Chapter 225: You’ve Got It Rough, Bro! (Modern)

Chapter 225: Bro, You've Got It Rough! (Present)

"Okay, thank you, doctor."

Qin Zhizhou helped Lin Huaiqing sit down in the hospital corridor, only then realizing he'd lost Lin Huaiqing's slippers in his rush.

So he just took off his jacket and draped it over Lin Huaiqing's legs.

"Babe, sit here for a moment. I'll go downstairs to pay the fees."

The second those words came out of Qin Zhizhou's mouth, they both froze.

Even Lin Huaiqing, whose stomach was cramping like crazy, forgot the pain for a moment. He looked up, frowning as he studied Qin Zhizhou.

"You... what did you call me?"

This familiar feeling—déjà vu. In the mission world, Qin Hanyue used to call him that all the time.

That address just now—he almost thought it was Qin Hanyue calling him.

Why did these two feel so similar to him?

It was like a lightbulb went off in his head. Sweating cold, he started studying Qin Zhizhou closely.

Hmm... they only looked about forty percent alike. In speech and mannerisms, one was from ancient times and the other was modern—hard to compare.

In build and height, both were on the taller side among adult men, with solid, muscular physiques—real clothes hangers.

Side by side, they still had a lot in common.

Lin Huaiqing's stare was a little too intense as he checked him out. Qin Zhizhou coughed guiltily, and without answering, got him situated and hurried downstairs to pay.

No matter how you looked at it, he was beating a hasty retreat.

Another searing wave of pain hit him, leaving no room for thought. He curled up into a ball on the chair in the hallway.

Either way, he owed Qin Zhizhou big time. The doctor had just said he had acute stomach perforation—if he hadn't gotten treatment in time, it could have been life-threatening.

He really had no choice but to call Qin Zhizhou. They were basically strangers who'd crossed paths.

Looks like he owed another big favor.

Thanks to Qin Zhizhou, Lin Huaiqing got a private room for his first hospital stay.

Just for today alone, he needed five IV bags. If he'd been stuck in a shared ward, the thought alone was unbearable.

"Thank you, Zhizhou. You've been running around all day—why don't you sit down and rest for a bit..."

The private room also had a sofa for visitors to sit on. Qin Zhizhou sat down, crossing his long legs as he looked over the exam report.

Every move he made gave off this indescribable mature, masculine charm.

"By the way, you fronted the money for my hospitalization, right? How much was it total? Add it up and I'll send it to you."

He'd never been to this private hospital before—it was pretty big. But just the private room alone meant it wouldn't be cheap.

The worst part was, he didn't have health insurance!!

When he first joined the Time-Space Bureau, they said employees would get the standard five insurances and one housing fund after one year of employment.

But he'd been working there for over a year now, and it still hadn't been taken care of.

But the pay per mission was so good that he'd completely forgotten about the insurance thing.

Now that he had to pay the full medical bill out of pocket, he really wanted to cry.

"It's no big deal, it wasn't much."

"How much is 'not much'?"

"Doesn't your stomach hurt anymore? You've got energy to worry about this? Don't need to be so exact with me."

"How can I let you do that?" His stomach wasn't hurting as badly as before, but he and Qin Zhizhou weren't family. There was no way he could let Qin Zhizhou pay such a large sum.

Seeing how insistent Lin Huaiqing was, Qin Zhizhou finally gave in. "Then let's talk about it after you get out of the hospital."

During his hospital stay, Qin Zhizhou was basically there the whole time, taking care of him. Even when Lin Huaiqing went to the bathroom, Qin Zhizhou would follow him, worried.

Everything else was fine, but the bathroom thing—he really couldn't stand Qin Zhizhou coming in.

"I have a stomach perforation, not a broken bone. I can go to the bathroom by myself."

Qin Zhizhou suddenly realized what he was doing and turned red instantly. He backed out of the bathroom and closed the door.

A young nurse who'd come to change the IV bag caught the whole thing and let out a "pfft" laugh:

"You two brothers are so close."

Lin Huaiqing: "..."

He figured it was just a joke, but Qin Zhizhou seriously told the nurse, "He's not my brother."

*He's my husband.*

Luckily, the nurse wasn't much of a gossip. She laughed it off and left.

"Aren't you busy with work? I can manage on my own." Mainly, it didn't feel right having Qin Zhizhou stay with him the whole time!

He'd already been misunderstood, and he hadn't even had the guts to say Qin Zhizhou was his boss.

After all, what boss stays by an employee's bedside?

Qin Zhizhou's eyes darkened, unreadable. He just quietly glanced at his watch:

"I have a meeting this afternoon. I won't come by. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning when you get discharged."

"Sounds good! Thanks a lot." Lin Huaiqing waved goodbye to Qin Zhizhou.

He didn't actually have any meetings for his job. But he could tell Lin Huaiqing was a bit uncomfortable with him being at the hospital.

So he'd decided to leave on his own.

Anyway, Lin Huaiqing was doing much better. As long as he didn't eat anything he shouldn't, he should be fine.

Back at the Time-Space Bureau, Qin Zhizhou sat in his office, idly taking apart his fountain pen to kill time.

He was completely distracted, half-thinking about how Lin Huaiqing was doing at the hospital while he fiddled with it. He ended up getting ink all over his hands.

As he frantically looked for paper to wipe it off, his office door suddenly burst open.

Looking up, it was someone he knew all too well.

"Why are you here? This is a psychological counseling office—surely even Young Master Duan doesn't have some kind of psychological issue?"

The moment he saw his childhood friend, Qin Zhizhou's mouth turned vicious. He wished he could get under the other's skin until he snapped.

Duan Mo wasn't about to take that lying down. Eyeing the ink stains all over Qin Zhizhou's hands, he teased, "Oh! A grown man like you, taking apart a pen to play with? What a hobby!"

"Just say it—what's up?"

"Can't I just come see you for no reason? What's been going on with you lately? You haven't been to the office in days. Got a hot date or something?"

Hmph! If only Lin Huaiqing would actually ask him out first. The whole time, he'd been the only one chasing—one-sided as hell.

Qin Zhizhou replied grumpily, "Do I have to sit at the office doing nothing? Can't I have my own life?"

"Look at you, getting all riled up! Seriously, if it's a relationship problem, why not let me help you sort it out?"

"You?"

Thinking about it, this dude was pretty popular with girls back in school, but Lin Huaiqing wasn't a girl—how was that the same?

After wrestling with it for a while, Qin Zhizhou finally decided to confide everything in Duan Mo.

Up until now, even Duan Mo hadn't been sure about his sexuality—hell, he hadn't been sure himself. So telling Duan Mo now was basically coming out of the closet, in a roundabout way...

He'd expected Duan Mo to be totally shocked, but the guy reacted like he'd seen it coming all along—barely even blinked.

"I like men—shouldn't you be shocked?"

When he first realized it, he hadn't slept a wink all night.

"Why should I be shocked? Back in school, you never dated anyone, you'd give girls the cold shoulder and basically freeze out anything with a pulse. So now you're gay—that's on you."

"..."

"But speaking of which, who's that employee you've been going through worlds with? Have I met this person?"

On that one, Qin Zhizhou kept his mouth shut.

But that didn't stop Duan Mo—he could just check the system himself later.

"So does he know that you were the villain in those worlds?"

"Of course not."

Even though those worlds weren't real, his feelings for Lin Huaiqing were. But he didn't want to use that to hold Lin Huaiqing back.

"Ah! Right, I forgot—entering a world as an admin means your memory gets wiped temporarily. So back then, you didn't know he was a transmigrator either. And every time, he died a brutal death, and after he came out of the world, he didn't even recognize you. Hahahaha, dude, you've got it bad!"