Chapter 6#
Offerings to the Homophobic Straight Man: Crematorium 6#
Watching Lin Jinbai standing at the door, his face livid and radiating anger, Qiao Qing only felt a deep sense of helplessness wash over him.
Sometimes, he really couldn’t understand Lin Jinbai.
He was the one who said being gay was disgusting, he was the one who said he wanted to be together forever, and now he was the one getting angry…
“Who is he?”
Lin Jinbai repeated, his voice colder than before, his eyes fixed on Shen Youli as if he wanted to swallow him alive.
Shen Youli took action first.
Unhurriedly, he placed the spoon and the food container gently on the over-bed table, then slowly pulled out a tissue and handed it to Qiao Qing.
Throughout the process, he didn’t even look at Lin Jinbai again, completely ignoring him.
This posture made Lin Jinbai more furious than a direct verbal counterattack.
“Lin Jinbai,”
Qiao Qing spoke, his voice carrying the weakness of his injury, but his tone was exceptionally calm, even holding a hint of impatience.
“What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?”
Lin Jinbai seemed to be ignited by these words. He strode into the ward and slammed the thermos onto the bedside table with a heavy “thud,” making the water glass on top rattle.
“If I didn’t come, would I just watch some wild man from nowhere touch you?!”
“Wild man?” Qiao Qing’s brow furrowed even tighter. He glanced at the still-composed Shen Youli, took a deep breath, and suppressed the anger in his heart.
“Show some respect. This is the caregiver I hired.”
“Caregiver?”
Lin Jinbai looked as if he had heard a great joke.
He looked Shen Youli up and down, making no secret of the disdain and hostility in his eyes.
“What kind of caregiver dresses like this? What kind of caregiver… feeds someone like that?”
He remembered the intimate scene he had just seen, and his chest felt heavy with a dull ache.
“Qiao Qing, even if you’re angry with me, there’s no need to use this method to spite me by finding someone of unknown origin like this…”
“Have you said enough?”
Shen Youli finally spoke. He stood up, his height similar to Lin Jinbai’s, even slightly taller.
The smile on his face had vanished, and his eyes had become sharp, a completely different person from the gentle, teasing one from before.
“First of all, my origin is very clear. I am a caregiver assigned by a regular platform and hold a professional qualification certificate. Secondly,”
His gaze swept over Qiao Qing’s arm in a cast, his tone neither humble nor overbearing.
“My employer has limited mobility, and providing service to him is my job responsibility. Finally…”
He paused and took a half-step forward. Although his posture remained composed, it brought an invisible pressure, and his voice cooled several degrees.
“Your unpermitted intrusion and loud noise are affecting my employer’s rest and mood. This seems inappropriate.”
“If you are here to visit the sick, please keep quiet. If not, then please leave.”
“And, in what capacity are you questioning my employer? You’re just friends, right?”
Shen Youli deliberately emphasized the last word with a pause.
These words were logical and well-reasoned.
Lin Jinbai was momentarily speechless, his face turning pale and green.
He had never been refuted so directly to his face, especially in front of Qiao Qing.
He suddenly looked at Qiao Qing, his eyes filled with disbelief and the pain of betrayal.
“Qiao Qing! You’re letting him talk to me like this?!”
Qiao Qing closed his eyes tiredly and rubbed his brow. When he opened them again, there was only complete distance and indifference.
“Is there anything wrong with what he said?”
“Lin Jinbai, you said it yourself—you don’t like me, and we’re just friends. So, whoever I hire to take care of me seems to have nothing to do with you.”
“Take your soup back. I don’t need it.”
“Nothing to do with me?”
Lin Jinbai repeated those words, his heart feeling as if it were being squeezed hard by a cold hand, the pain making it almost impossible to breathe.
He looked at Qiao Qing’s indifferent profile and the eyesore of a caregiver standing by the bed in a protective stance.
A massive wave of panic and loss swept over him like a tsunami.
All his previous certainty and sense of superiority crumbled at this moment.
He thought Qiao Qing would always be there, that no matter how he treated him, as long as he turned around, Qiao Qing would be there.
But now, Qiao Qing had not only pushed him away but had someone else by his side…
“Good… very good!”
Lin Jinbai squeezed the words through his teeth, glaring sinisterly at Shen Youli.
He gave Qiao Qing another deep look, one that was complex and hard to decipher—anger, hurt, and a trace of pleading he hadn’t even noticed himself.
Finally, he turned abruptly, radiating a violent aura, and stormed out, slamming the door.
A loud “bang” shook the entire ward once again.
With the sound of the door, Qiao Qing’s tense shoulders finally slumped, and his face showed undisguisable fatigue.
Shen Youli didn’t speak, but silently picked up the food container again, gently stirring the slightly cooled chicken soup with a spoon, and brought it to Qiao Qing’s lips. His voice returned to its previous gentleness:
“It’s a bit cool. Why don’t you have some more before it gets completely cold?”
Qiao Qing looked at him, seeing the pure concern in his eyes, and felt a mix of emotions.
He silently opened his mouth and took a sip of the soup.
The ward became quiet again, with only the faint noise of the city coming from outside the window.
The two continued the motions of feeding and eating in silence until the container was empty.
Shen Youli carefully wiped the corner of Qiao Qing’s mouth, then efficiently tidied up the over-bed table and utensils, putting everything back in place.
Qiao Qing leaned against the pillow, watching the sun gradually set outside the window. After a moment of silence, he spoke in a low voice, with a hint of embarrassment and self-deprecation.
“Sorry for making you watch that scene.”
Shen Youli, who was throwing the trash into the bin, paused at his words.
He turned around, leaned against the window with his arms crossed, and fixed his gaze on Qiao Qing’s slightly evasive face. He suddenly spoke with startling directness:
“The guy just now… is he your crush?”
“Cough—!”
Qiao Qing almost choked on a breath he hadn’t fully swallowed, his face instantly turning bright red.
“Don’t talk nonsense!” he retorted while coughing.
Seeing this reaction, Shen Youli knew exactly what was going to happen. He raised an eyebrow and said with certainty, “So he is.”
Qiao Qing recovered, his face still flushed with embarrassment. Knowing he couldn’t hide it and not wanting to bother anymore, he lowered his eyelashes in resignation, his voice muffled:
“…He was, but won’t be anymore.”
“Really?” Shen Youli pressed.
“Yeah.”
Qiao Qing responded, seemingly for Shen Youli’s benefit but also as a warning to himself.
His lips curled slightly into a bitter arc.
“What’s the point of me liking him? He’s straight and doesn’t like me. It’s just a one-sided, unrequited effort. It’s pointless.”
As he said this, his tone was filled with fatigue and a sense of release.
Looking at him like this, Shen Youli suddenly smiled—not the teasing or provocative smile from before, but a very happy one.
He walked to the bedside, leaned down slightly, and looked into Qiao Qing’s eyes.
“That’s the spirit! There are plenty of fish in the sea, why obsess over a… well, a crooked-necked tree that doesn’t look that straight anyway.”
He paused deliberately, teasing, “Besides, you’re not bad-looking, and your personality… seems okay so far. Are you afraid you won’t find a better-looking guy?”
“Like me, for instance. I’m not bad.”
He finished with a wink at Qiao Qing.
Qiao Qing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his words, especially the phrase “crooked-necked tree that doesn’t look that straight anyway,” which perfectly roasted Lin Jinbai’s awkward personality.
He raised his uninjured hand, helplessly rubbed his brow, and looked at this incredibly confident and blunt “male model” caregiver, saying sincerely:
“You’d better stop talking.”
“You’re more handsome when you’re silent.”
Qiao Qing’s tone was earnest, but the slight curve at the corner of his mouth betrayed him.
Although he didn’t want to admit it, Shen Youli’s way of joking around was indeed very effective.
Like a powerful typhoon, it blew away all the dark clouds and gloom that Lin Jinbai had cast over his heart.
Shen Youli obligingly made a motion as if zipping his lips.
But his smiling eyes still looked at Qiao Qing brightly, as if saying, “Anyway, you get what I mean.”
The setting sun outside the window bathed the room in a warm golden glow.
Looking at Shen Youli’s goofy expression, Qiao Qing suddenly felt.
Perhaps… hiring this seemingly unreliable caregiver wasn’t such a bad decision.