Before Professor Qiao Yongkui could arrive from Beijing, Kang Wei regained consciousness.

Though still in pain, his mind was clearer this time. His thoughts were more coherent, and his gaze less confused. Seeing Zhou Cheng, he grinned:

“Hey, Brother Cheng, you came to see me too?”

Zhou Cheng’s eyes hurt seeing this – the fool hadn’t realized that so many people had gathered because his injuries were severe! If anything had gone wrong at any point, Zhou Cheng would likely be attending Kang Wei’s funeral instead of visiting him alive.

“Save your strength and stay quiet. How could I not come to see you?”

Kang Wei chuckled, though with his bandaged face, his smile looked terrible:

“Brother Cheng, I owe my life to Sister-in-law…”

If the one with the head injury hadn’t been Kang Wei, Zhou Cheng would have beaten him up. He had the nerve to talk – panicking in an emergency, not as composed as Xiaolan. If Kang Wei had been able to steer himself, he might have avoided the crash, but he had completely frozen.

“Once you recover, enroll in a driving school. Find an instructor with excellent driving skills and relearn how to drive.”

Kang Wei laboriously raised his hand in a crooked salute:

“Mission accepted!”

Seeing him still able to joke and looking more spirited, Zhou Cheng finally managed a smile. He pulled up a chair and sat down. “Wei, this accident was just that – an accident. You and your Sister-in-law were unlucky, but there’s a silver lining. I’ve realized your Second Uncle might not be as hypocritical as we thought.”

Kang Wei’s accident had deeply affected Xie Yun. Once she realized crying wouldn’t solve anything, she finally started taking action.

The same went for Kang Lianming – he completely changed Zhou Cheng’s previous impression of him.

He hadn’t had much direct contact with Kang Lianming before, mostly hearing about him through Kang Wei and circle gossip.

When Kang Wei got injured, Kang Lianming’s concern was genuine – Zhou Cheng could tell this much.

“My Second Uncle has always been good at keeping up appearances…”

Kang Wei’s smile faded, suddenly becoming quiet.

Zhou Cheng chuckled, “If you hadn’t woken up, I believe your Second Uncle would have killed that Du fellow. I could tell he’d lost all reason, and stopped calculating gains and losses. No matter the cost, he would have sent Du to accompany you… Wei, let’s be honest – if he were just keeping up appearances, would he go this far? It’s 1985 now, not the first few years after your father passed when your grandfather hadn’t retired yet. Back then, if your Second Uncle didn’t care for you, Grandfather Kang wouldn’t have let him off. Now your grandfather has been retired for years, his influence diminishing. Your family relies entirely on your Second Uncle – does he still need to put on an act?”

The logic didn’t add up.

Kang Wei had developed a habitual way of thinking. He couldn’t remember when it started, but people had been whispering in his ear that Kang Lianming’s kindness toward him was fake.

When he didn’t want to study, Kang Lianming let him be.

When he caused trouble outside, while other children couldn’t escape a beating, Kang Lianming wouldn’t even scold him, instead cleaning up his messes.

Kang Lianming was strict with his children. Kang Wei’s cousin, only a few months younger, had started school early and graduated from university early, then was assigned by his Second Uncle to a demanding grass-roots position.

In contrast, Kang Wei graduated from technical school with poor grades, and Kang Lianming arranged an easy position for him early on – whether he showed up or not, Kang Wei received the same salary. Kang Wei had once been ambitious, but later others told him Kang Lianming had said to take special care of him, hinting that Kang Wei didn’t need to work so hard.

When he accumulated enough years of service, Kang Wei would naturally be promoted.

Setting him up for failure!

Someone had whispered this in Kang Wei’s ear, and the more he thought about it, the more it made sense.

His decision to do business with Zhou Cheng was partly driven by his determination to prove he didn’t need to be Kang Lianming’s prop for showing off. He could succeed without Kang Lianming’s help. Kang Wei thought he was fighting against a hypocritical arch-villain, and he was confident he could defeat this villain. Now Zhou Cheng was saying he’d misidentified his enemy?

Kang Wei shared these details, looking confused:

“If he wasn’t setting me up for failure, if he wasn’t being hypocritical, what joy could he find in raising me to be useless?”

Every family hoped their children would succeed. His Second Uncle doing the opposite – if not ill-intentioned, what was the point?!

Kang Wei’s head hurt. The accident must have addled his brain; he couldn’t understand Kang Lianming’s actions.

“Maybe he just wanted to make life easier for you.”

Zhou Cheng had only thought of this after hearing about Kang Lianming’s previous personality from Guan Hui’e. When someone’s personality changes dramatically, they must have suffered a major blow. When Kang Wei’s father died, Kang Lianming had shouldered the family’s burden – Zhou Cheng found this quite manly of Second Uncle Kang.

He hadn’t panicked or shirked responsibility, hadn’t claimed inability. Only Kang Lianming himself knew what hardships he’d endured. Zhou Cheng tried analyzing his psychology – Second Uncle Kang truly loved Kang Wei, loved him so much he didn’t want Kang Wei to struggle – perhaps pitying that Kang Wei had lost his father while still in his mother’s womb, thinking he should bear all the hardships so Kang Wei could enjoy life?

This guess, even if not entirely accurate, was probably about 80% right.

After hearing Zhou Cheng’s analysis, Kang Wei lay in his hospital bed looking bewildered.

“Brother Cheng, you mean I’ve wronged my Second Uncle? I don’t need to strive for anything because he’ll surely arrange everything perfectly for my future, and I should just lie back and enjoy the fruits of his labor?”

Then what was the point of his cigarette and building materials business? Why haggle over every cent with factories for tiles? What was it all for?

Seeing Kang Wei’s confused expression, Zhou Cheng’s palms itched to give him a beating:

“Now that you know your Second Uncle means well, you’re ready to just enjoy the easy life?”

That definitely wouldn’t do.

Even after surgery, Kang Wei was worried about not being able to check on the new store. Beyond just being rebellious, he genuinely enjoyed doing business. With the country’s current policies allowing private business, enabling legitimate wealth through commerce, and combining profit with a sense of achievement, Kang Wei had no reason to stop.

He was grown up now – how could he still hold out his hand asking others for money?

“Brother Cheng, I understand. Let me think about it.”

Kang Wei now didn’t know how to face his Second Uncle. Zhou Cheng didn’t push him – Kang Wei needed rest now. Xia Xiaolan peeked in from the doorway: “Are you brothers done with your heart-to-heart?”

Zhou Cheng stood up, “Get some rest. Xiaolan probably has something to say.”

Zhou Cheng knew Xia Xiaolan well, and indeed she did have something to say, “I think I saw Xia Ziyu at the hospital. She had her face wrapped up when she went to see Du Zhaohui.”

With her appearance, it was hard for Xia Xiaolan not to recognize Xia Ziyu.

How could those two end up mixing?

Could it be that after Du Zhaohui invited her to Hong Kong and she refused, he went to find Xia Ziyu – what was Xia Ziyu thinking? Wasn’t it Du Zhaohui who had stabbed Wang Guangping? Acting like she would die for Wang Jianhua’s true love, yet still associating with Du Zhaohui – Xia Xiaolan couldn’t understand it at all!