Chapter 55: Pitiful
With his nose red, An Yi held firmly to the idea that a man could bleed but not cry. In front of Huo Beixing, he was the strong adult, so he pressed his lips together tightly, trying to force the tears back.
Mainly because the guilt in his heart was simply too heavy. He couldn’t accept that because of him, Huo Beixing had suffered this kind of undeserved disaster.
Looking at the gauze wrapped around the other man’s wound, An Yi turned and moved a little closer. “Huo Beixing, does it hurt?”
Seeing the person leaning in, Huo Beixing narrowed his eyes, his gaze falling on that pale, tender little face. Those bright black eyes were full of guilt, so much so that anyone seeing them might have thought the injury on his head had been caused by An Yi himself.
Who would have thought that the male wife he’d married during his idiot era actually cared about him this much?
A trace of teasing hid in Huo Beixing’s peach-blossom eyes, and he deliberately copied his earlier tone. “Yeah, it hurts, Wife.”
The moment An Yi heard that, his heart ached even more. His tears trembled on the verge of falling, and those pale hands reached out to hold Huo Beixing’s. “Were those kidnappers really horrible to you?”
Huo Beixing lowered his eyes. “Yeah.”
An Yi: !
So they really didn’t even let him eat three bowls of rice!!
His poor Dabao!!!
An Yi’s fine brows drooped sadly. He lifted his face to look at him, pity in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t protect you properly.”
That single look made Huo Beixing swallow, his eyes sticking to the man’s face.
Really made a person want to dote on him.
From An Yi’s words and attitude, it was obvious this whole kidnapping had been used as leverage against him, which was why An Yi was now so consumed with guilt.
As for Huo Beixing, he honestly didn’t care much about the kidnapping itself. If the people they’d sent were that weak, then the mastermind behind it probably wasn’t much smarter.
It was just that…
He lowered his gaze to the little wife sitting beside him. The other man really did seem to blame himself badly. His lips were red, his teeth white, and he looked fresh and tender. Whether he lowered his head or lifted his eyes, he drew people’s gaze. If someone saw them like this without knowing anything, they’d probably think Huo Beixing had sponsored some young male college student for fun again.
He changed what he was about to say and used the tone of his foolish-self again. “What I said earlier was wrong. I’m fine.”
With tears in his eyes and that innocent animal-like purity in them, An Yi asked, “Really?”
He’d only meant to tease him, but looking at that face, Huo Beixing’s tone subconsciously softened a lot, as though this was the natural way he ought to speak to him. “Really.”
An Yi pouted, turned his head aside, and muttered, “I don’t believe you.”
The other man was definitely only saying that because he didn’t want him to worry.
Huo Dabao, you really are such a good child.
Huo Beixing laughed under his breath, finding the person before him interesting. He leaned forward, half-circling An Yi from behind, and An Yi could feel the heat of his body at his back.
Huo Beixing asked him, afraid that if he said the wrong thing again, he’d only make him sadder. “Then what should I say?”
An Yi told him, “If it hurts, then you should say it hurts. If you feel unwell, then you should say you feel unwell.”
Huo Beixing casually echoed him with a perfunctory “It hurts.”
He honestly didn’t feel there was much point in it. Even if he said it, what would it change? The other person couldn’t magically make the wound heal and stop hurting right away.
But the moment the words left his mouth, Huo Beixing suddenly felt a weight settle against his neck. Following that pull, he bent slightly forward. An Yi had turned sideways and was hugging him, the posture awkward, arms wrapped tightly around him.
Huo Beixing: ……
Fuck, just like that, it really didn’t hurt anymore.
Turning his head slightly, he looked at the pale neck beside him. Probably the other person felt too guilty; once he’d said it hurt, An Yi couldn’t bear it.
An Yi hugged him, feeling suffocated inside. The next second, he suddenly felt himself lifted. By the time he came back to himself, his backside was already sitting on Huo Beixing’s firm thigh.
Huo Beixing leaned back against the sofa, one large hand holding his waist. His magnetic voice drifted into An Yi’s ear as he coaxed softly, “You were worried about me?”
With tears still in his eyes, one hand hooked loosely around the other man’s neck, An Yi nodded.
Seeing the way he looked, Huo Beixing’s heart itched to death. Though he’d had plenty of companions for show in the past, all kinds of types, and it wasn’t as if he’d never seen obedient-looking ones before, someone who looked this tender and pitiful really was a first. That sort of spirit couldn’t be faked no matter how much one tried.
Subconsciously, he separated his foolish period from his current self. Though they were technically the same person doing the same things, right now he felt more like an onlooker holding all the memories.
Still, to be fair, the fool had been pretty lucky.
This wife—he would inherit him.
“I only got a little hurt.” Huo Beixing’s long fingers pressed against the crease in An Yi’s brow. “And this wasn’t your fault.”
The moment he heard those words, An Yi finally couldn’t hold himself together anymore. He threw himself straight into his arms, all his pent-up emotion spilling out. Watching the tears on that face, something in Huo Beixing’s chest sank for no clear reason. From childhood until now, An Yi had never cried this hard. His head was buried on Huo Beixing’s shoulder, eyes red, nose now and then brushing against the skin of his neck. He kept sobbing something unintelligible that Huo Beixing couldn’t make out—but honestly, he was enjoying it a lot.
Sure enough, human joys and sorrows really were impossible to understand.
Just when Huo Beixing was happily holding the man in his arms, there came a knock at the ward door.
“Excuse me, is Mr. An inside? We’re from the city police. We need to ask you about the case.”
The moment he heard it was the police, An Yi shot upright, instantly forgetting to cry. Right now, he was ready to go straight to the police station and add another charge to those kidnappers’ file.
Huo Beixing only felt his arms suddenly empty. An Yi left with absolute determination, not the slightest bit of lingering warmth or attachment, like some scumbag who put his pants back on and walked away.
An Yi said, “Huo Beixing, you rest first. I’ll come see you again once I’m done.”
With that, he opened the door and walked out of the ward, planning to go with the police.
When he passed the nurses’ station, he still couldn’t quite put his mind at ease, so he asked the nurse who had earlier brought Huo Beixing to the ward.
“Excuse me, will the injury on the patient’s head lead to any aftereffects?”
The nurse remembered that the injury had been to the head. “Are you worried the patient might develop some mental disorder?”
An Yi shook his head. “That part I’m not worried about.”
The nurse looked at him, not having expected such optimism.
An Yi said, “Because he already has one.”
Nurse: ……
Already had one?
For a moment the nurse felt a pang of deep regret.
Not for any major reason, mainly because the one earlier had been so extraordinarily pleasing to look at—tall, long-legged, shoulders as broad as the Pacific, carrying that easy, roguish kind of charm. And yet who would have thought that such a handsome man would actually be mentally ill!
Sure enough, heaven was fair. Open one door for you, close one window.
Only after the nurse quickly explained that the injury wasn’t serious did An Yi finally relax enough to follow the police to the station.
On the way, Lin Jiu and Gu Lingling called him. Because the people behind it, the members of the Sky studio, had already been arrested, the police were now trying to understand the situation and analyze their motive, so they had begun investigating recent circles of conflict around them.
The statements from Lin Jiu and Gu Lingling could also provide evidence for the case.
Hearing that someone in An Yi’s family had been kidnapped, Lin Jiu and Gu Lingling also felt terrible about it.
The three of them ended up on a voice call together.
Lin Jiu wanted to say something comforting, but after holding it in for half a day, what came out was, “Your family member… is he okay? Still alive?”
Gu Lingling: ……
You really do know how to care.
Because he had to cooperate with the investigation, An Yi didn’t come back that night. Huo Beixing guarded an empty room alone in the hospital, sleeping through the night with only the smell of disinfectant for company.
When he woke the next morning, he saw someone standing in the room—a male caregiver who looked to be in his early twenties.
The caregiver saw that he was awake and immediately put on a smile. “I’m the caregiver Assistant Fang arranged. I’ll be looking after your daily needs during this period.”
Huo Beixing: ……
Assistant Fang worked under Huo Zhanlin and only had a very limited understanding of Huo Beixing. Judging from the image of him in his head—a notorious philanderer—he had chosen a caregiver with striking looks, since people who loved flirting usually liked pretty ones.
Caregivers of this type were all professionally trained. They had looks and professional skills, but also one fatal flaw.
They were expensive.
Looking at the caregiver before him, Huo Beixing found himself at a loss for words. He could already be discharged, so it was hard to see the point of going to all this extra trouble. Apparently, in other people’s eyes, he must have been much more seriously injured than he’d thought.
The male caregiver said, “Sir, in a little while the doctor and nurses will come by to change your dressing and check your condition. I’ll go get your breakfast now. What would you like to eat?”
Huo Beixing couldn’t be bothered to think about any of that. He picked up his phone and checked his work messages. “Whatever.”
The caregiver nodded and turned to leave and fetch breakfast.
He had seen this man in the news many times before. His appearance alone was exceptionally top-tier, and on top of that, he had one advantage no one could possibly ignore—money.
When the caregiver came back, he brought plenty of food. As he entered, Huo Beixing was in the middle of changing clothes, shirt hanging wide open. The sight of that firm, powerful chest and abdominal muscles crashed into view, and coupled with those nine-head proportions, the effect was pure exploding hormones.
There was a wild, romantic air about him from head to toe, and those peach-blossom eyes looked so utterly full of feeling that whoever he looked at might think he was deeply in love with them.
As Huo Beixing buttoned his shirt, he noticed the other man had barged in and frowned slightly in displeasure. “Why didn’t you knock?”
That one look carried clear pressure. With all the strange perverse rumors that had long circulated around him, the caregiver quickly lowered his head and apologized. “Sorry, sir. I’ll remember next time.”
Then he unfolded the tray table attached to the hospital bed and arranged the food on it. Since he didn’t know the man’s taste, he had brought many kinds. Opening one bowl of porridge with steaming heat rising from it, he stirred it lightly with a spoon, then lifted one spoonful and brought it to Huo Beixing’s mouth.
Huo Beixing lifted his eyes to look at him, tone tinged with amusement. “You’re going to feed me?”
That look carried layered meaning. The caregiver pretended to be innocent, as though he didn’t understand what he meant, and nodded.
The next second, the bowl of porridge was snatched right out of his hand. The caregiver froze.
Huo Beixing didn’t even look at him. “My injury isn’t on my hands. I don’t need someone to feed me.”
Caregiver: ……
Huo Beixing set the porridge down on the tray without touching it, instead continuing to stare at the work messages piling up one after another on his phone.
The ward door opened again.
After leaving the police station, An Yi had gone home to shower and change clothes, then came straight to the hospital to see Huo Beixing.
Seeing An Yi, Huo Beixing stared at him for a few seconds, then turned his phone facedown on the table, doing his best to make himself look not too clever.
An Yi looked at the food on the tray. None of it appeared to have been touched, and Huo Beixing had no sign of eating either.
“Have you eaten?”
Huo Beixing shook his head, his gaze glued to him.
A troubled look appeared on An Yi’s face as he sat down by the bed. “Why aren’t you eating?”
His voice was soft like cotton, carrying a faint trace of blame—blaming him for not eating.
“No appetite.”
An Yi picked up the bowl of porridge still steaming with heat. “How about a little porridge?”
Huo Beixing said, “Then feed me.”
The caregiver standing off to the side: ……
