Shu Xing’s eyes widened significantly when he heard the voice behind him. He slowly turned his head to glance at the red sports car and stood up with a rare sense of restraint.
Fortunately, he had stopped badmouthing Xi Yang just moments ago. Otherwise, if Xi Yang had overheard, Shu Xing would not have known what kind of excuse to use to brush it off.
Xi Yang sat in the car, resting his chin on the hand that held his cigarette. His dark eyes remained deep and cold. It felt as though if Shu Xing looked at them for even a second longer, the unease in his heart would be instantly exposed.
“Bad mood? Out for some air?”
Shu Xing wanted to argue that he was not in a bad mood, but he also did not want Xi Yang to know he was worried about him. That would make it seem like he cared too much about Xi Yang.
“I came out to,” Shu Xing made up a random excuse, “feed the cats.”
Xi Yang arched an eyebrow. “Quite the compassionate soul.”
Shu Xing stepped a few paces closer, looking down at Xi Yang in the car. “How are you?”
“How am I what?”
“Is your mood any better?”
Xi Yang paused, took a drag of his cigarette, and said, “It is what it is.”
Shu Xing choked and coughed a few times from the rising smoke. Xi Yang glanced at him and put out the cigarette against the car body. He tilted his head toward the empty passenger seat. “Get in?”
Shu Xing did not understand what he meant. He pursed his lips and asked, “For what?”
“Taking you back.” Xi Yang stared at him steadily and said, “Did Cheng Xinyu not say you rented a place off-campus?”
“Ah, that,” only then did Shu Xing remember that Xi Yang did not know he planned to move back into the dormitory. He did not dare let Xi Yang actually drive him to the apartment, so he could only stammer, “I already moved back to the dorm. I am not used to living outside.”
“Oh.” Hearing this, Xi Yang did not seem to want to meddle further, but realizing it was nearly midnight, he noted, “The dormitory should have a curfew at this hour, right?”
Shu Xing thought to himself that this guy knew there was a curfew yet did not return to the dormitory earlier. He nodded and replied, “Yes.”
“So where do you plan to stay?”
“I will just find a random hotel off-campus and manage for the night.” Shu Xing pursed his lips, thinking that if he had known this would happen, he would not have come out. Now he had to waste money on a hotel room.
“Fine. Do you want me to drop you off?”
Shu Xing originally wanted to refuse, but considering how late it was, it would likely be hard to hail a taxi. After hesitating for a moment, he climbed into Xi Yang’s passenger seat.
The night wind blew gloomily, and Shu Xing pulled his thin shirt jacket tight. Xi Yang likely noticed the movement, as he raised the sports car’s roof. The sealed cabin blocked out the chilly night air.
Shu Xing was no fool; he could see that Xi Yang raised the roof because he was cold. He looked up at Xi Yang. The flickering streetlights filtered through the windshield onto him. The exquisite contours of his profile were partially obscured by shadows, creating a sharp boundary between light and dark.
He had to admit, Xi Yang’s face was impeccably handsome. Shu Xing stole cautious glances at him, terrified of being caught. Shu Xing suddenly felt that if Xi Yang had said, “Even if my online partner were you, I could accept it,” he might have gathered the courage to confess right then and there. Xi Yang could accept anyone, yet he had specifically excluded him. And yet, he was the very “Hang Shu” Xi Yang was looking for.
Thinking of this, Shu Xing felt a faint sense of displeasure, and the twitching sensation in his stomach returned. He silently pressed his hand against his belly, leaning his head weakly against the car window.
“Which hotel are you going to?” Xi Yang buckled his seatbelt and looked sideways at Shu Xing. Seeing his brow furrowed and his face startlingly pale, the tone of his inquiry became slightly alarmed. “What is wrong with you?”
He saw Shu Xing clutching his stomach and pressed further, “Are you not feeling well? Stomach pain?”
Shu Xing had been able to endure the twitching inside his body, but the moment Xi Yang asked, his defenses crumbled. In the past, whenever he felt unwell, he would vent to Yu Hui. Yu Hui would worry about him and coax him, making him feel loved.
Shu Xing could not tell if it was stomach pain or something else, but the corners of his eyes turned slightly red. His eyelashes were dampened by tears, shimmering under the glow of the streetlights.
“Mm,” Shu Xing felt cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. He gripped the car seat, trying to adjust his sitting position, but because he moved his body, his stomach gave another violent twitch.
The more Xi Yang looked at Shu Xing, the more he realized something was wrong. He said forcefully, “I am taking you to the hospital.”
“No need.” Shu Xing leaned his head back and pointed weakly at the car navigation. “Just find a hotel nearby and drop me off.”
“I cannot drop you off.” Xi Yang glanced at him and started the car immediately. “If you end up dying of pain, I would be somewhat responsible.”
“…” This poisonous tongue; it really was the annoying Xi Yang he knew.
Shu Xing had just begun to cast Xi Yang in Yu Hui’s gentle role when he was dragged back to reality by that one sentence. By the time they reached the hospital, Shu Xing was in too much pain to speak. He was hunched over, curled up in the seat, his small face deathly pale. Even his usually rosy lips had lost their color.
Xi Yang parked the car and leaned over to gently push Shu Xing’s shoulder. Shu Xing looked up, his bright eyes brimming with tears and his wet lashes trembling as if he had just been crying. Xi Yang looked at him with concern. “Can you still walk?”
Shu Xing could not speak. He could only shake his head slightly to indicate how miserable he felt. Xi Yang looked at him, let out a deep, heavy breath as if helpless, and got out of the car. The interior light flickered off and then on again. The passenger door was suddenly pulled open, and a gust of cool wind rushed into the car.
Shu Xing was already shivering from the pain, and at the touch of the wind, he could not help but shake. Immediately after, he was gathered into a warm embrace. His head no longer rested against the cold glass of the car window, but against Xi Yang’s solid chest.
His body was suddenly lifted into the air. Shu Xing leaned dazed in Xi Yang’s arms. If he still had any strength left, he definitely would have struggled to get away.
The place where Xi Yang parked was not far from the emergency room, but the path felt very long to Shu Xing. His eyes were half-closed, and his head occasionally brushed against Xi Yang’s chin. He pressed one hand against his painful abdomen while the other lightly gripped Xi Yang’s clothing. Since Xi Yang was only wearing a T-shirt, Shu Xing had nothing else to hold onto, so he took the liberty of grabbing his collar to prevent Xi Yang from accidentally dropping him.
There was a faint scent of tobacco on Xi Yang. Shu Xing’s nose twitched as he took it in. It was not an unpleasant tobacco smell; rather, it was a fresh scent like mint, likely mixed with the smell of laundry detergent from Xi Yang’s clothes. In short, Shu Xing liked this scent. It felt as though it could soothe his anxious heart.
This is Yu Hui’s scent.
Leaning against Xi Yang, Shu Xing looked up slightly at the exquisite line of Xi Yang’s jaw. The person before him was his Yu Hui, yet he did not belong to him as Xi Yang. Shu Xing closed his eyes and leaned his head a bit closer to Xi Yang’s neck, calling out softly and with a hint of grievance, “Yu Hui.”
That soft, weak call was not easy to hear in the noisy emergency lobby. Xi Yang was busy communicating with the nurse about registration and did not notice what Shu Xing had said. Once the paperwork was finished, he placed Shu Xing on a chair and slowly crouched down. “What did you say just now?”
Shu Xing hunched over, pressing his hands against his stomach, and replied softly, “Nothing.”
Xi Yang did not press him. He glanced at the pantry in the distance and asked, “Do you want some hot water?”
“Okay.”
“Then sit here. I will go get it. Do not wander off.”
Shu Xing wanted to say he did not have the strength to wander off anyway, but he had even less energy to bicker with Xi Yang at the moment, so he just nodded obediently. Xi Yang returned quickly with a cup of water. When Shu Xing took the cup, he found it was warm. Xi Yang had thoughtfully mixed it to a drinkable temperature.
“Thank you.”
“Mm.”
Xi Yang was not a warm person, at least not in reality. While waiting for their number to be called, he sat down next to Shu Xing and resumed that cold, indifferent “do not approach” face. Indifferent as he was, after Shu Xing finished the water, Xi Yang still took the empty cup and asked if he wanted another. Shu Xing shook his head and did not respond, so Xi Yang sat silently beside him and played with his phone.
Perhaps “played” was not the right word. Shu Xing could sense that Xi Yang was looking through something. Is he looking through our chat history? At the thought, the churning in Shu Xing’s stomach worsened. Fortunately, it was not long before the pager called Shu Xing’s name.
After a series of tests and labs, the doctor diagnosed the symptoms as acute gastritis triggered by chronic gastritis, a long underlying condition.
“Have you been failing to eat on time?”
Shu Xing remembered that when he was working part-time at the pet hospital, his meals were indeed inconsistent, and sometimes he would even skip dinner entirely. “Yes.”
“You need to pay attention to that in the future. Eat three meals on time, but do not overeat.”
“Okay.”
“Have your emotions been fluctuating a lot lately?”
As the doctor asked, Xi Yang, who was standing nearby, glanced at Shu Xing. Shu Xing also happened to look up and meet Xi Yang’s gaze before looking away guiltily. He leaned on the desk and gave the doctor a soft “yes.”
“The stomach is an emotional organ. Do not be too anxious. You are young; you should try to take things as they come.”
Shu Xing could feel Xi Yang’s gaze fixed on him. He did not dare turn back to look at him, only answering the doctor’s questions. “Okay, I understand.”
“I will prescribe some daily medicine. Take it for a week and see how it goes. Since the pain is so severe today, I will also prescribe an IV drip to protect your gastrointestinal tract. You will feel better after it is finished. Here, scan your medical insurance code.”
“Oh, okay.”
Shu Xing obediently scanned the code and paid. When the consultation was over and it was time to get up, he finally dared to turn back to Xi Yang. “Xi Yang, can you,” Shu Xing bit his lip awkwardly and said, “come over and help me up?”
Only then did Xi Yang react. He stepped forward in two or three strides and supported Shu Xing’s shoulder. Xi Yang helped him pick up the medicine. Seeing Shu Xing’s wilted appearance, he could not bear to just abandon him there. Fortunately, Shu Xing could walk now, so after getting the medicine, he helped him to the infusion room.
The doctor had prescribed two bags for the IV. Seeing the night slipping away, it was unclear how long these two bags would take. Once the nurse had inserted the needle, Shu Xing indicated with embarrassment that Xi Yang did not need to stay.
“It is fine. Since I brought you here, I should take you back.” Xi Yang had no intention of leaving. He carefully checked the information on the IV bags and sat down beside Shu Xing. “I have nothing to do anyway.”
Shu Xing added, “But there is class in the morning.”
“Mm, I will not be late.” Xi Yang thought for a moment and, assuming Shu Xing was reminding him to ask for a leave of absence, said, “I already told Cheng Xinyu to ask for a leave for you.”
“…” This guy was certainly efficient.
Shu Xing had nothing left to say. He lacked strength, so he could only hang his head and space out. It was already past 3:00 AM. No matter how much of a night owl Shu Xing was, he had to sleep at this hour.
He let out a long yawn. From the corner of his eye, he saw Xi Yang looking through the chat history between him and his alternate WeChat account. The drowsiness instantly dissipated by half. Shu Xing’s Adam’s apple moved, his lips pressed slightly, and he called out softly, “Xi Yang.”
Xi Yang was focused on the chat history and did not look up, only saying, “What is it?”
Shu Xing said, “Are you still thinking about that online partner of yours?”
Xi Yang glanced at him. He did not seem to want to discuss the topic at this moment, or perhaps he did not want to discuss it with Shu Xing. His tone turned a bit cold. “Why do you ask?”
Shu Xing blinked and said in a weak voice, “Have you ever thought that your online partner might have approached you on purpose because you are rich?”
Xi Yang put his phone down instantly, a sharp gaze sweeping over. “He is not that kind of person.”
“Why not?” Shu Xing feared saying too much would reveal his identity, yet feared saying too little would not make Xi Yang give up. After much deliberation, he said, “He probably stopped replying to your messages and answering your calls, right? I think you might have run into a ‘pig butchering’ scam. You should just give up.”
Xi Yang said, “Did you not say this afternoon that one should not think of others that way?”
His own words were coming back to hit him like a boomerang. Shu Xing was a bit speechless. “Uh, what I meant was.”
Xi Yang did not want to hear any more and interrupted coldly, “Shu Xing, does your stomach not hurt anymore? Do you have the energy to talk this much?”
Shu Xing shut his mouth sheepishly, thinking to himself that he was enduring pain right now to offer earnest advice. This conversation ended with both of them on bad terms, and silence soon fell between them. After falling into silence, Shu Xing quickly began to feel drowsy again. Xi Yang, who sat beside him, suddenly thought of something and tapped Shu Xing’s arm, waking him just as he was drifting off.
Xi Yang held out his phone, displaying a string of numbers. Once Shu Xing realized it was his own phone number, he heard the long silent Xi Yang speak in a gentle tone.
“Shu Xing, can I borrow your phone to call this number?”