This episode of gastric bleeding genuinely frightened Han Yue.
It wasn’t that he had never seen a stomach bleed before—he had seen cases far more severe, hundreds of times worse, without even blinking. The problem was that he had never seen the person he cared about bleeding internally, and especially not caused by his own hand.
As Ren Jiayun put it, Han Yue had suddenly transformed into a “24-filial-model husband.” Using Excel, he even calculated that the Second Young Master Han, who used to lose his temper and flip tables on average once a day and twice in a bad day, had only overturned three tables during the half-month Chu Ci was hospitalized—and those were done secretly, out of Chu Ci’s sight.
All three incidents had the same trigger: Chu Ci ignoring him. Han Yue would painstakingly prepare soup or congee and bring it over, only for Chu Ci to refuse even a glance.
Used to being in a dominant position, Han Yue could not easily lower himself. He went around with a dark face, forcing himself to endure it, nearly losing control several times in front of Chu Ci’s hospital bed. But each time, after a few seconds of tension, he would forcibly restrain himself and even manage a strained smile.
It had to be said that Han Yue still carried the temperament of a northern man: when he held back his temper, he did not openly show a sour expression. Instead, he clenched his teeth and forced a casual “everything’s fine” smile, refusing to let Chu Ci feel any discomfort.
There was only one time he tried to coax Chu Ci into eating porridge. Chu Ci suddenly knocked the bowl away, spilling rice all over Han Yue. Han Yue’s expression immediately changed and he nearly lost control, but after a few seconds he forced it down and slammed the bowl onto the table.
“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
Chu Ci didn’t even lift his eyes.
“Can’t keep up the act anymore?”
Han Yue choked. He turned and went outside to smoke. When he returned, his expression had already been restored. He even smiled and said, “Got a bit worked up, don’t mind me. Want some steamed egg?”
Watching all this, Ren Jiayun could only sigh inwardly.
Chu Ci’s gastric ulcer was chronic; the hemorrhage had been triggered by emotional agitation. After reviewing the case, Ren Jiayun concluded it could be minor or severe depending on management. Out of professional duty, one day after rounds he did not leave immediately, and instead said to Chu Ci with a smile:
“Engineer Chu, you’ll need to quit smoking and drinking from now on. With proper care it’ll be fine. The concern is if it keeps deteriorating—you could develop early-stage gastric cancer. That would be troublesome.”
Han Yue was away at a meeting, so only the two of them were in the ward. Chu Ci glanced at him expressionlessly and turned away without speaking.
From the side, his face looked noticeably thinner, but that only made his features more striking. From the bridge of his nose to his lips, there was almost no flaw—like a pale, finely carved marble statue.
Ren Jiayun thought to himself that this engineer was indeed extremely good-looking. He pulled up a chair and sat down as if preparing for a serious talk.
“Engineer Chu, you’re an intellectual elite of the state. The country still needs you to contribute. You should take care of your health. Health is the capital of revolution—without capital, what revolution can you carry out?”
Chu Ci replied flatly, “Tell Han Yue that.”
Ren Jiayun recalled the rumor that during Han Yue’s last return to Beijing, Chu Ci had been sent to the hospital three times in a week, and hesitated.
“Actually… Second Young Master Han does care about you. I grew up with the Han brothers. He likes you more than anyone I’ve seen. He keeps saying he wants to spend his life with you.”
Chu Ci responded with a neutral “oh.”
Ren Jiayun became frustrated. “Don’t be so resistant. Honestly, Han Yue is powerful and influential. His past partners all catered to him, which is why he developed such a bad temper and doesn’t know how to treat someone he likes. Since he cares this much about you, he won’t easily let go. You could take this chance to temper him into a better man.”
Chu Ci looked at him as if he were looking at an alien. After a moment, he turned over.
“Leave.”
“Hey, don’t reject medical advice—my psychology minor was top grade.”
“I said leave.” Chu Ci closed his eyes. “It’s just the two of us here. Say one more word I don’t want to hear, and think about Zhao Ting.”
Ren Jiayun froze.
After a long pause, he nodded repeatedly. “Alright… I see. I was being naïve. I meant well, but you don’t appreciate it.”
He stood up and frowned. “Ungrateful.”
That sentence triggered something.
Chu Ci suddenly sat up, grabbed his collar, and his voice turned sharp and icy:
“Ungrateful? So Han Yue breaking me down and tormenting me for life counts as kindness? You people calling that ‘for my own good’? Not willing to just accept being destroyed by him is being ungrateful? Don’t push it too far. Take your hypocritical act and get out.”
Ren Jiayun froze, then shoved him back in anger.
“Damn it, what are you acting tough for? Han Yue could crush you like stepping on an ant!”
The moment he said it, he regretted it.
Chu Ci fell back onto the bed. His body began to tremble. Within seconds, he coughed violently and spat out a mouthful of bright red blood.
Ren Jiayun’s face changed completely.
He rushed forward in panic. “I didn’t mean it like that! Lie down! Turn your head! Don’t aspirate!”
Chu Ci coughed uncontrollably, body shaking. Ren Jiayun pressed him down, turned his head, and patted his back to prevent choking. The bleeding was brief, but the violent coughing continued, each sound shaking his chest.
He immediately called the duty station. “Codeine 30mg, bring it up immediately! And diazepam 10mg injection—now!”
Chu Ci pushed his hand away weakly and forced out a single word between coughs:
“Get out.”
“Not until I stop the cough,” Ren Jiayun said urgently.
“I’m fine.” Chu Ci barely suppressed the cough, but failed to fully stop it. He coughed several more times before trembling as he sat up, took a couple of breaths, and his face showed an abnormal flush of red.
“Just got a little agitated.”
Ren Jiayun thought to himself: that’s what you call “a little agitated”? The level of emotional stress just now was on par with what Han Yue did to him at the hotel! I only casually said “ungrateful,” I didn’t mean anything by it—don’t get this angry!
While everything was in chaos, the ward door was suddenly pushed open. It was actually Pei Zhi rushing in.
“What happened? What happened?”
Ren Jiayun was surprised. “Why are you here?”
Pei Zhi didn’t answer. He rushed straight to Chu Ci in a few quick steps. When he saw that Chu Ci had coughed up blood, his expression changed. Then he noticed Chu Ci was still conscious and not in immediate critical condition, and only then did he slightly relax.
“I just heard the commotion outside. Damn, that scared me… Old Ren, what exactly is going on?”
Ren Jiayun opened his mouth but hadn’t spoken yet when Chu Ci said hoarsely, “It’s nothing.”
Ren Jiayun froze.
“Just choked on water.”
Pei Zhi still wanted to ask more, but Chu Ci had already lain back down, turned his face away, clearly unwilling to talk.
“This… Old Ren? What exactly—”
Ren Jiayun was genuinely surprised by this engineer’s temperament. After a moment of hesitation, he forced a dry laugh.
“N-nothing, haha… I’ll wait for the sedative injection to come up and give him a shot.”
Although Pei Zhi was puzzled, he didn’t press further and only nodded.
Afraid Pei Zhi might go back and say something to Han Yue, Ren Jiayun tried to distract him.
“Why did you come again? Didn’t you already come yesterday? Second Young Master Han went to a military commission meeting; he’ll probably be back tonight.”
“Oh.” Pei Zhi paused. “I came to find Han Yue.”
“Then you’ll have to wait until tonight, or try calling him. What’s so urgent that you had to come in person?”
Pei Zhi’s expression turned serious. He seemed to weigh his words before speaking quietly:
“This can’t be explained over the phone. Last night, news came from the Qinghai Gobi military medical base—Long Jiwei… has woken up.”
Long Jiwei had awakened.
This news not only disrupted Ren Jiayun’s focus, but also, in a sense, saved Chu Ci.
Because it clearly diverted Han Yue’s attention, making him forget to question why Ren Jiayun had given Chu Ci codeine. That spared both of them a major problem.
“You even came here to tell me? I already knew before you did. I just got back from the military commission,” Han Yue said irritably in the small lounge outside the ward, loosening his tie.
“And strictly speaking, Long Jiwei didn’t wake up naturally—it was forced stimulation.”
Pei Zhi was startled. “Forced stimulation? How is the base now?”
“It’s said that the moment he woke up, more than a dozen measurement instruments overloaded, and the entire base’s electronic communication systems crashed. Fortunately it’s all desert around there, so no further damage was done. The decision to send him there was correct.”
Pei Zhi’s face darkened. “Wasn’t he supposed to sleep for another two years? Why wake him up?”
“That senior leader in the Central Military Commission—you know the one who had brain cancer?” Han Yue mentioned a highly ranked official.
“It’s in late stage now. Latest classified intel says there’s no saving him.”
“Damn… if he falls, won’t everything be reshuffled?”
“So they woke Long Jiwei up. But his system is military-grade, and for medical use…” Han Yue hesitated, “it’s uncertain. More importantly, he can’t fully control it himself. If anything goes wrong, it’s basically certain death. I think this time the commission is just grasping at straws.”
Pei Zhi fell silent for a moment. “So after Long Jiwei wakes up… will he go back to sleep?”
“You’re scared?” Han Yue glanced at him sharply. “Scared of what? Even if Long Jiwei is powerful, he’s still just one person. He can’t possibly go against those founding families. And do you think his ideology even fits the current political structure? Before he went into sleep, he already offended almost everyone in the commission. If it weren’t for the fact that his system only responds to him alone…”
He suddenly stopped, realizing he shouldn’t say so much in a hospital.
“Anyway, don’t panic. We’ll see how things develop. The Pei family should be safe—for now, if Long Jiwei moves, the Han family is the first target. I’ve risen too quickly these past two years, and Han Qiang shouldn’t have gotten involved at this time either…”
His voice lowered at the end, brows tightly furrowed.
Pei Zhi didn’t know how to comfort him and only patted his shoulder, handing him a cigarette.
Han Yue waved it off and pointed toward the ward door. “Can’t. Might bother him.”
Pei Zhi laughed. “Should’ve been this gentle earlier.”
Han Yue gave a short laugh, stood up, and walked toward the ward, completely ignoring the “Do Not Disturb” sign and pushing the door open as if it were entirely natural.
Because to him, it was.
Pei Zhi glanced at the closed door, then turned away, put the cigarette to his lips, and lit it.
Outside the window, the sky had been bright just moments ago—but now wind had risen, dragging in a thick layer of clouds.