Sunset Boulevard - Chap 4

Looking at the medicine and glass shards on the ground, Zhang Jue was a little at a loss.

His body was very unstable, especially in recent years, the pheromone disorder tended to flare up and take him by surprise. The medicine spilled by Chen Boqiao could minimize the influence of the disorder on him, which was very important to him.

If he was not worried about Chen Boqiao hurting during their mini-surgery, Zhang Jue would not have taken out the medicine. Originally, he planned on only using one dose for Chen Boqiao, and thought that there shouldn’t be any problems. However, Chen Boqiao had acted in unpredictable ways and destroyed the whole box.

He didn’t mean any harm.

Zhang Jue looked at Chen Boqiao who was still apologizing to him, thinking slowly in his heart.

He was glad that Chen Boqiao didn’t knock the box onto the ground when he opened the icebox. At least Chen Boqiao wouldn’t hurt when he removed the locator.

Thinking of this, Zhang Jue felt a little better. He pointed to the steering wheel and directed Chen Boqiao, “Show me your back and don’t move.”

After Chen Boqiao knew that he had made a mistake, he became more obedient than he’d been in the morning. He folded his arms, leaned against the steering wheel, and let Zhang Jue take over.

Zhang Jue opened the semi-automatic scalpel, sterilized it with cotton pads, held up the detector, and took a closer look at Chen Boqiao’s back.

The skin near Chen Boqiao’s spine had several old knife wounds and a small burn mark on the lower back. The burned skin was very ugly, pale in color, and uneven. Zhang Jue stared at the spot closely, his throat seemed to close up. He swallowed down the bad taste in his mouth. Then, Zhang Jue stopped holding back, reaching his hand out to touch Chen Boqiao’s knife wound lightly, and then immediately removed his hand.

His touch was light and brief, but he was still discovered.

Chen Boqiao reminded him softly, ” Zhang Jue, time is running out, don’t get distracted.”

Zhang Jue made a small noise and aimed the scalpel at the position indicated by the detector, selected the appropriate knife and tweezers on the display screen, and began to remove the tracker from Chen Boqiao. When the forceps clamped onto Chen Boqiao’s locator and pulled it out, Zhang Jue heard Chen Boqiao cough softly. Not long after, blood flowed out of the lower suction cup of the semi-automatic scalpel. Zhang Jue stayed stunned for a while before wiping the blood.

After the surgical accident in his teenage years, Zhang Jue’s mother cried often, saying that when she thought about Zhang Jue’s physical condition, she felt distressed and could not help crying, but Zhang Jue never understood what that felt like.

He would feel pain because Chen Boqiao didn’t like him back, or he would toss and turn in contemplation because he liked Chen Boqiao too much, but it seems that Zhang Jue didn’t understand the specific meaning of feeling painful on someone else’s behalf until this moment.

He wished that he could be hurt in Chen Boqiao’s place.

After the operation was completed, Zhang Jue helped Chen Boqiao patch up his back. Then, before Chen Boqiao looked up, he broke the locator he took out with a gun handle and wrapped it in the gauze. He stared at Chen Boqiao’s hanging head, quickly stuffed the package into his pocket, and then informed Chen Boqiao, “It’s done. I’ll drive, you take a nap.”

Chen Boqiao once again did not bother being polite with him and moved into the passenger seat, and soon fell asleep.

The fuel tank of the vehicle was not full. It ran out of gas when they’d only driven halfway. Fortunately, there was a gas station not far away so Zhang Jue drove in that direction for a while and after arriving, rolled down the window to ask the staff to help him refill the tank.

Just then, Chen Boqiao woke up, he called Zhang Jue, and Zhang Jue looked back, “What’s the matter? Is it hurting?”

“No.” Chen Boqiao shook his head, “I’m thirsty.”

Zhang Jue looked at the convenience store at the gas station not far away, and said to Chen Boqiao, “Wait here, I’ll go get something.”

After buying two bottles of water at the convenience store and getting back to the car, the gas tank had also finished filling up. Zhang Jue gave cash to the staff. As he put on the seat belt, Chen Boqiao leaned over and took the water from Zhang Jue. He opened it and took a sip, turning his head casually to ask Zhang Jue, “Where did you put the locator?”

Chen Boqiao was only two palm-width away from Zhang Jue. His tone was gentle yet sharp. Zhang Jue was caught off guard when he asked. Zhang Jue could only look at Chen Boqiao silently.

After looking at each other for a few seconds, Chen Boqiao suddenly laughed again. He reached out and patted the pocket where Zhang Jue had hidden the locator fragments in, and confessed, “I saw you put it in. What, you want to keep this?”

Zhang Jue felt a little embarrassed and ashamed. He should’ve known that his little movement would not escape Chen Boqiao’s eyes.

He really did want to keep the broken tracker, because he didn’t have anything of Chen Boqiao’s.

“I’m kidding.” Chen Boqiao did not continue to press Zhang Jue, and instead sat down in his seat properly. The kitten limped from the back seat to the front seat, rolled over, and nestled into Chen Boqiao’s arms.

“Would you like to touch it?” Chen Boqiao gently stroked it and asked Zhang Jue nonchalantly.

Zhang Jue stretched out his hand hesitantly and hovered over the cat’s head. Chen Boqiao suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled it down. Then, Zhang Jue’s palm touched the soft fur of the cat.

Chen Boqiao’s hands were very warm, with the roughness brought on from his years of military life. The kitten rubbed his head against Zhang Jue’s palm and then shrank back into Chen Boqiao’s hand.

“Hey, he likes you,” Chen Boqiao praised, letting go.

Zhang Jue started the car silently and drove out of the gas station.

They arrived in Bangkok at noon. Zhang Jue asked the informants about the situation. As expected, the teams that were chasing after Chen Boqiao suddenly lost their mark. The chase was indeed caused by Chen Boqiao’s tracker.

The safe house in Bangkok was bigger than the one from last night. After Zhang Jue settled Chen Boqiao into the place, he went out to find a vet. He wanted to find a place to leave the cat before the boat set off the next night.

This time, Zhang Jue had good luck, and it didn’t take long to find a large pet hospital.

The pet hospital receptionist assigned to Zhang Jue was a small and enthusiastic Omega. He showed Zhang Jue around before taking the cat to do its checkup. Zhang Jue was short on time, so he offered the receptionist an amount and asked if it would be enough for whatever the cat needed.

After discussing with his superior, the hospital agreed. Zhang Jue sent the money. The receptionist handed the cat to the nurse and gave Zhang Jue a contact details form.

Zhang Jue never liked cats, and Chen Boqiao didn’t insist on keeping it. Zhang Jue wanted to ask if the hospital could help him raise the kitten. He was willing to pay them, or help them find a suitable owner, but after looking at the form, Zhang Jue suddenly hesitated.

“I might come over to pick it up in a few months,” Zhang Jue lowered his head and asked the receptionist. “Could you call me when the money is used up, please?”

The receptionist was taken aback for a moment, nodded, and told Zhang Jue, “Your deposit will most definitely be enough though.”

Zhang Jue finished filling up the form, the receptionist took the piece of paper, and called Zhang Jue again. He took out his mobile phone, and inquired in a soft voice, “Mister, can I have your number? I can send you pictures of the kitten.”

Zhang Jue looked at him for a while and exchanged contact information with him.

When the receptionist was sending Zhang Jue out of the pet hospital, the two passed by a wall of plush toys. Zhang Jue raised his head and took a glance. He happened to see a cat plushie, about the size of his palm, and the fur pattern was similar to the one Chen Boqiao picked up.

Zhang Jue stopped, turned, and walked to the wall. He raised his hand, paused, and unhooked the toy hanging on the wall.