CH 20

Did you think something is bound to happen now that I said that?

The fact is, nothing did happen in the end.

Well, not for lack of vehicle, but for lack of timing. (TL: A play on a classic Buddhist-inspired Chinese phrase that says karmic retribution would eventually come, in due time)

It has been almost a whole seven hours since carrying He Jünle to this nearby clinic running. Murong Jihua is still blanking out looking at the clock on the wall.

The air is quiet.

——The sound of the liquid going drip drip drip, is also going tap tap tap on Murong Jihua’s eardrum, before it turns into sticky glucose to enter He Jünle’s bloodstream.

Murong Jihua turns to look at He Jünle, who is now leaning on the wall, while sitting on a bench.

He is still unconscious with a deathly pale, still covered up with Murong Jihua’s suit jacket, plus the way too small school uniform the CEO took off.

The scalding heat of his body has at least receded. His breathing is now regular and undisturbed.

Thank goodness he’s fine.

So thinks Murong Jihua.

Then he retracts his gaze from the clock that is now pointing to ‘3’ already, and looks back at the young man, half of whose body is buried in the shadows. Under only the dim light of the wee hours, He Jünle’s side profile look so perfect – like an artisanal, marble creation.

From his eyebrows, to his nose bridge, to his lips——

When he just carried He Jünle to the clinic, he was really in panic——The young man’s body in his embrace was so utterly hot to the touch. He was so completely passed out it was as horrifying as could be.

Thankfully, the doctor in the clinic is a retired professor, and managed to stabilise He Jünle’s condition in just half an hour. His recommendation was to check his condition again only after he reawakens——Murong Jihua plans to transfer him to the best hospital in Country A immediately the moment he wakes back up.

He is still to wake back up.

Murong Jihua is still anxious——A strange fear and guilt that he does not understand are turning his mind to mush, so much so he failed to call butler Cui entirely the whole five hours he was blanking out in this space.

Around the one-thousandth time his mind is debating whether to arrange a special royal-class ambulance to transfer He Jünle right now, the young man in question wakes back up.

“Mm?”

“Mm.”

“Hmph.”

“Hmph?”

A decidedly awkward mood begins to spread.

Murong Jihua wants to say something, like explaining that he didn’t order someone to make trouble for him on purpose as he didn’t think his body would be so weak——never mind that;

Then perhaps something like he will take him to the central hospital right now as this little clinic doesn’t really look to be very reliable——he can’t.

In the end, he just wants to ask, how he was feeling right now.

Yet, in the end, what did come out, was,

“If this is the way you went with to gather this shaoye’s attention, then I must concede that you succeeded, you man.” (TL: Imagine the ‘you man’ part was ‘woman,’ is what I’m trying to get across; it works really well in Chinese because woman and man are just literally ‘female-human’ and ‘male-human’ respectively)

Oh jeez, my Murong, baby.

You have to at least offer to make up for it——

“I am irrefutably involved in this matter. I can give you a blank cheque. Fill whatever number you want.”

“…”

An inexplicable breeze blows past, fluttering the clothes covering He Jünle a little, and also causing our Murong Jihua, only in a shirt right now, to shiver.

“I’m fine. Just a little bit down in spirits recently, I guess,” He Jünle answers with a chuckle, in a casual, light, distant tone.

Murong Jihua can only watch as the young man raises his hand, to simply pull out the needle from the back of his hand——

“What are you doing?!” Murong Jihua rushes forth to stop He Jünle’s left hand, though it was too late; the needle is now swaying to-and-fro between their fingertips.

“I called an ambulance already. We will move to the central hospital immediately——Speak up, do you have some super costly rare disease that can’t be treated even with all the expensive equipment that will fester in the late stages in order to push the plot development forward——”

He Jünle’s handsome face has grown darker, saying, “how… much of a grudge… do you have against me?”

“The heck the heck the heck!”

The old doctor who was napping at reception pulls his curtain away to march at them, and drags on his pyjamas to scold them, “leave if you’re finally awake! You youngsters spend all your days staying up all night and end up all spent; then you start making ruckus in the dead of night; someone is trying to sleep here!”

“Uh,” Murong Jihua asks, stiffly, “doctor, my, uh, pal here, he’s fine?”

“Of course he is! It’s just all your bad habits coming back to haunt you! If you’re really a pal then watch him and tell him not to stay up all night and get himself spent. You youngsters all end up with these acute conditions from all the strain you put on your body. After a quick fever or coma, your body adjusts and comes back out fine. Now that you’re awake, leave!”

“…”

“Wait, really doctor? But he really just fainted in the middle of the day out of nowhere! Can’t you check him again?”

“Go get him checked elsewhere! I made myself clear enough already. What else could I do after checking but give him even more IVs with glucose? If you want one then stab him yourself!”

The old doctor leaves while continuing to throw a tirade; Murong Jihua looks petrified entirely. He Jünle gives a slightly deep glance at the clothes on his body, as he tries to stand back up.

Murong Jihua asks, “… are you really fine?”

“Mmhm.”

“Really? Just from lack of sleep?”

“…Mmhm.”

“Really? You don’t need to spend a few days or half a month in observation at the central hospital?”

“Oi, quit your hysterical blabbering if you’re a man.”

While his concern is heartlessly dismissed, Murong Jihua, who still couldn’t help but sigh in relief in his mind ends up smiling instead, “oh? You want to come and confirm whether I’m actually a man yourself?”

He Jünle begins popping his knuckles to answer casually, “sure, I’d never shy away from a good cockfight (TL: Not sure how to translate this; the phrase used is ‘拼刺刀,’ a Chinese internet slang that jokingly refers to sex between men, or just male rivalry in general), how do you want to go about it?”

“… Uh, how about we go number ones together?”

“Fuck off.”

Early morning the next day, He Jünle has been forcefully dragged onto an ambulance by four burly men led by butler Cui.

According to Murong Jihua – ‘Just in case.’ It is still better to alleviate his worries by giving him a complete body check at a big hospital.