Chapter 31: Faking Sick
What disease?
An Yi stared blankly for a few seconds after hearing it.
Aren’t you afraid Alps will sue you?!
Huo Beixing wore an extremely serious expression. He knew that if you wanted to lie, you had to act more solemn—only then would other people really believe it. And your own will had to be firm too. Without blinking, his peach-blossom eyes fixed themselves on An Yi.
Believe me believe me believe me believe me believe me believe me believe me believe me…
By sheer force of will, Huo Beixing tried to brainwash him.
Meeting Huo Beixing’s gaze head-on, An Yi finally understood what it meant to lie without even bothering to make a draft first. In fact, from the moment Huo Beixing said he was sick, An Yi had known he was lying. He just had not exposed him immediately.
Considering Huo Beixing’s dog temper, An Yi looked at him in silence for a few seconds and then said, “How about… you think it through first before saying it?”
Huo Beixing’s peach-blossom eyes widened slightly. He had originally thought that with his superb acting, this kind-hearted deception was a sure win. Who would have guessed he’d be hit with a counter-question instead?
Thinking An Yi didn’t believe him, he abruptly stood up. His tall figure faced away from the floor-to-ceiling windows, blocking all the light behind him. The shadow formed by his sudden rise instantly swallowed An Yi whole.
“I’m really sick!”
Looking at Huo Beixing—who looked strong enough to punch Little Frog clear up to the Southern Heavenly Gate—An Yi: …
An Yi drew in a deep breath.
The me who should’ve cooperated with your performance, you simply ignored~
He had already given the other man one chance, yet Huo Beixing had failed to treasure it properly.
So An Yi extended an olive branch a second time. “Then what illness do you have?”
Man, think carefully before you answer.
With a serious face, Huo Beixing said, “Alibaba syndrome.”
An Yi: …
In the blink of an eye, the name of the disease had transformed again.
Afraid An Yi still wouldn’t believe him this time, Huo Beixing deliberately coughed a few times, pretending to feel awful.
Then he suddenly looked up at An Yi, his gaze full of conviction.
See! I really am sick!!
An Yi: …
Huo Beixing felt somewhat uneasy and waited for An Yi’s answer.
He was extremely certain in his heart that if he was sick, his wife definitely wouldn’t leave him behind and go out to work for fifteen whole days without coming home.
Yesterday, he had pinched his wife, and then he had let his wife pinch him back, but his wife hadn’t even had the heart to really do it.
His wife loved him that much—he would definitely stay behind if he were sick.
And anyway, that was exactly what the internet had said too. It said this method was the most effective.
Huo Beixing trusted equally in his wife’s love for him and in the answers given by netizens.
An Yi pressed his lips together. The words rolled around on his tongue a few times before he finally said, “Alibaba syndrome?”
Huo Beixing nodded firmly. “That’s the illness I have.”
An Yi: 🙂
You mean Alzheimer’s, don’t you?
Only Huo Beixing could say those two ridiculous disease names with a completely straight face.
Huo Beixing had broad shoulders and long legs. Besides, he went shirtless around the house every single day, and the lines of muscle on his body were tight and beautiful. Even if he deliberately tried to fake being ill, there wasn’t the slightest sign of weakness in him.
Everyone said that people caught colds easily during seasonal changes, that you had to pay attention to the temperature and dress warmly. But Huo Beixing didn’t need that. He regulated himself by brute force. He went around the house shirtless all through the summer, and even when autumn came, he still refused to put on a top. No matter how great the difference was between day and night temperatures, or how the weather kept shifting back and forth between hot and cold, there was still not a trace of illness in him.
His entire body radiated two words:
Health.
Seeing that An Yi still hadn’t spoken, Huo Beixing began to lose his patience. With his childlike temperament, he simply couldn’t endure even a few minutes of such a drawn-out wait. Lowering his head to look at An Yi, he finally asked with restless hesitation, “Wife, do you believe me?”
Without thinking, An Yi shook his head.
Huo Beixing: !
Shock appeared across Huo Beixing’s handsome face, disbelief written all over it. “Wife, why don’t you believe me?!”
An Yi: …
Did that even require a reason?
Because he wasn’t stupid.
He had originally wanted to say yes, but it was just too against his conscience. Little Frog felt he’d be betraying himself.
A few minutes later, Huo Beixing left the study looking crestfallen, like a seedling battered by frost, all spirit gone. His plan had fallen through, and he couldn’t help feeling distressed.
If he couldn’t find a way to make his wife stay, then his wife would be leaving him for fifteen whole days.
The moment he thought of the photo Zhao Ningzhuo had sent him before, and imagined An Yi linking arms with someone else for fifteen straight days, an anxiety rose in him that simply would not die down. It was like a blazing fire, and then someone came and threw on another armful of firewood, making it crackle and burn even more fiercely.
In his frustration, Huo Beixing pulled Zhao Ningzhuo out of the blacklist.
Maybe the other man would have some idea.
On the other end, Zhao Ningzhuo was in the company reading documents when the phone on his desk chimed with a message notification. He picked it up casually and saw that it was from Huo Beixing.
Opening the message, he saw:
Huo Beixing: “I’ve run into a problem.”
Zhao Ningzhuo looked baffled, unable to understand why this dog bastard would come to him when he had a problem.
He lowered his head and typed back: “Why do you think I’d help you?”
How ridiculous.
Huo Beixing thought the other man was stupid to the core for asking such an idiotic question. “Because you’re my best friend.”
Weren’t good friends supposed to help each other out?!
Looking at the message Huo Beixing had sent, Zhao Ningzhuo weighed it for a few seconds. The other guy was a fool now. If he came asking him for help when he was in trouble, that basically counted as begging. There was no need for Zhao Ningzhuo to pick a fight with a fool.
Suddenly it dawned on him. The Huo family was such a huge clan. Before Huo Beixing went stupid, he’d held an extremely important place within it. Naturally, that meant he had quite a few enemies within the family too. After all, anyone who supported Huo Zhanlin looked down on Huo Beixing, that frivolous playboy, and constantly went after him. Back when Huo Beixing had been normal, there had been nothing they could do to him. But now that he was stupid, wasn’t he theirs to knead and pinch as they pleased?
If he was seeking him out, then there was a very high chance it had something to do with conflict inside the Huo family.
Zhao Ningzhuo’s face turned solemn.
Business wars—those were his strongest field.
He typed back:
Zhao Ningzhuo: “What problem?”
Huo Beixing told him truthfully: “My wife says he’s going out for work for fifteen days. I don’t want him to leave. Help me think of a way.”
Reading that message, Zhao Ningzhuo: …
That’s it?
What did his wife leaving or not leaving have to do with me?
Though he couldn’t help privately rejoicing that at long last, his wife had finally abandoned him.
Twenty years ago, you stole my little girlfriend.
Twenty years later, your wife ditches you and runs.
Huo Beixing, this is your karma.
Huo Beixing waited for his reply, and when none came, he began urging him. “Do you have any ideas?”
Seeing how anxious he was, Zhao Ningzhuo began planning out pie charts in his head. “Why not just pretend to be sick in front of your wife? If you’re sick, your wife won’t leave.”
Huo Beixing’s sharp brows immediately drew together. He had already tried that method. It had been completely useless. And on top of that, he still hadn’t realized the problem lay with himself.
Huo Beixing: “I already told my wife that, but he didn’t believe me.”
Zhao Ningzhuo: “?”
Zhao Ningzhuo: “What did you tell your wife you were sick with?”
Huo Beixing: “Alps syndrome.”
Zhao Ningzhuo: …
Huo Beixing: “Why do you think my wife didn’t believe I was sick?”
Zhao Ningzhuo: …
Be glad.
If your wife had believed it, then your wife would be the one who was sick.
Mentally translating Huo Beixing’s “disease name” into something understandable, Zhao Ningzhuo realized he meant Alzheimer’s. A disease people got at fifty, so how could someone at twenty-five possibly have it?
Given Huo Beixing’s current brainpower, he had probably just searched something random online and gone to deceive people before even memorizing the disease name properly.
So Zhao Ningzhuo began helping him come up with another plan. “What you said was way too outrageous. Pick a different one. Just say you’ve caught a cold.”
Huo Beixing wasn’t very satisfied with that lie. He felt it had no difficulty level at all. “Since when does a cold count as an illness?”
Wouldn’t one good night’s sleep fix that?
Zhao Ningzhuo didn’t think so. He sent over a whole stream of text: “Listen to me. A cold can still be serious, okay? Besides, all those rare illnesses you keep naming, your wife doesn’t know anything about them. You might as well go with something simple—at least you’ll know how to fake it. Let me ask you, that whatever-it-was Alps syndrome of yours… do you know how to pretend to have it?”
Huo Beixing suddenly understood.
He really didn’t.
No wonder his wife hadn’t believed him. So that was why—because the way he’d faked sickness just now wasn’t convincing enough. He didn’t even know what symptoms Alps syndrome was supposed to have.
But he had already lied to his wife once. What if this time his wife still didn’t believe him?
Huo Beixing: “I’m afraid if I lie to my wife again, he won’t believe me.”
Zhao Ningzhuo devoted himself wholeheartedly to the task. “Then just make your act more convincing. Say your body feels uncomfortable, your head hurts, and you feel nauseous. Best if you don’t eat dinner either. Then call in a doctor. No matter what the doctor says, just insist you’re sick and caught a cold.”
“Remember, the first strike wins. As soon as the doctor arrives, you say you’re sick.”
The Huo family doctor should know how to read the room. He’d definitely be able to tell what Huo Beixing wanted—especially since now that Huo Beixing was stupid, his purpose was basically written across his face.
Between An Yi and Huo Beixing, the doctor would surely choose to help Huo Beixing fool An Yi.
Huo Beixing carefully took mental note of every point and decided he would do exactly what Zhao Ningzhuo said. Before putting the plan into action, he even remembered to thank him. “You really are my best friend.”
The corners of Zhao Ningzhuo’s mouth unconsciously lifted into a smile.
A trivial little matter.
The very next second, another message from Huo Beixing popped up.
Huo Beixing: “Thanks, Little Dog.”
Zhao Ningzhuo: …
Stop pretending already, you dog bastard. No wonder your wife’s going out for fifteen days without taking you!
At seven in the evening, An Yi came out of the study and headed downstairs to eat dinner. But when he reached the dining room, Huo Beixing was nowhere in sight.
He sat there and waited for a while. The servants had already brought all the dishes out, and still Huo Beixing didn’t appear.
Puzzled, he asked the servant beside him, “Where’s Huo Beixing?”
The servant didn’t know either. Ever since the young master had gone stupid, he’d always been very punctual when it came to meals. Usually he’d be waiting in the living room early. Seeing that he was nowhere to be found today, the servant said, “I’ll go upstairs and look for Young Master.”
An Yi stood up. “No need. I’ll go.”
He left the dining room and walked around the first floor once, but couldn’t find him. Princess Lily and Summer Sweetheart were happily crunching away at dog food, so Huo Beixing likely hadn’t gone into the courtyard either. Usually if he went to the courtyard or garden, he would bring the dogs with him.
An Yi headed upstairs.
He checked room after room until he finally found Huo Beixing in the bedroom.
On the king-size bed, a large lump could be seen huddled under the blanket. Hearing footsteps, Huo Beixing knew An Yi had come.
An Yi walked to the bedside and gently asked, “Huo Beixing, are you asleep?”
Wrapped up in the blanket, Huo Beixing shook his head. To fake a cold and fever, his body temperature absolutely had to be high. Zhao Ningzhuo had said he had to make it convincing if he wanted his wife to believe him. So Huo Beixing had spent the whole afternoon lying under the covers, trying to warm himself up as much as possible.
An Yi reached out and pulled the blanket down off his head. “Then let’s go downstairs and eat. Today there are your favorite meaty bones.”
Hearing this, Huo Beixing was visibly tempted, but he forcibly suppressed the desire in his heart and shook his head weakly. “I don’t want to eat.”
An Yi: ?
Little Frog was a little dumbfounded.
What are you even saying?
This isn’t like you at all.
Surprised, An Yi asked, “You really won’t go?”
Huo Beixing shook his head. “No. Wife, I feel kind of bad.”
Looking at Huo Beixing’s somewhat flushed face, An Yi asked, “What feels bad?”
Following Zhao Ningzhuo’s script, Huo Beixing said, “My head hurts, and I feel nauseous.”
Then, not waiting for An Yi to respond, he continued, “Wife, let’s call a doctor.”
An Yi raised a hand and touched his forehead. It was a little warm. “It’s probably a cold.”
Then he got up. “Wait here for a second. I’ll go find Uncle Zhong and have him contact the family doctor.”
Watching An Yi leave the room, a tiny curve formed at the corner of Huo Beixing’s mouth.
Zhao Ningzhuo had been right—his wife really had believed him.
After going downstairs, An Yi found Uncle Zhong, asked him for the family doctor’s number, and contacted the man.
When the family doctor arrived, An Yi said to him, “I’m really sorry to trouble you into making a trip at night.”
The family doctor looked full of energy. “No, Mr. An, you don’t need to be so polite. This is all as it should be.”
An Yi had not expected the man to be this dedicated.
The next moment, the doctor said, “After all, I only come here about once a year. Young Master has finally gotten sick.”
An Yi: …
He worked one visit and earned for the entire year.
His salary was still paid monthly. Whether the Huo family called him in or not, the wages went into his account on time every month. But Huo Beixing just stubbornly refused to get sick, so the doctor had always felt a little guilty taking the money.
Last time, when Huo Beixing had his accident and lay unconscious in the hospital, the doctor had been involved too. But there were five doctors total, including him, which had made it hard for him to really show what he could do.
This time, Huo Beixing had finally gotten sick.
The doctor’s stage had come.
Time to let them witness the dignity of someone who had graduated from the number-one medical school in the country.
Filled with excitement, the doctor followed An Yi upstairs, ready to show off his skills.
An Yi pushed open the bedroom door. Huo Beixing was lying obediently on the bed, in exactly the same position he had been in when An Yi left, not even having changed his posture.
Seeing that the doctor had come, and remembering Zhao Ningzhuo’s words—that he had to speak first, so the doctor would subconsciously accept that he was sick—Huo Beixing opened his mouth the moment the doctor stepped to the bed and before the man could even open the medical bag.
“I’m sick.”
The doctor paused. “Young Master knows what illness he has?”
Huo Beixing nodded. “I have a fever.”
The doctor assumed he’d measured his temperature in advance. “How high?”
Huo Beixing answered, “One point eight nine meters.”
Doctor: …
An Yi: …
After answering, Huo Beixing wavered a little. “Wait, maybe it’s not one point eight nine.”
Then he got off the bed, went into the walk-in closet, fetched a tape measure, and measured his height on the spot.
His face lit up with joy. “It’s one point nine.”
Doctor: …
An Yi: …
The moment Huo Beixing got off the bed, all the heat he’d been trying to trap under the blankets instantly dissipated too. The doctor silently turned to look at An Yi.
In a numb voice, the doctor asked, “Young Master… really is sick?”
An Yi: …
“Yes. Mentally ill.”
Looking at Huo Beixing all vibrant and lively with joy over gaining one extra centimeter in height, An Yi pressed his lips together. He didn’t let the doctor continue the examination, but instead said, “He really is sick. I’ll take care of him from here. Sorry to trouble you with the trip, Doctor.”
With that, he politely ushered the doctor out the door.
The doctor, who had been all set to show off his skills: …
His life was truly destined for mediocrity.
After the doctor left, Huo Beixing flopped beautifully back onto the bed.
Great.
This time his wife really believed he was sick.
He turned to look at An Yi. “Wife, now that I’m sick, are you still leaving later?”
An Yi smiled.
Silly child.
Of course I am.
“Yep, I’m leaving.”
Huo Beixing: !
He froze on the bed.
But he was clearly sick!
“Why? Wife, I have a cold.”
An Yi explained, “A cold gets better in seven days. Just right—my trip is in seven days.”
Huo Beixing: …
T-this… this wasn’t what they’d agreed on!!!
Looking at Huo Beixing’s expression, which resembled someone struck by lightning in broad daylight, An Yi sat down beside him. “Huo Dabao, you’re not sick. Why did you lie to me and say you were?”
There was no blame in An Yi’s voice, yet Huo Beixing simply pressed his lips together and said nothing, as if he had something hard to say.
Ever since he had told An Yi yesterday that he’d be away for half a month, An Yi had already sensed something off about him.
An Yi leaned a little closer and asked, “Is it because you don’t want me to go?”
Huo Beixing immediately dragged him into his arms and hugged him so tightly that—
Little Frog: cheep…
That suffocating feeling was awfully familiar.
Holding him, Huo Beixing nodded.
“I’m afraid Wife will go out and start liking someone else.”
An Yi raised a hand and patted his doggy head. “That won’t happen. I won’t like anyone else.”
“But what if?” Huo Beixing asked. “What if Wife really does start liking someone else?”
An Yi said, “Don’t worry.”
Huo Beixing lifted his head to look at him.
An Yi gave him a shy little smile. “If there really is someone, I definitely won’t let you know.”
A smile appeared on Huo Beixing’s face.
His wife was so considerate.
