Chapter 302 - 131: Night Raid

Chapter 302: Chapter 131: Night Raid

The person Zhang Shutong was most afraid of seeing was, in fact, his own mother.

She hadn’t had time to process everything yet, but once she did, he was definitely in for it.

So when the door to his hospital room was pushed open, Zhang Shutong immediately shut his eyes, pretending to be asleep.

But how could he possibly fool his own mother?

She pulled a chair to his bedside, uncharacteristically angry:

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Zhang Shutong cracked an eye open, then continued to feign sleep.

"Since you love motorcycles so much, your father and I discussed it and decided we’ll buy you one for winter break."

"Oh, and the police said there’s a reward this time. Whatever you want, Mom will buy it for you."

Zhang Shutong knew she was just trying to bait him, so he didn’t plan on responding.

"Also, Boss Gu came to talk to us today. He said since you’re so keen on being a bodyguard, he’ll give you an opportunity. You can go work for his corporation right after you graduate high school."

"Full benefits, Tongtong! Why don’t you just take the offer? I saw on the news that it’s going to be hard to find a job in the future. Mom always thought you were a smart kid, but after this, I’m starting to think your brain isn’t working so well. How about you hurry up and sign a contract?"

His mother’s voice droned on, her stories growing more and more absurd. Zhang Shutong finally couldn’t take it anymore. He opened his eyes and said with a sigh of resignation:

"Mom..."

"Oh, so you’re awake! You weren’t sleeping after all," his mom’s eyebrows shot up. "I was just thinking that if you were going to keep sleeping, I’d just make the decision for you. I’d send you off to a villa to sleep."

"I was wrong," Zhang Shutong admitted obediently.

"What were you wrong about?"

"I shouldn’t have been so reckless."

"Have your father and I ever questioned what you wanted to do? Back in the provincial capital, we might have said a thing or two, but ever since you came to the island for middle school, haven’t we trusted you unconditionally? You called me the other day, and I came to get you. You asked me to go to the hospital to look after your teacher, and I went. And what do you do? Ride around on a motorcycle playing the hero?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but then he noticed his mother’s eyes were swollen, too. She looked utterly exhausted. He closed his mouth and just listened to her tirade.

"You used to be such a well-behaved kid. How did you get so wild after moving here? This time, if it weren’t for Xiaolu, you silly boy would have frozen to death, do you realize that?!"

As she spoke, she looked like she wanted to pinch him, but her hand just rested on his arm, unmoving.

"I don’t care what anyone else thinks. Praise, awards, all that talk about ’heroic deeds,’ ’helping others,’ and ’outsmarting criminals’—none of it matters. You, Zhang Shutong, are my only son. What would I do without you? If you weren’t laid up in this bed right now, I’d give you a good thrashing!"

Zhang Shutong stayed silent. He knew her anger flared up quickly but also faded just as fast. Sure enough, after a few more grumbles, his mom picked up an orange and started to peel it.

"What exactly did you do to bewitch those two girls?"

"What?" Zhang Shutong asked, stunned. He hadn’t expected her to change the subject so abruptly.

"I’m talking about that girl who came today. Gu Qiuyan, right? Boss Gu’s precious daughter. She stayed at the hospital all afternoon." His mom sneered. "Feeling pretty pleased with yourself, aren’t you? The hero saving the damsel in distress? And then there’s Xiaolu. I just don’t get how you convinced her to run out with you in the middle of the night. Oh, right. Xiaolu told me in the car yesterday that a few days ago, you wrote her name and Gu Qiuyan’s name next to yours and drew a triangle around them. I didn’t get it at the time, but now I do. You save one, and the other saves you. It all connects, doesn’t it? So you were planning for today all along, huh?"

’I don’t know how it ended up being such a coincidence either,’ Zhang Shutong thought.

He was just about to speak when—

"Mmph, mmph..."

His mom stuffed the peeled orange into his mouth.

"That’s enough. You’re my son; I know what you’re about to lie about the second I see that look in your eye. Instead of wasting your brainpower on that, you might as well just tell me you have superpowers. You know, like in the movies. The kind that lets you see the future."

Zhang Shutong truly froze.

His mom continued irritably, as if talking to herself:

"Or maybe my son came back from the future? Maybe you know exactly what’s going to happen, and that’s why you’re so willing to risk your life to save someone?"

Zhang Shutong chewed the orange mechanically.

His mom angrily pinched his cheek, but finally let out a sigh.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn? You had a fever, and you nearly got yourself killed. What are your father and I supposed to say? That we’re proud of you? What if there’s a next time? Mom doesn’t want to be angry with you, but you have no idea how torn we are. On one hand, you did a good thing and got hurt, so we shouldn’t make you feel bad at all. But if we just pretend this never happened, what’s to stop you from taking another risk? Just yesterday at the hospital, I ran into another parent. Their kid, about your age, saw someone fall into the water this winter and jumped right in to save them. They almost didn’t make it out of the emergency room."

She added:

"Your father told me not to say too much, that he’d talk to you in a few days. I don’t care what he has planned. Just chalk it up to your mother being simple-minded and impatient. If I didn’t get this all off my chest today, I’d feel terrible. But that’s all I’m going to say. As of now, the matter is closed."

Zhang Shutong wanted to comfort her, but his mom just gently patted his head.

"I don’t need you to comfort me. The doctor told me you have to stay here for observation for at least two more days. And for the next month, you absolutely cannot catch a cold, or it could lead to chronic issues. And your arm—it’s not a serious injury, but you can’t do any strenuous exercise for the next few months. Do you hear me?"

Zhang Shutong nodded.

His mom watched him in silence for another moment before getting up to leave the room.

"I’m going home to pack a few things. I’ll be staying here with you tonight. Is there anything you feel like eating? I can pick it up on my way back."