CH 42

Xia Xingchi’s dazed and flustered brain completely crashed, and it was completely impossible to understand what Li Chengyuan was talking about.

Watching him spit out another mouthful of blood, obviously in excruciating pain with his whole body silently trembling, Xia Xingchi’s heart seemed to be trembling too.

“Don’t cry……”

Li Chengyuan’s voice was hoarse, and he spoke with difficulty, but he still tried his best to say: “The bank card password is your birthday……the will is in the drawer……it’s all for you.”

He was already having trouble breathing, and it took a lot of effort to say this.

Xia Xingchi saw that his chest almost didn’t rise again after speaking and was horrified, scared and angry at what were obviously intended to be his last words.

“Stop talking! Shut up and don’t talk!”

“You’re going to be fine, don’t think about all that nonsense!”

Li Chengyuan smiled through his exhaustion and slowly closed his eyes.

Last time, he had lost consciousness very quickly and didn’t have time to say anything. He didn’t have such a strong and painful sense of dying at this moment.

The injury on his back was naturally very painful, but compared to the knife-like pain in his heart, it was nothing.

Fortunately, emergency personnel had followed closely behind the police and arrived quickly.

In the ambulance, Xia Xingchi stared wide-eyed at Li Chengyuan while holding his hand, as if he would disappear before his eyes if he got distracted.

Beijing was too big, and the journey was long and difficult.

Li Chengyuan woke up for a while during this time. Seeing Xia Xingchi’s overly-terrified appearance with thorns bursting all over his body, he seemed to want to say a few words of comfort.

But the oxygen mask was on his face, and he couldn’t speak due to drowsiness, so he could only squeeze Xia Xingchi’s hand with all his strength to comfort him silently.

— If he had known he would be so afraid, he would not have mentioned the inheritance.

Li Chengyuan had always been meticulous. Where there was a possibility of death, he also wanted to explain what he was leaving behind as clearly as possible, so as to avoid unnecessary trouble and confusion for Xia Xingchi.

But in Xia Xingchi’s eyes, this was extraordinarily terrifying. Perhaps due to the influence of various film and television works, he firmly believed that a person who spoke his last words would die.

Li Chengyuan lowered his eyes slowly, helpless and unable to explain any further. He could only hold Xia Xingchi’s hand as hard as he could, but lost consciousness again after a moment.

. . . . . .

Up until he sat outside the emergency room, Xia Xingchi’s mind was blank. Even though it was not the first time he had experienced this scene, he was still in a state of confusion.

His mind was full of Li Chengyuan’s cold, powerless hands hanging down, the bright red at the corners of his lips, and his paper-pale face that seemed like it would vanish at any moment.

In the ambulance, because he was so nervous and frightened, the doctor took the initiative to comfort him and say that he would be fine. Although the patient’s condition was not ideal, the mortality rate was not terrible.

Xia Xingchi nodded numbly, but didn’t feel relieved at all.

Even if there was a one percent chance of death, it would be one hundred percent hopeless for Xia Xingchi if it fell on Li Chengyuan.

What’s more, his heart had been damaged before, and he hadn’t fully recovered. It was the most vulnerable recovery period, and the possibility of rescue failure was not so low.

Xia Xingchi was sitting in a chair at this moment. He reached up and rubbed his face vigorously, his heart in a mess, and all kinds of thoughts crowded inside his non-functioning brain.

For Xia Yu and Li Shengrui, those idiots who wore protagonist halos, maybe they could survive even if they were at death’s door.

But for Li Chengyuan, as the villain of the original book, perhaps his established destiny was to be killed by the vicious protagonists.

Then the last time he tried to turn the tide and drag him out of the gates of hell, what if it was just a fluke and the ending couldn’t be changed at all?

Was everything just a powerless, futile struggle?

At this moment, the police came forward and asked if he could make an immediate statement.

The clearer everything could be made initially, the sooner they could solve the case and prevent the would-be murderer from destroying evidence or even absconding for fear of punishment.

Xia Xingchi bit the tip of his tongue when he heard these words, and took another deep breath, finally regaining some of his senses after the chaos of utter stupefication.

Although he not only wanted to stay here and guard Li Chengyuan at all times, and also wished he could go into the emergency room and watch over him, thinking of Li Shengrui made him gnash his teeth with hatred, so he naturally couldn’t give him another chance to escape.

Because family members may need to be present at this time, the police officers were very considerate and didn’t make Xia Xingchi go down to the police station to make his statement. It was simply carried out in a single office prepared by the hospital.

Xia Xingchi took a sip of water from a paper cup. Although his heart trembled as he recalled the whole story, he still had to speak clearly in order to bring the devil to justice.

The car that intentionally smashed through the gate, as well as the series of events such as the gangsters who suddenly began trying to brutally murder people, Xia Xingchi described them as carefully as possible and took a deep breath:

“That’s right. I saw Li Shengrui on the path. He might have wanted to pretend to be Li Chengyuan to lead me there, but I didn’t follow him.”

At this thought, another heinous plot emerged in Xia Xingchi’s mind along with a deep fear:

— What if I had really followed him?

Once he fell into Li Shengrui’s hands, he would inevitably become the biggest advantage to manipulate and threaten Li Chengyuan.

Before this incident happened, Xia Xingchi didn’t know how important he was in Li Chengyuan’s heart, and only thought of himself as an insignificant hired substitute.

But after experiencing the moment when Li Chengyuan didn’t even care about his own life, desperately protecting him with his own flesh and blood, there was nothing more powerful to show that his estimation of himself was wrong.

It was hard for Xia Xingchi to imagine what would have happened had he become a hostage.

Thinking in the simplest and crudest direction, for example, if Li Chengyuan was threatened to stand in the middle of the road, waiting for that deadly speeding car to come……

And if he really agreed……

Xia Xingchi couldn’t help being horrified, but also gritted his teeth in hatred.

If it weren’t for Li Shengrui, that asshole who deserved a miserable death, Li Chengyuan naturally wouldn’t have had his life hanging by a thread twice in a row. 

After a lot of effort, he had managed to raise the body of his big cat to be a little healthier. Two days ago, when Li Chengyuan’s pale face had finally gained a bit of color, Xia Xingchi was extremely excited and felt a sense of accomplishment and a desire to continue to work hard.

But in such a short period of time, they were able to strike so crazily and boldly twice in a row.

Just now when those iron rods were swung down viciously with the aim of killing Li Chengyuan, Xia Xingchi hardly dared to recall the terrifying sound of the impact falling on his back.

Just the thought made him tremble with pain, wishing he could bear it for him.

Xia Xingchi tried his best to keep calm, biting the tip of his tongue and forcing himself to recall every detail as carefully as possible, trying to explain everything that could be said with absolute clarity.

If Li Chengyuan could escape the fate of death this time, then the most urgent thing was to immediately bring the vicious protagonists gong and shou to justice and put them in prison for life.

The person who tied the bell on the tiger’s neck should be the one to untie it, and by completely blocking the source of death, maybe his fate could be changed —

Of course, that was on the premise that Li Chengyuan survived.

Xia Xingchi finally finished speaking. He raised his eyes and saw that there were so many reliable and friendly police officers present who were comforting him, but he still felt extremely helpless.

He didn’t know when it started, but Li Chengyuan had become his safe haven in the world. The drifting boat with no family or friends had finally found a harbor willing to block the wind and rain for him.

Someone suddenly knocked on the door at this time, and the three thump thump thumps seemed to beat in time with his heart.

Xia Xingchi quickly stood up, knowing that if someone had come to look for him at this moment, it probably had something to do with the result of the rescue.

The doctor opened the door and said: “The patient is currently out of immediate danger, but his vital signs are still unstable, and sudden cardiac arrest may occur at any time.”

“I read the previous medical records, and the heart problem is serious. Old injuries are piled on top of new ones. Whether his life can be saved depends on the situation tonight.”

Hearing this, Xia Xingchi frowned and pursed his lips for a long moment, then sat back on the chair dejectedly.

This result was obviously not good news, but it was indeed not the worst.

Because he couldn’t accompany him in the intensive care unit, he couldn’t even take a look at how his big cat was doing. He could only sit outside and wait anxiously.

He wanted to stay outside and guard the room all night, but was stopped by Zhao Yinhe, who hurried over after hearing the news.

Zhao Yinhe patted him on the shoulder: “Don’t worry, it’s useless to stay here, right? Go back and have a good rest, maybe there will be good news tomorrow?”

Xia Xingchi lowered his eyes, then heard Zhao Yinhe suddenly speak again: “Wait, your hand is hurt! Why hasn’t such a deep cut been bandaged?”

Hearing this, he looked down and realized that the palm of his right hand had been cut to pieces in the chaos.

It wasn’t until now that the blood had solidified and stopped flowing. He hadn’t realized, nor did he feel the piercing pain.

“Come on! Hurry up and get the wound treated. I’ll ask if you need a tetanus shot in a while — after you’ve taken care of it, hurry up and sleep!”

Zhao Yinhe knew best how much Li Chengyuan treasured Xia Xingchi. Let alone such a deep cut, Li Chengyuan couldn’t bear for him to have even a little scratch.

Xia Xingchi had been through too many things in one night, and was still a little slow and confused.

So even as he used a cotton swab soaked in alcohol to wipe off the dust, dirt, and debris in the wound, and got a tetanus shot, he forgot to feel the pain.

The nurse promptly encouraged: “Our teacher Xiao Xia is awesome!”

She took the initiative to get a staff lunch box for Xia Xingchi, so that he could have some dinner.

Xia Xingchi looked at the lunch box, but suddenly remembered his promise to treat a guest earlier and take Li Chengyuan to have a luxurious meal.

— But this man had saved him money.

. . . . . .

After reluctantly eating some dinner and drinking some water, Xia Xingchi lay on the bed, unable to sleep.

He was anxious at first but in the dead of night, he suddenly remembered Li Chengyuan’s words “of course my loved one is……”

There was too much confusion before, so he didn’t pay attention to the ambiguous and implicit meaning, but recalling the sentence now, Xia Xingchi was shocked.

— Does this sentence mean what I think it means?!

This sentence was vague and ambiguous. After all, their employment relationship was also on the basis of him being a “loved one.”

Both of them showed their affection every day, so he and Xia Xingchi naturally also had the status of lovers.

But it seemed wrong to think so. Li Chengyuan was trembling in pain at that time, but still insisted on saying these words.

If it was really just to emphasize their employment relationship, this boss was too dedicated.

However…..

Xia Xingchi’s heart was beating like a drum. On the one hand, he was apprehensive about the crisis situation where the big cat’s fate was uncertain, and on the other hand, he was throbbing with this sudden ambiguity.

His heartbeat pounded in his ears, shaking him so much that he couldn’t fall asleep. It wasn’t until dawn that he finally dozed off for a while.

His sleep was not peaceful, and he woke up again after just a few hours.

He was looking forward to receiving the good news that Li Chengyuan was out of danger, and nervously prayed that the gears of fate would change the direction of their rotation and let go of his family, the “big villain” who had yet to do anything bad.

Then he would ask if the meaning of Li Chengyuan’s words was the same as what he thought.

Anxiety and fear blended together with a trace of ambiguous sweetness. The feeling was so strange that Xia Xingchi was even less able to sleep once he woke up, and lay on the bed with his eyes open, hoping for good news.

He was stretching out his hand to stare at the diamond engagement ring on his finger, thinking that it might not be impossible to spend the rest of his life with Li Chengyuan, when he suddenly heard footsteps at the door.

There was only this one VIP ward on the entire top floor, so the owner of those footsteps would naturally be looking for him.

Xia Xingchi jumped up at once, his heart beating faster, and stared at the door with wide eyes.

There was a knock on the door, but to his disappointment, his big cat was not being sent back to the ward at this time.

A doctor came in, wearing a serious expression.

He slowly took off his glasses and said in a calm tone: “Family member, go take a good look at the patient again.”

Xia Xingchi was startled when he heard these words, and there was a loud boom in his head, which made him instantly tremble.

“What do you mean…..? Doctor, what do you mean?!” 

Xia Xingchi felt that he might be having an extremely terrifying nightmare, but he was exceptionally awake.

He jumped up quickly, put on his coat and shoes, and rushed all the way downstairs. 

— How could Li Chengyuan fail to survive the critical period?

— But I haven’t asked him what that sentence really means!

Xia Xingchi gritted his teeth and followed the signs all the way to the room’s open door.

Li Chengyuan had been transferred out of the intensive care unit. Maybe since he was dying, everything was unnecessary and he wasn’t even hooked up to the monitoring equipment. 

He had already woken up, and seeing Xia Xingchi hurriedly pushing the door in, he turned around weakly and with difficulty.

“How could this be…..” Xia Xingchi stepped forward and grabbed his hand, tears close to dripping from his eyes.

Li Chengyuan’s lips moved, and he said in a low voice: “You heard what I said last night……don’t you like money? I will give you all my inheritance.”

Xia Xingchi’s tears fell down at once. 

He had obviously been waiting for this moment, planning to happily inherit the huge inheritance of the short-lived villain and then eat, drink, and be merry.

But now that everything was happening before his eyes, he didn’t feel any joy at all. The little money-grubber who had always loved money choked up and said: 

“I don’t want money – please don’t scare me like this, please don’t die, okay?”

Li Chengyuan suddenly coughed for a moment.

Seeing this, Xia Xingchi hurriedly moved to help him up a little, so that he wouldn’t choke if he coughed up blood.

“Xia Xingchi, can you promise me……cough cough……”

He began to cough again before he could finish speaking. Xia Xingchi saw that he was going to voice his last wish, and wipe away his tears, saying firmly in a low voice:

“Say it, I agree to whatever you say!”

Li Chengyuan struggled to get his coughing under control and said with a pale face: “We have been engaged for a long time, but you’ve been unwilling to get the certificate.”

Xia Xingchi was taken aback.

He had thought his procrastination was just a trivial matter, and had never thought that this would become Li Chengyuan’s regret.

Since he knew he was going to die, why bother to think so much? Why couldn’t he accommodate him a little bit and get a pair of red books?

Xia Xingchi lowered his head and couldn’t help thinking —

Not to mention, I might really fall in love with Li Chengyuan.

“All right, let’s get married now.” Xia Xingchi looked into Li Chengyuan’s eyes. “I’m willing now, okay? Can you hold on a little longer? You have to be alive for us to get married.”

Li Chengyuan heard this and said with a sigh: “If I survive, you’ll marry me?”

“Yes! I promise to marry you,” Xia Xingchi swore earnestly, extremely determined as he wiped away his tears.

Li Chengyuan asked again: “But, do you really like me?”

“I……”

This question really stumped Xia Xingchi.

He had never thought about this matter, and just when there was a slight throbbing and germination in his heart, he was directly asked by the other party.

He himself couldn’t figure out what kind of feeling this was, so how should he answer?

Seeing his hesitation, Li Chengyuan smiled faintly.

Xia Xingchi was immediately filled with infinite disappointment in himself, and couldn’t help but feel guilty for treating a dying person like this. How good would it be to make him happy by giving an affirmative answer?

Before he could speak, Li Chengyuan said calmly: “Kiss me, okay?”

Xia Xingchi’s eyes widened, and his heart throbbed even more.

He naturally knew that in the current context, the ambiguous meaning contained in this kiss would be completely different from the impulsive kiss when the two first met.

“But…..”

This time, he only hesitated for half a second. Thinking that he would never be able to kiss or touch the person in front of him again for the rest of his life, he immediately stopped hesitating.

He was even more proactive than ever before.

First he kissed Li Chengyuan’s forehead lightly and tentatively, and then kissed him again on the cheek. 

Li Chengyuan’s familiar and pleasant fragrance lingered on the tip of Xia Xingchi’s nose, and he suddenly felt that he could answer that question now —

It seemed that he had really fallen in love with Li Chengyuan.

Li Chengyuan’s eyes narrowed slightly at the kiss, and it went unnoticed that he looked like a satisfied, happy big cat at the moment.

The tips of his ears were slightly red, and he was thinking that since the purpose of getting a promise of marriage had been achieved,  it was time for a showdown. He could no longer provoke his little hedgehog —

But Xia Xingchi suddenly bent down without warning and kissed Li Chengyuan’s lips directly!

The kissing technique was extremely unproficient, but unprecedentedly intense and passionate.

Li Chengyuan was stunned for a moment, unable to recover from the “unexpected joy” for a long time.

It took some time before he stretched out his arms to embrace Xia Xingchi, turning from passive to active and leading this reckless and passionate kiss. For a moment, his sanity completely dissipated.

. . . . . .

After an unknown amount of time, Xia Xingchi finally pushed Li Chengyuan away again due to a lack of oxygen, but suddenly realized that this position was wrong —

Someone who was originally “weak” to the point of struggling to speak had sat up in shock at the moment of dying, getting up to pull him into his arms and hug him tightly.

The kiss after losing the upper hand was even more intense. Xia Xingchi was almost unable to bear the lack of oxygen, yet a certain person’s expression never changed, and he didn’t even seem to have kissed enough.

Xia Xingchi: “……”

Seeing his sudden change of expression, Li Chengyuan remembered that there seemed to have been some script that was washed away by strong affection, and he had completely forgotten to keep pretending.

The scene froze, falling into deathly silence.

After a long time, Xia Xingchi finally came back to his senses and roared loudly at once: “Li Chengyuan! How dare you deceive me?!”