shoulder.

  These days, she lived in Zhao Hongyu's home. Zhao Hongyu and her family treated her as if she were their own elder, with both respect and consideration, making Grandma feel that they were indeed kind-hearted people.

  And Ah Zi, every morning and evening would come to pay respects to her, not only in the morning would she come to wake her up for breakfast, but also after school would come to ask about her physical condition, making Grandma feel that this Ah Zi was both well-behaved and considerate, the more she looked at her the more she liked her.

  Grandma had already made up her mind that even if she recovered and returned to live by the sea, her relationship with Zhao Hongyu's family would not be severed. Moreover, she planned to let her son get to know Zhao Guang's family, and no matter how busy they were with work in the future, they would definitely make time to visit each other, and the two families would become lifelong friends.

  Unfortunately, Ah Zi is a few years younger, and Ah Ren and Ah Zi don't have an emotional foundation. Otherwise, if they were of similar age, it wouldn't be bad if the two could pair up... Gradually, Grandma's old-fashioned ideas resurfaced in her mind, and she thought about it with some delight.

  She always felt that Zhao Hongyu couldn't be her daughter-in-law, but being able to make her a close relative was also great, adding closeness to their relationship and making it complete.

  What a pity, it's just that Ah Zi is a bit too young, can't be Ah Ren's girlfriend.

  Hao Ren had no idea that his grandmother's old-fashioned thoughts were constantly turning over in her mind, and he just chatted with her from time to time, talking about things at school, just like when he used to go back to the seaside to accompany her.

  Half an hour passed like this, and it was also the time when Hao Ren usually returned to school.

  Seeing Hao Ren wanting to go back to school, his grandmother was reluctant to part with her grandson. "Hong Yu just told me that you can stay here tonight, and you can sleep in my room or the design studio on the attic."

  "It's okay, Grandma, I'll go back to school. It's not good to always stay outside." Hao Ren advised. He was worried about Zhao Jiatun's bad mood and thought of going back to comfort her again.

  "It's also true that often not living in school has a bad influence, so you should go back to school early." Grandma hoped Hao Ren would stay overnight here, but she even more didn't want Hao Ren to neglect his studies.

  "Okay, Grandma, rest well. I'll come again tomorrow anyway." Hao Ren stood up from the bedside, looked around this newly cleaned room, and walked out of the door.

  From the corridor on the second floor, Hao Ren saw that the light in the study next to the living room on the first floor was still on, guessing that Zhao Guang must not have rested yet. He went down the stairs and indeed saw Zhao Guang wearing a large shirt, reviewing documents in the open study.

  He walked to the door of the study and knocked on it.

  Zhao Guang looked up and saw Hao Ren, nodding slightly, "Come in."

  "Uncle, I have something on my mind and I'd like to discuss it with you." Hao Ren said as he entered the study, glancing up at the wall clock which was approaching 10 o'clock.

  Ah Zi's father always had a stern expression, but he was indeed very busy with his work, and it was unknown whether he would find the trivial matters of this school annoying if he were to intervene.

  "Speak," Zhao Guang put down what he was holding and looked at Hao Ren.

  "Uh-huh, it's like this, a classmate of mine in the dormitory got into a fight with some people from the school basketball team today..."

  Hao Ren told everything in detail, Zhao Guang sat on the chair, facing Hao Ren, listening quietly, without showing any unusual expression.

  "Is this what's going on? You're also involved in the fight?" Zhao Guang finally spoke up after Hao Ren finished speaking.

  Hao Ren nodded. After all, Zhao Guang was not his father, and he felt a bit awkward about letting Zhao Guang help with this matter.

  What's more, because of Grandma's matter, Hao Ren had already troubled them once, and Grandma was still living in their house. This time, he asked for their help again with the school matter, Hao Ren was originally thin-skinned, now he was even more worried that Zhao Guang would think he was being greedy and insatiable.

  "You don't need to look for me about this kind of thing." Zhao Guang said coldly as he looked at Hao Ren.

  Hao Ren's heart sank a little. As expected, he had been displeased.

  "Go find Lu Qing tomorrow." He continued.

  Just as Hao Ren was about to blush and bid farewell, Zhao Guang said again, "However, we will also give the principal a call later to inform him of this matter. Your classmate is called Zhao Jiaxin, right?"

  Hao Ren's heart ignited a glimmer of hope, looking at Zhao Guang who had an icy expression but was willing to help, he said gratefully, "Yes, thank you Uncle!"

  "It's alright. From what you've said, your fault isn't that big either, and I also hope the school can handle it fairly. Anyway, just be more careful in the future." Zhao Guang looked up at the wall clock, "Why don't you stay here tonight?"

  "No need, I'll just head back to school early," Hao Ren said.

  "There are still many things for me to deal with here, can you take a ride back by yourself, is that okay?" Zhao Guang asked.

  "No problem! Thanks, Uncle!" Hao Ren turned around and walked out of the study room.

  He went back to the second floor and entered Zhao Yanzi's room, wanting to get his tutoring materials, only to find Zhao Yanzi sprawled across the desk, already fast asleep.

  Hao Ren quietly walked to the desk, looking at her small red hands and face pressed on the desk, thinking that this time for the mid-term exam, she really worked hard, never seen her study so seriously before.

  Watching her sleep so soundly, Hao Ren couldn't bear to disturb her, but he was also afraid she'd catch a chill, and even more worried that when she woke up, she'd have a sore back and waist. So after thinking for a moment, he bent down, one hand under her knees and the other on her back, gently lifting her up.

  Zhao Yanzi seemed to be really sleeping soundly, and was gently picked up by Hao Ren. She didn't wake up at all, still closing her eyes with even breathing.

  Hao Ren hugged the soft and fluffy Zhao Yanzi, lowered his head to smell her fragrance, moved half a step, transferred her to her small bed, and pulled up the quilt for her. Then, he picked up his tutoring materials, tiptoed to the door, turned off the main light, left a small nightlight on, walked out of the room, and closed the door.

  As the door slammed shut, Zhao Yanzi, who was "fast asleep", slowly opened her eyes, and her face suddenly turned bright red.

  Damn bastard... She muttered to herself in her heart.