Chapter 34

Qin Heng seemed not to feel the heat at all. Unhurriedly, he picked at the little opening on top until it formed a semicircle, gave the egg a little cap-opening, then set it in the egg holder and handed it to Chi Ning.

Chi Ning hesitated a little. "I can't eat anymore."

"Drink the soup inside," Qin Heng said.

Chi Ning took it and drained it in one gulp. It was so fresh he nearly swallowed his tongue.

He heard Qin Heng chuckle softly. "I've never lied to you."

Chi Ning's teeth knocked against the egg, biting off a small piece of shell. His eyes widened slightly, and he nearly forgot to breathe.

Qin Heng watched him finish the soup.

Then, without the slightest disgust, he took the egg back, peeled off the shell in a few quick motions, and stuffed it into his own mouth.

He could not taste it at all. Looking into Chi Ning's eyes, he blanked out as if possessed for a moment, then murmured softly, "I've never lied to you in my life."

Chi Ning's teeth clicked, crushing the piece of eggshell he had just bitten off.

He did not even bother spitting it out. He simply chewed it up and swallowed it.

This was already the third time Qin Heng had acted unusually. He seemed completely unaware of what had happened in their previous life, yet every incident seemed to have left a faint trace on him.

The evening breeze was cool and refreshing, blowing Chi Ning into a daze.

Once was an accident. Twice was a coincidence. What about three times?

He was a little afraid.

Afraid that rebirth and all the wonderful life afterward were merely fantasies. That in reality, he was lying in a hospital bed with tubes all over his body, struggling in his sleep while only his soul had escaped.

Dreams were extensions of memories; they could not be completely fabricated.

Everything that appeared in a dream could find some basis in reality. Some people would also make up for regrets in their dreams—for instance, marrying the first love from whom they had parted ways.

Chi Ning dug his nails into his palm. His heartbeat sped up, and his entire body stiffened.

One theory after another flashed through his mind, the words tangling around his limbs like a swamp.

Don't panic.

Chi Ning told himself. He raised his head and looked around. There was at least one person here whom he had absolutely never seen before.

Sun Boxing's father—Old Sun.

By the time Chi Ning had learned of this man in his previous life, Old Sun had already left the pharmaceutical industry and gone traveling around the world. Chi Ning had neither seen photos of Old Sun nor met him in person.

That face could not possibly have been imagined based on any film, television show, or book.

Today was the first time he had seen him.

There were also Mo Yuanzhou and Xu Jiahao. He had never even heard those two names before. He had not gone to the billiards hall in his previous life either, so it was even less possible that he had seen anything related to it.

These living, breathing people all proved that this world was real.

Most importantly, there was Qin Heng's lie.

The Qin Heng from his previous life had put on too perfect an act, without the slightest flaw.

If this were a dream meant to make up for regrets, then he should have encountered a flawless, mature, and proper Qin Heng here—not the current one, full of ordinary human warmth and small imperfections.

Countless thoughts spun through his mind, but only an instant passed in reality.

The moment Chi Ning came back to himself, he smiled. "You make it sound like you lied to me in your previous life."

Qin Heng: ...

That had to be a deadly question.

No, it was not an easy question to answer.

He mumbled vaguely, "Be a materialist."

Chi Ning straightened up and stretched. "All right, little materialist Heng. That's about it for today. Bye."

Qin Heng's Adam's apple bobbed. His gaze fell on Chi Ning's back, almost unblinking. He suddenly remembered that Chi Ning had once called him Brother Heng in a daze.

It was far too suggestive.

Whether it was Little Heng or Brother Heng, both were far too suggestive. It was as though their relationship had suddenly taken a step closer, becoming intimate all at once.

Heat rose until a layer of sweat formed on his back. In a daze, he thought, Wait a little longer.

Wait until Chi Ning had fully grown up, until he had become even better, until the college entrance exam was over. Then he could cut open his true self and let Chi Ning see it.

Qin Heng returned home with his mind in a muddle and washed away the barbecue smell all over himself. Then he sat at his desk and did the homework Chi Ning had assigned, as well as the homework left by the teachers at No. 1 High School.

Only after midnight did the tangled thoughts slowly settle, and drowsiness gradually came over him.

Once he lay in bed and his head touched the pillow, Qin Heng almost immediately fell into a bizarre dream.

He carried a bag of medicine and stood in a corridor full of disinfectant smell. When he turned his head, he could see the punch-card wall with photos of the nurses on duty, with a line of small words beneath it.

—City First People's Hospital IV Department.

Just as his vision focused, the weary voice of a nurse calling numbers sounded over the broadcast. "Patient A0902, Chi Ning, please proceed to Window 2 to prepare for your IV."

Seeing that Qin Heng had not moved, Chi Ning reached for the medicine in his hand. "I'll go myself. You should head back."

Qin Heng shifted his hand aside and casually hooked the medicine over his wrist, then reached out to support Chi Ning's waist. "No need. I'll stay with you until you're done. I don't have anything to do anyway. The ward next door is empty, so I'll arrange it. Sitting while getting an IV is uncomfortable."

"Sorry for the trouble," Chi Ning said.

Qin Heng felt himself smile. "It's no trouble."

He accompanied Chi Ning to the nurses' station and watched the sharp needle pierce the back of Chi Ning's hand, while the young man seemed already accustomed to that kind of pain.

He was incredibly thin, like a sheet of paper that the wind could blow away.

His fingers, the backs of his hands, and his arms were covered in bluish veins. He had a pale, lifeless air about him and looked like nothing but a bundle of bones.

"Why are you so thin?" Qin Heng murmured.

"I've already put on a little weight." Chi Ning smiled. "Your cooking is so good. You always make people eat until they're stuffed."

Qin Heng held up the IV bottle for him and escorted him into the ward, where the noise and flow of people were instantly shut out.

He set down the things in his hands. "I'll be back in a bit."

When he returned after finishing the paperwork, Qin Heng had brought a small heat pack. He tore it open, folded it, and carefully tucked it into Chi Ning's hand. "Hold this. Your hand will get cold if the IV runs too fast."

Chi Ning's fingers rested lightly on the gradually warming heat pack. With his eyes lowered, he suddenly asked, "Why are you so good to me? At most, we're friends. I've never seen you take such meticulous care of Zhang Qiuwen, and you two are practically brothers who grew up together, aren't you?"

Qin Heng stood there for a while, then bent down and reached out, pressing his palm to Chi Ning's thin yet still beautiful cheek. His thumb gently brushed his eyelashes. "I didn't want to say it outright yet."

"It's not like you don't understand... You know a little in your heart, don't you?"

Chi Ning looked at him quietly.

"I like you," Qin Heng said.

Chi Ning tilted his head slightly away, avoiding the burning palm. There was a trace of nasal congestion in his voice. "Don't like me. I don't have time..."

Daybreak—

Qin Heng abruptly opened his eyes.

He sat up and pressed his temples for a long while. Chi Ning's expression when he rejected him flashed through his mind. "How could he... How could he be that thin? How old was he? Twenty-six?"

Chi Ning could reject him, but how could Chi Ning be so thin, so sickly, so unhealthy?

The dream had an absurd sense of realism. He could even clearly remember the feel of Chi Ning's cheek, the curve of his eyelashes, the lips Chi Ning had pursed when rejecting him, and that aggrieved expression.

Qin Heng sat on the bed, staring blankly at the greenery outside the window.

Wait, wasn't he the one who had been rejected? Why did Chi Ning look even more aggrieved than he did? It was not as if he would force anyone.

What kind of stupid dream was that?

Qin Heng was so irritated he could barely contain himself, as if he had really been rejected.

How unlucky.

He checked the time, fell back onto the bed, pulled the small blanket over himself, and tried to go back to sleep.

Preferably, he could change fate against the heavens in the dream—preferably rush back in, turn the tide, and win Chi Ning over.

But the moment he closed his eyes, Chi Ning's thin, sickly figure appeared in his mind, so vivid it made his throat tighten.

"Fuck." Qin Heng threw off the blanket and sat up. "How could he be that thin?!"

Even a stomach problem should not have made him that thin. And those dark circles—he looked like he had not slept in eight hundred years. Had the Chi family gone bankrupt or something? How could they have made Chi Ning work himself that hard?

With a head of messy hair, Qin Heng went into the kitchen on the second floor. As he cursed his dream self for being useless, he grumbled while frying eggs. "Wasn't that dream complete bullshit? With Xu Jiahao's partnership, no matter how badly the Chi family fell, they shouldn't have made Chi Ning work himself to the bone like that, right? What kind of stupid dream was that? How could dream-me be so timid and pathetic?"

After finally confessing, he did not even get something auspicious out of it. Was he supposed to get rejected even in a dream?

He was dreaming, yet the dream would not even let him kiss Chi Ning. There was really nothing to say.

Nothing at all!

Qin Heng grumbled his way through frying the eggs, then went to make flatbread.

He had an MP3 player loaded with English listening exercises in his pocket. He listened while making the flatbread, then, after making egg burgers filled with meat sauce and glass noodles, immediately rushed to school.

Qin Heng arrived at the door of Class One and knocked coldly. "Chi Ning, come out for a second."

Chi Ning froze.

What was going on?

After one night, Little Qin had suddenly turned into a cool guy?

He looked like some school bully coming to pick a fight with him.

Oh, right. Qin Heng was the school bully rumored around No. 1 High School.

Before Chi Ning could move, Li Qiuhe trembled as he patted him. "D-d-d-don't be afraid. I-I-I-I'll protect you."

Chi Ning: ...

You looked like you were about to faint from fear. You should protect yourself first.

He reassured him, "It's fine. Even if we really fight, Qin Heng might not be able to beat me."

Li Qiuhe: ...

Really? He did not believe that.

Judging from their builds and weights, the two of them were not even in the same class.

Chi Ning walked out of the classroom, pulled the door shut behind him, and led Qin Heng up to the rooftop.

Class One was on the top floor. They only had to climb half a flight of stairs to reach the rooftop.

"What is it?" He turned his head and carefully examined Qin Heng from top to bottom. "Is there something urgent?"

The faint scent of scallion oil drifted around Qin Heng, making one's mouth water.

Soon, the source of that scallion-oil scent appeared before him: a round, plump, bulging flatbread.