Chapter 457 Only to Repay a Life-Saving Grace

• The old matriarch stared at the very much alive Zhen Deliang like a fangirl spotting her idol. Zhen Deliang chuckled, low and warm. His gaze turned sincere as he spoke with a gentle smile. “Madam Li, I came today for two reasons.” “First, to celebrate your birthday.” “Second, to repay a life-saving grace.” Zhen Deliang’s words came steady and calm, not loud at all, yet they left the old lady stunned. Repay a life-saving grace? What was that supposed to mean? Who exactly was he thanking? Did someone in the Li family save him? Who? The old matriarch froze. Li Si, Li Sumei… the four siblings all froze too. And just as everyone stood there, dumbstruck, Zhen Deliang suddenly turned toward Ronan Crest, then stepped forward. Under everyone’s startled gaze, he bowed deeply to Ronan. “I’m here specifically to thank you for saving my life, Mr. Crest.” “Thank you for stepping in that day.” “Without you, this old life of mine would’ve already been scattered into ashes in some urn.” “Mr. Crest, thank you.” He meant every word. Boom. Boom. Boom. Everyone present felt like they’d been struck by lightning. They stared at Ronan Crest in shock. Ronan Crest was Zhen Deliang’s savior? A thousand questions exploded in their heads. “Master Zhen, y-you must be mistaken. How could he be your savior?” Li Si blurted, unable to accept it. “I’m not mistaken. Mr. Crest is indeed the one who saved me.” Zhen Deliang’s tone was firm. “That day in the hotel lobby, I had a sudden heart attack. I almost died. If Mr. Crest hadn’t acted fast, I’d be dust in a box right now.” This Zhen Deliang was none other than the elderly man who’d collapsed that night—when Ronan Crest dropped Zoe Hart at the hotel and was about to leave, he ran into the emergency and helped. Ronan hadn’t expected the old man to show up here. Even more unexpected—the old man seemed to be a big name, and Grandma was a fan. “Son-in-law, what’s going on?” “Master Zhen says you saved him. Is that true?” Christine Hart asked, eyes on Ronan. “Oh, yeah.” Ronan answered quickly, “It was just a few days ago. I saved this gentleman in Northwood. But… how he found us here, I have no clue.” He looked to Zhen Deliang, questioning. Zhen hurried to explain: “Here’s what happened… Mr. Crest, after you saved me, I started looking for you. I wanted to thank you face-to-face. I only got some info about you yesterday evening, so I grabbed gifts and rushed to your home to express my gratitude.” “But when I got there, nobody was home.” “Your neighbors told me your whole family had come to Clear Spring City for Madam’s birthday.” “So I figured I’d go with the flow—prepare birthday gifts overnight and bring them here.” “One, to offer my blessings to Madam.” “Two, to say thank you to you in person.” Hearing his explanation, the crowd finally relaxed. Ronan felt relieved too. No wonder the old man tracked them to Clear Spring City. That made sense. “It was nothing,” Ronan said, scratching his head, tone light. “You coming all this way with so much fuss actually makes me a bit embarrassed.” “A life-saving grace must be repaid,” Zhen Deliang replied, smiling like a kindly grandpa. “Mr. Crest, I heard from your neighbors yesterday that Madam believes in Buddha and loves jade carvings. As it happens… this old man happens to be skilled in jade carving, so I prepared a few humble gifts.” He spoke again, then glanced at the middle-aged man beside him—his son, Zhen Ziliang. Zhen Ziliang didn’t dither. Catching his father’s look, he immediately took out the gift list and read it aloud. “Today, we’ve come to celebrate Madam Li’s birthday. The gifts are as follows.” “A greenstone jade carving: one statue of the South Sea Guanyin.” “A pair of imperial-green jade Ruyi.” “One pair of yellow turquoise bracelets.” “Two star-and-moon jade lions.” “A red-and-purple bicolor jade carving: one ‘Dragon and Phoenix Bring Prosperity.’” “And one wild ginseng, fifty years old.”