Qi Le gladly took a taxi back to the apartment. At this moment, a certain someone’s cellphone suddenly rang. He hung up the call and turned it off. He quickly went upstairs and locked the door, making up his mind not to open it for anyone. Then, he drew the curtains and changed out of Ning Xiao’s clothes, just in case he got paint on them. He began to write a letter and asked Erquan not to hit Zheng Xiaoyuan.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he should at least try. Even if the results weren"t what he wanted, he had to at least help the man move out of the shadow of pain and loss. The problem was that Erquan was too cold towards his current self, so he brazenly stressed in his letter to take good care of Zheng Xiaoyuan before he felt satisfied. He put the letter away and rubbed his cheeks in frustration at the blank canvas before him. Throughout the process of painting, there were a few times when he was about to fall asleep but he managed to hang on. At last, he signed his name, wrote down the date, and framed the painting himself, feeling that life was finally complete.
It was already close to five o’clock in the morning. He put away his things, changed back into Ning Xiao’s clothes and returned to the hospital. Then, he went to the restroom to change into his medical gown and sneaked back into his ward. Ning Xiao was sleeping when he heard Qi Le coming in and immediately woke up. He jumped out of bed in anger, “You actually dared to come back!"
Qi Le’s eyes could hardly focus anymore. “What are you doing? I apologized yesterday. Are you still being unreasonable?”
Ning Xiao, “…”
Qi Le ignored his livid expression, threw his clothes to him and lay down in bed, murmuring, “If you tell anyone about me leaving yesterday, I"ll tell Ye Shuichuan about how you ran around the hospital in your birthday suit, and let the whole circle…”
Ning Xiao sounded cold. “I don"t have so much free time to do such a thing. Don’t think I"ll easily let go of yesterday"s…” He suddenly stopped, because the man had already dozed off. He froze for a long time and finally put on his pants, turned on his cellphone and sent a text message. Glancing at a certain someone who was fast asleep, he leaned in slightly and properly looked at the face up close.
This man looked like a changed person, which made it difficult for him to see through him. While he was still deep in thought, he suddenly heard a click as the door opened. A bunch of people rushed in and instantly saw Ning Xiao, with his bare torso, leaning close to Zheng Xiaoyuan as if he was kissing the latter. They were immediately shocked and Baby Face choked out his words, “Xiao, you…”
Tranny was furious, “Ning Xiao, how can you do this?”
Ning Xiao got up and remained unbothered by their remarks. “Do what?"
“Do you mean that?!"
Ye Shuichuan ignored them and strode towards the bed. “Xiaoyuan, Xiaoyuan…” He wouldn’t visit him so early if it were any other time, but Gu Bai had discussed with him about Xiaoyuan leaving the hospital in the morning. He learned on the phone that Ning Xiao was accompanying Xiaoyuan throughout the night but they had searched high and low for the man all night. That’s why they had all came in a hurry. In order to prevent someone from playing tricks again, Gu Bai had also followed along.
Qi Le was woken up as soon as he fell asleep and immediately blew up, “Get out! Get the f.u.c.k out of here! Why the f.u.c.k are you making so much noise?!”
The crowd shut up and looked at him in surprise. Ye Shuichuan asked, “Xiaoyuan, what happened to you last night?”
Qi Le sat up in bed, panting, “We just had a chat. I’m going to sleep now. If anyone starts quarreling again, I’ll cut him!” He lay back down and continue to sleep.
The crowd looked at each other and Baby Face whispered, “Xiao, earlier you…”
Ning Xiao looked at his red eyes and left without turning back. His voice was indifferent, “I’ve had enough of fooling around with you. Let"s end things here.”
Baby Face was dumbstruck. He cried as he ran after Ning Xiao. Tranny watched what had happened and quickly followed. Ye Shuichuan and Gu Bai stayed back to discuss and decided to go have breakfast first before dealing with the discharge formalities.
The ward was quiet again and Qi Le was satisfied. He was just getting ready to have a good sleep when he heard a voice coming from the distance, “I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m coming…”
He blew up in rage and got up at once. So, a doctor, who had come in excitedly, only saw the person he was looking for glare at him with bloodshot eyes and a malicious expression. He was shocked speechless. After a long time, he asked weakly, “Would you like to talk now?”
Qi Le pointed at his own face angrily, “Do I look like I do?”
The doctor answered guiltily, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have tricked you with a vitamin tablet…”
Qi Le froze, “What did you say?!"
“I’m going to get you real sleeping pills right now. Just give me a minute!” The doctor turned and ran off but he soon came back holding a strip of pills in his hand as he solemnly swore, “They"re real!”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Really! I"m telling the truth!”
“I don’t believe it.”
“How can I get you to believe me?”
Qi Le looked expressionlessly at him. “You take it. If it"s real, we"ll talk after we both wake up.”
The doctor thought for a moment and gritted his teeth. “Okay!” He threw a pill to Qi Le, ate one by himself and fell asleep quickly. Ye Shuichuan and Gu Bai came back at this moment, only to see Qi Le gently stroking someone’s face as he laughed sinisterly, “Child, you"ve fallen into my hands! Muahahahaha…"
Ye Shuichuan, “……”
Gu Bai, “…”
Ye Shuichuan panicked at once. “What’s wrong with him? Did you do this? Xiaoyuan, let’s run away quickly before anyone finds out!”
“No, Laozi wants to take off his clothes and throw them away! Don’t stop me! Don’t! At the very least, let me give him a kick!” Qi Le struggled to break free from Ye Shuichuan. He walked towards the doctor to settle scores but was dragged away by Ye Shuichuan and Gu Bai. It wasn"t until he got into the car, that he started to behave.
As soon as they returned to the apartment, Qi Le fumbled about, flipping through his things till he finally found what he was looking for. Gu Bai saw what it was and suddenly stumbled. The rims of his eyes turned red.
Qi Le froze at the sight, his eyes bubbling with deep emotions. This person… had never once revealed such a sorry state to others…
Right then, Gu Bai"s gaze was focused only on those things. With a husky voice, he uttered a "thank you" and left. Ye Shuichuan was surprised by his reaction. “What are those?”
Qi Le didn’t answer. There was a heaviness in his chest as he watched the man walk off. He fell into bed but as his eyes swept past, he suddenly caught sight of the electronic clock on his bedside table and looked horrified. Ye Shuichuan looked at him anxiously, “Xiaoyuan? Xiaoyuan, what’s wrong with you? Xiaoyuan!”
Qi Le remained speechless; his entire being froze up. Then, he suddenly jumped out of bed and paced back and forth like a trapped beast. “f.u.c.k! It doesn"t make sense! The date on the painting is today"s date. I was in too much of a rush earlier so I absent-mindedly wrote it down! It doesn"t make any sense! What am I going to do ah?!"