"You've really fallen and hit your head, chicken; duck claws are just their feet." Zhang Yan said, reaching for the apple and fruit knife on the bedside table. "Feng Qishi, you were too foolish." He then hooked the trash can under the table with his foot and began peeling the apple.
"Oh, so that's how it is," Feng Qishi realized.
Zhang Yan smiled and said, "Let me tell you, think before you speak, or you'll make a fool of yourself."
"Okay," Feng Qishi smiled.
Looking at Feng Qishi's smile towards Zhang Yan, Feng Mu asked angrily, "Feng Qishi, what do you mean by that?"
Hearing this, Zhang Yan paused his apple peeling.
Feng Qishi suppressed his smile and looked at Feng Mu, remaining silent.
Zhang Yan let out a long sigh and said, "I'm an old man, you speaking so suddenly really startled me!"
"Why aren't you leaving yet?" Feng Mu asked, looking down at the back of Zhang Yan's head.
Zhang Yan winked at Feng Qishi and said, "Whether I leave or not is my business, what's it to you? I'm here to see my Qishi, not you."
"Please understand, Feng Qishi belongs to my family, not yours."
"Your family?" Zhang Yan didn't turn around, still looking at Feng Qishi's face. "He doesn't look like you at all."
Feng Qishi lowered his gaze.
Feng Mu clenched her fists and said, "Old man, I advise you to watch your words. My family is paying for Feng Qishi's medical expenses. If you're going to talk like that, why don't you pay for it yourself?"
Zhang Yan was also surprised by what Feng Qishi's mother had said, so he took a deep breath and said, "Fine, if you say so, I will."
"What's your relationship with him?" Feng Mu asked again.
This time, Zhang Yan bent down, put down the fruit knife and half-peeled apple, stood up, turned around, and looked at Feng Mu. "Put my granddaughter aside for now. My relationship with Feng Qishi is simple: friends."
"He'd be friends with someone as old as you? What nonsense are you talking about?" Feng Mu didn't believe him.
Feng Qishi said coldly, "He is my friend, Mom. Please show him some respect."
Feng Sen said angrily, "Feng Qishi, don't you dare side with outsiders."
"You don't have a girlfriend, do you?" Feng Qishi suddenly asked.
Feng Sen's face froze.
Zhang Yan turned sideways to look at Feng Qishi.
Feng Qishi looked at Feng Mu and said, "Since I started junior high, you've constantly asked for my leave and then lectured and ridiculed me with various words. Now that I'm in my third year of high school, you're arranging for me to drop out and forcing me into blind dates. I don't know what your intentions are, and I don't know what you've said to Dad. But I want to say that my future is my own to decide, and it has nothing to do with you."
"Feng Qishi, your tuition and living expenses from childhood until now have all been paid by me. How can you speak like this? Have you no conscience?" Feng Mu pointed at Feng Qishi and said.
"My kindness to you was always burdened by these expenses. To be honest, yesterday, the moment I heard you say I was your biological son," Feng Qishi said indifferently, completely suppressing any hope he had of acknowledging her, "I was very disappointed. I thought, how could my mother be someone like you? I originally planned to repay you when I earned money in the future, to find a caregiver for you when you're old. Now it seems, it's time for me to think of another way to repay your kindness."
"Feng Qishi! As long as you obediently go for the blind dates, I..."
"I said I will find other ways. I will not follow your arrangements anymore. As for the school," Feng Qishi said, "do whatever you want with it. I don't care."
"You..." Feng Mu pointed at Feng Qishi, then looked at Zhang Yan and said, "I'm telling you, don't think you can escape my grasp. Those girls will be here soon, just you wait." After speaking, she pulled Feng Sen's arm and walked out of the ward.
Feng Sen glanced at Feng Qishi and followed his mother.
Zhang Yan moved to look at the closed door, frowned, strode forward to open it, and after confirming they had completely left, returned to Feng Qishi's bedside. "You're really in a miserable situation."
"It's alright, I'm used to it," Feng Qishi said, pointing to the apple on the table.
"Do you want to eat it?" Zhang Yan asked.
Feng Qishi shook his head and said, "No, I think the apple peel is the most nutritious. You're wasting it a bit like this."
"Then how about this, you eat the apple peel, and I'll eat the apple?" Zhang Yan suggested, picking up the apple and continuing to peel it.
"Forget it, do whatever makes you happy," Feng Qishi said helplessly.
Zhang Yan sat back in the chair and said, "Speaking of which, did we scare you last night?"
"Not really, I just thought you two were a bit silly, especially Mu Shazi," Feng Qishi couldn't help but smile. "She looked like she hadn't woken up yet."
"I dragged her up forcefully. But speaking of which," Zhang Yan sighed, "she also had a tough time yesterday. To find a way to bring you out of here, she didn't sleep all night."
"Is it really not easy to operate?" Feng Qishi thought Mu An Xiao was joking, but hearing Zhang Yan say this now, he was also surprised.
"It's not that it's difficult, it's just," Zhang Yan put down the fruit knife and threw the apple peel into the trash can, "Mu An Xiao doesn't want you to go there without an identity. As for her, you know she doesn't have much experience. Of course, she could take you directly, but if she did, she might be arrested, and then you would be implicated."
"Why?" Feng Qishi's expression became tense.
"As you know, she's a notorious con artist, already a criminal. Of course," Zhang Yan said, "the main thing is... bringing someone back from the future to the past requires proper procedures. If you don't, you and she will be locked up upon return."
Feng Qishi sighed, "I never thought it would be so troublesome."
"But don't worry, she's already thought of a solution," Zhang Yan said, eating the apple.
"What solution?" Feng Qishi was excited.
"That, she'll tell you when she gets here. It's not convenient for me to relay it," Zhang Yan said calmly.
"Where is she? Isn't she still sleeping?" Feng Qishi asked.
"No, she went to find Hu Yuan," Zhang Yan said.
Feng Qishi's eyes darkened. "She should have found me first."
"Don't be jealous here. Good news is never bad news, no matter when you hear it," Zhang Yan guessed Feng Qishi's thoughts.
Feng Qishi remained silent.
Zhang Yan looked at Feng Qishi's face and smiled. "Your complexion has recovered well. But speaking of which, I'm also curious, why did Mu An Xiao cripple your legs?"
"She didn't want to take me with her. If she hadn't seen my miserable life yesterday," Feng Qishi snorted, "she wouldn't have thought of taking me."
"Were you pestering her before?" Zhang Yan asked.
Feng Qishi rubbed the bottom of his nose. "What do you mean by pestering? I just felt she was the one who could save me from my suffering. Who knew," he shook his head, "that person would be so stubborn? I was quite angry at first that she broke my legs, but now, it seems, it's not bad."