Chapter 144
Xiao Xiao had never imagined the surgery would happen so quickly. Not only was he caught off guard, but so was Gu Qian, who was still on the phone outside the hospital room.
Xiao Xiao stood alone outside the operating room, stunned. It took him a long moment to come to his senses before he finally sat down on a chair. He stared nervously at the operating room doors when suddenly, a figure appeared in front of him.
He looked up and saw Li Jie.
Li Jie stood before him for a couple of seconds, then stepped back to lean against the wall. They were silent for a long time before Li Jie finally spoke. “Been doing okay lately?”
Xiao Xiao wasn’t sure how to act around Li Jie. He hesitated, then nodded. “Pretty good.”
He remembered that when Li Jie had been protecting An Le, he was so full of life—always joking, always happy. But after what had happened, every time he saw Li Jie, he seemed quiet, that roguish charm gone. He could guess why, but even if he knew, he had to pretend he didn’t.
After his reply, the silence returned. Li Jie hesitated for a moment before speaking again. “Do you want to leave him?”
Xiao Xiao froze, not saying a word.
“If you want to leave him,” Li Jie continued, “you should try to get him to talk. Ask him if his team is developing any other drugs, something related to your situation.”
“But I’m guessing, with his personality, he’d never make a drug that would let you get away from him. But you could try to coax him, trick him into doing it.” Li Jie was getting agitated and wanted a smoke, but this was a hospital, with someone in surgery. He could only stick a cigarette in his mouth. “Do you know what I mean?”
Xiao Xiao knew. He meant using his own appeal to get what he wanted—to sweet-talk Gu Qian into having a drug made for him, so he wouldn’t have to depend on him for the rest of his life. Any other drug would be one thing, but his situation was too complicated. It was difficult enough for omegas to have a mark removed. His was even worse; his gland had been stimulated to develop and then marked using Gu Qian’s own pheromones.
He didn’t dare to hope.
Xiao Xiao didn’t speak, but after a moment, he nodded. “I understand.”
“If you succeed,” Li Jie said, “bring the drug and find me. I’ll get you out of here.”
This time, Xiao Xiao looked up at Li Jie, as if he couldn’t understand why he was doing this. They had crossed paths, but it was almost always because of An Le. Even then, they rarely saw each other. Even if Li Jie had feelings for him, doing this wouldn’t benefit him in the slightest. He couldn’t even return those feelings.
Why was Li Jie helping him like this?
Li Jie didn’t explain. He just walked over, patted Xiao Xiao’s shoulder, and smiled. “You want to ask me why I’m doing this?”
Xiao Xiao nodded. “Yeah.” He had to know the other person’s motive. He couldn’t just blindly follow someone, only to find himself in another dark hell. He had just struggled out of the darkness and seen the light; he couldn’t fall into another pit.
“I don’t know why, either,” Li Jie said. “Just say I’m bored.” Unable to smoke, he took the cigarette from his mouth and started tearing it apart in his hands. “I’ve made enough money over the years. Taking you on the run is no problem. And if you want, I can help you completely ruin Gu Qian.”
At that, Xiao Xiao was stunned.
Li Jie wasn’t in a hurry for him to make a decision. “There’s still plenty of time. You can think about it slowly. No rush.”
With that, Li Jie turned and left, heading down the hallway to smoke.
Xiao Xiao lowered his head, mulling over Li Jie’s words.
When Gu Qian arrived, he saw Li Jie and knew instantly that he was trying to hit on his Xiao Xiao. He suppressed his anger and ran over. Sure enough, Xiao Xiao was sitting on the chair in a daze. Seeing Li Jie watching from a distance, he deliberately snuck up, wrapped his arms around Xiao Xiao, and whispered, “Xiao Xiao, did you miss me?”
Xiao Xiao looked up and saw it was Gu Qian. Behind him stood a very anxious Lu Heng, who, upon seeing him, immediately asked, “How long has An Le been in there?”
Xiao Xiao: “…Ten, fifteen minutes.”
It wasn’t a dangerous surgery, nor was it an emergency childbirth. What was with Lu Heng’s frantic expression? Xiao Xiao’s mouth twitched, and his mind started to wander.
Before he could get too lost in thought, Gu Qian grabbed his chin and turned his face. “Were you looking at Lu Heng, Xiao Xiao?” he asked, his eyes dark.
“Can’t I?” Xiao Xiao smiled. “I am. What are you going to do about it?”
Gu Qian’s expression faltered, and he sounded almost helpless. “Fine, look all you want. But he’s not as handsome as me. You’d be better off looking at me.” As he spoke, Gu Qian smiled and eagerly started selling himself to Xiao Xiao. “He’s got a scar on his face—it’s super scary. Look at me instead. I’m the best-looking.”
While talking, he even grabbed Xiao Xiao’s hand to make him touch his face.
Before Xiao Xiao could say a word, Lu Heng turned his head, reached up, and tore the gauze from his brow. “I don’t have a scar on my face,” he said in a low voice. It was clear Lu Heng had intentionally had the scar removed.
Gu Qian, having been called out, looked embarrassed.
Xiao Xiao let out a soft laugh. “Sit down properly,” he said, sounding resigned. “This is a hospital, and Lele is still in surgery. Don’t make a scene.”
Gu Qian had no choice but to sit down next to Xiao Xiao and wait. But the whole time, he kept an arm wrapped around Xiao Xiao, as if he wouldn’t let anyone else even get a peek.
Xiao Xiao was already used to Gu Qian’s possessiveness. He leaned into his embrace and smiled. “If only you were always like this.”
Gu Qian knew what he meant. “I can be,” he smiled. “I’ll never be the person you’re afraid of again. From now on, whatever you want me to be, that’s what I’ll be.”
He really knew he was wrong. He really didn’t want Xiao Xiao to leave him, not even in his heart. He had been actively seeking treatment. He wanted Xiao Xiao to love him, body and soul.
“Can you?” Gu Qian’s voice was almost pleading. “Can you, Xiao Xiao? If I can do it, can you love me with all your heart?”
Love Gu Qian with all his heart? But he had loved him with all his heart before.
Xiao Xiao hesitated for a long time before finally saying, “I… the mark on my gland… can it really not be removed?”
“It can’t.” Although Gu Qian was unhappy that Xiao Xiao wanted to get rid of his mark, he answered seriously, his voice tight. “Your gland is different from an omega’s. It was stimulated to develop, and the removal surgery is already difficult. Plus, my pheromones are all over your body, which makes it even harder. It would cause a lot of damage to your gland.”
A normal omega might be fine after a mark removal surgery, but for Xiao Xiao, there were no guarantees. So, whether it was out of possessiveness or concern for Xiao Xiao’s safety, he would not support it.
“Alright, I get it.” Xiao Xiao’s voice sounded a little disappointed.
Gu Qian couldn’t stand it. “You haven’t answered my question yet, Xiao Xiao.”
Xiao Xiao huffed. “We’ll see. I don’t want to decide right now.”
“Huh?” Gu Qian looked like a big dog with its ears drooping. “Why?” he pouted.
Xiao Xiao thought for a moment. “Because you might not be able to keep your promises. So I need to see how you act. If you’re really as good as you say, then I can consider it.”
“Really!” Gu Qian was thrilled and immediately pulled Xiao Xiao into a tighter hug.
Xiao Xiao was about to say something when he saw them wheeling An Le out of the operating room. He didn’t even have a chance to go over, because Gu Qian was holding him and wouldn’t let go, and Lu Heng had already rushed forward, his hand on An Le’s bed as they walked away.
Xiao Xiao was speechless. How was this “staying with him at the hospital”?
He pretended to be angry. “If you don’t let me go right now, then you’re not behaving well.”
Gu Qian immediately released him, then stood up and took his hand, leading him toward An Le’s room.
An Le was still under anesthesia. Xiao Xiao stood at the door, listening to Gu Qian’s endless stream of instructions—be safe in the hospital, call him if anything happened—for a full half-hour before he finally left.
An Le was lucky. Both his eyes and his ears had been old injuries, but both surgeries had been incredibly successful. Xiao Xiao sat by the bed, genuinely happy for him from the bottom of his heart.
The next day, An Le, wanting to get a little revenge for him, imperiously ordered Gu Qian to go buy things from all over the city. He specifically picked the most distant shops, and Gu Qian’s eyes nearly popped out of his head with anger. But the once-arrogant Gu Qian, though angry, still went and bought everything.
During that time, even though An Le was the one recovering in the hospital, he was especially considerate of his feelings, ordering food that he liked and finding ways to make him happy and relaxed. Xiao Xiao, whose mood had already been improving, became even happier. With his spirits lifted, he was full of life again. The hospital room was filled with laughter every day.
An Le’s surgery was minimally invasive and only required a three-to-five-day hospital stay, but to make him happy and keep him away from Gu Qian, he insisted on staying for eight days. Even when the doctor came for rounds and told him his wound was fine for discharge, An Le didn’t budge, and he didn’t even tell Lu Heng.
Gu Qian was very well-behaved and quiet during this time, not causing any trouble. But Xiao Xiao knew it couldn’t last; sooner or later, Gu Qian wouldn’t be able to resist and would sneak over in the middle of the night to cling to him. Besides, no matter how nice the hospital was, it wasn’t as good as home. He still wanted An Le to go home.
But just as he came out of the bathroom, he heard Lu Heng trying to reason with An Le. He smiled and was about to turn away when he saw Gu Qian had arrived.
Gu Qian wrapped his arms around him, burying his face in his neck and inhaling. “Xiao Xiao, let me take a bite. It’s been a week. I’ve missed you like crazy.”
Xiao Xiao smiled but didn’t say anything.
“See how good I’ve been lately?” Gu Qian said. “You told me to behave, and I did. If you don’t give me a little bite, I’m staying at the hospital tonight.”
“And if I stay at the hospital,” Gu Qian added, “we can have a lot of fun tonight.”
Understanding his implication, Xiao Xiao was speechless.
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