Chapter 27: Why Are You Taking Medicine?
“What are you doing?!”
Shen Xingyu’s first reaction was not to protect him, but to push him away. After all, the Old Master was still watching!
Su Nian, who had been pushed aside, felt both confused and aggrieved. His tears pitter-pattered down, but the Golden Retriever in front of him was barking so fiercely it looked ready to bite at any moment. He could only hide behind the table in fear.
This scene happened to be witnessed by Old Master Shen. He didn’t immediately stop the large Golden Retriever’s frantic barking; instead, he began to question the relationship between Su Nian and his grandson… After all, this secretary could have hidden behind Shen Xingyu, but he had instinctively lunged into his arms. The action was truly too practiced and intimate.
Moreover, the two of them had actually come downstairs together just now. The guest rooms were clearly in the West Wing, yet they appeared together in the East Wing. Since when did a secretary go looking for their boss so early in the morning? It was truly suspicious…
Shen Xingyu also seemed to notice his grandfather’s faint, probing gaze. He pretended to be oblivious, though his heart was feeling very uncomfortable from the dog’s barking. Frowning, he said, “How did Da Huang get in here? Where is the servant watching him? Take him away, quickly!”
Uncle Zhang ran in hurriedly, grabbing the Golden Retriever’s leash and pulling him outward, smiling awkwardly. “Apologies! President Shen, he gave you a scare. Xiao Tang only stepped away for a moment, and somehow Da Huang managed to run in! It’s our negligence; we’ll take him away right now!”
He struggled to retreat. He didn’t know what was wrong with this Golden Retriever—suddenly going mad and barking so fiercely. He almost couldn’t pull him away. He could only walk while stroking the dog’s head, soothing him:
“Alright, stop barking. President Shen has a heart condition. If you scare President Shen, you won’t get any food.”
Once the dog had been pulled far away, Su Nian finally breathed a tentative sigh of relief, stepping out from behind the table with trepidation.
He bit his lip, looking at Shen Xingyu with teary eyes, only to be met with a warning glare. Feeling the man’s indifference, Su Nian’s heart went cold.
Even if it was to prevent the Old Master from knowing about their relationship, he couldn’t be this cold, could he? That big dog was barking so loudly just now, it was a hair’s breadth away from tearing into him!
Old Master Shen’s gaze darkened momentarily before returning to a clear, smiling state. He said to the two of them with a chuckle:
“Don’t be afraid. He gave you quite a shock, didn’t he? Da Huang is usually very well-behaved; he hasn’t barked like this in all the years we’ve had him. I don’t know what’s wrong today, suddenly barking so wildly. I’m afraid some… ‘unclean thing’ has entered the house?”
As he spoke, he turned his gaze toward the soft and weak Su Nian, his smile growing even more meaningful.
Su Nian’s spine stiffened. He didn’t understand why the Old Master had to look at him while saying that.
Could it be the old man was implying that the “unclean thing” was him?
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing!”
Su Nian replied dryly, but in his heart, he was cursing the Old Master up and down.
Shen Xingyu casually picked up a cup of hot soy milk from the table and took a sip, completely unconcerned with Su Nian’s unsightly complexion. He said indifferently, “I wasn’t scared, but hearing the barking made my heart feel a bit uncomfortable.”
What Old Master Shen worried about most was his grandson’s heart condition. Hearing this, his face immediately filled with worry, the crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes deepening. He asked, “Has it flared up again recently?”
Shen Xingyu’s hand holding the bowl paused. He replied expressionlessly, “No.”
“President Shen…”
Su Nian called out weakly. He didn’t understand why the other party wanted to hide it from the Old Master. Hadn’t he said his heart condition had relapsed just this morning?
Shen Xingyu’s gaze warned him to shut up, then he continued drinking his soy milk. Without looking up, he said:
“You go out first.”
Su Nian didn’t dare to disobey Shen Xingyu and could only retreat dejectedly. However, he was still brooding over being pushed away earlier. Did Shen Xingyu not love him? He wouldn’t even protect him!
Old Master Shen let out a sigh, his entire face clouded with worry and sorrow. “What sin did my Shen family commit for Heaven to punish me with the end of my lineage? A perfectly fine young man burdened with a heart condition… is my massive Shen empire going to be ruined in my hands…”
“Grandpa, if you want to blame someone, blame your son for finding such a ‘good’ mistress who tortured my body into this state.”
Gloom and coldness lingered in Shen Xingyu’s eyes. He didn’t feel much regarding the Old Master’s heartache, but out of consideration for the fact that his grandfather had found him and brought him back all those years ago, he offered a bit of perfunctory comfort:
“But don’t worry too much. I will live well; I won’t let the Shen family be left without an heir.”
At the mention of his profligate son, Old Master Shen felt another surge of heartache. Tears welled in the corners of his eyes. He slowly wiped them away with his aged fingers, looking at his own broken legs with even more bitterness.
If they couldn’t find a volunteer heart donor… would they really have to use that person’s?
He pondered this in his heart, his gaze suddenly turning cold.
The morning after the rain, the world looked as if it had been washed clean—fresh, quiet, and the air was pure.
Liang Sheng took a deep breath, feeling his body become much more refreshed and his mood significantly lighter.
In front of the shops on both sides of the street hung various wind chimes, emitting pleasant tinkling sounds.
He liked this kind of life—a small town full of the atmosphere of everyday life. In the past, he had worked desperately hard to escape it, wanting to stand higher to see the neon lights and skyscrapers.
Now that he was older and his life was coming to an end, having experienced too many ups and downs and disappointments, he suddenly missed his old life—carefree, free, without having to consider anything, without having to be heartbroken over a husband who didn’t love him, and without so much scheming.
But now, his health was growing worse and worse. Even if he could hold on for a few more years, he likely wouldn’t survive it. Perhaps his ultimate fate was only to lie in bed and wait for death.
Liang Sheng’s heart felt slightly sour, and he let out a helpless smile. This was his fate! He accepted it…
Walking through the bustling streets, he couldn’t help but remember his childhood. His mother often brought him and his brother to the market. He loved eating pandan cakes and coconut milk tofu; every time, his mother would buy some for him, though most of the time they were snatched away by his brother.
Compared to his adoptive father’s stinginess, his adoptive mother never played favorites. Knowing his brother would snatch his food, she would secretly buy things for him. During festivals, she would also buy him new clothes. She never mistreated him or lacked love for him just because he was adopted. He was truly grateful to his adoptive mother for giving him all her love and a home.
If only his mother were still alive…
He hadn’t even had the chance to properly fulfill his filial duties; why were they now separated by life and death?
Liang Sheng’s eyes grew red, and he lowered his head to constantly wipe away tears.
He didn’t know if it was because he was too sad, but his stomach suddenly began to cramp violently, as if a large hand were twisting it forcefully. It hurt so much that he vomited everything he had eaten that morning.
No, he had to go buy medicine.
Earlier, he had been forcibly taken from the hospital by Shen Xingyu and brought all the way to Nanshi; there hadn’t been any time to buy medicine.
Liang Sheng took out a tissue to wipe his mouth. After vomiting, his vision went dark for a good while before he finally regained his strength.
He spotted a large pharmacy nearby and wobbled over. Now that he finally had a bit of free time, he had to buy all his medicine before he had to go back.
Inside the pharmacy, Liang Sheng clutched his stomach with one hand and handed the prescription Xie Zhengran had written for him to the pharmacist with the other. He said weakly, “Please… help me get the medicines on this list, thank you.”
He truly lacked the energy to look for them himself.
The elderly pharmacist looked at the medicines on the list, his eyes widening in shock. He asked incredulously, “These… these are all for treating stomach cancer! Young man, you’re so young, how…”
Liang Sheng pursed his lips and lowered his head dejectedly, his voice so small it was barely audible: “I… I’m in the middle stage of stomach cancer.”
The pharmacist let out a long sigh and turned to fetch the medicine, muttering, “Young people these days, staying up late and skipping meals for work, they really don’t cherish their own bodies…”
Hearing this, Liang Sheng’s eyes grew wet again.
He once had a healthy body, too. But later, in the Shen household, he was so busy he often couldn’t even manage to eat. Sometimes, to wait for Shen Xingyu to get off work, he would watch over a table of meticulously prepared dishes, waiting from the time the food was hot until it went cold. He would endure until dark, or even until dawn, yet Shen Xingyu would never come home.
Back then, he naively thought his husband was staying up late working overtime or at social engagements. He even felt heartache for him, thinking he should work harder to take care of his husband.
He never expected that every night Shen Xingyu didn’t come home, he was with Su Nian.
Su Nian had even sent him photos of them eating and walking together to provoke him.
Anyone would find it unbearable, yet Liang Sheng had continued to humbly wait for his husband to recover his memory and love him again.
What he waited for in the end was the nightmare of stomach cancer.
Liang Sheng’s eyes were hollow and full of despair. Taking the medicine handed over by the pharmacist, he listened to the pharmacist’s instructions in a daze—it went in one ear and out the other—and then wobbled out of the pharmacy.
He leaned weakly against a tree trunk, poured a few pills into his palm, and with the water he had just bought, closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and swallowed them.
The medicine was very, very bitter—just like his life at this moment.
Steady, slow footsteps approached from behind.
But they were drowned out by the sound of a car horn.
Liang Sheng didn’t hear them.
After finishing the medicine, a powerful hand suddenly gripped his slender wrist, giving him a start.
The medicine bottle he hadn’t yet tightened fell to the ground, and all the pills inside spilled out.
“What are you doing here?”
The man’s deep, cold voice made Liang Sheng’s heart jump. He turned and met a handsome face, the dark eyes filled with anger.
“Y-you’re hurting me!”
Liang Sheng’s delicate brows knit together as he struggled to pull his hand back.
He hurriedly knelt on the ground to pick up the fallen medicine.
Shen Xingyu looked down at him. From this angle, Liang Sheng looked far too thin; the vertebrae at the back of his collar were clearly visible.
Shen Xingyu frowned. Deep down, there was a constant, indefinable sourness. He ignored it and questioned, “Why are you taking medicine?”
Liang Sheng froze for a moment, then replied softly:
“I’m sick…”
“What illness?”
The man asked again, his tone calm.
“Stomach pain.”
Liang Sheng no longer expected him to care.
As expected, Shen Xingyu let out a snort and a laugh, saying with disdain: “Stomach pain? Since when? How come I didn’t know?”
Liang Sheng’s hand picking up the medicine trembled. He placed the last pill into the bottle, then slowly stood up. His dull eyes looked directly at the man without evasion as he said dejectedly, “You don’t care about me at all, so how could you know?”
Shen Xingyu’s calm gaze instantly turned cold. He raised an eyebrow and sneered, “Indeed, I don’t care about you as much as other men. Only that lover of yours cares about you most!”
Translator’s Note:
- Da Huang (大黃): This literally means “Big Yellow,” a common name for dogs in China, especially Golden Retrievers or yellow labs.
- Unclean thing (不乾淨的東西): This is a Chinese idiom that can refer to ghosts or bad luck. Here, the Old Master is being very “passive-aggressive” toward Su Nian.
- Tang suit (唐裝): Mentioned in the source text later, it’s a traditional Chinese jacket.
- Stomach Cancer (胃癌): The tragic irony is that Shen thinks Liang is faking for attention, while Liang is literally dying. It really highlights the “Crematorium” trope. See you in the next chapter!
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