CH 199

When Lin Chen opened his eyes, it was very dark.

The first time he woke up, he couldn’t feel the existence of time and space.

There was a pattering sound in his ear, like rain or clouds passing by.

When his consciousness became a little clearer, he knew he should be floating somewhere. It could be in the clouds or perhaps on water.

But if he had such consciousness, he knew that he shouldn’t be dead.

Slowly, everything around had a vague outline.

At first it was a halo of light, but gradually it condensed into the shapes of walls, cabinets, and people.

Lin Chen saw Xing Conglian.

At that time, Xing Conglian was bending over and wiping Lin Chen’s dry and peeling lips with honey water.

He felt Lin Chen’s lip quiver, and his eyelids slowly opened, looking as if he were in a daze, before quickly waking up.

The moment Lin Chen’s eyes opened, it was a beautiful sight, like an unpolluted night sky. Although this metaphor was cheesy, Xing Conglian truly felt like it was at that moment.

There was nothing more beautiful than this.

“Good evening.” Lin Chen smiled and blinked gently at him.

On the bedside table was a lamp with Dana characteristics. The warm light spilled over Lin Chen’s face, softening the contour of his jagged face caused by illness.

Xing Conglian didn’t speak. He still held the bowl in his hand while approaching Lin Chen, and he lightly licked his honey-sweet lips.

However, Lin Chen didn’t kiss him back. His eyelashes fluttered slightly, and he stared blankly at him, a little dazed, as if he didn’t have a clear understanding of their relationship.

Xing Conglian was wondering whether sepsis would cause memory rewind or something. He put down the bowl and lifted his head slightly away from Lin Chen’s lips. He looked at the weak person on the sickbed and said gently, “Open your mouth.”

Lin Chen was obedient. He opened his mouth according to instructions, and Xing Conglian lowered his head and kissed him without hesitation.

Probably because the high fever hadn’t subsided, Lin Chen had a bitter taste of medicine in his mouth, but he still felt good.

Xing Conglian obviously saw Lin Chen’s pupils dilate, and then the other party finally reacted. Lin Chen hooked one hand around Xing Conglian’s neck and began to try hard to respond to him.

The kiss lasted a long time, and no one spoke.

Finally, Xing Conglian saw Lin Chen’s flushed face and watery eyes. He walked around him slightly, raised his head, and left his lips, but he couldn’t bear to take his gaze away from Lin Chen’s face.

“Your technique isn’t very good.” He kissed Lin Chen’s forehead as he commented.

“Teach me a few more times, and it’ll be fine,” Lin Chen said seriously.

“How many times do you want to learn?” Xing Conglian asked with a straight face.

Lin Chen looked at him with a serious expression. Xing Conglian leaned over and kissed him again. Finally, he raised his head and looked at him. “You’ll never learn, so you have to get lessons every day.”

Lin Chen laughed and nodded, “Okay, Teacher Xing.”

In short, this was probably what it felt like to be in love. If Duan Yang hadn’t knocked on the door and come in, Xing Conglian would probably press Lin Chen down on the bed and kiss him endlessly, but of course this was impossible in reality.

He wiped Lin Chen’s lips, which had turned from red to purple, with his fingers and sat down.

Duan Yang looked at them coldly as he checked Lin Chen’s heartbeat and blood pressure, then said, “You haven’t passed the dangerous period yet. Pay attention to rest.”

“I’ll be fine, Dr. Duan.” When he said this, Lin Chen glanced at Xing Conglian, who then reluctantly got up from his chair and sat on the hospital bed to let Duan Yan sit down on the small square stool at the head of the bed.

Lin Chen looked calm. He noticed Duan Yang’s stubble-covered face and asked, “What about you?”

“Captain Xing has already talked to me,” Duan Yang said.

The atmosphere became tense for a while. Lin Chen seemed to have guessed something and said to Duan Yang, “He’s not as good at talking as I am. If you need it, you can still come to me. After all, I am a professional.”

Duan Yang glanced at Xing Conglian and calmly said, “Captain Xing said you like to worry. At first, I didn’t believe it. Don’t ask me about the case. He said that none of us are allowed to discuss it until you’re feeling better.”

Xing Conglian’s eyelids twitched, and he glared at Duan Yang. “Are you tattling now?”

Before Xing Conglian could finish speaking, he felt Lin Chen put his hand with needle marks and gently rest it on his own. Lin Chen said to Duan Yang, “Nn, we’ll do as he says.”

Xing Conglian felt like he’d hit the jackpot with this relationship. Hearing Lin Chen’s softened voice due to his high fever, he felt a gentle warmth spreading through his body, like soaking in a hot bath.

“Then let’s talk about my condition. When will my illness get better?” Lin Chen spoke again.

“The medicine that Captain Xing had someone bring has been used on you, so you’re not in danger for the time being. As for when you’ll recover, it’s not up to me to decide. It all depends on your own recovery. Captain Xing said that the entire journey still has two more days, and then you’ll return home immediately. The specifics depend on the assessment of the doctors in China.”

“Returning to China right away?” Lin Chen asked.

“Do you still want to get sicker in the rainforest?” Xing Conglian asked sarcastically.

Lin Chen’s eyes flickered slightly, obviously thinking about how he could talk about the case without talking about it.

Xing Conglian hurriedly interrupted the other party’s thinking. “Take a good rest and use less of your brain.”

“Where are the Gaomeng people on board?” Lin Chen suddenly asked. “How are they arranged? Since Zaratul was able to kidnap us from China, the Gaomeng people won’t be too safe anywhere.”

“There will be a cruise ship at the port. Captain Xing said he would arrange a job for everyone on the cruise ship. He’ll keep it floating at sea for 365 days a year, and it won’t return here. Unless Zaratul joins forces with pirates, it’ll be impossible to meet them,” Duan Yang said.

“Can’t you think about something better?” Xing Conglian was speechless.

Suddenly, Lin Chen glanced at his fingers. As if thinking of something, he asked, “Where is the ring on my hand?”

Xing Conglian glared at him with a cold face. “The topic keeps turning abruptly. Your acting skills are quite poor. Do you know what it means to wear a ring on the ring finger of your left hand?”

Lin Chen smiled slightly and said to Duan Yang, “Dr. Duan, I’m very tired. Can I rest first?”

Duan Yang understood and immediately walked out of the cabin.

Lin Chen lay down a little bit more outside the hospital bed, looked at the empty space beside the bed, and then glanced at Xing Conglian, saying, “Captain Xing, can you turn off the lights?”

Xing Conglian felt that Lin Chen was simply amazing. He turned off the desk lamp and took off his shoes, then got into bed, using his hand as a pillow. Lin Chen still had one hand hanging on the drip, so he had to struggle to turn over and snuggle up to Xing Conglian, kissing his chin as he said, “Don’t be angry. I’ll buy you one next time.”

“Don’t change the subject. What’s up with you accepting someone’s ring and wearing it on your ring finger?”

Lin Chen didn’t answer his question.

“I’ll buy a big diamond ring for you,” Lin Chen said instead.

“How big?”

“As big as it needs to be,” Lin Chen said with certainty.

Xing Conglian suddenly turned around and kissed Lin Chen hard.

But Lin Chen was still a patient. Xing Conglian turned on the desk lamp and got up. He turned over and got out of bed in a somewhat disheveled manner.

Lin Chen’s eyes brimmed on the bed, and his chest rose and fell gently.

“Consultant Lin, this is a bit too much.” Xing Conglian checked the needle in Lin Chen’s hand. Luckily, it didn’t break the skin. He had to warn him in a low voice.

“I’m also a man. I can’t help it when you’re by my side.” Lin Chen held Xing Conglian’s hand persistently as he softly said, “I thought before that I would always be your colleague and friend for the rest of my life. Even though I like you, I don’t want to disturb your private life.”

Outside the window was the faint sound of the ship’s engine and water. Xing Conglian thought for a while, then said to him, “I’m sorry. I should have known earlier.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. After all, my acting skills were good enough. If I don’t want you to know, you’ll never know, even for the rest of your life.” Lin Chen laughed.

“Why don’t you want me to know? Why don’t you give me a choice?” Xing Conglian frowned.

“Perhaps, deep down in my heart, I always thought that you would always be by my side. But when Song Shengsheng died and Meijing committed suicide in front of my eyes—when the communicator failed, and I couldn’t contact you—I suddenly felt that maybe my life was too comfortable. I thought you would always be by my side, but that was just my delusion. In reality, it wasn’t like that.” Lin Chen gasped lightly and continued, “You will leave too. You may get married and have children, and although we’ll still be good friends and colleagues, you’ll really leave me. When I think about that moment, I suddenly realize I couldn’t accept it. So, I’m sorry. I can’t bear it anymore. Not even for a minute longer.”

Lin Chen had been speaking very slowly, with weakness from being seriously ill, but his tone remained gentle and firm.

Xing Conglian lowered his head and kissed the back of Lin Chen’s hand as he listened to Lin Chen continue.

“What’s more, I thought it through very clearly. I’m really good, and I’ll be good to you. I will treat you better than any lover you will ever meet in your life. I love you dearly, and I want you to experience such a beautiful love in this world. Please believe me.”

Xing Conglian looked into Lin Chen’s serious eyes. Although he had heard countless confessions in his life, and many had better voices and rhetoric than Lin Chen’s, none of them were as affectionate. Such a sense of cherishing even made Xing Conglian feel a great shock. He lowered his head again and kissed the place where Lin Chen had worn someone else’s ring.

“Consultant Lin.”

“Hm?”

“I’ll buy the ring.”

Lin Chen thought for a while and said, “Then shall we buy a pair for each person?”

“Here’s my salary card.”

“Why do I need this?”

“And my bank card is also yours.”

“What do I need your money for?”

“Because my mother told me that in Chinese culture, handing in a bank card is the sincerest confession.”

“Then there’s actually no need to exchange diamond rings. Let’s just exchange bank cards?”

“No need. Just consider it as me paying tuition.” Xing Conglian kissed the corner of Lin Chen’s mouth. “Actually, I’m quite good a sweet-talking.”

“I know.”

“But when I met you, I became speechless.”

“So from now on, just listen to me.”

“That doesn’t seem right. You have to teach me more, so you have to go to class every day.” Xing Conglian kissed him earnestly.

“Then you’ll never learn, so you can attend class every day,” Lin Chen said between kisses with a smile.

“I understand, Teacher Lin.”

Kinky Thoughts:

Yes. Gimme all this dog food after almost 200 grueling chapters of pain and suffering.