PBMM CH11

As soon as school let out, He Qing couldn’t wait to hobble up to the rooftop on his crutches. To prevent accidents, there was a guardrail around the perimeter of the roof. The wind was a bit strong here, blowing until his eyes stung slightly.

He Qing curled up his body, carefully hiding under the eaves, eagerly waiting for his lover to show up for their date.

Footsteps came from the doorway. The teenager looked up in pleasant surprise and carefully stood up using his crutches, a cautious smile on his face. “A-Chi…”

Splash— A basin of cold water was thrown right at his face. Completely off guard, He Qing was drenched from head to toe. He was completely stunned. In his ears was Zhang Xu’s arrogant laughter, followed by the heavy bang of the door shutting, leaving the bewildered teenager standing there alone, soaked to the bone, with water dripping from his hair.

It took a few seconds for him to react, and he hastily reached out to push the door. Naturally, the door wouldn’t open. Terrified, he pounded on the door forcefully. “Zhang Xu! Zhang Xu! What are you doing?!”

The rooftop door was never locked, but Zhang Xu had come prepared. He shoved a pre-prepared wooden stick through the two door handles; no matter how hard He Qing pushed from the inside, the door wouldn’t budge an inch.

“You dare mess with my bro! You can just stay right here for the night!” He had it all figured out. He Qing never interacted with anyone in his dorm, and since school was over, the teachers wouldn’t be looking for him. Plus, that poor brat didn’t have a phone, so he had no choice but to obediently freeze on the roof for a night!

Monkey looked at the smug Zhang Xu, then glanced back somewhat worriedly at the rooftop door, which was still rattling from being pushed. “Brother Xu, if we do this, won’t Brother Chi be unhappy?”

“Nope!” Zhang Xu patted his chest, guaranteeing it. “I’m helping him vent his anger! He’ll be too busy thanking me, how could he be unhappy!”

He Qing kept pushing against the door for almost ten minutes before finally having to give up. The water had long since soaked right through his clothes to his skin. Chilly gusts of wind swept across the roof, and he shivered uncontrollably from the cold.

[See this, System? This is the terrifying power of eighth-grade syndrome brats. If I really get locked up here all night, given my current physical condition, I’ll definitely fall seriously ill!]

[The Host can purchase a ‘Cure-All Pill’ from the system for only 999 points. Purchase now, and you’ll get a free box of strawberry-flavored con-doms. Please select: 1 for Purchase, 2 for Purchase Double.]

He Qing had absolutely no intention of entertaining it. Using his freezing, stiff hands, he carefully pulled out his phone. This was the one Lin Chi had given him. He pressed the button a couple of times, only to find that the phone was waterlogged and the screen was black…

[…] He Qing put the phone down, speechless. [System, fix my phone for me.]

[No problem, Lord Host. You just need to give me points.]

————

Sun Yumeng nagged Lin Chi to go out for dinner off-campus, and once they were out, she tossed and turned about wanting to see a movie. Lin Chi was thoroughly impatient on the inside, but outwardly he played along and kept her company until eleven o’clock before finally sending a reluctant Sun Yumeng back to her dorm.

Standing below the girls’ dormitory, watching Sun Yumeng look back three times for every step she took as she left, Lin Chi let out a heavy sigh. She’s finally gone!

If it had been him in the past, fiancée or no fiancée, he would have just thrown a tantrum and left. But too much had happened these past few days. To achieve his goals, Lin Chi had no choice but to disguise himself.

Even if it meant he had to curry favor with a woman he used to find absolutely repulsive.

Lin Chi walked toward the boys’ dormitory with a dark expression. His phone rang. He pulled it out, and upon seeing the name on the screen, his expression immediately turned even uglier. However, he still answered the call:

“Father, you were looking for me?”

Half an hour later.

In the dorm room, Zhang Xu felt like he had done a massive favor for his bro today and was humming a little tune while playing a game. Hearing the sound of the door opening, he stopped playing, plastered a smile on his face, and looked toward the door. “A-Chi, you’re back…” Before he could finish his sentence, he was scared into silence by the look on Lin Chi’s face, which practically screamed ‘I am very pissed off.’

Seeing that Lin Chi was in a bad mood, Zhang Xu didn’t dare to ask questions. He shrank his neck down and quietly continued playing his game, sneaking glances out of the corner of his eye to observe Lin Chi’s every move.

Exuding an aura of low air pressure, Lin Chi walked to the balcony with a dark face, grabbed some clothes, and went straight into the bathroom. The door was slammed shut forcefully, making a heavy thud. Zhang Xu was dying of curiosity but didn’t dare to ask. Just as he was about to continue playing, the phone Lin Chi had left on his bed began to ring.

“A-Chi! Phone!” He glanced at the caller ID, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes. When Lin Chi told him to bring the phone over, Zhang Xu handed it to him and said casually, “I reckon this mute is calling you to beg for help. Just ignore it.”

Lin Chi’s hand, which was unbuttoning his shirt, paused. His gaze shot toward Zhang Xu like a sharp sword. “What did you just say?”

Zhang Xu originally felt he was doing this for his friend’s own good, but seeing Lin Chi’s current reaction, he started to feel a bit cowardly. “Uh, I locked that mute on the rooftop of the teaching building…”

After saying that, he watched Lin Chi’s expression instantly change color and added uneasily, “I was just helping you vent… Didn’t you say that mute played you…”

“Hey!! A-Chi! Where are you going! Your clothes!!”

He Qing leaned against the corner of the wall, enduring the biting wind and suffering terribly. His head felt hot enough to boil an egg, while his body felt as cold as being buried in a snowy mountain. Only then did he shivering dial Lin Chi’s number.

The first time, the line was busy. The second time, no one answered.

Just as he was about to call for the third time, Lin Chi called him back. He Qing’s spirit jolted, and with a hand that had long gone numb from the cold, he shakily brought the phone to his ear.

“A-Chi…” His voice was so weak, it sounded as if he would draw his last breath in the next second. “I, I thought that was you… I thought…”

Mumbling incoherently, the teenager could finally hold on no longer. His hand dropped limply, the phone rolled a few times, and fell to the ground. The call screen was still lit, but he could no longer hear Lin Chi’s shouts.

By the time Lin Chi arrived—having run until his stomach ached—and anxiously pushed open the door, his eyes instantly locked onto the teenager curled up in the corner. His face was deathly pale, his clothes were half-dry and half-wet, and his once soft, obedient hair plastered wretchedly against his forehead, making his lips look even more ghastly pale.

He just lay there, the rise and fall of his chest barely even visible. Lin Chi’s breath hitched. He practically trembled as he walked up to the teenager. With shaking hands, he checked under his nose. When that faint, yet still present breath brushed across his fingers, Lin Chi’s legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground.

Completely drained of strength, he still managed to pull the teenager into his embrace. Feeling his scorching body temperature, Lin Chi hugged him fiercely and muttered, “I’m sorry…”

I’m sorry, A-Qing…

[Ding! Lin Chi favorability: 92]

He Qing woke up in the familiar hospital. The first person he saw when he opened his eyes was Lin Chi, sitting by the bed, his fingers tapping on a laptop. Looking at his handsome side profile, He Qing’s thoughts drifted back to the man who had similarly stayed in the hospital, handling business affairs on his laptop.

He was still in a daze when Lin Chi noticed he was awake. Closing the laptop, he smiled, reached out, and felt the teenager’s forehead. “The fever has broken.”

He Qing stared blankly at the smiling Lin Chi, almost believing he was in a dream. Otherwise, how could he be seeing his gentleness again?

“What’s wrong? Did the fever fry your brain?” Faced with the teenager who was staring at him in a daze with an expression of disbelief, Lin Chi remained gentle. He softly patted He Qing’s head, just like before.

Faced with his gentleness, He Qing was cautious, not daring to get close. His eyes were sparkling, but his voice was incredibly timid: “A-Chi… are you not angry anymore?”

Seeing his cautious and careful demeanor, a trace of pain flashed across Lin Chi’s eyes, but it vanished in a flash. “Father already told me everything. A-Qing, you couldn’t see at the time, and Father was drunk and didn’t state his identity. It wasn’t your fault…”

Almost the instant he finished his last sentence, He Qing’s eyes reddened. The grievance and sadness he had been enduring forcefully rushed to his heart, accompanied by a bit of guilt toward Lin Cheng. Ever since that hug at the hospital, he had always felt that the man harbored ill intentions. He never expected that Lin Cheng would actually help him explain things to Lin Chi.

He was overjoyed. Even though there were still tears in his eyes, his lips curled up into a happy smile. This appearance of crying and smiling at the same time made Lin Chi unable to resist pulling him into a hug. “It was my fault. I shouldn’t have been so impulsive. Will A-Qing forgive me?”

Happily held in his lover’s embrace, He Qing wished time could stop at this moment forever. He joyfully hugged Lin Chi back, his voice full of satisfaction: “A-Chi doesn’t need to apologize. I never blamed you.”

His tone was full of longing for the future: “I won’t blame A-Chi in the future either, never ever.”

Where He Qing couldn’t see, Lin Chi tightened his grip around the teenager. His eyes were full of agony as he forced out a smile and replied with a hoarse voice, “Okay, I believe you.”

He closed his eyes to hide the pain within them, then opened them again and slowly released his embrace. Meeting the teenager’s bewildered gaze, he forced a comforting smile: “A-Qing, the hospital ran some tests on you. Your eyes haven’t completely healed yet, and there’s a risk you might go blind again.”

He Qing’s eyes widened in shock. “I might go blind again?”

Having experienced those days of blindness, and even getting into an absurd situation because he couldn’t see, He Qing felt a surge of terror at Lin Chi’s words. His face turned pale, and his hands uncontrollably gripped the edge of the blanket tightly.

Lin Chi’s smile was somewhat strained, but he continued speaking: “Don’t be afraid. A single surgery will fix it. It’s just that for a few days before the surgery, you need to avoid light and wear a medical eye mask. Is A-Qing willing to do that?”

Hearing that it was just a medical eye mask, the teenager breathed a small sigh of relief. It was better than being blind. He was just about to nod and agree when he thought of something and hesitated. “Um… about the medical expenses…”

The medical bills for these past few days had definitely hit five figures. How could he have the nerve to let Lin Chi burden the cost again?

Lin Chi kissed his cheek and said with a smile, “There, consider this your payment for the medical expenses!”

Caught off guard by the kiss on his cheek, even though Lin Chi quickly pulled away, He Qing’s face still slowly turned red. His eyes were full of shyness: “A-Chi…”

“Be good. You’re entirely mine, what is there to be afraid of…”

After coaxing He Qing, Lin Chi suddenly said, “A-Qing, I’m going to have surgery too.”

He Qing instantly became nervous. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

Faced with his lover’s worried expression, Lin Chi smiled and shook his head. “No, it’s just a minor surgery. But for a few days after the surgery, I won’t be able to speak.”

He patted the bewildered teenager’s head, adding with a hint of teasing, “When the time comes, one of us will be blind and the other mute—we’ll make a perfect pair!”

However, He Qing wasn’t as easy to coax as he imagined. Being patted on the head, he looked troubled. “A-Chi, I won’t be able to see. I’m afraid of mistaking you for someone else…”

The price he paid for mistaking the person last time was far too agonizing. He truly didn’t want to experience it again.

Lin Chi grabbed his hand and used a finger to trace a circle on his palm. Seeing He Qing look up at him in confusion, his voice was hoarse as he said, “This is a gesture that belongs only to us. If you feel this gesture, you’ll know it’s me.”

Belonging only to them… He Qing’s face was full of trust as he leaned sweetly against Lin Chi. “Then A-Chi has to remember, don’t tell anyone else. This is a secret just for the two of us.”

Lin Chi embraced him. With sorrowful eyes, he replied hoarsely, “Okay.”

After taking his medicine, He Qing felt drowsy and had to lie down to sleep. But even in his sleep, the corners of his mouth were hooked up in a sweet smile. Lin Chi looked at his sleeping face and reached out, wanting to stroke his cheek, but he felt a chill run down his spine. He turned around, and sure enough, Lin Cheng was standing outside the door, his eyes coldly observing his actions.

One minute later, Lin Chi walked out of the hospital room. Lin Cheng expressionlessly handed him a document: “Thirty percent of the shares. I’ve already signed it.”

Lin Chi’s hands clenched tightly into fists, his knuckles turning white, but ultimately, under the man’s cold gaze, he took the document.