Hearing Heng Shi put it that way, the crowd felt too embarrassed to crowd around any longer, afraid that they might trigger some sort of illness in this visibly unwell gentleman.
Heng Shi made a serious introduction of Zou Beiqi in a few words. The latter awkwardly adjusted the black square-framed glasses on the bridge of his nose and offered a simple greeting, only for Heng Shi to take him by the hand and lead him toward the center of the reception hall.
“Shi, over here.” Sitting in the center of the sofa was a man in a tailored suit. Heng Shi walked up to converse with him, appearing to be quite familiar friends. Zou Beiqi listened silently from the side, realizing the man was the host of the party, named Meng Yinsheng.
Meng Yinsheng bypassed Heng Shi to offer a few words of greeting to Zou Beiqi, mostly consisting of polite pleasantries. Zou Beiqi did not pay much attention and brushed it off casually, until Heng Shi finished the conversation, took his hand by the outdoor pool, and spoke quietly into his ear amidst the ambient noise: “That man just now, keep your interactions with him to a minimum.”
“Why? Aren’t you friends?”
“Are you friends with everyone you exchange a few words with?”
Understood. In a society driven by human relations, having a few superficial friends was normal, let alone for someone like Heng Shi who had frequent business dealings and partnerships.
Zou Beiqi could not hold back his curiosity: “Is there something wrong with him?”
“He has issues, and his romantic life is a complete mess.” Heng Shi glanced at Zou Beiqi. “If you are going to look for a lover, find a better one.”
Zou Beiqi strongly suspected that the second half of the sentence Heng Shi left unsaid was that, if you find someone even worse than me, where am I supposed to put my face?
In this world full of halo-wearing protagonists like Xie Jingyuan, was there really anyone better than Heng Shi? Zou Beiqi was curious.
A crowd had gathered around the outdoor swimming pool, mostly holding glasses of wine and discussing so-called high-society topics. Heng Shi ran into many old acquaintances, and Zou Beiqi was forced to accompany him through one nutrient-devoid polite conversation after another. Once the people opposite them finally dispersed, Zou Beiqi leaned close to Heng Shi’s ear and whispered: “Do you have to hold my hand the whole time?”
“Uncomfortable?” Heng Shi lowered his voice as well. “It would look inappropriate for newlywed husbands to appear too distant.”
“That still does not mean you have to hold it constantly. It is not like a father leading a kid.”
“Do you not have a kid inside your stomach right now?”
Zou Beiqi remained speechless.
“Alright.” Heng Shi released Zou Beiqi’s hand and pointed to an empty seat in the corner. “Rest over there for a while. I will come back to find you here later.”
With nothing to do, Zou Beiqi squeezed through the crowd, took a rough stroll around the villa, clutched a cup of plain water he swiped from a hall table, and sat back down in the corner by the pool to wait for Heng Shi.
“Mister, by yourself?” Zou Beiqi was listlessly spinning the glass water cup in his hand when he heard the voice and abruptly looked up. A strange man was standing right in front of him, asking with a beaming smile.
“Not really, I am waiting for my husband.”
“You are married? But you do not even have a ring on your finger.” The man looked skeptically at Zou Beiqi’s fingers.
“He does not want people to know.”
The man scoffed: “An excuse. He just does not love you.”
Fine, that was a fact. Zou Beiqi had nothing to retort with, and the man seized the opportunity to take a step closer: “There is no need to waste time on someone who does not love you. You can completely have other choices.”
“Sorry.” Was this really the world of a danmei mpreg novel? Were there really this many homosexual men around?
The man had no intention of giving up easily: “We could try getting to know each other first.”
“I think that is unnecessary.”
Even without turning around, Zou Beiqi could recognize the voice belonged to Heng Shi. The man gently wrapped an arm around his waist from behind, pressing close in an intimate posture, before finally turning a cold glare toward the man: “He has already rejected you.”
Immediately following that, Heng Shi grabbed Zou Beiqi’s left hand and carefully slid a diamond ring onto his ring finger: “Besides, I love him.”
Zou Beiqi’s heart skipped a beat. Although quite a few people had confessed their feelings to him from elementary school through university, most only claimed to like him; hearing someone say love was a first.
It was not a flutter of romance, just a rather subtle sensation.
The man tactfully walked away. Only then did Zou Beiqi turn back to meet Heng Shi’s gaze: “When did you prepare the ring?”
“Before coming here. Others asked the exact same question.”
“So you just bought it?”
“Mm. I had Dr. Xie measure your size while he was checking on you.” After saying this, Heng Shi pulled out another identical ring from in front of him and slipped it onto his own finger. “Do you like it?”
“It is okay.” Saying he did not like it would be bad, and saying he liked it felt quite wrong, so Zou Beiqi gave a compromise answer.
Heng Shi tapped his fingertips lightly against Zou Beiqi’s ring: “Now that you have a ring, remember that you are my husband. Do not let anyone get close to you casually, understand, Qiqi?”
“I know.” To avoid rumors of cuckoldry spreading everywhere, Zou Beiqi understood.
Heng Shi whispered to him again: “Also, what I said just now was fake. Do not take it seriously at all.”
He bit down extra hard on the words do not take it seriously at all.
“I know that too.”
It was simply like an obvious trap.
Coming back from the party, Zou Beiqi lay in bed, looking down at the diamond ring on his hand. He was still not quite used to having to wear it all the time.
Heng Shi had plunged back into his busy work. During this period, the nanny was the one preparing Zou Beiqi’s medicine.
He had not been woken up by any door-opening sounds in the middle of the night last night. When he asked Yan Ze, he learned that Heng Shi had spent the entire day yesterday at the company and had not come back at all.
“I want to go see him.” Zou Beiqi could not help frowning. It looked like Heng Shi was just like his dad; if nothing went wrong, he would never learn a lesson or correct his ways.
He certainly did not want the child to fall sick with a father before even being born.
Zou Beiqi had Xiao Li drive him to Yanxin Pharmaceuticals. Before leaving, he asked Yan Ze to help give Heng Shi a heads-up, and only right before getting out of the car did he receive a reply stating that Heng Shi was not at the company, but had gone to the hospital instead.
“Xiao Li, turn the car around and head to the hospital.” The moment the words left his mouth, Zou Beiqi directly called Heng Shi, and the other man picked up quickly: “What is wrong?”
“Are you negotiating a project?”
“No.”
“Are you sick?” Zou Beiqi furrowed his brows deeply.
“Mm.”
“Is it serious?” Zou Beiqi acted like a father with a mischievous child who had no other choice. “I am almost at the hospital.”
“Why are you coming?”
“To see you, of course.”
Probably finding Zou Beiqi’s tone too matter-of-fact, Heng Shi was silent for a moment: “There is no need.”
“I am already in the car.”
Heng Shi let out an imperceptible sigh. “Seventh floor, 703.”
The seventh floor of the hospital consisted entirely of single rooms. Zou Beiqi took the elevator and pushed open the door directly. Heng Shi was leaning against the head of the bed wearing a hospital gown, clearly looking lacking in energy. “You did not need to put yourself through this trouble.”
“I said it before, you are my husband.” Zou Beiqi shook the hand wearing the diamond ring.
Heng Shi did not speak. After a long while, he spoke up again: “Go to sleep.”
“I just got here.”
“Did you not say you came to see me? You have seen me now.”
Zou Beiqi found his words giving him a headache: “At least tell me how you got sick.”
“Someone in the research lab made a mistake during an experiment, releasing harmful gases. I inhaled a bit and passed out. Others are at the hospital too and are fine, just dizzy with some mild dry heaving.”
“What did the doctor say?”
“I can be discharged once I rest enough.” Heng Shi met Zou Beiqi’s gaze. “Can I sleep now?”
“Then rest a bit more before heading back to the company. The project should not be in that much of a rush, right?” Zou Beiqi casually pulled the blanket up for him, remembering how his own father had rushed back into work the moment he recovered, only to collapse again shortly after. It really was not reassuring.
“Not particularly rushed.”
“Then rest thoroughly before going back to the company. Do not try to check out the moment you wake up.”
Heng Shi glanced at him. “Why do you talk so much?”
“You really do not know what is good for you.” Do you know what care means? If it were not for the sake of the child’s father and his nominal husband, he, Zou Beiqi, could not care less.
“Thank you.”
Zou Beiqi let out an imperceptible sigh. “Fine, go to sleep.”
Heng Shi really did obey and fell asleep instantly upon hitting the pillow. To prevent this patient from repeating his father’s mistake, and since he had nothing else to do anyway, Zou Beiqi decided to stay and look after Heng Shi. After all, workaholics looked precisely like the type who would throw off the blanket and sprint out to get discharged.
He did not want to witness the same exhaustion happen a second time; it would make his heart ache.
He had been shouting about how health is important just a moment ago, Zou Beiqi thought, yet he never took his own health seriously.
Soon, regular breathing sounds came from the bed. Zou Beiqi tentatively poked Heng Shi’s face; he really was the type to fall asleep in three seconds.
He pulled out his phone and started scrolling. Sheng Wanzhong was sharing all sorts of messy gossip with him, such as who was keeping a mistress or who got cheated on, allegedly all celebrities in Liwan City, but unfortunately he did not recognize a single name among the protagonists or supporting characters.
Before he could send a message asking Sheng Wanzhong to elaborate further, the sleeping Heng Shi suddenly stirred. Zou Beiqi subconsciously put down his phone and leaned closer, hearing Heng Shi mumbling softly in his sleep: “Do not leave.”
“What is wrong?” Zou Beiqi asked softly. The other person did not reply, clearly not fully awake.
“Do not leave. I feel so uncomfortable. Do not throw me away here.” Heng Shi unconsciously grasped tightly onto the corner of Zou Beiqi’s clothes. “I am in so much pain, stay with me.”
He must have been dreaming about bad things from the past. Looking at the expression of pain written all over Heng Shi’s face, Zou Beiqi could not help reaching out to smooth away the deeply knitted brows: “I will stay with you.”
Zou Beiqi did not know when he fell asleep. When he opened his eyes, the person in the hospital bed had become himself, and his glasses had been removed and placed on the bedside table.
He quickly sat up straight, put on his glasses, and scanned the hospital room. There was no trace of Heng Shi anywhere. Zou Beiqi quickly grabbed his phone and called Heng Shi: “Where did you go? Did I not tell you to rest properly before leaving?”
“At home.”
“That is good.” Zou Beiqi let out a breath of relief. “I thought you went back to the research lab.”
“Why do you care about me so much?”
“I am afraid you will die, okay?” It seemed his previous husband line lacked persuasiveness, and explaining his father’s situation was too troublesome, so Zou Beiqi simply retorted with that.
“Rest assured, I know my own limits.”
“I will be there in a moment.” Zou Beiqi said, sending a message for Xiao Li to come pick him up at the hospital.
“Wherever I am, you go?” Heng Shi paused. “Did you not sleep enough, and still want to come back and hold me while you continue sleeping?”