MNL Chapter 40
by VolareChapter 40: Discharge. I Believe.
The rain started suddenly. When Shen Yan arrived at the hospital, he was almost soaked through. Xu Jing was lying in bed playing with his phone and was startled by the sudden appearance of Shen Yan.
Shen Yan’s hair was naturally stiff, so even when wet, it didn’t fall flat. Instead, several strands stood up, and when he casually pushed it back, it made him look even more untamed than usual.
“How are you?” Xu Jing sat up straight.
Shen Yan placed the shredded chicken noodles on the table and replied, “It’s nothing.”
The Linhe No.1 High School uniform wasn’t thick; to put it bluntly, it was just a layer of fabric. The soaked clothes clung tightly to his skin, making it feel like he wasn’t wearing anything at all. Xu Jing couldn’t help but glance at the most prominent muscles of his abdomen, feeling inexplicably hot.
Qin Xin had brought spare clothes for him. Without thinking too much, Xu Jing pointed to the white cloth bag by the bed and said, “There are my clothes inside. You can change into them.”
Shen Yan looked over there, seemingly lost in thought, and didn’t move.
This reaction surprised Xu Jing.
He used to be extremely fastidious about cleanliness, never letting anyone touch his personal belongings, not even Yan Zhe, Qin Xin, or Xu Huaiyang. So why had he unhesitatingly offered his clothes just now?
“If you don’t want to—”
“Where can I change?”
Water droplets fell onto the floor with a ‘drip, drip, drip’. Xu Jing pursed his lips and swallowed the “never mind” that was about to come out, “Here, I guess.”
Shen Yan nodded. With a lift of his hand, his clothes were on the floor.
He was so quick that Xu Jing didn’t have time to prepare himself.
With the large movement, water droplets slid down his beautiful upper body muscles, finally disappearing into the pants on his hips. The standing figure had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, with cold, pale skin. On either side were firm biceps, and the well-proportioned lines rose and fell just right.
Xu Jing’s eyelids twitched several times. He felt that it was awkward to stare, but equally strange to look away. His body was fighting with the thoughts in his head. By the time Shen Yan had put on the clothes and sat down, he still hadn’t recovered from the visual assault.
Shen Yan looked at Xu Jing’s slight discomfort and smiled, “What’s wrong?”
Xu Jing coughed awkwardly, raised his hand to touch his nose, and said, “Nothing.”
His voice was mumbled, and Shen Yan subconsciously looked at Xu Jing’s face. Although the swelling on his cheekbones had gone down a lot, it still looked shocking because of the many wounds.
“I should have hit him harder.”
The cold tone made Xu Jing instantly understand the meaning behind the words. His voice was muffled, “Then we’ll see you in ten years.”
“No.” Xu Jing thought of something and changed his tone, “You’re an adult now. Life imprisonment, right?”
Shen Yan: “…”
He didn’t really want to discuss how many years he would be sentenced for intentional homicide, so he immediately changed the subject.
“Want to eat?”
The bag was opened, and Xu Jing knew without looking that whatever he brought was definitely cold. Besides, he had just had porridge an hour ago.
Just as Xu Jing was about to say no, he saw Shen Yan’s half-wet hair, and he couldn’t bring himself to refuse. He reluctantly nodded with a half-hearted stomach.
Shen Yan picked up the noodles in the bowl, but deliberately paused as he extended his chopsticks.
“Want me to feed you?”
Without thinking too much, Xu Jing subconsciously hummed in agreement, and Shen Yan responded with a noncommittal smile, “Okay.”
His voice was low, causing Xu Jing, who had just realized what he’d said, felt his heart skip several beats.
Having the food brought to his mouth left him no choice but to accept it. However, the shredded chicken noodles weren’t as cold as he had imagined. Instead, they were warm, just right. This surprised Xu Jing. He was familiar with the taste of the noodles. The restaurant was far from here, and it was raining so hard outside.
Xu Jing swallowed the noodles with mixed feelings and whispered, “Did the police make things difficult for you?”
Shen Yan shook his head.
But he looked obviously tired. A lot had happened recently, both on and off campus, all because of him. Yet, Shen Yan hadn’t said a word of complaint, as if he willingly bore it all.
“I’m fine,” Shen Yan added.
Xu Jing thought, even if he complained a little, or used sarcasm like before, at least he would feel a little better.
“About Zhang Dong, why do you trust me so much?” Shen Yan scooped up a spoonful of soup and said, “Open your mouth.”
Xu Jing paused, looked up at Shen Yan, and said, “It’s not just this matter.”
Shen Yan questioned with a hum.
Xu Jing blurted out, “No matter what happens, I believe you.”
The hospital was very quiet at night, and their words seemed to echo in their ears several times, leaving no room for retreat. Xu Jing regretted it a bit.
Shen Yan’s fingers tightened around the bowl, but he didn’t say anything. He just smiled softly.
“What are you laughing at?” Xu Jing pressed forward earnestly and retorted, “You don’t believe me?”
“I believe you.”
Shen Yan’s answer was quick, seemingly sincere, but it made Xu Jing feel that he was being careless, like an adult humoring a child’s naive statement.
Xu Jing didn’t want to argue about this belief or disbelief verbally, so he slightly tilted his head, indicating that he didn’t want to eat anymore.
“I saw a few men enter the room across the hall today.”
Shen Yan knew who was staying in there, hummed, and said, “And then?”
“The doctors and nurses were kicked out. That guy had two ribs broken by you, intracranial hemorrhage, and spent the whole night in the ICU being rescued. And Zhang Dong, he initially insisted that you were the one who poisoned him, how did he change his tune all of a sudden?”
Shen Yan knew what Xu Jing wanted to say.
If Shen Linzhi hadn’t pulled some strings behind the scenes, the police would never have released him now.
“Maybe it’s because I’m too handsome.”
Xu Jing gave him a blank look.
That’s right, after all, Xu Jing was only physically injured, not brain damaged. He would realize this sooner or later.
Knowing that he couldn’t hide it, Shen Yan sighed and lowered his voice, “I don’t know how to tell you.”
His beautiful eyes drooped slightly, looking somewhat troubled.
“…”
This guy was definitely doing it on purpose.
But he was helpless against it.
“Never mind, tell me when you want to.”
Shen Yan hummed and added, “Thank you.”
Outside, it was raining. Xu Jing, after taking his medicine, fell soundly asleep. Shen Yan covered him with the blanket and changed back into his own clothes before leaving.
“Xiao Yan!” The female voice from behind made Shen Yan, who was about to go downstairs, stop.
Qin Xin rushed up and stuffed an umbrella into Shen Yan’s hand, “It’s raining too hard outside, take this umbrella.”
Shen Yan was a bit surprised. He looked down at the umbrella in his hand and said, “Thank you, Auntie.”
“Your parents aren’t home. Remember to make some ginger soup if you get caught in the rain, or you’ll catch a cold.”
Qin Xin was unaware, simply assuming that Shen Yan’s parents were just away for work. Shen Yan didn’t want to explain too much at this time, so he nodded and replied, “Okay.”
The cold wind passed through his thin shirt, invading the teenager’s body that had just warmed up. But Shen Yan didn’t care. He opened the umbrella and walked into the rain, his slender figure disappearing into the endless darkness.
That night, it seemed that many things had come to a conclusion. Some were already sound asleep, while others were still out in the deep of night, unaware of the cold.
·
It was a week later when Xu Jing returned to school. If Qin Xin hadn’t been unable to stand it anymore and said that if he didn’t go back to school, she would hire a tutor, Xu Jing would never have been willing to walk into the classroom with a crutch. It was simply too embarrassing!
Just as Li Qin had stepped out the door, Cha Fei’ang took off his glasses, intending to take a nap. But out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a familiar figure appearing at the back door.
Cha Fei’ang was instantly enlightened, “Oh my god, Jing-ge, you’re back?”
Xu Jing, who was planning to sneak in, “…”
Cha Fei’ang, like a loyal lackey, quickly walked to Xu Jing’s side and shouted, “Jing-ge, you’re such a hard worker. You’re even coming to school while you’re sick?”
Originally, not many people had heard, but now the entire class turned around to look at the commotion in the back.
Xu Jing really wanted to sew up Cha Fei’ang’s mouth.
“Welcome back, Jing-ge.” Several boys in the back row who had a good relationship with Xu Jing went up to him and joked, “In the few days you weren’t here, Cha Fei’ang couldn’t eat or sleep, and gained ten pounds.”
“Nonsense, he’s just gaining weight from being in love.”
Cha Fei’ang quickly said, “Go, go, go, we’re not even close to that stage yet, don’t make a fuss!”
Xu Jing raised an eyebrow, and just as he was about to ask Cha Fei’ang if it was true, he saw that this big man who was 1.85 meters tall was actually blushing.
“You’re something else, kid.”
Xu Jing put his crutch aside and sat down neatly.
“They’re just saying nonsense.” Cha Fei’ang scratched the back of his head, his obviously plump face showing a bit of shyness, “But it’s actually getting close.”
Everyone around him said in unison, “Oh~”
Xu Jing got goosebumps all over his body.
But the next class was math, so they couldn’t make a fuss for long. Everyone around him consciously returned to their seats five minutes before class started.
Xu Jing finally had a chance to look over there.
Whether it was a coincidence or intentional, Shen Yan happened to be looking over as well.
Their eyes met completely, and Xu Jing reflexively wanted to look away. But he was a slow person, and just as he was about to turn his head, he saw Shen Yan smile at him.
Xu Jing’s eyelids twitched rapidly.
Because almost all of the students in the class lived on campus, only Shen Yan came every day during Xu Jing’s hospitalization, and he was very punctual. Coming was one thing, but the most important thing was that he never came empty-handed.
Qin Xin took particularly good care of Xu Jing’s three meals a day, buying tonics by the box. Shen Yan would come around ten o’clock at night, sometimes with bone broth, sometimes with seafood porridge, all high-calorie, nutritious foods.
Although Shen Yan would ask every time if he wanted him to bring something the next day, Xu Jing, for some inexplicable reason, closed his eyes and bravely replied with a ‘yes’ every time.
Forget about Cha Fei’ang gaining ten pounds, he wasn’t doing any better. Before coming, Xu Jing went to the first floor of the hospital to weigh himself. When he saw the number on the scale reach an unprecedented new height, he didn’t know who to blame for a moment.
But when he was in the hospital, he had nothing to do, so the person in bed would occasionally start to have wild thoughts. Sometimes, as he was thinking, an extremely terrifying thought would suddenly pop into his head:
What would it feel like to be in a relationship with Shen Yan?
Xu Jing was quite frightened by himself, and then he completely uprooted this idea, along with that bit of palpitation, and threw it all to the winds.