A strange feeling washed over Zhou She’s heart. Zhou She did not have the heart to haggle with a sick person; hearing this, he patiently fed Ji Tan one spoonful at a time. After half a bowl, Ji Tan did not want to drink anymore. Zhou She put down the bowl, remembering Ji Tan’s pickiness during the day. “What do you want to eat tonight…”
“Husband.” Ji Tan nestled clingily into Zhou She’s arms, his soft cheeks pressed against Zhou She’s neck, his voice muffled.
Zhou She was covered by Ji Tan’s warm, soft body; his muscles stiffened imperceptibly. It took a long time for him to realize that he had been mistaken for Zhou Wenbai again.
Ji Tan hadn’t wanted to drink the rice soup by himself earlier because he was acting spoiled. Zhou She lowered his eyes. Ji Tan’s fragile, fair back of his neck was right by his chin, and the sweet scent floated in his breath. Ji Tan was sick, and Zhou Wenbai was not there. Several messages flashed through Zhou She’s mind. Zhou She controlled his muscles to half-embrace Ji Tan’s back, his dry, warm palm tentatively encircling Ji Tan’s exposed, slender ankle. Zhou She glanced down, realizing Zhou Wenbai had taken off Ji Tan’s socks. Ji Tan’s exquisite, snow-white feet hung by his legs, swaying gently, indicating he was in a good mood.
But Ji Tan’s voice did not sound happy. Between unhappy and happy, Ji Tan should have felt aggrieved again. Zhou Wenbai had indeed been excessive at noon. Ji Tan’s personality was just delicate; he got aggrieved easily and needed someone to coax him.
Thinking of this, Zhou She promised on Zhou Wenbai’s behalf in a cold, deep voice: “I am sorry, it will not happen next time.”
Ji Tan’s mood visibly improved, and his feet swayed even more lightly. Zhou She’s palm was gently brushed by Ji Tan’s soft, fleshy calves, feeling numb and ticklish. Zhou She couldn’t take Ji Tan’s clinginess, stood up, and held Ji Tan’s flexible, slender waist, tearing him off himself and placing him on the edge of the bed. He looked away and said stiffly, “You play by yourself for a while. As for what to eat tonight, I… I will let Zhou She do it.”
Ji Tan held Zhou She and would not let go, leaned over and sniffed Zhou She’s side face, intimate and natural.
“What is it?” Zhou She’s ears were burning. He gripped Ji Tan’s soft, white face with his stiff thumb and pushed it away. He only felt better when Ji Tan’s moist breath no longer blew against his face.
Ji Tan’s soft, glutinous cheeks were squeezed by Zhou She, and Ji Tan said unhappily, “You smell of smoke.”
Zhou She lowered his brow. “I never smoke.”
Ji Tan had a little expression of you are lying. “You have it on you.”
Zhou She was helpless. “…Zhou She smoked, and I accidentally got stained by it.”
Ji Tan believed him.
Zhou She: … Why did Zhou Wenbai have to make him the scapegoat every time he smoked?
“What do you want to eat tonight?” Zhou She asked.
Ji Tan said obediently, “Anything is fine.”
Zhou She gave Ji Tan a look of feigned obedience and said deliberately, “Alfalfa?”
Ji Tan could not keep up the act and hung his little face instantly. A faint smile flashed in Zhou She’s eyes. Zhou She left Ji Tan’s room and went downstairs to make dinner. Ji Tan sat on the bed for a while.
“You put too much pressure on yourself.” 523 said to Ji Tan. “Zhong Peiyi’s meaning does not sound like she is rejecting you, but rejecting Zhou Wenbai and Zhou She.”
Ji Tan said slowly, “That is not a good thing either.” After all, the main storyline was Zhou She.
“Then what are you going to do? Break up with Zhou Wenbai?” 523 analyzed, “You can completely give up on Zhou Wenbai; I see very little turning point.”
“Tuan Tuan, I want you to wait for me a while longer.”
Ji Tan’s eyelashes dropped slightly. “But if there really is a turning point, it would likely be a huge shock for Zhou She.” Turning the impossible into the possible was a living chicken soup for the soul in itself. The success of those around them often made it easier to untangle the prison that trapped them. Zhou She needed to untangle his knot.
“Wait a little longer.”
523 did not advise Ji Tan any further; it was originally just an auxiliary tool, and task completion required the target and the missioner.
At dinner, Ji Tan did not have alfalfa, and he did not see Zhou Wenbai. However, it seemed that this was just the beginning; Ji Tan did not get to spend time with Zhou Wenbai properly for the next week. When asked, it was always because the hospital was busy.
523: “You want to wait for Zhou Wenbai, but Zhou Wenbai seems to want to break up with you even more.”
Ji Tan ignored 523’s cynicism. Zhou She stopped the car. “Go deliver the meal. Is the ring ready? I will go pick it up later.”
Ji Tan nodded. The ring’s production was delayed, missing the originally set wedding date. It was as if it was destined. Now the wedding ring had arrived, but there was still no news of Zhou Wenbai’s postponed wedding date. Zhou She lifted his hand, wanting to stroke the fine, soft curls on Ji Tan’s head, but Ji Tan’s evasive look forced his arm to stop abruptly. He acted naturally, unbuckling Ji Tan’s seat belt. “Go.”
Zhou Wenbai had not returned for a week. Zhou She could only pretend to be Zhou Wenbai before Ji Tan went to sleep to soothe Ji Tan, who was becoming increasingly sensitive. The increasingly familiar intimate movements with Ji Tan made Zhou She trance-like, unable to tell who he really was.
“If Zhou Wenbai is too busy at work to pick you up, call me.” Zhou She also wanted to know what Zhou Wenbai, who could be contacted but couldn’t be seen, had been doing recently.
Ji Tan got out of the car. Zhou She watched Ji Tan’s back disappear into the hospital and drove away. Ji Tan carried the insulated food container, but he did not walk to Zhou Wenbai’s break room; he met Ji Enyi, who was controlling his wheelchair, in the hallway first. Ji Enyi’s dark eyes lingered on the insulated container in Ji Tan’s hand, and he gave a cold, mocking laugh: “The engagement has been canceled, yet you are still rushing to deliver food to your ex-fiancé?”
Ji Enyi’s words were unpleasant. Ji Tan frowned and intended to go around him.
“You find even me talking annoying now?” Ji Enyi’s thin, branch-like hand gripped Ji Tan’s wrist tightly, his dark pupils questioning Ji Tan.
Ji Tan was first frozen by the excessively icy touch on his wrist, then slowly moved his eyes to Ji Enyi’s much thinner and paler face. Looking at Ji Enyi’s current state, Ji Tan frowned and commented, “You look like Sanmao in the cartoon when I was little.” Sanmao was a homeless child in the cartoon, very thin and pitiful. The difference was that Sanmao remained optimistic even when he was hungry and cold, while Ji Enyi was as mean and poisonous as if he had been quenched with poison.
“Are you not more like that, with no parents?” Ji Enyi was not to be outdone.
Ji Tan shook his head firmly. “I have a mother; even if she is dead, I still have one.”
Ji Enyi’s bloodless lips moved, and after a long while, said, “You are right. Mother is an eternal symbol; she pulled you out of the mud and will always live in your world.”
“I would rather not have one. Without them, I wouldn’t have to live like this,” Ji Enyi mocked. Ji Enyi was trapped in a quagmire of struggle, gloomy and oppressive, as if the air had become stifling.
“Have you eaten?” Ji Tan asked suddenly.
Ji Enyi was stunned, looked up at Ji Tan, and remembering something, said with bad intentions: “You didn’t eat again and want to sponge a meal off me? Don’t even think about it. You never eat when you send it over every time; are you playing me for a fool?”
Ji Tan sat down on a bench in the hallway and unscrewed the lid of the insulated food container. The aroma of home-cooked food wafted out. Ji Tan gestured for Ji Enyi, who was in the middle of the hallway, to come over. “I have already eaten; if you haven’t, you can have it.”
“I am not eating food you sent to someone else; I am not a beggar.” Although Ji Enyi said this, he operated his wheelchair over. Ji Tan poured the two dishes in the insulated container into the white rice at the bottom. “There is no place to put the dishes, you will have to make do.”
Ji Tan put the spoon into Ji Enyi’s hand and reminded him, “One mouthful of rice and one mouthful of dishes, do not mix them; it will cause a stomach perforation.” Ji Enyi looked down at the insulated food container Ji Tan had placed on his lap and suddenly fell silent. Ji Enyi stiffly used the spoon to take his first mouthful of rice; his stomach, which had never been nourished by getting food, was filled up. Under Ji Tan’s company, Ji Enyi mechanically finished half of the meal.
Ji Tan saw that Ji Enyi stopped using the spoon and thought he was full, planning to put it away. “I did not have anywhere to put the dishes, just make do.” Ji Enyi occupied the insulated container, which Ji Tan could not shake, and looked up in confusion. “Are you not full yet?”
Ji Enyi unreasonably closed the lid of the insulated food container and hid it on his wheelchair. “I will eat at night.”
Ji Tan said unhappily, “Dr. Zhou hasn’t had lunch yet. If you finish it at night, he will have nothing to eat at noon.”
Ji Enyi turned a deaf ear.
Ji Tan was even more angry and raised his voice. “Ji Enyi!”
Unable to stand Ji Enyi’s strange temper, Ji Tan reached out to grab it directly. Looking at Ji Tan, who was clawing at his arm, Ji Enyi’s eyes flickered, and his unhealthy heart felt a pathological pain. Ji Enyi hugged Ji Tan suddenly, tightly and firmly encircling Ji Tan’s slender back. Ji Tan struggled instinctively, only to hear Ji Enyi’s completely suppressed voice, “Brother, you don’t love me at all.”
Ji Tan felt Ji Enyi’s hot tears in his neck. “Brother, I didn’t want to die; I was just too lonely.”
Ji Enyi had been taking medicine since he was born. Ji Enyi knew very early that Ji Shixi and Cheng Jiayan knew he had congenital heart disease and yet gave birth to him; subconsciously, when he was sick, he couldn’t rely on them. He couldn’t trust Ji Yunxin either. Later, Ji Tan, who had half the blood as him and was told by Cheng Jiayan that he was also sick, moved into the Ji family.
Ji Tan. His own kind. A child who was also sick but had to be born by irresponsible parents. His brother.
“I just wanted you to care about me more, to love me more.” Ji Enyi repeated disjointedly, “But you don’t love me. I wanted to die, so you let me die. I didn’t want to die, I just wanted you to accompany me more, to make you stay away from Ji Yunxin.”
Ji Enyi’s parched tear glands flooded. Ji Tan was not used to such a Ji Enyi, and even less used to Ji Enyi’s tears, which were hotter than his body temperature. Ji Tan struggled with all his might to push him away.
“You don’t like me, don’t like Cheng Jiayan, you only like Ji Yuan.” Ji Enyi’s eyes were bloodshot, his voice trembling. “Why? Is it because Cheng Jiayan and I only know how to ask from you, while Ji Yuan truly gave to you?”
“But why do you want to marry Zhou Wenbai? Has he given you anything?” Ji Enyi’s pale fingertips, gripping the armrests of the wheelchair, were convulsing, his voice suddenly lowered. “But brother, don’t you know yet, Zhou Wenbai has already notified the Ji family to cancel the engagement with you?”
Ji Tan had not yet responded to the information Ji Enyi had provided, when the faint sound of leather shoes stepping on tiles reached his eardrums. Ji Tan looked up at the sound; Zhou Wenbai, wearing a white coat that made his shoulders look wider and his legs longer, appeared in the hallway. Zhou Wenbai’s brows had lost their refined elegance; his face was so thin that his features were extra three-dimensional and sharp; his pupils were extremely dark, unable to admit any light he was almost a different person.
Ji Tan crossed the air, fixed his gaze, and was instantly stunned.