<h4>Chapter 988: I’m Begging You, I’m Exhausted</h4>


    The smell of tobo in the room was very pungent, and the air-tight atmosphere made people feel even more depressed. Mother Zhou frowned. She walked into the room, pulled open the curtains, and opened the window.


    The cold wind of the night blew in, and the bright white moonlight shone through the window. Mother Zhou turned around and looked at her son with a pained expression. She missed the old Zhou Yao very much. At that time, although he was stubborn and unruly, he was full of vitality and faith. And now, although he was alive, he looked as if he was already dead.


    “Zhou Yao, let me ask you, what exactly do you want to do? Look at you now. You’re a living mess, and you also made Sileng and this family a living mess... if you really have a woman that you like outside, if you really have feelings for Yang Lin, I’ll get your grandfather to tell Chief Yang tomorrow that you should get married again... this family can’t stand any more of your torment.”


    “Mom.” Zhou Yao took a puff of his cigarette. He did not raise his head, and his male voice waspletely hoarse. “Take back your words. Don’t say it again in the future. You know that I won’t get married again.”


    “Since you don’t want to get married again, then why are you acting like a hooligan outside? What’s going on between you and Yang Lin? I called you at the hospital, but she answered your phone. She said that you were sleeping next to her...”


    Zhou Yao frowned. The cigarette ash between his fingers fell on his suit pants. He did not use his hand to flick it. “Is that so? Maybe she picked up my phone. I have nothing to do with her.”


    He answered sinctly.


    Mother Zhou did not know what he meant. Her son was bing less and less talkative. In the past four years, he had returned to the Zhou family mansion no more than ten times. He had sealed himself uppletely.


    He was not willing to exin clearly what was going on between him and Yang Lin.


    But at this time, Mother Zhou realized that Zhou Yao was a little abnormal. The man’s handsome face was somewhat sickly red like he had a high fever.


    The matter of Zhou Sileng’s illness attracted everyone’s attention. Only then did Mother Zhou see that the ck shirt and ck pants on his body were all wrinkled. It was as if he had not changed in a few days. There was even a circle of stubble on his chin. He appeared both down and out.


    “What’s wrong?” Mother Zhou walked forward and reached out to touch Zhou Yao’s forehead.


    Mother Zhou was shocked when she touched him. “Zhou Yao, why is your forehead so hot? You have a high fever too?”


    Zhou Yao’s figure was hidden in the grey light. The man’s body copsed. He no longer had his usual handsome appearance. He said indifferently, “Mmm, I was caught in the rain a few days ago...”


    The red rope on his neck fell off. He searched for the whole night, and the rain did not stop at night. The next day, he had a high fever. He did not treat it but locked himself in his room. When Xiao Zhi came to deliver the food in the afternoon, he was already unconscious on the bed.


    He was sent to the infirmary and had an IV drip. Yang Lin was the doctor there. Perhaps when he was having an IV drip, Yang Lin picked up his phone next to him. So that’s that.


    He did not want to answer his mother’s question about Yang Lin. She was a stranger, and he had done nothing wrong. Now, he felt tired all over, as if he was going to be paralyzed. He did not want to waste any more brainpower on anyone.


    Besides, so what if everyone in the world thought that he was a yer? He did not need to exin because he no longer had the person he wanted to exin to.


    Without her, what did the world have to do with him?


    Humph.


    “Zhou Yao, you can’t do this. Your forehead is burning. I’ll call the doctor to give you an IV drip...”


    “No need. I’ve taken my medicine. I’ll sleep and all will be fine after I wake up.”


    “How can you do this? If you’re sick, you can’t dy it. I’ll call the hospital.” As she spoke, Mother Zhou walked to the door.


    “Mom!” The man called out to her from behind. “I’m begging you, I’m exhausted. Can you stop bothering me?”


    Mother Zhou stopped in her tracks. Zhou Yao was her son. In the past thirty-two years, he had never spoken to her in such a tone. His voice was filled with weakness and fatigue, but more than that... it was filled with vicissitudes and despair.


    Mother Zhou’s eyes reddened. She slowly turned around and came in front of Zhou Yao. She lowered her eyes and looked at the man’s lowered head. She asked in a trembling voice, “My son, what happened to you?”


    The man spat out a mouthful of smoke and frowned. “I... lost the... red rope ne that she gave me. I looked everywhere, but... I couldn’t find it...”


    “My son...”


    “This feels just like four years ago. Four years ago, I watched her close her eyes... in front of me. I wanted to save her, even if I had to trade my life for it. But... I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t save her... and now I lost the red rope that she gave me. Our lovely days were so short, so short that the red rope was her... only gift to me. I used it to reminisce over the past four years. I looked at the photos again and again because I was afraid that I would forget her beautiful face. I was afraid... that I would forget that I love her. I was afraid... that I would forget that I am still alive...”


    “But now I really have nothing... My heart is hollowed out. The world... so big. It’s like I’m trapped in a maze, I’m confused and helpless, I don’t know... what can I do...”


    “I really miss her very much. Two years ago, Sileng was still young. When I cared for him, I was thinking that I wasn’t... alone. At least she left her son to me. But... Sileng grew bigger and bigger. Looking at his eyes, looking at the red string bell on his wrist, looking at his longing for her day by day... I realized that I couldn’t do it. I was powerless tofort him because his grief was also my grief. He needed a mommy, and I needed a woman... looking at Sileng, I felt like my heart was bleeding...”


    “I started to run away. I started to spend less time with... Sileng. I started to look for her shadow in other women. I can give them whatever they want as long as they let me take a look and apany me quietly for a while...”


    “I think this game is very good. I don’t think I’m wrong, but...” Zhou Yao threw away the cigarette in his hand and reached out to touch his empty neck, “I know I’m wrong, because... she’s angry. She... is punishing me. She even... took back thest thing I had...”


    Bai Qi’s words were still clearly echoing in his ears. She was right. His Zhiyuan didn’t want him anymore. His Zhiyuan would nevere back!


    She was right!


    He would live in eternal pain for the rest of his life.


    Tears welled up in Mother Zhou’s eyes. Zhou Yao touched his neck as if he had been petrified. She did not know which part of the carpet he was staring at, but she knew that his eyes must be empty.


    Mother Zhou took two steps forward and reached out her trembling right hand to touch the man’s hard short hair. This son of hers had only suffered one setback in his life, Han Hong. Other than that, it was Zhiyuan’s death.


    She knew that Zhiyuan’s death had crushed himpletely.