Ch. 11.2 Found Clues
Hai Cheng, Linshan Hospital.
In the quiet double room, the curtains had not been drawn open, and the room was shrouded in darkness.
This should have been a peaceful rest time, but the room’s tranquility was broken by a hoarse and harsh shout.
“My mother told you to come here! Come to the hospital room now! Do you hear me?!”
Lying on the bed by the door, was Jian Ren, who had his brows tightly furrowed, his face ashen, and his usually well-groomed hair now disheveled, looking exhausted and angry.
Jian Ren had been using his phone to communicate with someone, but he had been repeatedly interrupted and that person had found various excuses to delay. In the end, he couldn’t help but send a voice message.
As expected, as soon as the voice message was sent, several people in the group apologized profusely.
[Jian Ren, Jian Ren, don’t be angry! We’ll find someone to come over now!]
[You’re still sick, don’t get angry, take care of your body well!]
[Right now, in five minutes!]
“So, you know that I’m sick?!”
Jian Ren angrily shouted and threw his phone onto the bed.
He closed his eyes and lay back down, his chest heaving up and down, as his eyes closed not long after.
But then his eyes suddenly flew open.
They were full of anger.
Again, it was…
Again, it was that person.
From the moment he woke up in the hospital, whenever Jian Ren closes his eyes, that person’s figure appears in front of him.
That thin figure that left without any feelings, without looking back.
…
Jian Ren gritted out the name from in between his clenched teeth.
Shi Qingning.
He never thought that one day he would be trapped in this kind of nightmare. When he woke up from that dream that night, it was not because of that embarrassing defeat, but because of that boy’s decisive departure.
Jian Ren grabbed his disheveled hair in his hands and roared in pain.
He couldn’t believe it.
How could it be?
He thought that he was just attracted to the wealth of the Shi family. He was sure he was just attracted to the wealth of the Shi family.
…It could never be love.
Jian Ren gasped and panted heavily.
His wounds from two days ago were finally starting to heal, but the pain in his heart was getting worse and worse.
Why…?
Why?!
The door of the hospital room was lightly knocked twice, so lightly that it felt like that person didn’t dare to enter. But the person didn’t dare to stop, and it only caught Jain Ren’s attention after knocking in this way several times.
Jian Ren frowned, “Come in.”
A tall and thin man entered carefully, bowing his head and nodding.
“Young Master Jian.”
Jian Ren looked at this man with displeasure, but at least someone had come over obediently. He suppressed his anger and spoke gruffly.
“Have you contacted Shi Qingning?”
The tall and thin man listened to the name and sighed internally, but he had to pretend to be attentive on the surface.
“I did contact him, but… Young master Jian, no one answered it even after trying many times.”
“Trash! All of you are fucking trash!”
Jian Ren was immediately enraged, and he raised his hand to smash something.
But there was nothing he could smash, so he could only heavily pound the bed frame.
“Can’t you find another way to contact him?!”
Hearing this, that person gritted his teeth and smiled.
“Young Master Jian, you know that he is being protected by the Shi family. You see, aside from you, who else can get his contact information?”
“We also hid our identities and searched around outside. There was no news, but we even got to know, that aside from you there is no one else who can contact him.”
That lacky of his was obviously familiar with Jian Ren’s temperament, and after a few sentences, he actually managed to calm him down a bit.
“Fine.” He scowled and waved his hand, “I know I can’t rely on you all. I’ll do it myself.”
Seeing that, that person finally heaved a sigh of relief.
The two people who came before him and were forced by Jian Ren and then seriously tried to find Shi Qingning were still lying downstairs in the hospital ward.
Their injury was no less than that of Jian Ren.
After seeing them, who dared to get involved in this mess?
“Go to the doctor’s office and get my medical records.”
Jian Ren continued to give orders, his tone was filled with irritation.
“I have been in here long enough. It’s about time I get the hell out of here.”
“Yes!”
That lacky immediately hurried to obey.
Jian Ren remained on the bed, cursing in a low voice.
“This fucking shabby hospital, even after treating for so many days, my leg still hurts.”
After he finished cursing, the hospital room fell silent.
Suddenly there was a swish sound next to him.
The curtain between the two hospital beds was pulled open, and the patient on the other bed looked over.
He was also a young man, and he was looking at Jian Ren with a subtle expression.
Jian Ren frowned, “What are you looking at? Looking for trouble?”
The young man coughed lightly and cleared his throat.
“You don’t even know about your own injury?”
Jian Ren was about to scold him, but then he suddenly remembered that the doctor had explained the situation to him on his first day in the hospital.
But Jian Ren didn’t listen carefully as he had been too preoccupied with Shi Qingning leaving at that time.
At that time, it seemed that this person was already there on the other bed.
Sure enough, the young man on the other bed said, “You don’t know, do you?”
He looked at Jian Ren as if he were a monkey.
“Your legs are broken.”
“Both of them.”
*
A day later, Shi Qingning once again waited for Bai Yexi, who was going to practice the piano with him.
Bai Yexi was wearing a mask today. With his high nose bridge, the mask clearly outlined his features, but it still couldn’t hide his striking, eye-catching appearance. Instead, it made him look more like a big star trying to avoid being recognized.
Bai Yexi was also wearing glasses today, a thin silver frame. The plain chain that Shi Qingning had noticed before was now used as a glasses chain, hanging down on both sides of the frame like a shooting star, adding a touch of coldness and nobility to Bai Yexi’s whole body.
Shi Qingning looked at him, lost in thought.
“Why… are you suddenly… all geared up like this?”
Bai Yexi’s voice was slightly deep.
“I have a cold.”
Shi Qingning was taken aback. “Is it serious? Did you catch a cold? Have you taken any medicine?”
“Yes.”
Bai Yexi nodded and glanced upstairs at the second floor of the villa.
“It’s time for the class.”
“If you feel uncomfortable, you can take the day off and rest. There is no rush.” Shi Qingning said, “Take it easy today.”
Bai Yexi just shook his head.
Shi Qingning had no choice but to enter the house with him.
But as he took a few steps, the other person didn’t catch up with him as before, and was always half a step behind.
Shi Qingning turned around, and Bai Yexi also stopped. He saw through the boy’s confusion as if he could read minds, and said succinctly.
“It’s contagious.”
Bai Yexi was very conscious of being a patient and didn’t take off his mask even after entering the piano room.
The two-hour lesson ended, and the old lady also said.
“You seem a little tired today.”
Playing the piano also requires physical exertion because of which the top pianists generally have excellent physical stamina.
The day before, when Shi Qingning was practicing, the teacher had chosen some gentle and short pieces for him.
Today, Bai Yexi’s breath seemed even weaker than Shi Qingning’s, visibly a little tired.
“Go back and rest.” The old lady said, “Let’s have the next lesson in two days.”
After seeing off the teacher, Shi Qingning quickly ran back to see Bai Yexi, who was also about to leave but was delayed by the need to print a piece of music.
Shi Qingning had originally wanted to send him back to rest early, but he always felt that something was wrong, and subconsciously held the other person back.
“Wait a minute.”
Bai Yexi turned to look at him.
The boy’s eyes were still very cold, but perhaps because of the glasses, he looked much calmer as a whole, and his gaze at Shi Qingning was a little more gentle, as if…
He was in a good mood.
Shi Qingning couldn’t help but feel a little puzzled.
How could he tell from the other person’s unchanging expression that he was in a good mood?
But now was not the time to think about this. Shi Qingning was just thinking about excuses to keep him when the auntie came to the living room with a tray.
“I just made some lotus seed soup, two bowls,” the auntie said with a smile, “Would you like to try it?”
Shi Qingning immediately took the opportunity, “Let’s have a drink before you leave.”
Bai Yexi seemed to pause for a moment, but he followed Shi Qingning’s lead and walked back to the living room.
The lotus seed soup was fragrant and sweet, and the temperature was just right. The auntie brought the soup bowls to the two of them and said, “Take off your mask and have a drink.”
Shi Qingning, who had been absent-minded, suddenly felt as if he had been struck by lightning when he heard this sentence—
He suddenly realized what was wrong.
Bai Yexi hadn’t coughed all afternoon.
Then why was Bai Yexi wearing a mask?
Shi Qingning stared at the person across from him, who had taken off half of the mask, scooped the lotus seed soup with a porcelain spoon, and suddenly felt as if his heart had been stabbed by a sharp object.
The porcelain spoon, not heavy, trembled slightly in Bai Yexi’s hand as he picked it up.
“What’s wrong with your hand?” Shi Qingning suddenly asked.
Hearing that, Bai Yexi raised his head.
Shi Qingning, who was sitting across the table, had already stood up. His face became paler, and his voice was slightly trembling.
“Your lips… why are they so white?”
No, they were not just white.
They were pale white, just like a white paper, and were definitely not the color of a normal person’s lips. Till now they were hidden behind the mask and were only revealed when Bai Yexi took it off.
“…”
Shi Qingning suddenly thought of the most terrifying idea.
He pushed back his chair, almost tripping over it, and jumped up as if he were about to jump into Bai Yexi’s arms.
Shi Qingning’s actions were too sudden, not giving time for anyone to react. Not far away, Sun Ming’s heart jumped, and he instinctively wanted to move forward—he had seen Bai Yexi deal with the bodyguards who had rushed at him. And for people like them, the stronger their instincts, the more their bodies reacted.
But the young master’s body could not withstand even the slightest accident.
But Sun Mingxia was a step slow, but he didn’t see the scene he had been anticipating which made his heart tense, happen.
The long-haired boy who was regarded as a scourge by him and all his brothers, did not make any instinctive counterattack against Shi Qingning.
Instead, he stretched out his hand, protecting Shi Qingning from the side.
As if afraid that he would fall.
Then Bai Yexi’s wrist was held, and his cuffs were rolled up. Winter clothes are thick and not easy to roll up, but Bai Yexi was so thin that the sleeves were hanging loosely and could easily be rolled up.
Exposing the pale, white, and slender arms beneath.
And the large, dark purple bruise that covered almost the entire area.
At the center of the bruise was a large needle-like hole.
Like the center of a whirlpool, the core of a flower, on this cold winter night, slowly unfolding a scarlet red halo.
