Lu Yang was a bit slow-witted.
Sigh, this is something everyone knows and there was no need to single it out.
But Lu Yang could swear with certainty that he was not mentally challenged.
Xin Hexue had once said he had “great wisdom appearing as foolishness.”
This was clearly demonstrated in Lu Yang’s constant sensitivity to Xin Hexue’s expressions.
When Yu Zao was practically scolding him through the phone, when he stood outside the school and realized it was too late, and there were no taxis or buses, so he decided to run to Xin Hexue’s school, when it suddenly started raining halfway there…
Lu Yang’s mind was a mess the whole time.
Rain hit his body. The rain wasn’t heavy, but it drifted over like spider webs, cold and sticky. Yet the air he exhaled from his chest was hot and scalding.
He was thinking, if he ran there like this, Xin Hexue would definitely be angry if he saw him in such a state. The thought of that anger mixed with heartache made a sweet feeling spread in his warm mouth.
But what Yu Zao had just said on the phone was like thunder booming in his ears again. Lu Yang was so angry his internal organs ached. Then he realized, yes, it really was thunder in the middle of the night.
Why not just strike this guy surnamed Lin with a bolt of lightning!
The sound of his knocking overlapped with the thunder, and dripping rain from his waterlogged clothes fell around his feet.
Bang! Bang! Bang! “Open the door!”
Xin Hexue seemed to sense something, and slightly opened his eyes within the bed. Unfortunately, the two people arguing heatedly didn’t notice once the door closed.
Well, mainly, Lin Oufei was arguing, and Lu Yang was trying to reason, but he was not doing a good job of it.
Xin Hexue had to cough softly.
The two people’s attention was instantly drawn to him.
Then he felt a shocking dampness approaching, and the elbow resting on the edge of the bed soaked through Lin Oufei’s bedding as well.
“Xin Hexue! Why do you look so pale!” Along with the loud cry, a hand full of autumn rain smeared onto Xin Hexue’s forehead. “You’re burning up!”
He couldn’t help but close his eyes, feeling a headache. “Lu Yang…”
“Ah, sorry, is my hand too wet?” Lu Yang habitually wiped his hand on the hem of his shirt, but when that didn’t work, he wiped it on Lin Oufei’s jacket hanging by the bed instead.
A cold snort escaped Lin Oufei’s nostrils, as cold as a laugh.
“How did you get here?” Xin Hexue asked.
Lu Yang couldn’t care less about such questions, his mind was entirely on Xin Hexue. “Someone told me they saw you and Lin Oufei leaving a KTV. They said you looked really out of sorts, and also…” His black eyes ignited with anger, his thick, dark eyebrows drew together, and his speech became rapid. “He kissed you, didn’t he? Lin Oufei definitely took advantage when you weren’t paying attention, how despicable. No wonder he was always staring at you during class, no wonder he was always targeting me…”
Lu Yang rambled on for a while, but didn’t get a response from Xin Hexue, and a faint unease began to stir in his heart. He pulled Xin Hexue’s hand to his cheek, rubbing and nuzzling against it, his dark eyes like a puppy’s damp nose. “Xin Hexue, why did you go to a KTV? Why didn’t you tell me? It’s Saturday today, you could have called me to come along. Lin Oufei is very bad. You didn’t even react when he kissed you, right? You don’t like him acting like that at all, do you?”
But Xin Hexue kept his eyes lowered the whole time, and his hand didn’t reach out to smooth Lu Yang’s hair as it usually did. The stone in Lu Yang’s heart sank, and his sense of unease magnified.
The next moment, the slightly lowered eyelashes lifted. The eyes that looked at Lu Yang held a dense, lingering disappointment. “I don’t care which friend you heard this from. Didn’t you ever stop to think about whether it was true or not? Rushing over here recklessly in the middle of the night like this… Does being in a relationship with me keep you in a constant state of insecurity?”
Lu Yang’s mouth suddenly felt extremely dry. He swallowed with great difficulty, his mouth working faster than his brain as he tried to explain: “That’s not it, I didn’t mean to misunderstand you on purpose, I just thought, I just thought…”
Xin Hexue would definitely never do anything to betray him, but Lin Oufei was different. The words “homewrecker” and”mistress” were practically written all over Lin Oufei’s face!
Lu Yang looked at him pleadingly. “Are you angry? I was just too worried about you…”
Xin Hexue turned his head toward the inside of the bed. Lu Yang could only see his profile, the hair at his forehead sticking to the edge of the fever-reducing patch, his thin eyelids tinged with a flush spread by the high fever. The flush burned Lu Yang’s eyes with a searing heat.
He heard Xin Hexue sigh softly, and his words were wrapped in a layer of weariness. “That’s why there are a lot of things I don’t like telling you.”
Lu Yang was stunned.
“Tonight was because the senior who helped me with the paperwork for exempting me from physical education class said he needed my help with something. When I got there, I found out it was a social event. Everyone was waiting for me, and once I went in, it was hard to leave. If I had told you, I was afraid you’d overthink it.” Xin Hexue explained in a very slow tone, as if afraid Lu Yang wouldn’t understand and wanted to break each word down for him. “I have no doubt that if you heard from a friend that I was attending a social event for another department, you would run over here demanding an explanation from me too.”
“Or like before, when I forgot my phone one afternoon, you called me ninety-six times.”
His tone was still gentle, but Lu Yang felt a great sense of panic welling up inside him.
“Did you ever think about whether it was safe when you rushed over here like this? It’s thundering and raining outside, and…” Xin Hexue raised his hand to glance at the watch on his wrist, closing his eyes and exhaling slowly, “…it’s two in the morning.”
The rain outside had stopped at some point. Cold clouds drifted away on the wind, revealing the entire expanse of cold night sky and a crescent-shaped moon. Lead-gray moonlight spread across the floor, lengthening the shadow of Lin Oufei standing on the balcony.
He turned sideways and saw that Xin Hexue’s eyes were also veiled with a moonlit sheen.
The words were as light as a sigh.
“Lu Yang, you make me feel so tired.”
Like a final gavel strike in a courtroom, Lu Yang suddenly didn’t know what expression to wear. His face and mind went blank simultaneously, then, as if caught between crying and laughing, he grabbed Xin Hexue’s right hand with both of his own, frantically saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I, I shouldn’t have done this, I shouldn’t have run over in the middle of the night, I shouldn’t have thought all those messy thoughts… and… and I shouldn’t have called you so many times when you were busy… Xin Hexue, I was wrong, don’t be angry.”
Xin Hexue’s gaze carefully swept over Lu Yang’s face, tracing his eyebrows, eyes, and nose back and forth, before finally leaning back and shaking his head. “Forget it.”
Lu Yang’s voice immediately rose. “What do you mean ‘forget it’? We can’t just forget it!”
“You can’t say ‘forget it’ to me.” His head lowered, as did his voice and posture, and warm liquid dripped one drop at a time to wet Xin Hexue’s palm. “Don’t… don’t…”
Xin Hexue lowered his eyes, concealing all the emotions within them.
[No notification?] He frowned.
K suddenly realized: [Lu Yang’s love value has already reached 100. There’s no room for growth.]
[Hm…?] Xin Hexue blinked.
Lu Yang doesn’t have a heartbreak value.
He had forgotten about that.
He really must be muddled by the fever tonight. He lowered his gaze, sweeping a glance over the big, loyal dog beside his hand who would take any beating or scolding without leaving.
He made a mistake, he had to start over.
“Lin Oufei.” Xin Hexue raised his head and called toward the balcony.
Lu Yang tightened his grip on his hand, his palm damp, and voice hoarse: “Xin Hexue, you haven’t answered me yet. Are we still keeping the dog?”
Before his question could be answered, a fever-warm body weight abruptly pressed down on his shoulder.
“Hospital.” Xin Hexue buried his face in the crook of Lu Yang’s neck, breathing out with difficulty.
………
Fortunately, Xin Hexue’s high fever subsided by the afternoon of the next day.
Lu Yang was in no state to care about any mistress or not. The fact that Xin Hexue hadn’t broken up with him was enough to make him want to go burn incense and pray in gratitude. After this incident was put behind them, the first December they would spend together in Beijing was approaching.
He was busy preparing a birthday gift for Xin Hexue, secretly hiding on his bed after class to knit.
Lu Yang had his phone tucked between his ear and shoulder, cashmere wool and knitting needles tangled in his hands. “Huh? You’re going back to your grandma’s place for New Year’s this winter break? When? What date?”
“You’re buying tickets to Licheng as soon as the break starts?!” he exclaimed in surprise, then asked in a low voice, “What about me? What am I supposed to do? I won’t get to see you all winter break then.”
“You’d be okay with that? I wouldn’t be able to stand it…” Lu Yang murmured.
The person on the other end of the phone laughed and asked him something.
Lu Yang perked up. “You’re asking if I want to come along? Yes! Of course, yes!”
He chuckled happily. “Does this count as meeting the family? Although I’ve met Grandma and Grandpa before.”
He lingered on the phone, being sweet and clingy with Xin Hexue for a few more moments before reluctantly hanging up.
The dorm room door banged open. It was his roommate returning from lunch for a nap. “It’s snowing outside!”
This roommate was from the south, where it never snowed. He had been marveling the whole way back, and urged Lu Yang to come see.
Lu Yang climbed down from the upper bunk and stood in the corridor. Sure enough, he saw snowflakes drifting down like fluttering catkins.
His first thought at that moment was to share it with Xin Hexue. He reached for his phone halfway, then put it back.
They had just talked on the phone. Calling again so soon would put pressure on Xin Hexue.
Lu Yang lowered his eyes.
His interest in watching the snow vanished. He climbed back to the upper bunk to continue knitting Xin Hexue’s birthday gift. But somehow, even though his eyes were watching properly, his hands wouldn’t obey, and the long knitting needle pricked his finger.
As Lu Yang squeezed the blood droplet from his fingertip, his heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, a bad premonition arose in his panicked heart.
He took out his phone, opened the contacts, and dialed.
‘Pick up…’
‘Pick up the phone…’
‘Xin Hexue…’
He clutched the phone anxiously.
“The number you have dialed cannot be reached at the moment. Please try again later.”
“Beep, beep…”
“Honk! Honk!”
Car horns blared on the road. The world of the first snow was thick with gloomy and dark hues. Lu Yang sitting in the back of the taxi heard the driver pound the steering wheel once. The traffic ahead remained congested, not moving.
The driver in the lane next to them rolled down his window and leaned over. “I heard there was a car accident at the intersection up ahead. It’s going to take a while to deal with.”
The taxi driver glanced in the rearview mirror and took in the passenger’s expression. “Young man, are you in a hurry? It’s only a few hundred meters to Third Hospital anyway…”
Before he could finish speaking, a banknote was shoved into his hand, and the car door was yanked open and slammed shut with a heavy “bang”.
The driver stuck his head out the window, looking at the rapidly receding figure. “Young man, I haven’t given you your change yet!”
………
By the time Lu Yang arrived, Lin Oufei was already outside the operating room.
He looked up at the lit “Surgery in Progress” sign, his knees went weak, and he almost buckled straight to the floor. He barely managed to sink into a chair in the waiting area, rubbing his head hard and turning away. “What happened?”
Lin Oufei’s face was gloomy, and he paced back and forth restlessly. “I don’t know. He was on his way to his first elective class this afternoon when he suddenly had an attack. His classmates notified me.”
Lu Yang’s eyes were bloodshot. “But last year’s physical exam report showed he was fine!”
Who could say for sure with these things…
Lu Yang had seen Xin Hexue have a heart attack before. Sometimes he’d have nightmares about scenes from their childhood and wake up in a cold sweat.
“Did you notify Brother Tongguang?” he asked, looking at Lin Oufei.
Lin Oufei nodded.
Lu Yang slumped in the long chair, pressing his hands heavily against his head, his back hunched, and a tortured cry escaped his chest. “Ah…”
………
Xin Hexue didn’t have any mental preparation for this attack either.
First was the suffocating feeling of being unable to breathe, his face turned pale, and a chaotic, rapid heartbeat pulsed in his carotid artery before his body collapsed heavily to the ground. Then came the jumble of voices, footsteps, the siren of the ambulance, and the medical personnel’s conversations during transport.
He didn’t know that hospital corridors could be this long. The cold fluorescent lights on the ceiling shone down with piercing, white brightness.
That was the last thing he saw before losing consciousness.
He didn’t know how much time passed. His senses gradually returned, and he could hear the beeping and whirring of various instruments operating in the operating room.
“Electrocautery.”
“Blood pressure is dropping a bit!”
“The adhesions here are quite severe.”
Voices buzzed, muffled as if through a layer of film.
Xin Hexue felt like he was soaking in a pot of boiling water. The world was noisy, bubbling and gurgling.
[Xiao Xue, Xiao Xue, don’t be afraid. Big Brother is here. Big Brother is waiting for you outside the operating room. He’ll wait right here.]
[Mom and Dad are on the train. They’re on their way. Once you get better this time, our whole family will go to that restaurant you like so much. Didn’t you really like their cream of mushroom soup? We can order two portions. You can have Big Brother’s portion too.]
This voice chattered on, saying many things, intermittently.
[Xin Hexue.]
[…]
[…]
This voice went silent for awhile, then it’s breathing gradually quickened, finally culminating into suppressed sobs.
Aside from these two inner thoughts, there was one that was the loudest, because it had been wailing and crying from beginning to end.
[Why is this surgery taking so long this time? It’s been eight hours of resuscitation efforts and he’s still not out?]
[Doctor, look, my heart is strong and vigorous. Don’t they donate hearts in TV dramas? What do you mean mine isn’t a match? My heart is filled with Xin Hexue, how can it not be compatible?!]
[Okay, okay, Xin Hexue. As long as you’re okay, even if you say you want to date two people, and neither of them is me, I’ll accept it.]
[I haven’t told you ‘I love you’ a hundred times yet, and you haven’t even worn the ugly scarf I knitted, you’re not allowed to leave! Do you hear me! If you leave, I won’t live either… I’ll sue you for abandonment in the Heavenly Dog Court! How could you do this to your dog?]
[Don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go]
How could he be so noisy?
Xin Hexue was puzzled.
[System calculation indicates that leaving at this moment can achieve maximum benefit. The love values and heartbreak values of all three target characters will reach full saturation. Host, do you choose to leave this world?]
Xin Hexue let out a slow breath. [It’s about time to end it anyway.]
