GLIHBN Chapter 16
by VolareChi Ye sat down on the chair. The fruit that Song Qingyan and Li Ming had brought was placed on the bedside table. Chi Ye opened the bag, picked up an apple, and asked Su Shi, “Want one?”
Su Shi looked indifferent. “No, thanks.”
Chi Ye had no choice but to put the apple back.
Su Shi gathered his thoughts. “Chi Ye, why don’t you go home first? I’m okay now. I can manage on my own.”
Something had been off since he came in. Chi Ye looked into Su Shi’s eyes, wanting to see something in them. However, there was nothing. He had no choice but to lower his gaze.
“Is there something I haven’t done well enough, Su Shi-ge?”
Su Shi was upset by Song Qingyan’s words earlier. He had wanted to defend Xu Chongming, but he found that he couldn’t.
Chi Ye had come to take care of him out of kindness, but he was in a bad mood and eager to send him away. Su Shi began to hate himself.
“No, that’s not what I mean. I’m really fine now. You don’t need to stay here with me all the time. It’ll delay your matters.”
Chi Ye looked at him with hurt in his eyes.
Su Shi pursed his lips, wanting to say something more, but he couldn’t utter a word.
The two were silent, the atmosphere eerily quiet.
Just then, with a creak, the door to the ward was pushed open. It was the boy from the next bed returning.
The arrival of an outsider broke the awkward silence between the two.
Seeing that the two were silent, the boy took the initiative to say hello. “Hello, your friends are all so handsome.”
Su Shi gave him a polite smile. “Thank you.”
The boy casually asked, “Do you also have gastroenteritis?” His tone was extremely natural, as if asking “Have you eaten?”
Su Shi wasn’t really used to talking to strangers, especially the overly familiar kind. But thinking that it could ease the awkwardness between him and Chi Ye, he turned to chat with the boy.
“Yeah, it hurts like hell.”
The boy was named Liu Qi. He had been admitted to the hospital a day earlier than Su Shi. He rubbed his stomach. “Yeah, it’s really life-threatening.”
Liu Qi was a chatterbox. Once Su Shi paid attention to him, he didn’t stop talking. He went from gastroenteritis to food, and from food to clothing.
Learning that the boy was a student at West Hangzhou University, Su Shi pointed his chin at Chi Ye. “What a coincidence. My friend will be attending West Hangzhou University soon.”
Liu Qi looked at Chi Ye curiously, feeling that this person was not as easy to get along with as the one in the hospital bed. “That’s a coincidence. In that case, I’m your senior.”
Chi Ye didn’t interject, his gaze casually placed somewhere on the blanket covering Su Shi, listening quietly.
Su Shi’s expression naturally relaxed, but Chi Ye felt that there was an invisible wall between them for some reason.
The phone in his pocket vibrated. Chi Ye took it out and glanced at it. It was from Jiang Hui, asking to meet him.
Liu Qi vividly told some interesting stories about the dormitory, making Su Shi laugh. He chased after him, asking, “Ah, really? Did that really happen?”
Chi Ye stood up on his own. “Su Shi-ge, I’ll go out for a bit.”
Su Shi’s lips tightened slightly. He turned his head to look at him. “Okay, be careful on the road.”
Chi Ye gave a “hmm” sound, not forgetting to remind him, “Remember to drink warm water, not too hot.”
“Okay.”
Chi Ye turned and left, the laughter behind him returning to normal, without changing anything because of his departure.
Walking out of the ward, Chi Ye gently closed the door, isolating everything inside.
Chi Ye sighed and walked towards the elevator.
Su Shi yawned.
Liu Qi then stopped talking. “Tired?”
“Yeah, tired.”
“Then go to sleep. We’ll chat after you wake up.”
Su Shi found the button to lower the head of the bed, lay down on the pillow, and closed his eyes.
In a high-end cafe, Jiang Hui, adorned in jewelry, was graceful and elegant. In front of her on a round flower stand was a cup of coffee and a small piece of cake.
Seeing Chi Ye, she stood up and happily waved. “Xiao Ye, over here.”
Chi Ye walked towards Jiang Hui and sat down on the sofa opposite her. “Aunt.”
“Hey, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you.”
“Yeah, it’s been about half a year, right?”
The waiter walked up to Chi Ye and handed him the menu.
Jiang Hui said, “See what you want to eat and drink? Their hand-ground coffee is good.”
Chi Ye pointed at the menu. “A cup of this will do.”
The waiter nodded, took note, and took the menu away.
“Xiao Ye, let Auntie take a good look at you.”
Jiang Hui took Chi Ye’s hand, her eyes smiling as she carefully examined him. “You’ve grown taller again, but you’ve gotten thinner.”
In front of Jiang Hui, Chi Ye was a real child, a pitiful nephew who had lost his parents since he was young. “Auntie, I’m not thin. I have muscles.”
Jiang Hui really pinched his arm and exaggeratedly said, “Oh my, you really do.”
Jiang Hui withdrew her hand and began to talk about business. “I really didn’t expect the old man to let you come over early.”
Chi Xiangqin was of course unwilling to let him go. Chi Ye had used other conditions to exchange for it, but in front of Jiang Hui, Chi Ye wouldn’t reveal it.
“Grandpa probably thinks I’ve grown up.”
Jiang Hui was filled with emotion. “If your father saw you now, how gratified he would be.”
Chi Ye was silent.
“You’re coming here to go to university, and Chongming is coming back too. It’s great that the two of you will be by my side then.”
Chi Ye had heard that Xu Chongming was coming back soon, but he didn’t know the exact date.
“When is Chongming-ge returning to the country?”
Jiang Hui took a sip of coffee, put down the cup, and said, “Soon.”
“That’s great.”
“Yes, I’ve already found a suitable girlfriend candidate for him. I’ll have him meet her when he comes back, and you can help him take a look then.”
Chi Ye’s heart skipped a beat. He was surprised. As far as he knew, Jiang Hui knew that Xu Chongming liked men. “Girlfriend?”
“Yes, your cousin is already twenty-something. It’s time to put getting married on the agenda. I wasn’t in a hurry before when he was studying, but it’s different now that he’s graduated.”
“But Chongming-ge isn’t…”
Jiang Hui didn’t let him continue. “I know, but he’s the only son of the Xu family. He can’t be so willful. I don’t care how he played around before, men will be men, but he won’t be able to do as he pleases in the future.”
Jiang Hui’s tone was quite authoritative, full of the air of a powerful woman.
Chi Ye couldn’t judge, nor did he have the position to do so.
On the way back to the hospital, Chi Ye received a call from Xu Chongming.
Xu Chongming said that Su Shi had just been acting up with him, and now he wasn’t answering video calls or replying to messages. He wanted to ask Chi Ye what Su Shi was doing.
Chi Ye didn’t expect Su Shi to not have told Xu Chongming about being sick and hospitalized, but he could understand. This was to avoid worrying him.
Xu Chongming had very upbeat music playing on his side, uplifting and inspiring.
Chi Ye frowned. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m at a party.”
Xu Chongming also said that he had ordered roses and would have them delivered later, asking Chi Ye to coax Su Shi and say good things for him.
Chi Ye asked an irrelevant question, “Does Su Shi-ge really like roses?”
“Roses represent passionate love. Don’t you give roses when you’re in love?”