Chapter 49#

Qiao Nanqi heard the sound of the phone vibrating, but he didn’t move.

He sat on the bed, calming his breathing, and waited for a long while.

But the purpose of that call seemed to be to wake him up. After it was automatically hung up when time ran out, the caller didn’t give up and actually called again and again, never stopping from beginning to end.

By the time Qiao Nanqi had slightly extracted himself from the nightmares of his sleep, he picked up his phone and took a look, only to find that this persistent person was Xia Yuantu.

He frowned—what could make Xia Yuantu call him repeatedly late at night? Company matters?

He picked up, his voice still wrapped in the fatigue of being startled awake in the middle of the night: “…What’s wrong?”

On the other end of the phone, Xia Yuantu said hurriedly: “You finally picked up! Something happened—no, something went wrong on Lu Xingping and Zhao Rong’s side!”

Qiao Nanqi was still a bit muddled. He listened to Xia Yuantu’s urgent words, his brain turning over once, and suddenly he became clear-headed: “You said something happened to Zhao Rong?”

After saying that, his previous sleepiness completely vanished, and he only then realized the meaning of the entire sentence: “You said Zhao Rong and who?”

Xia Yuantu was waiting for Qiao Nanqi at the hotel entrance. Seeing Qiao Nanqi get out of the car, he turned around and led him inside, saying: “You came really fast.”

Qiao Nanqi still had some haggardness from being startled awake in the middle of the night, and there was even some bruising under his lower eyelids. He walked quickly into the hotel with him, “Where’s Zhao Rong?”

“Upstairs. He and Xingping just opened a room for Xiaoyue to rest.”

The two entered the elevator, and Xia Yuantu briefly explained what happened.

He was not quite the same as Qiao Nanqi and Lu Xingping. He was someone who couldn’t stay idle. Although he couldn’t play along with those profligate sons, he also loved to have fun, so he had many friends in these kinds of venues. As long as it was a well-run place, the owners inside all knew him.

Therefore, regarding the matter of Zhao Rong and Yu Xian, he even received the call a bit earlier than Lu Xingping.

After thinking it over, he still notified Qiao Nanqi.

“…I just heard people talking when I came. I didn’t expect Zhao Rong to be so ruthless,” Xia Yuantu said as he watched the numbers on the elevator display rise slowly. “He just had Liu Shun with him, and without a word, he hit the person. After a few hits, that group of second-generation rich kids wanted to go up and help, but Zhao Rong directly pulled out a personal alarm. Those people were already up to no good, and this move directly scared them all so much they didn’t dare move—but then again, why would he carry such a thing with him…? Anyway, later, Zhao Rong called Xingping over, and they first found this place nearby for Xiaoyue to rest.”

Qiao Nanqi’s expression was terrifyingly dark: “What about those people?”

“Xingping went to deal with them. Don’t worry about that. It’s the first time I’ve seen Xingping’s face turn that black. I reckon he won’t show any mercy.”

But Qiao Nanqi said: “Xingping dealing with it is for Xiaoyue’s sake. What I want to deal with is Zhao Rong’s part. Tomorrow, help me make an appointment with that Yu family, and also everyone who appeared tonight, one by one.” He didn’t say what he was going to do, but his somber expression already explained everything.

The elevator stopped slowly, and the door opened with a “ding.”

As soon as Qiao Nanqi walked out, he saw Zhao Rong closing a room door at the end of the long corridor.

Qiao Nanqi, whose face had been cold just a moment ago, had a slight movement in his gaze, and his expression actually softened.

Zhao Rong had obviously just been in a physical altercation. The clothes on his body were not even neat, and the hem was even a bit wet, though it was unclear if it was splashed with wine during the chaos earlier.

But Qiao Nanqi’s attention was not on the clothes.

Even from this far away, he could see that the web of Zhao Rong’s right hand seemed to be red.

On this side.

Zhao Rong was in the room just now, and after confirming that Lu Xiaoyue was fine and had just fallen asleep because she was too drunk, he came out.

Liu Shun asked him softly: “Asleep?”

“Sleeping very soundly.”

“…Then we now?” Liu Shun pointed to the wound on Zhao Rong’s hand—this wound was caused by a broken wine bottle during the scuffle in the bar earlier. It was still seeping blood just now, and now it seemed to have stopped a bit. He asked: “Should we go bandage the wound?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go to the hospital in a bit. I’ll wait for Senior to finish dealing with Yu Xian and those trash first. If you’re tired, you go back first…”

Zhao Rong leaned against the wall, tilted his head back, and slightly closed his eyes.

After tossing and turning this whole night and having just directly fought, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Zhao Rong gently closed the door and leaned against the wall next to it. Because of the gala tonight, he hadn’t eaten much to begin with, and now he had been up in the middle of the night dealing with this upsetting matter until now. At this moment, he could faintly feel his stomach throbbing with pain.

He frowned and reached into his pocket with his uninjured hand, wanting to find his stomach medicine.

Before he could find the medicine, he suddenly touched a ring-shaped object.

He had once worn this thing on his hand almost every moment for over a year. The patterns on it could be recognized even if his fingertips just lightly brushed over them.

Zhao Rong was stunned for a moment.

When he moved out of Qiao Nanqi’s house back then, this ring was no longer on his hand. He knew he had put it somewhere and forgotten, but he hadn’t gone looking for it either. Nearly two months had passed, and he had assumed the ring was lost. He hadn’t expected that today, when he grabbed an outer coat to go out temporarily, it would happen to be in the pocket of this coat.

He only paused for a short moment before moving his hand away and grabbing the stomach medicine nearby.

There was the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer. Zhao Rong only took it as someone passing by and still kept his eyes closed, leaning against the wall.

“Liu-er.” He called out to Liu Shun, wanting to ask him to prepare some warm water.

The footsteps suddenly stopped at the moment they approached him, and Liu Shun also suddenly had no reaction.

Someone stood in front of him, blocking most of the light. Even with his eyes closed, he felt a darkness before him.

That person grabbed his right wrist, his deep voice carrying a restrained heartache: “Who cut it? Does it hurt?”

He was all too familiar with this voice.

Zhao Rong opened his eyes and saw that Qiao Nanqi was already holding his injured hand, looking down at it.

Liu Shun stood aside, already frozen by the low pressure emanating from Young Master Qiao. Looking at Zhao Rong, his face almost had “Who am I and what should I do” written all over it.

Xia Yuantu immediately understood when he saw Qiao Nanqi’s actions: “I’ll go to the nearest pharmacy to buy something for the external injury.”

After saying that, he slipped away.

Zhao Rong’s first reaction was to pull back his hand.

But his stomach hurt so much now that he was a bit weak. Qiao Nanqi was holding his wrist steadily. With his pull, which couldn’t be considered forceful, his wrist was still held by Qiao Nanqi and didn’t move at all.

Zhao Rong frowned.

He wasn’t surprised that Qiao Nanqi would appear here—after all, something happened to Lu Xiaoyue, and Lu Xiaoyue was the relative Lu Xingping cared about most.

But what was with Qiao Nanqi being distressed over his wound?

This look…

This look was as if they were lovers who had only been apart for one night and were still sharing a bed.

The one who agreed to be with him back then was Qiao Nanqi. The one who, even if he didn’t like him after being together, still used him as a lover was Qiao Nanqi. The one who had been cold and dismissive for over a year was Qiao Nanqi. And the one who, after the breakup, instead placed all the goodness that Zhao Rong once couldn’t even beg for right before his eyes was also Qiao Nanqi.

He was willing to believe that during these days, Qiao Nanqi really wanted to make him change his mind and really wanted to be with him again.

But how could someone be able to completely ignore you when they didn’t love you, and yet be so paranoid when they said they loved you?

He could no longer love anymore, yet this person was acting distressed right in front of him.

Was he thinking that by coaxing him a bit and acting out a hypocritical love on the surface, he could return to that life where he was as humble as dust?

He didn’t speak, just calmed his emotions before saying: “I don’t want to argue with you right now. Let go. I will handle my injury myself.”

“Zhao Rong, I—”

“Also, don’t look at me like that.”

Qiao Nanqi was stunned, and the strength in his hand loosened.

Zhao Rong pulled back his hand and supported himself against the wall with the other, saying: “I was just having a bit of a stomachache, but with you looking at me like that…”

He moved his gaze away from Qiao Nanqi’s face and said in a low voice: “I feel nauseated.”

Qiao Nanqi’s whole body stiffened.

Zhao Rong leaned over against the wall, as if his stomach hurt severely. He wanted to reach out, but his movement froze in mid-air, not daring to touch.

Seeing that Zhao Rong couldn’t stand steadily, Liu Shun finally recovered from his previous frozen state: “Let’s, let’s go in and lie down first…”

As Liu Shun spoke, he hurriedly took the room card out of Zhao Rong’s pocket and opened the door.

Qiao Nanqi wanted to help Zhao Rong inside, but his expression only shifted slightly. Before he had time to raise his hand, Zhao Rong gave him a cold look.

Perhaps because he was unwell, Zhao Rong’s face was quite pale at the moment, which made his light black eyes appear even more clear and indifferent. With just one look, he was cold to the bone.

Qiao Nanqi had no choice but to watch Liu Shun help Zhao Rong into the room, following behind wordlessly. Fortunately, Liu Shun was afraid of him and didn’t dare say anything, so he just let him in like that.

Lu Xingping had opened a suite for Lu Xiaoyue. Lu Xiaoyue was sleeping in the master bedroom, so Liu Shun helped Zhao Rong to the second bedroom.

“Should I call a doctor?” Liu Shun asked in a small voice, glancing at Qiao Nanqi again. His mood could be described as gloomy and miserable—he felt like his life was about to end.

Zhao Rong, however, was very calm, only saying to him in a weak voice: “No need. I have stomach medicine. Just give me a cup of hot water.”

Liu Shun got up to boil water, but Qiao Nanqi suddenly spoke: “I’ll go. You stay in the room and accompany him.”

“Oh, no, no, no, Young Master, you sit, you sit. I still know how to boil water—”

“Liu-er.” Zhao Rong suddenly interrupted him.

“Eh?”

“Let him go.”

As Zhao Rong spoke, he didn’t look at Qiao Nanqi. He was indeed very tired and sleepy. He hadn’t even taken off his clothes and just lay on the bed leaning against the pillow, closing his eyes to rest.

Hearing this, Qiao Nanqi’s gaze shifted slightly, and he actually smiled.

Zhao Rong’s phrase “nauseated” just now was like a flaming arrow; it not only pierced his heart but also tortured him by burning every bit of his blood bit by bit.

The thought that during all these years, when Zhao Rong was unwell or injured, these people weren’t around and he wasn’t there either, made him already a bit unable to breathe. He wanted to make amends, but Zhao Rong said his look was “nauseating.”

At this moment, Zhao Rong was suddenly willing to let him take care of him. This was no different from giving him a rope to climb out of a well when he was in despair.

He hurriedly said: “I’ll go right now.”

Zhao Rong didn’t speak again.

Liu Shun was as quiet as a cicada in winter.

While Qiao Nanqi went to boil water, Xia Yuantu came back after buying the medicine.

This young master was also someone who had never served anyone before. Zhao Rong’s hand only had a superficial wound from broken glass bottle shards. Xia Yuantu didn’t know which one was more suitable and was also worried about the situation on Qiao Nanqi’s side, so he went into the pharmacy and packed up the entire row of external injury medicines, carrying back a large bag.

Looking at the large bag of medicine that could almost be used to set up a stall, Zhao Rong was almost rendered speechless by these pampered young masters.

Liu Shun was afraid of Qiao Nanqi. Although he wasn’t afraid of Xia Yuantu, Xia Yuantu was similar to Qiao Nanqi—he was one of those profligate sons whom people like him would avoid.

Young Master Qiao went to boil water. He didn’t dare let Xia Yuantu handle the bandaging, so he hurriedly asked Zhao Rong how to bandage and followed the steps clumsily.

In the past, if he was with others, he would wish he could move as little as possible. At this moment, in this room where the pressure had dropped to the freezing point, Liu Shun almost wept with joy because he had something to do to distract his attention.

When the wound was treated, Qiao Nanqi came in carrying a cup of steaming plain water.

Liu Shun watched with wide eyes as Young Master Qiao, whom he usually had little chance of even meeting, carefully placed the water cup on the nightstand by Zhao Rong’s hand, suppressing a faint joy and also containing obvious heartache.

Then he heard Qiao Nanqi say softly: “Zhao Rong?”

Zhao Rong slowly opened his eyes.

He glanced at the water beside him, looked at Qiao Nanqi standing by the bed, and sat up slightly while enduring the stomach pain.

Liu Shun poured out a tablet of stomach medicine for him, thinking to himself—their Third Young Master was truly amazing, actually being able to make Young Master Qiao lower his head to serve him. Although he didn’t quite understand why the atmosphere in the room was like this, looking at it this way, once Zhao Rong took the offered hand and reconciled with Young Master Qiao in a couple of days, it wouldn’t be like now, where even the air was frozen, right?

As if to confirm Liu Shun’s guess, Zhao Rong had already reached out his left hand, holding the handle of the cup, and slowly lifted the water cup filled with hot water.

Qiao Nanqi looked at him, let out a silent sigh of relief, and his expression softened slightly.

The next moment.

Zhao Rong’s wrist moved slightly.

Under the gaze of Xia Yuantu and Liu Shun, he looked at Qiao Nanqi, and bit by bit, slowly—

Poured all the water in the cup onto the ground.

The sound of water droplets splashing one after another rang out in the silence.

He let go, and the water cup fell vertically to the ground, instantly shattering into the puddle of hot water on the floor. The crisp sound of glass breaking was exceptionally piercing.

Qiao Nanqi’s expression froze.

As if he hadn’t reacted to what had happened for a moment, he looked blankly at the shards and water stains on the ground.

After a moment, he slowly clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and asked in a low voice: “…Why?”

Liu Shun’s heart jumped into his throat, fearing that Young Master Qiao would turn hostile in the next second.

Yet Zhao Rong acted as if he had just done a most ordinary thing. His expression was indifferent, and his tone was a bit weak, yet also somewhat cold.

He said: “It’s too hot. I’m not drinking it.”

Liu Shun held his breath.

He thought: It’s over, it’s over. He and Zhao Rong are finished. Their Liu family is going to be finished—

Before he could even finish his internal monologue, he saw Qiao Nanqi slightly restrain his previous expression and say softly: “I’ll go add some cold water.”

Subsequently, Qiao Nanqi turned around, left the room, came to the living room, poured another cup of hot water, and directly used his hand to cover the wall of the cup to test the temperature. The moment he touched it, both his hands shook; he was clearly scalded. He suddenly let go, took a new bottle of mineral water, and poured a bit in.

Repeating this three or four times, he finally brought in the warm water at just the right temperature again and gently placed the water cup by Zhao Rong’s hand.

Zhao Rong glanced at him again.

This time, he didn’t even lift the cup, but directly raised his hand and swept away this new cup of water.

Glass shards were scattered all over the floor, mixing with the glass fragments from before.

“…Zhao Rong,” Qiao Nanqi’s tone already carried a hint of pleading, “if you’re angry, you can wait until you’ve rested well to vent your anger. You haven’t taken your medicine yet—”

“Right, I haven’t taken my medicine yet.” Zhao Rong felt the throbbing pain in his stomach and said with a steady voice, “So don’t you understand yet?”

“I’d rather be in pain than value your cheap kindness.”