Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Special Assistant Tang hurriedly pushed open the door to Mr. Lu's office without bothering to knock.

"Hey there," Mr. Lu lazily twirled his pen a couple of times and smiled, "Tang Bai, am I deaf or did you just not knock?"

Tang Bai composed himself.

"Mr. Lu, Young Master is in trouble."

*

Special Assistant Tang drove to the hospital, doing his best to ignore Mr. Lu's constant urging along the way.

He had never seen his boss so worked up before. He didn't dare to elaborate on the details he had heard over the phone, only saying that they had accidentally fallen down the stairs and were injured.

"Where is Chi Qiu?"

"Huh?" Special Assistant Tang, while parking the car, instinctively replied, "Young Master seems to be in room 923."

"As for the second young master—"

Before Special Assistant Tang could finish his sentence, the sound of the rear door slamming shut was heard. He turned his gaze to see Mr. Lu already sprinting towards the hospital entrance.

Wait... he hadn't even mentioned the second young master's room yet, it was the second young master who was in trouble!

He quickly unbuckled and hurried after him.

Special Assistant Tang, out of breath, had just reached the elevator when he saw Mr. Lu not waiting for it and instead rushing into the stairwell. All Special Assistant Tang saw was a glimpse of Mr. Lu's coat.

Standing between the stairwell and the elevator, Special Assistant Tang hesitated.

That was the ninth floor, he really couldn’t make it that far!

The door to room 923 swung open abruptly, and Ji Mian instinctively looked over.

The person who barged in, breathing heavily, was all too familiar.

Qin Yan stood across from Ji Mian, his face pale, and was in the middle of speaking when he was interrupted by Mr. Lu's sudden entrance.

Mr. Lu’s eyes immediately locked onto Ji Mian, like precise instruments, noticing the changes on him.

His right arm was bandaged up like a mummy, with abrasions on his neck and elbow, and a cotton pad fixed with medical tape on his right cheekbone, clearly swollen. Moreover, he had lost weight.

Mr. Lu was fuming, laughing bitterly.

He couldn’t bear to look at Ji Mian any longer, stepping forward to grab Qin Yan by the collar, the veins in his arm popping under his sleeve, pinning him against the wall.

He completely forgot the rule about keeping quiet in the hospital room: "I entrusted him to you, and this is how you take care of him?"

Qin Yan had never seen Mr. Lu so out of control. Usually, even if they didn't get along, Mr. Lu could still greet him with a smile and call him "President Qin."

He was momentarily speechless: "I..."

Ji Mian was equally shocked by Mr. Lu’s outburst and immediately went over to intervene, grabbing Mr. Lu’s sleeve with his good left hand.

Mr. Lu ignored him, his grip on Qin Yan’s collar tightened even more, nearly choking him.

"Mr. Lu, don't..." Ji Mian’s bandaged right hand also managed to exert a little effort, with a couple of fingers that could still move tugging at Mr. Lu’s sleeve, "It's not Qin Yan's fault, really."

Hearing this, Mr. Lu’s expression shifted.

Ji Mian thought he had convinced Lu Ge and hadn’t even had a moment to breathe when the system’s voice suddenly rang in his head.

"300 Affection Points added (150x2), courtesy of Lu Ge."

"400 Affection Points added (200x2), courtesy of Lu Ge."

"600 Affection Points added (300x2), courtesy of Lu Ge."

The back-to-back system notifications left Ji Mian completely bewildered.

"Affection Points—" The system muted the Affection Points increase alert.

"Lu..."

When Ji Mian spoke again, Lu Ge released his grip, his face blank and slightly cold. "Hmm, it has nothing to do with him."

For some reason, Ji Mian felt a heaviness in his chest, making it hard to breathe.

"What happened to your hand?" Lu Ge asked him.

"It’s nothing, just a sprain." Ji Mian’s fingers clutching his sleeve were tender like bamboo shoots, not daring to let go. "Zhi Xia is badly hurt, the doctor ordered rest, and only one person can stay with him. Uncle Zhou is tied up over there."

"Hmm. What about your face?"

"I bumped my head, it’s not a big cut, just swollen."

"What’s on your arm?"

"Just a scratch, no big deal. I’m okay, really." Ji Mian added after finishing, "Really."

"...How did you get hurt?"

Ji Mian wasn’t exactly sure what had gone down. He just wanted to take a stroll downstairs, and as soon as he stepped out, he saw Qin Yan grabbing Xu Zhixia’s wrist at the stairs. Before he could make sense of the argument, Xu Zhixia yanked free and tumbled down the stairs.

It was such a long fall, Ji Mian still felt a chill thinking about it.

"What were you thinking?" The system couldn’t help but scold him, hoping Ji Mian would be more careful next time. It was really scared when it saw him reach out, thinking it was all over.

It wanted Ji Mian to take better care of himself, but in the end, it could only say indirectly, "If you hadn’t tried to help, Xu Zhixia might not have been hurt as bad."

That was true...

Ji Mian bit his lip, feeling a twinge of regret.

If he hadn’t been such a burden on Xu Zhixia, the wound on the back of the other’s head might have been less severe.

"Think before you leap..." The system continued to nag in Ji Mian’s mind.

"It’s just... Zhi Xia slipped, and I couldn’t catch him, so I fell too," Ji Mian answered Lu Ge.

Qin Yan stood off to the side, too awkward to say anything.

He stood for a while, then tactfully left.

After interrogating Ji Mian like a criminal, Lu Ge remained silent for a moment before saying, "Don’t hurry back, stay in the hospital a few more days to be safe."

Ji Mian wanted to say that it wasn’t a serious illness, just some superficial injuries, and only the outer side of his right hand had been injured when he fell. When the doctor came to check, they were more concerned about examining other parts of his body and didn’t mention much about the injuries.

There was no need to stay in the hospital; it would just take up a bed for no reason. Ji Mian planned to go through the discharge procedures after today.

But seeing Lu Ge's expression, he still responded with a "Yeah."

It was rare for Lu Ge to be serious, which made Ji Mian feel quite uncomfortable, unable to figure out what the other was thinking, and found it hard to understand.

He didn't know that Lu Ge was also trying to figure out what he was thinking at that moment. Ji Mian had previously told him "Don't come over anymore," but not only had he come, he had almost come to blows with Qin Yan.

'It has nothing to do with him...' Lu Ge couldn't help but mentally roll his eyes at Qin Yan, feeling a pang of jealousy, as he thought of Ji Mian clinging to his arm, protecting the other.

Unfortunately, the system had disabled the Affection Points notifications, otherwise, Ji Mian would definitely have received a flurry of notifications by now.

"Tang Bai said you had an accident, I thought you were going to die," Lu Ge suddenly said.

This statement was not exactly comforting in the hospital room.

Tang Bai said Ji Mian had taken a fall down the stairs. Lu Ge had walked up and down the stairs at the Xu family's house too many times. In the past, he never thought the path was that long, but when he recalled it in the car, he felt that the artistically curved staircase seemed endless. Ji Mian was like a beautiful piece of glass that could shatter at the slightest mishandling.

On the way from the company, Lu Ge kept thinking if this would be the last time he saw Ji Mian. The uncertainty of being unable to change anything made him nauseous, on the verge of vomiting.

Ji Mian heard the tremor in Lu Ge's voice, his lashes fluttered, but he couldn't speak.

He thought that keeping Lu Ge at a distance would be best for him.

He had lost Duan Zhuo before and knew how painful it was to lose someone you love, it could strip you of your fighting spirit, courage, and make you weak. These things he had lost were regained because of Lu Ge.

And for that very reason, he was even more determined to spare Lu Ge that pain.

"Had lunch?" Lu Ge suddenly shifted the topic.

Ji Mian: ...

He silently turned his face away. Although it was not yet eleven o'clock, every time Lu Ge asked this question, he couldn't help but feel guilty.

Lu Ge pressed his tongue against his cheek, and he could tell from Ji Mian's expression whether he had eaten or not.

"Young Master, I've changed my mind," he suddenly sat down on Ji Mian's hospital bed, leaning against the headboard with a shameless grin, "Now I think it's better for people to be a bit selfish."

All that talk about wanting Ji Mian to be happy was just empty words!

Lu Ge thought: No matter how much Ji Mian tries to drive him away, he wasn't going anywhere; he was staying right here.

Ji Mian was silent for a few seconds, then finally sat on the stool by the bed.

Their roles had switched.

Ji Mian lowered his head, his fingers playing with the bandage wrapped around his wrist, pulling it a bit, taking it out a little, then tucking it back in.

Lu Ge's gaze followed his movements, and his mood slowly calmed down, even felt a laugh bubbling up.

The moment the corner of his mouth curved up, Ji Mian also looked up at the same time, their eyes meeting.

If the ending is already written, then what's the point of holding on?

Ji Mian looked into Lu Ge's eyes, knowing his answer.

For this person, it was meaningful.

He couldn't respond to Lu Ge's love. But at least, at least he wanted to do something for the person in front of him.

Ji Mian thought, if he could stay a bit longer, would Lu Ge be less sad?

He slightly lowered his eyelashes and said, "I want to eat... small yellow croaker."

The person on the hospital bed was stunned.

At this moment, Lu Ge wished he could round up every small yellow croaker in the world for Ji Mian.