“Feed… then feed me.”
Lu Beihuai was about to stand up, but a pill was pressed against his lips. He felt the brush of a cool fingertip and froze for a moment.
“The doctor said you have to take this three times a day. You need a check-up next week, and don’t do any heavy exercise.” Song Qie looked up, touching the pill to Lu Beihuai’s mouth. “Open up.”
Lu Beihuai watched him for a while, then lowered his head and took the pill into his mouth. His eyes remained fixed on Song Qie’s face.
“Ah…” Song Qie felt his finger being taken into the mouth. As if it were a hot potato, he quickly pulled it back. His fingertip felt like it had been burned, but he still grabbed Lu Beihuai’s hand and placed the rest of the pills into his palm:
“Take the rest yourself.”
Lu Beihuai silently took in his expression, including the redness on his ears. He curled his lips, tilted his head back, and swallowed all the pills.
Song Qie saw him swallow them dry without even drinking water. “You need to drink water.”
“It’s fine.” Lu Beihuai took the water glass from Song Qie’s hand. “Drinking it now is the same.”
Song Qie: “.”
Well, as long as he likes it.
Just as the medicine was finished, a hurried knock sounded at the door.
Lu Beihuai’s expression hardened, showing a look of alertness.
“It’s the breakfast I ordered for you. It should be here.” Song Qie squeezed Lu Beihuai’s arm to reassure him, then walked out to open the door.
Lu Beihuai stayed where he was, looking down at the spot where he had been touched, lost in thought.
He must like me so much; he even has to touch me just to go get a delivery.
Five minutes later, several portions of steaming breakfast were spread out on the coffee table in the living room. It was quite a lot of food.
“Why did you order so much?” Lu Beihuai didn’t let Song Qie help. He made him sit down while he opened the lids himself. After all, he was used to doing these things; he wouldn’t leave Song Qie until he reached his goal.
“I know you can eat this much.” Song Qie placed a bowl of fresh lean meat porridge in front of himself and pointed to the other items: steamed buns, beef rice rolls, egg rice rolls, and pig’s blood porridge.
“You refused to stay in the hospital with those injuries last night, and your father still needs looking after. I’ve already asked for a leave of absence for you. Eat up and then go rest. If you feel unwell, remember to tell me.”
After speaking, he felt quite hungry himself and lowered his head to take a sip of porridge.
To his surprise, the porridge was scalding. He was burned so badly he stuck his tongue out, his eyes turning watery.
Lu Beihuai watched the bright red tongue tip, moist and darting out. The burned area was a bit red. He stood up: “Let me see.”
Seeing Lu Beihuai suddenly move closer, Song Qie was startled and leaned back. He waved his hands hurriedly: “No need, no need! It’s just a little bit. I’ll just eat slower.”
Lu Beihuai didn’t say anything more. He sat back down and buried his head in the rice rolls. One box of rice rolls was only a few bites for a tall high school boy; it was gone in seconds.
Some time passed.
“Um, Beihuai,” Song Qie plucked up his courage and called his name.
Lu Beihuai was about to eat a steamed bun. Hearing Song Qie call him, he lifted his eyelids slightly. Noticing that the boy had barely touched his porridge, he frowned: “What is it?”
“Do you work part-time boxing every night? Does your dad know about this?” Song Qie felt his heart pounding after asking the question.
He was starting to feel afraid. This guy was working so hard to earn money to save his father, yet in the end, it was this father who had swapped his life, letting him be bullied by “Song Qie” while Lu Beihuai endured it in silence for all those years.
Would Lu Beihuai break down when the truth was revealed?
The question caused a momentary silence in the atmosphere.
“He doesn’t know. I don’t plan on telling him.” Lu Beihuai stuffed a bun into his mouth, indifferent even when it pulled at the wound on the corner of his lip. “Telling him is useless.”
“Boxing is too dangerous.” Song Qie frowned. “Didn’t I already agree to donate bone marrow to your father?”
“The money is good. My match last night was worth two million.” Lu Beihuai looked up at Song Qie. “Not everyone is a match. The probability is only higher for relatives. Even I might not be a match. I don’t have much time to gamble right now.”
“You’re truly crazy. Are you willing to give up your life for a mere two million?” Song Qie’s cheeks flushed slightly with anger at his casual tone.
“Two million might be nothing to you, but it’s very important to me.” Lu Beihuai looked at Song Qie.
“Then tell me, do you still want to fight? Is your life worth nothing? If your dad knew, wouldn’t he be heartbroken?” Song Qie pursed his lips.
The atmosphere fell into silence again.
After a while.
“He wouldn’t be.”
Song Qie froze.
Lu Beihuai expressionlessly took another bite of the bun. “He would only think it’s what I should do.”
Song Qie’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean, ‘what you should do’? If he knew you were doing this to save him, he would definitely be heartbroken. Do you really look down on your own importance that much?”
“He won’t be heartbroken.” Lu Beihuai kept his head down, eating his breakfast, swallowing without even chewing properly.
But Song Qie noticed something was wrong. He saw the guy’s eyes were red. Suddenly feeling a pang of sorrow, Song Qie saw Lu Beihuai recklessly stuffing breakfast into his mouth and reached out to grab his arm to stop him.
“I am heartbroken.”
Lu Beihuai stopped chewing. He stared at the empty box in front of him and the two hands gripping his arm, but he didn’t move.
“Lu Beihuai, I feel for you.” Song Qie saw Lu Beihuai’s head slightly tilted, the bruises on his cheek making Song Qie’s nose feel a bit sore.
He couldn’t imagine how that man treated Lu Beihuai, or how he dared to treat him that way—letting his son steal someone else’s life while being completely indifferent to Lu Beihuai.
Yet this guy was still risking his life to earn money to save him, nearly dying in the process, and couldn’t even get a single word of concern in return.
How was that fair?
Perhaps because he was too angry, his breathing became shallow and fast. His heart rate suddenly spiked, and his face turned deathly pale.
Lu Beihuai’s hand holding the chopsticks paused. He glanced at the hand suddenly gripping his arm; it was squeezing so hard the fingertips were white, probably out of distress. He lifted his eyelids and saw Song Qie looking at him with red eyes, his face and lips suddenly turning white.
He frowned: “Where is your medicine?”
Song Qie looked dazed. He paused for a moment: “Huh?”
Lu Beihuai put down his chopsticks and stood up. “Where is your schoolbag?” He scanned the living room and didn’t see Song Qie’s bag.
Song Qie looked up as Lu Beihuai stood. After a moment, his movements stopped. A buzzing sound filled his ears, and the rhythm of his heartbeat thundered against his eardrums.
My heart is beating so fast…
His eyelids closed heavily. His body swayed, and he began to fall backward from his seat.
He didn’t fall as expected. His back leaned steadily against something hard, and then he was pulled onto a lap, encircled by arms.
Song Qie felt extremely dizzy; the pounding in his chest was unbearable. In his daze, he felt his mouth being pried open. Something was placed under his tongue. A slight burning and stinging sensation spread instantly under his tongue; he instinctively wanted to spit it out.
But a large palm covered his lips.
“Don’t spit it out.”
Through his blur, he heard a low, threatening voice in his ear. He didn’t dare spit it out. The thing must have worked because his consciousness gradually returned, and he slowly opened his eyes.
What came into view was a white shirt, and higher up, an Adam’s apple.
Then he met Lu Beihuai’s eyes.
He suddenly realized he was lying in Lu Beihuai’s arms. He wanted to sit up, but he was pulled back into the embrace by the large hand covering his face—a strength he couldn’t resist.
Lu Beihuai lowered his head, looking at the Song Qie he held in his arms.
The hand covered more than half of the boy’s face. The small face revealed a pair of timid, watery eyes. Song Qie looked up, his eyelashes trembling, watching him cautiously. Compared to his sudden paleness earlier, his complexion was much better now.
“What were you so angry about?”
“Mmph!” Song Qie tried to pull Lu Beihuai’s hand away.
“I gave you nitroglycerin.” Lu Beihuai let Song Qie lean against his knees. Seeing the boy’s face turn bright red from being covered: “Has the medicine dissolved?”
Song Qie pursed his lips. He couldn’t tell if the medicine had dissolved, but he felt like he was about to melt!!
Besides, what even was nitroglycerin?
He did feel a bit better after taking it; his heart wasn’t as uncomfortable anymore.
His moist lips brushed against the palm as they moved.
Lu Beihuai silently lowered his hand, moving past the soft sensation. He let Song Qie down from his lap. Just as he was about to stand up, his shirt hem was grabbed.
He glanced at the hand clutching his sleeve, then his eyes met those round, clear eyes.
The eyes were watery. There was no trace of his former self; now, looking at him, the boy was like a little puppy—obedient and submissive.
Song Qie looked up at Lu Beihuai: “The medicine dissolved. Thank you.”
His heart felt much better.
See? He’s not a bad person at heart.
Lu Beihuai gently brushed away the hand grabbing his shirt and walked back to sit on a small stool. He lowered his head and continued eating breakfast.
Song Qie held onto the edge of the table. Seeing Lu Beihuai just burying his head in his food and ignoring him, he whispered: “I’m sorry.”
After he spoke, it remained quiet, with only the sound of eating.
Song Qie didn’t give up: “I know I wasn’t very nice to you before. Now I just feel like I was a real jerk for bullying you like that, so I want to do something to make it up to you.”
Since I’ve offered compensation, he’ll probably be bold enough to make a request, right?
“Compensation?”
Song Qie nodded obediently: “Yes. If there’s anything else you want me to do, as long as it’s within my power, I can compensate you.”
“Okay,” Lu Beihuai said.
Meeting that dark, deep gaze, Song Qie suddenly felt an oppressive feeling, as if the back of his neck were being held. His hand holding a plastic spoon tightened: “Then… then what do you want me to do?”
“Wear a dress for me tonight.”
Song Qie’s head went “buzz.”
The tips of his ears turned red instantly.