Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Lu Ge returned to his room, took a shower, had dinner delivered by a steward, and after finishing, he washed up and rested, completely forgetting about Ji Mian, who was left unattended in the hospital room.

The next day at noon, the strong sunlight at sea filtered through the heavy velvet curtains onto Lu Ge's eyelids.

He stirred awake.

Lu Ge wasn’t one to sleep in. On most workdays, he would get up before six and get to the office early.

For the past two weeks, he had been working day and night on a major company project, running on little sleep. After the project was completed, he happened to receive an invitation to a banquet from Lin Xu.

Lu Ge rarely attended these kinds of events. But he was fed up with being at the office, and returning to the Lu family meant facing his parents' constant nagging about finding a partner and getting married.

To stay away from the company and the Lu family, and to take the opportunity to catch up on sleep, he decided to leave work behind and went to the banquet.

But Lu Ge didn't expect that this leisurely trip would be completely ruined by some sickly guy in the room across from him.

He sat up, feeling a groggy, yet comfortable feeling in his head from sleeping too long.

His upper body was bare, his back muscles sharply defined, his skin covered with a light golden hue under the sunlight.

Lu Ge was a bit disappointed he hadn’t dreamed last night.

This was the third consecutive dreamless night since he boarded the cruise ship. The dreams that had been a nightly occurrence since his adolescence had been absent for three nights in a row.

A certain sickly figure flashed through his thoughts, and Lu Ge zoned out for a moment before getting up and leaving the room.

The cruise ship would arrive at the port around seven in the evening, bringing the trip to an end. For today, only breakfast and lunch were being served.

The meals were served buffet-style.

As Lu Ge leisurely filled his plate, Qin Yan and Xu Zhixia passed by him, walking hurriedly as if looking for someone.

Lu Ge, of course, knew who these two were looking for, but he just casually grabbed a fried dumpling.

"Lu Ge."

Qin Yan's cold voice came from behind, reluctantly calling him.

Lu Ge put down his plate, turned around, and acknowledged him, "President Qin."

"Do you know where Chi Qiu is right now?"

"Who?"

"Xu Chiqiu."

"Oh, that frail guy."

Qin Yan ignored Lu Ge's nickname for Xu Chiqiu and said, "I haven't seen Chi Qiu since yesterday, and there was no response when I knocked on his door today. Zhi Xia and I had the manager unlock the door, but Chi Qiu wasn't inside."

"President Qin, your care for the patient isn’t exactly diligent," Lu Ge laughed. "The person disappeared yesterday, and you only noticed by noon today?"

Qin Yan gritted his teeth but couldn't refute. It was indeed his oversight.

He took a deep breath and continued, "I remember your room is across from Chi Qiu's. Do you know his whereabouts?"

Unexpectedly, Lu Ge's answer was delivered casually.

"I’m aware."

"...What?" Qin Yan was momentarily stunned, then quickly reacted, "Where is he now?"

"Is this how you ask for a favor, Mr. Qin?"

"..."

"I owe you one. In the future..." Qin Yan suppressed his discomfort, "If there’s anything I can do, I’ll do my best."

The word 'best' was carefully chosen. If Lu Ge were to ask Qin Yan to do something that would affect the company or the Qin family's interests, he could still use this as a reason to refuse.

Lu Ge caught the cleverness in his wording, but he had no intention of using such means to gain profit from Qin Yan.

"First floor, medical wing, room 109."

"Medical wing?" Qin Yan was shocked, "What happened to Chi Qiu?"

However, the person who had just gained a favor from him had already turned away heartlessly, grabbing his plate again, showing no intention of answering.

Qin Yan and Xu Zhixia exchanged a glance, not wasting any time, and rushed out of the restaurant.

*

About ten minutes later, the two hurriedly arrived at the medical wing room mentioned by Lu Ge.

In the center of the white hospital bed in the room, they saw Ji Mian sitting on the bed, being examined by a doctor.

"Chi Qiu!"

"Brother!"

Two worried voices called out at the same time. Ji Mian on the bed turned his head towards the door, seeing the visitors, he paused for a moment. "How did you..."

Qin Yan walked over quickly, "What happened?"

Xu Zhixia followed close behind, on the other side without doctors and nurses, grabbing Ji Mian’s hand with concern. "Brother..."

Ji Mian gave them a reassuring smile, indicating that he was fine.

"I was running a fever, Mr. Lu took me here."

"Lu Ge?"

"Yes."

"Why would he be so nice..." Qin Yan suspiciously frowned.

Ji Mian didn’t say anything.

He couldn’t tell Qin Yan about being drugged, it would be like slapping Xu Chiqiu in the face.

Xu Zhixia noticed the old doctor’s name tag, and said, "Dr. Huang, how’s my brother doing?"

"Are you relatives?" Huang Ronggui asked.

"I am, and Brother Yan is like family."

Huang Ronggui gave them a quick glance, said nothing, and walked out.

Qin Yan picked up on the hint, and after half a minute, he made an excuse to step out to the restroom, leaving only the two brothers in the room.

"Do you have any idea who drugged you?" the system asked in Ji Mian's mind.

Ji Mian hesitated, then said slowly, "At first, I suspected Lin Qian."

That night, the only thing he had to drink was the wine the waiter served when Wen Yu invited them to sit down in the banquet hall. Among all the people present, the one most likely to pull such a dirty trick was undoubtedly Lin Qian, who had been fawning over Qin Yan the entire time.

After being rejected by Qin Yan, Lin Qian went to the restroom, giving him the perfect chance.

Lin Qian's target was Qin Yan, but the drugged wine accidentally ended up with Ji Mian—

That’s what Ji Mian first thought.

But drinking the wine intended for Qin Yan could be a coincidence. However, the fact that Xu Zhixia 'mistakenly' got his room number wrong made Ji Mian doubt both coincidences.

Statistically, it’s almost impossible.

Moreover, that night, his room card was clearly in his coat pocket, yet Xu Zhixia couldn’t locate it.

The system said, "In Xu Chiqiu's memories from his previous life, he thought the same as you—he suspected Lin Qian was behind the drugging. He later took revenge on Lin Qian. Xu Chiqiu made Lin Qian suffer..."

Lin Qian was a minor idol with barely any fame and a small fanbase. He was no match for the Xu family.

To spare Ji Mian’s feelings, the system left out the details.

"In the end, his revenge became evidence that exposed his true nature to the main characters."

Ji Mian lowered his eyes, looking at the black-haired boy who was holding his hand. Unlike Ji Mian's gaunt face, Xu Zhixia had slightly softer features, with fuller cheeks and a profile as perfect as an angel in a Western oil painting.

He didn’t pin it on Xu Zhixia. Subjectively, Ji Mian was more inclined to trust his younger brother, but he couldn’t help suspecting Xu Zhixia.

He gave Xu Zhixia’s hand a gentle squeeze and smiled warmly.

*

"Doctor?" Qin Yan hurried after the old doctor, who had stopped not far from the ward.

"How is Chi Qiu doing?" he pressed.

"He’s stable, but keep him from catching a cold in the next few days to avoid another fever."

Qin Yan breathed a sigh of relief but was still puzzled. He sensed the doctor had more to say.

The old doctor looked at him meaningfully and said, "The fever’s from a cold, but it’s too severe for just a cold..."

Qin Yan was taken aback.

"You’re in this world; you know how it is." Having worked as a private doctor in this circle for a long time, he could tell whether it was a cold or something else causing the fever.

Qin Yan understood the doctor's implication, and his expression turned cold. "Are you saying someone drugged him..."

Before he could finish, Qin Yan suddenly thought of someone—someone who knew about "Xu Chiqiu's" whereabouts and had brought "Xu Chiqiu" to the medical area.

Qin Yan took a deep breath. "Doctor, who brought Chi Qiu here for treatment yesterday?"

"Oh, a young guy, tall and well-built," the old doctor shook his head. "But he had a bit of a temper."

He wouldn’t stop complaining about looking after the patient...

—Lu Ge!!

It had to be him!

Qin Yan clenched his teeth tightly.

Everyone knew he was selfish and cold. Why would he bother bringing Chi Qiu for treatment? Unless the night before, Chi Qiu had been...

He didn’t want to think about it, just glared toward the restaurant.

That bastard!