Duan Zhihan knew clearly that this was an illusion, yet he shamelessly reached out and cupped Jiang Li’s head, forcing the Jiang Li in this illusion to face him.
The blue-haired boy’s skin was pale as mountain snow, his light-colored cat eyes round and full, narrowing to sharp points at the outer corners, both innocent and sharp, a beauty that was almost unreal.
The instant Duan Zhihan saw that face clearly, time seemed to freeze for half a beat, even the dust floating in the air stood still.
This was the Jiang Li of the past, before the illness had ravaged him, before the dazzling light in his eyes had gone out. A Jiang Li so beautiful it was almost unbelievable.
His Jiang Li.
Duan Zhihan felt the real warmth of the boy’s body under his hand. He looked up at the calendar on the wall, the date on it was exactly six years ago.
He realized this wasn’t an illusion. He had returned to the day the two of them divorced, back to when Jiang Li hadn’t yet died alone.
He blinked his dark eyes gently, relieved that there was still time. He would not let Jiang Li die alone at twenty-five.
Jiang Li had his back to Duan Zhihan so no one would see his lowered head, when suddenly a long-fingered hand ran through his hair.
He could feel it clearly, the man’s warm fingers threading into his blue hair, forcing him to turn and face him directly.
Why would there be physical contact after a divorce?
Jiang Li’s body stiffened instantly, as if the blood in his veins had stopped flowing, as if even his breathing had stopped, because he had a secret.
He wasn’t actually human.
He was a robot from another planet.
His home planet was an extraordinarily beautiful world, its sky a gorgeous rose-purple, dotted with endless rolling dunes that released a pleasant floral scent whenever the wind blew.
His spaceship had been damaged during interstellar travel and was forced to land on Earth. Once he repaired his ship, he would return to his own planet.
Even though beneath his skin was hard alloy, unlike the fragile bodies of humans, he was still afraid of being handed over to the state and turned into a pile of scrap metal in some research facility.
So he was extremely careful to hide his identity, rejecting any unnecessary contact, including, but not limited to, being touched on the head.
So Jiang Li snapped in an irritated tone, “I’m talking about something important, do you hear me? Let go of my head.”
But instead of letting go, the man rested his chin on the soft nape of Jiang Li’s neck. “I’m listening.”
His skin instantly grew warm, this was another reason he didn’t like being close to Duan Zhihan. His body always reacted strangely, so he tried to keep as much distance as possible.
But dense as he was, even he could sense the faint laughter in the other man’s tone. Was he that happy about the divorce?
Jiang Li shook off Duan Zhihan’s hand, displeased. “Don’t worry, I want the divorce more than anyone. I’ll go get the household registration book.”
He’d thought about bringing Duan Zhihan back to his home planet, but since Duan Zhihan wanted a divorce, he wouldn’t hold him back, after all, he didn’t particularly like Duan Zhihan either.
He paused for a moment before heading to the bedroom to get the documents. Just as he reached the bedroom door, Duan Zhihan spoke up behind him. “We’re not getting divorced.”
Jiang Li thought he’d misheard. He stopped and turned around slowly, asking quietly, “What did you say?”
“We’re not getting divorced.”
Duan Zhihan repeated it, staring at him without blinking, as though looking at some treasure he’d lost and regained.
Jiang Li’s pale pupils filled with confusion, unable to understand why Duan Zhihan had suddenly changed his mind. That confusion turned into irritation in his chest, first poking up a sharp point, then crashing down over his heart entirely.
Why did Duan Zhihan get to decide everything? He wasn’t some nanny robot who could be summoned and dismissed at will, he was an independent traveler robot.
Jiang Li replied coldly, “You think whatever you say goes? You said we’d divorce today, so we’re divorcing today. I’m telling you, not a day sooner or later.”
He added, meticulously, “Not even a minute.”
“The legal standard for divorce is a breakdown of the relationship.” Duan Zhihan calmly countered, “Our relationship hasn’t broken down, so why should we divorce?”
Jiang Li froze for two seconds. Their relationship falling apart was obvious, no, actually, they’d never really had much of a relationship to begin with.
The reason they’d gotten married was because they’d slept together after drinking. When he woke up, Duan Zhihan had looked into his eyes and said he’d take responsibility.
Probably because he’d looked so pitiful at the time, red marks pinched into his waist, sitting on the bed as water dripped everywhere.
Actually, he’d just been thinking about whether he was going to run out of power.
He stopped reminiscing and looked up.
He found himself facing Duan Zhihan’s captivating peach-blossom eyes, which seemed to say that their unbroken relationship was a law of the universe, as if he wanted to toss this human straight into an asteroid belt.
But interstellar law forbade harming humans, so he could only repeat, word for word, what he’d said before: “Whoever doesn’t want a divorce is an idiot.”
“Idiot” was slang he’d learned on Earth. From his observations, humans were terrified of being called this word, probably some mysterious effect he wasn’t aware of.
Having said it, he relaxed considerably, the irritation in his chest fading away, assuming the man would leave in shame.
Instead, Duan Zhihan responded without a hint of embarrassment.
“I’m an idiot.”
This left Jiang Li’s breath stuck in his chest, his breathing uneven.
His skin was naturally snow-white, so it showed a sickly flush now. He patted his own chest to feel better, but the area above his stomach was aching sharply from the stimulation.
He pressed a hand against that spot beneath his clothes, it always ached faintly when he got angry. He didn’t think much of it, guessing he’d damaged some part while dancing.
After all, Earth had no robot repair centers. He’d complained to the mayor’s inbox with no results.
Duan Zhihan’s smile faded. It seemed Jiang Li’s illness had gone on longer than he’d thought. He stopped teasing Jiang Li and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water, remembering to add the lemon slices Jiang Li liked.
Jiang Li was rubbing his own stomach.
A glass of lemon water was handed to him.
He hesitated before taking it.
After drinking the water, he felt much better in his stomach, the pain slowly fading. Suddenly Duan Zhihan looked at him steadily, his voice sounding distant.
“Go to the hospital for a checkup.”
Jiang Li focused on drinking his water, refusing without even looking up. “No.”
Hospitals were extremely dangerous places for him, he could very well be discovered as not human, so he never went, marking them with a red exclamation point on his mental map.
Just then, he heard the other man speak. “If you go, I’ll agree to the divorce.”
For humans, this was apparently a simple thing, just a moment ago he’d firmly said no to divorce, and now he agreed to it just like that. So he still wants the divorce after all, he just wanted to test my reaction, he almost thought—
Jiang Li’s beautiful lashes trembled lightly.
Whatever.
He wanted the divorce anyway.
Still, the little robot fell into deep conflict, on one hand, he really wanted the divorce, since being near Duan Zhihan was uncomfortable, on the other hand, he really didn’t want to go to the hospital.
Duan Zhihan lowered his eyes. Right now, Jiang Li’s health mattered most. Everything else could wait.
In the end, his desire for the divorce won out over his fear of the hospital, and Jiang Li chose a private hospital known for strict confidentiality.
The moment they arrived at the hospital entrance, he caught the strong smell of disinfectant, wrinkling his nose at the unpleasant odor. The security guard at the door even scanned him with some strange device.
Hospitals really were dangerous places.
Jiang Li subtly pulled his cap brim lower.
To keep anyone from discovering his identity, he’d bundled himself up thoroughly, wearing an inconspicuous down jacket, a hat, and a mask, looking like a walking, upright rice dumpling.[1]a wry comparison to a zongzi (yě shēng zòng zi), a pyramid-shaped sticky rice dumpling wrapped tightly in leaves, evoking someone so bundled up in layers of clothing they look like a squat, … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3147455_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3147455_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
Although the private hospital didn’t have many patients, it wasn’t lacking in staff, the front desk alone had seven or eight nurses.
One intern nurse recognized Duan Zhihan and, unable to contain her excitement, asked, “Could I get your autograph?”
Duan Zhihan politely agreed, and after signing, glanced at Jiang Li beside him.
The boy had wrapped himself into a fuzzy ball, the only visible feature, his eyes, full of impatience, clearly cursing at himself internally.
“Can we speed up the checkup?” he asked the nurse.
“The examination times are generally fixed, but I can give you the fastest process flowchart. We’ll try to finish within an hour.”
Jiang Li looked at the items on the checkup chart, not just a body scan but blood draws too. He suddenly regretted coming to the hospital.
His eyes fixed on the direction of the entrance, where he spotted a taxi by the roadside, he could reluctantly settle for that ride.
Just as the fuzzy ball was about to slip away, Duan Zhihan grabbed the brim of his hat. “Seems like you don’t want the divorce after all?”
The fuzzy ball froze for a moment.
“Who said that?”
Jiang Li walked forward with an expressionless face, looking especially arrogant, walking on the hospital steps as if walking a red carpet, all that was missing was signing his name on a whiteboard.
But he wouldn’t leave his signature in a place like a hospital, after all, he wasn’t the type to sign anywhere, unlike Duan Zhihan.
Still, he had to admit the autograph was quite the temptation. He’d thought he’d waste the whole morning at the hospital, but following the flowchart’s guidance, he finished in half an hour.
Afraid Duan Zhihan would notice anything off, he didn’t even flinch during the blood draw, his mind only on getting the checkup over with so he could go get divorced.
Results would be ready same day. To get his results and hasten the divorce, he sat down in the outpatient department’s chair, forcing himself to be patient.
He opened his phone to play a game, one of the new games humans had come out with, but the moment Duan Zhihan looked over, Jiang Li immediately put the phone away and sat up straight.
Duan Zhihan seemed convinced something was wrong with him, his dark gaze constantly circling Jiang Li’s body.
Uncomfortable under that piercing stare, Jiang Li declared firmly to Duan Zhihan, “I definitely don’t have any illness.”
He wasn’t some delicate, fragile human. The next second, the doctor called his name sternly.
“Jiang Li, come in.”
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