Nan Qing's pupils widened in shock, and he began to consider the possibility.
If Huo Yuzhou's tastes really could change...
Then, if he could stop liking Bai Ruanruan, wouldn't his whole life turn around?
He wouldn't need to fight this world's protagonist gong, Xi Juan, over someone, nor would he repeatedly suffer Bai Ruanruan's hot-and-cold PUA manipulation, suppression, and provocation. With his methods and power, he could absolutely remain a business tycoon in S City for the rest of his life and live out a happy, fulfilling existence.
But-
Nan Qing looked at Huo Yuzhou and blinked his round eyes.
He was already twenty-seven. His tastes had long since settled. Could they really still change?
Perhaps seeing his confusion, Huo Yuzhou paused in stroking his head and emphasized,
"They can."
Nan Qing's eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Really?"
Lying in the hospital bed, Bai Ruanruan's voice was hoarse, his eyes bloodshot.
"You're not lying to me? Huo Yuzhou really hasn't come to see me even once?"
His second older brother, Bai Yanxiu, stood beside the bed, looking at him with a somewhat complicated expression.
"No."
He still hadn't dared mention that Huo Yuzhou had gone to Mount Pingqiao and already rescued Nan Qing.
But even with him concealing all that, Bai Ruanruan was already on the verge of going mad.
"How is that possible? Are you lying to me?"
"How could Huo Yuzhou not come looking for me? Could he really bear to leave me?"
"Did you not spread the news that I'm sick? Does everyone out there not know I'm sick already?"
Bai Ruanruan's mind was a mess, and intense pain tore through his body. After two days of torment on the mountain, he had grown noticeably thinner, and even the way he glared at people was a little frightening.
Afraid he would become further agitated, Bai Yanxiu hurried to comfort him.
"Mr. Huo is so busy. Maybe he doesn't know."
"Lie down first. You barely escaped with your life, and you ate so many filthy things. The doctor said you need quiet rest."
Bai Yanxiu thoughtfully pulled up his blanket for him, but Bai Ruanruan stiffened.
"You told them I ate..."
Those words seemed very difficult to say. Bai Ruanruan clenched his teeth, mumbled past them, and continued questioning Bai Yanxiu.
"You told other people? Everyone knows?"
Bai Yanxiu looked at him in bewilderment. "Of course I had to tell the doctor."
"Besides, what's the big deal? You spent two days on Mount Pingqiao. You're lucky you came back alive. During famines, people even ate white clay and tree bark. All you ate was a dead rabbit-"
"Urgh-"
His words made Bai Ruanruan dry-heave, and he began to scream.
"Don't mention it! Don't say it! Shut up!"
Bai Yanxiu immediately fell silent. "Okay, okay, okay. I won't say it. I'll make them all keep quiet."
"Just rest. Get some rest."
Having said that, Bai Yanxiu was about to leave, but before he could pull open the door, Bai Ruanruan's voice rang out in the hospital room.
"Oh, right. What about Nan Qing?"
Bai Yanxiu froze in place, unsure how to answer for a moment.
The person in the hospital bed, however, gave a soft laugh, utterly unlike his usual gentle, delicate manner. There was even something eerily hair-raising about it.
"He's dead, isn't he?"
At that instant, Bai Yanxiu felt goosebumps about to rise all over him.
"I don't know."
Bai Yanxiu quickly pulled open the door and hurried away.
Inside the private hospital room, Bai Ruanruan let out a long breath and lay back on the bed.
He had known Nan Qing must be dead.
The mountainside had collapsed, and mudslides were everywhere. Who knew how many small animals had drowned?
If he hadn't been this world's protagonist shou, protected by fate, he probably would have died long ago too.
What ability did Nan Qing, a vicious cannon fodder who should have died long ago, have to survive?
Good riddance. He was better off dead.
He had only lived an extra two days, yet he had already made Bai Ruanruan lose so much face.
What would happen if he were allowed to keep living?
Bai Ruanruan couldn't be blamed for insisting on dragging him down.
An icy smile on his face, Bai Ruanruan repeatedly savored how he had deliberately thrown himself at Nan Qing and knocked him down amid the panic.
That move truly had been the most brilliant choice.
Who could blame someone struggling to survive in terror?
Besides, even Nan Qing was dead. Only heaven, earth, and Bai Ruanruan himself knew about this.
He could preserve his persona again.
Bai Ruanruan picked up his phone and began checking his chat messages over and over again.
Huo Yuzhou hadn't called even once, nor had he sent him any words of concern.
Bai Ruanruan's tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed as he understood.
Wasn't this perfectly normal?
After all, in the plot, he hadn't encountered a storm while appearing on the variety show, nor had he encountered a mountainside collapse or mudslides.
Naturally, the plot hadn't specified how Huo Yuzhou should react either.
So it was perfectly normal that he hadn't shown concern, because in his world, everything on Mount Pingqiao was probably business as usual, with no accident having happened at all.
Having soothed himself, Bai Ruanruan opened Weibo.
An accident had occurred on the variety show he was appearing in.
For some reason, although he had behaved just as he always did, he simply hadn't gained any fans.
Not only had he failed to gain fans, but he had also drawn a lot of people to curse at him.
Huading Entertainment had gotten quite a few accounts banned, and before it could even join forces with the Bai Family to announce the news about the real and fake young masters, that storm had arrived.
In the face of a major disaster, everything else was trivial.
He had been missing for two days. When he was rescued, many photos had been taken of him, his clothes tattered and his face covered in dirt, looking particularly miserable.
As soon as those photos were posted, he drew a great deal of sympathy. Those who had been criticizing him congratulated him on returning safely, and many even praised his bravery. The company had begun promoting him again, crafting a positive image of him as someone strong and brave amid disaster, doing everything he could to preserve his life through forty-eight harrowing hours.
So in just two days, his follower count alone had increased by eight hundred thousand.
In his Super Topic, fans checking in were all praying for his safety, hoping he would regain his health soon and reappear on-screen.
Bai Ruanruan curled his lips and gave one of them a like.
Then he pulled up a photo Bai Yanxiu had taken of him. A doctor was treating his wounds, and there was a pool of blackish blood on the floor.
His face was deathly pale. In fact, he already had makeup on, with powder covering the bruising on his face and his lips pale as well, making him look particularly pitiful.
He edited the photo, added a clenched-fist sticker to himself, and posted a new Weibo update along with his medical records.
"Fighting hard against illness!"
As soon as the Weibo post went up, many marketing accounts reposted it, while his followers asked after him one after another and gave him likes.
He even made the trending searches again.
This was his fifth trending search today.
After doing all this, a happy smile appeared on Bai Ruanruan's face, and he began browsing Weibo again.
But the very next instant, he could no longer smile-
Nan Qing, who should have died long ago, held a bowl of strawberries and wore a clean, soft lace shirt, smiling at the camera with red lips and white teeth.
"Thank you all for your concern. I've recovered! Have some little strawberries /strawberry/strawberry"
It had been posted half a minute ago.