The words on the menu were unclear but the sun shone brightly on the terrace by the beach. Many couples were dining at this place, the scent of happiness palpable. Chu Qin was trying his best to make out the words on the menu. Suddenly, he noticed a familiar back. Zhong Yibin was dressed casually in blue, with a slender figure and outstanding temperament. He was holding hands with a woman in a red skirt.
“Zhong Yibin!” Chu Qin was enraged. He rushed over and grabbed the other person’s collar, upturning the table in the process.
When Zhong Yibin turned back, his heroic face was completely stained with blood, shocking Chu Qin. That person did not seem to notice anything, only staring blankly at him. He furrowed his eyebrows, “Who are you?”
A second later, after the heavens had fallen and the earth rended, Chu Qin abruptly opened his eyes.
The sun was shining directly on his face. He opened his eyes in a squint. White walls and a drip appeared before him. So it was a dream…
Chu Qin let out a breath. His entire body was aching, especially his chest, causing him to feel short of breath.
“Qin-ge, you’re awake! Wuwuwu, you shocked me to death!” A baby-faced boy in his early twenties was perched by his bedside. He looked more like a nineteen-year-old. This was his assistant, Hou Chuan.
“It hurts…” Chu Qin’s lips were pale. He couldn’t be bothered to comfort his distressed assistant.
“Oh oh!” Hou Chuan returned to his senses. He jumped up with a whoosh, shouting loudly while running around, “Doctor, my ge is awake. He says it hurts, can he take painkillers?” His voice was so loud the entire building could hear him.
“Let him take one then,” The doctor said helplessly as he walked out of the duty room.
Hou Chuan sped back at the speed of light, grabbed the medicine box by the head of the bed, and retrieved the painkillers. He even poured a glass of water for Chu Qin.
Chu Qin attempted to sit upright, but even the slightest movement would cause pain so intense that beads of sweat would break out. He could only rely on Hou Chuan to raise his head and force the medicine down. Only a few moments later when the painkiller started working did the pain ease.
“The doctor said that your sixth rib was fractured. But its only fractured, not broken. You should be able to resume normal activities after two weeks, but a full recovery will take six weeks,” Hou Chuan obediently recounted the doctor’s words. This assistant of his was very reliable in this aspect, he could remember things down to the smallest detail. “Xiaoxiao-jie was keeping watch last night, Zhu-ge delivered porridge this morning, the broadcasting station’s leader…”
“What about Zhong Yibin?” Chu Qin asked with furrowed eyebrows, interrupting Hou Chuan’s endless chattering. He remembered that Zhong Yibin had fainted after being hit on the head with a stick. Due to his own serious injuries, he had fainted as well before sending Zhong Yibin to the hospital.
“His head was injured. He’s not at this hospital,” Hou Chuan scratched his head and went back to worrying about Chu Qin, paying no heed to Zhong Yibin’s matters.
Since his phone had been thrown outside the van by the kidnappers yesterday, Chu Qin borrowed Hou Chuan’s phone to call Zhong Yibin. Nobody picked up. He had no choice but to call Zhong Yibin’s secretary.
“The director is still in a coma, he hasn’t woken up. However, the doctor said his life is not in danger. He should be awake within 48 hours,” All the information the secretary knew was conveyed to Chu Qin. “May I visit you today after work?”
“Okay,” Chu Qin was not familiar with this Secretary Jin and had wanted to reject the request at first. However, after considering that this person was Zhong Yibin’s secretary and had been very obliging during the call, he relented. In any case, Secretary Jin would have to be able to answer to his boss when he woke up, so visiting him could be considered work-related.
Enquiring about the hospital Zhong Yibin was in, Chu Qin sat up with the intention of visiting him.
“Qin-ge, you have a bone fracture, a bone fracture you know?” Hou Chuan’s face paled from fright. He quickly pressed down on Chu Qin. Injuries like bone fractures could not be fixed by using a cast, so he had to rest in bed.
In the end, the doctor had to come over and dissuade Chu Qin. The doctor sternly chastised Chu Qin, saying that he must rest in bed for at least a week before leaving the hospital.
Helpless, Chu Qin had no choice but to get his assistant to buy him a new phone. The good thing about Apple was that his address book could be stored in Cloud, so he could still retrieve all his contacts. Even with this, Chu Qin had to make a number of calls.
First, he called the broadcasting station’s leader to request for leave. The broadcasting station’s leader wished him a quick recovery, adding that a replacement had been found for this week’s program. Next, he contacted acquaintances from the media to inform them not to report on this incident and to let the police investigate first. After this, he was still unable to rest at ease and called his work partner Lin Xiaoxiao.
“Ai Qin-ge, I just closed my eyes after keeping watch on you for an entire night!” Lin Xiaoxiao expressed fervently in a grumbling tone.
Chu Qin’s ears suffered a shock from her volume. He placed the phone some distance away and waited for her complaints to end. “Cough, it must have been hard on you, I’ll treat you to crayfish after I’m all healed up. Help me apologize to the audience on my behalf. Qian-ge will be substituting me. The other party is your senior, don’t compete with him for the spotlight, got it?”
Lin Xiaoxiao choked up, and directly rolled her eyes. She buried her face in her pillow helplessly, “Got it…”
Hou Chuan picked up an apple and started peeling it for him to eat after the call. In the end, he peeled two apples. He had already eaten one yet the other party still hadn’t ended the call, so he silently ate the other too.
Only after Hou Chuan had eaten two apples, a banana, half a pack of melon seeds, and a packet of pistachios did Chu Qin reluctantly put down the phone.
“Qin-ge…” Hou Chuan passed him a glass of water. “You’re already injured so badly, can’t you stop worrying so much?” He had only followed Chu Qin for a short while, but had known from the start that Chu Qin was an easy person to get along with. Despite this, he didn’t think that Chu Qin loved worrying this much. The Persian War, the white house elections, and even Shengshi TV’s garbage bags’ lack of durability – none of these were ignored by Chu Qin.
“You don’t understand,” Chu Qin calmly narrowed his eyes and inhaled, ready to educate his small assistant on the philosophies of life when a stab of pain pierced his chest. The breath of air in his throat could not be exhaled, forcing him to cough twice.
“The doctor said no breathing heavily!”
After lying in bed for two days and taking painkillers every day, the pain was no longer as intense by the fourth day. There was still no news of Zhong Yibin.
Secretary Jin had visited twice and Chu Qin heard from him that Zhong Yibin had woken up but had not even seen his secretary before heading home. Nobody ever picked up his calls to Zhong Yibin and Secretary Jin was also unable to reach him.
Feeling like something wasn’t right, he contacted Zhong Yibin’s good friends. However, that group of young masters was also confused.
“Wasn’t Er Bing out having fun with you?” All their calls to Zhong Yibin had been picked up his mother, saying that Zhong Yibin had left the country without his phone.
The phone was in the mother’s hands and all calls except for his were answered. The implication of this was crystal clear.
Chu Qin knew that Zhong Yibin’s mother disliked him. Before his kidnapping, Zhong Yibin had just come out to his family. His mother was unable to accept that her son liked men and hated Chu Qin.
He didn’t have a choice, so he sent a message to Zhong Yibin’s phone.
[Sorry to disturb you Mother, I am Chu Qin. Please let me know Zhong Yibin’s condition. I only want to know this, I don’t have any other intentions.]
Shortly after, he received a reply.
[He is doing well, just that his brain is slightly injured so he won’t be able to see you for the time being.] Injury to the brain… There was a buzzing in Chu Qin’s head. He flung the blanket off, walking out.
“Today is only the sixth day, you can’t leave the hospital!” Hou Chuan couldn’t dissuade him no matter how hard he tried. He didn’t feel at ease letting Chu Qin drive alone so he could only give up, gather Chu Qin’s clothes, and take on the burden of being the driver to send him directly to the Zhong family’s villa.
There was a wide lane outside the Zhong family’s villa. The sun’s rays peeked through the gap in the leaves. The smattering of rays warmed the place, but Chu Qin, who was standing beneath those rays, felt like his heart had fallen into an ice cave.
In the sunny courtyard, Zhong Yibin was seated gracefully on a bench. He was dressed in a soft, casual outfit. His mother and a middle-aged woman was seated opposite him. A young girl wearing a red skirt sat beside Zhong Yibin, laughing while chatting with him.
There was no expression on Zhong Yibin’s face, but Chu Qin could see that he was listening carefully to the girl. The open courtyard allowed every single word to clearly enter Chu Qin’s ears.
“This is your fiancée, Little Ying. Don’t you remember?” His mother laughed with a face full of affection while pointing to the girl.
Zhong Yibin glanced at her, eyes showing a trace of suspicion. “Really?”
The girl called Little Ying smiled shyly. “Of course, you said that you love me the most,” she stretched out her left hand to show him the engagement ring.
Zhong Yibin’s eyes slowly iced over. Looking at the woman called Little Ying and his mother opposite him, he laughed coldly. “Who are you?”
His mother froze. “Silly child, I am your mother!”
“Liar!” Zhong Yibin suddenly stood up and looked upon them coldly. “The person I love is clearly Chu Qin!”
The author has something to say:
Small theater:
Er Bing: Liars, all liars!
Mother: I am your mother!
Er Bing: Do you think I’m stupid! Someone said he was my dad last chapter!