Shocking! The Broke Campus Heartthrob Is My Child’s Father - Chapter 84

It’s nearly impossible to sleep well when caring for someone in the hospital.

Hospital beds were in short supply. In Grandma’s ward alone, there were six patients, each with a caregiver—twelve people sharing one room, all with different daily routines. Fortunately, Jiang Ruoqiao was young and could still manage. Grandma had become quite friendly with the other patients; they had even added each other on WeChat and created a patient group chat.

Jiang Ruoqiao took her water bottle to fill it with hot water.

Leaving the ward, she walked down the long corridor, which also had hospital beds along it. Hospitals are the busiest, most chaotic places. Jiang Ruoqiao never imagined she would run into Lin Kexing in the inpatient department—she never thought she’d see her again in this lifetime.

Lin Kexing looked equally surprised. Though they had met and spoken before, neither made any effort to approach and greet the other. Their connection had been through Jiang Yan, and now that Jiang Ruoqiao and Jiang Yan had broken up, there was no need for pleasantries. Jiang Ruoqiao calmly shifted her gaze away, no longer looking at Lin Kexing, and walked straight past her toward the hot water station.

Lin Kexing stood frozen in place.

It wasn’t until her classmate called her that she snapped back to reality, only to ask dazedly, “What kind of patients stay in this ward?”

Her classmate sighed, “Cancer patients, like Teacher Xie.”

Today, Lin Kexing had come with classmates to visit their teacher. Although they hadn’t been in school very long, when everyone heard that their teacher was hospitalized, several enthusiastic students organized a visit.

Lin Kexing froze. Cancer patients? Then… was it Jiang Ruoqiao’s family member who was hospitalized?

Did Jiang Yan know about this?

Jiang Ruoqiao put on her mask and went to get hot water, where there was also a line. A few young students were chatting by the window. She hadn’t paid attention until a name caught her ear.

“Don’t you think Lin Kexing is so pretentious?” one student muttered. “Like yesterday, when we said we were going to visit Teacher Xie, she asked if we wanted her driver to pick us all up. What’s that about? Deliberately showing off that her family has a driver, that she’s a little princess?”

“That I can overlook, but what happened earlier was really awkward,” another student complained. “We had all agreed that everyone would chip in some money to buy fruit and milk for Teacher Xie, but then she brought bird’s nest and cordyceps. It made us look bad. If you want to give something, that’s fine, but at least give us a heads-up. Now it’s just weird.”

“…Maybe these things aren’t a big deal to her. I heard her family is super rich, so maybe she just grabbed them on her way out,” said another girl wearing glasses. “We can’t blame her. Her offering to have her driver pick us up was well-intentioned, and she can buy whatever she wants for Teacher Xie. It’s hard to say. Let’s drop it.”

“That’s exactly what frustrates me the most!! It makes it seem like everything she does is right, and if we have thoughts different from hers, we’re the ones who are wrong. It’s so annoying. No wonder she changed dorms not long after the semester started. I heard her original roommates don’t even talk to her anymore. And they seemed to get along fine when they first moved in…”

Jiang Ruoqiao listened calmly.

It seemed that the original novel depicted this as well. In the first half of the story, the female protagonist had a hard time. On one hand, she had to endure the pain of unrequited love, watching the person she liked be with someone else. On the other hand, she was ostracized in her dormitory. In the original novel, the protagonist’s roommates had major issues. From the reader’s perspective, they were very jealous of Lin Kexing. Later on, the roommates who acted the most jealous and bitter had unfortunate endings.

Jiang Ruoqiao got her water and left.

The original novel couldn’t be fully trusted. That’s just how fiction works—whoever’s perspective the story follows, those who stand in opposition to them “deserve” what they get. She couldn’t control others’ fates; she could only try to change her own.

Lin Kexing wasn’t oblivious to her classmates’ conflicted attitudes—wanting to curry favor on one hand while keeping their distance on the other.

She wasn’t an insensitive person and knew they didn’t actually like her, but what did it matter? They were all insignificant people in her life anyway.

She only cared about the people she cared about.

After leaving the hospital, she hesitated for a long time before finally dialing the number she had wanted to call.

After a long wait—so long that Lin Kexing thought no one would answer—a deep male voice came through: “Hello.”

Though it was just one word, Lin Kexing’s eyes reddened.

It had been so long since she had seen him or heard his voice.

She didn’t know what had happened. Auntie had suddenly left, and her phone calls wouldn’t go through. When she asked her mother, her mother said Auntie had family matters and had resigned and left on her own.

With Auntie gone and no way to contact her, these past days had been miserable.

And he wouldn’t come back either…

” Brother Jiang Yan,” Lin Kexing choked out, “I have something to tell you about Sister Jiang.”

Only then did Jiang Yan not hang up.

The reason he answered this call was to apologize to her. Regardless of what feelings she had for him at that time, he shouldn’t have acted the way he did.

After apologizing, he would make it clear that they shouldn’t contact each other anymore.

Upon hearing her words, Jiang Yan’s heart sank, yet curiosity broke through. “What is it?”

Lin Kexing didn’t answer directly. Instead, she asked, “Where did Auntie go? Why did she leave so suddenly? I can’t get in touch with her.”

Jiang Yan could guess that Madam Lin probably knew.

He couldn’t face Madam Lin, and if she didn’t want Lin Kexing to know, it would be best for him not to say anything. “She went back to her hometown. She had some business to attend to.”

He clearly didn’t want to elaborate.

Lin Kexing felt uneasy. She didn’t understand why Auntie had suddenly left. She even wondered if Auntie had discovered her feelings—had Auntie found out that Brother Jiang Yan and Jiang Ruoqiao broke up because of her, and that’s why she left without a word?

If so, would everything be fine if Brother Jiang Yan and Jiang Ruoqiao got back together?

Her mind was a mess. With Auntie not by her side, she didn’t know who to talk to. She felt like a headless fly.

Jiang Yan asked, “What about Ruoqiao?”

Lin Kexing came back to her senses, voice heavy with sorrow as she said, “I saw her in the inpatient department. She’s probably taking care of a patient. I heard that floor is all for cancer patients.”

Jiang Yan was startled. “Which hospital?”

After patiently asking for details, he was about to hang up.

Lin Kexing wanted to talk more, but he had already ended the call. Listening to the busy tone, she lowered her eyes, feeling terrible.

With Jiang Ruoqiao serving as a caregiver, Lu Yicheng wanted to share more of her burden.

Having some free time on the 2nd, he went to the market early in the morning to buy ingredients for the next few days. After returning home, he made breakfast for Grandpa and Lu Siyan. He was right—having Grandpa watch Lu Siyan did make things much easier for him. While preparing breakfast for the two, he also prepared to make soup. The weather wasn’t as hot now, so he thought soup would be nice and comforting for the elderly.

He was making corn, pork rib, and carrot soup—one that Jiang Ruoqiao particularly enjoyed.

It was sweet and flavorful.

After simmering for nearly two hours, Lu Yicheng transferred the soup into a thermos. Before leaving, he reminded Grandpa, “Grandfather, there’s still soup in the electric stew pot. If you and Siyan get hungry, you can have some soup first. I’ll come back after delivering this.”

Grandpa smiled and waved, “Go ahead, go ahead.”

After Lu Yicheng left, the old man took out a notebook from his bag, put on his reading glasses, pulled a fountain pen from his pocket, and carefully recorded: 「October 2nd, sunny. Today Lu Yicheng went out at 6 AM to purchase ingredients at the market. He made corn, pork rib, and carrot soup. When leaving, he also brought oranges (probably knowing that Qiaoqiao likes them).」

Lu Siyan came over. Though he didn’t recognize many characters, he saw his father’s name in the line. With his hands supporting his chin, he asked curiously, “Great-grandpa, what are you writing? It seems to be about my dad.”

Grandpa closed the notebook and said with a serious face, “I’m writing reference notes for your mother.”

Lu Siyan’s eyes darted around thoughtfully. “Reference notes? My mom is already very capable. Does she need this?”

“Of course. Are you looking down on your great-grandfather?” Grandpa said. “Didn’t your mother tell you? Your great-grandfather was a high school student in his era.”

“Not a university student?” Lu Siyan asked.

Grandpa said seriously, “I’m 72 this year. In our era, high school students were very impressive.”

“How impressive?” Lu Siyan asked. “Compared to my parents?”

Grandpa decided to defend his dignity as a great-grandfather and said with a straight face, “Definitely more impressive than them.”

Lu Siyan let out a “wow” of amazement. “Great-grandpa, you’re so amazing!”

Grandpa’s vanity was satisfied.

Lu Siyan was already a little flatterer, making Grandpa beam with joy.

After a while, Lu Siyan held his stomach pitifully and said, “Great-grandpa, I’m hungry. But I want KFC chicken wings…”

Grandpa, already in high spirits, waved his hand generously and said, “Let’s go! Great-grandfather will take you to eat whatever you want!”

Lu Siyan blinked. “But my parents don’t like me eating these things.”

Grandpa hesitated for a moment but still said, “It’s not like you eat it every day. Come on, let’s go, and, um, we won’t tell anyone, so they won’t know.”

Lu Siyan immediately said, “Then we need to pinky swear! Neither of us can tell!”

He certainly wouldn’t tell.

“Deal!”

*

Lu Yicheng, carrying the thermos, left the residential complex and arrived at the hospital at exactly 11:30.

The ward was lively at this time, with people ordering meals and others visiting patients.

When Lu Yicheng arrived, he immediately got busy—helping Grandma pour water, organizing things on her table, and checking if the IV drip was finished. He had brought two bowls, carefully serving one for Grandma and another for Jiang Ruoqiao. Knowing that Jiang Ruoqiao liked the carrots in the soup, he deliberately gave her extra.

He told Jiang Ruoqiao to enjoy the soup while he helped Grandma sit up, placing a pillow behind her back and checking that the needle in the back of her hand wasn’t leaking—he was very attentive.

The old lady in the next bed teased, “Is this your grandson or your granddaughter’s husband?”

Grandmoa laughed heartily. “What do you think, sister?”

“I’m guessing he’s your dear granddaughter’s husband!” The other elderly patients in the ward all laughed.

“A grandson is never as thoughtful as a granddaughter’s husband!”

Jiang Ruoqiao remained composed, having been questioned about her boyfriend by these elderly folks since last night. She was now calm and collected.

They were the biggest gossips in the world!

Lu Yicheng wasn’t as composed as Jiang Ruoqiao.

His ears reddened slightly from the teasing, but he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Jiang Ruoqiao was frowning while drinking the soup. Without thinking much, he took a few tissues from the table and handed them to her.

*

Outside the ward, Jiang Yan stood at the doorway with a fruit basket, and this was the scene he witnessed.