SM Chapter 15

Chapter 15: You Can’t Do Strenuous Exercise Right Now

Shèng Míngqiān can’t see now, so this rare rest period allows Yè Lái to have the rare opportunity to eat breakfast with him.

During the few days in the hospital, Shèng Míngqiān’s phone was turned off. After turning it on in the morning, the ringtone kept ringing. Since he couldn’t see, he simply didn’t answer anyone’s calls. Many people also inquired about his condition through Lín Hàn.

After eating, Shèng Míngqiān directly handed his phone to Yè Lái: “Help me post something on Weibo to explain the situation.”

Yè Lái looked at the black phone in front of him. Shèng Míngqiān’s phone wallpaper was a still from a movie. Yè Lái was too familiar with his movies and could immediately recognize that it was the final scene of Shèng Míngqiān’s first movie.

The entire picture had a warm yellow tone, with wind blowing through wheat fields. Even though it was just a photo, Yè Lái could almost hear the sound of the wheat swaying in the wind.

The phone was pushed closer to his face again: “What’s wrong?”

“I’ll post it for you,” Yè Lái regained his senses and took the phone. After Shèng Míngqiān unlocked it with his fingerprint, the screen locked again. “What’s your phone password?”

“0624.”

“0, 6, 2, 4…”

Yè Lái repeated as he typed, secretly guessing the meaning of these numbers. It wasn’t Shèng Míngqiān’s birthday, nor the start or end date of any of his movies. Shèng Míngqiān had never celebrated anything on this day…

Unable to figure it out, Yè Lái stopped thinking about it. Shèng Míngqiān’s phone was full of unread messages and missed calls. A string of names appeared on the screen, many of whom Yè Lái had heard of or encountered in the industry.

Yè Lái opened Weibo, which was also full of unread messages. Although curious, Yè Lái didn’t have the habit of snooping on other people’s privacy.

“What do you want me to post?”

Shèng Míngqiān picked up his water glass and took a sip: “Just say, ‘My health is no longer a major concern. My eyes sustained a minor injury and I’m temporarily resting at home. I won’t be responding to messages individually. Thank you for your concern…'”

Yè Lái typed out Shèng Míngqiān’s words one by one, then pressed the send button.

As soon as the Weibo post was sent, comment notifications flooded in. At first, they all said “Get well soon,” but the tone changed halfway through.

[Shèng Director actually used an emoji in his Weibo post, so cute…]

[Shèng Director’s eyes are injured, so it probably wasn’t him who posted it. Maybe Uncle Lín used Shèng Director’s phone to post it.]

[It’s also possible that Shèng Director’s boyfriend posted it.]

[Ahhhh, remembering the strawberry mark on Shèng Director’s neck at the last film festival awards gala, it must have been his boyfriend who posted it!]

[It’s Zhōu Rán, isn’t it?]

…

Yè Lái rolled his eyes when he saw someone mention Zhōu Rán’s name in the comments. He himself was used to using emojis, emoticons, and various meme packs when posting messages. He had just casually added a small yellow face winking at the end, which certainly didn’t match Shèng Míngqiān’s habits and style. Shèng Míngqiān was usually too lazy to even add punctuation.

“I just used an emoji. Do you want me to repost it?”

“No need, don’t repost it.” As Shèng Míngqiān spoke, he felt around on the table, found his phone, and put it on silent mode.

As soon as the phone was silenced, the screen lit up again. It was a call from Zhōu Rán. Yè Lái glanced at it, pretended not to see it, and didn’t say anything to Shèng Míngqiān.

At ten o’clock, the doctor arrived on time to change Shèng Míngqiān’s dressing and reiterated the precautions before leaving. Pǔ Yīshēng had said before he was discharged from the hospital that the fastest way to fully recover was one week, but it could also take half a month to twenty days.

Looking at the newly changed gauze on Shèng Míngqiān’s eyes, Yè Lái both wanted Shèng Míngqiān’s eyes to get better sooner and wanted to spend more time with Shèng Míngqiān. This was a rare time that belonged only to the two of them.

Torn and worried, he finally silently prayed in his heart that Shèng Míngqiān’s eyes would get better soon.

–

–

Although the apartment wasn’t big, it was inconvenient for Shèng Míngqiān to do anything since he couldn’t see. Aside from needing Yè Lái’s help to drink water and go to the bathroom, he spent the rest of the time sitting on the sofa. Yè Lái turned on the TV for him to listen to.

Shèng Míngqiān sat motionless on the sofa, as if the TV shows were very engaging, but Yè Lái knew that Shèng Míngqiān must be unaccustomed to suddenly being unable to see. He had to explain everything he was doing to Shèng Míngqiān, so the apartment was never quiet.

“Míngqiān, I haven’t left, I’m boiling water in the kitchen,” Yè Lái poked his head out from the kitchen door. “If you want to go to the bathroom, tell me. Don’t deliberately control your water intake. Pǔ Yīshēng said you need to drink more water.”

“I want to go to the bathroom now.” Shèng Míngqiān turned his head to look in the direction of the kitchen.

Yè Lái grabbed a paper towel from the kitchen, wiped the water off his hands, and ran over to help Shèng Míngqiān. He stood next to the toilet after they entered the bathroom: “Do you need me to unzip your pants?”

“No need.”

Shèng Míngqiān stood there without moving. Since he didn’t move, Yè Lái didn’t move either. After waiting for a while, Shèng Míngqiān was still standing there stiffly. Only then did Yè Lái completely realize that Shèng Míngqiān was… shy?

Yè Lái’s peach blossom eyes curved, and a glimmer of light flashed in his dark pupils.

He suddenly wanted to tease Shèng Míngqiān. He leaned his body closer to Shèng Míngqiān’s arm, standing behind him on his side. He wrapped his arms around Shèng Míngqiān’s waist, his fingers resting on the belt. His right fingertip slid along the belt to the cold buckle in front before stopping. He circled his fingertip on the buckle, and stood on his tiptoes to be closer to Shèng Míngqiān’s ear.

“Míngqiān, we’ve been in bed for five years. Are you being shy now?”

Yè Lái deliberately lowered his voice, almost speaking in breathy whispers. He emphasized those words, as if they were gasps before passion, drifting out of his throat one by one.

“It’s okay, we know each other’s bodies even more than we know each other’s minds. I’ll help you unzip your pants. Do you need me to?”

As Yè Lái spoke, his fingers twisted the buckle. With a click, the belt loosened.

Just as he was about to pull the belt out of the buckle, Shèng Míngqiān’s palm grabbed Yè Lái’s mischievous hand.

Shèng Míngqiān tilted his neck slightly, lowered his head, and leaned closer to Yè Lái’s ear. His lips brushed against his already red earlobe: “Yè Lái… are you looking to get fucked again?”

Shèng Míngqiān’s voice was a hoarse, unyielding sound, with a hint of ferocity, like a lion about to roar after being provoked.

The gauze on his eyes brushed against Yè Lái’s cheek, creating a ticklish sensation like silk being drawn. Yè Lái’s breathing tightened, and goosebumps rose all over his body. Shèng Míngqiān’s voice didn’t sound like he was joking.

Yè Lái admitted defeat. He didn’t dare to joke about Shèng Míngqiān’s health. He only dared to provoke him to this extent. He silently let go of his hand and took a few steps back: “I was just joking with you. Pǔ Yīshēng said you can’t do strenuous exercise right now.”

–

–

After coming out of the bathroom, Yè Lái behaved a lot more calmly. Shèng Míngqiān was still sitting on the sofa listening to the TV, and Yè Lái lay on his lap, using his phone to buy groceries.

“I bought some lemons, and I’ll buy some carrots and spinach. Míngqiān, what other fruits do you want to eat? Strawberries? Cherries? Mangoes?” Yè Lái moved his neck, his left arm around Shèng Míngqiān’s waist, and his right hand swiping on his phone. He chose for Shèng Míngqiān on his own: “Let’s eat blueberries, since blueberries are good for the eyes.”

“I want to eat cherries,” Shèng Míngqiān suddenly said.

“Okay, I’ll add two orders of cherries, two orders of blueberries.”

“I don’t want to eat blueberries,” Shèng Míngqiān said again.

“But blueberries are good for the eyes.”

“I don’t want to eat blueberries.” Shèng Míngqiān said the same thing again, his tone neither light nor heavy, as if he was stating a fact. His back was straight, and his face was still turned towards the TV. If you didn’t look at his eyes, you’d think he really liked what was on TV.

But Yè Lái still keenly noticed the difference in Shèng Míngqiān’s words. Shèng Míngqiān rarely used words like “want” and “don’t want.” These two words themselves carried subjective emotions and desires, and Shèng Míngqiān rarely expressed himself in this way.

People who are sick are indeed different. Yè Lái felt smug because he had discovered another side of Shèng Míngqiān that he had never seen before. It was as if the distance between them was even closer.

“But blueberries are good for the eyes. Dr. Pǔ also said so.” Yè Lái still didn’t give up, wanting to see what Shèng Míngqiān would do after saying “want” and “don’t want.”

Yè Lái had been looking at Shèng Míngqiān’s face from below, and as expected, after he finished speaking, Shèng Míngqiān’s Adam’s apple moved, and his face showed an expression other than calmness. The corners of his mouth pressed down, and the curve of his jaw tightened differently.

“Don’t want to eat them.” This time, there were only three words, and the voice wasn’t calm, but forceful, with resistance.

Yè Lái was stifling a laugh, his shoulders shaking.

“What are you laughing at?” Shèng Míngqiān suddenly lowered his head.

“Can you see?” Yè Lái raised his hand and waved it in front of Shèng Míngqiān’s gauze.

“I can’t see, but I can feel you laughing,” Shèng Míngqiān said.

Yè Lái propped himself up on the sofa, lifted his upper body, and kissed Shèng Míngqiān’s rolling Adam’s apple: “If you don’t want to eat blueberries, then you don’t have to.”

Shèng Míngqiān finally wasn’t sitting like a wind-up toy anymore. His shoulders suddenly slumped, his chest sank, and he leaned lazily back against the sofa. Then he raised his head and listened to the TV seriously.

The program on TV was a variety show that Yè Lái had recorded before. He was playing a water ball game with several other people, and someone had maliciously pushed him into the water. Because he choked on water, even though he was a good swimmer, he still floundered in the pool for a while. When he came up, he was soaked all over.

He was very embarrassed, but fortunately, Shèng Míngqiān couldn’t see it now. Yè Lái often recorded this kind of variety show, just to gain traffic with these kinds of scenes. The program he was going to record on Wednesday night was similar to this, and now they had added a segment of creating a CP with Fāng Lìchén.

“Míngqiān, should I have Brother Hàn come to keep you company for a few hours on Wednesday night?”

“No need.”

“I’m not comfortable leaving you at home alone. What if you bump into something…”

Before Yè Lái could finish speaking, Shèng Míngqiān interrupted him: “I’ll go with you to record the program on Wednesday night.”

Yè Lái almost thought he had misheard: “You, you want to come with me to record the program? Don’t you want other people to know about our relationship?”

Yè Lái was pushed again on TV as a joke, and Shèng Míngqiān frowned. He reached for the remote control on the edge of the sofa and turned off the TV. He lowered his head and “looked” at Yè Lái: “Lín Hàn has something to do on Wednesday. I’m not going with you to record it. I’ll wait for you backstage on Wednesday night.”