Ch. 14 You can stay here
VVVIP wards are very expensive and cannot just be booked by money, so the conditions are much better than other VIP or ordinary wards.
When Shi Yi entered the door just now, he was greeted by the gentle warm atmosphere of the room. The indoor temperature was just right, such that Shi Qingning, who was usually afraid of the cold, wasn’t wearing any thick clothes.
The boy was wearing a white cashmere sweater, revealing a small part of his thin and delicate collarbone. The snow-white clothing perfectly complemented his pale skin, making the bright red spots on his collarbone and neck particularly eye-catching.
Shi Yi caught a glimpse of those abnormal red colours.
“Huh?”
When Shi Qingning heard the question, he subconsciously reached out to touch it, but was gently blocked by Bai Yexi who was standing next to him.
Shi Qingning only touched the other party’s slightly cold back of the hand.
Only then did he react.
“Oh, it was caused by the protective clothing that I wore during the last operation.”
Shi Qingning’s skin was very pale, because of which, any mark was easily visible.
The Shi family put a lot of thought into the clothes for their youngest son, using only soft, natural fabrics such as velvet, that too mostly light colours, and never using artificial dyes.
As for cloth washing detergents, Shi family only uses two specific brands, and there were even several products, all of which were specially customized for Shi Qingning.
It was because most of the ingredients in the world could cause allergies to Shi Qingning.
Young Master Shi’s good health was entirely the result of the Shi family’s money.
They made sure that there was not even a slight compromise when it came to Shi Qingning.
The same was true for the hospital. Shi Qingning is mostly hospitalized all year round. The sheets and quilts in the VVVIP ward were made of custom-made soft silk, taking care not to cause any kind of harm to his skin.
However, this time Shi Qingning’s surgery was arranged at the last minute, and the preparations were not thorough, so his skin was rubbed red by the medical protective equipment.
Shi Qingning himself was also very tactful, and added another sentence right after he finished speaking.
“In the future, I will make sure to get my check-up on time and prepare in advance so that there will be no such problems.”
Shi Yi’s face still did not look good. Seeing his younger brother look timid and pitiful trying to explain things to him, he reluctantly didn’t pursue the matter.
But when he caught glimpse of Bai Yexi beside him, Shi Yi’s inner mood was not as calm as his outer facial expressions.
The man standing beside the hospital bed silently took his hand back.
Shi Yi was not familiar with this person, he only thought he was a new friend of his younger brother.
But he was amazed at how attentive he was seeing how he reached out to stop Shi Qingning from rubbing his skin in time.
It was definitely not something that ordinary friends do.
Shi Yi walked over, wanting to check the condition of Shi Qingning’s chest area where the doctors had operated.
He was about to raise his hand when he saw that the affected area was already covered with a layer of medicine.
Shi Qingning noticed his brother’s expression and said hurriedly.
“Mint has already applied medicine on me.” 1I’ll be simultaneously using the words Mint and Lemon along with our leads’ original names, depending on the situation.
“…”
Shi Yi narrowed his eyes slightly.
Shi Qingning was still talking, “I seem to have bitten my tongue just now. Mint only wanted to check…”
“Don’t just do anything on your own.”
Shi Yi’s forehead twitched slightly, as his voice became colder.
“Call the doctor.”
“No, there is no need…”
Shi Qingning originally hadn’t even wanted to take the medicine, but when his brother came, he was looking after him even more strictly.
“Sit down.”
Shi Yi’s tone clearly told that him, that he was not discussing this with him.
“I’ll find someone to call the doctor.”
Before walking out of the ward, Shi Yi glanced at Bai Yexi for the last time.
The silent man had just tucked a lock of hair behind his ears, revealing half of his perfectly sculpted face.
Although Shi Yi’s words were all addressed to Shi Qingning, there was no way Bai Yexi could not hear the defensiveness behind his words.
But Bai Yexi didn’t react at all.
He just reached out and pulled back the soft quilt that was slipping down, covering Shi Qingning even more warmly.
Shi Yi went out, closed the door, and sent someone to call the doctor.
He called Sun Ming over.
“Is this how you take care of Second Young Master?”
“Why are there only two of them inside?”
Shi Yi had just finished disposing off that garbage called Jian Ren, and in the blink of an eye, there was another person beside his brother.
And that too being alone in such an important place.
Shi Yi was very dissatisfied. He was already someone with a strict poker face, but now that he was obviously angry, the atmosphere in the corridor became even more depressing.
Until a gentle female voice rang out.
“Xiao Yi is here?”
It’s Mrs. Shi.
She was holding a handful of light pink freshly-cut flower bouquet in her arms. There were even a few dewdrops on those delicate petals, which made the bouquet look particularly fresh.
“I just went out for a bit to get a small bouquet of flowers. Xiao Ning’s room looks a little too plain.”
Mrs. Shi hummed a little tune and looked at her son in a good mood.
“Have you eaten? We ate early today and there is still a cup of chicken soup left. Do you want to drink it?”
Shi Yi’s eyebrows twitched.
“Are you going to stay here?”
Mrs. Shi nodded, “Yes, today’s meeting is not important, so I am going to turn it down first.”
Shi Yi was silent for a moment and then said, “I’ve eaten.”
He tilted his head slightly and signaled the bodyguard to take the flowers from Mrs. Shi’s arms first.
Mrs. Shi was curious, “What’s wrong?”
Shi Yi asked, “Did you allow that person to stay in the ward?”
“Who?”
But soon Mrs. Shi reacted.
“Oh, you mean Xiaobai?”
“Yes, I asked him to stay, he was a huge help this time.”
Mrs. Shi said with a smile.
“The nurse I hired before got sick and couldn’t come over for the past two days. It was Xiao Bai who was helping me. I’m telling you, Xiao Bai is still a child, but sometimes he acts even more mature than me……”
“Mom.”
Shi Yi gently stopped her.
“How long have they known each other?”
Shi Yi didn’t want to mention Jian Ren, he knew that his mom would not like to hear this name.
He also knew that his mother wanted Shi Qingning to have more contact with other people.
But is Bai Yexi really a safe choice?
Mother Shi stared at her eldest son for a while, and then suddenly laughed.
“I think that kid is a bit like you. He always has this serious look on his face, but he actually cares about Xiao Ning more than anyone else.”
“…”
Shi Yi said nothing, but his expression clearly showed that he didn’t agree with it.
Mother Shi put her hand on her son’s forearm and patted it gently.
“Xiao Bai is a good boy, don’t worry too much.”
Shi Yi raised his eyebrows, “Have you checked his background?”
“No.” Mother Shi was helpless, “I’m not talking about his background.”
Thinking about it again, she said with a smile.
“Maybe this is the instinct of a mother.”
In the ward.
Shi Qingning looked down at his own fingers and then at the chain around Bai Yexi’s neck, curious.
“Is this a sterling silver 2It is an alloy of silver. chain?”
He moved his fingers, his fingers long and thin.
“Usually, alloy materials seems to make my skin turn red, but it didn’t happen this time.”
Shi Qingning woke up shortly after the operation. Although he fell into a coma suddenly, his physical condition was not bad.
Originally, after a radical surgery, the patient also needs to undergo follow-up conditioning and recovery, so that’s why when the doctor pushed the patient in, he said that it was a routine surgery.
Shi Qingning has long been accustomed to these surgeries and recovered quickly after the surgery.
Originally he could be discharged from the hospital on the day of the operation itself, but he stayed for a few more days at the request of his family.
However, during these days in the hospital, Shi Qingning did have a good rest, and his sleep quality was much better than before.
When he woke up today, he saw Bai Yexi, who was standing beside the bed, had taken off the chain and was holding it in his hand to look at it carefully.
Shi Qingning also looked at it for a while and then realized that although the plain chain had an exquisite appearance and soft luster making it look very delicate, it was not like an ordinary long chain, with every link in-between being standard.
Instead, it looked more like… it was polished by hand.
Each buckle also looked like it was made by someone by hand.
Not long after, his mother came in and invited the two of them to eat, so Bai Yexi put the long chain away.
Just when he was about to put on the chain, Shi Qingning volunteered to help.
“No.” Bai Yexi looked at Shi Qingning’s finger and said, “It’s platinum.”
After confirming that the person’s fingers were indeed gone, he looked away.
“Don’t touch it casually in the future. You may get allergic reactions if it accidentally ends up scratching you.”
“Oh.” Shi Qingning nodded.
He thought for a while and then asked, “Who gave this to you as a gift?”
Although Shi Qingning had never spent much money on his own, he knew that sterling silver and platinum were not of the same price.
Judging from Bai Yexi’s situation, platinum is really expensive for him.
Moreover, the craftsmanship of this plain chain was obviously more expensive than the material itself, and Bai Yexi always seems to cherish it…
Shi Qingning couldn’t help but think.
… Could this be something that the An family gave to Bai Yexi?
“No,” Bai Yexi said, “I made it myself.”
Shi Qingning breathed a sigh of relief.
He also did not recall any kind of information regarding this chain in the novel at least for the time being.
Maybe this is something left behind by Mint’s parents?
Just as Shi Qingning was thinking about it, the door of the ward was pushed open, and Mother Shi and Shi Yi walked in.
The two were followed by the doctor who was called for.
Shi Qingning was checked thoroughly again and again before he was finally let to rest.
But apparently, he relaxed too early.
At this time, his mother was placing the newly bought fresh-cut flowers next to the table, and Bai Yexi was helping with the transparent vase.
Shi Qingning put on his shoes and got out of bed, just about to take a look.
But then he heard a sound that could easily make people break out into a cold sweat.
“Shi Qingning.”
Shi Yi called him expressionlessly.
“Come here and weigh yourself.”
Shi Qingning paused.
“Eldest brother.” He called out in a soft voice, sounding very well-behaved.
“It was checked two days ago…”
Listening to him, Shi Yi didn’t even bother to raise his eyelids.
“Come over.”
Mrs. Shi, who was arranging the flowers heard them and also said.
“Please weigh yourself, baby. You are going to be discharged from the hospital in the afternoon. It is for the record.”
Finally, Shi Qingning couldn’t object, so he had no choice but to walk over.
He struggled a bit before reaching the scale.
“Brother, move away, you are blocking me from seeing the numbers.”
His voice was so low that even Shi Qingning himself did not believe those words, but fortunately, Shi Yi seemed to be too lazy to expose him and really took a step back.
Shi Qingning breathed a sigh of relief, raised his legs and stood up——
“Eighty-seven point sixty-five pounds!”
A crisp electronic sound loudly and directly read out the number.
Shi Qingning: “…………”
Shi Yi frowned, “Why are you three pounds lighter?”
Shi Qingning had just undergone surgery, and his family had already guessed that he would lose some weight.
But they did not expect that he would lose three pounds all of a sudden.
After being discharged from the hospital before, Shi family tried their best but failed to make him fatter. As a result, Shi Qingning’s weight came even lower.
“This is because I am wearing less clothes today.”
Shi Qingning’s analysis was well-reasoned.
“The last time I weighed myself I was wearing a thick cloak.”
“This is a smart scale.”
Shi Yi said while giving him a side-eye.
“It will automatically neglect the weight of the clothes.”
Are weighing scales nowadays so smart?
Shi Qingning sighed internally.
“I already ate meat early in the morning…” 3Actually it’s literal translation was ham, maybe author intended it for being a pun/play with words in Chinese. But, being a MTLr, it went right above my head so I replaced it with something that might make sense.
Shi Yi, “Hmm?”
Shi Qingning immediately said, “I said I would eat more meat next time and try to gain weight.”
Standing beside him Mother Shi laughed, as she came over and said.
“Xiao Ning has always been unwilling to weigh himself since he was a child. I don’t know how many different ways I have tried to coax you to get on that scale.”
Shi Qingning paused.
These words brought back some memories to him.
It seemed as if someone did hold and weight him before.
“One time, your brother couldn’t coax you anymore, so he just gave up and held you up to weigh you.” Mother Shi said.
“As a result, you tried to get out of his arms and ended up injuring yourself. You used to cry very softly, in a low baby voice. In the end, we couldn’t weigh you. Later, when I came back, I saw that your arm was swollen.”
“After that time, you were particularly afraid of your brother.”
Mrs. Shi smiled and shook her head.
“You don’t know, but your brother is also scared and doesn’t dare to touch you.”
Looking at the two children in front of her, Mrs. Shi’s eyes softened.
Fortunately, not only has the younger son recovered, but the relationship between her two sons has also significantly eased up.
But when Shi Qingning heard this, he was startled.
Was it not his eldest brother?
Then who was it who held him in their arms to weigh him?
As he was thinking about it, he caught a glimpse of a thin figure from the corner of his eye, and suddenly thought of something else.
“Mint!”
Shi Qingning waved at him.
“You should weigh too.”
Shi Qingning had noticed before that he was too thin, and maybe he lost even more weight when he had his blood drawn a few days ago.
At his age, Bai Yexi should not be so thin, this is definitely not the normal weight that a sixteen year old should have.
It was time to take good care of Mint too.
Bai Yexi was originally just watching Shi Qingning weigh himself from a few steps away, not at all expecting to be suddenly called, his movements visibly paused.
Until Mrs. Shi also said, “Xiao Bai, come and take a look, you are quite thin too.”
Only then did Bai Yexi go over.
He stood on the scale and was also told the number by the electronic sound.
“Ninety point sixty-eight pounds.”
“Huh?”
This number was particularly familiar to the several people present there.
Shi Qingning looked over.
“This is the same as my weight before.”
But Bai Yexi was obviously taller than him. At this weight, he was actually in an even scarier situation than Shi Qingning.
“You are really too thin.” Shi Qingning shook his head and said, “Come and eat meat with me.”
Mother Shi spoke at the right time, “Then let’s start tonight itself.”
“……Ah?”
The few people continued chatting, but Shi Yi besides them didn’t say anything.
His eyes fell on the display screen of the scale, especially the figure “90.68”.
This number is exactly the weight that Shi Qingning had, which was stubbornly stuck at the same number a few days ago. No matter how much food he was fed, he could not gain any weight.
Shi Yi frowned secretly.
Could it be such a coincidence?
Shi Qingning was discharged from the hospital on that same day.
Because he had been hospitalized too many times, the process had long been simplified and made more proficient. It was just afternoon when Shi Qingning got back home.
Mrs. Shi and Shi Yi did not go to work anymore and only handled some online work at home.
While working, they did not forget to supervise Shi Qingning.
“You are not allowed to read or study for the next two days. Just take a good rest.” Mother Shi said.
After all, Mrs. Shi was still frightened by Shi Qingning’s fainting, so she became much stricter about her youngest son’s health.
Tutoring and piano lessons had been temporarily suspended and will be resumed only after he has had a good rest.
If it weren’t for Shi Qingning’s insistence, Mrs. Shi would have wanted to suspend the classes even longer.
She didn’t care at all whether her youngest son’s grades would fall after he starts school or whether he could pass the piano test.
She just wanted to see her son be safe and sound.
After this exhausting coma experience, Shi Qingning felt much calmer and effectively complied with his mother’s words.
What surprised Mrs. Shi even more was Bai Yexi.
Originally, Bai Yexi was only here to be Shi Qingning’s piano partner. But because the piano lessons had to be suspended, Shi Qingning had been constantly thinking about how to keep him here.
There was no news about the An family, and Bai Yexi’s arm was injured like that. Shi Qingning couldn’t let him go no matter what.
So he went to find his mother and said he not only wanted to study but also rest with his friend.
Anyway, it’s called companionship when they practice piano together, and also companionship if they study and rest together. And since the time of accompanying him is going to be longer, Shi Qingning has valid reasons to pay him more.
There is no need for Bai Yexi to go work at different places and end up getting injured.
Hearing that, Mother Shi agreed immediately.
The two children were of similar age, so it was easy to coordinate their learning progress. In addition, after spending the past two days together, Mrs. Shi knew how meticulous Bai Yexi was, she even felt that he had helped her a lot.
Sure enough, that afternoon, Shi Qingning did not study. He and Bai Yexi went to the lake to play for most of the afternoon, and after dinner, they went to the greenhouse and stayed there for a long time.
There were benches present in both places, so they didn’t have to worry about Qingning’s physical health and stamina.
They didn’t go back inside the house until nightfall.
The last train from here had already departed. Bai Yexi packed his things and was about to leave. Shi Qingning looked at him from the side and said suddenly.
“You can stay here.”
“It’s so late, anyways you have to come over tomorrow.”
Shi Qingning looked up at the person.
From Bai Yexi’s angle, the boy’s eyelashes looked even longer and curled, with the corners of his eyes drooping slightly, making him look sincere as well as a little pitiful.
He continued to say, “The bed in my room is big, it can definitely fit the two of us.”
Bai Yexi’s long hair fell down, covering his expression.
After a long while, Bai Yexi gently raised his hand, tucked his scattered hair behind his ears, and rubbed the back of his hand across the chain around his neck.
And he softly said, “No need.”
Not far away, Mother Shi had just packed the midnight snack for Bai Yexi, when she heard their voices.
“It’s good to stay here and save yourself from running back and forth.” She said with a smile.
“For the last two days in the hospital, with Xiao Bai there, Xiao Ning slept very peacefully…”
Bang.
Suddenly there came a huge sound from the door.
Shi Yi stood by the door with his arms folded, as the key in his hand knocked against the door frame, making a slight sound.
“My car is in the yard.”
Shi Yi looked at Bai Yexi expressionlessly, and said, “Are you done? I’ll send you.”
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T/N:- Chapter 14 is here! Hope you enjoyed reading!!!
If you like my work, do get me a dose of motivation in the form of a cup of coffee☕
