Marriage of a Sickly Villain and a Fortune Hunter - Chap 32

Xia Xingchi had gradually gotten used to Li Chengyuan repeatedly recognizing the wrong person. Aside from the mysterious transmigration incident, he was telling the truth, but this madman just wouldn’t believe it.

He was the same age as the original owner and two years younger than Li Chengyuan. He absolutely wasn’t that kid who was a few years older than him. The original owner had never been to the capital back then, and he wasn’t from the same world at all.

After transmigrating, being forcefully recognized as the White Moonlight by a person in the book was something Xia Xingchi had never expected.

“Release your precious claws.” Xia Xingchi poked Li Chengyuan’s hand, which was grasping his wrist. “I’m going to make cat food. If the cat is starved to death, Sir, will you compensate me?”

– – –

The green tea spirit’s observation was very astute, and what he said was correct. Li Chengyuan was indeed slightly hypoglycemic at the moment, and his face was very pale.

Xia Xingchi had originally wanted him to lie down and rest, but this person was extremely controlling and clingy. He refused to lie down at all, and instead went to the kitchen with him.

Everyone was out completing tasks at this time, and there was no one to break the silence except for the two who took sick leave to cook porridge. The room seemed completely deserted.

Xia Xingchi cleared his throat, pretending to be polite and respectful in front of the camera: “Mr. Li, you go out first, the oily smoke is too heavy in here.”

If not for the camera, he would have given Li Chengyuan a hard kick. This man’s lips were white, yet he insisted on sitting in the cramped, narrow kitchen and staring at people. This was not ordinary paranoia.

Li Chengyuan strayed from his usual appearance of indifference and poise, and looked a little more laid-back than usual, but Xia Xingchi knew that he was just dizzy and couldn’t sit upright.

[Wu wu wu Mr. Li! I thought I wouldn’t get to see the male god today]

[His complexion is so bad, ah, why is he still walking around like this instead of lying down in bed?]

[To love dearly is to love dearly, but why am I drooling……he suddenly seems like an extraordinarily ascetic beauty]

[Really! The sick Mr. Li has an especially fragile and broken feel. Nice, he is indeed a male god]

[Xingchi baby! We believe that you are the real deal! Please fatten up Mr. Li, we leave our male god to you!]

The corn mush was a bit crude, but the organic food was quite appetizing.

While Xia Xingchi was making porridge, he couldn’t help but think about cooking japonica rice and red date porridge for Li Chengyuan after they went back.

In fact, Xia Yu was probably just a despicable person jumping about. His purpose of causing confusion and making the fans fight was achieved, so there should be no problem with his bowl of porridge.

After all, if he really threw in his lot with Li Shengrui, he would be very aware of Li Chengyuan’s vigilance and cleanliness. He would not eat anything that person made, so poisoning him would be a waste of time.

And if Li Chengyuan really had an accident after drinking the porridge, Xia Yu would simply be a blatant murderer and cause his own destruction. No matter how vicious the protagonist was, he was still the protagonist, after all. It was unlikely that he would go that far.

But even if the risk was one in ten thousand, Xia Xingchi didn’t want his big kitty cat to be in danger.

“Should I add sugar for you?” Xia Xingchi turned his head to ask.

It sounded like a question, but as he spoke, he forcibly added sugar to the porridge.

Li Chengyuan didn’t like it sweet, but the porridge was very thick, and adding more sugar could greatly relieve the symptoms of hypoglycemia.

[Hahaha baby, you are so sincere. This will be the death of Mr. Li]

[Knock, knock. Add sweetness first, I know well this method of getting along]

[He would rather drink the simple corn paste made by his wife than the delicate stomach-nourishing porridge with green tea. Mr. Li did a great job!]

[Upstairs, who are you calling green tea? It’s no use deceiving yourself and others. Do you need the engagement invitation thrown in your face?]

[Wu wu wu I now feel that Xiao Yu has been cheated on. Don’t rich people love to cheat?]

[Hug hug Xia Yu. Watching this scumbag spoil his image and flirt with the mistress, I really want to cry]

[Is Li Chengyuan worthy of the engagement ring on his hand? He got engaged to Xia Yu and flirts with a male mistress.]

[Laughing to death, is this the beginning of President Li being a scumbag? Isn’t this the “noble and glamorous male god that only Xia Yu is worthy of?]

[If you can’t obtain it, you’ll destroy it. You family is so cowardly, you probably don’t know how many fans Mr. Li has for you to scold him like that]

A full-time green tea’s skills were always fully utilized. Although it was humiliating to be rejected after making porridge, Xia Yu had the ability to turn decay into magic —

He sat in front of the camera without making it seem intentional, drinking the returned porridge bit by bit in silence. His aggrieved look and reddish eyes were quite pitiful, and some fans who were eager to protect their idol boldly began to scold Li Chengyuan.

On the other side, Xia Xingchi didn’t care about Xia Yu’s performance. Anway, after the lies were exposed, someone would always be a contemptible scoundrel.

He took out the hot porridge, briefly fried a few light dishes, and finally served them all together: “Eat it while it’s hot.”

He wanted to give Li Chengyuan some lightly salted water to supplement his salt and hydration levels, but was afraid of irritating his glass stomach and causing him to vomit again, so he had no choice but to give it up.

As soon as Li Chengyuan caught sight of the food, his stomach seemed to hurt even more, so he pursed his lips and remained motionless.

“Mr. Li, please be sure to finish the bowl of porridge and eat all of this. This way your body can recover sooner.”

Xia Xingchi wore a waiter’s professional smile, with “utmost benevolence” written all over his face. What he meant was if you don’t eat it, I’ll force you to eat it.

Li Chengyuan had no choice but to pick up the bowl and take a sip, realizing that he may be pushing too hard. The porridge was so sweet that it was a bit bitter, and his sense of taste, which had been dulled by the fever, became even more numb.

Seeing him obediently eating, Xia Xingchi was finally satisfied. He nodded and said in a low tone that the microphone couldn’t pick up: “I’ll check the results in a while, have a good meal.”

[That whisper! Let me hear it quickly!]

[I’m crying, how can he let boss Li eat it himself, feed him quickly, Xingchi! The boss’s fragile side is so beautiful, wuwuwu]

[Mr. Li’s eyes seem like he’s waiting to be fed. What kind of peerless contrast is this, my heart is melting!]

[I’m speechless. There is so much drama coming from a certain family. Isn’t it normal to cook porridge for roommates? I don’t see Li Chengyuan wanting to be fed, can’t you all see the contents of the invitation?]

[I only saw President Li say to Xia Yu, “Your hands are dirty.” Hahaha are you angry? Are you in a hurry to resort to desperate measures?]

The two sides were still fighting crazily, and passers-by looked at the conclusive evidence from both sides, feeling at a loss.

Li Chengyuan had been wearing an engagement ring on his right middle finger, but the owner of the other one had become the biggest mystery in the entire entertainment industry at present, and various conjectures emerged endlessly.

Xia Xingchi immediately became happy when he saw a certain person seriously drinking porridge to give him face. Somewhat worriedly, he told him to just let it go if he couldn’t drink it, he was just running his mouth, don’t get a stomach ache.

He spoke as if he was raising a kitten who never knew how hungry it was. Li Chengyuan thought of his sentence, “I feel distressed,” yesterday and couldn’t help but smile imperceptibly.

After Xia Xingchi sat and watched Li Chengyuan for a while, he rolled up his sleeves and got up to cook for everyone.

He estimated that they would be back soon, just in time for a hot meal. Although he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he figured that everyone must have experienced the torment and devastation of dark cuisine in the morning.

As soon as the food was served on the table, he heard Li Xiu calling upon entering the door: “Ahhh, Xingchi, I love you! I’m so hungry!”

Han Yuanhe also heard the news: “What delicious food did you make for lunch today? Oh my god, it smells so great.”

These few people who hadn’t eaten in the morning were already ravenous after experiencing the ravages of labor reform. When they saw a table full of hot dishes with meat and vegetables, they immediately salivated.

For a cook, having their food be liked by everyone really gave a sense of accomplishment.

Xia Xingchi smiled and said: “Then go wash your hands before eating, and bring chopsticks and bowls on your way back.There’s hot polenta in the kitchen, I’ll serve you some.”

The industrious migrant worker was very satisfied when he noticed that the boss had finished his food, so he took Li Chengyuan’s bowl and chopsticks to wash them and came back to eat lunch.

Li Xiu was already starving. This might be the most delicious meal he had eaten in the past twenty years, and he praised as he ate: “Wu wu Xingchi is really nice, Mr. Li is so lucky –”

Halfway through the statement, he thought of Xia Xingchi stubbornly clinging to his disguise, and hastily changed his words: “Mr. Li is lucky to be able to eat the dishes cooked by Xia Xingchi in advance.”

Li Chengyuan, who was sitting to the side and watching Xia Xingchi eat, heard these words and a slight smile flashed across his usually indifferent face.

Xia Xingchi was already used to his disguise being tugged at by everyone in turn. Pretending to reproach him, he slanted a glance at Li Xiu, who had almost said something wrong, but the other buried his head in his food.

A certain person who was ill had become extraordinarily assertive and clingy, and Xia Xingchi knew that as long as he didn’t go back, Li Chengyuan would sit there and stare at him paranoidly.

So he didn’t chat too much anymore, quickly finishing his meal and grabbing Li Chengyuan to go back and rest more.

– – –

“Lie down quickly and take a nap.” Xia Xingchi quickly pressed Li Chengyuan onto the bed as soon as he entered the room.

“I just woke up.” Li Chengyuan was expressionless as he helplessly expressed the fact that he was not a pig and couldn’t sleep all the time.

“But shouldn’t the patient have a good rest? If you don’t want to sleep, you can just lay down and close your eyes for a while.”

As Xia Xingchi spoke, he tilted his head and appraised him carefully: “Is there something wrong with you? Is your stomach still hurting? Why is your complexion worse?”

He had thought that after making him eat something, the symptoms of hypoglycemia would be relieved and his complexion would be slightly better, but at this moment, not only was he sickly, but his face was even paler than before.

Li Chengyuan remained silent. The dizziness, stomach pain, and nausea were indeed getting worse.

Although somewhat out of the ordinary, this was not uncommon before, and for him this was commonplace and not too unusual.

So he didn’t say anything, and let Xia Xingchi bury him in bedding, but ordered: “You get in bed and lie down too.”

Xia Xingchi had no choice but to take off his shoes and coat and come up. He sat beside him and gently massaged his stomach, thinking to himself that little master Xia’s skills were usually very expensive, and it was really generous of him to give out unlimited samples for free.

While he rubbed, Li Chengyuan’s cold hand reached out and grabbed Xia Xingchi’s wrist.

He thought the other had something to say, but saw his fingertips caressing the crescent-shaped scar on his wrist.

It was not entirely accurate to say that it was a crescent, because it was very narrow, more like a curved arc.

“Xia Xingchi, do you know how this scar came about?” Li Chengyuan asked abruptly.

It didn’t sound like he was asking about a scar on another person’s wrist, but seemed like he was asking about his own wrist which he was very familiar with.

Xia Xingchi felt a little strange, but thought he was just making small talk, so he said casually: “I forgot, maybe I fell when I was a child?”

He remembered the scar on his wrist as if it had always been there. Although he couldn’t remember the cause, it was indeed a very conspicuous and deep scar.

Unexpectedly, Li Chengyuan didn’t seem to accept this statement: “How could a fall cause such an injury?”

“Who knows.” Xia Xingchi tilted his head. “It’s normal for children to get injured when climbing all over the place. I can’t remember where they all came from, can I?”

In addition, he had been beaten and abused since he was a child, so it was normal to have so many wounds and scars.

Li Chengyuan kept staring at him with a strange expression on his face.

Xia Xingchi could help but feel his blood run cold when he saw it, so he said angrily: “What do you want! I don’t participate in beauty pageants, do you have strict requirements for my appearance? What’s wrong with my scars! I look like your White Moonlight, isn’t that enough?”

It was fine role-playing a stand-in, but if he couldn’t even have extra scars on his body, that was another price.

After thinking about it, Xia Xingchi pointed at the scar and asked: “You’ll give up now, right? I’m not at all your –”

“I bit this scar,” Li Chengyuan said suddenly.

Xia Xingchi stared blankly.

After blinking at him for a long time, he finally realized what the big villain was saying. He knew what the words meant individually, but together, they were confusing.

Looking at Li Chengyuan’s expression again, he didn’t seem to be joking at all. He just stated one certain fact with a calm and serious expression.

“How is that possible, are you crazy……?”

Xia Xingchi opened his mouth and looked at his wrist hesitantly.

But he suddenly realized that it really seemed like a bite mark, because there was another bite-shaped mark on the other side of his wrist that was shallow and could barely be seen.

The moment he heard these words, a picture flashed through his mind:

The young child was trembling in pain in his arms, biting his lip so hard that blood was dripping from it, and he had to hand over his wrist for lack of anything else to replace it.

But Xia Xingchi was sure that he had never met such a child when he was young, and if he could really hand over his own wrist to let him bite it and leave such a deep scar, he must certainly have had the other party in his heart, and it would be impossible for him to forget.

The more he thought about it, the more unbelievable it became. Xia Xingchi stared at his wrist for a few seconds. No matter how much tried to recall, he didn’t feel like he had lost any memories at all, but thought that what Li Chengyuan said really had some basis.

So he turned his head to ask Li Chenyuan, but realized that in a blink, Li Chengyuan’s face had become as pale as paper.

His lips were slightly blue, and his breathing was short and labored.

“What’s wrong with you!” Xia Xingchi was stunned at this sight and quickly helped him sit up. “Is this better? Why are you suddenly like this, where is it uncomfortable?”

Li Chengyuan frowned rigidly. His lips moved, but his throat was tight and he couldn’t speak. In the end, he could only weakly push Xia XIngchi away and try to get out of bed. His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as if he wanted to vomit.

“Does your stomach hurt?” Xia Xingchi hastily stood to help him up.

It seemed that his symptoms of hypoglycemia were getting worse, and he was so dizzy that he couldn’t stand up straight. This was the first time Xia Xingchi had encountered him in such a bad state, so he didn’t know if these were common symptoms.

But he was clearly still talking just now, and then was suddenly unable to say a word, which frightened him.

What was more terrifying was that Li Chengyuan didn’t improve at all after vomiting. He retched uncontrollably, and his forehead was covered in cold sweat from the pain.

After waiting for a long time, he finally had a little relief. Xia Xingchi helped him back to the living room, worried and distressed, and didn’t know why his stomach ache had started up again.

He went to pour water for him to rinse his mouth, and when he came back, Li Chengyuan couldn’t even stand leaning against the wall, slowly slipped down to sit on the floor in a daze.

Xia Xingchi never expected him to be so dizzy, and rushed over to help him up.

When he got closer, he realized that Li Chengyuan’s lips had turned purple, and he was clutching the clothing over his chest in agony with one hand, struggling to breathe and trembling all over.

“Li Chengyuan!” Xia Xingchi panicked at this sight.

Was he having a heart attack?!

The thought of his stomach trouble and hypoglycemia just now was enough to make Xia Xingchi’s heart rise into his throat, but when he suddenly realized that it was a heart attack, his scalp went numb almost instantly and there was a loud rushing in his ears.

His movements were one step faster than his brain, and before he could think about how Li Chengyuan could all of a sudden fall ill for no reason, Xia Xingchi automatically got up and rushed back to the room.

Although his hands were shaking with fear, his movements were bizarrely fast. He quickly found the nitroglycerin and ran all the way back.

Li Chenyuan’s vision was blurred, and he could faintly hear Xia Xingchi’s nearly crazed voice as if through a thick layer of frosted glass, but when he tried to get up, his whole body felt numb.

The only things he could feel were the sharp pain in his chest and the nausea in his stomach.

The air around him seemed to be gone, and it was impossible to breathe. Li Chenguan was suddenly enveloped in the feeling of suffocation on the verge of death.

No, this wasn’t right……

As Xia Xingchi trembled and unscrewed the bottle cap to pour out the medicine, countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but the biggest one was his limitless fear of Li Chengyuan’s death.

He knew that Li Chengyuan’s heart disease was not serious, and that he shouldn’t have such an attack with no stimulation or warning.

Or was it that the gears of destiny could not be stopped once they started turning, and death was Li Chengyuan’s inevitable fate?

At this thought, Xia Xingchi’s eyes immediately became sore and red, and he murmured in a panic: “Take your medicine quickly, it’s fine, it’ll be fine……”

The door opened without warning, and Li Xiu brought in a bowl of small tomatoes picked that morning for Xia Xingchi as he jokingly said into the camera: “Just taking everyone to see our male god –”

Before he could finish speaking, he witnessed a life-or-death scene head-on.

“What’s going on?” Li Xiu was instantly shocked.

The bowl in his hand fell to the ground with the harsh sound of shattering porcelain. The originally tense atmosphere was cut like a string, and instantly went out of control.

Before the medicine in Xia Xingchi’s hand could be stuffed into Li Chengyuan’s mouth, the other’s icy hand gripped his wrist with difficulty:

“No……not……”

Before he could finish speaking, he coughed again in pain, trembling all over.

Xia Xingchi quickly reached out to pat him on the back, but there was suddenly a jarring and ominous garish beauty —

The corners of Li Chengyuan’s lips were stained with shockingly bright red blood. He was actually coughing up blood!

Blood flowed down Li Chengyuan’s lips as they moved. He clearly wanted to say something, but couldn’t make a sound.

He stared fixedly at Xia Xingchi, and there seemed to be some complicated meaning in his eyes.

A moment later, the hand that was gripping Xia Xingchi’s arm loosened powerlessly. Li Chengyuan fell into his arms, completely falling into a coma.

Li Xiu, who was standing to the side, was completely terrified. Everything was happening so quickly.

Even the fans and anti-fans who were fighting in the barrage went instantly silent, shocked by the sudden life-or-death scene.

Xia Xingchi pressed a hand against Li Chengyuan’s chest to feel it, and found that his heart rate was seriously abnormal.

Therefore, he had to grit his teeth from the panic and force himself to calm down, trying to sort out the key points from his confused and chaotic thoughts.

As if they shared a tacit sense of understanding or telepathy, a thought emerged in Xia Xingchi’s mind —

What Li Chengyuan wanted to say before he fell unconscious was, “Not a heart attack.”

This thought was like a viper’s tongue, doubling the horror in Xia Xingchi’s heart and making him feel cold all over. He suddenly became very angry.

He quickly took out his phone and dialed the air emergency number. Trying his best to calm down, he clearly described the various symptoms, especially the potentially fatal arrhythmia.

At the same time, he put away the pills in his hand, not feeding them to Li Chengyuan in the end.

If it wasn’t a heart attack, the only possibility was poisoning.

Xia Xingchi felt a chill down his spine. He couldn’t figure out and didn’t have time to think about how Xia Yu had succeeded.

But if they wanted Li Chengyuan to die, they would definitely not choose a poison that the medicine he carried around with him could detoxify.

Although he didn’t know what they used for the time being, since everything was part of the other party’s calculations, the pills in his hand were more likely to drive Li Chengyuan toward death than to save his life.

Li Chengyuan had obviously come to this conjecture quite keenly, so the last look he gave Xia Xingchi before passing out clearly expressed his trust in any choice he might make.

It seemed that no matter what choice he made, no matter what the result was, he would not be blamed.

Xia Xingchi took a deep breath. If he made a mistake in judgment and his inferences were wrong, then his act of not feeding him the medicine would be to personally take away Li Chengyuan’s only chance of survival.

This might be the biggest gamble of his life. If he lost the bet, it would cost the life of his most important person.

T/N: On a note unrelated to this awful cliffhanger, I’ve started a new project! Strong Winds Return Home is a long-running wuxia romance that I just couldn’t help picking up. The first chapter is available now!