Sun Binghe's first thought was: Thank goodness I worked my way into his inner circle. Otherwise, it would only be a matter of time before he silenced me for good.
Shen Lian wasn't actually awake. Through his haze, he saw someone in front of him whose outline looked a lot like Chu Yilan's, but his mind was a jumble, unable to connect any of it to reality. Even so, he was seriously considering one question: how to keep Chu Yilan from being angry.
Chu Yilan laughed despite his anger. What a shameless bastard.
Shen Lian lifted his chin slightly, struggling to breathe, so Chu Yilan pulled the covers down a little.
Shen Lian's hair clung to his face. He must have sweated earlier, and now his face was pale.
A dull ache settled in Chu Yilan's heart. How many days had this man even been away from him?
Chu Yilan made a call on the way. Once the car reached the hospital, they were fast-tracked through admissions. By the time the blood tests, IV, and everything else were done, it was dark.
Shen Lian never woke throughout it all, but his labored breathing gradually eased.
In the private room, Chu Yilan pulled a stool up beside the bed, his anger all but gone.
This man had been sent to be his undoing.
Later, the doctor came in with a stack of test results. One look at his expression made Chu Yilan uneasy.
"There's a mild lung infection," the doctor said. "Some of his readings are barely within the normal range, too. Mr. Chu, the patient will need another comprehensive examination once the inflammation subsides."
Chu Yilan's straight brows drew tightly together. His voice was low. "All right."
Shen Lian knew none of this. But when he unconsciously whimpered in the early hours of the morning, someone held him. That embrace was so warm and reassuring that much of his discomfort eased.
Even the night sky seemed washed clean after the torrential rain, with glittering stars and a crescent moon.
The curtains were open, bathing the room in light.
Chu Yilan suddenly jolted awake from a dream. His arms tightened instinctively, and only after he felt Shen Lian did the panic and anxiety in his eyes slowly fade.
He was propped against the headboard in a position that wasn't particularly comfortable, but the man in his arms looked very comfortable indeed.
Chu Yilan lowered his eyes and gazed at Shen Lian for a long time.
Chu Yilan knew he had fallen for him. There was nothing difficult about admitting that. But before losing contact with Shen Lian, he had never examined just how deep those feelings ran.
He had dropped all his work, gone to every possible length to get the roads cleared, and met every one of Xu Jingge's demands, all so he could bring Shen Lian back where he could see him. Chu Yilan didn't doubt Shen Lian's abilities. After all, the bastard had shown remarkable heroism when he jumped into the water to save someone, utterly fearless. In everyday life, he also snapped right back at anyone who crossed him, never letting himself lose an argument. But so what?
None of that stopped Chu Yilan from being frantic with worry the entire way.
Back then, Zheng Ge had enjoyed every possible advantage and said something that plucked at Chu Yilan's heartstrings, yet Chu Yilan had only treated him a little more kindly. Resources and the like meant nothing. Chu Yilan didn't care about the wealth that slipped through his fingers. He had even stopped caring about the world itself.
But now, it seemed that world had fallen into his arms again.
In the stillness of the night, Chu Yilan finally heard his own heartbeat again, clearer than ever.
He was still alive, not merely a walking corpse. The warmth in his arms, the man in his arms-after searching his own heart over and over, he was absolutely certain this was a treasure he could not lose.
Chu Yilan was like a defeated prisoner, yet he willingly placed his shackles and chains in Shen Lian's hands.
Moonlight fell into the man's eyes. The abyss and shadowed valley faded, revealing a crystal-clear river at their farthest reaches, with love flowing gently through it.
Shen Lian hadn't intended to win him over through suffering, but luck was on his side, and he had stumbled into exactly the right result.
Shen Lian didn't open his eyes until noon the next day. His whole body felt languid and heavy, but he wasn't uncomfortable.
He struggled to sit up, still thinking he was in the hotel, only to hear a gentle, smiling voice beside him. "You're awake, Mr. Shen?"
Holy shit?
Shen Lian jolted. That voice sounded familiar!
Even after seeing Sun Binghe's refined, delicate features, Shen Lian still couldn't quite process it.
"Would you like some water, Mr. Shen?"
Shen Lian looked around suspiciously. It seemed to be a hospital.
"How did I get here?" His voice came out hoarse.
"Boss brought you, of course," Sun Binghe said as he poured some water.
Shen Lian was so delighted that he forgot he still had a beating coming. "Where is he?"
"He stayed with you all night and went out an hour ago. There's something he needs to take care of." Sun Binghe raised the head of the bed and handed Shen Lian a cup of warm water.
By the time he finished the water, Shen Lian had adjusted to the situation. "Ahem..." He lowered his voice. "Assistant Sun, is your boss angry?"
"He was very angry on the way here, but once he saw you, all that remained was worry."
Shen Lian was just about to grin when Sun Binghe added, "However, Boss's anger tends to have a delayed effect. You can't stay bedridden forever, so you should prepare yourself."
Shen Lian said, "..."
Man, I just love listening to Assistant Sun talk. Really makes my heart tremble.
After a while, Shen Lian asked Sun Binghe, "Do you have any ideas?"
Sun Binghe shook his head sympathetically. "No."
Meanwhile-
Xu Jingge yawned, his eyes bloodshot from staying up all night. After hearing his assistant's report, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Chu Yilan. "Thanks for everything this time, Mr. Chu. I don't have time to entertain you today. Let me go home and catch up on sleep, then we'll have dinner together when I wake up."
"Skipping dinner won't make any difference," Chu Yilan said.
"Yes, it will!" Xu Jingge had to see for himself exactly what was going on between Chu Yilan and Shen Lian.
Chu Yilan didn't refuse or waste any more words. He was anxious to get back to the hospital, too.
Outside Xu Jingge's company, Chu Yilan watched him stagger into a silver Cayenne, so exhausted he looked drunk. Before the door closed, Xu Jingge lay down with his head in the lap of the man in the back seat, and a pair of long, slender hands immediately began massaging his temples.
That was probably Chang Qing.
Chu Yilan knew the boomerang he had thrown all those years ago was about to come flying back.
Xu Jingge's dinner invitation was just a pretext. Knowing his habits, he would certainly throw Chu Yilan's own words back at him.
Chu Yilan had a feeling this trip to Lin City might not go very smoothly.
Sun Binghe got Shen Lian a new phone and sorted out his SIM card as well. The moment he turned it on, Hu Kailan's call came through.
Shen Lian answered casually, waited for Hu Kailan to finish his tirade, then cheerfully assured him he was safe.
As for the video, Shen Lian was indignant. "What, I get yelled at even for saving someone? Is that fair?!"
"No, actually." Hu Kailan's tone softened. "Not only are you not getting yelled at this time, plenty of ordinary people are helping you clap back at the haters."
Zheng Ge's fans were first in the firing line.
Those assholes really had no sense of timing. With disaster unfolding and everyone worried sick, they were still pulling their fandom bullshit. If that wasn't asking for trouble, what was?
Zheng Ge's fans couldn't stand even the slightest sign of Shen Lian gaining traction. Their previous behavior was one thing, but this time, when Shen Lian saved someone, they jumped out to call it a publicity stunt and swarmed the comments, hoping to control the narrative. The result was predictable.
[Lin City native here. I'll headbutt your skulls clean through! The dam suddenly broke, and Shen Lian was on his way to the shelter too. Staged? How the hell would he stage it? Your daddy's coming at your face at fifty kilometers per second with a Pegasus Meteor Fist. Let's see if you can rehearse blocking that in advance, dumbass!]
[Zheng Ge fans, just stick to shipping your idol with Zhou Tangsi. Your romance-addled brains probably can't understand this kind of thing.]
[But Shen Lian did interfere in Zheng Ge and President Zhou's relationship.]
[We're talking about a disaster, and you're talking to me about romance? For fuck's sake!]
Shen Lian scrolled through the comments, laughing his head off.
Before you continue