Marriage of a Sickly Villain and a Fortune Hunter - Chap 38
The bottle of bath salt rolled to the ground. Xia Xingchi sat up stiffly as it rolled away, completely forgetting to bend down and pick it up.
It was very quiet for a while. Li Chengyuan observed him patiently and expressionlessly, as if wondering what lies he would come up with this time.
Xia Xingchi finally came back to his senses and jumped up at once, thinking that escaping would be the best plan, but Li Chengyuan grabbed his wrist and dragged him back to the chair.
Li Chengyuan said somberly: “Speak.”
He had finally revealed this terrifying truth in front of Xia Xingchi, and at this word, he couldn’t help but flinch.
“I…..what can I say?” Xia Xingchi asked dryly with a guilty conscience. “What modified memories, ah? Are you sleepy and telling fairy tales?”
Li Chengyuan didn’t say a word, and the more expressionless he was, the more frightening he became.
Feeling increasingly terrified, Xia Xingchi outwardly pursued victory with an earnest appearance: “I’ve heard that near-death experiences can cause hallucinations, you must be mistaken……anyway, don’t think about these messy things!”
Li Chengyuan’s expression shifted.
After a long silence, he said in a heavy voice: “Xia Xingchi, do you also want to say that I’m mentally ill, that these are all figments of my imagination —”
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly covered his mouth and coughed.
His face, which was slightly ruddy from soaking in hot water, turned pale again. His lungs had not yet healed from being damaged by the toxin, and at this moment, he coughed up a trace of blood.
Li Chengyuan swallowed the blood in his throat and smiled self-mockingly: “Yes, maybe I am crazy.”
Xia Xingchi had never witnessed such a scene before, and was at a loss for what to do.
He suddenly remembered that Li Chengyuan was convinced of the existence of that little liar, and that because of his tenacity, the mistress had forced him to take countless psychotropic drugs.
— He had accidentally poked this wound while looking for excuses in a panic.
It was hard to say whether that little liar existed or not, but what Li Chengyuan said about the memory change a year ago was indeed true.
Feeling extremely guilty, Xia Xingchi said: “No! I believe you! I mean……actually, I……uh, I actually had plastic surgery! So you didn’t recognize me then!”
Li Chengyuan: “………”
He was actually not so fragile and glass-hearted, not to mention being saddened because of such an inconspicuous little thing.
He wanted to use this to test Xia Xingchi. However, it seemed that he had overacted the performance and had accidentally coughed up a little blood, which forced the little hedgehog to tell such untrustworthy lies without hesitation.
Xia Xingchi continued to lie with a hushed voice and a guilty conscience: “Of, of course things like plastic surgery should be kept secret! I was afraid you would dislike me, so it was normal for me to want to hide it – right!”
Li Chengyuan was helpless. He estimated that if he pushed this person too hard, he would bite people, so he reached out and pinched the tip of Xia Xingchi’s nose: “Stop fabricating things, why can’t you even tell a whole lie now?”
He wasn’t as good as when he was a child.
Although the ins and out were not clear yet, Li Chengyuan had already obtained the answer he was looking for:
It was quite a standard cover-up. If Xia Xingchi didn’t know anything, then naturally he wouldn’t have to lie, let alone feel so guilty.
It seemed that this little liar knew something, but just wouldn’t say it.
“Help me up.” Li Chengyuan let him off temporarily, and stretched out his arms instead.
“What’s wrong?” Xia Xingchi saw that he seemed to be unable to stand, and asked anxiously, “Are you dizzy or uncomfortable?”
Li Chengyuan didn’t say anything. As if he were really dizzy, he let Xia Xingchi help him up.
This little part-time worker was very service-oriented, so he picked up a bath towel and dried him off.
In fact, when Xia Xingchi was wiping him, he did it with the attitude of bathing and brushing a wet cat. He didn’t think much of it, and was about to wipe lower when he heard a voice in his ear saying: “Do you dare to look at me?”
Xia Xingchi: “……”
With such a reminder, he seemed to have accidentally seen something.
At this moment, he had finished casually wiping Li Chengyuan’s upper body, and was about to wipe all the way down. The position was very awkward and unfortunate, and a certain part could be seen clearly and in detail.
The image was shocking. He hadn’t stared at it before, and this was the first time he had beheld it in such a way……the dimensions were impressive.
“Shit!”
Thorns immediately exploded all over Xia Xingchi’s body. While jumping three feet high, he threw the towel directly onto Li Chengyuan: “Wipe yourself quickly!”
This person’s skill at acting weak was too extreme. Whenever Xia Xingchi was distracted, he would always classify him as weak and unable to take care of himself, and want to lift him out of the wheelchair again or dry him off and put him in a bathrobe.
. . . . . .
The impact of the image was too great. Xia Xingchi tossed and turned at night, finally remembering that besides liking money, he had other hobbies, such as liking men.
He usually thought nothing of sleeping with Li Chengyuan. Even hugging his waist and sticking to Li Chengyuan was like a small animal huddling together for warmth, with no extraneous thoughts.
But tonight, somehow, something was wrong. The villain’s perpetually cold body temperature seemed to roast him, making Xia Xingchi shrink to the side of the bed to be as far away from him as possible.
But no matter how far away he could get, it was still a bed. His nose was still full of a certain person’s light fragrance, gently scratching the tip of his heart like a small paw.
Seeing him rolling around like a small pancake without sleeping, and so far away, Li Chengyuan said helplessly: “What are you doing?”
“I’m hot. Don’t get close to me.”
Li Chengyuan was even more helpless.
Fortunately, Xia Xingchi fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. After waiting for a while, he saw that the pancake would not turn over again and was snoring comfortably and contentedly while lying on the pillow. Only then did Li Chengyuan reach out to pull him into his arms.
. . . . . .
When the doctor knocked on the door in the morning to make his rounds, Xia Xinchi had already changed his position to actively cling to Li Chengyuan’s body, soundly asleep.
He heard a weak voice talking next to his ear: “Mr. Li, your inspection results……”
Xia Xingchi immediately pricked up his ears and peeked out from under the blanket, listening to the doctor’s words with sleepy eyes.
When the doctor walked through the door, he noticed that something was bulging under the bedding. Just as he was thinking that it was a pillow or something else, he saw a bright and handsome young man emerge.
Li Chengyuan stuffed Xia Xingchi back in casually: “You sleep tight.”
Xia Xingchi declined. Yawning, he unceremoniously rubbed his head against Li Chengyuan’s clothes and put his arms around his waist, refusing to let go.
Maybe it was because he’d had little intimate physical contact since he was a child, but when Xia Xingchi was in a daze, he would instinctively stick to someone he knew and liked.
The doctor was suddenly stuffed with dog food, and it took him a long time to regain his senses and continue: “Overall, there are no big issues. However, lung and myocardial damage still require rest for a period of time, and the problems of hypotension and anemia still require medication.”
“If you want to get rid of your stomach problems, don’t make a habit of staying up late. You also must balance work and rest. Working too much can hurt your body.”
Xia Xingchi tilted his head. It suddenly occurred to him that the other party wanted to make money so desperately because of his money-grubber White Moonlight, and suddenly felt that the person he was holding in his arms was unpalatable.
He finally remembered how hard he had tried to distance himself from him last night. Why did he embrace him as soon as he opened his eyes today?
Li Chengyuan found the hands around his waist loosen. The little hedgehog who had just woken up felt inexplicably depressed, slowly retracting his head into the bedding and turning away from him as he silently rolled himself into a little hedgehog ball.
Li Chengyuan: ?
Even a business legend with incredible foresight couldn’t figure this out. After pondering for a long time, he couldn’t figure out which sentence had offended Xia Xingchi.
. . . . . .
Li Chengyuan only stayed in the hospital for a few days. After finishing the necessary injections, he decided to go through the formalities and leave the hospital. After all, he could also rest at home.
His decision was very firm, and he didn’t take into consideration his physical condition at all. Even though the doctor advised him to rest and stay a few days for observation, he refused to comply, and the remaining IVs and medications were taken home.
Xia Xingchi was baffled, and didn’t understand why he wanted to go back all of a sudden.
He’d originally wanted to persuade him, but was easily defeated by the sentence, “I’m in a bad mood here.”
This was a moody and bad-tempered big cat. A disagreement would make him so angry that his stomach hurt. It was best not to provoke him, so that a negative attitude would not affect the recovery of his body.
Xia Xingchi tilted his head, vaguely feeling that Li Chengyuan didn’t want to leave the ward just because he didn’t want to stay here.
Maybe there was another reason that he didn’t want to talk about……and it wasn’t a good thing.
After not visiting home for a long time, Xia Xingchi was shocked when he passed by the open storage room just after entering the house and changing his shoes.
The entire storage room was packed to the brim. There were so many gift boxes, containing food, drink, entertainment, and all aspects of daily life.
Xia Xingchi casually picked up an expensive and beautiful watch and held it to his wrist, feeling that this youthful style suited him quite well.
“Oh my god, Aunt Li, did I win the lottery?”
Aunt Li was watering the plants in the living room, and said: “A lot of people have come to give gifts recently. Your agency and your father have delivered a lot of things to your door.”
Not long ago, his agency had casually suppressed him, but since he and Li Chengyuan had made an official announcement, they not only found that they had treated the young master of the Xia family badly, but this was also the lover that Mr. Li held in his palm.
The degree of their shock and fear was no less than five thunderbolts, and they regretted all of their actions from the beginning. So after slipping to their knees, they began to give gifts attentively. It was obviously a sincere apology and an attempt to improve their relationship.
As for Xia Pingjian, he was so thick-skinned that he didn’t feel any degree of shame as he favored a different person.
Seeing that his son’s value had skyrocketed, he hastened to restore their relationship, forgetting the time when he scorned and beat him whenever he wanted to.
Xia Xingchi’s thoughts on the “gift giving” were still stuck at the cognitive level of a poverty-stricken worker. When Aunt Li called to ask if he would accept them, the little money-grubber simply nodded and said that of course he would accept them if they were offered at no charge.
It turned out that there was an entire storage room full of them, which was honestly too ostentatious.
Likely because he was afraid that cheap things would not catch the eye of “Mrs. Li,” he had bought the most expensive and best of everything.
Xia Xingchi was delighted by this windfall from the sky, and turned around happily to say as if sharing the spoils: “This is all for your sake. You pick first, and I’ll take the leftovers.”
At this moment, Summer flew down the stairs, short legs slipping as it rushed down as if it was about to drift.
It had been a long time since it last saw these two people, and the seemingly non-sticky kitty cat couldn’t help but directly swoop upon them, obviously lonely.
Li Chengyuan immediately dodged the impact of the giant fluffy cannonball.
The big white dumpling missed its target and let out a dissatisfied “meow!” Then it turned to grab Xia Xingchi’s trousers and rubbed its head against him, as if beseeching him to uphold justice.
Xia Xingchi was taken aback for a moment, shocked by the surprising intimacy, and a sense of happiness burst within him.
He hit Li Chengyuan with a mallet in his mind, and said what he didn’t dare to say back when he was afraid of the big villain: “You really don’t know how to recognize a blessing! Do you know how wonderful it is to have such a sticky kitty cat? You don’t even know how many years I’ve wanted such a cat!”
Li Chengyuan said lightly: “I know.”
He didn’t have much interest in this kind of small animal. He had just thought of the cute expression on that person’s face when he stared at a kitten back then, so he specially raised one after leaving the Li Residence and stabilizing the company.
He normally didn’t have time to deal with this sort of affair, and had a dedicated servant to raise the cat, but he often fed Summer cat treats himself.
While feeding it, he recalled that the little liar was penniless and couldn’t even eat food himself, yet he was still able to feed half of the last bit of food to the stray kitten and half to Li Chengyuan with a smile.
Xia Xingchi tilted his head, and was about to retort, “It’s really weird that you know,” when Li Chengyuan continued:
“I got it for you. You said you like the pure white long-haired ones…..it has the same surname as you.”
“Huh? How could —”
Xia Xingchi was stunned, and suddenly realized that the name “Summer” really had the character “Xia” in it.
Li Chengyuan’s tranquil and serious expression didn’t look like he was joking at all. This big white dumpling had been raised for more than a year and was named early, far earlier than Xia Xingchi’s marriage.
This series of occurrences……how could there be such a coincidence?
Li Chengyuan didn’t say anything more, and deliberately let Xia Xingchi think about it for himself. Taking off his coat, he turned around and went upstairs to the study.
Leaving Xia Xingchi and Summer to stare blankly at each other, each in a daze.
– – –
The next day, Xia Xingchi had his own get-rich-quickly job. It seemed that Lin Meng had selected the best few from countless high-quality resources.
Considering that the most important thing was the young lovers, in the face of hundreds of billions of net worth, working in the entertainment industry was indeed just for entertainment.
A simple variety show that could be recorded within a day wouldn’t affect the love and sugar between the two of them.
In the past, Xia Xinghchi had felt helpless idling away at home without being able to make money, but now he could easily fill his money-making itinerary, which made him as happy as winning the lottery.
He glanced at the big villain who was haughtily eating breakfast at the dining table, and suddenly couldn’t bear to go out.
Li Chengyuan was also dissatisfied with these plans. His clingy character was faintly revealed again through his illness, and it was obvious that he wanted to pick Xia Xingchi up himself so as not to lose him.
“It’s fine, you have a good rest, I really won’t run away.” Xia Xingchi said sourly, “I’m not the same as a liar who kills for money, don’t be so nervous all the time!”
Li Chengyuan took a deep breath. He was very self-aware of his paranoid character, and in order not to scare this person, he finally compromised.
Xia Xingchi instructed: “Eat a good lunch and dinner, ah. I’ll be back late, so I can’t supervise you today. Go to bed early and don’t stay up late to work.”
This variety show was being recorded in Beijing, and it would be the first time he appeared in front of everyone after he became a focus of attention.
There was no need to work hard like Xia Yu to establish a persona of “playing casually in the entertainment industry.” When Xia Xingchi was asked this question, he only told the truth, and sincerely emphasized in front of the camera that he was really here to make money.
It was a pity that everyone only thought he was being low-key humorous. After all, as long as he wanted it, Li Chengyuan could directly buy the entire TV station.
No one could come to play for fun more confidently than him.
It took a whole day to record the entire variety show.
Xia Xingchi thought that he would be able to grab a free meat-filled lunchbox, but the driver Xiao Wu brought a sumptuous meal prepared by Aunt Li – and at the same time, checked for Mr. Li to see if this person was still here.
The meal from home was healthier and more nutritious than the box lunches, and the pork rib soup was so fragrant that everyone couldn’t help but sigh with lament.
Although Xia Xingchi tried to share food so that he wouldn’t be eating it alone, everyone was too embarrassed to take advantage of the love bento specially prepared by the boss for his lover. So in the end, he was the only one who managed to fill himself to bursting.
– – –
Because he recorded a few additional promotion videos, it was already midnight when he returned home.
Xia Xingchi tiptoed upstairs. He’d told Li Chengyuan to go to sleep early, and the latter had replied with a brief and indifferent “En.”
Unexpectedly, as soon as he climbed to the second floor, he saw that person sleeping on the sofa.
Li Chengyuan was dressed in pure white house clothes. With such long legs, it was a bit difficult for him to squeeze onto the sofa, and he had to curl up on his side. It didn’t look very comfortable.
Summer was also curled up into a kitty cat ball, sleeping next to him. Xia Xingchi felt at once like he was raising two white cats, one big and one small. Even after his night shift was over, there were still people waiting for him.
However, even as his heart became warm, he simultaneously grew angry. It was fine if Summer didn’t go to bed, but why was this big cat so disobedient?
Not to mention the awkward and uncomfortable sleeping position, but if he accidentally caught a cold, he was guaranteed to have a stomach attack and a high fever.
Although Xia Xingchi had lightened his steps, Li Chengyuan opened his eyes immediately.
“Dear boss, didn’t you promise me you’d go to bed early?” Xia Xingchi reproached him with distress, “Why are you sleeping here? What should you do if you catch a cold?”
Li Chengyuan lowered his eyes. Since he had found Xia Xingchi, his original difficulty in falling asleep had indeed recovered a lot, and the subconscious idea of “I can’t sleep or I’ll never find him again” had gradually weakened.
He had originally wanted to wait for him here, but accidentally fell asleep.
Seeing that he was silent, Xia Xingchi thought he wasn’t feeling well, so he hurriedly stepped forward and touched his forehead, only to be relieved upon seeing no fever or cold sweat.
“Don’t wait up for me in the future, go back to your room and sleep early.”
Li Chengyuan sat side by side with Summer on the sofa, his indifferent expression clearly conveying that he refused to admit he was waiting for someone.
“Okay, okay, you weren’t waiting. Mister, if you refuse to sleep again, I will knock you unconscious and throw you on the bed to smother to death.”
But when Li Chengyuan took the documents on the coffee table back to the study and returned, he saw that a certain person had already fallen asleep on the pillow.
It didn’t look like he could smother anyone at all.
Li Chengyuan smiled helplessly, turning the sleeping Xia Xingchi so that he wouldn’t suffocate while sleeping on his stomach.
Xia Xingchi crooned softly.
Perhaps something deep within his memory had been touched by the way Li Chengyuan lay curled up into a ball, because he actually dreamed of a little child version of Li Chengyuan who was also wearing a white shirt.
In the dream, he was similarly curled up like this, shivering uncomfortably as he pressed against his heart in a cold corner.
“Are you sick?” A little Xia Xingchi squatted down. “Is there something wrong with you, ah?”
Li Chengyuan ignored him. Seeing him leaning over to check, he just coldly slapped his hand away and leaned against the wall, using it to stand up with difficulty. He staggered as he tried to leave.
Unexpectedly, just after taking two steps, a burst of dizziness accompanied by a splitting headache made him fall down.
Xia Xingchi quickly caught him, and said with decisive judgment: “You’ll die like this!”
Li Chengyuan finally reacted. An odd smile different from those of normal children appeared on his cold face: “Then I’ll die, ba —”
Before he could finish speaking, Xia Xingchi directly hugged him.
Although Xia Xingchi was a few years older than him, he was only slightly taller. But Li Chengyuan was dying of illness at that time, and was so emaciated that it was hard for Xia Xingchi to hug him.
“You can’t just die like this,” Xia Xingchi said breathlessly. “By the looks of you, you’re very rich. How can you be willing to die, ah? What a waste of money!”
Li Chengyuan was dumbfounded.
He had obviously never heard such an outrageous reason for living. It sounded like black humor.
But Xia Xingchi’s solemn attitude didn’t seem like a joke. He took him all the way to a remote abandoned factory that could shelter him from the cold wind, and boldly squeezed the face of the golden and precious Second Young Master.
“Be honest, are you a young master who ran away from home?”
“Drink some water, ba. Your lips are so dry and white, are you thirsty?”
“When your parents come to get you, can you tip me some food money? Otherwise, I’ll starve to death before you die.”
The scene changed, and it was soon a cold and wet rainy night.
Li Chengyuan’s sensitive and fragile stomach was throbbing, but he endured it soundlessly. He sat to the side and watched Xia Xingchi’s dexterous little hands quickly weave a red rope:
“Thank you for the meal money you lent me……although I have no money for the time being, can this be considered an IOU? I’ll pay you back when I make money!”
Li Chengyuan wanted to say that there was no need to pay back the money. Anyway, he would be murdered or die of illness before he could live until then.
But after thinking about it, he hoped that Xia Xingchi would still be around, so he nodded expressionlessly.
“Why do you have such a bad face? Don’t you want to eat something? The steamed buns are really delicious!”
Li Chengyuan shook his head, and continued to endure the severe pain in his stomach without saying a word.
His vision gradually darkened, and he hoped that he would pass out from the pain soon, so that he wouldn’t have to continue to suffer.
But at this time, he was caught off guard by a sweet taste in his throat, and promptly vomited out a mouthful of dark blood.
Xia Xingchi was lowering his head to put the bracelet on for him, but upon seeing this, he froze in place with fright.
To him, a child who vomited blood must be near death. Seeing his body tilt as he passed out with a pale face, Xia Xingchi was frightened out of his wits and thought that he had suddenly died.
“Li Chengyuan!!”
Xia Xingchi sat up suddenly as he woke up from the dream in terror.
Li Chengyuan was in a light doze, and was woken up by his loud voice. He noticed that the other was trembling and that the fear on his face had not completely faded, so he stretched out his hand and rubbed his head: “What’s wrong? Did you have a nightmare?”
Xia Xingchi seemed to be sleepwalking and hadn’t fully woken up from the dream. He was in a daze for a while and couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality.
Grabbing Li Chengyuan’s hand, he said with certainty: “You can’t die! I made you a bracelet……I haven’t paid you back yet!”
Li Chengyuan had just thought he was having an ordinary nightmare, and that after coaxing him, he would be able to sleep unafraid.
But as soon as the word “bracelet” came out, he suddenly frowned and said incredulously: “Xia Xingchi, what did you remember?”
