Chapter 135: Feeding

An Tong smiled brilliantly, one of the rare moments she showed her teeth, her eyes curved into crescents, radiating pure cheerfulness.

She was not only drunk, but she had also suffered a memory lapse. In her hazy state, she felt as if she had returned to the most carefree days of her past.

Rong Shen gazed at the beaming An Tong. Through this smiling face, he could vaguely imagine just how vibrant and full of life she must have been back then. The man felt a slight tremor in his heart, his eyes lingering on her face. Usually, when she smiled, she was calm and serene, often hiding a hint of melancholy. But when she laughed with her teeth showing, her whole being came alive—a youthful, bright, and graceful spirit. Had it not been for her intoxication, Rong Shen would never have had the chance to see this side of An Tong.

Seeing that the man remained silent for a long while and had stopped feeding her the soup, An Tong tilted her head and asked, "Are we still drinking it?"

Rong Shen closed his eyes, adjusted his breathing, and resumed feeding her one spoonful at a time. An Tong just lay there with her hands limp, enjoying being doted on by the man. After half a bowl, she turned her head away and let out a hiccup. "So full..."

The man set aside the hangover soup, leaned back against the chair, and rested his palm naturally on her shoulder.

Then... it was swatted away by the girl.

An Tong frowned, her expression becoming inexplicably serious. "Even if you're good-looking, you can't go around touching people." In her fragmented, alcohol-induced perception, the Rong Shen before her was merely a handsome stranger.

Rong Shen’s dark brows arched slightly, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips that he could not suppress. "Don't recognize me anymore?"

The seriousness on An Tong’s face was gradually replaced by bewilderment. She stared straight at the man’s gentle, handsome face, which held a faint smile, and felt her heart racing. He was better looking than many of the classmates she had known—mature and handsome, even the way he unbuttoned his cuffs was elegant and noble. As she watched, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Before long, she collapsed onto the sofa, mumbled something unintelligible, and fell fast asleep.

Excessive alcohol consumption had left An Tong with a complete blackout.

...

The next day, An Tong went downstairs with a sluggish gait, feeling physically drained. It was already nine-thirty in the morning, and the bedding beside her had long since gone cold; she had no idea when the man had gotten up. In the living room, Rong Shen was on the phone. Hearing her footsteps, he turned his head, and a small head immediately buried itself into his chest. An Tong bumped into his arms without a word, rubbing her forehead against his chest as if acting spoiled.

"Let’s leave it at that for now; we'll discuss the rest when I return."

Rong Shen spoke a foreign language into the phone, but An Tong happened to understand it. When he hung up, the girl grabbed the sides of his shirt with both hands and looked up at him in admiration. "Your German is so standard."

She seemed just awake, her face still carrying the haze and daze of a hangover. It was precisely because she was in this half-awake state, her mind not fully clear, that she offered this compliment without reservation.

The man lifted her chin, his tone slightly surprised. "You understand German?"

An Tong brushed aside the stray hair by her ear and nodded. "I understand a little."

Rong Shen then smoothed out her slightly messy long hair and curled his lips in an intriguing way. "Now... do you know who I am?"

"Hmm?" An Tong frowned in confusion. "When did I ever not know you?"

The man gave her cheek a light, playful pinch. "Forgot about last night?"

An Tong was even more puzzled. "Last night?"

She tried to recall it seriously, only to be surprised to find that she remembered nothing. Her last memory was on the way back, when Rong Shen asked her how many glasses she had drunk. An Tong bit her lip, looked up to steal a glance at the man, who was hovering between a smile and a stoic expression, and said innocently, "I can't remember. Why don't you remind me?"

"If you can't remember, don't worry about it." Rong Shen patted her head and gestured toward the kitchen. "Go have breakfast first."

...

After breakfast, hearing the man’s arrangements, An Tong stopped wiping her hands in surprise. "Are we going back today?" She vaguely remembered... Wen Wan seemed to have invited her out for coffee today.

The man sat upright across from her in his white shirt, his arm resting casually on the back of the chair. "Don't want to go back so early?"

An Tong said it wasn't that she didn't want to, as she weighed whether to tell him the truth. In a split second, she gave up the thought because...

However, Rong Shen saw through her hesitation, his eyes showing a touch of knowing indulgence. "If you want to see Su Ji, it’s not too late to leave in the afternoon."

An Tong looked up at his gentle, scholarly face, distracted for a moment. "Then I'll give her a call first."

"Mm, go ahead."

An Tong wanted to stand up, but upon meeting the man’s deep, dark eyes, her movements slowed down unconsciously for a second or two. The man before her was always full of nobility and elegance; no matter what he did or said, he handled everything with a sense of tact that made people feel extremely comfortable. Coupled with that handsome, captivating face, perhaps... few girls could ignore such masculine charm.

An Tong suppressed the feeling rising in her heart and left the dining room to find her phone.

...

After last night’s hangover, she didn't know where she had put it. An Tong searched around and finally found the nearly dead phone in the corner of the sofa. The moment the screen unlocked, she saw a few unread messages on WeChat.

She didn't look at them, instead dialing Su Ji’s number first.

"Yo, you finally remember to call me?" As the call connected, Su Ji’s teasing voice came through, sounding as if she were in a good mood.

An Tong pursed her lips and went straight to the point. "I’m back in Hong Kong. Are you free this morning?"

There was a silence of a few seconds on the other end. "Baby, you really caught me off guard. Who makes plans on the same day?"

"I..."

"I'm just teasing you." Fearing that she might overthink it, Su Ji quickly added with a laugh, "I'm not in Hong Kong. The New Year is coming up, so I took my mom back to our hometown. I'll be back after the holidays."

An Tong said "oh" and asked, "Is your mother doing any better?"

When this was mentioned, Su Ji couldn't help but let the corners of her mouth rise, her tone very light. "Very well. The chemotherapy is finished, and... and the donor center has already notified me that the matching was successful. I can have the transplant done after the New Year."

"Really?"

"Of course. I didn't expect it to be this fast either. The staff at the center even said my mom was lucky to have had a 'nobleman' help her..."

By the end, Su Ji’s voice was choked with emotion—it was the relief of things turning around after a long period of adversity, and an irrepressible excitement. She only assumed the "nobleman" the staff mentioned was the stem cell donor, never digging deeper into whether there were other possibilities.

An Tong also curved her lips into a smile. "That's wonderful."

The two sisters chatted a bit more and agreed to meet after the New Year. After ending the call, An Tong looked up and saw the tall, slender figure walking toward her. Infected by Su Ji’s joy, she hurried forward and rushed straight into Rong Shen’s arms.

An Tong grabbed the sides of his shirt with both hands and looked up, her eyes slightly red. "Auntie Ji's matching was successful."

The man circled her with one arm and lowered his head, rubbing her hair. "Can you rest easy now?"

"Thank you."

An Tong thanked him, never doubting for a second that this was Rong Shen’s act of offering timely help in her moment of need.