Chapter 12

After that, the two said nothing more to each other on the flight.

When they arrived at the hospital, all three were sent to separate rooms.

By the time Cui Ling hurried over, Qin You still hadn't come out of the debridement room. Hearing that, he slowed down and stopped rushing.

As he passed the room next door, he swore he hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but the door was open, and the conversation inside drifted faintly into his ears.

"How is President Qin's injury?"

It was Yan Tingshen's voice.

Cui Ling was astonished.

He remembered that the last time they came to the hospital, Yan Tingshen had still been keeping the eldest young master at arm's length.

Only a few days had passed, and not only were they already eating and living together, but now, on their second trip to the hospital, President Yan was actually asking about the eldest young master's injury of his own accord?

"Oh! Mr. Qin's wound is being stitched up again. At present, there are no signs of infection, but it will affect his recovery to some extent. He mustn't exert his left arm again anytime soon, or the wound could tear open again, and that would be difficult to deal with. Otherwise, he needs to stay in the hospital for a day for observation."

After listening, Yan Tingshen gave a slight nod.

The doctor took a look at his expression and carefully took his leave. "If there's nothing else, I'll get back to work."

Yan Tingshen said, "All right."

Hearing footsteps, Cui Ling came to his senses and continued on to Qin You's room.

He waited and waited in the room, but even by the time Qin You returned, there was still no sign of Yan Tingshen.

What was going on?

Wasn't he concerned?

Why hadn't he come over yet?

"Assistant Cui, are you here looking for someone?"

"..." Cui Ling looked away from the door and turned to Qin You. "Young Mr. Qin, I've already contacted the organizers. They're conducting a thorough investigation into the cause of the attic collapse. From the traces they've found so far, it was most likely caused by too great a temperature difference between the first and second floors of the attic. The warm air rose and melted the snow on the roof, and the meltwater then froze layer by layer, adding more and more weight until the accident happened."

Qin You asked, "Has that been verified?"

Cui Ling said, "I've already sent people over. The chairman was worried and sent people too. The police are also at the scene."

As for what the eldest young master had said, he had no choice but to acknowledge that he was right now.

Even though he had followed Qin You's instructions and kindly arranged for both helicopters to return to the banquet venue to help with the rescue, he had heard that some people still hadn't been rescued.

The organizers did have a comprehensive rescue plan, and everything had gone smoothly.

The reason it had dragged on so long actually had nothing to do with the prominent guests at the banquet, but with the staff who served them.

They had no connections and received no special treatment. After freezing in the cold wind for so long, they were paying the price for others.

Cui Ling pushed up his glasses.

Even he wouldn't have made it back so smoothly tonight, let alone been lucky enough to escape unscathed, if the rescue hadn't been arranged in advance.

Ultimately, it was Qin You's particular insight into safety that had saved him.

Even if it hadn't saved his life, it had at least spared him from falling seriously ill.

Thinking of that, and remembering how he had questioned Qin You before they set out, Cui Ling was utterly ashamed.

He clenched his fists, wondering how best to repay the eldest young master, when inspiration suddenly struck.

Right, Qin You likes Yan Tingshen.

Cui Ling stepped forward. "Young Mr. Qin, actually, when I came over just now, I happened to overhear President Yan asking about your injury."

He had assumed that, on hearing this, even if Qin You didn't immediately perk up, he would at least ask for the details.

Instead, the eldest young master didn't even bother to look up and gave him an utterly perfunctory response.

"Mm."

Cui Ling opened his mouth.

He couldn't understand it.

Before they returned, he had watched Qin You risk so much to rush into the dangerous building, looking every bit like a lovestruck man determined not to stop until he had rescued Yan Tingshen.

Now that the man was safe, he didn't care anymore?

What kind of preference was that?

He only wanted to give and expected nothing in return??

But since Qin You didn't care, Cui Ling, an outsider, had nothing more to say.

Seeing that it was getting late and Qin You had just had stitches, he was about to take his leave so Qin You could rest when he remembered someone else.

"Right, there's also Assistant Pei. He—"

Suddenly meeting Qin You's gaze, Cui Ling's words caught in his throat.

"...Young Mr. Qin?"

Qin You looked at him and said unhurriedly, "Assistant Cui, have you had enough of working at the Qin Group?"

"..." Cui Ling didn't understand, but he heard the danger in his tone. Keeping a calm expression, he said, "Young Mr. Qin, I don't understand what you mean."

Qin You said, "Was I not clear enough, or does Assistant Cui have more important things to remember and has already forgotten what I said?"

What had he said?

Cui Ling's mind raced, and he soon recalled Qin You's earlier warning.

But...

Wasn't that a ban on mentioning Yan Tingshen? He hadn't mentioned him this time. He'd only asked about Pei Sheng—

Cui Ling froze.

Could it be that because he'd mentioned him just now, even though he'd said something nice, the eldest young master couldn't stand it?

So now he was looking for any excuse to punish him, and had broadened the ban to include anyone connected to Yan Tingshen?

"Just this once. There won't be a next time."

Qin You had already looked away. "If I hear it again, Assistant Cui, your bonus for this quarter will be cut in half."

Cui Ling: "..."

He thought about his bonus.

He put up with it.

"All right..."

With that, Cui Ling turned and left.

Just then, the system popped up.

[Mission complete. The reward's been settled. Take a look, host!]

The numbers had appeared on the panel.

Affection: 10% → 19%

[Great! One minor plot point raised it by nine points in one go! I knew it—as soon as you stepped in, host, success would be yours!]

The system said happily, [Host, just a little more effort! Once it goes up one more point, the second stage of the main Affection Mission will unlock!]

Affection Mission.

It sounded just as unreliable as the Emergency Contingency Mission.

Qin You looked at the number on the panel.

No.

Affection couldn't be allowed to rise any further.

The author has something to say:

System: I disagree!

Chapter 12

After a night of rest at the hospital, Cui Ling reminded Qin You about the proposal when he was discharged.

Remembering it, Qin You simplified the version the target had made and casually sent it over before getting into the car.

Cui Ling had just been ordered to stay away from Zeshui Bay, so he could only stand there and watch the car's exhaust disappear into the distance.

Hearing a message notification, he took out his phone and opened the document. After only a few seconds, his eyes behind his glasses began to widen.

This...

Qin You wrote this?

Shocked, Cui Ling read the document back and forth five times, then instinctively looked in the direction Qin You had gone.

Was this genius, or a miracle?!

Qin You took the target back to Zeshui Bay.

Hospitals were places where trouble was likely to happen. Rather than let trouble come knocking, it was better to return home, where no one would disturb them and they had the natural conditions to grow sick of each other.

As they got out of the car, Qin You saw Yan Tingshen stop in front of the door and look over at him. "What is it?" he asked.

Yan Tingshen glanced at his hand, a slight frown briefly creasing his brow. "Your wound needs to be monitored. Why leave the hospital early?"

Qin You said, "There's a doctor at home, and it's easy to get to the hospital."

Yan Tingshen glanced at him. "Easier than being in the hospital?"

Qin You smiled. "The wound only needed to be stitched up again. Don't make such a fuss."

Yan Tingshen was about to speak.

"You, on the other hand." Qin You took two steps forward to stand beside him and met his gaze with a smile. "You can't skip your daily training, but compared to the hospital's equipment, wouldn't the equipment you're used to at home be more convenient?"

Yan Tingshen paused.

Was Qin You in such a hurry to leave the hospital because of him?

Qin You said, "It's windy outside, and you shouldn't stand for too long either. Let's go in."

Yan Tingshen pressed his thin lips together slightly. "All right."

He stepped onto the stairs, but before he could put some distance between them to avoid Qin You's wound, he looked up and saw Qin You's back as he went inside ahead of him.

In the past, Qin You would have stayed by his side.

On the ride back, Qin You had also behaved unlike himself, not saying a word.

But judging by how he had just acted, he was no different from usual.

Then Yan Tingshen remembered Qin You's injury and frowned slightly.

Leaving the hospital too early would have some effect after all.

He glanced once more at Qin You as he disappeared through the door, then continued forward.

Qin You had already returned to his room.

He needed to put a temporary stop to the rise in affection. For the next few days, he planned to stay out of everything except helping the target with his rehabilitation.

They had done the rehabilitation exercises so many times, and the target's affection had never risen, so there was no need to worry.

During that time, Cui Ling occasionally sent over a document or two, and Qin You tossed them all onto the table by the stairs.

He had intended to use them to disturb the target's rest and work, but to his surprise, every day after breakfast, he received documents from the target.

The target had dealt with them all for him.

He hadn't missed a single one.

So this morning, Qin You was eating when he heard Yan Tingshen suddenly speak.

"Send the documents to my room from now on."

Qin You paused.

Yan Tingshen's hands didn't stop moving, and he didn't look at him. His tone was as even as usual. "Some contain confidential information. Don't just toss them around."

Qin You: "..."

He turned to Yan Tingshen.

He certainly had the face of a cold and heartless man.

But how was he so useless? Helping out was one thing, but he was even this patient?

He looked at the panel again.

His affection still hadn't changed.

In other words, aside from getting the target to work for him for free for several days, and even having the target volunteer to take over that unpaid work, the plan had essentially fallen apart.

Now he believed the system's assessment of the target.

Cold on the outside, warm on the inside.

It wasn't that the target wasn't warmhearted; he just hid it rather deeply.