Chapter 40: He Won’t Allow This Man to Wake Up!
Upon hearing those words, Shen Yunheng’s face turned slightly pale, a cloud of worry settling between his brows. He looked up at the unconscious youth on the hospital bed, a thick surge of bitterness washing over his heart; his throat felt parched, yet he could not find the words to speak.
He knew all too well why Jian An, at such a young age, was suffering from symptoms of a brain hemorrhage.
However, he had promised that person that he would never tell.
The atmosphere in the ward was heavy and suffocating. The only sounds were the faint, suppressed breathing of those present and the low, sharp, and hurried beeps of the medical monitors.
“What medical history? Why didn’t I know about this?”
Ji Songting snatched the medical record from the doctor’s hand and quickly flipped through several pages. His brow furrowed as he read the diagnosis describing a coma caused by damage to the central nervous system following a brain hemorrhage.
With such undeniable results laid out before him, it was difficult to believe they were forged.
But why, in all these three years, had he not noticed anything wrong with Jian An?
That person was always melancholic as ever. Despite living a life of luxury far beyond most people, his smiles in front of Ji Songting were more painful than weeping; he had so little presence in Ji Songting’s high-class life that it was impossible to tell he had a history of brain hemorrhages.
Ji Songting shoved the medical record in front of Shen Yunheng and questioned him word by word, “What exactly happened to Jian An before?”
Shen Yunheng swept a cold gaze over him, rage rising in his heart, though he kept his expression composed. “I don’t know. He bottles everything up and never tells anyone.”
So many years had passed; explaining it to Ji Songting now would be meaningless—a complete waste of breath.
Ji Songting did not give up, stepping forward with a strange persistence for an answer he could not get. “With the ambiguous relationship you have with him, you must know something.”
“Enough!”
Shen Yunheng’s face carried undisguised irritation as he stood by the bed and looked at the youth. With a deep frown, he said, “If you really want to know, wait for Xiao An to wake up and ask him yourself. Furthermore, there is nothing for you to do here. Leave now, and stop agitating him!”
Ji Songting pulled over a chair and sat down, crossing his legs. He silently watched the unconscious Jian An with an indescribably complex internal state, yet his tone remained indifferent. “I’ll wait right here. I’m not leaving until he wakes up.”
Shen Yunheng could not hear a shred of deep affection in those words. Instead, he felt the man was not trying to make amends for his mistakes, but rather attempting to mask the guilt and sin in his heart.
Wait? Truly ridiculous.
Jian An had waited for Ji Songting for a full ten years, waiting until he wasted away, yet he never received a single word of love. In the end, he was left lying on a hospital bed in a state worse than death.
Ji Songting was not worthy of the word “wait”.
Outside the ward, through the slightly ajar door, Shen Chuyan covered the bleeding puncture wound on the back of his hand. Those soul-hooking eyes were currently filled with malice and hatred.
So, the “urgent business” Ji Songting had perfunctorily used to brush him off was actually staying in the ward with this person who was faking death?!
He gnashed his teeth in hatred, wishing he could rush in right now and tear Jian An into ten thousand pieces, but his remaining shred of reason suppressed the reckless impulse in his heart.
The next second, Shen Yunheng inside the ward suddenly moved toward the door. Once the door was pushed open, Shen Chuyan would be completely exposed.
Shen Chuyan’s heart jumped. Panicked, he scrambled away and ran toward another ward.
Just as he turned the corner, Shen Yunheng emerged with the medical forms. His black leather shoes stepped squarely over a few drops of fresh blood on the floor, leaving a faint, partial footprint as he walked.
Seeing his brother walk away, Shen Chuyan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He hid in the shadows and dialed Ji Songting’s number, waiting for a long time before the other man finally answered.
In the past, Ji Songting would answer his calls in a split second; he would never take this long.
On the other end of the line, the man’s slightly raspy voice came through: “Xiao Yan? I’ll be over to accompany you very soon.”
But hearing this, Shen Chuyan felt the man was merely placating him; if he had wanted to come, he would have come long ago.
He felt incredibly despondent and irritated. His face fell, and he sniffled, beginning to play the victim intermittently.
“A-Ting… can you come over now? My head feels so dizzy, and I’m having trouble breathing. I feel like… I’m going to die. Where are you? I want to find you…”
As expected, those words had an effect; Ji Songting grew anxious instantly. “Don’t move. Don’t run around. Just stay in your ward obediently. I’m coming to find you right now!”
It seemed he had bet correctly; the man still cared for him. Every person or thing that tried to obstruct them was fragile in the face of Ji Songting’s love for him.
Within seconds, Shen Chuyan, hiding in the corner, saw the man abandon Jian An and hurry out of the ICU toward his ordinary ward.
Very well. Now the opportunity has come.
The corners of his mouth curled into a malicious smile. After looking left and right to ensure no one noticed, he tiptoed to the ICU ward and squeezed inside.
Upon entering, he was momentarily shocked by the scene before him.
Jian An lay quietly on the bed, surrounded by life-support equipment like a moon encircled by stars; he appeared to be in a very serious condition.
But after that brief shock passed, Shen Chuyan felt mostly excitement and contempt.
Did this not prove that Jian An was about to die?
He walked leisurely to the bedside, his gaze cold as he let out a light laugh.
“Tsk, tsk. Finally going to die? What a tragic man you are~ Truly pathetic. You won’t be able to fight me for A-Ting anymore, will you? It’s best if you stop breathing right now! Then I can rightfully enter the Ji family and share a bed with the man I love most.”
At this point, Shen Chuyan nodded with satisfaction, his smile widening even as the ruthlessness on his face grew more visible.
“But I’m a very kind person. Don’t worry, A-Ting and I will definitely visit you on the anniversary of your death. I’ll also let you see how happy we are in a life without your interference. Don’t go being green with envy in the underworld~”
Then, he remembered something and bragged:
“Oh~ I almost forgot to tell you. When you had a major hemorrhage and needed plasma urgently, A-Ting didn’t care about your life at all. He insisted on saving the plasma for me. If it weren’t for him, you might still have a chance to wake up~”
The moment those words fell, as if Jian An had heard his arrogant and overbearing speech, his breathing grew slightly hurried. His long eyelashes gave an extremely faint tremor, yet he could not open his eyes.
His expression distorted slightly from the pain, his brow furrowing tightly as if he were enduring immense agony.
Shen Chuyan caught this minute movement, and his expression instantly shifted from triumph to panic.
Could Jian An hear him? Was he about to wake up?
No, he would never allow this man to wake up!
Having made up his mind, Shen Chuyan felt his heart thumping like a trapped rabbit. He swallowed hard several times before slowly reaching his hand toward the oxygen tank switch.
Don’t panic. Don’t be afraid. As long as his fingers use a bit of force to turn off the oxygen valve, that person will never wake up again, and no one will fight him for Ji Songting!
Clinging to this warped and extreme thought, his gaze became increasingly terrifying, like a grotesque demon.
Just as his fingers were about to touch the switch, Ji Songting’s confused voice suddenly rang out behind him:
“Xiao Yan, what are you doing?”
Shen Chuyan was startled, his heart nearly leaping out of his chest. He froze, his guilt-ridden panic causing him to knock over a water glass.
In an instant, the glass slid off the table, shattering into a floor full of shards with a crisp sound.
He instinctively turned his head, only to see a man in a suit standing not far behind him, his gaze like a torch and his cold, sharp eyes fixed on him.
The man’s gaze felt foreign to him, but the feeling only lasted a few short seconds.
Did… the other man see his movements just now?
Although Ji Songting did not know why Shen Chuyan had appeared in the ICU out of nowhere, his instinctive concern made him step forward and pull the youth away from the glass shards.
He placed his hands lightly on the youth’s shoulders and checked him from head to toe. Only after confirming that Shen Chuyan had not been harmed did he breathe a slight sigh of relief and asked tentatively:
“Were you just… touching the oxygen tank switch?”
A certain thought flashed in the depths of his mind, but it was quickly suppressed; he did not believe Shen Chuyan would do such a thing!
Facing the man’s eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through a person’s soul, Shen Chuyan became exceptionally nervous for the first time.
Ji Songting had indeed seen it! He absolutely could not let his image of being gentle and virtuous be destroyed in the man’s heart.
Shen Chuyan looked up with a face of pure, harmless innocence. Looking utterly non-threatening, he whispered innocently:
“No. I saw that Brother Xiao An was having some trouble breathing, so I wanted to adjust the oxygen concentration to make him more comfortable. I didn’t mean any harm…”
“Alright. I know Xiao Yan wouldn’t do such a thing, but it’s best not to touch these things carelessly.”
Ji Songting smoothed a strand of hair on the youth’s forehead. Without a second thought, he immediately believed the explanation, his gaze suddenly shifting to the back of the youth’s hand.
Fresh blood was still faintly trickling from there.
His heart ached as he took Shen Chuyan’s wrist. He immediately took an alcohol cotton ball to gently wipe the area, but a sliver of deep thought still flashed in his eyes as he could not help but ask:
“Why would you suddenly come to Jian An’s ward? Shouldn’t you be in your own? And your hand…”
Shen Chuyan’s hand instinctively flinched, but the man held it with even more pity, so he could only make an excuse:
“I called you, but I still felt very uneasy, so I came out to find you on my own. Then I heard my brother say Brother Xiao An had a car accident, so I came to take a look.”
“Why would Shen Yunheng tell you these things? You can’t even look after your own health, yet you have the energy to visit others.”
Ji Songting gazed at him with a look of both reproach and love, his thumb gently stroking the youth’s delicate, fair cheek. His fingertips were cool as he asked softly:
“How are you feeling now? Still uncomfortable? Let’s go find the doctor.”
The youth nodded obediently. “Mhm, I feel uncomfortable.”
“Then let’s go.”
With that, Ji Songting took half a step forward while holding his hand, then suddenly stopped and could not help but look back at Jian An.
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