He has fallen in love with you, Chen Shu

For the next few days, Chen Shu recuperated in a hospital room, with Zhuang Yihan staying by his side to take care of him without leaving for a moment. During this time, Jiang Xi found excuses to visit several times, but Zhuang Yihan didn't even open the door, having Xue Miao and the others turn him away directly. He didn't even tell the other party about booking a flight back to A City.

"How is it? Does the wound still hurt? I had someone book a three p.m. flight back to A City. If you feel any discomfort, tell me right away."

Zhuang Yihan packed up the computer, data cables, and other things, preparing to leave for the airport in the afternoon. But when he turned around, he found Chen Shu staring at the IV tube, lost in thought. Worried that he was uncomfortable somewhere, he walked over to check his wound.

Chen Shu retracted his gaze and shook his head. "I'm fine, but don't we need to say goodbye to President Jiang when we go back to A City this afternoon?"

In the eyes of outsiders, Chen Shu "didn't know" about Jiang Xi and Zhuang Yihan's past. And whether it was intentional or not, he always liked to bring up Jiang Xi, then watch with great interest the momentary awkwardness and subtlety that appeared in the person beside him because of this name.

Unfortunately, Zhuang Yihan had no reaction now. He took an orange from the fruit bowl, clumsily cut it open with a small knife, his gaze casually lowered, appearing somewhat indifferent in the light and shadow. "No need. It's just a business relationship. There's no need to inform him of all our private matters. The climate here is too hot, which is not good for your wound's recovery. Let's go back early."

After speaking, he handed over a slice of orange. "Try it."

Chen Shu didn't take it. "You eat it."

Zhuang Yihan took a bite, then held another slice to Chen Shu's lips. "It's quite sweet. Try it."

Chen Shu smiled. "Have I ever told you..."

Zhuang Yihan raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Chen Shu: "My teeth hurt whenever I eat oranges."

Zhuang Yihan's movement paused. "..."

Of course, Chen Shu had never told him. Or rather, ever since the two of them got together, it had always been Chen Shu unilaterally understanding Zhuang Yihan. Zhuang Yihan had never taken the initiative to understand Chen Shu. He enjoyed the other's meticulous care and consideration, like an over-spoiled child.

Zhuang Yihan realized his neglect of Chen Shu. A beat later, he placed the orange back on the table and asked, slightly at a loss, "Then what kind of fruit do you like to eat? I'll have someone go buy it right now."

Chen Shu didn't speak. He pulled a wet wipe from the bedside table and handed it to Zhuang Yihan. "Wipe your hands."

He watched as Zhuang Yihan wiped his hands clean, then picked up the peeled orange slice from the table and tasted it without a change in expression. "No need to buy anything else. Oranges are fine."

Seeing this, Zhuang Yihan subconsciously wanted to stop him, but he was a beat too slow. "Don't your teeth hurt? Why are you still eating oranges?"

Chen Shu lay back down on the bed, tilting his head to look at him with great interest. His posture was languid, and a smile that would make one exasperated suddenly appeared in his eyes. "I was lying to you."

He simply disliked eating them, that's all. The toothache was just an excuse. But having lived to his current point in life, likes and dislikes no longer mattered, much like the bitter medicine that was hard to swallow as a child, which he could now drink without a change in expression as an adult.

Hearing this, Zhuang Yihan first felt a sense of relief, then became annoyed at Chen Shu's behavior of keeping his heart in suspense. "Don't lie to me like this again."

He frowned and repeated with emphasis, "Chen Shu, I don't like being lied to."

But he had forgotten, how could someone accustomed to lying be stingy with promises.

Chen Shu said with a faint smile, "Alright, I won't lie to you anymore."

Zhuang Yifan and the others were still resting at the hotel. At noon, after Chen Shu finished his IV drip, they all met downstairs at the hospital, ready to take a car to the airport.

Chen Shu's right hand was injured and wrapped in gauze, but his left hand was fine. Seeing everyone busy, he was about to lift his suitcase into the car when another hand beat him to it, placing the luggage in the trunk. "Your hand hasn't healed yet. Don't lift heavy things like this."

Seeing it was Zhuang Yifan, Chen Shu took the opportunity to withdraw his hand. "It's fine, my left hand is okay."

Zhuang Yifan sauntered over from the side and said, "Not even your left hand. You're now a key protected person in my brother's eyes. Forget carrying a suitcase, if you even wanted to drink water, he'd probably have to hold the cup and feed it to you."

Ever since the incident of falling into the water, he found Chen Shu more and more pleasing to the eye. He even had the thought that it wouldn't be bad for the other person to be with his older brother. Anyway, his parents had passed away early, and no one cared about social status or family background. The entire Zhuang Family was run by Zhuang Yihan; who would dare to say otherwise.

Zhuang Yihan was just putting away the luggage and didn't hear what the two were saying clearly, only vaguely catching words like "drink water." Hearing this, he subconsciously straightened up and looked at Chen Shu, thinking the other was thirsty. "What's wrong, you want some water?"

There happened to be a case of mineral water in the trunk. After speaking, he grabbed a bottle, twisted the cap open, and naturally brought it to Chen Shu's lips. "Make do and have a few sips. We don't have a straw in the car. We'll see when we get to the airport lounge."

As soon as Zhuang Yihan's voice fell, a burst of suppressed laughter came from beside him. Zhuang Yifan was clutching his stomach, almost crying with laughter. Even Fang Yiting and Xue Miao pretended to look around, trying hard to control the rising corners of their mouths.

Zhuang Yifan leaned on the car door, laughing so hard he was out of breath. "Chen Shu, see what I just said? If you want water, my brother has to personally feed it to you. Well, was I wrong?"

Only then did Zhuang Yihan realize he was being treated as a joke. He lowered his voice and snapped out of shame and anger, "It's been too long since I dealt with you, you're itching for a beating, aren't you?!"

Zhuang Yihan didn't like being made fun of over such things. It was like when he had been obsessed with helping Jiang Xi; everyone had laughed behind his back that he was blind and had water in his brain. Although he knew Zhuang Yifan and the others meant no harm, it still touched a raw nerve.

Chen Shu didn't find it funny either.

Although he was destined to part with Zhuang Yihan, one person being completely devoted to another shouldn't be treated as a joke...

He ignored the teasing laughter of Zhuang Yifan and the others, took the water from Zhuang Yihan's hand and drank a couple of sips. Then he screwed the cap back on, slightly lifted his chin to signal for the other to head towards the car door, his voice consistently low and gentle. "Let's get in the car. We're going to be late."

Zhuang Yihan subconsciously glanced at Chen Shu. Although the other wasn't looking at him, his reflection in the car window showed his usual gentle and bright eyes. Inexplicably, the anger in his heart dissipated. He pressed his lips together, nodded, and bent down to get into the car without a word.

After putting away the luggage, Chen Shu also got into the car. The automatic sliding door slowly closed, blocking the faint, probing gaze from upstairs.

Chen Shu lowered the car window and looked up, as if he had already guessed who the owner of that gaze was. He smiled and silently mouthed three words:

"We'll meet again."

Through the transparent glass window, Jiang Xi clearly saw the fleeting smile on Chen Shu's face. There was no provocation, no smugness, but rather a profound meaning that was hard to fathom, as if in this game, he was already the destined loser.

Jiang Xi's pupils contracted, his fingertips tightening.

Why did Chen Shu look at him like that? What had he discovered? He had originally completely won over Zhuang Yihan, but ever since Chen Shu appeared, more and more situations had arisen. Could it be that the other person was also a Parasite, just like him?

This thought made Jiang Xi's heart pound with fear for a moment.

Just then, his assistant called to ask when to book the return flight ticket. Jiang Xi glared at the screen and suddenly, without warning, smashed the phone angrily on the ground.

The high-quality phone bounced in mid-air before landing with a loud thud. However, the body of the phone was still intact, only the mirrored decoration on the back of the case showed spiderweb-like cracks.

Jiang Xi slowly crouched down, only to see his own grim face in the shattered mirror. He touched the corner of his eye with his fingertips in disbelief. He was only about thirty years old, in his prime, yet fine lines had appeared at the corners of his eyes at some point, as if he had aged more than two or three years overnight—

He could no longer obtain pain from Zhuang Yihan, and he was beginning to age rapidly, at ten times the normal rate.

Night fell, and dark clouds obscured the sky. The bare trees along the road silently heralded the arrival of winter. When the cold wind blew, pedestrians on the street tightened their coats and hurried home.

The plane was a bit late, and it was already past nine p.m. when they arrived in A City. Since they were heading in different directions, everyone went their separate ways at the exit. Only Zhuang Yifan hailed a cab to a bar, rushing to attend a welcome-back party thrown for him by his motley crew of friends.

Zhuang Yihan didn't have his secretary pick them up. Instead, he had someone drive his car to the airport exit and park it there in advance, then he personally drove back to the city with Chen Shu.

Perhaps because this trip had been too thrilling, or because the feelings in Zhuang Yihan's heart had unknowingly undergone a subtle change, he felt an inexplicable nervousness when he was alone in the car with Chen Shu, always unable to stop himself from looking at the other person.

Chen Shu was originally playing on his phone. Noticing Zhuang Yihan's sizing gaze, he turned off the screen and looked over. "What's wrong?"

Zhuang Yihan was startled and subconsciously averted his gaze. "Nothing."

He stared at the road ahead, his fingertips tapping lightly on the steering wheel. After a moment, he spoke hesitantly, "It's quite late today. Why don't you stay at my place for the night?"

Zhuang Yihan didn't know if Chen Shu would agree and felt somewhat apprehensive. But unexpectedly, the other person just glanced at the time on his phone and then agreed, "Mm, then I'll stay at your place for the night."

After the tiring journey, Chen Shu couldn't be bothered to go back and forth. After all, his place didn't have a cleaner hired like Zhuang Yihan's; after not being back for two weeks, the dust was probably three feet thick.

Hearing this, Zhuang Yihan's lips curled up almost imperceptibly. But before he could be happy for too long, he heard Chen Shu say, "The guest room around the corner is quite quiet. I'll sleep there."

Sleep there.

There.

There.

This sentence echoed in Zhuang Yihan's mind. He clenched his jaw, nearly grinding his teeth to bits. 'Chen Shu usually seems so excellent in character and studies, so ambitious, but how come he's useless at critical moments?' he thought. 'Other couples are intimate every night. Even in a sugar daddy and lover relationship, they would try their best to climb up. Chen Shu, on the other hand, not only doesn't climb, but he also has to take an axe and chop down the tree!'

Guest room guest room guest room guest room! Has he never slept in a guest room in his past life?!!

Zhuang Yihan grumbled irascibly in his heart for a while before finally letting out a slow breath. He managed to calm his emotions and forced a smile. "Fine. Auntie Zhao should have cleaned it. You can stay there if you want."

But he was still fuming. He didn't speak for the rest of the journey, just floored the accelerator on the empty highway, managing to arrive at his residence before twelve.

The advantage of a mansion is having many rooms; you can sleep in whichever one you want. When it was time to sleep, Chen Shu chose a guest room farthest from the master bedroom. He then took his change of clothes from his suitcase and prepared to enter the bathroom for a shower. Unexpectedly, Zhuang Yihan blocked the doorway, preventing him from entering. He stammered for a long while before saying, "The doctor said your wound can't get wet."

Chen Shu, however, wasn't very concerned and gave a light "mm." "I know, I'll be careful later."

Seeing that he meant nothing else, Zhuang Yihan couldn't tell if he was disappointed or something else, and could only say, "Then if you need any help, remember to call me."

Chen Shu gave Zhuang Yihan a half-smile. "No need. You go take your shower."

After speaking, he reached out and gently pushed the other person away from the doorway, stepping sideways into the bathroom and locking the door behind him, firmly shutting out all prying eyes.

Zhuang Yihan stood at the door, his eyelid twitching uncontrollably at the sight. 'Who is Chen Shu guarding against?' he thought. 'I'm not a hooligan, would I peek at him?! Besides, we're both grown men, what's there to hide!'

With the injury on his hand, Chen Shu inevitably took longer in the shower. When he came out of the bathroom in his pajamas, he saw that the living room lights had been turned off by someone. His eyes met a dark blue silence. The master bedroom door was shut tightly, and not a sound could be heard.

Zhuang Yihan was either angry, asleep, or had fallen asleep angry. Chen Shu couldn't think of a fourth possibility. In the past, he probably would have gone in to coax him. After all, Zhuang Yihan's heart was now completely devoted to him; making this fool happy was just a matter of saying a few words.

But for some reason, Chen Shu stood at the door for a moment and ultimately didn't go in. In the end, he turned around without a word and returned to the guest room he had chosen.

Because he was too familiar with the environment, he didn't even turn on the lights.

In the darkness, Chen Shu lifted the covers and got into bed, closing his eyes and sinking directly into the pillow. The fatigue accumulated over the past few days rushed in like a tide, making his consciousness grow dimmer and dimmer. Just as Chen Shu was about to fall asleep, a warm, smooth body suddenly slipped into his arms from the other side of the quilt, startling him into opening his eyes instantly.

"Who?!"

Zhuang Yihan didn't know when he had slipped into bed. The tips of his hair were still damp. Seeing Chen Shu's whole body tensed up in an extremely vigilant manner, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "What are you afraid of? I'm not a ghost."

After speaking, he suddenly fell silent again, as if thinking about something. Finally, he quietly burrowed into Chen Shu's arms, his naked body pressing tightly against him, and said in a low voice, "I want to sleep with you."

Chen Shu paused. "...Why?"

Zhuang Yihan: "No reason."

Chen Shu was silent for a moment. Finally, without a word, he pinched Zhuang Yihan's chin, using slight force to make the other look up at him. He was clearly smiling, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "You want me to fuck you?"

He had asked this question before, on the night Zhuang Yihan was drunk. Even though the other was delirious, he had been so angered by the flippant and vulgar words that he had bitten him hard.

Chen Shu, perhaps trying to deliberately provoke Zhuang Yihan, actually asked again. He stared into the other's eyes in the darkness, trying to find the familiar coldness and anger within them. However, the other person merely clenched his fists reflexively upon hearing the words, before slowly unclenching them with an ugly expression on his face, swallowing this humiliation.

Zhuang Yihan retorted with a cold laugh, "Just because I'm in your bed means I want to sleep with you?"

Chen Shu was very direct. "If not, then get out."

But Zhuang Yihan stubbornly spat out two words, "I won't!"

After speaking, Zhuang Yihan lowered his head fiercely in the darkness, his jaw clenched tightly. He unconsciously tasted the faint flavor of blood in his mouth, and his eyes began to sting. He felt wronged by Chen Shu's hot-and-cold attitude. When this person was good to him, he would even give up his life; when he wasn't, he liked to say such things to humiliate him.

Was liking him and wanting to be with him such a shameless thing? Was it something that deserved to be struck by lightning?

The bittersweet emotions were contagious. Seeing that Zhuang Yihan refused to look up, Chen Shu could roughly guess what was happening. The world was just this unfair. In his past life, this person had thrown all sorts of heartless and cruel words at him, piercing hundreds and thousands of holes in his heart. In this life, he had merely asked him to get out of bed, and the other was so wronged that his eyes turned red and tears fell.

Is being rich so great?

Actually, it's not that great.

But the three words 'Zhuang Yihan' had indeed seemed great in the heart of the Chen Shu from the past life...

"What are you crying for?"

After a long time, Chen Shu finally spoke, his voice in the darkness laced with a few sighs. Being coaxed by him now was not a good thing. Every word he said could become a source of the other's pain in the future. He reached out and touched Zhuang Yihan's cool cheek, his tone low and gentle. "I was just teasing you. If you want to stay here and sleep, then sleep."

Zhuang Yihan was definitely not this easy to coax before. At least, he wouldn't have been soothed by a single light-hearted sentence from Chen Shu after being angered to the point of tears. But matters of the heart were sometimes just that unreasonable. Hearing this, he looked up at Chen Shu in the darkness, his eyes red, his voice muffled. "Then you can't say that kind of thing to anger me again."

He didn't like hearing it; it was as if Chen Shu only treated him as a plaything.

Chen Shu smiled and made a promise, "Alright, I won't say it next time."

Only then did Zhuang Yihan's expression soften. He tried his best to ignore the unease in his heart and hugged Chen Shu tightly under the covers. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but for a moment, he was in a daze, as if he had once again seen the look Chen Shu gave him on the boat.

A Black Snake had, at some unknown time, coiled around the crystal chandelier on the ceiling. Its long, slender body hung down like a rope, its head positioned directly above Chen Shu's. It flicked its tongue lightly. Although it lacked human facial features, it gave one the distinct impression that it was smiling:

"Chen Shu,"

the Black Snake reminded,

"He has fallen in love with you."

It was like an absurd game that had finally reached the time for the curtain to fall.