Volume One, Chapter 61: You cannot be with anyone else; you must marry Mu Zhi.

Xu Zhi took the small amount of cash she’d borrowed from Yang Xue the day before and took a taxi home.

Without her key, she stood hesitantly at her own front door, needing courage even to ring the bell. As she wavered, footsteps sounded from within the courtyard.

Her heart beat rapidly, her palms grew damp with sweat. She was about to step back, but it was already too late.

The main gate opened, and she saw who emerged.

Xu Heping and Zhao Nianqiao came out together. Both were momentarily stunned to see her.

Zhao Nianqiao hurried over, looking Xu Zhi up and down. "You finally decided to come home! Where have you been these past two days? You didn't even take your phone—I was worried sick..."

The concern in Zhao Nianqiao’s eyes did not seem feigned. Xu Zhi shifted awkwardly. "I stayed at a friend’s place for a couple of days."

"As long as you’re alright, as long as you’re alright," Zhao Nianqiao murmured, only to remember something and glance sidelong at Xu Heping.

Xu Heping’s expression was cold and severe as he looked at Xu Zhi. "So you finally remember to return!"

"Enough, don’t start," Zhao Nianqiao blurted out fearfully, worried father and daughter would quarrel again. She quickly changed the subject. "We’re going to visit your Grandpa Liang—he’s had a stroke. You should come too. He’s always been so fond of you. Seeing you will surely lift his spirits."

Xu Zhi did not refuse.

Xu Heping’s driver had parked the car just outside the side gate of the complex. The three walked over and got in, but the air inside the car was thick with tension.

Within this household, Xu Heping’s word was law—when his mood was foul, speaking became a struggle for anyone else.

Xu Zhi felt a growing chill at her core, but she was hardly surprised. Xu Heping seemed to believe he was never at fault.

They arrived at the hospital, bought a fruit basket and some nutrition supplements at the entrance, and went straight to the inpatient ward.

Originally, they’d planned to visit the ICU floor, but after a call to Liang Zhenguo, they learned the old gentleman was recovering well and had already been moved early to a VIP room.

Finding the room, they knocked and entered. Inside were Liang Zhenguo, Fu Wanwen, and Liang Muzhi.

Grandpa Liang lay on the hospital bed, still attached to various tubes and a heart monitor, while a young nurse stood by, recording notes on a tablet.

The three greeted everyone. Xu Heping inquired in detail about the old man’s condition and asked what had caused the sudden stroke.

The VIP room was well-equipped, more like a hotel suite. Liang Muzhi, seated on the nearby sofa, looked up at this question.

Liang Zhenguo, embarrassed to admit the stroke was brought on by an argument with Liang Muzhi, answered vaguely, "He got a bit agitated while talking... but mostly it was just high blood pressure."

"With elders, you always have to keep an eye out for their health," Xu Heping commented.

Grandpa Liang, still very weak, lay silently in bed.

As Liang Muzhi’s gaze drifted back from the conversation, he accidentally met Xu Zhi’s eyes, paused, and then looked away quietly.

Suddenly, Xu Heping nudged Xu Zhi. "Go sit by Muzhi," he said.

Xu Zhi frowned, clearly unwilling.

Xu Heping sat down firmly in the chair by the bed. "There’s no room for you here."

Anger flared in Xu Zhi again; it seemed Xu Heping still refused to see reality. But this was hardly the place for a quarrel. Reluctantly, she moved to the sofa without giving Liang Muzhi a glance.

Liang Muzhi ignored her as well, his head lowered, fiddling with his phone, chatting with Chen Jing over WeChat.

Chen Jing was in another hospital. Though he’d arranged for a nurse to care for her, he hadn’t visited in some time. As her boyfriend, he felt he was failing in his duty.

Chen Jing didn’t complain. Hearing about his grandfather, she merely urged him to stay with the old man. As for herself, she joked that he could make it up to her with a new handbag.

This was precisely what he appreciated about her—she never put him in a difficult position.

Liang Zhenguo’s talk about him getting engaged to Xu Zhi—he hadn’t mentioned any of it to Chen Jing yet. He himself hadn’t untangled the mess in his mind.

Meanwhile, Xu Heping and Liang Zhenguo’s conversation was lively enough, but on the sofa, the atmosphere was frozen.

Xu Zhi wanted to leave. Grandpa Liang was too weak for conversation, and she saw no point in staying. But her ingrained sense of courtesy held her back, and she began searching for a polite excuse.

Just then, Grandpa Liang suddenly spoke. "Let... Zhi and Muzhi come here for a moment."

Xu Zhi was taken aback.

Liang Muzhi, momentarily distracted from his WeChat conversation, stood up first and took a seat by the bed. "Grandpa, what is it?"

Grandpa Liang, short of breath, spoke haltingly. "Where... where’s Zhi?"

Xu Zhi hurried over, trying to keep her distance from Liang Muzhi by circling to the other side of the bed.

Seeing this, Xu Heping could only give up his seat by the bed for her.

The moment she sat down, the old man raised his hand.

She quickly steadied him. "Grandpa Liang, I’m right here."

He looked at her, tears glimmering in his eyes.

"When I was young... I was wild, gambled too... Muzhi’s grandmother nearly left me. It was your grandfather who persuaded her to come back..."

His words came out in fits and starts, but the sincerity was unmistakable.

The two old men had been close friends. When Xu Zhi’s grandfather passed, Grandpa Liang had wept at the funeral.

"I used to play chess with your grandfather, and you’d always be there, watching quietly. I envied him—a granddaughter so well-behaved... It was I who first proposed the childhood betrothal," he reminisced. "Your grandfather agreed, and I was so happy..."

Xu Zhi’s eyes grew hot. The man who’d once seemed so strong now appeared truly frail and aged, and it made her deeply uncomfortable.

"That’s why," the old man fixed his gaze on her, "you can’t be with anyone else. You must marry Muzhi..."

Xu Zhi stiffened. The others might not understand, but she read the meaning in his eyes.

He wasn’t speaking of just anyone—he meant Liang Jinmo.

She was at a loss for words.

Grandpa Liang turned to look at Liang Muzhi, reaching for his hand.

Liang Muzhi quickly took his grandfather’s hand. "Grandpa, you need to rest. Please, don’t say more."

Even the earlier words had already given him a headache.

But Grandpa Liang clearly wasn’t finished.

He pressed their hands together.

Who would dare refuse the wishes of a patient now? Liang Muzhi could only follow the old man’s lead, his hand covering Xu Zhi’s.

Her hand was small. Something in his chest stirred—a feeling he couldn’t quite name, a faint sense of disorientation.

Could they ever reconcile? He asked himself.

In recent days, he’d begun to understand what losing Xu Zhi meant to him—he’d lost the one person who would always talk to him, who would listen when he was down, the one who made him want to share his thoughts.

If he could let go of everything she had done, could they return to how things were?

Grandpa Liang called his name. "Muzhi."

The room was silent. The old man’s breath was weak, but he insisted on speaking his mind. "If you... had been firmly against it from the start, I’d have had nothing to say about the betrothal. But you always said... you’d marry Zhi. You know, some things can’t be said in jest. Now you must take responsibility. Besides Zhi, you can’t be involved with any other girls..."

He paused, drawing a deep breath. "This old man doesn’t know how many days he has left..."

Liang Muzhi couldn’t help but interrupt, "Grandpa, don’t say that. You’ll live to a ripe old age."

He had a vague sense of what his grandfather was about to say next.

Sure enough, Grandpa Liang continued, "At my age, I don’t wish for longevity, only for peace in the family. Zhi is the granddaughter-in-law I’ve always hoped for. She’s so good... Muzhi, your temperament is too wild—you need a girl like her..."

He looked at Xu Zhi again. "Zhi, are you willing to marry Muzhi?"