CH 9

While checking Xiao Ai in for hospitalization, Lin Zhixia met someone who took him by surprise.

Qiao Ruxu.

He wanted to pretend not to see him but Qiao Ruxu’s eyes had already landed on Lin Zhixia. After a brief pause, astonishment showed on Qiao Ruxu’s face and he then he smiled gently.

“Zhixia, what a coincidence meeting you here,” Qiao Ruxu’s voice was gentle, like a spring breeze. He lowered his head and saw the child in Lin Zhixia’s arms and his smile turned stiff, “This is…”

“This is my own child,” Lin Zhixia blurted out, then subconsciously pressed Lin Keai’s face towards his chest, hoping to hide his features, “He is sick, I- I’ll take him to see the doctor now. Let’s talk next time we meet.”

Qiao Ruxu nodded thoughtfully, “Okay, I understand. Goodbye.”

Lin Zhixia ran away as if being chased and took the little guy to the hospital ward. His heart was beating wildly.

He didn’t expect to meet Qiao Ruxu here. How awkward…

Although Qiao Ruxu was always smiling and very gentle, Lin Zhixia felt a bit ashamed in front of him. He felt like a thief, caught stealing the sweet time Qiao Ruxu and Luo Qin should have had, leaving their relationship a mess. Although the current Lin Zhixia hadn’t done those things, when he saw Qiao Ruxu, he would always feel a bit embarrassed.

Had Qiao Ruxu seen what Lin Keai looked like?

Xiao Ai was a cute and small version of Luo Qin, after all.

*　

Qiao Ruxu got the test sheet he had come for and walked out of the hospital feeling cold.

Although Lin Zhixia tried to hide it, he had seen the child’s face.

The child seemed to be about three or four years old.

Qiao Ruxu’s hand clenched into a fist. He originally thought that Lin Zhixia really got out of Luo Qin’s life for good. He didn’t expect…

Qiao Mei, this sister, was really making trouble for him everywhere.

Tongshi was not a small city but with Lin Zhixia and Luo Qin both living here, it was not impossible that they would meet by chance. Qiao Ruxu dug his fingernails into his palm and thought for a moment. Then he called Luo Qin. 

“Hey, Is something wrong?”

Qiao Ruxu paused and said, “Nothing is wrong, I just wanted to invite you to dinner.”

“I’m on a business trip. I won’t be back for a few days.”

“That’s okay,” Qiao Ruxu smiled, “Then, I’ll wait until you come back.”

Qiao Ruxu hung up the phone and looked back at the hospital building. After a moment, he withdrew his eyes, his face indifferent and quickly left. 

*

After a long time of running back and forth, Lin Keai was finally admitted to the ward.

The nurse was administering an IV to the little bean and Lin Zhixia sat next to him for a short rest. His heart hurt for his little guy, watching Lin Keai cry during the IV placement and constantly coughing. Lin Zhixia cried with him, feeling useless. 

Lin Keai finally fell asleep, his little brow wrinkled like an old man’s. 

They were in the general ward with other patients and there was a young boy next to them that was also getting an IV. The other boy wouldn’t stop screaming and Lin Keai was awoken more than once, scared and upset by the noise. 

When Xiao Ai woke up, he would cry and cry. He had to be coaxed for a while before he fell asleep again. Seeing his son so miserable, Lin Zhixia felt miserable too.

He felt like he couldn’t take good care of Lin Keai. 

Dr. Cheng had said that it was because the little one was not warm enough that he got pneumonia. And Lin Zhixia couldn’t afford to let Xiao Ai stay in a private hospital room. 

All their money was spent on the restaurant and Lin Zhixia barely had enough saved to pay for the hospital bills today. 

Lin Zhixia felt powerless and he blamed himself for all of his son’s misfortunes. 

When Lin Keai woke up, he was in a daze and he turned his head to see Lin Zhixia next to him, his dad’s eyes red from crying. 

With difficulty, he crawled to Lin Zhixia and rubbed his dad’s tears with his little hands. He said with a sweet voice, “Dad, don’t cry.”

Lin Zhixia grabbed his hand and kissed it, “Xiao Ai, don’t worry. Daddy’s not crying.”

Lin Keai’s coughing was better and he seemed to regain some spirit. But overall, he still looked like a wilted plant seedling. Lin Zhixia fed him some porridge, putting the spoon up to his mouth, “Open wide, ah-“

Lin Keai obediently opened his mouth to eat clear porridge that had no taste at all. He finished a bite and sighed like an old man, looking angry, “This injection is so painful, ah.”

Lin Zhixia looked at him and wanted to laugh. He smoothed out his face, “Now you can remember the pain. Dad told you not to play in the snow and you didn’t listen.”

Lin Keai lowered his head and covered his face in shame. He didn’t dare look at Lin Zhixia and groaned, “Dad, I’m dizzy.” He also learned how to change the subject…

Lin Zhixia was angry but couldn’t help feeling amused as well. Lin Keai peeked at his dad through the gap between his fingers and found that Lin Zhixia was not angry. He opened his mouth obediently again, “Dad, daddy, ah—”

Lin Zhixia had been worried about getting Lin Keai to take his medication before sleeping. Xiao Ai’s sinuses were so stuffy that his ears felt ready to explode and his throat hurt when he swallowed. He was worried Lin Keai would refuse. 

Unexpectedly, Lin Keai didn’t resist at all. Lin Zhixia put the medicine in his mouth and helped him take a sip of water. Lin Keai swallowed right away and then blinked, staring at his dad with big eyes.

Lin Zhixia was stunned, “Did you swallow it?”

Xiao Ai smiled cutely and opened his mouth, showing that the capsule was gone.

Lin Zhixia smiled and kissed him, “Good boy.”

The restaurant was closed for the day and Qin Zhe called to check in on them. After Lin Zhixia told him the reason, Qin Zhe wanted to visit the little bean but Lin Zhixia declined.

The snow was so heavy, it wouldn’t be easy to travel. 

Lin Zhixia gently patted Lin Keai’s back, watching him get drowsy again. Dr. Cheng came over to do his rounds and saw that the little one had fallen asleep and lowered his voice, “Don’t worry too much, he should be fine.”  

At his words, Lin Zhixia felt that the heavy stone in his heart got instantly lighter. He turned back to Lin Keai but realized that the doctor was still standing there, looking at them. 

Confused, he said, “Dr. Cheng? What’s the matter?”

Cheng Xuan retracted his gaze, “Nothing, do you want to stay in the room tonight?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, come to me if you have any questions.”

Lin Zhixia repeatedly thanked him. 

*

City A was experiencing freezing rain but Luo Qin braved the weather to return to his hotel. He changed his clothes, made a cup of coffee, turned on the computer. He was about to continue working when he received another message from Cheng Xuan.

He never had much patience for Cheng Xuan’s antics but thinking of their last phone call, Luo Qin opened the message right away.

He had sent two photos. From the angle and the view, they looked to be secretly taken, as if Cheng Xuan had been hiding outside the ward. They were blurry and awful but because of the subject matter, Luo Qin did not dislike the photos. 

The first photo was of Lin Zhixia feeding the child porridge. The profile of his face showed that his lips were slightly tilted up into a gentle smile. 

The second photo showed the little bean asleep in his hospital bed and Lin Zhixia leaning next to him with his eyes closed. 

In the pictures, Luo Qin could vaguely make out the child’s appearance. It was understandable why Cheng Xuan thought this child belonged to Luo Qin. 　　

The boy indeed looked somewhat similar to Luo Qin when he was a child.

It must have been that night…

Luo Qin’s heart inexplicably softened. Blood relationships were a very strange thing. Even though he didn’t know the existence of the little guy before, now that he had seen the boy, Luo Qin naturally began to think about a lot of things. 

This feeling was really quite amazing. Such a small guy was his child. He looked so cute and chubby in the photos, the slightly bulging belly under the quilt seen at a glance.

But most of Luo Qin’s thoughts were of Lin Zhixia. 

With an impartial eye, Luo Qin could see that Lin Zhixia was still very beautiful. Judging from the photos, he seemed to have lost a lot of weight but he also looked much happier. 

Why did Lin Zhixia have this child and then keep him from Luo Qin? Even if he didn’t know he was pregnant when he left, more than four years had passed. But Lin Zhixia never revealed this information to the Luo family.

He should be disgusted with this person but when Luo Qin saw Lin Zhixia’s smile in the photo, an inexplicable melancholy feeling surged into his heart.

Luo Qin called Cheng Xuan and he spoke straight to the point, “Arrange for them to stay in a single room.”

“Wow,” Cheng Xuan exclaimed, “Is this outside son now recognized by you?”

Luo Qin ignored him, “Don’t tell Lin Zhixia that you know me and don’t tell him that I asked you to do this. I’ll owe you a personal favor.” 

“Oh! President Luo will owe me a favor! That’s too great a chance to pass up so of course I have to help.” Cheng Xuan smiled and said, “It will be arranged tomorrow!”

Lin Zhixia woke up the next day and was notified that a single room was recently vacated and that they could move into it immediately. The new room was much larger and quieter than the previous one. Now Lin Keai could sleep soundly.

Lin Zhixia thought that maybe his bad luck was turning around. 

Cheng Xuan came as they were moving rooms and started to help them. Lin Zhixia felt that the doctor was a little familiar but couldn’t place where they would have met so he brushed the feeling aside. 

Having interacted with Cheng Xuan so often lately, he felt comfortable with the man’s presence and he made sure to thank him profusely. 

“Didn’t sleep well yesterday, did you?” Cheng Xuan pushed his glasses up, “There are two beds here so you can sleep in that empty bed if you spend the night again.”

Lin Zhixia smiled, “Actually, it wasn’t too bad last night.”

“It’s okay for a day or two but any longer having to sleep like that would be a problem, right?” Cheng Xuan smiled, “How’s the little guy doing?”

“He’s doing better but he still has a cough.”

Cheng Xuan nodded and spoke of some precautions to take so that Lin Keai didn’t get sick again at home while Lin Zhixia took studious notes.