Xu Chenghao originally wanted to be out of sight, out of mind, but ended up falling asleep shortly after closing his eyes, only waking up after six o’clock in the evening.
By this time, the sun had already set, and outside the window, the bustling city night scene was illuminated by neon lights, making the room appear dimmer. Only a small night light with a blue glow illuminated a warm area.
Jing Yicheng was leaning against the night light, his eyes focused on the computer screen as if he were examining something. Due to his position, half of his body was shrouded in darkness and difficult to see clearly, while the other half was exposed to the light, making even the sharp lines of his jaw appear gentler under the warm-colored light.
With a crisp sound, the ceiling lamp in the ward suddenly lit up, restoring brightness to the entire room. Jing Yicheng immediately looked towards the bed, “Awake?”
Xu Chenghao rubbed his eyes: “Yeah.”
Jing Yicheng placed the computer aside and sat by the bedside, helping him up, “Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?”
Xu Chenghao muttered with a hint of resentment, “I don’t have many options for what I can eat, right?”
Jing Yicheng: “For the first two weeks, as long as you avoid sour, spicy, and greasy foods, it should be fine.”
Xu Chenghao: “Then just anything will do, it doesn’t make much difference.”
Jing Yicheng nodded in acknowledgment, then lowered his head to send a message to his assistant.
Xu Chenghao asked, “Have you eaten?”
“No, I’ll eat with you later,” Jing Yicheng replied. After a moment of thought, he added, “We’ll eat the same thing, no need to drive me away.”
Xu Chenghao’s words got stuck in his throat as he silently shifted his gaze. When he looked back, he suddenly noticed that the hospital room had been completely transformed—this wasn’t just about the chair he mentioned before bed, it seemed like all the furnishings had been changed!
Xu Chenghao’s mouth twitched a few times. “What did you do to the room?”
Jing Yicheng justified himself, “Changing just the chair would make the bedside table look odd. If both the bedside table and chair were replaced individually, it wouldn’t look good, so I changed everything.”
Xu Chenghao： “What about the gift they brought?”
Jing Yicheng： “The flowers are there. As for the other gifts, it’s not something you can eat. I was afraid you’ll feel uncomfortable after seeing them, so I took them away.”
Xu Chenghao: “…You’re quite good at finding excuses.”
Jing Yicheng held his hand: “I don’t care. I want to maintain an environment that’s just for the two of us, don’t want too many people coming and going, peeking in.”
Xu Chenghao was helpless: “What if someone else comes tomorrow?”
Jing Yicheng: “Then we won’t let them leave any traces.”
Xu Chenghao couldn’t help but complain: “You’ve basically marked the ward as your own territory.”
Jing Yicheng muttered softly: “I’ve turned your side my own territory.”
Xu Chenghao didn’t catch it: “What did you say?”
Worried that he might come off as too bossy, Jing Yicheng remained silent without saying another word.
Xu Chenghao didn’t ask further upon seeing this, he picked up his phone to check his messages, then brought the computer from the bedside table, opened it, and made sure that Li Nian hadn’t sent any emails today. Only then did he wait for the assistant to bring food, and he ate with peace of mind.
After finishing the meal, Jing Yicheng took care of Xu Chenghao, helping him take medicine and wash up, then sat by the bed, waiting for him to fall asleep. Although Xu Chenghao had slept all day, he felt drowsy every time he took the medicine and soon succumbed to its strong effects, falling into a deep sleep.
Jing Yicheng turned off the lights, leaving only a small night light, and quietly left the room. As he stepped out, he saw the assistant still waiting and whispered, “They are outside.”
Jing Yicheng’s gentle demeanor vanished instantly as he stepped out of the room, and his expression turned cold and ruthless, his eyes showing no emotion as they swept over everyone as if they were ice blades, chilly and indifferent.
The people waiting outside the room instantly lost their momentum and all lowered their heads, saying in unison, “Good evening, Mr. Jing.”
Jing Yicheng didn’t think it was a good evening at all. He directly threw the notebook he was holding to the team leader and said impatiently, “There are contingency plans in there. As long as you were involved in the core research, you can handle it. Take it and get out, stop bothering me!”
The team leader hastily caught the notebook. “Thank you for the plan, Mr. Jing, but… can’t you accompany us? The researchers would trust you more.”
Jing Yicheng: “Don’t take advantage of me.”
The captain sighed helplessly: “We can assure you that it will only take a short time, at most not more than two months.”
Compared to the closed-door research that often takes half a year, a year, or even two years, two months is indeed very short for them.
However, Jing Yicheng couldn’t even bear to be away for two days now, let alone two months. He didn’t even bother to speak, simply turned around and entered the ward, closing the door behind him.
The assistant responded on his behalf, “As you’ve seen, our boss values his partner greatly and would never leave when he is injured.” Of course, even if he weren’t injured, he might not want to leave.
The assistant omitted the second half of the sentence and continued, “Moreover, considering Mr. Xu’s current condition, it will take at least two months for him to recover. At the time when Mr. Xu needs care and companionship the most, the boss will not leave.”
The captain sighed helplessly, “Then we can only hope that the researchers can complete Mr. Jing’s plan.”
If they fail to do so, they will have to take a risk.
——————————————————————————————
Sending away the person who had been bothering him all along, Jing Yicheng instantly felt much lighter, and he could also free up more time to help Xu Chenghao with his work. Plus, after several days of constant visits from people, things finally quieted down, making Jing Yicheng even happier. Every day, his words and actions were filled with joy
In contrast, lying in bed with no work to do and no one to deal with, Xu Chenghao felt bored instead. He began discussing with Jing Yicheng, “Maybe I should handle the work myself since I don’t have anything else to do.”
Jing Yicheng: “No need, I’m not tired.”
Xu Chenghao was taken aback, really wanting to say, “Well, I might not be tired, but I’m bored because of you.”
But he decided against dampening Jing Yicheng’s enthusiasm.
Xu Chenghao was taken aback, really wanting to retort, “But I’m bored because of you.”
Forget it, he couldn’t dampen Jing Yicheng’s enthusiasm.
Xu Chenghao sighed, grabbed the remote control, turned on the TV, and started browsing for some entertaining movies to watch.
Suddenly, Jing Yicheng snatched the remote control away, saying, “The doctor said you need to maintain a positive and cheerful attitude, don’t watch anything sad.”
Xu Chenghao: “Alright, then find me some comedy or variety shows…”
Before he could finish his sentence, the TV blared out clearly: “Quack~ Quack~ Quack Quack Quack~ I’m the cute little duck~”
Xu Chenghao: “???”
Jing Yicheng calmly selected the repeat button, “Children’s songs are the purest form of joy.”
Xu Chenghao looked at the TV screen where flocks of little yellow ducks were dancing, feeling entirely speechless.
Well, he had nothing to say.
The TV continued to cheerfully play the song of the little yellow duck: “I’m a lovely little yellow duck~ Yellow body swaying~ Walking left and right~”
Xu Chenghao: “…”
He started to ponder why he was even watching TV in the first place.
On the contrary, Jing Yicheng really liked this song, quickly grasping the catchy lyrics, occasionally humming along: “Tiny mouth, flat~ sing the song quack quack quack~”
Xu Chenghao: “…”
He always felt he wasn’t a match for Jing Yicheng, they were just too incompatible!!
Xu Chenghao desperately needed comfort. Turning around, he hugged the little yellow duck flower pot and glanced at the small white flowers on the chili seedlings, then suddenly exclaimed, “Cheng-ge!”
“Here.” Jing Yicheng responded, “What do you need?”
Xu Chenghao: “This afternoon is the day the chili seedlings will bear fruit. Could you help me handle the peppers in the greenhouse?”
Jing Yicheng: “Of course, I’ll have my assistant come to take care of you.”
Xu Chenghao: “When you go, bring the seeds from home and help me plant them together. Thank you, Cheng-ge.”
“Okay.” Jing Yicheng closed his laptop, stood up, and said, “Wait for me, I’ll be right back.”
Xu Chenghao nodded obediently. After watching him leave, he immediately turned off the TV, restoring a quiet atmosphere to the ward. Alright, he decided not to watch TV anymore!
Feeling weary, Xu Chenghao leaned against the head of the bed, nervously wondering if Jing Yicheng’s trip to the greenhouse would go smoothly, while also waiting for the results of the chili seedlings.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, the chili seedlings in the little yellow duck flower pot bore fruit right on time. The chili seedlings were all bright red, with a bountiful harvest of 11 red chilies and 14 malformed ones, which could almost match half of the greenhouse’s yield.
Xu Chenghao absolutely loved the little yellow duck flower pot and felt like it was his lucky charm! The little yellow duck flower pot never disappointed him! This harvest alone could match half of the greenhouse’s yield.
The greenhouse relies on winning through a larger area, while the little yellow duck relies on being close to the plot of the story mission. However, since entering the 3.0 chili pepper mission, it really rarely triggers the Mary Sue halo effect.
But even without triggering the effect, the little yellow duck is great. The output has always been very high. I believe with the help of the little yellow duck, I will soon be able to complete the chili pepper mission and completely get rid of the book-wearing system… Hmm, just thinking about it makes me happy.
[Ding——System Reminder No. 2333, it’s not beneficial to draw conclusions too early.]
Xu Chenghao was already accustomed to the system’s unpredictable appearances and rolled his eyes: “What do you mean by this again? Is it not good for me to get rid of you?”
[Ding——The host needs to figure it out on his own.]
Xu Chenghao:…
This system was really annoying, deceptive, and loved to stir up trouble!
I must get rid of it!
Xu Chenghao no longer paid attention to the ‘hehehe’ book-wearing system in his mind and started sending messages to Jing Yicheng to ask about the chili situation and when he would come back.
Jing Yicheng took a picture of the chili peppers being packed into bags, and it looked like there was a considerable amount: “I’ll be back soon.”
Xu Chenghao held the little yellow duck flowerpot and waited silently.
Twenty minutes later, Jing Yicheng returned with a cloth bag: “I took these seeds from your house and already planted them in the greenhouse. These are all the peppers harvested from the greenhouse.”
Xu Chenghao first planted pepper seeds in the little yellow duck flowerpot, then began to inspect this harvest. There were 19 intact peppers and 23 malformed ones from the greenhouse, indeed a fruitful harvest.
Xu Chenghao put all the intact peppers in a plastic container and counted them once, saying happily, “There are eighty, just twenty more to complete the task!”
Seeing his happy expression, Jing Yicheng wanted to pat his head, “Congratulations, I guess the next harvest will complete it.”
Xu Chenghao smiled, “I think so too.”
Just one more harvest to complete the task! He could soon enter the 4.0 task ahead of schedule and get rewards, which made him very happy just thinking about it.
Xu Chenghao packed away the plastic container and the pepper seeds, then eagerly held up the malformed peppers, saying, “Look, we have more peppers for our spicy eating activity.Quickly call the assistant to come and eat together!”
Jing Yicheng: “…”
He should have hidden half of them earlier.
