Sissy (Niang Niang Qiang) - Chap 52
Chapter 52
Li Chengxiu called Li Shuo from the company phone and told him that he had changed his phone number.
Li Shuo felt it was a little strange: “Why did you change your number?”
Li Chengxiu whispered, “I lost my SIM card.”
Li Shuo said: “It’s not a problem. You can get a replacement SIM card and keep your number. I’ll take you to the shop tomorrow.”
Li Chengxiu hurriedly said, “No need!”
Li Shuo frowned: “No need?”
Li Chengxiu hesitantly said, “I… I already bought a new one.”
Li Shuo pondered for a while: “Then tell me your new number.”
Li Chengxiu choked and couldn’t speak for a long time.
Li Shuo sighed, a little disappointed: “Chengxiu, why are you lying?”
Li Chengxiu slumped on his chair, not sure how to explain everything to Li Shuo.
He didn’t want to tell Li Shuo that Shao Qun called him. He didn’t want Li Shuo to worry. Li Shuo had already suffered a lot of horrible treatment because of him. Li Chengxiu felt guilty for subjecting him to all of this.
Li Shuo asked softly, “Chengxiu, am I not worthy of your trust?”
Li Chengxiu hurriedly said, “No, that’s not it.”
“Then why are you hiding things from me? Did Shao Qun call you?”
Li Chengxiu felt uncomfortable for a while, but finally hummed softly.
Li Shuo gritted his teeth and said, “This bastard isn’t done yet?.”
Li Chengxiu’s voice was a little weak, “Li-Dage, what should I do?”
Li Shuo reassured him: “Let me think of a way. Buy a new SIM card and tell me your phone number. In the future, don’t answer any unfamiliar numbers.”
“Okay……”
Li Shuo sighed, “Chengxiu, if anything comes up in the future, remember to tell me next time. The two of us should stand together, okay?”
“I’m just afraid that you’re going to worry.”
“Wouldn’t I be even more worried, if Shao Qun was harassing you without me knowing? When he kidnapped you, I was so worried that I couldn’t sleep at all. If you really don’t want me to worry, communicate with me in time and don’t let something like that happen again!”
Li Chengxiu’s heart gradually warmed up. Thinking of the deep gentleness of the person on the other end of the phone, he felt empowered. His heart, which had been agitated and in a state of panic all day, gradually calmed down: “Thank you, Li-Dage.”
Li Shuo said with a smile: “Oh come on, I’m the one who has to thank you. Just don’t disappear from my sight again, okay?”
Li Chengxiu’s heart was slightly aching, as he said: “Okay.”
After that phone call, it had been quiet for a few days.
Li Chengxiu thought that this matter was over, and he unconsciously relaxed his vigilance.
This night he worked overtime, and when he came home it was already dark.
He lived in an old house, and it was usually very dark when he entered the staircase. The lights on the first floor didn’t work.
He walked upstairs and headed towards his apartment. Just as he turned the corner, he saw a dark shadow sitting next to his door, blocking the entrance completely.
Li Chengxiu couldn’t even see if it was a person. He was so frightened that he was getting ready to run.
As soon as he turned around, he heard some movement. Then a hoarse voice came from behind him: “Chengxiu.”
Li Chengxiu was stunned for a moment. Although the voice was hoarse, Li Chengxiu was too familiar with it and could recognize it no matter what.
Li Chengxiu’s face turned pale instantly. He turned his head slightly and watched Shao Qun sway from one side to the other, as he slowly got up to his feet.
Shao Qun had lost a lot of weight, his hair was a little messy, there was stubble on his chin, and his cheeks were abnormally flushed.
Li Chengxiu wanted to leave, but this is where he lived after all. Where could he go so late at night?
Shao Qun looked at Li Chengxiu who was constantly backing away, frowned and panted, “I came all the way back to see you. Not even a minute of rest… and I have been waiting for you all day. Will you let me in for a glass of water?”
Li Chengxiu stepped back to the wall, looked at Shao Qun alertly and said hoarsely, “Go away.”
Shao Qun focused his gaze on him for about two seconds. Then with deep disappointment in his eyes and a self-deprecating smile on his lips he said: “You’re really not polite with me. Kicking me out directly… I remember you used to be so lame that you didn’t even dare to speak loudly to people. But now… How can you be so tough with me? Hmm?”
Li Chengxiu leaned against the wall and slowly moved towards the stairs: “What do you want?”
“What the fuck do I want? I just want to see you, to see if you’re doing well, and whether you’re happy with your lover.” After saying that, Shao Qun felt sick and lowered his head.
Li Chengxiu pointed at the stairs tremblingly and repeated: “Go away. I… I’m fine.”
Shao Qun suddenly raised his head, and his eyes flashed with resentment, staring right into Li Chengxiu’s heart.
Shao Qun then walked towards him – one step after the other.
Shocked, Li Chengxiu was about to run downstairs but before he could even turn around, Shao Qun had already pounced on him.
Shao Qun’s 188 cm body pressed onto Li Chengxiu, who then tried his best to avoid him and for that reason made both of them fall to the ground.
Feeling Shao Qun’s body on top of his, Li Chengxiu realized that Shao Qun had a fever. His skin was hot, and he murmured his name into his ear.
Li Chengxiu tried hard to push him away in order to get up, but Shao Qun had already fainted and lay on him like a stone.
Li Chengxiu looked at Shao Qun, whose eyes were closed and whose face was flushed. He was even slightly gasping for air. For a moment, Li Chengxiu didn’t know what to do.
He couldn’t help but touch Shao Qun’s forehead and found that he was really burning up. The clothes he was wearing were very thin, and his whole body was shaking.
This was the first time he saw Shao Qun get sick. It turned out that people like him could also get sick and have such a fragile expression on their faces. Li Chengxiu felt an inexplicable pain in his heart.
Should he call an ambulance? Li Chengxiu gave it a serious thought.
He heard that calling an ambulance might cost thousands of RMB …
Li Chengxiu sighed, crawled out from under Shao Qun with great difficulty and took out his key to open the door.
No matter how much he shunned this person, he couldn’t leave him with a high fever in the cold corridor right in front of his apartment.
As soon as he opened the door, Teacup heard his movements, ran up to him, rubbed its face against his trousers and looked up at him eagerly.
Li Chengxiu lightly pushed the little pup away with his foot: “Get out of the way, little guy, so I don’t step on you!” He crouched down and used all his strength to drag Shao Qun inside.
Teacup bared its teeth at Shao Qun and barked, biting Shao Qun’s trousers, trying to prevent this person from entering.
Li Chengxiu was afraid that Shao Qun might accidentally fall on Teacup. His hands were full, so he could only use his foot to move Teacup away yet again. The palm-sized little puppy got agitated, barked angrily and continued biting Shao Qun’s trousers to drag him out of the apartment. So not only did Li Chengxiu have to drag Shao Qun, he also had to deal with the dog from time to time. Thus, it took him several minutes to get from the door to the sofa.
Li Chengxiu was sweating from exhaustion after spending so much effort to get Shao Qun onto the sofa.
He first looked for a blanket to cover Shao Qun up and then for some anti-inflammatory and antipyretic medicine. Finally, he poured a glass of water, squatted beside the sofa and tried to wake Shao Qun up.
Shao Qun opened his eyes in confusion and tearfully looked at Li Chengxiu.
Li Chengxiu brought the medicine right to his mouth and said: “Take it.”
It seemed that Shao Qun’s eyes were nailed to Li Chengxiu’s face. He stared at Li Chengxiu without blinking, as he slowly opened his mouth.
Li Chengxiu put the medicine into his mouth and made him drink some water.
Shao Qun tilted his head slightly, and all the water spilled out of his mouth. Li Chengxiu couldn’t help but remind him: “Careful, don’t choke.”
Shao Qun’s eyes lit up slightly, and he looked at him with deep emotion.
Li Chengxiu put the cup on the coffee table and quickly stood up.
Shao Qun grabbed his sleeve. His throat hurt so bad that he had to cough a few times before he could barely make a sound: “Don’t go!”
Li Chengxiu pursed his lips, pulled his sleeves back, took out his mobile phone from his pocket and handed it to Shao Qun: “Call someone to pick you up.”
Shao Qun retracted his hand that was just hanging stiffly in the air, closed his eyes in discomfort and turned his head to the side.
Li Chengxiu was stunned for a while, but continued: “Shao Qun, ask someone to pick you up. You can’t…stay at my house.”
Shao Qun’s Adam’s apple went up and down. After a while he turned his head and said hoarsely, “Chengxiu, are you really that cruel?”
Li Chengxiu closed his eyes and held the phone in front of him.
Shao Qun felt a deep pain in his heart. He raised his hand and hit Li Chengxiu’s palm.
It hurt enough for Li Chengxiu to drop the phone on the floor.
Teacup, who was squatting beside him the whole time, bowed his body and assumed an attacking posture, barking at Shao Qun with all his strength.
Shao Qun coughed violently. His face turned bright red, as if he was about to cough out his lungs.
Li Chengxiu stared blankly at the phone lying on the ground and then at Shao Qun, who was constantly coughing. He finally squatted down and brought the cup of water to his mouth: “Drink, drink some water.”
Shao Qun tremblingly opened his mouth, took a few sips of water and then slowly calmed down.
Li Chengxiu picked up the phone, put back the battery that had fallen out due to the fall and tried to turn it on again. Unfortunately, the screen went black right after it booted up. The phone was now unusable.[2]
Li Chengxiu angrily glared at Shao Qun .
He thought that if he couldn’t get rid of Shao Qun, he would have to call Li Shuo, but now he couldn’t even turn on the phone.
Although he knew Li Shuo’s cell phone number by heart, where would he get a new phone in the middle of the night?
He turned around and asked Shao Qun, “Do you have a cell phone on you?”
Shao Qun had coughed so much that his brain was deprived of oxygen, his eyes were foggy and he was basically in a semi-conscious state.
Li Chengxiu squatted down next to Shao Qun and felt his pockets, but found that he had nothing other than his wallet and keys.
Li Chengxiu held the broken mobile phone and sat down on the sofa, staring in a daze at Shao Qun who was burning up with fever.
He didn’t know what to do now.
He couldn’t throw him out, but he couldn’t keep him here either.
Looking at Shao Qun’s haggard face, it seemed that all his arrogance and high-mightiness of the past were gone. At this time, he was just an ordinary sick young man with a fever who needed to be taken care of.
He remembered Shao Qun’s weak “Don’t go!”
The voice seemed to penetrate directly into his heart. Li Chengxiu knew that he shouldn’t be so soft-hearted, and that a person like Shao Qun was not worthy of any kind of soft-heartedness, but he couldn’t just ruthlessly throw him out.
Li Chengxiu let out a long sigh, got up and went to the kitchen to put on the rice porridge. He then prepared dinner for Teacup.
By the time Teacup was full and satisfied, the porridge was also ready.
Li Chengxiu put a bowl of porridge on the coffee table and gently pushed it towards Shao Qun: “Get up and eat something.”
Shao Qun was in a confused state and had no reaction at all. Li Chengxiu had to call him for a long time before he finally slowly opened his eyes.
Li Chengxiu helped him sit up and handed him the bowl: “Eat.”
Shao Qun’s pale face and wet eyes were covered by heat vapors coming from the porridge. He quietly looked at Li Chengxiu with undisguised affection and nostalgia in his eyes.
Li Chengxiu felt uncomfortable under this look and urged him again, “Eat.”
Shao Qun looked at the bowl blankly and didn’t move.
Li Chengxiu put the porridge back on the table, got up and was about to leave when Shao Qun tugged hard on his sleeve.
Li Chengxiu felt completely helpless. He sat down again, scooped a spoonful of porridge and brought it towards Shao Qun.
Shao Qun seemed happy and cooperatively opened his mouth.
This way he quickly finished the bowl. So quickly in fact that it seemed that Shao Qun hadn’t eaten for a long time.
Li Chengxiu got up to wash the bowl and whispered, “Tomorrow…when I go to work… you should leave too.”
Shao Qun said in a hoarse voice, “I’m so ill. Can’t you stay with me for a couple days?”
Li Chengxiu didn’t say anything to that and just went to the kitchen without looking back. After cleaning up, he went into his bedroom together with Teacup and locked the door behind himself.
Shao Qun heard the sound of the lock, and even though his body was burning, his heart seemed to be immediately covered by a layer of ice.
Exhausted, Shao Qun lay on the tiny sofa, his head covered with a blanket.
The blanket smelled of Li Chengxiu – clean and fresh, with a hint of washing powder. It was as if he was still holding that person in his arms, his nose full of his scent. Shao Qun took a deep breath, trying to keep Li Chengxiu’s smell in his chest, so as to at least slightly relieve his pain.
The fact that Li Chengxiu took him in when he was sick, even if it was for just one night, meant that he still couldn’t be too cruel to him.
Shao Qun still had a chance…
Shao Qun comforted himself with these thoughts, smiled bitterly and slowly closed his eyes.
Li Chengxiu planned to leave early the next day. When he left, Shao Qun still hadn’t woken up. Because he was sick, his sleep was especially deep.
Li Chengxiu touched his forehead and found that the fever had not subsided at all – Shao Qun was still burning up. Li Chengxiu was a little panicked. Apparently, the few pills he gave him were not enough. If Shao Qun continued to burn like this, he would soon become charcoal.
He hesitated for a while but then ran downstairs to the breakfast shop that always opened early and borrowed a phone from someone there. He immediately called Li Shuo.
He had already decided to send Shao Qun to the hospital, but he really couldn’t carry Shao Qun downstairs by himself.
When Li Shuo answered the phone, his voice was still sleepy. But as soon as he heard that Shao Qun was at Li Chengxiu’s house, he was immediately awake and said that he would go over as soon as possible.
Li Chengxiu then called his work and asked for a half-day leave.
As soon as Li Shuo came, he carefully examined Li Chengxiu from top to bottom and asked nervously, “He didn’t do anything to you, did he?”
Li Chengxiu shook his head: “He has a fever.”
Only then was Li Shuo finally relieved. He glanced coldly at Shao Qun who was lying on the sofa: “I’m afraid he has hired someone to tail me. Otherwise, how did he find your place as soon as he came back from Beijing?”
Li Chengxiu’s face was pale, and he witlessly asked, “What should I do…?”
Li Shuo took out his mobile phone: “I’ll call his eldest sister and let her find someone to pick him up.”
While Li Shuo was on the phone, Li Chengxiu was looking at the sleeping Shao Qun with his reddish face. For a moment, he felt that this person was like a child. No matter how tall he looked and mature he acted, he would still do so many unreasonable things that hurt others and himself.
Li Shuo quickly hung up the phone and put his arm around Li Chengxiu’s shoulder: “His sister will soon send someone to take him away. Chengxiu, you did the right thing. You should always contact me when something like this happens.”
Li Chengxiu nodded, not daring to say that Shao Qun had actually stayed here for an entire night.
Li Shuo looked at his dazed expression. He then turned Li Chengxiu’s face towards himself and softly said, “Are you alright?”
It took a long time until Li Chengxiu’s eyes could focus. He looked at Li Shuo and shook his head: “I’m fine.”
Li Shuo lightly kissed his lips and smiled, “I haven’t eaten yet. Do you have anything at home?”
Li Chengxiu remembered that he hadn’t eaten either, so he went downstairs and ordered some noodles.
After the two of them had finished their meal, the people that were sent over by Shao Wen had finally appeared.
When they got Shao Qun off the sofa, he woke up and subconsciously freed himself from their grip.
He couldn’t adapt to the surrounding environment for a while and looked around in confusion. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Li Chengxiu, but his expression changed immediately when he noticed Li Shuo.
He pointed at Li Shuo tremblingly, and asked Li Chengxiu in disbelief, “You called him?”
Li Chengxiu lowered his eyes.
It seemed Shao Qun was about to cry. He swayed slightly as he got up to his feet, and his speech was a bit slurred. Loudly he asked, “Li Chengxiu, in which way am I inferior to him? Tell me, in which way is he better than me? How can you treat me like this?”
Li Chengxiu trembled and lowered his head.
The person sent by Shao Wen was about to come up to help Shao Qun, but Shao Qun immediately pushed him away.
The person looked at him with some embarrassment: “Young Master…”
Shao Qun was approaching Li Chengxiu step by step, as he shouted in a hoarse voice: “I can give you everything that he can give you! I can treat you better than him. Why did you choose him? How am I inferior?”
Li Shuo said coldly: “Shao Qun, you are confused. Chengxiu is my boyfriend, please don’t harass him in the future.”
Shao Qun’s jaw dropped: “Li Chengxiu was originally mine! You took him away!”
Li Shuo said with a sneer: “Of course he’s mine now, since I stole him fair and square. Except I didn’t steal him. It was you who did everything in your power to push him away right into my arms. How about you ask your conscience, whether I would have even had a chance, if you had actually treated him well, cherished him and loved him? You only regret it now that you lost him.
Do you think that the whole world revolves around you? So he had to wait for you patiently, ready to forgive you at any time? Shao Qun, be a man. You lost. Chengxiu has already moved on. You are stuck in the same place, but he will never go back.”
Shao Qun froze in place, unable to say a word of rebuttal. He felt that something was tearing at his heart, and the pain was so horrible that he could hardly stand up.
Seeing Shao Qun’s dazed expression, Li Chengxiu felt a terrible heartache. He reluctantly opened his mouth and slowly enunciated, “Shao Qun, let’s not see each other ever again.”
I’ll never trust you, and I don’t want to forgive you. Let’s just stop here.
Shao Qun looked at Li Chengxiu.
This was a face that haunted him. He missed it to the point of being unable to move. He thought about it and dreamed about it over and over again. He thought he was familiar enough with Li Chengxiu to know each and every expression of his, but his current expression was entirely unknown to him.
Li Chengxiu should be kind, timid, and soft-hearted. No matter what Shao Qun does, he should forgive him and treat him well.
But the man in front of him seemed so ruthless and cold. It was clear that he would never treat him well again. He was standing next to another man and was asking him to leave forever.
Shao Qun couldn’t help recalling everything that he had done and everything that he had said.
He had squandered the gentleness and obedience of this man, taking it all for granted. He has made this man of his dreams cry many times, he has hurt him badly, and he has also repeatedly used his actions and his words to mercilessly humiliate him. He has made a lot of mistakes, to the extent that he doesn’t even dare to admit or face them. But no matter how much he tried to run away from it, finally he had to face the music. It was his retribution for the numerous wrongs he had committed in the past.
Li Chengxiu had already left, he completely abandoned Shao Qun and was never coming back to him.
Shao Qun was so heartbroken that he couldn’t breathe. He stretched out his hand towards Li Chengxiu, but before he could raise his arm, he fell down.
The hired people next to him immediately supported him. Once they touched his forehead, they were immediately concerned.
“Quick, we need to hurry him to the hospital. He’s burning up.”
The two men finally carried Shao Qun out.
The remaining two men were silent for a while. Li Shuo went to close the door.
He walked back to Li Chengxiu and said solemnly, “Chengxiu, you can’t continue living here. I can’t stand this bastard always harassing you. Move in with me.”
Shao Qun’s heartbroken face before he fainted still lingered in Li Chengxiu’s mind. He was caught off guard by Li Shuo’s sudden request and looked at him blankly.
Li Shuo said seriously: “We’ve been dating for a while now. I didn’t plan to put pressure on you, but the situation is a bit different now. If you’re by my side, I can protect you. And then I can also feel much more at ease. Shao Qun is relentless – he will keep harassing you again and again. How can I, with good conscience, let you live alone under a threat like that?”
Li Chengxiu opened his mouth and looked at Li Shuo with an empty expression.
Li Shuo touched his face and asked expectantly, “Okay?”
Li Chengxiu’s eyes were shining, he looked a little dazed, as he finally gently nodded: “Okay.”
