Chapter 15: Don't fall off a horse

Xi Zirui almost drops his tray with the suddenness of being jostled, but whoever surprised him wraps a hand around his right arm to steady it in place under the tray.

"Come this way" a smooth voice says whispering the words into Xi Zirui's ear, and making the fine hairs on his nape stand on end. He recognizes Su Xueyi's mellow baritone immediately.

He lets himself be led behind the curtain, which clearly served as some extra storage space initially, but that either Su Xueyi or someone else turned into a secluded eating nook by dragging a table and two folding chairs there.

Su Xueyi takes the tray from Xi Zirui's hands and sets it on the table where there are already a few takeout boxes and some cold drinks, along with a steaming pot of tea.

Is this what Su Xueyi was doing when he left Xi Zirui alone in the middle of the dining hall?

"Why didn't you tell me?" Xi Zirui says, sitting down at the table. "I thought you didn't want to have lunch with me."

Su Xueyi opens one of the takeout boxes, picks Xi Zirui's serving of bland vegetables and dumps them into the rich red sauce, stirring everything together with a pair chopsticks.

"I thought maybe you didn't want to leave the set and risk being recognized," he says waving vaguely, before filling a bowl for Xi Zirui to eat. "So I went to grab some food while you were in the meeting with Manager Li."

Xi Zirui accepts the bowl from Su Xueyi with mixed feelings. He would like some forewarning before Su Xueyi made decisions for him.

Was he so displeased that Xi Zirui didn't want to have dinner with him the other day, that he found a contrived way to make it impossible for him to refuse?

It's true that Xi Zirui wasn't looking forward to sitting alone in the dining hall under everyone's curious glances, but if it was up to him he would have preferred to have lunch alone in his own trailer.

Su Xueyi sits down in front of Xi Zirui and takes a bowl for himself.

"Why go to all this trouble, wouldn't it be better if I just had lunch alone in my trailer?" Xi Zirui asks, picking disinterestedly, at the noodles in his bowl.

Su Xueyi shakes his head and cracks open the tab on a can of beer. "Manager Li instructed me that you should have a meal in public, and alone from Han laoshi. If you ate in your trailer it would be very easy for the illegal photographers to shoot you going in, and for people online to speculate that Han laoshi was waiting inside for you."

He grins at Xi Zirui, his cheeks dimpling. "I thought you might appreciate this compromise."

Xi Zirui lowers his eyes and looks down at his food, a little ashamed of himself. He should really stop expecting the worst of people, especially someone who has always been nice to him like Su Xueyi.

He blames it on prolonged exposure to Han Yu.

"Mn," he hums noncommittally. "Thank you, you're very thoughtful."

There's something about Su Xueyi's attentiveness that sits wrongly with Xi Zirui, despite him realizing he's probably overthinking everything.

His own uncharitable thoughts sour his appetite.

The meal doesn't go down easily, and Xi Zirui ends up stealing a swig of Su Xueyi's beer to help wash it all down.

Su Xueyi meets his eyes over the beer can, and winks at him.

---

After lunch, Xi Zirui has horse riding to look forward to. Something he has never done before, but that Ni Ni informs him, the original Xi Zirui has.

Some of the first scenes at the beginning of filming involved Hai Yaomei riding dashingly beneath the setting sun, his long, sleek hair waving behind him like a silk flag.

Xi Zirui has watched those dallies, so he knows what he needs to live up to.

Just effortlessly ride an animal twice his size.

He's looking up at horse, into it's odd, strangely human eyes, and willing it not to kill him, when Ni Ni pings with a sudden warning.

"Host! Danger, please check previous notifications. Host! Danger."

Xi Zirui has been entertaining the thought that maybe whatever he did yesterday managed to shut off Ni Ni for good. It's apparent that fate wouldn't be so kind to him.

Whatever, he can't deal with her now.

"Ni Ni fuck off," he whispers discreetly into his wrist, trying to avoid being overheard.

Ni Ni's mechanical voice shuts off immediately, and Xi Zirui goes back to facing his much more pressing concerns in the eye.

"Whenever you're ready, Xi laoshi" Director Liao says, leaning back on her chair with a sigh.

Xi Zirui has been locked in a standoff with the horse for a good ten minutes. Neither he, or the horse, have come to any agreement.

"I'm just trying to make sure, we, uh, are on the same page," Xi Zirui says, turning a close-lipped smile on Liao Min.

"Are you expecting the horse to answer you?" she asks, her disbelief tinged with rueful amusement.

No, I'm expecting the horse to let me know, telepathically, that he isn't going to throw me on the ground the moment I climb on him, Xi Zirui thinks to himself.

Out loud he says, "Something like that."

When he can no longer stave off the inevitable. He takes a sobering breath, steels his nerves, sets one foot on the stirrup, hangs on the pommel of the saddle and hefts himself up.

He can scarcely believe it when he manages to sit up on the saddle with no issue.

He's riding a horse right now, a dizzying distance off the ground, but he managed it, and both he and the horse are fine.

Feeling an insurmountable wave of gratitude, he runs his fingers down the side of the horse's neck, whispering gratefully, "Thank you for not killing me."

At that exact moment the horse neighs loudly and kicks up on his hind legs.

In a split-second, Xi Zirui is no longer riding a horse, he's approaching the ground that only moments ago seemed so far away at terminal velocity.

In a desperate effort to break his fall, Xi Zirui swings his arms backwards to try and brace with his hands.

As soon as his entire weight falls on top of his straining wrists a shooting pain runs up his arms.

His ear-shattering scream of pain makes a flock of birds fly out of a nearby copse of trees in a flurry of flapping wings and loud shrieks.

---

The ride do the hospital in the ambulance is a blur to Xi Zirui, he loudly proclaims during the whole drive, to the paramedics, to Li Siqi, to Su Xueyi, to everyone who'll listen, that he's going to die.

"Tell my family I love them," he says, looking up tearfully at Su Xueyi's kind eyes.

Only belatedly does he realize that his family isn't his family in this world. He's going to die without seeing his grandma one last time, his aunt, and his little cousin...

This is the punishment he deserves for his hubris.

He complained about his lot in life and now the universe is punishing him.

"Sir, I don't think anyone can die from a fractured wrist," one of the paramedics says, giving Xi Zirui an odd look. "That is if your wrists are even fractured..."

"Of course they're fractured! There's probably an exposed fracture," Xi Zirui wails. He's afraid to even look down at his arms for fear of what he'll find.

"There are no exposed fractures," Li Siqi says, sighing loudly.

That doesn't matter, Xi Zirui knows the pain he's in. There's no way his wrist bones aren't broken in a million pieces, ground into fine dust, turned to jelly inside his skin.

"How long until we reach the hospital? I think I'm going to pass out," he asks, voice reedy.

Moments later, he does.

---

"It's just a mild sprain," the doctor says, examining Xi Zirui's x-rays under the bright light of his hospital bedroom. "A few days wearing a brace and you should be good as new."

Xi Zirui sinks into the pillows behind his head. "Are you sure?"

The doctor gives him an amused look. "Quite. I'll prescribe a few painkillers as well, but don't overdo it, the pain shouldn't be too severe."

Li Siqi huffs in annoyance. "Does doctor think we can replace the braces for compression bandages after a few days?" she asks glaring at Xi Zirui.

The doctor shrugs. "I don't see why not, it's a really mild sprain, no real damage to the tissue or tendons, the force of the impact caused some internal trauma and bruising, but if he doesn't put strain on his wrists then the compression bandages should work well."

"Great, thank you doctor," Li Siqi's pleased smile means trouble for Xi Zirui.

He knows better than to expect a break from filming the drama until his wrists heal, with her eyes glinting maniacally like that.

---

After he's discharged from the hospital, Su Xueyi drives him and Li Siqi back to the hotel.

Li Siqi helps him get settled in his room, begrudgingly, and informs him that he has the rest of the day off, and that she'll inform him of the adjustments made to his schedule tomorrow.

Even with the braces still on, she expects him to work!

The entertainment industry is insane and Xi Zirui lies in his hotel bed swaddled in blankets and pillows, wondering how he can sue them all.

The worst part is that he can't even enjoy the time off because the doctor told him to stay away from any activity that puts strain on his wrists and hands.

Which definitely includes playing video games. The one thing Xi Zirui was looking forward to do.

He gives the Nintendo Switch thrown over one of the seats in the room a forlorn look.

He guesses he could check whatever Ni Ni was prattling about earlier, before his fall, but his day has already gone to shit, he doesn't expect anything Ni Ni says will actually improve it.

He turns on the TV and watches some news channel despritedly.

The sun sets outside the hotel's panoramic windows while Xi Zirui allows himself to wallow in his own boredom.

He's almost falling asleep when he hears the chirping of someone opening his room door with a keycard.

He hears shuffling footsteps outside in the living area drawing closer to the bedroom.

Han Yu sticks his head behind the bedroom's sliding doors and pouts at Xi Zirui. "I heard didi was injured."

Xi Zirui closes his eyes and falls back on his nest of pillows with a sigh. "How did you get in here?"

Han Yu's smirk is a thing of menace. "I sweet-talked one of girls at the reception, she supports our love and doesn't believe any of the vile things they're saying about me."

Xi Zirui curses under his breath and mentally adds the nameless girl to the list of people he's going to sue.

"Why did you come? We're not supposed to interact."

Han Yu's eyes grow comically wide and he spreads his arms to encompass the whole room. "And who's watching now? I was so well behaved today, I kept my distance the entire time."

He jumps up onto the bed and lays on his side, supporting his cheek on the open palm of his hand. He grins up at Xi Zirui before saying, "Don't I deserve a reward for being such a good boy?"

Xi Zirui scoffs. "More like you heard I was injured and knew I wouldn't be able to strangle you if you annoyed me."

Han Yu, the asshole, has the thick face to grin wider. "That too."