Translator: Lynn
Thank you Crazy mama for the ko-fi! Here’s your bonus chapter <3
Sponsored chapter (1/3)
As Cheng Ke entered the hospital, he kept a close eye on Jiang Yuduo’s state.
Jiang Yuduo appeared quite composed. Since it was past the normal working hours, the hospital was relatively less crowded. Jiang Yuduo swiftly navigated through the crowd, without waiting for Cheng Ke to direct him to the emergency department or registration, he headed straight to the information desk.
“Excuse me, where is the emergency room?” Jiang Yuduo asked promptly.
The doctor behind the information desk glanced at Cheng Ke’s injured hand and pointed in the direction, “It’s over there. Go and call the emergency room first.”
Jiang Yuduo nodded, “Where’s the registration?”
“It’s right next to it,” the doctor gestured towards the registration window, “There are few people now, so hurry up.”
Jiang Yuduo went towards the registration window, and Cheng Ke thanked the doctor, “Thank you.”
“Go to the emergency room first with that hand, don’t follow along!” The doctor motioned toward Cheng Ke’s hand.
“Sure, thanks,” Cheng Ke replied, looking down at his injured hand. The excruciating pain, which he had been ignoring while attending to Jiang Yuduo, finally found an outlet to surge.
He grimaced and took a deep breath, quickly shifting his focus to Jiang Yuduo, who was already in line at the registration window.
Seeing Cheng Ke approach, Jiang Yuduo said, “You go to the emergency room first. I’m worried that someone might bump into your hand if you stand here.”
“It’s alright,” Cheng Ke smiled, “I want to stay with you.”
“…Does it hurt?” Jiang Yuduo’s eyes fixed on Cheng Ke’s hand.
Cheng Ke didn’t dwell on the sight of his swollen hand, which resembled a ball, and replied, “It’s bearable.”
“You…” Jiang Yuduo tucked Cheng Ke’s hand under his arm, “You’re too ruthless with yourself. Don’t you care about your hand injury?”
“When I’m angry, I can’t really think about such things,” Cheng Ke explained.
Jiang Yuduo remained silent and turned his gaze towards the person registering in front of them.
Cheng Ke sensed Jiang Yuduo’s nervousness and understood that he might be trying to distract himself by speaking, but given the situation, it was difficult for him to find the right words.
As Cheng Ke worriedly pondered, Chen Qing arrived, panting and shouting, “I’m here, I’m here, third brother…”
“Join the queue,” Jiang Yuduo interrupted Chen Qing and vacated his place.
“Go and sit in the emergency room first,” Chen Qing suggested, “don’t obstruct the people coming and going here.”
The emergency room was bustling with many patients, so Cheng Ke and Jiang Yuduo stood together in the corridor outside, leaning against the wall. Jiang Yuduo supported his arm with one hand, keeping a close eye on the busy doctors and nurses.
A few minutes ago, they had seen a man with blood on his legs being rushed in.
“Jiang Yuduo,” Cheng Ke called out to him.
“Yes,” Jiang Yuduo turned his head, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling dizzy?”
“…No, not dizzy,” Cheng Ke responded, looking at Jiang Yuduo, “Are you… alright?”
“I’m fine,” Jiang Yuduo said, “I just don’t like the… hospital environment.”
“I don’t like it either, with everyone being sick and injured,” Cheng Ke smiled, “It’ll be alright soon. Why don’t you wait in the car?”
“No,” Jiang Yuduo shook his head, “I’ll stay right here.”
Cheng Ke didn’t persist in persuading him further. Jiang Yuduo seemed resolute, perhaps because he cared about Cheng Ke’s injury or maybe due to Cheng Yi’s words about mental illness.
Thinking about that, Cheng Ke felt anger surging within him again.
The image of Jiang Yuduo’s shocked and bewildered eyes when hearing Cheng Yi’s words kept haunting him. The memory felt like a chainsaw, tearing at his heart.
Only now did Cheng Ke fully comprehend the weight of Cheng Yi’s words.
“Jiang Yuduo escaped from a mental hospital?”
“Mental hospital?”
He couldn’t discern the truth from the lie.
At this point, it didn’t matter much whether it was true or false.
One thing was certain: Jiang Yuduo had some mental issues. Even if Cheng Yi intended to provoke him, he wouldn’t come up with such a reason out of thin air. There must be some basis for his claim.
Cheng Ke recalled the mention of “Sister Luo” by Jiang Yuduo. He hadn’t expected to encounter this psychiatrist so soon, but now, Jiang Yuduo had been brutally exposed by Cheng Yi in front of everyone he needed to hide from.
In front of Cheng Ke, Chen Qing, and his brothers…
Now Cheng Ke needed to understand the situation and figure out how to handle these unexpected changes.
“Third brother,” Chen Qing returned after registering, “I asked, the doctor will attend to the person involved in the accident first before coming to Ji’s family.”
“Yes,” Jiang Yuduo replied.
Chen Qing scrutinized him for a moment, perhaps to ensure that Jiang Yuduo, who avoided hospitals, was coping well in this situation.
Satisfied that Jiang Yuduo seemed fine, Chen Qing turned to Cheng Ke again and said, “I must say, you’ve been hiding quite a lot.”
“What?” Cheng Ke was taken aback.
“Your brother even set up a shop for you?” Chen Qing asked, “I’ve never heard you mention it. Why aren’t you worried about money at all… Are you not authentic? We could still pull a fast one on you? Let alone a shop! Third brother, what do you think!”
Jiang Yuduo remained silent, his eyes appearing somewhat vacant.
In front of Chen Qing, Cheng Ke refrained from making any overtly intimate gestures, such as hugging Jiang Yuduo or patting his head, to allow Jiang Yuduo, who seemed visibly nervous, to remain at ease.
Now, Cheng Ke could only endure the pain, and he gently scratched Jiang Yuduo’s arm with his fingers where he was holding on to him.
Jiang Yuduo turned his head to look at Cheng Ke after a couple of seconds, and a smile appeared on his lips.
Chen Qing was still waiting for Cheng Ke’s answer, with his mouth half-open in anticipation. Cheng Ke could only smile and say, “That shop… actually isn’t mine.”
“Huh?” Chen Qing looked puzzled.
Jiang Yuduo also tilted his head and asked, “Whose property is it then?”
“I have no idea whose property it is,” Cheng Ke frowned, “All my friends knew that he set up a store for me, but I didn’t know.”
“What kind of bizarre setup is this?” Chen Qing sighed, bewildered.
“But since you all know that the store is supposedly mine,” Cheng Ke said, “then let’s just consider it as mine.”
Chen Qing was taken aback for a moment and then said, “I underestimated you, Jaeger-LeCoultre.”
Jiang Yuduo chimed in, “What if he doesn’t let you sell it?”
Cheng Ke replied, “No, at most, he won’t buy it back, and he won’t let any of his friends take it over.”
“In that case,” Chen Qing suggested, “take it over yourself and run it.”
Cheng Ke glanced at Chen Qing but remained silent.
When he mentioned selling the store earlier, he didn’t give it much thought. He just wanted to vent his frustration. If the Qing Bar were just an ordinary small bar, it wouldn’t be likely for Cheng Yi to sell it. But since it must be worth a considerable sum, selling the store, either to Cheng Yi or someone else, would undoubtedly make Cheng Yi unhappy.
Now, with Chen Qing’s suggestion and after looking at Jiang Yuduo, Cheng Ke felt that it might not be a bad idea after all.
After the previous emergency patient was treated, the nurse called Cheng Ke into the examination room.
The doctor frowned upon seeing the injury, saying, “You seem like a gentle person, but your wrist looks like this? Has it only been two days since it was fixed? You shouldn’t overexert it!” Cheng Ke felt a bit embarrassed, so he just smiled and didn’t say anything.
“In case of an emergency, the stinky hooligans will act first!” Chen Qing remarked beside them.
The doctor glanced at him but remained silent.
“You go out and wait,” Jiang Yuduo told Chen Qing.
Chen Qing clicked his tongue, turned, and went back to the corridor.
Cheng Ke was aware of how his injury was treated last time, and the type of injury he had, but this time he didn’t pay much attention. They took an X-ray to check and re-fixed the hand, but Cheng Ke didn’t listen carefully to the doctor’s instructions. His focus was on Jiang Yuduo.
Initially, Jiang Yuduo followed beside him in the examination room, but later he sat on a chair in the corridor, resting his elbows on his knees and staring at the floor. He remained in that posture until all his injuries were treated.
“Don’t hurt this hand again. If you have another open fracture, you’ll need surgery,” the doctor warned as he finished the treatment, “Go back and rest well.”
“Thank you,” Cheng Ke nodded, “I’ll be careful.”
Leaving the consultation room, Cheng Ke quickly walked up to Jiang Yuduo, who seemed to be in a daze, and lightly stroked his head twice, saying, “Third brother.”
“Mmm!” Jiang Yuduo raised his head abruptly, as if he had just woken up. He jumped up from the chair after a second of hesitation and exclaimed, “Is it over?”
“It’s over,” Cheng Ke was startled by his sudden reaction, and noticing the curious gazes around them, he lowered his voice and said, “We can leave now.”
Exiting the hospital gate and entering the parking lot, Jiang Yuduo asked again, “Why is your hand wrapped up so much this time? Didn’t they just fix it at the hospital last time?”
“I don’t know, maybe the injury is worse than last time,” Cheng Ke replied, looking at the thicker plaster cast on his hand.
“Are we going straight back home or stopping somewhere to eat?” Chen Qing asked as he opened the car door.
“Let’s go straight back,” Jiang Yuduo replied, then after a moment’s thought, he added, “Let’s go back to my place.”
“Okay,” Chen Qing said as he got into the car.
Cheng Ke whispered, “Am I going to stay with you?”
“Yes,” Jiang Yuduo nodded, “I have some things to take care of at home today, and you can’t manage on your own with your hand in that condition, so it’s better for you to stay with me.”
“Okay,” Cheng Ke replied.
Chen Qing drove them back, and during the journey, he remained mostly silent, likely exhausted from the events of the day.
However, just one intersection away from Jiang Yuduo’s house, as they stopped at a red light, Chen Qing suddenly slammed his hand on the steering wheel and exclaimed, “Damn!”
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Yuduo asked immediately.
“I just remembered something, damn it! It just hit me!” Chen Qing turned his head slowly, showing a mix of disbelief, shock, and astonishment.
Cheng Ke recognized the reaction, as it mirrored Chen Qing’s delayed realization of Cheng Yi’s reference to Jiang Yuduo as his “boyfriend” earlier that day.
“Did your brother imply that you and Third brother are in a relationship?” Chen Qing asked directly.
Jiang Yuduo sat up straight but didn’t respond, his face turning cold.
Cheng Ke stayed silent, unsure of how to respond or what Chen Qing’s stance on such matters was.
“Damn it!” Chen Qing repeated, “I…”
“Focus on the traffic light,” Jiang Yuduo interrupted.
Chen Qing turned his attention back to the light, and as it turned green, he drove the car forward. A few seconds later, he burst out again, “Fuck!”
This time, Jiang Yuduo jumped from his seat and slapped the back of Chen Qing’s head, saying, “Shut up! You can talk about whatever you fucking want, but don’t do it here!”
Chen Qing fell silent, and as the car stopped at the entrance of Jiang Yuduo’s house, he seemed to snap out of his daze and immediately pulled out his phone: “Damn, I need to call Dabin and the others! Whoever dares to gossip outside, I’ll deal with them.”
“You two won’t gossip,” Jiang Yuduo said as he opened the car door and helped Cheng Ke out.
“Still, I’ll give you a warning just in case,” Chen Qing replied, “If this kind of rumor spreads, trouble will come knocking at your door within two days.”
“What kind of trouble?” Cheng Ke asked, confused.
“People will label you both as perverts!” Chen Qing said, frowning, “In the eyes of those idiots, they won’t understand and will judge you unfairly. Cheng Ke, do you realize what you’ve gotten yourself into?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cheng Ke said, feeling puzzled.
“For bringing your brother into this kind of modern relationship,” Chen Qing said, “You come from a wealthy family, and you know how the world works…”
“You’re not going back? If not, then stand guard here,” Jiang Yuduo interrupted, signaling that they could continue their discussion later.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Chen Qing said, poking his head out to glance at Cheng Ke before driving away, “You’re one hell of a guy.”
After Chen Qing’s car was gone, Cheng Ke sat on the sofa, sighing with relief, and watched Jiang Yuduo quietly bustling around the house.
After tidying up the mess made by the cat, he fed it, changed the cat litter, and finally poured a cup of hot water and placed it in front of Jiang Yuduo before sitting down.
“Is Chen Qing upset?” Cheng Ke asked, thinking that Chen Qing should be upset, though his anger wasn’t overt.
“Yeah,” Jiang Yuduo lit a cigarette, “Could you tell?”
“Almost,” Cheng Ke sighed, “He was so angry that he called me by my name correctly.”
Jiang Yuduo chuckled.
“Does it bother you?” Cheng Ke inquired, “If it does, I can make up an excuse to cover up the truth.”
“No need for any excuses,” Jiang Yuduo replied, “Who cares about what others think?”
Cheng Ke observed Jiang Yuduo, but Jiang Yuduo avoided making eye contact. After a moment, Cheng Ke reached out his hand and said, “Pass me a cigarette.” Jiang Yuduo handed him the cigarette he was holding.
“It’s fine with my friends,” Cheng Ke took a puff, “But when it comes to Chen Qing and the others… they’re like little brothers to you. If this matter…”
“Actually, what your brother said… at that moment,” Jiang Yuduo turned to look at Cheng Ke, “I suddenly felt… it’s not bad.”
“Huh?” Cheng Ke was surprised.
“It’s unique,” Jiang Yuduo pondered, “There are many people in my life—family members, friends, classmates, colleagues, customers, tenants… many people under each category.”
Cheng Ke remained silent.
“But there’s only one boyfriend, right?” Jiang Yuduo said, “At least at a certain stage, Jiang Yuduo was Cheng Ke’s boyfriend, and Cheng Ke’s boyfriend was Jiang Yuduo. There’s only one, right?”
“Yes,” Cheng Ke agreed.
“Very well,” Jiang Yuduo said.
Cheng Ke stayed quiet for a while. After finishing his cigarette, he stubbed it out in the ashtray. “Jiang Yuduo,” he spoke up.
“Yes,” Jiang Yuduo responded.
“If you want an identity that’s unique to you,” Cheng Ke said, “you are my most special and best friend. You’re the only one who will never change. You don’t have to be my boyfriend.”
“What do you mean?” Jiang Yuduo asked.
“The title ‘boyfriend’ shouldn’t be taken lightly,” Cheng Ke explained, “I like you, and for us to be boyfriends, you would have to feel the same way. I like you very much, but I don’t want a relationship based solely on titles—it wouldn’t be fair to you. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Do you like me?” Jiang Yuduo asked.
“I do,” Cheng Ke replied.
“I… if I… everyone says that I…” Jiang Yuduo hesitated for a while, then pointed to his head, his voice soft and trembling, “Do you like me even then?”
Please let me know if there are typos/mistakes in the chapter.
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