When Zhao Muqing woke up, Shen Guanzhi was nowhere to be found. A thermal lunchbox containing wontons sat on the bedside table, still warm.
He opened it and took a bite, discovering they were shrimp wontons. Unable to help himself, he quickly polished off the entire meal in a matter of minutes.
By visiting hours, Zhao Muqing’s hospital room was bustling with activity. Not only Shen Guanzhi, but also Jian Shigu and Li Shuqiao had specifically come to check on him.
First, Jian Shigu gripped his shoulders and looked him up and down, letting out a sigh of relief only after confirming there were no other serious injuries. “You scared the life out of me! I only heard about what happened when I got to work. Why didn’t you tell me last night? If you had told me, I would have come to see you right away.”
“I am fine, don’t worry. I will be discharged soon.” Zhao Muqing patted Jian Shigu gently on the back to reassure him.
“Dammit,” Li Shuqiao said, her tone filled with indignation. “I really was fooled by that psycho Zhou Ling. He seemed pleasant and diligent on the surface, but behind the scenes, he was actually plotting all this.”
“How is he now?” Zhao Muqing asked casually.
“You are still worried about him? You are way too kind.” Li Shuqiao’s anger clearly hadn’t subsided yet. “He is in police custody, of course. Don’t worry, a person like that will never be allowed to work as a model again. Having one less person to manage actually makes things easier for me.”
Zhao Muqing couldn’t understand why Li Shuqiao would have such an impression of him. “You are overthinking it. I just wanted to know that he is facing consequences.”
“Exactly. He even tried to kill Brother Shen, he completely deserves to die.” Li Shuqiao went on a furious rant for a good long while before finally calming down enough to tell Zhao Muqing to focus on recovering. Since he had no work scheduled anytime soon, there was no need to rush out of the hospital.
Well, there was no need to deliberately remind him that he currently had zero work coming in.
Shen Guanzhi remained silent the entire time, letting the others chat noisily in the private room. It wasn’t until Jian Shigu and Li Shuqiao left one after another that he finally sat down beside Zhao Muqing’s hospital bed.
He held out his hand toward Zhao Muqing. “Hold on to this.”
Zhao Muqing took the item from his palm and saw that it was the cyan-green gemstone ear cuff that had previously been worn on his ear. He hurriedly and carefully put it away. He had felt a pang of heartache earlier when he thought it was lost forever; not only was the gemstone extremely valuable, but it was also designed by Shen Guanzhi, making its total worth immeasurable.
“You got this back from Zhou Ling?” Unmasked surprise was written all over Zhao Muqing’s face.
“Mhm.” Shen Guanzhi placed the thermal box onto Zhao Muqing’s small table tray. “With the police involved, he had no choice but to hand it over.”
Zhao Muqing hid the ear cuff in a discreet spot by the head of the bed, only to be immediately drawn in by an enticing wave of fragrance. Shen Guanzhi had brought him lunch, reportedly prepared by the villa’s chef. Considering Zhao Muqing’s injuries and weak physical state, several meat dishes had been prepared.
Resisting the urge to drool, Zhao Muqing asked, “So much? What if I gain three pounds after leaving the hospital?”
“Walk it off.” Shen Guanzhi showed no mercy.
Zhao Muqing disgruntledly stuck out his tongue. With delicious food right in front of him, he had no intention of worrying about weight management. Refusing to eat when food was available was sheer madness, so he picked up his utensils and began devouring the meal with gusto.
“Don’t eat like that when you are outside.” Shen Guanzhi tapped his knuckles against the table tray. “It looks completely unseemly.”
After finally swallowing a huge mouthful, Zhao Muqing’s mouth was finally free to argue back. “No one is paying attention to me anyway.”
“You won’t go unnoticed forever.”
Zhao Muqing paused for a moment, raising a pair of smiling eyes to look at Shen Guanzhi. “Does the boss mean to say he has made up his mind to make me a star?”
“I am merely fulfilling the contract. The rest depends on your own efforts.” Shen Guanzhi replied indifferently.
Zhao Muqing promptly lowered his head to focus entirely on his food. He knew better than to expect many nice words to come out of Shen Guanzhi’s mouth.
During the days Zhao Muqing spent in the hospital, Shen Guanzhi came to visit almost every single day and spent the nights sleeping right in the hospital room.
His wound was healing better day by day, and gradually Zhao Muqing stopped feeling much pain, regaining virtually full freedom of movement. He originally wanted to share the good news with Shen Guanzhi, but seeing the man start peeling an apple for him, he immediately decided to keep his mouth shut.
The apple was something he wanted to eat, but if he spoke up, Shen Guanzhi might just shove the apple into his hands and make him peel it himself. There was no need to sit up when he could just lie down.
He watched Shen Guanzhi peel the fruit. The long strip of apple peel hadn’t broken once yet, and the closer it got to the end, the more nervous Zhao Muqing became, silently hoping the peel wouldn’t break, as if Shen Guanzhi were participating in some kind of peeling competition.
Right at the final stretch, the peel snapped.
Zhao Muqing’s hanging heart finally dropped. “So close.”
“What?” Shen Guanzhi found Zhao Muqing’s remark completely baffling and didn’t dwell on it, simply handing the apple directly to him. “Eat.”
Zhao Muqing opened his mouth and took a massive bite. He had no idea when Li Shuqiao had arrived in the room, but upon seeing him happily munching on the apple, the agent suddenly blurted out, “Brother Shen is actually peeling apples for you?”
“What about it?” Zhao Muqing’s mouth was still full of fruit flesh, making his words sound muffled. “I am the patient here.”
“Then I want to be sick too.”
“I can hire a private nurse to take care of you.” Shen Guanzhi said flatly.
Li Shuqiao let out a long sigh. “Never mind. Health is a person’s greatest asset.”
The doctor conducted Zhao Muqing’s routine checkup that day and confirmed he was cleared for discharge. Li Shuqiao went downstairs to help handle the paperwork while Shen Guanzhi helped pack his things.
Zhao Muqing dug out a clean set of clothes, planning to change out of his hospital gown first. Just as he unbuttoned a few buttons, he caught sight of the scar left near the lower left side of his chest, roughly half an index finger in length.
“Shen Guanzhi,” Zhao Muqing leaned in close to the man. “Do you think this scar will have a big impact on me?”
“Is it very obvious?”
“Take a look.” Fearing Shen Guanzhi wouldn’t see it clearly, and since he needed to change his top anyway, Zhao Muqing simply undid all the buttons, took off the hospital gown, and let the other man inspect his bare upper body.
Dressed, Zhao Muqing looked slender, but shirtless, his fair skin revealed a layer of lean muscle. It wasn’t overly bulky, nor did it look frail, presenting a thoroughly well-proportioned physique.
Shen Guanzhi’s fingertip brushed lightly over the scar. “Aside from making it inconvenient to wear overly revealing clothes, it is fine. The surface area isn’t large, and it can be covered up with makeup.”
“That is a relief.” The touch made Zhao Muqing feel ticklish, causing his body to tremble slightly of its own accord.
“Aren’t you cold?” Shen Guanzhi pulled his hand back. “Put your shirt on.”
Zhao Muqing pulled the freshly retrieved T-shirt over his head. What cold? It was the middle of summer! Telling him to put on clothes, Zhao Muqing thought, truly proved that there was a kind of cold called Shen Guanzhi thinks you are cold.
Zhao Muqing followed Shen Guanzhi into the back seat, and the driver chauffeured them all the way to the villa entrance.
The moment he stepped out of the car, Shen Guanzhi shoved something into his hand. Looking down at his palm, Zhao Muqing saw a tube of ointment covered in foreign text, making its exact purpose unclear.
“Scar removal cream,” Shen Guanzhi explained. “Got it from a friend. Imported goods, highly effective.”
Zhao Muqing thanked him and tucked the cream into his pocket.
The housekeeper helped carry his luggage upstairs. Returning to his room, Zhao Muqing immediately checked his schedule on his computer and found he had a body-sculpting class that afternoon.
Being able to sleep in on the very day of his discharge put Zhao Muqing in a rather pleasant mood.
Furthermore, he did not oversleep that day. Not only was he well-rested, but he also had plenty of time to leisurely enjoy lunch, leaving him feeling much more cheerful overall.
Having eaten and drank his fill, Zhao Muqing arrived at room 012. The instructor sent a video and instructed everyone to follow along with the movements shown on screen.
Practice continued until the end of class. Scrolling down to the very last video clip, Zhao Muqing noticed it was actually a ballet routine, though the instructor had previously mentioned this part wasn’t included in the syllabus.
Curious, Zhao Muqing tapped on it anyway, a wave of nostalgia washing over him. Back in college, he used to major in ballet, and whenever his troupe performed, he always stood out because male ballet dancers were exceptionally rare.
Once class ended and the people in room 012 gradually dispersed, he clicked play on the video and tried attempting the ballet movements inside.
After all, this wasn’t the body he had spent years training before transmigrating; his flexibility was severely compromised, and he failed to execute most of the movements smoothly. His foot accidentally tripped, and he was on the verge of making intimate contact with the floor.
“Careful.” Shen Guanzhi happened to walk in at that exact moment and reached out to steady his waist.
Only then did Zhao Muqing straighten his posture. “So late arriving? Must have a lot of things to handle?”
“I got here right after class ended.” Shen Guanzhi glanced at his watch. “Spent about twenty minutes watching you dance ballet.”
If he had danced well, that would be one thing, but getting caught dancing like that was pretty embarrassing.
“Studied it before?” Shen Guanzhi asked instinctively.
“Yeah.” Zhao Muqing covered for himself. “Just been too long since I last practiced.”
“Your injury just healed, don’t do movements this strenuous.”
“It’s fine, I finished a whole hour of body-sculpting class today.” Zhao Muqing patted his injured area, seemingly trying to prove his physical condition was pristine.
“You should have asked for leave.” Shen Guanzhi frowned, pulling back Zhao Muqing’s hand which was still flailing around.
“I ate too much meat at the hospital, I need to slim down fast.” Zhao Muqing rubbed his stomach. “If I don’t move around, I’ll get fat again.”
“You aren’t fat.” Shen Guanzhi looked away without warning, avoiding eye contact. “Your waist is very slim.”
Zhao Muqing couldn’t help breaking into a soft smile. “Boss, are you complimenting me?”
Shen Guanzhi waited a beat before answering. “Objective evaluation.”
Anyway, he wasn’t fat. Looking down at his waist and abdomen again, Zhao Muqing curved the corners of his mouth in satisfaction.
“Have the driver take you back first. I still have paperwork to process.”
“Then why didn’t you just text me?”
“Forgot what kind of relationship you have with me publicly?” Glancing at his watch, Shen Guanzhi made a move to head out. “Go back.”
Accepting the arrangement, Zhao Muqing closed the video on his phone. Just as he took a few steps toward the doorway, he spotted a photograph lying on the floor, though he had no idea who had dropped it.
He instinctively lowered himself to pick it up. The photograph had seen better days and showed a young woman dancing gracefully in the center of a stage.
Nothing had been on the floor while he was practicing earlier, but the moment Shen Guanzhi left, he found the picture. The owner of the item went without saying.
Zhao Muqing tucked the photograph into his pocket. Carrying a picture of this woman around with him everywhere meant she was probably someone very important.
Could she be some sort of secret lover? That didn’t happen in the original novel.