After Being Transformed Into Cannon Fodder For Death, The Heartthrob Chapter 71
byYe Qingyun put on his best acting performance, playing the role of a patient who had rapidly recovered from a critical illness. He quickly comforted Gu Shenyuan, saying, “It’s fine, it’s fine, don’t worry. I don’t feel uncomfortable at all now, I’m completely better!”
Gu Shenyuan’s eyes were still red. He pursed his lips, silent, and quickly took Ye Qingyun to the treatment room. It wasn’t until the doctor completed all the tests on Ye Qingyun and confirmed that he was perfectly healthy that the tension in Gu Shenyuan’s facial lines finally eased a little.
The doctor left, giving the space to Gu Shenyuan, who seemed completely out of sorts, allowing him and Ye Qingyun to be alone.
Ye Qingyun pulled on Gu Shenyuan’s sleeve and whispered, “This isn’t your fault. Don’t be angry. It was just me being careless. Besides, everything is fine now. Smile for me.”
Gu Shenyuan forced his lips into a smile that held no warmth, then quickly let it drop.
The last time, just before Ye Qingyun died, he had also been lying on the ground, looking pained.
He thought he could protect Ye Qingyun, but he failed.
Being by his side always seemed to put Ye Qingyun in danger.
Gu Shenyuan tightly held Ye Qingyun’s hand. Those hands were long and warm, always holding him gently, yet he had almost allowed them to turn cold again.
And this time, he hadn’t even managed to detect the enemy beforehand.
Ye Qingyun kept a close watch on Gu Shenyuan’s expression. Seeing his distress, he tried to reassure him, “Don’t overthink things. That person came with a death wish, and they probably used some kind of forbidden method that overdraws life force. It’s normal that you couldn’t detect it immediately. It absolutely doesn’t mean you’re weak; you are the strongest.”
Ye Qingyun sat up from the examination bed and wrapped his arms around Gu Shenyuan’s shoulders, continuing his guidance, “Look at the bright side. If I recover my memory now, you’ll know that I wasn’t lying to you.”
This one sentence from Ye Qingyun immediately pierced the issue that Gu Shenyuan had been trying to avoid.
The day Ye Qingyun recovered his memory would very likely be the day their relationship fractured. The kinder Ye Qingyun was to him now, the greater the contrast—and the potential fallout—would be later.
“I really wasn’t lying to you,” Ye Qingyun repeated.
Gu Shenyuan looked at Ye Qingyun for a long moment, then a smile touched his lips. He slowly said, “I know.”
Ye Qingyun spent the day with Gu Shenyuan and felt relieved as Gu Shenyuan’s mood gradually returned to normal.
With things having progressed this far, based on normal human curiosity, Gu Shenyuan must also be very eager to know the truth.
Gu Shenyuan might fear a bad ending, but he would also anticipate a good one. These two emotions intertwined, preventing Gu Shenyuan from falling into emotional despair. At most, it would spur him to try and develop the Antidote, ensuring he had a fallback plan in case things went wrong.
And when he fully recovered his memory and the truth was revealed, Gu Shenyuan would surely be pleasantly surprised. Everything was perfect and smooth. He truly was a genius!
Thinking this, Ye Qingyun closed his eyes and peacefully fell asleep.
Time flowed quietly, gradually reaching the middle of the night. In this time when most people were sound asleep, some remained wide awake.
Ye Qingyun lay facing Gu Shenyuan, his eyes closed, his expression serene. Just inches away from him, Gu Shenyuan was wide awake, staring intently at him without blinking.
Gu Shenyuan maintained this posture for a long time before finally shifting his gaze slowly toward the ceiling.
All the happy moments felt stolen. His good days were about to end.
At the beginning of their acquaintance, Ye Qingyun hated him. At the end of this story, Ye Qingyun would also hate him. Nothing had changed.
If there was any difference, it was probably that at the end of the story, he would be following Ye Qingyun every step of the way, confining Ye Qingyun in his cage, and confining himself in Ye Qingyun’s cage as well.
In the dead of night, without the soft comfort of the person beside him, the despair in Gu Shenyuan’s heart could no longer be controlled, engulfing him entirely.
He hadn’t even married Ye Qingyun yet.
He had to marry Ye Qingyun.
He couldn’t wait any longer; he had run out of time to wait.
But what if Ye Qingyun refused?
Gu Shenyuan felt a sharp pang in his heart, closed his eyes, and dared not think further.
Ye Qingyun woke up the next day to find Gu Shenyuan already awake, sitting propped against the headboard, looking through something on his terminal.
“You’re awake?” Gu Shenyuan noticed his gaze, reached out, and stroked his hair. “Do you prefer seven days from now, or ten days from now? I checked; seven days from now there’s a daytime rainbow meteor shower, and ten days from now there’s the Five-Star Alignment spectacle. Both are decent.”
Ye Qingyun: “…?”
Ye Qingyun looked bewildered, completely unsure why Gu Shenyuan was asking this. Did he suddenly feel like taking him out for fun?
“Either is fine, they both sound nice,” Ye Qingyun suggested. “We can watch one first, and then the other. They don’t conflict.”
Gu Shenyuan looked down at him lying in bed. His dark eyes seemed to hold a thousand unspoken words, but Ye Qingyun didn’t understand any of them at the moment.
In fact, due to the angle, Ye Qingyun felt that Gu Shenyuan looked slightly terrifying right now.
Gu Shenyuan smiled, easing the strange atmosphere.
“That works too,” Gu Shenyuan said. “Then, as you suggested, seven days from now will be our first wedding, and ten days from now will be the second.”
Ye Qingyun: “…????”
What was Gu Shenyuan talking about? Had he woken up and somehow Transmigrated a year into the future?
Ye Qingyun stared at Gu Shenyuan, dumbfounded. Gu Shenyuan, uncharacteristically, continued to chatter, “The timing won’t be rushed. I started preparing for our wedding the day you returned. All the specifications, the grandeur, everything that should be there will be present. If you like a lively event, we’ll invite all the famous figures in the galaxy. If you prefer something quieter, then—”
“Wait, hold on?” Ye Qingyun finally couldn’t help but interrupt Gu Shenyuan. “M-marriage?”
Gu Shenyuan paused. “Yes.”
Ye Qingyun was stunned. He subconsciously said, “But we haven’t discussed marriage yet—”
Before he finished speaking, Ye Qingyun caught sight of Gu Shenyuan’s hand.
Gu Shenyuan’s hand was trembling slightly. Even though his hand was clenched, his fingertips digging deeply into his palm, he couldn’t stop the tremor.
Gu Shenyuan was afraid.
This thought flashed through Ye Qingyun’s mind. He looked up at Gu Shenyuan’s face again.
Given Gu Shenyuan’s strength, pinching himself like that must be incredibly painful, yet there was no sign of that pain on Gu Shenyuan’s face; instead, he looked perfectly calm.
Gu Shenyuan looked like he was wearing a mask, but the mask wasn’t perfect, subtly revealing the fragile truth beneath.
Ye Qingyun silently met Gu Shenyuan’s gaze. After a short while, Gu Shenyuan was the first to look away.
He acted as if nothing had happened, throwing back the covers to get out of bed. “You sleep a little longer. I’ll go prepare breakfast for you and come back to call you then.”
Gu Shenyuan didn’t manage to leave as planned; a hand grabbed his clothes from behind.
Gu Shenyuan gave a wry smile. What would Ye Qingyun say to him? Given Ye Qingyun’s personality, he certainly wouldn’t say anything too harsh. He would probably explain and tell him the reasons why he didn’t want to marry.
There were many reasons, and Gu Shenyuan could think of them himself: too little time together, not old enough to want to marry, too sudden, not mentally prepared, and so on.
These reasons were all plausible, each one so logical and convincing.
But he didn’t want to hear a single one.
“Qingyun, let go,” Gu Shenyuan said, his voice strained.
He needed to leave this place temporarily to calm down. If Ye Qingyun kept holding him, he wasn’t sure what he might do.
If Ye Qingyun refused him, why shouldn’t he turn around, pin Ye Qingyun down, press him against the bed, and fiercely bully him until he cried, completing the act of husband and husband first?
Several less-than-noble thoughts flashed through Gu Shenyuan’s mind. He frowned, trying once more to force his departure.
But Ye Qingyun wouldn’t let him go.
“You’re just leaving?” Ye Qingyun’s voice came from behind him, filled with deep confusion and indignation. “Are you secretly keeping a mistress outside?”
Gu Shenyuan had to admit Ye Qingyun’s skill at turning the tables. Gu Shenyuan turned back, his gaze on Ye Qingyun deepening.
He wanted Ye Qingyun, desperately wanted him—a craving that went from soul to body.
Previously, he had hoped for mutual understanding, waiting until they were deeply in love to take the final step.
But now…
If there was no hope for mutual affection, he feared that sooner or later, he would be unable to resist taking what he wanted by force.
“You haven’t even proposed to me, yet you want to marry me, and you just casually announce the wedding in bed. That’s way too informal,” Ye Qingyun grumbled, a hint of grievance in his voice. “If I were proposing to you, I would definitely find a way to give you a surprise. But you… just like this?”
Ye Qingyun wasn’t lying. Before falling asleep yesterday, he had genuinely considered pretending he hadn’t recovered his memory after the fact, expressing his desire to be together forever, and then, when Gu Shenyuan was happy, telling him about the memory recovery for double the joy.
Ye Qingyun continued, “I haven’t even said anything, and you’re already leaving. Why are you leaving? Are you rushing off to marry the next person?”
Gu Shenyuan was completely stunned. Listening to Ye Qingyun’s words, his mind felt like it couldn’t process the massive influx of information, turning into a joyous, tangled mess. He completely forgot to explain himself, only managing to say, “I’m not… not rushing off to marry anyone else.”
“I know,” Ye Qingyun released the hand that had been holding Gu Shenyuan, but Gu Shenyuan didn’t leave this time, remaining rooted to the spot as if still being held.
Gu Shenyuan held his breath, listening for Ye Qingyun’s next words.
“Fine, I’ll forgive you since it’s your first time and you have no experience,” Ye Qingyun said. “The second time, you need to treat it properly. Only then will I agree to your proposal, understood?”