The next day.
Lu Yubai slept for a full fifteen hours. When he finally woke up, he was lying in a hospital bed. His body was connected to numerous tubes and medical instruments, yet there was not a single soul by his side.
He was roused by the persistent ringing of his phone. Enduring the sharp stabs of pain, he reached out for the device on the nightstand. Just as his fingers brushed it, the phone slipped and crashed onto the floor.
The ringing continued unabated. Irritation flared in his chest. Nevertheless, Lu Yubai forced himself upright and leaned over to pick it up. Every small movement sent a jolt of agony through his wounds.
On the screen, two words were displayed prominently: “Wife.”
Due to the long delay, the call had already disconnected. His battery was down to ten percent. The screen was flooded with missed calls from Yan Chi, over three hundred of them, alongside a mountain of unread messages.
Lu Yubai’s eyes grew hot, and a mist of tears blurred his vision.
Suddenly:
[Ding, the host’s glands have been successfully repaired.]
[System 007 is about to detach from the host’s consciousness. Before leaving, the system will grant the host a gift: The Healing Fruit.]
[Consuming this fruit will erase all physical scars. The host only needs to think of consuming it. Note: The sensation of pain will be returned to the host tenfold.]
[Goodbye, Host.]
The cold, mechanical voice vanished from his mind. Then, his phone rang again. It was Yan Chi.
Lu Yubai slid the screen to answer. Before he could speak, a low roar laced with fury erupted from the other end. “Lu Yubai! Where are you?”
“Why did you not pick up last night?”
“Why did you not reply to my messages?”
“Auntie Liu told me she found bandages covered in blood under the trash can in your room.”
“Are you injured? Hmm? Speak!”
Yan Chi’s sudden concern crashed over him like a tidal wave, drowning his defenses and swallowing his resolve. The fierce waves surged, shattering the walls he had built around his heart until they were nothing but mud.
“Speak,” Yan Chi’s voice dropped lower, his words heavy with emphasis.
A flicker of color finally returned to Lu Yubai’s deathly pale face. He bit his lip weakly and forced a playful, teasing scoff through his teeth.
“Wife, are you worried about me?”
“I was too tired last night and fell asleep. These past few days have been exhausting; I just woke up.” He feigned a lazy yawn. The rise and fall of his chest pulled at the wounds on his back, a sensation so excruciating it felt as if he were being torn apart alive.
“I asked where you are.”
“Jiangcheng? Or Luocheng?”
Yan Chi stood outside the airport, his tall silhouette cast upon the ground alongside the city signboards under the dazzling sun.
Luocheng.
Lu Yubai broke into a cold sweat from the pain, and his heart began to race. He knew Yan Chi too well.
“Wife, are you coming to find me?”
“Hiss, but I am working right now.”
“Is your research institute not busy, Wife?” Lu Yubai tried to change the subject.
“Where are you?” The cold voice was now tinged with a forceful command.
Lu Yubai struggled to prop up his pillow to support his back, which offered a modicum of relief. He tilted his head back to stare at the white ceiling, his eyes rimmed with red as tears rolled down from his clouded gaze.
He asked flippantly, “If I tell you, will you kiss me, Wife?”
Silence hung on the other end for a few seconds.
Yan Chi: “If that is the only way you will tell me, then yes.”
Lu Yubai: “Yes to what?”
Yan Chi: “I can kiss you.”
That deep voice was lethally sexy. Lu Yubai’s ears turned red, and his heart thudded against his ribs as if trying to escape his body. Of course he wanted that kiss. He wanted to be looked after by Yan Chi.
But he did not want Yan Chi to see him in this pathetic state. It was too embarrassing. He was supposed to be the “tyrant” of Jiangcheng.
“I am not in Luocheng, nor am I in Jiangcheng.”
“I am abroad. I caught a flight last night.” Lu Yubai instinctively rubbed his nose, a subconscious habit he had whenever he lied to Yan Chi. Fortunately, Yan Chi could not see him now.
“Auntie Liu said in your trash can”
Before Yan Chi could finish, Lu Yubai interrupted. “That was not blood. It was fruit pulp.”
“I originally bought it to fake an injury to get sympathy. Last night, I got out of bed for a drink of water and knocked it over in the dark.”
“Wife, did you call me so many times because you were worried? Hmm, you did not think I was terminally ill after three years abroad and that I was coughing up blood, did you?”
“Do not worry, Wife. Villains live the longest. A little tyrant like me, who has been causing trouble since childhood, will not die that easily.”
Lu Yubai kept calling him “Wife” repeatedly, intentionally trying to provoke him. Yan Chi remained silent.
Lu Yubai curled his lips into a low laugh, his voice lazy and seductive. “Besides, I would not have the heart to leave you a widower!”
Yan Chi’s brow smoothed slightly, but he remained suspicious. “It really was not blood?”
Lu Yubai: “Really!”
Lu Yubai: “I swear!”
Lu Yubai: “If it was blood, I will let you have two children in three years!”
Yan Chi: “Looking at the phone?”
He rubbed his temples wearily, his slender fingers adjusting the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose. He had not slept a wink, having flown to Luocheng overnight.
His voice was cold and composed, yet carried an immense weight of pressure. “Did you get into a fight yesterday?”
Across the phone line, Lu Yubai felt as if he could smell the faint scent of cedarwood, carrying a weight of authority that pierced his lungs.
Lu Yubai rubbed his nose. “No.”
“I did not fight. I was very good.” He did not want Yan Chi to know he had been fighting again. Yan Chi would hate that. Yan Chi hated it most when he fought.
“Start a video call.” The command came out of nowhere.
Under the sunlight, Yan Chi’s shadow shortened. His sharp eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses rippled with emotion; the coldness was being baked away by the sun, becoming burning hot.
Lu Yubai’s body jolted in panic. A video call? Yan Chi wanted to video call him! He knew exactly what Yan Chi wanted to check.
He hesitated to reply. On the other end, Yan Chi added:
“I want to see.”
See? See what?
Lu Yubai sat bolt upright in shock, his entire back breaking out in a cold sweat. The blows from the wooden staff yesterday had been too heavy; the wounds were still burning with a searing pain. He bit his lip so hard it nearly bled, yet he responded with forced excitement.
“I am not wearing any clothes. Does my wife want to have a naked chat?”
“Wait, that sounds illegal,” he added quickly as he realized his slip.
Yan Chi was silent.
Lu Yubai’s tone shifted to that of someone lecturing a child. “So, you are not allowed to record the screen, okay?”
Suddenly, his eyes lit up. “If I strip, will you strip too? Wife?”
His rising intonation sounded incredibly cheeky. Yan Chi remained silent. Seeing his silence, Lu Yubai smiled triumphantly.
“Wife, I have an emergency meeting now. I have to rush over. It should be over in about three hours. After it is done, I will go home and video call you.”
“Naked chat!”