Chapter 136
Xiao Tangqiu turned around and looked at Meng Xinghe. Both of them looked at each other in embarra.s.sment.
After a while, Xiao Tangqiu said awkwardly, “You…”
Meng Xinghe also said at the same time, “You…”
Xiao Tangqiu said immediately, “You speak first.”
Meng Xinghe also said at the same time, “You speak first.”
They spoke in unison again, and when they realized it, they couldn’t help but smile at each other.
Meng Xinghe gradually calmed down, and he was the first to ask Xiao Tangqiu, “Did you get injured just now?”
Xiao Tangqiu shook his head, “It’s just a scratch, but you… what’s wrong with your legs?”
Meng Xinghe sighed, “I was ready to die that day, but after the oxygen tube was unplugged, my brain seemed to arouse the desire to survive… I woke up.”
Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t believe his ears, he stared blankly at Meng Xinghe and repeated, “You woke up after I unplugged your oxygen tube?”
Meng Xinghe took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu before continuing, “But I just regained consciousness at that time, the other functions of my body have not recovered. I couldn’t speak nor move my body…”
Xiao Tangqiu’s eyes reddened all of a sudden. He could fully imagine the state Meng Xinghe was in when he just woke up. A vegetative person who had been asleep for seven years before waking up unexpectedly, like a baby full of unknowns and unable to resist the world, like a blank sheet of paper. Not to mention that Meng Xinghe couldn’t even speak or move his body at that time.
At that time, Meng Xinghe’s heart must be full of confusion and fear, and at that time he was not by Meng Xinghe’s side.
Meng Xinghe suddenly sighed, “Actually, when I woke up, my mother came back wanting to restart the machine but discovered that I woke up… She took me away, leaving those machines and the experimental data. She took me away.”
Xiao Tangqiu asked softly, “What happened after?”
“I begged her to call the police with my eyes…” Meng Xinghe’s voice was calm, “After she called the police, she took me away. After that, my body’s various functions recovered very quickly. After a week, I was able to return to speaking normally.”
The first thing Meng Xinghe did after recovering his normal speaking function was to ask Meng Qingqiu to surrender.
Meng Qingqiu refused at first. But not because she was unwilling to face the law, but because she couldn’t leave Meng Xinghe, who was still recovering. Although Meng Xinghe had regained his ability to speak, his body still couldn’t move. How could a mother have the heart to leave such a son?
But Meng Xinghe still managed to persuade Meng Qingqiu. She finally compromised and hired a trustworthy senior nurse for Meng Xinghe with a lot of money, then she surrendered calmly.
“It turns out that you asked her to surrenderk2026;” Xiao Tangqiu had a feeling that it was unexpected but expected, “What happened later?”
Meng Xinghe continued, “For the past six months, I’ve worked hard to recover under the care of a nurse. My body functions have all more or less returned to normal, except for my legs and my walking. So I can only use a wheelchair.”
Xiao Tangqiu immediately said, “You are already very strong. You have recovered to this level after only being awake for half a year. Most people can’t do that…” Most people would have muscle atrophy after lying on the hospital bed for a long time. When they woke up, they could only sit in a wheelchair for life. Meng Xinghe had absolutely no need to be so demanding of himself.
The more Xiao Tangqiu thought about it, the sadder he became, “You don’t have to hide from me at all. I can clearly accompany you to rehabilitate and accompany you to fill all the gaps in the seven years you have been sleeping… Why did you avoid me? Why not let me take care of you?”
Meng Xinghe took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, “Because I don’t want you to see me like this.”
“No matter who you are, I like you,” Xiao Tangqiu said without hesitation, “not to mention the way you are now is my fault…”
Meng Xinghe smiled wryly, “Don’t feel guilty about me, that will make it difficult for me to tell whether you like me… or feel guilty.”
Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help rolling his eyes, his voice trembling, “Are you a saint?”
Meng Xinghe froze for a moment and stared blankly at Xiao Tangqiu.
Xiao Tangqiu took a deep breath, “Don’t push me away every time just because you think it’s better for me. Have you asked for my opinion? I tell you, if your mom told me at the beginning that experiment could save you, I would have still partic.i.p.ated without hesitation… You want to be nice to me, why don’t you allow me to want to be nice to you?”
Meng Xinghe didn’t speak for a long time and Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t calm down for a long time, “You idiot… You don’t let me see you, but you keep coming to see me, do you think I don’t know? I thought I encountered a pervert. A stalker!”
Meng Xinghe said dumbly, “Because I wanted to see you…”
“If you want to see me, run up to me in front of me!” Xiao Tangqiu said indignantly, “What’s the use of hiding in a corner and looking at me furtively? You are such a big idiot! Peerless idiot!”
Meng Xinghe’s eyes were slightly red, he was about to say something, but Xiao Tangqiu suddenly shouted, “Wait a minute!”
Meng Xinghe was stunned, “What’s wrong?”
Xiao Tangqiu finally realized something, he pointed at Meng Xinghe’s legs in disbelief, “You… you… you stood up!”
Meng Xinghe looked down and found that he was standing on his legs… After Xiao Tangqiu was knocked down by the vehicle trying to push him away, he desperately rushed towards the fallen Xiao Tangqiu. He actually stood up without knowing it!
Xiao Tangqiu also stared blankly at the wheelchair that was thrown aside by Meng Xinghe. Just now, Meng Xinghe overturned the wheelchair and rushed over in an emotional state. Now the electric wheelchair was pitifully overturned on the ground and the wheels were still rolling. .
“You got up! You really got up!” he repeated blankly.
“I… I’m standing up?” Meng Xinghe looked down at his legs in disbelief. After half a year of rehabilitation exercises, his legs were not as shriveled and thin as when he had just woken up. But they were still skinnier than the normal legs of an adult man. And no matter how hard he tried before, he couldn’t stand on these legs.
Xiao Tangqiu couldn’t help but burst into tears, “You stood up… you really stood up!”
Meng Xinghe looked up at Xiao Tangqiu, gritted his teeth, and tried to walk towards Xiao Tangqiu. But just as he tried to move his legs, he suddenly became unsteady and fell forward. Xiao Tangqiu quickly stepped forward and supported Meng Xinghe, “Don’t force it, you just got up… don’t force yourself to walk.”
Meng Xinghe was a little unwilling, “I just… just now I could walk, and I ran at you.”
“You may have been agitated just now and the adrenalin stimulated some incredible potential,” Xiao Tangqiu smiled, “Don’t worry. You were able to stand up, so you’ll be able to walk soon. Don’t rush, I will accompany you slowly.”
Meng Xinghe bit his lip, “Don’t you dislike me like this?”
Xiao Tangqiu snorted, “What a joke, I will only despise you for being too stupid. If you came to me sooner, maybe you could recover sooner! Look, you just met me and you were able to stand up! If you had come to me half a year ago, you might be able to run a marathon now!”
Meng Xinghe finally couldn’t help laughing, “You’re right, if I came to you earlier, maybe I could walk and run by now…”
“So you can’t hide from me in the future! From today on, you will move to my place! I’ll help you rehab!” Xiao Tangqiu was just short of patting his chest and swearing an oath, “After half a year, I’m sure you can run a marathon!”
Meng Xinghe pursed his lips, “Are you sure you want to take care of me?”
“Of course, I not only have to take care of you,” Xiao Tangqiu paused deliberately, “…I have to take care of you for the rest of my life.”
Meng Xinghe gave Xiao Tangqiu a deep look, “Are you sure?”
Xiao Tangqiu put his arms around Meng Xinghe’s waist and kissed him without hesitation. Meng Xinghe struggled for a bit at first, but then quickly returned the actions and put his arms around Xiao Tangqiu’s waist to deepen the kiss.
Xiao Tangqiu’s despair and depression over the past six months seemed to melt into this kiss, and he felt that he had finally been redeemed.
When Xiao Tangqiu let go of Meng Xinghe, he looked at Meng Xinghe’s panting appearance and couldn’t help laughing, “Your physical strength is so weak now.”
Meng Xinghe said feebly, “Nonsense. You lie down for seven years and try…”
Xiao Tangqiu said softly, “Seriously, how did you feel when you just woke up?”
Meng Xinghe was silent for a while before chuckling, “I felt like I woke up from the dark abyss…”
Xiao Tangqiu clasped Meng Xinghe’s hand silently, and after a moment, he laughed, “Let’s go, let’s go home.”
Meng Xinghe took a deep look at Xiao Tangqiu, then nodded.
Xiao Tangqiu helped Meng Xinghe back into the wheelchair and started pushing Meng Xinghe back.
“In the future, I will push you out and walk around every day, and then help you rehabilitate and let you stand up earlier.”
Meng Xinghe smiled, “Okay.”
“You are not allowed to mess around and disappear, hiding from me everywhere.”
Meng Xinghe nodded, “Okay.”
“For the rest of your life… alright?”
Meng Xinghe, “…Okay.”
Xiao Tangqiu continued to push Meng Xinghe in the direction of his house, “I feel as if I am living a retirement life ahead of schedule. I push you, who has become an old man with inconvenient legs and feet, to come out and bask in the sun every day.”
Meng Xinghe smiled softly, “When we get old, maybe it will be my turn to push you in a wheelchair.”
Xiao Tangqiu also laughed, “Then I’ll wait.”
It was still noon, and the sun was shining brightly, just like that noon when the two eighteen-year-olds suddenly decided to run away from home. At that time, they were young and ignorant and did not know the cruelty of their fate.
Now it was sunny noon again, and the two 18-year-olds had finally set foot on their way home.
Although the boy of that year was no longer a boy.
But they finally came home.
The End of Main Story
T/N: It’s finally the last official chapter! What a journey, this is the first novel I’ve translated to the end! And there are 5 extras that I’ll be posting too in the coming weeks. I’m super glad to have been on this (kinda b.u.mpy cuz I’m terrible with scheduling myself lol) journey. My Chinese have definitely improved a lot if nothing else lol. The comments and community have also been super great and supportive. I rarely respond or interact but I definitely do read it all. I’m actually kind of sad/bittersweet this series is done. But! I’ll continue translating things!
My next project starting next week, which I’ll be picking up from its previous translator, is Peach which is also hosted on CG. I’m quite a fan of the MC and ML dynamics and it’s also a step up in terms of translation difficulty for my Chinese self-learning. Hopefully, I can do it justice and maybe I’ll see some of you lovely people there!