I've already blown on it for you, so you can't hit me now

Xia Qinghe went straight over and started tugging off Lin Fengmian's pants. Li Yang raised a hand to shield his eyes. "Holy shit, could you please not be so uninhibited?"

"Shit, I almost forgot there was another gay guy here. Sorry for the trouble, but give us some privacy." Xia Qinghe tipped his chin at Li Yang, asking him to leave.

Li Yang: "..." As if you're not gay yourself.

Li Yang was already very used to Xia Qinghe losing his brains whenever Lin Fengmian was involved.

Bullshit. I'm not remotely used to a brilliant man turning into an idiot sometimes.

Even if you let me look, I wouldn't dare. Who knows when you'd make me pay for it later.

Li Yang covered his eyes and felt his way back to his room.

Xia Qinghe went to his room for a blanket and wrapped Lin Fengmian in it. He knew that once Lin Fengmian was sound asleep, it was hard to wake him no matter how much he was jostled, but his movements were still as gentle as if he were handling a fragile doll, nothing like his red-eyed, reckless frenzy the night before.

As Xia Qinghe carried him downstairs, he ran into Lin Sui, who was so startled that the bubble tea straw fell from his mouth. He recognized Lin Fengmian from the strands of hair peeking out. "What happened to our Brother Mian?"

Xia Qinghe's face inexplicably grew a shade redder. He couldn't exactly say he had borrowed those handy legs last night. He couldn't get the words out. "I don't know. We'll have to get him checked at the hospital."

Lin Sui didn't notice Xia Qinghe's flushed face, but Secretary Su, who had gone out to eat with Lin Sui, took one look and turned away, pretending he hadn't seen anything.

He had no right to comment on his boss's private life.

Xia Qinghe wasn't willing to let anyone else touch Lin Fengmian, either. Secretary Su took charge of opening the car door, catching the blanket before it fell to the ground, and driving, fully conscious of his role as an employee.

Lin Sui got into the car with his unfinished bubble tea. "Could the wire harness he spent all day in yesterday have rubbed his skin raw, and the wounds got infected?"

Xia Qinghe raised an eyebrow. There was that, too?

He pulled the blanket aside. Lin Fengmian's pajamas had already ridden up to his waist, exposing a handspan of pale skin covered in dark bruises.

Xia Qinghe: "..."

He was guilty. He had only cared about his own pleasure.

He hadn't even noticed Mianmian was hurt.

A slap rang out inside the car. Lin Sui's hand shook, and he dropped his bubble tea in fright. By the time he came to his senses and reached to pick it up, the Snow King drink that had cost a few yuan had dirtied a car worth over ten million.

Lin Sui scrambled to pick up the bubble tea that had spilled in a long streak, rubbing at it with his sleeve, but no matter how he wiped, a milky-brown stain remained. He sneaked a look at Xia Qinghe and found that, besides five finger marks, his face was filled with self-reproach.

He had no attention to spare for the fact that Lin Sui had dirtied his car.

Lin Sui stepped on the stain, covering it with his shoe sole. He would secretly take the car to be cleaned when they got back.

At the same time, he marveled inwardly. Xia Qinghe really was ruthless with himself. He had put all his strength into that slap.

He really cared about his best buddy. Lin Sui felt a little envious of their brotherhood.

"Secretary Su, how much longer?" Xia Qinghe finally pulled himself out of his self-reproach and urged Secretary Su on.

Secretary Su wasn't afraid of Xia Qinghe rushing him. Even the boss couldn't overrule traffic regulations. By the time they reached the hospital, half an hour had passed.

Lin Fengmian's eyelids hadn't so much as fluttered, his breathing light and shallow. Lin Sui felt his mastery of sleep had reached the Great Ascension stage. His next step would be ascending to become an immortal of sleep.

Secretary Su parked, went around to the back seat, and opened the door. Xia Qinghe bent down and emerged with Lin Fengmian in his arms.

Secretary Su hurried ahead to lead the way. The hospital director had been waiting for some time with a group of specialists. The moment he saw Xia Qinghe's face, which he had only ever seen on television, and confirmed that he was the man in charge of the Xia Corporation, he told him without hesitation to place Lin Fengmian on the gurney.

"Did the patient suffer any injuries before losing consciousness?"

"No."

External trauma was ruled out.

"Does he stay up late, smoke, drink, or anything like that?"

"No."

An acute brain hemorrhage was ruled out.

"The wire harness left him bruised and rubbed his skin raw," Xia Qinghe said solemnly.

The nurses and doctors pushing the gurney faltered for a moment, then continued at full speed, taking him into the emergency department, where they had all the equipment needed to identify the cause first.

"The patient has extensive bruising. Check his heart rate immediately."

"Heart rate normal."

"Breathing normal."

"Head nurse, arrange a blood draw for a toxicology screen immediately."

The three stood outside the emergency room, watching the doctors bustle around. Secretary Su and Lin Sui turned in unison to look at Xia Qinghe. They had the distinct feeling the doctors had misunderstood something.

Xia Qinghe looked utterly innocent. It really wasn't his fault. He had explained, but the doctors clearly hadn't believed him.

After much hesitation, Secretary Su asked, "President Xia, did you tell the doctors the Fourth Young Master was asleep?"

Xia Qinghe kept a straight face. "I didn't think it needed saying. Any doctor should be able to tell."

Secretary Su and Lin Sui: "..." You seem to have some misunderstanding about the Fourth Young Master's sleeping abilities.

Lin Sui felt obliged to give the doctors, who were rushing around in such a sweat, a reminder.

"Doctor, our Brother Mian isn't unconscious. He's just asleep."

The busy but orderly emergency room fell deathly silent at Lin Sui's words. Only the sound of the equipment running remained.

The head of the emergency department turned toward Lin Sui, his neck moving stiffly in increments. "What did you say?" he asked incredulously.

Lin Sui pointed at Lin Fengmian, who had been stripped down to his underwear on the bed, electrodes covering his body and connecting him to all sorts of machines, yet still hadn't woken up. "He's just asleep."

Every doctor and nurse: "..." They wondered if they had misheard.

The head of the emergency department wiped the sweat from his forehead. No wonder he had thought this man's readings were bizarrely normal, nothing like those of an unconscious patient. He was simply asleep.

Everyone watched with complicated expressions as the man, who hadn't woken despite being fussed over for half an hour, rolled over in front of them all and began groping around with one hand.

A hand reached past them from behind, its fingers long and slender, holding a blanket.

Lin Fengmian felt the familiar blanket, tugged it over, hugged it to his chest, and went on sleeping.

Lin Sui and Secretary Su were so embarrassed their toes curled, while Xia Qinghe remained perfectly composed. "His bruises are too severe. Treat them. The skin on his thighs and waist is broken, too. Treat that as well."

He was on the hospital's board. What he said went.

The doctors removed the equipment attached to Lin Fengmian and prescribed cold compress patches and ointment.

Xia Qinghe stared at the things Lin Sui brought back. "That's all? The bruises cover such a large area, and this is all the medicine? Is it enough to cover them?"

Lin Sui looked at the doctor.

Expressionless, the doctor prescribed twice as much. Under Xia Qinghe's oppressive stare, he yielded to the capitalist and added a prepared Chinese medicine to promote circulation and disperse bruising.

Only then did Xia Qinghe stop staring at the doctor. Satisfied, he applied the ointment to Lin Fengmian, dressed him, and carried him back to the car bridal-style.

When they returned to the hotel, Li Yang wasn't there. Xia Qinghe guessed he had gone to meet up with his team.

He carried Lin Fengmian back into the bedroom and stared at his hand for a long time. Then he picked up the ointment, applied another thick layer to the web between his thumb and forefinger, and gently blew on it.

He said softly to Lin Fengmian, "I've already blown on it for you, so you can't hit me now."

"Sealed." Xia Qinghe lifted Lin Fengmian's hand and pressed their thumbs together.

Just like when they were children.