Chapter 85

Chapter 85

Yu He asked in astonishment, “What are you so pleased about?”

Fu Yunzhe’s fox-like eyes held a perfectly disguised innocence: “I'm not pleased about anything.”

Yu He propped up his arm and looked down at Fu Yunzhe on the pillow: “Old fox, you must be very pleased with yourself for winning my heart.”

The innocence in Fu Yunzhe’s eyes faded away, replaced by a contented satisfaction: “Of course. Being favored by Young Master Yu, I should be over the moon.”

Yu He lowered his head, their noses almost touching: “I was too rash just now.”

Fu Yunzhe raised his eyebrows slightly: “How so?”

Yu He’s voice was deep; at twenty-two, he had lost his youthful, clear timbre, which had gradually settled into a richer and more splendid tone. His whisper in the ear could easily stir the heartstrings.

In a low voice, Yu He said, “If someone dares to fight me for you, I’d really want to kill that damned bastard too.”

Fu Yunzhe teased, “Oh, when others do it, it's bloody and barbaric, but when Young Master Yu does it, it’s only natural? Really, it’s like only officials are allowed to set fires, and commoners aren't even allowed to light lamps.”

Yu He, shamelessly proud and relying on Fu Yunzhe’s indulgence, openly admitted his double standards: “That's right, I am a hypocrite. What can you do about it?”

"So stubborn and unyielding, what can I possibly do about it?" Fu Yunzhe's fingertips touched the sharp arch of Yu He's eyebrows: "And yet, you just have to be so good-looking..."

Yu He raised an eyebrow: "What's the use of being good-looking?"

Fu Yunzhe's fingers traced along Yu He's brows, whispering: "Being good-looking can captivate hearts. Sometimes, even when I clearly know what the right thing to do is, the moment I think of you, 'right' is no longer the top priority. Is that useful enough?"

Yu He's heartbeat missed a beat.

I wonder how deep his favoritism must be for Fu Yunzhe to say such words. Fu Yunzhe has always been a man of principles.

Yet these principles seem to recede one step after another when it comes to Yu He.

No wonder people often say that love can cloud one's judgment. In an instant, the stories of King Zhou of Shang's star-picking tower and King You of Zhou's beacon fire prank found their answers.

It's laughable that Fu Yunzhe thought he was being clear-headed all this while.

Looking back now, his task of sending Yu He live stream gift barrages through the company's middle management seems no better than King You of Zhou lighting beacon fires to fool the feudal lords.

The act of acquiring the Bean Sprout live streaming platform just so that the platform wouldn’t take a cut from Yu He's live stream donations also seems perplexing. I wonder if the executive assistant cursed him for being foolish when negotiating the acquisition.

But the development of Bean Sprout Live Streaming has indeed been impressive; its market value increased by 50% last year, making it the dark horse among all the acquisitions made in the past three years.

So, setting aside the motives and looking at the results, his business acumen remains sharp and ruthless. The decision to acquire Bean Sprout Live Streaming is justifiable.

Sigh, justifiable for what? Fu Yunzhe sighed inwardly.

He was actually starting to set up reasonable explanations for his erroneous actions, attempting to convince himself to deceive the world, which indicated that his level of intelligence was further decreasing.

Fu Yunzhe was analyzing the loopholes in his logical thinking, deeply reflecting on the arbitrariness he should avoid as a person in power, while trying to correct his gradually deviating rationality.

Rationality is a good thing. If the human brain is viewed as a piece of technology code beyond current technology, then emotional subjectivity is the logical error that goes against the evolutionary operation of the code.

Absolute rationality doesn’t make mistakes; it is flawless and highly efficient.

Emotions are just temporary confusions; ultimately, people need to return to rationality.

Yu He didn’t know what Fu Yunzhe was thinking.

Yu He's thoughts were still lingering on the possibility of having rivals in love. He asked, “Fu Yunzhe, has anyone liked you before?”

Fu Yunzheng sorted out his logic once again, returning to a state of near-absolute rationality without being led astray by Yu He’s question: "Xiao He, it’s not important whether someone likes me or not."

Yu He scratched his eyebrow and astutely noticed that Fu Yunzheng did not directly answer his question: "So there is someone, who is it?"

Fu Yunzheng helplessly said, "What, are you really planning to go and fight them?"

"Them?" Yu He suddenly sat up, "It's not about fighting. I simply wish that everyone who has ever coveted you would disappear from the earth forever."

Fu Yunzheng rationally told Yu He, "The world spins in perpetual motion, unaffected by personal will."

Yu He asked, “So you’ve never wished for someone you hate to just drop dead?”

Fu Yunzheng calmly replied, "Of course not."

Yu He oh’ed, laid back on the bed, reached out to catch a sliver of light falling through the curtain gap, and said seemingly casually, "Hey, Boss Fu, back in my days at Jinse Tai, who else apart from Lin Wen Shui wanted to take me away?"

Fu Yunzheng didn’t say anything, his eyes darkened, a rare anger spreading in his eyes.

A chilling cold emanated from Fu Yunzheng’s body, he rarely revealed his emotions so clearly.

Between Yu He’s distinct fingers, fine dust floated up and down, “There was a pianist named Xiao Jin before, he was severely injured after being taken away, several of his fingers were broken. It was Sean and the others who pooled money to send him to the hospital. I heard that the person who took Xiao Jin away also inquired about me, his name was Qiu something, right?”

Fu Yunzheng’s face darkened, and he spat out two words through gritted teeth: “Qiu Yang.”

“Qiu Yang?” Yu He was already surprised by the uncommon surname "Qiu," and hearing the name Qiu Yang surprised him even more: "Isn’t he Qiu Laosan, the one who does maritime trade? He must be over sixty years old by now, does he still have the interest in playing with young boys?”

Fu Yunzheng took a deep breath, desperately trying to hold onto his precarious rationality, not knowing if he was trying to persuade Yu He or himself: "As long as you're by my side, he won’t be able to lay a finger on you."

Yu He loosely clenched his fist, capturing the dust particles that were particularly visible under the sunlight: "If my fingers were broken, I wouldn’t be able to study medicine, right?"

The tension in Fu Yunzheng’s mind snapped.

To hell with rationality.

Fu Yunzheng wished for Qiu Yang to drop dead right now, immediately!

The world spins in perpetual motion, there are storms and thunder in the Atlantic every day. Qiu Yang is already over sixty, suddenly dying in a storm completely conforms to the laws of nature.

This is completely rational.

Fu Yunzheng picked up his phone and checked his email, unfortunately, there was no obituary for Qiu Yang in the unread emails.

What a pity.

Oh no, the rationality that I've just regained is starting to waver again.

This Yu He!

Fu Yunzheng glanced at Yu He, “You did that on purpose.”

Yu He provocatively curled up the corner of his lips, “Do you understand now why I wish for those who covet you to disappear?”

Fu Yunzheng slightly lowered his long eyes, “Qiu Yang is a mad dog. He’s committed many wrongdoings over the years, not just abusing young boys. His business is also dirty. If one day you encounter him, running away is the right choice. If he takes you onto a boat, in the thousands of square kilometers of international waters, by the time I find you, you can only cry in my arms.”

Yu He stretched lazily, unconcerned, “If I’m toyed with to that extent by him, it’s uncertain whether I could even survive, and you would be the one crying and holding me.”

Fu Yunzheng looked up at Yu He, “You have to survive.”

Yu He asked, “Why?”

Fu Yunzheng touched Yu He’s face, “Without you, what’s the point of me being alive?”

Yu He’s heart swayed, and he raised his arms to encircle Fu Yunzheng.

Fu Yunzheng also embraced Yu He, “Now you know why I send bodyguards to follow you every time you go out, right?”

*

Recently, Yu He had focused all his attention on helping Fu Yunzheng with his rehabilitation.

But the rehabilitation training was much harder than Yu He had imagined. Fu Yunzheng was overly strong-willed and unwilling to follow the prescribed exercises step by step.

Theoretically, to stand up from a wheelchair, one should first lean to the side against the wheelchair, gradually restoring leg muscle strength. But Fu Yunzheng found that move unseemly—

Although Fu Yunzheng didn’t explicitly say it was because the move looked ugly, Yu He guessed that was the reason.

In any case, Fu Yunzheng insisted on doing assisted standing training from the start, standing directly in a standing frame to train the weight-bearing capacity and endurance of his lower limbs.

Due to overexertion, his ankles swelled up by evening.

Yu He was both angry and distressed, warning Fu Yunzheng, “If you don’t follow the doctor’s advice, I will throw your wheelchair downstairs. Don’t even think about standing training; start from crawling training instead.”

Fu Yunzheng wasn’t annoyed; he simply said, “I’ll just practice a bit less next time.”

Yu He supported Fu Yunzheng, “Leaning on the wheelchair to stand sideways already skips many steps. If you search online, you’ll find that the first lesson in rehabilitation for paraplegics is crawling training, then kneeling and walking on your knees. Right now, your legs are almost like a newborn baby's. If you don’t do any preliminary training and start by standing, your legs simply can’t handle it.”

Although Fu Yunzheng’s learning attitude was not earnest, his attitude toward admitting his mistake was very good, “But I’m standing now, aren’t I?”

Yu He supported Fu Yunzheng’s arm with one hand and encircled his waist with the other, responding perfunctorily, “Mm-hmm, go on and practice standing sideways.”

Fu Yunzheng turned his head to look at Yu He, “The last time I saw you from this angle was three years ago.”

Yu He’s heart melted immediately, convinced that Fu Yunzheng was saying this on purpose. He also understood that the reason Fu Yunzheng was being so cooperative was because he knew Yu He couldn’t bear to force him to do the training he didn’t want to do.

Many movements in rehabilitation training look unseemly, and Fu Yunzheng would probably rather sit in a wheelchair for the rest of his life than let anyone see him crawling on the ground!

Yu He completely understood Fu Yunzheng’s pride and helped him sit down at the edge of the bed, “How about crawling on the bed? Is that okay?”

Fu Yunzheng didn’t respond, silently refusing.

“You really care about your image, don’t you?” Yu He had no way to deal with this uncooperative patient, “How about I crawl with you?”

“Forget it, there isn’t that much space on the bed,” Fu Yunzheng muttered, “Just close the curtains.”

Seeing there was a chance, Yu He quickly locked the door and drew the curtains, “If you don’t want me to see, I can turn my back. Just don’t get too close to the edge of the bed; be careful not to fall off.”

After pulling up the rehabilitation exercise video on the tablet, Yu He turned his back.

With his back to Fu Yunzheng, Yu He didn’t know whether Fu Yunzheng was really practicing. He really wanted to sneak a peek, but he was afraid of getting caught, and that Fu Yunzheng, who had finally agreed to train, would refuse to practice again.

After about ten minutes, Yu He heard Fu Yunzheng say, “Xiao He, you can turn around now.”

Yu He turned around and saw Fu Yunzheng sitting on the bed, looking as if he hadn’t moved at all.

Pretending not to know, Yu He asked, “How did it go?”

Fu Yunzheng answered, “It makes scientific sense. Starting by using the strength of the upper limbs to crawl, and then gradually reducing the dependency on the hands. It’s indeed a gradual process and very logical.”

Yu He fell silent for a while, “So did you practice just now?”

Fu Yunzheng was honest, “No.”

Unsurprised, Yu He gave Fu Yunzheng the middle finger, “I knew it.”

Fu Yunzheng candidly admitted, "I don’t want you to see me in a state of disarray."

Yu He lay on the bed, propping himself up on his arms, “What’s so embarrassing about this movement?”

Fu Yunzheng didn’t speak; he just raised an eyebrow.

Yu He lifted one hand and one leg, forming a straight line, and demonstrated the two-point kneeling of the healthy side hand and side leg, “This movement isn’t weird at all, right? It’s just a yoga pose, meant to train your balance.”

Yu He had poor balance and fell face down on the bed after just a few seconds, “Alright, alright, you don’t need to demonstrate for me anymore.”

Fu Yunzheng was looking down, massaging his leg, and was startled, “Okay, okay, you don’t need to demonstrate for me.”

Yu He turned his head towards Fu Yunzheng, “What’s wrong with your leg?”

Fu Yunzheng said, “It’s numb.”

“Stop practicing for now.” Yu He moved Fu Yunzheng’s calf onto his knee, gently massaging the acupuncture points, “The muscles have recovered well, much stronger than before.”

Suddenly, Fu Yunzheng asked Yu He, “Do you ever get annoyed?”

Yu He looked up in surprise, “What did you say?”

Fu Yunzheng fell silent again, as if the previous statement had been an illusion.

Yu He leaned in, kissing Fu Yunzheng’s face, “Patients who don’t cooperate with their training indeed can test one’s patience.”

Fu Yunzheng glanced at Yu He, then shifted his gaze back to his leg, remaining silent.

It’s quite normal for a patient’s mood to fluctuate, especially when rehabilitation training is not progressing smoothly or the results are not immediately apparent.

Particularly for patients who have become accustomed to living in a wheelchair, the challenge and resistance faced when relearning to stand are even greater. After finally achieving self-sufficiency in a wheelchair, their daily lives no longer require the care of others. However, transitioning from sitting to standing and eventually walking requires extensive training. Each training movement exposes an embarrassing clumsiness, necessitating a return to a period of care to bridge back to a normal life.

This process is exceedingly lengthy, and it significantly wears down one’s patience.

Yu He kissed Fu Yunzheng gently: “But you're not a patient, you're my lover.”

Fu Yunzheng’s fingers twitched slightly as he heard Yu He continue, “So your non-cooperation doesn’t count as non-cooperation.”

“What does it count as then?” Fu Yunzheng asked.

Yu He confidently said, "It's called acting coquettish."

To dare say that President Fu is acting coquettish is really quite audacious.

Fu Yunzhen lifted his leg and with one kick, sent Yu He tumbling off the bed.