PBMM CH12

In the afternoon.

Having had his cast removed, He Qing stood outside the operating room, looking somewhat timidly at Lin Chi, and received a gentle pat on his head. His voice was hoarse, “Alright, it’s fine. It’s just a minor surgery. Trust me, okay?”

Although still a bit worried, he obediently nodded, his gaze toward Lin Chi full of trust. Lin Chi’s face showed no signs of anything being wrong. “After I finish the surgery, I’ll take you to a place no one knows to recover. We’ll come back when we’re both all better, okay?”

He Qing was naturally willing, but then hesitated: “The exams…”

“It’s fine, we’ll make it in time. Our A-Qing is so smart, even if you miss a few days of class, you can definitely get into a good university…” Lin Chi coaxed softly, “Does A-Qing not want to be alone with me?”

The teenager before him blushed at his ambiguous tone, but suppressing his shyness, he answered in a small voice, “I want to be with A-Chi…”

Looking at He Qing, whose eyes were full of love, Lin Chi felt a sudden wave of daze. He suddenly grabbed the person’s hand, “A-Qing, you…”

The teenager looked up at him in confusion, attentively waiting for him to finish his sentence. Lin Chi’s expression froze. He slowly released his hand and forced a smile, “Wait for me like a good boy, I’ll be right out.”

“Mn!”

Lin Chi turned and walked toward the operating room with a wooden face, terrified that if he looked at the person who trusted him so wholeheartedly, he would change his mind. He didn’t even dare to look back.

The surgery was completed quickly. Lin Chi walked out with gauze wrapped around his neck, his face somewhat pale. He Qing hurriedly went up to him: “A-Chi…”

As He Qing walked up to him, the man’s eyes stared intently at the worry-filled teenager. He slowly reached out his hand and drew a circle on He Qing’s palm.

“It’s okay, A-Chi…” The teenager held that hand in return, comforting him earnestly, “You’ll be able to speak again in a few days.”

Lin Chi smiled and nodded, but he felt as if venom was burning in the bottom of his heart, hurting so much he wanted to dig his heart out. He suddenly stepped forward and hugged the teenager tightly, his eyes full of madness.

I’m sorry…Wait for me!

[Ding, Lin Chi favorability: 97.]

————

With gauze over his eyes, He Qing was helped out of the office slowly by the doctor. Under the gauze was a medical eye mask, emitting a comforting, refreshing coolness.

But no matter how comfortable it was, the pitch darkness before him still made He Qing a little afraid. He reached out his hand, his tone slightly urgent: “A-Chi…”

A pair of warm, strong, large hands grasped him. For some reason, He Qing’s heart skipped a beat. With a hint of panic, he tried to pull his hand back, but that hand drew a circle in his palm. The teenager froze, and with some hesitation, asked uncertainly, “A-Chi, is that you?”

The person didn’t speak but leaned close to the blindfolded teenager, lightly pecking his cheek. It was like a dragonfly skimming the water, but it made the teenager blush. He now completely believed this was his lover. With shyness, he said somewhat embarrassedly, “We’re in the hospital!”

A hand gently brushed across his cheek, as if comforting him. Feeling a bit shy yet sweet, He Qing revealed a small smile and, with complete trust, grasped the person’s hand back. “A-Chi, will you be my eyes?”

His cheek was lightly tapped by lips again. He Qing was still embarrassed, but he never let go of their clasped hands.

He obediently let the man lead him all the way. Hearing the voices of passersby and the honking of cars, if he were alone, he would be very scared. But now, holding his lover’s hand tightly, his heart was full of peace.

Getting in and out of the car, he was led by the man. As he stepped onto the ground, He Qing immediately sensed something was different. The ground beneath his feet wasn’t the flat pavement commonly seen in the city, but rather a slightly soft, uneven dirt road. He turned his head in confusion toward the man, naturally receiving no answer.

The two walked, one silent and the other obedient, until a loud female voice suddenly rang out from ahead: “Qing-wazi is back? Mr. Lin, you came too!”

He Qing was a bit bewildered. This voice spoke in non-standard Mandarin, carrying a rural accent he found familiar. While he was still trying hard to recall who it was, a middle-aged woman stepped forward familiarly and looked him over. “What happened to your eyes? You were perfectly fine, why are they covered in gauze?”

Her tone held an elder’s worry and care, making He Qing, who had never been loved by family, feel a bit at a loss. But he still answered politely, “It’s just a minor issue, it’ll be fine in a few days.” Pausing for a moment, he asked with slight awkwardness, “Um, may I ask who you are?”

The middle-aged woman paused, reflexively looking at the person standing beside He Qing. Seeing him give a slight nod, she said heartily, “Look at my memory, you were only two or three years old when you left home, of course you wouldn’t remember me! My surname is Pang, you called me Aunt Pang when you were little. Our two families were next-door neighbors!”

He Qing froze. Home…

He was sent to the orphanage when he was very young. He only knew his parents had passed away, but didn’t know the specific details. This was the very first time someone told him that he used to have a home…

Aunt Pang had already started firing off words like a cannon: “Come in, come in, Mr. Lin had people clean this place up overnight. Even though no one has lived here for so many years, it looks brighter than those newly built houses!”

After speaking, seeing He Qing still standing dazed at the door, she waved in confusion, “Hurry and come in, pay proper respects to your mom and dad. Let them know in heaven that their son is successful and has come back to show filial piety to them!”

He Qing remained frozen in place. He no longer knew what kind of emotion he should be feeling, until a pair of hands supported him, carefully guiding him into the house.

Seeing they finally came in, Aunt Pang smiled, unable to stop her praise: “The village chief really had foresight, enduring the pressure to save this house for you. If that orphanage hadn’t caught fire back then, causing your batch of kids—who couldn’t even speak clearly yet—to be scattered to other orphanages, you would have known about this house long ago.”

He Qing was already too shocked by this news to speak. From the time he could remember, he knew he was an orphan. But because he was sent to the orphanage at such a young age and there were no records, he only knew his name was He Qing and absolutely nothing else.

It turned out, he also had a home… He Qing didn’t doubt its authenticity. Since A-Chi brought him here, he must have investigated and found this out!

His face held no expression, but the way he tightly gripped the hand leading him revealed just how turbulent his emotions were. The person beside him comfortingly patted his back. The silent consolation made He Qing’s stiff spine relax slightly.

He Qing’s voice choked up slightly for some reason, “Then, what were their names?”

“Your father was named He Dazhu, your mother was Qin Lian. They were a loving couple. When they named you, they combined their two surnames (He and Qin/Qing). The village chief built a grave for them, but over the years, the weeds grew tall. It was this Mr. Lin who came by recently to help fix it up nicely and even got a new tombstone engraved. Qing-wazi, since you’ve found your way back, light some incense for them during the holidays, fulfill your filial duties…”

Long after Aunt Pang left, He Qing was still immersed in the thought that ‘he actually wasn’t an orphan.’ It wasn’t until the man beside him gave his head a helpless, gentle pat that he snapped back to reality. He grabbed the man’s hands, speaking with immense agitation: “A-Chi! It turns out I have a family! My name is a combination of my mom and dad’s surnames. They were so in love, they loved me so much!!”

His eyes were covered, but one could imagine how bright those eyes would be if they were open right now. “A-Chi! Thank you!!”

For the first time, the teenager cast aside his shyness. His cheeks were burning fiercely red, but he firmly spoke those three words: “I love you.”

The man’s hand paused in mid-air, then slowly landed on his hair, gently stroking it. His eyes were filled with softness, wishing he could deliver all the treasures of the world into the teenager’s hands.

But the next moment, the docile teenager being petted like a cat curled his lips up in happiness, his tone brimming with love: “I love you so much, A-Chi…”

The hand stroking his hair unhurriedly stopped. Before He Qing could notice anything amiss, it continued stroking. Only, the man’s gaze grew dark and obscure, and his free hand clenched tightly into a fist.

When the teenager leaned trustingly and dependently into his embrace, drowsy with sleep, he gently patted He Qing’s back, silently coaxing him.

It doesn’t matter, you’ll understand eventually. Lin Chi won’t protect you, but Lin Cheng will.

He Qing and the man stayed solidly in this childhood home for a few days. It was a remote backwater, but the rare and precious thing was that there was no pollution. Although he couldn’t see, the crisp chirping of birds every morning and the chirring of insects at night were things he had never experienced before.

Between him and his lover, one couldn’t see and the other couldn’t speak, yet they cooperated with perfect tacit understanding. During these few days, although he couldn’t see anything, He Qing experienced a colorful vibrancy he had never felt before.

Sitting barefoot on a rock like a child, the icy stream water brushed past his toes, ticklish yet very comfortable. He Qing sat quietly waiting. Soon, the man waded over from nearby. He Qing carefully felt his way down the man’s arm until he finally touched the small fish the man held cupped in the water.

“It’s slippery…” The man lowered his eyes, watching the teenager carefully use his index finger to touch the little fish in the water. When the little fish flicked its tail and darted aside, he froze for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh out loud with joy.

“So cute.” The teenager tilted his small face up and said to the man.

So cute. Looking at the teenager like this, Lin Cheng thought.

During their few days in the countryside, they practically played everywhere every day. The man used his own ways to make up for the childhood a village boy should have had for He Qing. On the last day, braving the arduous mountain path, He Qing and the person beside him supported each other to his parents’ graves.

“Dad, Mom, thank you.” He Qing knelt before the grave, with the man kneeling similarly beside him.

He gripped the hand of the person beside him tightly. As if facing his parents who were still alive, he spoke with a hint of timidity yet firmly: “Thank you for giving me life and giving me my name. Knowing of your existence, I am truly happy.” He gripped the man’s hand incredibly tightly. Though it was pitch black before him, he was no longer afraid: “Please also don’t worry about the rest of my life. I love him, and I will be with him for a lifetime, we will never part!”

Kneeling on the ground, Lin Cheng looked at the teenager with a gaze so burning hot it seemed he wanted to swallow the person whole. He could feel the heart beneath his chest beating violently.

I really, really want to possess him completely.

That night, lying on the only large bed in the He household, Lin Cheng’s wish came true.