Chapter 18 Gu Tianxi comes to visit the patient

Assistant Lu's face changed dramatically. "President, I was wrong. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have informed Miss Yao of your schedule. Please give me another chance. I promise I will never take matters into my own hands again."

"Lu Chen, I've already given you three chances," Huo Mingze said solemnly. Lu Chen had been with him for seven years. Though just an assistant, they had developed a rapport over the years. He was paid an annual salary of seven million yuan, which he earned by being excellent at everything except matters related to Yao Yutong.

"President, I'm sorry. I overstepped. I wrongly assumed that you still had feelings for Miss Yao. Please give me one more chance to redeem myself. I promise never to make another mistake," Assistant Lu pleaded, full of regret.

Huo Mingze replied, "Yes, I still have feelings for Yao Yutong. But my future no longer involves her. I am now a married man, and my wife is Shen Mofei."

"I understand my mistake. President, please give me a chance to atone. I will take care of Madam's father and help her brother with his speech rehabilitation," Assistant Lu offered desperately.

Huo Mingze raised an eyebrow. "Help Xiao Guang with his speech training?"

Seeing a glimmer of hope, Assistant Lu quickly volunteered, "Yes, I will help Xiao Guang with his speech training and work hard to ensure he speaks like a normal person as soon as possible."

"One month after the device is turned on, he should be speaking like a normal person," Huo Mingze demanded.

"Yes, I will make sure of it," Assistant Lu promised, relieved but also sweating. He silently vowed never to make decisions on his own again.

Huo Mingze returned to his work, signing a pile of documents quickly and efficiently. Noticing that Assistant Lu was still there, he looked up. "Anything else?"

Assistant Lu immediately responded, "President, I will now go learn the techniques for speech training. Next week, I will start visiting the hospital daily. Please inform Director Qiu so that Madam does not become suspicious."

"Alright," Huo Mingze acknowledged.

Feeling like he had been given a new lease on life, Assistant Lu left the office with a spring in his step. Huo Mingze focused on his work, signing off on most of the important documents. Glancing at the time, he saw it was almost noon.

He decided to go to the hospital to have lunch with Mofei. She was too thin, and he always felt that if he wasn't there, she wouldn't eat properly. He stood up, grabbed his coat, and left the president's office, driving his Chevrolet to the hospital.

... 

At the hospital, after drawing the two brooch designs, Mofei couldn't come up with any new designs for the rest of the morning. She lightly tapped her head with the pen. Suddenly, she thought of the rings Qiu Zhan had photoshopped on her and Huo Mingze's fingers, shining brightly. An idea struck her, and she decided to design a pair of rings. Her pen moved swiftly across the paper. After a while, the outline of the rings appeared on the paper. Just then, she felt a prickly sensation and turned to see Gu Tianxi standing at the door of the hospital room with a bouquet of carnations and a box of nutritional supplements. His gaze fell on her design.

Mofei sprang up, her anger surging. She immediately stepped out, closing the door behind her to prevent Gu Tianxi from entering and seeing her father. She was furious, but to avoid her father hearing, she lowered her voice and gritted her teeth, "I told you not to come see my father."

Back when Gu Tianxi broke up with her, her father was furious. But he quickly calmed down and resigned himself to the idea, sighing that their modest family wasn't a match for the rich young master. He said it was better to break up now than to get divorced later. If her father saw Gu Tianxi now, he would undoubtedly get very angry. His health couldn't withstand any emotional upheaval. Thinking of this, Mofei's eyes reddened with anger. She looked at Gu Tianxi coldly, her voice low as she urged him to leave, "Please leave. I'm begging you!"

"Mofei, I just want to see your father," Gu Tianxi said.

"No need, my father is fine," Mofei replied.

"I'll just take a quick look and leave," he insisted.

"I said no need!" Mofei's voice rose slightly. Afraid her father would hear, she lowered her voice again and said coldly, "Master Gu, I'm begging you to leave us alone, okay?"

The words "Master Gu" made Gu Tianxi frown. He quickly regained his composure and said, "Mofei, I heard your father's condition isn't good. I want to hire a specialist to treat him..."

"My father-in-law doesn't need anyone else to worry about him!" Huo Mingze's cold voice interrupted.

Gu Tianxi looked over displeased. Their gazes met, and sparks flew. Mofei, seeing Huo Mingze, immediately ran over to him, taking his hand and calling out, "Mingze." She had originally wanted to call him "husband" but couldn't bring herself to do it.

"Wife!" Huo Mingze responded naturally.

A look of shock flashed in Gu Tianxi's eyes. She was married? Huo Mingze ignored Gu Tianxi and gently asked Mofei, "How is Dad?"

"He just had an IV and fell asleep. He's a bit tired, but otherwise fine," Mofei replied.

"That's good," Huo Mingze said.

For some reason, Gu Tianxi felt a surge of anger. He tugged at his tie and said calmly, "I'll visit your father another day." He then placed the flowers and nutritional supplements on the nearby nurse's station, asking the nurse to deliver them, and left without looking back.

The nurse came over with the flowers and supplements and said, "Family member, I'll put these in the room for you."

"Please throw them away for me, thank you," Mofei said without hesitation.

The nurse gave Mofei a strange look, then glanced at Huo Mingze. Thinking of the handsome man who had just left, she seemed to realize something extraordinary, her eyes sparkling with gossip and envy. She left with the flowers and supplements.

Huo Mingze looked at Mofei, as if waiting for her to say something. Suddenly, Mofei felt the urge to confide in him. She said, "He is my ex-boyfriend. We've known each other for many years. We met in middle school and started dating in college. We broke up on the day of graduation."

Even though it had been a long time, talking about it still made her feel a bit sad. It wasn't the decisive and sharp feeling she had hoped for. But she was proud that, no matter how sad she was, she never went back to Gu Tianxi.

Seeing that Mofei was in a bad mood, Huo Mingze took her hand and slowly walked down the corridor with her. Mofei continued, "After the breakup, we didn't contact each other. A breakup should be clean, with no further entanglements. He will have someone else in his world, and so will I. That's why I don't want him visiting my father."

Just then, Huo Mingze unexpectedly kissed her, catching her off guard and causing her eyes to widen.