Chapter 129: The Seventh Step to Win Her Back: Zhi Zhi, What Should I Do?

Chapter 129: The Seventh Step to Win Her Back: Zhi Zhi, What Should I Do?

Shen Zhixue sat in the room for a while, feeling restless and uneasy, perhaps due to the side effects of his body.

But in the past, he wouldn't experience such symptoms within a few hours after taking the medicine.

Could it be that the side effects have worsened, and even the bitter traditional Chinese medicine provided by the elders has lost its effect?

After pacing back and forth in the room hundreds of times, Shen Zhixue almost made himself dizzy. Eventually, he couldn't resist and took a clean fox fur from the cabinet, heading towards Jiang Huizhou's stone hut.

Although he knew that with Jiang Huizhou's methods, Ting Yu would definitely not be treated kindly in his hands, he couldn't help but feel sour inside. The thought of Ting Yu looking at Jiang Huizhou with a spring-like expression made him angry.

But Jiang Huizhou hadn't done anything.

What was wrong with him? This emotion was completely out of his control, and he had no idea why he felt this way. It was truly terrible!

As he walked to the small stone hut, lost in thought and tangled in his emotions, he saw Jiang Huizhou's back.

He was sitting on a small stone stool at the door, pitifully hunched over, with a basin of water in front of him. The fox fur that had been thrown on the ground was completely soaked in the water.

Jiang Huizhou's face was cold, and he kept rubbing the fox fur with his hands, his eyes red as if they were bleeding.

Suddenly, large tears fell into the basin, and Jiang Huizhou was stunned. Then, he threw the fox fur into the basin in frustration and stared at the water.

It was as if the basin in front of him wasn't for washing clothes, but his father's murderer.

Ting Yu was nowhere to be seen, and Shen Zhixue didn't care where Jiang Huizhou had sent her.

He stood by and watched for a long time.

The grievances Jiang Huizhou had endured and the tears he had shed by his side were probably more than he had experienced in his entire life. Since he met Jiang Huizhou, he had never seen this black-hearted man shed even a single tear, except when he was pretending.

But now, Shen Zhixue didn't know how many times Jiang Huizhou's eyes had turned red.

To say he didn't feel heartache would be lying to himself, but Shen Zhixue really didn't dare to trust Jiang Huizhou again for the time being.

He walked over, and Jiang Huizhou seemed to sense his arrival, looking up at him.

The emotions in his eyes were intense and complex, but all Shen Zhixue saw was pure grievance.

"Does Your Highness have any other orders?" Jiang Huizhou lowered his head: "Now I know how you feel, but I also know that no matter how many times I say sorry, no matter what I do, you won't like me again, will you?"

Shen Zhixue didn't speak.

Jiang Huizhou looked at the fox fur in his hands: "Just like this piece of clothing, once it's dirty, it's dirty. No matter how much I wash it, no matter how hard I try to remove that stain, it's impossible, isn't it?"

Shen Zhixue opened his mouth and whispered, "It's just a fox fur, why cry like this?"

"I can't clean it," Jiang Huizhou choked, his voice full of despair and grievance: "What should I do? I can't clean it, Zhi Zhi, I can't clean it anymore."

Shen Zhixue threw the fox fur in his hands at him: "If you can't clean it, just change it."

Jiang Huizhou stubbornly said, "I don't want to. I only want this one, just this one."

Shen Zhixue didn't speak. He couldn't handle the relationship between himself and Jiang Huizhou. They were now as tangled as two unkempt balls of yarn.

On one hand, he felt that Jiang Huizhou was not trustworthy. If someone as smart as him could act so pitifully, was it just a show for him? On the other hand, Jiang Huizhou's grievance, like a homeless puppy, made his heart ache.

Jiang Huizhou looked at him, suddenly stood up, and pulled Shen Zhixue into his arms.

Shen Zhixue hadn't reacted yet: "Wait..."

Cold lips descended, eagerly pressing against his, as if seeking strength from him.

By the time Shen Zhixue thought of resisting, Jiang Huizhou had already pushed him against the small stone table beside them. He kissed him fiercely, with a mix of reluctance and sorrow. Shen Zhixue tasted the saltiness of tears.

It was Jiang Huizhou's tears.

...Why hadn't he noticed before that this scheming guy was so prone to crying?

"I can't hold on much longer," Jiang Huizhou trembled against his lips, his voice soft and small: "Zhi Zhi, give me something, let me cling to a little hope, okay?"

Shen Zhixue pursed his lips and turned his face away.

Jiang Huizhou pressed his forehead against Shen Zhixue's shoulder and began to sob softly.

He cried as if in agony, his tears drenching Shen Zhixue's shoulder.

Shen Zhixue suddenly spoke up: "Don't cry."

Jiang Huizhou clutched him tighter: "What should I do, Zhi Zhi, what should I do? You don't love me anymore, what should I do?"

Shen Zhixue: "...I never said that."

Jiang Huizhou continued to hold him and cry softly. Half a minute later, as if he had just realized something, he looked up, dazed, and asked Shen Zhixue, "What did you say?"

Shen Zhixue frowned: "I said get off me, you're crushing me."

"Not that, not that!" Jiang Huizhou urgently grabbed Shen Zhixue's wrist and asked seriously, "What did you just say?"

Shen Zhixue coughed: "I didn't say anything, you probably misheard."

The light in Jiang Huizhou's eyes instantly dimmed. He slowly let go of Shen Zhixue, took a deep breath after a while, and managed a faint smile: "Maybe I really did mishear. I've been dreaming a lot lately, dreaming of our time in the empire, and when we were on the streets of the federation, beneath the artificial sun, and you kissed me."

Shen Zhixue frowned: "That's all in the past."

"Yes, it's all in the past." Jiang Huizhou smiled bitterly: "Still..."

"Still what?"

"I feel a bit recharged now. It's been so long since I've been this close to you." Jiang Huizhou touched his lips: "I've missed you so much."

Shen Zhixue's ears turned red, and he avoided Jiang Huizhou's gaze: "When are you leaving?"

Jiang Huizhou was stunned: "Do you really want me gone?"

Shen Zhixue instinctively retorted: "What do you think?"

"..." Jiang Huizhou was silent for a long time. He sat back down on the small stool, looked at the clothes in the basin, and slowly blinked: "Alright, once the drug research is complete, you probably won't see me anymore. I'll leave."

Shen Zhixue pursed his lips, realizing he really had nothing more to say, and could only utter: "I'm sorry."

Jiang Huizhou rolled his eyes: "Hmm?"

"Using you to deal with Ting Yu before." Shen Zhixue spoke awkwardly: "It was my fault, I shouldn't have done that. It felt like I was toying with your feelings. I just... never mind, I'm sorry about that."

Jiang Huizhou shook his head: "You're not wrong, I deserved it."

After saying that, he slowly wrung out the fox fur and hung it on the clothes rack beside him: "Zhi Zhi, I don't know how to love someone. You're the one slowly teaching me, but it seems I'm not the best student."

Jiang Huizhou patted the fox fur and said, "If not seeing me makes you happier, I won't disturb you anymore. I'll leave once the drug research is complete, but... I still feel a bit reluctant. I haven't given up, I don't want to give up, but what can I do, Zhi Zhi? You despise me so much that seeing me makes you uncomfortable, and I can't bear it."

Shen Zhixue didn't say a word.

After hanging the clothes out to dry, Jiang Huizhou returned to his room and closed the wooden door.

Shen Zhixue sat outside for a while, irritably scratching his temple, then turned and left.

What could he do about her? If he knew what to do, he wouldn't be so miserable!

For a long time afterward, Shen Zhixue indeed didn't see Jiang Huizhou.

In the past, after finishing his work in the lab, he would return to the small stone house at night, either waiting at Shen Zhixue's door or watching him from afar in the small stone house. But now, he hardly even returned to the small stone house, almost entirely absorbed in the lab.

Shen Zhixue often gazed blankly at the wooden door of the small stone house.

About three months passed like this. After downing a bowl of bitter herbal medicine, Shen Zhixue asked, "...Has he not come back to sleep for three months?"

The doctor beside him nodded and said, "Jiang Huizhou has been working at a high intensity every day, like a zombie. He gets no more than two hours of sleep a day, and even then, he just rests his head on the lab table for a while before getting up to continue. He's truly gone mad. At this rate, his body won't last much longer!"

Shen Zhixue frowned, "He's being reckless, and you're enabling him? Did no one try to talk him out of it?"

"Jiang Huizhou's temperament is something you're more familiar with than we are," the doctor sighed. "Usually, we don't even have the courage to speak to Jiang Huizhou. Who would dare to advise him?"

Shen Zhixue put down the bowl, "Tell him to come back and get some rest. If he doesn't like the small stone house... let him sleep in my room."

Everyone knew how much Jiang Huizhou adored Shen Zhixue, to the point of madness. Ting Yu had disappeared without a trace just for washing the fox fur that Shen Zhixue had worn, which Jiang Huizhou had collected.

The prospect of sleeping in Shen Zhixue's room would surely be a strong temptation for Jiang Huizhou.

The doctor's face showed a strange expression but eventually agreed.

After the doctor left, Shen Zhixue still felt uneasy, so he followed the doctor to the lab, thinking that if he went himself, he could at least knock Jiang Huizhou out and drag him back to sleep if he refused.

The doctor didn't notice Shen Zhixue following and, after hesitating for a while at the lab, opened the door and went in.

Shen Zhixue stood by the glass window at the door and saw Jiang Huizhou, whom he hadn't seen for three months.

He was so haggard he barely looked human.

His face was pale, and his fingers looked like dry twigs. Shen Zhixue's heart tightened, and he quickly opened the lab door and rushed in.

The doctor leaned down and said in a loud voice, "Jiang Huizhou, Shen Zhixue wants you to rest. He said if you don't want to sleep in the stone house, you can sleep in his chamber!"

Jiang Huizhou's eyes were half-closed, as if he couldn't see clearly. The doctor's voice was so loud it seemed like it could break through the soundproof glass.

But Jiang Huizhou still reacted slowly, only after a long while did he softly ask, "Did the experiment succeed? Is the ratio confirmed?"