Chapter 6: A Bath Together, With a Rival
The brief moment of daze was replaced by anger and disgust. If Chi Qui Lin had the strength, he would have slapped Liu Ming Zhou to the ground.
Unfortunately, his hands couldn’t even lift a bowl of porridge, so he could only rely on his mouth to defend his dignity. “Liu Ming Zhou, are you sick?”
Hearing Chi Qui Lin’s accusation, Liu Ming Zhou seemed to realize what he’d done. He sat stiffly, speechless.
Chi Qui Lin found the man’s thick skin amusing. He had clearly done something wrong, yet he looked utterly aggrieved. Shameless.
So Chi Qui Lin decided to humiliate the shameless man.
After some thought, the physically weak Chi Qui Lin decided to use words. After all, he was currently wearing the “Jing Qiu Chi” disguise; why not use it to his advantage?
With that in mind, Chi Qui Lin lazily leaned against the bed railing, slowly taunting, “You’re quite the beast, aren’t you? Calling me ‘brother’ while doing this to me. Tsk tsk, what kind of indecent quirk is this?”
Liu Ming Zhou couldn’t bear the insult. His thin lips opened and closed, before he stammered, “Brother, I, I’m sorry.”
Seeing his rival’s defeat, Chi Qui Lin’s spirits soared. He was about to speak again when Yao Xin Yu warned, “Mr. Jing, watch your words.”
Chi Qui Lin was startled, speechless for a moment. Yao Xin Yu’s bias completely extinguished his arrogance. He hung his head like a child who had done wrong, then suddenly realized – Liu Ming Zhou was the one who had done wrong; he was in the right! Why should he back down?
Realizing this, Chi Qui Lin lifted his head, courageously meeting Yao Xin Yu’s eyes. Even though the coldness and hostility in those eyes added to his distress and pain, he faced the blade, aggressively retorting, “What? You mean you think Liu Ming Zhou kissing me is reasonable? Should I just play along and let him kiss me some more?”
“You—” Yao Xin Yu gritted his teeth, unable to utter a single word of rebuttal. He felt he must have been blind yesterday to think this person resembled Chi Qui Lin. After all, Chi Qui Lin was much more well-behaved and would never say such shameless words.
Seeing the tension between them rise, Liu Ming Zhou sincerely apologized to Chi Qui Lin and prepared to take him to bathe.
Chi Qui Lin allowed Liu Ming Zhou to carry him out of the hospital and into the car. Despite the overwhelming disgust, he still had the energy to lift his arm, hook it around Liu Ming Zhou’s neck, and make a face at Yao Xin Yu, full of provocation and sarcasm.
Yao Xin Yu didn’t love him anyway, so he might as well cause some trouble for his scumbag ex-boyfriend, as revenge for his past self.
Once this idea took hold, Chi Qui Lin went further. Seeing Yao Xin Yu about to get into the car, Chi Qui Lin immediately clung to his rival’s leg, pointing at Yao Xin Yu and imperiously ordering, “Xiaozhou, I don’t want to see that person today.”
Liu Ming Zhou complied, telling Yao Xin Yu, “Don’t follow us.”
Yao Xin Yu looked like he wanted to devour Chi Qui Lin alive, but under Liu Ming Zhou’s gaze, he conceded, turning silently to leave.
Using his rival as a tool to get back at his scumbag ex-boyfriend felt satisfying. But while Chi Qui Lin felt outwardly pleased, the deep wounds in his heart remained unhealed, even more lacerated.
As soon as Liu Ming Zhou got Chi Qui Lin home, he started to undress him.
Chi Qui Lin was shocked. “What are you doing?”
Liu Ming Zhou stated confidently, “Helping you bathe. Are you going to the rehabilitation center like this?”
Chi Qui Lin considered it and silently accepted. He endured his discomfort, allowing Liu Ming Zhou to completely undress him and carry him into the bathroom.
The water temperature was perfectly controlled by Liu Ming Zhou. Chi Qui Lin relaxed in the bathtub, glancing at his rival carefully washing his body, his mind involuntarily replaying the text message, “Chi Qui Lin, let’s end this.”
Anger flared. Chi Qui Lin glared at the murderer, slowly saying, “Yao Xin Yu told me today that Chi Qui Lin committed suicide because of a text message.”
The hand holding the towel froze. Liu Ming Zhou stared at Chi Qui Lin, his eyes filled with complex emotions that Chi Qui Lin couldn’t decipher.
To confirm Yao Xin Yu wasn’t lying, Chi Qui Lin continued probing, “Yao Xin Yu also said the message wasn’t from him. So who sent it?”
This question was extremely sharp. If the message wasn’t from Liu Ming Zhou, he would feel Yao Xin Yu was slandering him; if it was from Liu Ming Zhou, he’d feel betrayed by Yao Xin Yu.
Either way, it would affect their relationship.
Chi Qui Lin smugly anticipated this, until the sound of a towel falling to the floor brought him back to reality.
Liu Ming Zhou’s state was similar to last night, but seemingly worse.
“Chi Qui Lin, I’m sorry, I’m sorry—” Liu Ming Zhou mumbled incoherently, knocking over a row of perfume bottles on the shelf.
The jumbled scent of perfume mixed with bath gel filled the small bathroom, making Chi Qui Lin feel dizzy. He realized he shouldn’t have brought up the text message to provoke Liu Ming Zhou. He wouldn’t be surprised if the emotionally unstable Liu Ming Zhou drowned him.
But Liu Ming Zhou seemed harmless, simply collapsing on the floor, the shards of perfume bottles cutting his skin. Perfume and blood mixed together, spreading across the floor littered with glass.
Chi Qui Lin felt a pang of sympathy, cursing his own weakness for feeling compassion for the murderer, while feeling guilty, because Liu Ming Zhou looked so fragile, as if he would shatter with the slightest provocation.
Chi Qui Lin instinctively called out, “Liu Ming Zhou.”
Liu Ming Zhou didn’t respond, clutching a piece of glass tighter. Blood flowed from his fingers.
Chi Qui Lin’s heart ached. His voice softened, “Xiaozhou.”
Liu Ming Zhou suddenly looked up, a flicker of light in his desperate, vacant eyes.
Chi Qui Lin realized this term seemed to calm him, so he softened his tone and called again, “Xiaozhou.”
Liu Ming Zhou shakily got up. His bleeding wound was ignored as he supported himself on the bathtub, lifting Chi Qui Lin’s chin with his other hand, pressing his cold, soft lips to his.
“Mm—” Chi Qui Lin’s protest was cut short by Liu Ming Zhou’s soft tongue in his mouth.
【Author’s Note: Going on a highway trip tomorrow! No kidding!】