CH 69.1

T/N: I’m back! And reading through the comments and messages… Anyhow, down to the good stuff.

Thank you Lan  & an anonymous donor for supporting 1 extra release of SMM this week. (If I’ve forgotten anyone/misattributed their ko-fis, forgive me. Been playing catch up these couple of days.)

-k

Xu Xinghe didn’t know how the situation became like this –

He and Ling Changfeng just sat on the small sofa in the ward, one reading a book and the other reading documents, doing their own work and not disturbing each other.

Fortunately, books are a kind of existence that can quickly calm people’s hearts. Xu Xinghe gently turned over a page and read quietly under the soft light without feeling embarrassed.

The newly received roses were divided into two bunches, one was placed on the low table in front of them, and the other was placed in a vase by the bed.

The whole room was filled with the faint scent of roses.

The bright moon shone outside the window, illuminating the dark sky full of stars.

Xu Xinghe was reading a science fiction novel. The plot is full of ups and downs, and fascinating him so much that he forgot about the time.

Amidst his fascination, Xu Xinghe suddenly felt a little thirsty, so he casually said to the nurse beside him, “Can you pour me a glass of water? Thank you.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his body suddenly froze—

He forgot there were no doctors or nurses in the room.

Team Leader Xu raised his head stiffly, facing Marshal Ling’s gold and blue eyes, and immediately said with a knotted tongue: “No, no, I mean…”

He searched hard in his mind, trying to figure out how to finish his words, but he couldn’t find the right words. In the end, he stood up, planning to pour himself a cup and demonstrate that he did not mean to bother Grand Marshal Ling with the request.

Ling Changfeng glanced at him, and a smile flashed in his eyes: “Sit down.”

“Ah?” Xu Xinghe looked back and thought he had something to say, so he sat back obediently.

Then, he saw Ling Changfeng put down the portable optical brain in his hand, got up and walked towards the side hall.

After a while, he came back with two glasses of water.

Xu Xinghe: “…”

“Here you are.” Ling Changfeng handed over one of the cups.

Xu Xinghe: “…thank you.”

He took it with both hands and took a sip immediately, trying to hide his embarrassment with the cup.

Ling Changfeng waited for him to finish drinking before he said, “The doctor said that he will give you a full body examination tomorrow. If everything is okay, you’ll be discharged the day after tomorrow.”

Xu Xinghe’s eyes lit up.

But before he could speak, Ling Changfeng added: “But in the near future, you should take a good rest, pay attention to your diet, and don’t eat hotpot or those heavy things for a few days.”

Xu Xinghe: “…oh.”

Ah? He and Lin Qi were still chatting about meeting for hotpot in the group chat this afternoon!

Seeing his gloomy expression, Ling Changfeng tried to comfort his little spouse. Unfortunately, Marshal Ling, who has always been taciturn, isn’t proficient at comforting people. The first words out of his mouth were. “Don’t worry, you can have hotpot anytime in the future.”

Xu Xinghe: “…”

Ling Changfeng pondered for a while more upon seeing his expression, and continued: “When I have time, I will accompany you to eat hotpot next time.”

Xu Xinghe: “…”

Atmosphere is important when eating hotpot. In college, Xinghe would stare eagerly at the hotpot to grab the meat with his classmates. He always felt that the shabu-shabu plundered this way was particularly fragrant.

And Ling Changfeng’s iceberg aura and a hotpot restaurant’s fiery atmosphere can be described as two extremes. Xu Xinghe can’t even imagine what it would be like for him to grab meat with others.

Team Leader Xu was silent for a moment, and decided to change the subject: “How is Xiaoqi recently? I haven’t seen her for several days, and miss her.”

Ling Changfeng replied, “Xiaoqi is very good. She eats well and sleeps well. Aaron is also with her, you can see them the day after tomorrow.”

Hearing this, Xu Xinghe was both relieved and sad at the same time. He suddenly sighed softly: “Xiaoqi is now a big girl and has a boyfriend. She’s going to forget about me, this old father… At the beginning she would be depressed if she didn’t see me, but now she’s happily playing at home every day, isn’t she?”

As soon as he finished speaking, his heart suddenly moved. Recalling last night’s confession, his long reflex arc finally reacted after many days-

Ling Changfeng’s original sentence of “the cat misses you” was probably just a pretext for video calling with him.

Thinking of this, Xu Xinghe glanced at Ling Changfeng and muttered softly, “I just say, the cat won’t miss me…”

Damn, he actually believed in such an obvious scam!

After Ling Changfeng heard this, he pursed his lips, lowered his eyes slightly and said, “The cat misses you.”

“Huh?” Xu Xinghe naturally couldn’t believe these words.

Although he vaguely felt that continuing this topic might be a pit, seeing Ling Changfeng’s refusal to admit it, he couldn’t help but want to tease him: “How does the cat miss me? Waiting for me into autumn, losing sleep and appetite?”

Ling Changfeng lifted his eyelids and looked at him.

Xu Xinghe was stunned for a moment by his gaze, and couldn’t help but stammer: “Wh, what? It’s been fine without a video call for so many days, isn’t it?”

Ling Changfeng took the portable light brain and said in a low voice: “Because I saw you.”

Xu Xinghe was slightly startled: “What?”

Ling Changfeng paused for a few seconds, then lowered his head and resumed reading the electronic file. “Nothing.”

Xu Xinghe looked at him suspiciously. Unable to get a response from the other party, he too returned to reading his science fiction book.

This situation continued until eleven o’clock in the evening.

Xu Xinghe yawned, raised his hand to look at the time, and then relied on his patient identity to confidently expel someone from the room. “It’s getting late, I’m going to bed.”

Nodding, Ling Changfeng stood up without forcing it, and said good night to him.

—–

Early the next morning, Xu Xinghe was woken up by the sound of a group chat message.

Opening his eyes angrily in his sleep, he was wondering what happened to the ‘Do not Disturb’ mode on his phone. When he raised his hand, he remembered that Ling Changfeng had just replaced his old device with a brand new smartphone, and these modes were not set up yet.

Xu Xinghe raised his hand to check the time, it was 8:01 in the morning.

He has been sleeping until noon for the past two days before waking up, and his biological clock seemed to be fixed at this time. Therefore, after being suddenly woken up at eight in the morning, it was inevitable to have some sleep inertia.

Xu Xinghe opened the group chat impatiently. Originally, he wanted to take a glance. If there was nothing to do, he would switch it to mute and go back to sleep. Unexpectedly, after a glance, anger began to rise.

He couldn’t bear to open the voice chat, and said irritably: “Is there something wrong with you guys? What kind of mess are you discussing so early this morning?”

It was the Capital F4 group that kept ringing.

The fact that Xu Xinghe was kidnapped in Nanga was not exposed to the public, and only a few people within the Alliance knew about it.

Even his friends and colleagues only knew that he was suddenly “sick” and picked up by the Marshal’s people.

Xu Xinghe himself was even more tight-lipped about this, claiming he was fine, both internally and externally, and just needed to rest.

After emphasizing “I’m really fine” many times, Lin Qi and the others really thought he was fine, so the atmosphere in the group was still very harmonious.

Lin Qi: “Brother Xu, Marshal Ling gave you flowers?!”

Lin Qi: “What do the roses look like? Take a picture for us?”

Cheryl: “I want to see it too! Why didn’t you share with this group already? We’ll give it a like!”

Lin Qi: “Brother Xu, I also saw some gossip…”

Vincent: “We should’ve seen the same gossip = =”

Cheryl: “I know what you are talking about, but I don’t think it’s true… After so many years of friendship, Brother Xu wouldn’t hide this from us.”

Lin Qi: “Maybe it’s because it’s not time yet? Brother Xu is a person who insisted on going to work with a fever, but now he is suddenly hospitalized and on sick leave. I think there must be something tricky.”

Vincent: “Can you just ask him directly about this kind of thing?”

Lin Qi: “I want to ask too, but I’m afraid I’ll be beaten after asking.”

Cheryl: “Then I’ll help you. @Xu Xinghe Brother Xu, Lin Qi has a question he wants to ask you”

Lin Qi: “…”

XXH is finally enlightened about the cat video calls!

And that group chat is hilarious.

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