Chapter 15
A crash and the sound of shattering glass came from the ward behind them, followed by Gu Lan Zhu’s low growl.
The potent pheromones were blocked by the ward’s specialized door, keeping the Alpha’s jealousy at bay.
Shu Ci seemed oblivious, staring intently at the hand clasped with Lu Wanqing’s.
His cheap husband was making such an effort, so proactively overcoming obstacles to touch him?
He’s really… I’m gonna cry!
This moment of happiness was almost as fulfilling as winning his first Best Director award; Shu Ci felt like setting off fireworks and popping champagne.
However, the feeling of elation didn’t last more than five seconds. A sharp, tingling pain spread from his palm through his fingers, rapidly shooting through his nerves.
…Crap?
His heart felt like it was being squeezed, violently compressed!
Shu Ci’s face changed slightly. The pain seemed to spread to his internal organs; even breathing hurt, a faint sense of suffocation accompanied the overwhelming pain.
He endured the pain, walking to the stairwell. After confirming that Gu Lan Zhu wasn’t watching, he released Lu Wanqing’s hand.
Looking up, a pair of crimson-blue eyes reflected his pale face and pale lips.
Lu Wanqing: “Does it hurt?”
Of course, it hurt like hell.
Shu Ci clutched his collar, enduring a surge of intense pain before gasping for air, his eyes slightly red as he nodded.
“If it’s unbearable…” Lu Wanqing lowered his eyes, taking in Shu Ci’s suffering.
“Stay away from me.”
Shu Ci was stunned. What did that mean?
The elevator arrived at the perfect moment. As soon as the words left his mouth, Lu Wanqing stepped into the elevator and pressed the button.
Shu Ci panicked, raising his hand to stop the closing elevator doors.
“Do you know what’s wrong with me?”
Lu Wanqing looked at him strangely, then at Shu Ci’s reddened hand. He pressed the open button, waiting for him to hobble in, enduring the pain.
“Compatibility,” he said, turning to face forward. “I thought you knew.”
Lu Wanqing’s simple statement made him remember what Shen Ti had said that day about pheromone rejection, incompatibility in bed, and the risk of defective offspring.
Shen Ti hadn’t lied; it was really like this.
Shu Ci immediately understood Lu Wanqing’s unspoken words.
—The consequences of 1% compatibility; “he” should have known before the wedding.
Shu Ci nervously looked away, afraid Lu Wanqing would realize he was an imposter.
The rejection reaction was more unbearable than he imagined. When his attention returned to himself, all his senses were tormented. Shu Ci leaned against the corner of the elevator for support, then looked at Lu Wanqing again.
His captivating face helped distract him.
They stood diagonally opposite each other. Lu Wanqing had his back to him; the distinct lines of his back were like a mountain range, his fingers clasped at his side.
Shu Ci suddenly remembered that whenever he touched Lu Wanqing, he would frown and remain silent.
“So, you feel pain too, right?”
They arrived at their floor. The doors opened, and Lu Wanqing held them, waiting for Shu Ci to exit before slowly admitting, “Yes.”
They had only met a few times, and Shu Ci had acted as if nothing was wrong, pulling and tugging at him. Lu Wanqing thought he had no rejection reaction at all.
It wasn’t that he didn’t; he only realized it when the pain hit him like a landslide.
Hearing this, a smile appeared in Shu Ci’s eyes.
At least Lu Wanqing’s rejection wasn’t because he disliked him; at least their relationship hadn’t deteriorated to an irreconcilable point because of Gu Lan Zhu.
He quickly followed, his slightly relieved about the intense rejection.
At least his cheap husband was handsome and wouldn’t hurt him; paying a small price was nothing! Shu Ci grinned, happily thinking to himself.
Halfway through his grin, the pain forced him to lean against the wall.
“…” He retracted his previous statement.
Lu Wanqing didn’t see Shu Ci’s smile; he maintained his distance and walked on.
Passing a corner, he saw the man behind him gasp, breaking out in a cold sweat. His pace faltered.
Omegas are fragile and delicate; even with the same stimulus, their sensitivity and pain are far more intense than an Alpha’s.
Furthermore, his dullness and tolerance were extraordinary. What was a minor discomfort to him might be excruciating torture for Shu Ci.
“If you’re really uncomfortable, don’t follow me. Go home and rest.”
Lu Wanqing couldn’t bear to see someone suffer so much because of him. As long as he stayed far away, everything would be fine.
“I want to,” Shu Ci snorted. “I have to supervise you in treating your wounds.”
Then, he winced again.
Lu Wanqing: “…”
Shu Ci followed Lu Wanqing for a while, the pain gradually lessening.
They wandered around the hospital, turning left and right before entering a treatment room. There was no department or doctor’s name on the door, but Lu Wanqing smoothly swiped his fingerprint to enter.
“Where is this?” Shu Ci went inside, looking around the treatment room.
Three walls were lined with tall cabinets; the material was special, allowing one to see the items and inventory inside.
One cabinet held medical instruments and equipment; another held various herbs; and the third held bottled medicines and reagents. A tray in the center of the room held some unpackaged herbs.
“Self-service medical room,” Lu Wanqing went to a drawer, taking out two bottles and handing them to Shu Ci. “Short-term pain relief and sedative.”
They were separated by the medicine, not even their fingertips touching. Once Shu Ci took them, Lu Wanqing immediately went to another cabinet.
“You can just take these?” Shu Ci looked at the label on the bottle, puzzled.
Previously, when his emotions fluctuated greatly during filming, he would be hospitalized after work. When he wanted sleeping pills, the nurses would look at him warily, often refusing his request.
Didn’t they need a doctor’s prescription or something here?
Looking up, he saw Lu Wanqing taking a tray of gauze, cotton swabs, and medicine, seemingly preparing to treat his wounds himself.
“I’m qualified,” Lu Wanqing walked to a table away from Shu Ci, putting down the tray, explaining, “Those who don’t have formal medical qualifications or aren’t approved by the hospital can’t open that door.”
Shu Ci’s eyelids twitched.
A golden license, a doctor… neither matched the description of a low-level employee given by Shu Cui.
The employment record confirmed by the Shu family might be real, but even Gu Lan Zhu said Lu Wanqing might be deceiving him.
What twitched faster than Shu Ci’s eyelids was his lips: “What other surprises are there that I don’t know about?”
Lu Wanqing’s hand, which had been unbuttoning his shirt, stopped at his chest.
“Do you want to know?” The crimson in his eyes deepened.
Shu Ci saw his slightly open collar, looked away, and quietly swallowed. “Forget it, not for now. Just do your thing.”
He wanted to hear, but he had to live to hear it.
He had transmigrated into this book; that was his secret. Lu Wanqing certainly had his own secrets too.
Since he had kept things hidden, what right did he have to demand Lu Wanqing be honest and answer his questions? They weren’t truly intimate, unconditionally loving partners; they only had a legally binding certificate.
Seeing that he didn’t continue to question him, Lu Wanqing took off his shirt. His uniform was soaked in blood, clinging to the wound. He ripped it off without changing his expression.
Shu Ci hissed.
“Doesn’t it hurt?” Shu Ci watched Lu Wanqing skillfully apply medicine and bandage the wound, his expression remaining unchanged.
Lu Wanqing bit the corner of a gauze pad, one hand wrapping the bandage around his shoulder.
After tearing it, he replied, “It used to hurt, but my threshold increased after getting used to it.”
Shu Ci watched him tilt his head, concentrating on tying the gauze, and suddenly remembered a similar scene from the original novel.
In the crematorium arc, Gu Lan Zhu, to make the original protagonist turn back, went so far as to use his injury to gain sympathy.
Unlike Lu Wanqing’s silence and calmness, Gu Lan Zhu would let out a soft gasp and groan, making the original protagonist restless and prompting him to comfort him.
Cunning like a fox.
Once the original protagonist approached him, he would change his pitiful demeanor, forcefully confining the original protagonist in his arms and frantically caressing his nape.
“Lu Wanqing,” he propped his chin and looked at him, “Do you know that crying children get candy?”
In the original book, Lu Wanqing witnessed countless times the love and madness between the original protagonist and Gu Lan Zhu. The author would rather spend hundreds of words describing Gu Lan Zhu’s bed; however, Lu Wanqing’s own feelings were never mentioned.
Was it related to his personality?
Gu Lan Zhu could pretend, show weakness, act coy, and get the Omega to comfort him. That’s why he could steal the love, and that’s why he could get away with so many heinous acts and still win back his wife.
While Lu Wanqing could only obediently wear his green hat in the background.
“If you don’t cry, no one will hear your voice, no one will know you’re in pain.”
There was once a report saying that Shu Ci was a director who was more into his roles than any actor, deeply empathizing with each character, flesh and blood.
Now, watching Lu Wanqing apply medicine and bandage, he saw the marginalized person struggling in the mud from the original book.
The gauze kept slipping from his fingers and falling onto his arm, never managing to tie a knot.
After a long while, Lu Wanqing gave up.
He turned his head; the stars fell into his crimson-blue eyes, emitting a cold light.
“Crying is because you know there are others listening. When no one is listening, all sounds are meaningless.”
Shu Ci felt a strange pang in his heart.
He got up, walked to Lu Wanqing, and lifted the gauze on his shoulder.
Lu Wanqing took off half his sleeve, his well-defined muscles exposed before him. However, he wasn’t captivated by the bone structure and body; he lowered his eyes to look at his hair.
While helping him tie the knot, he said, “I’m listening. Whatever you want to say, I can hear it.”
Lu Wanqing’s arms tensed. He looked up, into Shu Ci’s eyes, seeing his own reflection.
Shu Ci let him look, and he admired the jade-like face and the two deep pools, as if finally understanding why those investors were willing to support the little white flower.
He was going to rewrite Shu Ci’s tragic fate and also make Lu Wanqing shine in a new life.
Lu Wanqing swallowed, hesitant.
Could a mantis arm block a chariot wheel?
He avoided Shu Ci’s gaze and casually touched a few herbs on another tray.
Forsythia, for clearing heat, detoxifying, reducing swelling, and dispersing knots.
Honeysuckle, for clearing heat, detoxifying, and having a fragrant smell, though it tastes bitter when brewed.
Some distant memories flickered in his mind, then quickly dissipated.
“Say something!” Shu Ci glared at Lu Wanqing, frustrated by his silence.
Lu Wanqing stood up.
“Then use me,” he picked a honeysuckle flower and gently placed it in Shu Ci’s palm. “Whatever you want to do, however you want me to cooperate, I’ll listen to you.”