When Shu Xing heard these words, he felt his eyelid twitch violently.
If he called himself, would the call even go through?
It should not be able to connect, right? There was no way it could connect, right?
Would it display a call error? Or would it directly show that he could not dial his own number?
If it were the former, there would still be a reason to explain it. But if it turned out to be the latter, why would Shu Xing even bother staying hooked up to an IV tonight? He might as well just drop dead right here.
What should he do, what should he do, what should he do? Should he refuse him? How could he refuse him?
Xi Yang had already brought him to the hospital and gone through so much trouble for him; it would not make sense to refuse to lend someone his phone just to make a call, right?
“M-make a call?” Shu Xing tactically pretended not to understand Xi Yang’s words.
Xi Yang nodded patiently and explained, “My partner blacklisted my number. Let me borrow your phone to give it a try.”
“Oh, oh, okay.” With a stiff face, Shu Xing pulled his phone out of his pocket, wishing desperately that it had run out of battery and shut down automatically at this very moment.
Unfortunately, things did not go his way. Shu Xing had just charged it before leaving, and the battery indicator still showed 88%.
Watching Xi Yang enter the number and press the dial button, Shu Xing’s heart practically leaped into his throat.
“Hello, the user you are calling is busy. Please try again later.”
Hearing the audio leaking from the phone receiver, Shu Xing instantly let out a sigh of relief.
Xi Yang frowned and dialed again, only to receive the exact same mechanical female voice response.
Seeing that Xi Yang was unwilling to give up and was about to keep dialing, Shu Xing put on an act and patted Xi Yang’s shoulder, taking the phone back from his hand in the process, not forgetting to offer words of comfort, “They definitely know you would change numbers to call, so of course they will not pick up!”
The corners of Xi Yang’s mouth sank slightly, and he lowered his eyes, lost in thought.
Seeing his absent-minded state, Shu Xing could not say much more. His pale, thin lips moved, and enduring his stomach pain, he said, “Xi Yang, look on the bright side.”
“Yeah.”
After two IV bags ran through, Shu Xing’s stomach pain eased up a lot, but he still felt a faint, throbbing ache when he stood up.
Walking out of the hospital, the originally pitch-black night sky had turned a deep azure, with a glimmer of light rising at the horizon. The occasional chirping of birds could be heard from the branches by the roadside.
It was already past six o’clock in the morning.
A whole night had passed. Shu Xing had drifted in and out of sleep while sitting on the chair in the infusion room, whereas Xi Yang beside him seemed to have barely closed his eyes. He was even the one who went to contact the nurse to change the medicine bags midway through.
Having troubled Xi Yang for the entire night, Shu Xing no longer knew how to express his gratitude. Knowing that Xi Yang had not rested well, he said, “Xi Yang, why do you not go back and sleep first? I feel much better now.”
Xi Yang looked at Shu Xing’s face, which was still a bit pale, and his frame that was as thin as a piece of paper. His brows furrowed slightly as he asked, “Where do you plan to go? Back to the dorm?”
“The dormitory building probably is not open yet at this hour, right?” Shu Xing thought for a moment. “I just looked at the map, and it shows there is a hotel nearby. I plan to go there and sleep for a bit.”
Xi Yang nodded. After a short while, he spoke again, “Then let us go together.”
“Huh?” Shu Xing thought he had misheard. “What do you mean together?”
Xi Yang said, “The place where I live is not in this district, so it is inconvenient to drive back. This place is close to the school, so it is perfect to find a place to rest for a while, and then return to school for classes when the time is right.” He tapped his phone, quickly found a nearby hotel, and booked it, saying, “I have booked the room. Are you coming?”
Shu Xing felt a bit awkward, but refusing Xi Yang’s invitation at this moment would seem rather strange. Seeing that Xi Yang was still waiting for him to make a decision, Shu Xing hesitated for a moment but ultimately agreed to go with him.
The day before yesterday, they had booked a room but did not end up staying there; today, the two of them actually ended up together. Looking at the twin room Xi Yang had reserved, Shu Xing dragged his feet quite a bit as he stepped through the door.
“Are the two of us sleeping in one room?”
Xi Yang did not think too much of it, assuming only that Shu Xing preferred to sleep alone, “Then you can stay in this room. I will go downstairs and book another one.”
“Ah, there is no need for that.” Shu Xing touched the door frame, putting on an appearance of trying to save money for Xi Yang, “We will not be sleeping for long anyway.”
“Yeah.”
Shu Xing stole a glance at Xi Yang’s expressionless face, so he could only backhand the door shut and follow him inside.
In truth, they were roommates to begin with, so staying together temporarily did not seem to be an issue. Besides, it was not a double-bed room; they were two big boys, so you sleep in your bed and I sleep in mine, without interfering with each other.
It was just that Shu Xing was perfectly aware in his heart about his online dating relationship with Xi Yang. Being in the same room made him feel a little embarrassed.
After entering the room, Shu Xing chose a bed near the window and sat down. He did not dare to take off his clothes or pants, so he could only take off his shoes first to loosen up his tense mood.
He did not know how the hotel had designed it, but the bathroom in a twin-bed room actually had a transparent setup. Xi Yang had a habit of showering in the morning. Shu Xing stared at the bathroom, his large eyes blinking several times, and pointed at the transparent glass somewhat awkwardly as he asked, “Xi Yang, you probably will not be showering right now, right?”
Xi Yang looked in the direction he was pointing. He was likely also a bit speechless at this kind of design. He said, “Yeah, I will shower after I go back to the dorm later.”
More than half an hour had already passed from the time they left the hospital to when they checked into the room. There was a specialized course at nine o’clock this morning. Shu Xing had Cheng Xinyu to help him ask for leave, so it did not matter much to him, but Xi Yang had no reason to ask for leave, so the time left for him to rest was not much either.
Xi Yang was probably too tired after staying up all night. He was not as awkward as Shu Xing; he took off his shoes, lifted the corner of the quilt, and lay down on the bed.
Shu Xing, on the other hand, sat on the edge of the bed and procrastinated for a long time, ultimately choosing to burrow into the quilt after letting out a long yawn.
By the time he lay down, Xi Yang had already turned onto his side and closed his eyes. Unsure whether Xi Yang was asleep or not, he could only pull up his quilt very gently to avoid waking the other man.
Shu Xing yawned several times in a row, yet he did not feel sleepy at all.
He and Xi Yang were essentially sleeping face-to-face on their sides. At first, Shu Xing felt a bit embarrassed and covered his head with the quilt to block his line of sight, but because he could not breathe inside the quilt, it did not take long before he poked his head out to catch his breath.
Time slipped away bit by bit. Because Shu Xing was too tense and too shy, his brain nerves remained in a highly active state. He had yawned a couple of times when he first lay down, but now he was so energized that even his yawns were gone.
His two eyes were exposed, his amber gaze shifting left and right as he began to scan the entire room.
Xi Yang was quite a picky person; even though he was only here to rest for a few short hours, he actually chose a place with the best configurations. Thinking about it this way, the hotel Shu Xing had booked the other day would probably have suited Xi Yang’s tastes quite well.
Holy crap! Shu Xing suddenly realized with a shock that he was actually fantasizing about booking a room and staying at a hotel with Xi Yang. He quickly shook his head and closed his eyes, forcing himself to fall asleep quickly.
The effect of forcing himself to sleep still worked. Since he had not slept well over the past two days, by the time Shu Xing opened his eyes again, it was already afternoon.
When Shu Xing woke up, Xi Yang was already long gone. He had slept so soundly that he had absolutely no idea when Xi Yang had left.
It had to be said that Xi Yang was truly an iron man. After pulling an all-nighter with him, he only slept for a few hours before rushing back to school for classes. At this moment, who knew if he had gone back to the dorm to catch up on sleep.
A piece of paper was left on the coffee table in the room. Shu Xing and Xi Yang had not exchanged contact details openly, so before leaving, Xi Yang could only convey information by leaving a note.
The note read: “I extended the room for another day, you can leave after you are well-rested. I have gone to class, remember to eat when you wake up, and take your medicine according to the doctor’s orders.” This message made it seem as though he were treating Shu Xing like a child.
Xi Yang’s handwriting was cursive and elegant. Shu Xing’s fingertips rubbed against the black ink. He lowered his eyes, his fingertip tracing past the name signed at the bottom of the note, leaving a deep mark over the two characters for Xi Yang.
This person, in truth, was not as unlikable as he had imagined.
There was a dining area inside the hotel. Shu Xing did not have much of an appetite, so he ordered some light meals to barely pad his stomach. After finishing his food, he took his medicine, and with a few cups of warm water down his throat, he was stuffed completely full.
After stepping out of the hotel, Shu Xing passed by a dessert shop and saw a pistachio cake printed on the billboard advertisement at the entrance. He pondered at the storefront for a while before going inside to buy the exact same signature item.
Only He Wennan and Cheng Xinyu were in the dormitory, and the two of them were teamed up playing that xianxia game.
Seeing Shu Xing return, Cheng Xinyu did not stop the operations in his hands. He took a swift glance at Shu Xing before returning his gaze to the computer screen, though his tone was very concerned: “I only saw the message Brother Xi sent in the middle of the night when I woke up this morning. Sister Xing, how is your body doing now, do you feel any better?”
Shu Xing let out an affirmative sound: “I got an IV, I am much better.”
He walked closer to take a few looks at Cheng Xinyu’s game interface, discovering that Cheng Xinyu’s game ID was indeed called “Press 1 to Send Hell Ice”.
Out of the two people Yu Hui had brought along to play the game before, they were the only companion relationship roommates left.
Shu Xing watched the two people’s operations for a while, smiling as he teased, “How did you two think of pairing up as a couple?”
Cheng Xinyu’s game interface had not opened his profile card, so logically speaking, Shu Xing should not be able to see his companion relationship.
The hand Cheng Xinyu was using to execute skills paused. He turned his head in surprise and asked, “How did you tell!”
“Ah, this…” Shu Xing’s brain worked at lightning speed, and he quickly thought of a reason, responding with a calm expression, “Is this not a very common abstract couple ID!”
Hearing this, He Wennan said, “See, see, see, I told you this ID was abstract, but you did not believe me. It sounds terrible, I am going to change it after this match!”
Cheng Xinyu actually quite liked this abstract ID. The two of them were separated by a small aisle between their seats. He turned his head toward He Wennan and wailed, “Ah, don’t, wifey, do not change it!”
He Wennan found it sickening: “Scram, scram, scram, who is your wifey!”
“Holy crap, did you not call me hubby yourself last time?”
“That was back then just to disgust Brother Xi, who allowed you to call me that now to disgust me!”
Cheng Xinyu snorted, “If you dare to change it, I will dissolve our companion bond! Let us see how you miss out on the couple buffs when you run dungeons!”
He Wennan was completely held captive by the single phrase couple buffs: “Fine, fine, fine, I will not change it, I will not change it. I am truly convinced by you.”
Shu Xing stood in the middle of the aisle, looking at the two people bickering on his left and right. In order to blend into this noisy atmosphere, he forced the corners of his lips up into a smile.
Couple buffs, couple buffs.
This was the very reason Yu Hui had put forward when he bound a companion relationship with Shu Xing at that time. If two people formed a couple, there would be couple buffs when running dungeons.
At that time, Shu Xing and Yu Hui had not even been teamed up playing games together for two months. He thought that when he brought up this idea, Yu Hui would refuse him. He had not expected that after listening to Shu Xing’s proposal, that person would buy the most expensive ring in the mall without a second word and propose to him in the game.
Memories of the past were like a handful of honey; after being accidentally spilled, the sweet fragrance overflowed everywhere, making one infatuated.
The dormitory door behind him was suddenly pushed open. Fortunately, Shu Xing snapped back to reality and dodged quickly, otherwise, he would have almost been taken out by the iron door.
When Xi Yang pushed the door open and came in, he caught sight of Shu Xing’s dodging figure. The gazes of the two people met along with the wide-open dormitory door. Holding the cake in his hand, Shu Xing stood still with a trace of fluster. Color had already returned to his beautiful face, and his entire person looked much more spirited than last night.
“Better?”
Shu Xing knew Xi Yang was asking about his illness. He nodded and curved the corners of his mouth: “Yeah.”
Xi Yang asked again, “Did you eat? What about the medicine?”
Like a little kitten that had its fur smoothed down, Shu Xing responded very obediently, “I ate all of it.”
Xi Yang nodded, his tone of voice carrying not too much emotion: “That is fine then.”
Shu Xing followed Xi Yang to his computer. Xi Yang’s computer had never been turned off, and the screen interface was still that xianxia game.
In this game, once a player who was bound in a companion relationship with oneself logged onto their account, the system would immediately pop up a login reminder on the screen. Shu Xing did not even need to guess to know that Xi Yang was waiting for him to log onto his account.
Shu Xing tightened his grip on the cake he had carried all the way. Just as Xi Yang clicked on the profile interface of “Xing Shu” once more, he handed the cake over, blocking Xi Yang’s line of sight from inspecting the screen.
“Um…”
Xi Yang raised his eyes in confusion to look at Shu Xing.
Shu Xing placed the cake right in front of the man, his face turning aside unnaturally, “Um, thank you for taking me to see the doctor. This cake is a thank-you gift.”
Because it was his first-time showing kindness to Xi Yang, Shu Xing was not skilled in this business. He pouted and added rather proudly, “I do not know what flavor you like, I just bought it at random.”
“It is pistachio flavor. I hope eating this will make you a little happier.”