Chapter 0317: I’m the Good Guy Xie Chengze, Framing a Portrait to Offer Incense

Qingcheng Hospital.

In a certain hospital room, a woman nearing forty with an intellectual and elegant demeanor sat by the hospital bed, holding a phone in her hand. Judging by the phone case’s design, it was clearly an anime-themed accessory that only young people would buy.

Doctors had said that familiar voices or objects might awaken the patient. The woman and her husband had repeatedly called their son’s name, but to no avail. Finally, they tried unlocking their son’s phone to see what familiar things might resonate with him.

The photo gallery contained many pictures and videos from their son’s travels over the years. Watching the boy in the videos smiling alone before the camera while leaving messages for her and her husband, the woman’s eyes welled up with tears.

She knew she had never failed her husband, never failed her colleagues, never failed her country—but she had failed her son.

Wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes through her glasses, the woman continued browsing and found that her son had very few apps on his phone. The most frequently used was a novel app, containing only a few political intrigue novels from the male-oriented genre. One of them, titled “The Powerful Minister,” surprisingly showed her son as the top donor.

A completed novel with ten million words.

It seemed he had been following the serialization for a long time and really loved this book.

As the woman skimmed through it, she discovered that the antagonist in this novel shared the exact same name as her son.

“This kid… could he have traveled through time?” The woman couldn’t help muttering to herself, then shook her head with a bitter smile. “What am I thinking? How could I believe such an unreliable idea…”

Since Ze’er loved this book so much, would playing the novel for him help wake him up?

Clumsily figuring out the app, the woman finally managed to activate the audiobook feature for this novel.

A cool, detached narration began.

“Jian’an Year 78. The cicadas chirped incessantly, and the scorching sun blazed. On the wide, river-like official road, a single rider dashed through, kicking up dust that danced wildly under the fierce sunlight.

The young man on horseback wore a moon-white brocade robe, his posture straight as a pine tree, his handsome features exuding an extraordinary aura.

Shen Yuan reined in his horse and looked up at the towering city gate ahead. The vermilion-lacquered gates shone dazzlingly red under the sun, with the characters ‘Jingcheng’ hanging high above, their strokes powerful and imposing, radiating the authority of the imperial capital…”

“Jingcheng, I’ve returned.”

Suddenly, the EEG monitor emitted a sharp, piercing sound—”Beep—!”

The woman shuddered slightly and instinctively turned to look at the young man on the bed. The beautiful youth, who had been in a deep coma, abruptly opened his eyes, clenched his fists, and pounded the bedside as if trying to sit up, but failed due to his injuries.

“Hah—!” He gasped for air, touching his own face. “Am… am I back?”

The woman’s eyes widened, and the next moment, tears streamed down her face as she stood up and embraced the young man. “Ze’er! You’re finally awake!”

“…” Xie Chengze parted his lips slightly, feeling the warmth of the woman’s embrace. He blinked and tentatively spoke, “Mom?”

“It’s Mom. Mom’s back, and you’re back too, wu wu…” The woman broke into loud sobs, crying so hard she started hiccupping. “Hic… Mom… Mom will go get the doctor!”

The woman pressed the call button and kept running to the doorway to peer out, all while keeping her eyes fixed on Xie Chengze, afraid he might lose consciousness again. “Chengze, hold on! Don’t fall asleep!”

The patient in the adjacent bed also turned to look—a little girl in a hospital gown pointed at Xie Chengze and cheered, “The pretty brother is awake!”

Xie Chengze turned and gave the girl a faint smile before withdrawing his gaze, lowering his eyes and slightly curling his fingers.

He had truly returned.

This sense of reality, along with the faint scent of disinfectant in the hospital room…

A complex smile flickered in his eyes as he turned to see his mother and the doctor rushing in through the doorway. Yet, another strikingly handsome face surfaced in his mind.

Was he doing well… over there?

Would he miss him?

Well, he certainly would.

Maybe he should find a painter someday to frame a portrait of him, offer incense annually, and wish him a long, healthy life free from illness

Hehe~ What a good person he was!