Chapter 132: I'll Give You Ten Million to Leave My Son

Zhou Yili tilted his head and looked at him with a smile.

"Shall we get married, Teacher Shen?"

Shen Jixing paused for a moment while holding his phone, meeting the gaze filled with amusement. "Is this your proposal?"

One sentence was enough to KO Zhou Yili.

In this sparse VIP hospital room, with these sloppy nine lollipops, and himself in such a pathetic state with one hand bandaged like a steamed bun, even the few tufts of blue hair on top of Zhou Yili’s head seemed to sag.

"No..."

When it came to a disparity in intellect, he really couldn't win.

Shen Jixing looked at his lazy and indifferent expression, parted his lips, and let out a soft, faint laugh. "Since it’s not, I’ll wait for you to propose before we get married."

"..."

Zhou Yili’s thoughts were still drifting when he suddenly froze. "What?"

Shen Jixing didn't speak again, lowering his eyes to scroll through his phone.

The next second, he was pulled directly over, landing on Zhou Yili’s lap, his lips accidentally brushing against his chin.

Zhou Yili paused. "I asked you a question; don't try to use your beauty to distract me."

"..."

He’s crazy.

Zhou Yili seemed unable to recover from that one sentence. "What did you just say? Say it again so I can hear it."

In truth, Zhou Yili remembered it very clearly.

*I’ll wait for you to propose before we get married.*

Shen Jixing had genuinely thought about marrying him.

But Shen Jixing had no intention of saying it aloud to him right now. He avoided the man’s scorching, inquisitive gaze, and only after being pestered to the point of annoyance did he coolly utter, "If I say it now, what will there be left to say later?"

The beautiful Star could always leave people mesmerized with a single sentence.

He turned his head to avoid Zhou Yili’s hair and pushed his head slightly away. "We're in a hospital, stop messing around. Someone is coming soon."

Zhou Yili couldn't care less about who was coming.

He lowered his head, inhaling Shen Jixing’s scent—that cool, distant yet gentle sandalwood.

"You really do love me, you’ve decided on me for this lifetime, and even if mountains crumble, seas roar, or the earth is destroyed, you won't leave me, right?"

Every word sounded too much like forever.

It was a topic Shen Jixing had never considered before, a topic he would usually flee from the moment he heard it.

Yet now, he could respond with composure. "I suppose so?"

"It’s a 'yes'," Zhou Yili corrected.

Shen Jixing found it amusing. "Whatever you say."

Tiny dust motes floated in the air. Zhou Yili felt his heart fall from ten thousand meters in the air, only to be softly cradled and protected by a pair of wings.

Even someone as imposing and magnificent as him felt the sudden urge for his eyes to grow hot and red.

Then, he heard Shen Jixing’s pleasant voice. "By the way, I just took a call. It was from your father."

Zhou Yili, buried carelessly against his neck, gave an indifferent hum.

"What did he say?"

Shen Jixing’s tone carried a hint of subtlety. "He said he’d give me ten million to leave his son."

"..."

Zhou Hengyang arrived at the hospital not long after.

The man, clad in a sharp suit, carried an extraordinary air. He was still on the phone while walking down the hospital corridor, his dignified, booming voice audible throughout the entire floor.

"Yes, I’m taking a break from my busy schedule to check on my little good-for-nothing son."

"Our relationship isn't good? That's right, it was never good. Every time that little brat and I meet, he insists on causing enough chaos to scorch the earth for ten miles around. Do you think I’m here out of the kindness of my heart? Ridiculous. He suffered a grievance out there that he couldn't handle, so he knew to come looking for his father to be his backing."

"Ha, he actually said I was his god, ha!"

Finally, Zhou Yili yanked open the ward door, staring coldly and expressionlessly at Zhou Hengyang.

"Are you done yet?"

Zhou Yili swept his gaze across the various heads peeking out from other wards before settling it back on the center-of-attention middle-aged man.

"Since your voice is so loud, how about I buy you a megaphone?"

Shen Jixing was eating grapes in a leisurely manner and lifted his eyes calmly to look over.

Zhou Hengyang: "..."

"I'm hanging up," he said coldly to the person on the other end. "Yes, he opened the door himself to welcome his old man’s arrival."

Zhou Yili: "..."

Zhou Yili stepped aside to let him through, glancing at him carelessly. "You came empty-handed and you have the nerve to ask for a welcome?"

Zhou Hengyang’s foot, just about to step elegantly into the ward, paused.

He slanted a look at Zhou Yili. "Does a father need to bring gifts to see his son?"

His face, naturally commanding and stern, was filled with a sneering, disdainful look.

"Should I have brought you two funeral wreaths?"

Seeing that Zhou Yili was about to lose his temper, Shen Jixing, who was eating grapes, gave a light cough. "..."

Zhou Yili glared coldly at Zhou Hengyang and didn't speak again.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Hengyang glanced at Shen Jixing and didn't say anything more either.

Zhou Yili went straight to the point. "Stop meddling in my affairs."

He was clearly referring to Zhou Hengyang’s interference in offering ten million to make Shen Jixing leave.

A mere ten million.

Was he looking down on Shen Jixing, or looking down on him?

Zhou Hengyang had only just stepped inside before a boundary was drawn between them. He sneered, "Isn't a father supposed to be a god-like existence?"

Zhou Yili: "..."

I give up.

Every time he faced Zhou Hengyang, it was an endless cycle. He turned his head to look at Shen Jixing.

Shen Jixing handed him a plate of grapes, but before he could speak, Zhou Hengyang reprimanded him: "Why are you looking at him? You chose this path yourself; even if it was for his sake, it was still your choice. He didn't force you. Stop trying to use that 'I sacrificed so much for you, hurry up and comfort me' look to guilt-trip him."

The air seemed to fall silent.

Finally, it was Shen Jixing who broke the stillness. "He might just want to act a little spoiled."

"..."

For once, Zhou Yili didn't snap back.

Although they didn't see eye to eye, it was Zhou Hengyang who had taught him the principles that allowed Zhou Yili to grow up outstanding, uninhibited, and kind.

"I didn't let you eat," Shen Jixing patted Zhou Yili’s hand. "Give some to your father."

Zhou Yili subconsciously handed them to his father: "?"

Did he leave a word out?

Shen Jixing’s expression didn't change, and Zhou Hengyang remained calm and composed.

Zhou Yili felt something was wrong. Given Zhou Hengyang’s personality, he shouldn't be acting like this; he should be erupting like a gas canister, shouting at Shen Jixing:

"You haven't even married into the family and you're already calling me Father? I’ll give you twenty million, leave my son immediately."

But Zhou Hengyang said nothing of the sort; he even took a grape.

This man hated eating such sour fruit more than anything.

"You’ve been cursed, haven't you? You didn't come here with your nose in the air, throwing ten million at him to make him leave your son?"

Zhou Yili asked his doubts the moment they arose.

But he suspected Zhou Hengyang had been cursed; he never once suspected that Shen Jixing was lying to him.

Zhou Hengyang spat a grape seed directly at him. "Is your brain broken, or is mine? Why would I pass up the top scorer in the country with 731 on the college entrance exam, and let a 666-scorer like you manage the family business instead?"

"Would there even be a flower left on my grave when I die?"

"..."

Zhou Yili turned his head directly to look at Shen Jixing.

Shen Jixing truly couldn't help it; he lightly touched his forehead, smiling helplessly. "I was just joking, and you actually believed it..."