Chapter 71 Where Did He Go?!

Chapter 71: Where Did He Go?!

Lin Yunshu's eyes were cast down, his long eyelashes effortlessly concealing any emotion in his gaze, leaving Zhou Yu unable to decipher his mood.

The humidifier hummed softly, releasing mist, its faint, continuous sound thrumming against Zhou Yu’s chest.

He waited anxiously for Lin Yunshu’s reply.

But as moments stretched into minutes, the ward was filled with an even deeper, more profound silence.

"Yun Shu?" Zhou Yu called out tentatively.

Lin Yunshu’s eyes remained lightly closed, offering no response.

Zhou Yu carefully touched his cheek. The room was warm, and Lin Yunshu’s skin felt warm to the touch, his breathing steady and deep.

He was asleep.

Zhou Yu: "..."

Zhou Yu: "?"

He stared, somewhat incredulously, at Lin Yunshu’s sleeping face.

"Is this for real?" he murmured to himself.

Was he truly exhausted and asleep, or merely trying to evade the question?

Zhou Yu remained on tenterhooks for a moment, but eventually had to accept the reality of the situation.

"Fine," he said, gently tapping Lin Yunshu’s nose. "We’ll talk when you’re feeling better."

·

Lin Yunshu slept until the next morning, his energy barely restored, his mind no longer clouded.

Chen Shuyang arrived to relieve Zhou Yu, carrying a thermos of freshly made soup.

Zhou Yu looked distinctly displeased. "I’m perfectly capable of looking after him. Why are you butting in?"

"Brother, you need to go home, wash your hair, clean your face, and change your clothes," Chen Shuyang retorted with a look of disdain. "Are you planning to grow mold here?"

Zhou Yu shot him a sharp glare. "I’ll find time for that, of course."

Chen Shuyang scoffed, removed his sunglasses, and nudged Zhou Yu off the chair. "Now is the time."

He placed the thermos on the table in front of Lin Yunshu, gesturing with his chin. "Here, this is for you. You can have liquids now, right?"

Lin Yunshu glanced at it. "Did you make this?"

"Of course not," Chen Shuyang said proudly, crossing his arms. "I wouldn’t know how to cook. My assistant made it."

Lin Yunshu mused, "You really are a big star now."

"Him?" Zhou Yu scoffed dismissively. "He’s only been in a few shows and already has an assistant waiting on him. Tan Cong spoils his artists too much. I’ll have to talk to him about it."

Chen Shuyang shot him a cold, hard stare. "Can you just shut up?"

"Enough," Lin Yunshu sighed. "Both of you, calm down."

He turned to Zhou Yu. "Shuyang’s not wrong. You should go home and rest."

Buoyed by this support, Chen Shuyang lifted his chin triumphantly. "Go shave and change your clothes. And don’t you have work to do?"

Zhou Yu, frustrated but unwilling to lose his temper in front of Lin Yunshu, could only grit his teeth at Chen Shuyang.

"I’m the boss," he stated, enunciating each word. "I pay people to work for me."

Chen Shuyang: "..."

He clapped for Zhou Yu. "Well, aren’t you impressive?"

Zhou Yu: "I’ve noticed you have absolutely no respect for your elders."

"Elders?" Chen Shuyang looked around. "Where? Who? You?"

"Yes, me—"

"Enough!" Lin Yunshu cut them off.

Both instantly fell silent.

Lin Yunshu’s gaze swept over the two tall alphas before him. Both instinctively avoided his eyes, looking equally sheepish.

He sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead, then told Zhou Yu, "Go home and get some sleep."

"No need," Zhou Yu insisted urgently. "I’m perfectly alert. I—"

"Zhou Yu."

Zhou Yu froze instantly.

Lin Yunshu rarely used such a firm tone, and he had never used it when speaking his name before.

Hearing him speak like this, Zhou Yu was shocked, yet he also detected another layer of meaning, a nuance that made his heart flutter the more he considered it.

Lin Yunshu: "?"

Chen Shuyang: "??"

He watched as Zhou Yu, having been called by Lin Yunshu, simply froze, then slowly, a subtle, strange smile began to curl at the corners of his lips.

Chen Shuyang shivered. "What’s wrong with him now?"

Zhou Yu forcefully suppressed his smile. "You wouldn’t understand."

Chen Shuyang: "..."

Unable to argue further, Zhou Yu finally conceded.

"Fine, I’ll go back for now," he said, standing up and straightening his clothes. He shot a warning look at Chen Shuyang. "Talk less, do more."

Chen Shuyang rolled his eyes dramatically.

After seeing off the "big shot" that was Zhou Yu, Chen Shuyang let out a long sigh of relief and sat down by the bed.

"Your taste in choosing a husband really needs some work," he said disdainfully.

Lin Yunshu slowly sipped his soup. "We got our marriage license months ago. You’re only bringing this up now?"

"I’ve never liked him, okay?" Chen Shuyang immediately defended himself.

Lin Yunshu pointed at the thermos. "You’re not having any? This soup tastes quite good."

"No," Chen Shuyang refused. "It’s high in calories. I’ll gain weight."

Lin Yunshu had just scooped a spoonful into his mouth. Hearing this, he paused, and they stared at each other.

"A little weight would be good for you!" Chen Shuyang said exasperatedly. "You need to put on some weight, especially since you have another surgery scheduled before the new year, right?"

Lin Yunshu assessed his current physique and decided he was indeed a bit too frail. Satisfied, he drank the spoonful of soup.

"Yes, gene therapy," he said.

"Will it work?" Chen Shuyang sounded doubtful.

"A complete cure isn't possible," Lin Yunshu recalled the doctor's words. "But it should help somewhat."

Chen Shuyang sighed. "Some improvement is better than none."

"By the way," he said, turning more serious. "I asked my parents to look for that photo again."

Lin Yunshu's brow twitched slightly. He lowered his head to drink more soup. "It's fine. Forget it."

"Let's still try to find it," Chen Shuyang insisted. "What if it's just tucked away in some corner?"

Lin Yunshu pressed his lips together, forcing a faint smile. "Okay."

The door suddenly swung open.

"—Shifu!" Guo Shengyao rushed in frantically.

"Holy crap!" Chen Shuyang nearly jumped out of his chair, pointing at the girl who had suddenly appeared. "Why is everyone around you so frantic?!"

Guo Shengyao ignored the male celebrity, squeezing past him to rush to the bedside, her voice anxious.

"What happened to you? Do you have any idea how I felt when I suddenly saw you..."

"It's nothing, really," Lin Yunshu reassured her, patting her arm. "I just had surgery."

"You had surgery and you say it's not serious?!"

"It was planned anyway," Lin Yunshu said with a light laugh. "It just happened a bit earlier."

"That's still terrifying!"

Chen Shuyang interjected, "Alright, the surgery was successful. No need to make such a fuss."

Guo Shengyao retorted, "How is this making a fuss?!"

Chen Shuyang couldn't be bothered to argue. He cleared away the bowl Lin Yunshu had been drinking from. "Since you have company again, I'll head off now."

Lin Yunshu nodded. "Take care on your way."

"Don't worry about me," Chen Shuyang said. "I'll look for that photo when I get back."

Lin Yunshu smiled gratefully. "Thank you."

"Stop, stop," Chen Shuyang quickly waved his hand. "Don't look at me like that. I'm allergic."

With that, he put on his sunglasses and mask, shoved his hands in his pockets, and left coolly.

Guo Shengyao: "..."

She sat down in the chair.

The room had been busy all day, with visitors constantly coming and going. The chair had barely had a moment's rest. Lin Yunshu's gaze rested on it helplessly for a moment.

"Shifu, I'm a bit confused..." Guo Shengyao looked toward the door, hesitating. "Is that the style all celebrities are into these days?"

"?"

Lin Yunshu was amused and chuckled.

·

Zhou Yu went home, took a thorough shower, shaved carefully, and slept.

This was Lin Yunshu's home, the place where Lin Yunshu had lived for two years. Every corner was imbued with his pleasant scent.

Zhou Yu buried his face in the pillow, inhaling the familiar smell. His heart felt gradually filled, yet at the same time, overwhelmingly empty.

When he was busy, he didn't notice it. But now, with time to rest, he couldn't help but think of Lin Yunshu again.

The thought that he would sink deeper and deeper into this scent alone, while Lin Yunshu would no longer be affected by his pheromones, made his heart feel as if a piece had been hollowed out.

Without the connection of pheromones, would Lin Yunshu still be willing to stay by his side?

Zhou Yu had always considered himself confident, but now he felt that confidence slipping away bit by bit.

He didn't sleep for long. He got ready, changed into clean, comfortable clothes, and prepared to return to the hospital to be with Lin Yunshu.

Tan Cong called.

Zhou Yu answered, "What's up?"

"I heard our junior had surgery?" Tan Cong sounded surprised. "What happened?"

There was a long silence from Zhou Yu's end.

"Hello? Hello?" Tan Cong urged. "Say something! Is your signal bad or what?"

"He..." Zhou Yu's voice was low, carrying a faint sigh. "He had an artificial gland implanted."

·

"What does having an artificial gland feel like?" Guo Shengyao asked.

Following the doctor's orders, she accompanied Lin Yunshu for a walk in the small garden downstairs from the hospital.

Lin Yunshu wasn't very keen on going out. He felt weak, becoming breathless after just a few steps. His cardiopulmonary function seemed worse than that of an octogenarian.

But he couldn't refuse the doctor's orders, which insisted he needed to move around after lying in bed for two full days.

"An artificial gland," Lin Yunshu breathed heavily, his exhales forming white puffs in the cold air. "It doesn't really feel particularly special."

Guo Shengyao noticed he seemed tired and gave him a hand.

"It's fine," Lin Yunshu smiled at her, pausing to catch his breath.

"Does it hurt?" Guo Shengyao asked.

"No, not really... I'm okay."

"Does it feel uncomfortable?"

"Of course, a little," Lin Yunshu said, "but mostly, it's a relief."

"Relief?"

Lin Yunshu gave a slight nod: "Relief."

Guo Shengyao didn't quite understand, her big eyes filled with confusion.

"For example," Lin Yunshu explained, "problems that troubled me for a long time can now be understood with just my heart."

Zhou Yu brought Lin Yunshu's favorite flowers.

He got out of the car, preoccupied, stepped into the elevator, still preoccupied, and stood anxiously outside the hospital room door.

"—Huff."

He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, composed himself, forced a natural smile, and knocked on the door.

"Yun Shu?"

No answer came from inside.

Zhou Yu knocked twice more, louder this time: "Yun Shu?"

Still, there was no response from behind the door.

His heart suddenly sank, and dreadful thoughts flashed through his mind.

"Yun Shu!"

Zhou Yu pushed the door open abruptly.

The room was empty, the deserted bed leaving only the snow-white pillow, its stark whiteness making him dizzy.

A buzzing started in his ears; the accumulated unease of these days brought him to the brink of collapse.

Had Lin Yunshu gone?

Where did he go?!

Did he really leave me?!

Blood rushed to his head; these thoughts instantly flooded his mind. Zhou Yu couldn't think of anything else.

Trembling, he fumbled for his phone to call Lin Yunshu, but the ringtone sounded from the bedside.

Lin Yunshu hadn't even taken his phone.

Zhou Yu's heart raced even faster. He frantically called Chen Shuyang and turned to run toward the nurse's station.

"Where's Lin Yunshu?" he barked into the phone.

With the wind rushing past as he ran and his own ragged breathing, Zhou Yu could barely make out Chen Shuyang's response.

"...Guo Shengyao? What about Guo Shengyao? ... I'm asking you, where the hell is Lin Yunshu!"

"—Boss?"

A familiar voice came from behind.

Zhou Yu stopped dead, as if rooted to the spot.

Such a familiar voice, he thought frantically, who was it?

Guo... right, Guo Shengyao!

He spun around, and when he saw the person standing not far away, his racing heart settled back into place with a palpable thud.

The breath he'd been holding finally escaped.

Zhou Yu felt like he could breathe once more.

Lin Yunshu stood in the busy hallway, bundled up in a thick sweater and down jacket, struggling forward like a white rice dumpling.

Zhou Yu charged toward him.

And swept the white rice dumpling into a tight hug.