The sound of rain outside seemed to be getting louder. Chen Qizhao's hand unconsciously rested on Shen Yuhuai's shoulder. After the word "no", the atmosphere between the two seemed to fall into a long silence. It seemed like a long time had passed, but it also seemed like only a few seconds had passed.

Chen Qizhao lowered his eyes slightly, rubbing his fingertips on Shen Yuhuai's shoulders, and touched Shen Yuhuai's collarbone through his clothes. When I calm down, I seem to be able to feel the other person's powerful and lively beating from the subtle vibrations in my chest.

Hot and warm.

The man did not make any other move. He just let him touch him and looked at him calmly.

When his movements slowed down, he asked, "Are you coming down? We've been in here for a long time."

Chen Qizhao looked at Shen Yuhuai and suddenly said, “My clothes are wet.”

Shen Yuhuai's eyes froze as he noticed the wet surface of the washstand and the water stains on Chen Qizhao's clothes.

Outside the ward, Chen Shiming finished his phone call. When he just entered the ward, he suddenly saw the bathroom door not far away opened. Shen Yuhuai walked out, but did not see Chen Qizhao. He was slightly surprised to see this situation, and his inquiring gaze paused on Shen Yuhuai for a while, always feeling that something was strange.

The glass window has a limited view and you can't see the bathroom.

He remembered that when he answered the phone just now, he didn’t seem to see Shen Yuhuai much.

"Where are his clothes?" Shen Yuhuai said in a normal tone, "He wants to take a bath."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shiming had no choice but to go over and get a set of clean clothes. He walked to the bathroom door and knocked. Soon Chen Qizhao reached out to take it. He suppressed the feeling of surprise in his heart, and when he turned around, he happened to see Zhang Yazhi coming back, so he walked over and said a few words to her.

The sound of water soon came from the bathroom. Seeing Zhang Yazhi staying in the ward, his eyes stayed on Shen Yuhuai for a moment.

Shen Yuhuai noticed his look and saw him walking out, "Aunt Zhang, I'm going out first."

Zhang Yazhi replied: "It's okay, you guys go ahead, I'll just watch over here."

The corridors are quieter at night and there are fewer medical staff walking around.

There was only a nurse station in the distance outside the senior ward. After Chen Shiming called the person out, his tone became a little heavier: "When you went to the doctor just now, did the doctor say anything more?"

"No." Shen Yuhuai went to the doctor's office with Zhang Yazhi not long ago. The doctor mentioned Chen Qizhao's medication reaction and emotional changes during this period. Although he had been taking the medication for a period of time, Chen Qizhao's performance was no different from the beginning. Instead, the side effects of the medication began to change significantly.

Shen Yuhuai thought of Chen Qizhao’s eyes in the bathroom just now, and when he was about to speak, he heard Chen Shiming say.

"He seems to be very worried that something might happen to us." Chen Shiming's eyes stopped at the chair opposite him. "It's a bit unbelievable to say, but he really cares about these things."

Chen Shiming thought about the reasons for Chen Qizhao's anxiety. Originally, the biggest reason they considered should be the matters of Lin's Medical and the Gu family. Chen Qizhao had devoted too much energy to those matters, so he tried his best to bring some relevant information to Chen Qizhao, hoping to alleviate his worries about these matters, but in fact there was not much improvement. It was not until today when Chen Qizhao's sudden reaction reminded him of some details that he had previously overlooked.

"He was very worried that I would get into a car accident and become paralyzed. He was also worried that my dad would have a cerebral hemorrhage or stroke." Chen Shiming's tone was a little hesitant, but at this moment he seemed to be peeling off these details bit by bit and exploring them. "He mentioned these assumptions several times when he was emotional."

Chen Shiming recalled the situation at that time. A matter that had already settled down seemed like an uncertainty that could occur at any time in Chen Qizhao's mouth. He would always imagine problems in an extreme and terrible direction, thus giving the outcome of a matter the most extreme ending. Chen Qizhao imagined the situation in which he was paralyzed in a car accident, and also imagined the irreversible outcome of his father's cerebral hemorrhage. He even thought about the Chen Group eventually going bankrupt under the joint oppression of the Lin family and the Gu family.

While they were still thinking of a solution carefully, Chen Qizhao had already imagined the most terrible outcome. In order to prevent this outcome from happening, he took more extreme measures. It was as if he was experiencing that terrible and absurd dream and was trying to reverse the ending of the dream.

Shen Yuhuai lowered his eyes slightly, thinking of Chen Qizhao's abrupt question in the bathroom, and replied: "He may not be worried about Lin's business, but your safety."

Chen Shiming's heart sank, "I'll go talk to the doctor."

The doctor was still on duty tonight. After listening to Chen Shiming's words, he was silent for a moment, which was rare. Then he said, "His situation is a little different from the patients I've seen before. Most of the patients I've seen have anxiety because of themselves. For example, on the topic of death, some patients may be very anxious about their own death and fear any suspicious factors that may lead to their own death. For people like him, who are anxious because of uncertainty about the safety of others, honestly speaking, the uncertainty is even greater."

"His current condition is not serious. At least with treatment, he can suppress some of his emotions through medication." Seeing the two people in front of him, the doctor had no choice but to say, "But you also know that medication can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. If we want to solve this problem, we can only find the main cause of his anxiety and depression, and find a way to reduce his worries and fears in this regard."

Doctors have seen many difficult patients and even more uncooperative patients.

But he rarely finds patients as cooperative as Chen Qizhao. On the surface, he seems to be cooperating, but in fact, he is very vigilant and has a strong desire for control. Cooperation is just a means for him to control the treatment, and in the end, the side effects of the drugs may stimulate his deeper dark side.

It was drizzling outside, and the sound of the rain was very much like the sound of water flowing in the bathroom.

The lane next to the private hospital was relatively quiet. The parking lot fee sign beeped and Shen Yuhuai slowly drove away from the hospital. The surrounding streets receded backwards. The short road felt like it would never end.

After a while, he stopped the car.

There were other cars on the roadside going out. Shen Yuhuai sat in the driver's seat in silence for a long time. His hand unconsciously touched the storage compartment next to the joystick and touched his wallet. He paused, opened his wallet and saw a photo in the compartment.

Fireworks on the seaside, and Chen Qizhao.

Shen Yuhuai looked at it for a while, then took out the photos from the interlayer, and underneath were photos of him when he was even younger. Young Chen Qizhao sat next to him, revealing a cute little fang when he smiled at the camera. He found the photo a while ago, and he printed it out in a new size and put it in his wallet.

There was a beep in the distance; someone honked the car horn. Shen Yuhuai came back to his senses, and when he looked up, he saw a convenience store two stores away from him. Someone went into the convenience store in the rain to buy something, and when he came out, he rushed into the car in a hurry.

The car door opened, and Shen Yuhuai walked into the convenience store holding an umbrella.

There weren't many things in the roadside shop, but it had everything that was necessary. He walked around aimlessly and finally stopped at the cargo rack near the door. He picked up a bag of mints and paid at the counter.

"Do you have any empty glass bottles for sale?" Shen Yuhuai asked.

The cashier paused and took a glass bottle from under the counter. "Not for sale. Do you want this kind of glass bottle? It's left over from the last promotion."

It was already nine o'clock in the evening and the whole hospital was quiet.

After Chen Qizhao came out of the shower, he didn't see Shen Yuhuai, and he felt sleepy. He fell asleep not long after lying in bed. The environment in the dream was complicated. Sometimes it was endless black water, and sometimes it was various messy scenes. When the scene froze at a certain picture, Chen Qizhao woke up suddenly. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that he was covered in cold sweat. His sight stopped on the warm orange light not far away.

Chen Qizhao lay on the bed without moving, his eyes mechanically looking at the surrounding situation until his heartbeat gradually calmed down. He heard a faint knocking sound coming from not far away. He glanced to the side and saw Chen Shiming sitting on the sofa. A small desk lamp that he found from somewhere only illuminated a small area. At this moment, he was operating a laptop with a frown on his brows.

As the work had not been finished yet, Chen Shiming asked Zhang Yazhi to go and have a rest, and stayed here to work while watching over Chen Qizhao.

I don’t know what happened tonight, but not long after I started working, my laptop started to work non-stop, and now it’s completely frozen. He was thinking about how to solve this situation when he suddenly heard a voice not far away.

"What are you doing?"

Chen Shiming raised his head and saw that Chen Qizhao had sat up at some point and was looking in his direction. "No, do you want some water?"

"No need." Chen Qizhao's gaze paused for a moment, "What's wrong with the notebook?"

"It's frozen." Chen Shiming stood up and walked over to pour a glass of water for Chen Qizhao. When he approached, he noticed that Chen Qizhao's hair was a little wet and his face seemed a little pale. He frowned slightly: "Did you have a nightmare?"

Chen Qizhao didn't respond. He took a sip of water, glanced at Chen Shiming's notebook, and said in a flat voice: "Give it here."

Chen Shiming: “What?”

"Laptop." Chen Qizhao glanced at him. "It's frozen. Are you planning to ask your assistant to send you another one overnight?"

Chen Shiming was choked on his words. He really didn't bring any work when he came. The main reason was that Chen Qizhao didn't like them bringing work here at night to handle. The notebook was indeed brought over by Xiao Xu later. He went over to get the computer, handed it to Chen Qizhao and explained the situation.

Chen Qizhao took a look and asked, "Didn't you take a computer course in college? How come you haven't solved this yet?"

"Does knowing computers mean you must be able to repair computers? I studied software." Chen Shiming paused, "How do you know I took computer science as an elective in college?"

Chen Qizhao said in a normal tone, "You mentioned it before."

Chen Shiming didn't remember mentioning this matter to Chen Qizhao. The two brothers had a bad relationship and had talked about it only a few times. Chen Qizhao was not curious about his college life. He suppressed his doubts and continued, "This machine had some problems yesterday. I just tried to fix it, but it didn't work."

"It may be a hardware problem, the all-in-one computer... go ask the medical staff outside to get a screwdriver." Chen Qizhao turned the computer over and showed him the screw socket on the back of the notebook. "For this socket, just take a small one."

The medical staff didn't know what they were going to do with the screwdriver. After following them, she found out that they were going to repair the computer. She gave the screwdriver to Chen Shiming and told him to just leave it at the front desk after use. As soon as the screwdriver was handed to Chen Qizhao, he smoothly removed the back cover of the notebook and said, "Turn on the light."

Chen Shiming went over to turn on the light, then stood by and watched Chen Qizhao skillfully disassemble the notebook.

The boy was sitting cross-legged in a hospital gown, with his head down working on the computer. The slightly protruding bones on his back were very obvious. He seemed to be very good at this. He did not hesitate at all when handling it. After taking apart the laptop case, he checked the components on the back one by one.

Such scenes made Chen Shiming think back to his junior high school days when Chen Qizhao was still a little bit depressed. At that time, the relationship between the brothers had just started to deteriorate, though they would occasionally reconcile. What he saw most often was Chen Qizhao playing games on the computer. His brother's interest in artificial intelligence was not a sudden whim. He has been interested in smart products since he was a child and could play computer games for a long time. But later he became a little addicted to games. He had quarreled with Chen Qizhao several times because of trying to stop him.

The mind of a teenager is difficult to understand, and he was just afraid that the naughty child would go astray.

But now think about it, sometimes he held his own opinions and wanted to use the authority of an older brother to suppress Chen Qizhao's temper, but in the end it just made certain relationships drift further and further apart.

With a click.

Chen Qizhao pressed the back panel of the laptop back, tightened the screws, and said, "The heat dissipation of your laptop is not very good. Back up the data on the disk as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late to repair the data when it is really broken. I can't repair the data, you have to find a professional. It should be usable tonight. Don't open too many backgrounds."

Chen Shiming didn't answer, and suddenly asked, "Are you only planning to study finance in undergraduate studies?"

Chen Qizhao paused for a moment, "Otherwise, I've already read it."

He looked at Chen Shiming: "What?"

"You can take the cross-examination exam. S University's computer-related majors are among the best in the country."

Chen Shiming took the notebook and said, "You can study for a master's degree, or get a second degree. If you are really interested, go for it."

Chen Qizhao avoided his gaze and said, "Let's talk about it later."

He added: "Go and work, and don't disturb my sleep next time."

"You asked me a question this afternoon, but I didn't reply to you then."

Chen Shiming did not leave. "It is possible that the locator was not discovered at the time, and we cannot pay attention to every problem. If a car accident really happened and I was really paralyzed, I don't think the problem is unsolvable."

"How do you know it won't happen?" Chen Qizhao looked at him, his mood was unusually calm. "It's hard to control emotions when you're sick. If you're paralyzed and become useless, you won't be able to stand up. You'll have to sit in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, and everyone will look at you strangely."

When people assume a situation, they always see everything as perfect. The same is true for Chen Shiming. He should have stood in front of everyone with confidence and pride. He is the pride of the Chen family and the one who can stand on his own and support everything. But the torture of illness is not that simple. Even the proudest person will be worn down one day. He has seen Chen Shiming's glory, and he has also seen him become decadent like a sick dog...

"People always have times when they can't hold on. You think you are so confident, what will be the consequences?" Chen Qizhao stared into Chen Shiming's eyes and asked step by step: "What if one day you can't hold on and commit suicide?"

Some things are difficult to be sure of. The fact that Chen Shiming committed suicide in his previous life is like a needle hanging by a thread. Even though Chen Qizhao now believes that Chen Shiming could not commit suicide, and that such an ending in his previous life was most likely caused by the Gu family's interference, once there is a possibility, Chen Qizhao will consider the consequences obsessively. If it wasn’t because of the Gu family in his previous life, what if Chen Shiming died for other reasons? What if he really committed suicide?

In the ward, it seemed that only Chen Qizhao's voice was heard. He had lost weight recently, and his chest would rise and fall slightly when he was emotional, and his eyes looked fierce and stern. Chen Shiming saw Chen Qizhao questioning his father at the top of his voice in the lounge that day, and had seen Chen Qizhao get even more emotional.

After that day, he actually hoped that Chen Qizhao could vent his feelings in this way, whether it was dissatisfaction or pain, but Chen Qizhao did not. All his outbursts seemed to have completely disappeared after that day. There was no dissatisfaction, no questioning, and what was left was only a calmness that was completely incompatible with him. He was like a calm and rational adult who knew the impact of negative emotions, tried his best to control everything and kept everything in his heart.

But his younger brother was not a calm person. He had been naughty and arrogant, and more often than not, he seemed to be spoiled too much. That kind of arrogance seemed to have become a mask on Chen Qizhao's face from one day on. When he no longer needed to wear this mask, all that was revealed was the silence that was full of holes and as calm as stagnant water.

Chen Qizhao was worried about them, so he took Zhang Yazhi to the physical examination with a tough and naughty tone. He was worried about Chen Jianhong's health, so he kept an electronic blood pressure monitor at home. He was even worried about him, so he paid attention to the details related to the vehicle and uncovered some conspiracies behind it.

He may have shown it a long time ago, but they never paid attention to it, thinking that it was just the end of his long rebellious period and the beginning of his gratifying maturity.

Chen Shiming used to be proud of his brother's understanding, but now he would rather not have this understanding.

At least in front of his family, he didn't want Chen Qizhao to live with a heavy burden.

After Chen Qizhao finished speaking, Chen Shiming did not respond.

After a long time, Chen Qizhao calmed down and thought that he would not receive a reply.

Chen Shiming spoke.

"I won't commit suicide." Chen Shiming had a stern face when he spoke, just like the seriousness he inherited from Chen Jianhong, but his words seemed to be carefully considered and spoken very seriously.

Chen Qizhao looked at him, "You speak so confidently, how can you know about things you haven't experienced?"

Chen Shiming's voice was steady, and he said it without any hesitation: "If the situation you are assuming could happen, if I really got into a car accident and became paralyzed to the point where I couldn't recover, and I really had that idea...even if I went to the extreme, I wouldn't do it."

"If my relationship with you is not good, my parents will be gone, and I will quarrel with you every day and achieve nothing. The Chen family will not be able to get up." Chen Qizhao's tone fluctuated slightly, "You will have no way out, and the Chen family will be gone."

Chen Shiming asked: "Don't you still have it?"

Chen Qizhao paused, "...What's so good about me? It's good enough that I didn't piss you off to death."

Chen Shiming frowned slightly and corrected him: "If I really don't care about you, then I won't say a word. It is because I worry about you that I always care about you."

Chen Qizhao looked at him.

"Suicide is an irresponsible act."

Chen Shiming: "I am your elder brother. If I were in such an extreme situation, I would become a waste..."

"I won't say nice things, but I won't ignore you either."

Chen Qizhao avoided Chen Shiming's gaze, as if recalling that every time he returned to the small apartment drunk, Chen Shiming was waiting for him at the entrance in a wheelchair with a stern face.

"These are all extreme scenarios that you assume. Nothing that extreme will happen now, and neither I nor anyone else will allow the situation to evolve to the situation you assume."

Chen Shiming paused after he finished speaking. "Maybe it may have happened before, but it's only happened before. Mom listened to you and is doing a good physical examination. I asked my assistant to keep an eye on Dad's medication. I have records of who changed the medication and which doctor handled it. As for the car accident, I will not speed, and I will also arrange for people to conduct regular health examinations on drivers."

"You don't have to worry."

Chen Qizhao didn't say anything. Chen Shiming stood for a while holding the computer and said, "I'm going to work. I won't disturb you."

"If you work all day and don't get into a car accident, sooner or later you'll get sick from overwork."

Chen Qizhao suddenly asked, "Can you make all the money? Have you ever thought about what will happen after you turn 30?"

"I haven't thought about it, and I won't think about it." Chen Shiming turned on the computer and said in a lighter tone, "I will rest before 12 o'clock, don't worry."

Chen Qizhao stopped talking. He simply ignored Chen Shiming and turned around to sleep with his back to Chen Shiming.

A drowsy feeling weighed on his chest, but he was not sleepy at all.

The indoor lighting was changed to a warm orange light suitable for sleeping. There was no glaring light behind, and the small desk lamp used for work shone steadily in the corner where it should be. Chen Qizhao opened his eyes and looked at his hands on the white quilt.

The afterglow of the light slightly deflected the light on his hand, and a small shadow fell on the quilt.

After a while, he closed his eyes and listened to the deliberately suppressed sound of keyboard typing in the distance.

He thought it was really noisy, and he had no dreams until dawn that last night.

It rained all night and it was sunny during the day.

The sunlight poured into the ward, and it felt a bit warm early in the morning.

In the morning, the doctor made his usual ward rounds. When asking questions after measuring blood sugar, the attending physician noticed an open book on the bedside table with one side rolled up, indicating that someone had just been flipping through the book.

The doctor's eyes showed a hint of tenderness, and he was surprised to find that the answers to today's questions were richer than before.

Chen Qizhao looked around and his eyes stopped on the folding table lamp on the small table next to the sofa.

It has the shape of a hamburger and is made of plastic. It is the student desk lamp that Chen Qizhao saw in the stationery store at university.

"Who bought that small desk lamp?"

After breakfast, Zhang Yazhi cleaned up the garbage and said, "You mean this? Xiao Xu bought it. There is a small grocery store next to the hospital."

She paused after saying, "Is this light too bright?"

"No, the light is quite good."

Chen Qizhao made a casual comment and suddenly heard a knock on the door.

Through the transparent glass on the door, he saw Shen Yuhuai's eyes outside the door.

After a while, the door opened and Shen Yuhuai came in carrying a bag.

"Yu Huai, so early today?" Zhang Yazhi was a little surprised.

"Today is Saturday, I have a day off."

Shen Yuhuai put the bag on the table and took out a small potted plant with a small succulent plant on it.

Zhang Yazhi looked over and said, "It's a succulent plant? This one is really well grown."

Chen Qizhao was stunned and stopped at Shen Yuhuai's actions. When Shen Yuhuai chatted with him, he would occasionally send pictures of succulents, and the potted plant in his hand was the latest photo he received when he woke up in the morning. An hour ago, he had praised the beauty of this succulent.

The potted plant is small, not even as big as a man’s palm. There is a small succulent ball in the middle. There is a transparent plastic bag underneath and a pink rubber band tied around the edge.

The color is also brighter, and when the sunlight shines in from the window, the leaves seem to reflect some light.

Chen Qizhao thought, it's so small that it could fall all over the ground if he wasn't careful.

Shen Yuhuai placed the potted plant on the window cabinet closer to Chen Qizhao.

The sunlight seemed brighter, so bright that it was inexplicably blinding.

"I don't know how to raise one." Chen Qizhao said, "It will spoil."

Shen Yuhuai: “It’s okay, I’ll teach you.”

Zhang Yazhi liked this succulent very much. After Shen Yuhuai finished putting it on the table, she walked over and took a few looks at it.

Shen Yuhuai returned to the bedside and saw Chen Qizhao with his head down and a magazine on his bent legs.

Her hair seemed to be a little long, covering her eyes, and the corners of her eyes were a little red.

Chen Qizhao noticed Shen Yuhuai coming over, and when he looked up, he blinked involuntarily, and then shook his head gently.

Shen Yuhuai: “My hair seems to have grown longer.”

"It pricks my eyes." Chen Qizhao also noticed this problem when he was reading today. He wanted to find a pair of scissors to cut his hair, but there was none in the cabinet beside the bed or in the drawer beside the sofa. He didn't know where Zhang Yazhi had put them. He said, "I'll just cut it off later."

At this time, Shen Yuhuai leaned to the side, moved closer to him, and his eyes stopped on his forehead.

Then his hair was moved, and a few strands of hair were pushed aside. Shen Yuhuai moved forward a little, "Don't move."

The man placed his hand on his forehead, his thumb was slightly cold and seemed to have a smell of earth.

Fresh, like the smell of the fields. I pressed my cold fingertips against my forehead, and through the gaps between my fingers I could see Shen Yuhuai's face, which was so close to me. He wasn't wearing glasses today, and there seemed to be a little more sunlight in his eyes, making them look particularly bright.

The hair on her forehead was gathered up slightly, and the man's fingers circled it delicately, but there was no follow-up action, as if he was leaning towards holding something in his coat pocket.

Chen Qizhao didn't move, but his eyes followed his movements and looked at his pocket. He couldn't help but lean forward and asked, "What are you taking?"

"Don't move." The cold fingers were replaced by warm palms, which gently pressed on his forehead, and held him down in an instant, "It will be fine soon."

Chen Qizhao no longer had that annoying hair in front of him. He said, "I'll cut it later, okay?"

As he spoke, he suddenly saw a glass bottle that had been placed on the bedside table at some point.

The glass bottle was filled with light blue candies, as if they had been brought along with the potted plant.

Chen Qizhao's eyes slanted slightly, "Did you buy it?"

Shen Yuhuai paused for a moment, and his hands moved faster, "You'll feel dry mouth and bitter after taking the medicine. You've been avoiding certain foods recently, and sugar can help relieve the bitterness."

"Yu Huai, you are so chubby..."

Zhang Yazhi was halfway through her words when she turned around and saw the scene beside the bed.

The boy was sitting cross-legged with a magazine casually placed on his legs. He lowered his head slightly at this moment, and his messy hair was gathered up by the man sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. The slightly curly hair that covered his eyes was tied up, forming a slightly upturned small tuft on his forehead, revealing his smooth forehead.

"When I asked the medical staff for rubber bands, she gave me a few extra ones."

Shen Yuhuai loosened his hand, “That’s enough, it won’t prick your eyes.”

Chen Qizhao touched his forehead and couldn't help but pick up his phone to check.

"……?"

Pink? !