illness

On their way back, the two met someone.

"Put me down," Fang Chengyin said.

After Jiang Zhi put him down, he held Fang Chengyin's wrist through his sleeve. Fang Chengyin ignored him and only looked at the girl in front of him: "Is there something you need?"

Li Nian said coldly, "I want to know what Jin Yi said to you when he turned back that day. Did he say he liked you?"

Fang Chengyin remained silent.

Li Nian said angrily, "He told me he would stay at school obediently. What did you say to him that night that he climbed over the wall again?!"

Jiang Zhi could feel Fang Chengyin's hands trembling. Just as he was about to stop him behind him, he heard Fang Chengyin say, "You've always known, but you've never said anything. You're the one who handed those people the knife, time and time again."

His words were calm, but Jiang Zhi could sense his deep self-reproach from the subtle tremor in his voice.

Li Nian was stunned, but that didn't change anything. Liu Jin had been dead for almost two weeks, and self-blame wouldn't bring her anything.

"Yes! I'm sorry, Jin Yi, but that's no excuse for shifting your own guilt onto others. Since the incident, you haven't helped Uncle Liu once; you've just comfortably stayed behind. What right do you have to judge me!"

Jiang Zhi moved his hand down from his wrist, only to have it suddenly grabbed by Fang Chengyin, so tightly that it hurt Jiang Zhi's heart.

“I think you’ve got the wrong person,” Fang Chengyin said calmly. “I can’t bear the blame you’ve thrown at me either. That day, Liu Jinyi said he liked me, but I punched him.”

"It really is you!" Li Nian shouted.

Passersby looked at the three of them with strange eyes.

Before she could speak again, Fang Cheng blurted out, "That's a pretty good volume. Why didn't you shout like that before? Why didn't you shout like that when they dragged him to various corners?"

Li Nian bit her lip hard and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.

Fang Cheng's eyes darkened with anger. "You think you're his best friend, but you've never stood up for him. You're just indulging in the illusion that he's relying on you after being hurt. He told you he wouldn't leave campus, but do you know he tried to give me a hotel card? I refused, and I don't know if he went to invite me afterward?"

Li Nian loosened her teeth, and blood seeped from her lower lip, but her face turned pale.

Fang Chengyin laughed: "Look, you pulled him back from the edge of the cliff, and that's just self-pity. He looks at you as if he's looking at them."

Li Nian could no longer be stubborn.

Fang Chengyin didn't look at her again, but turned to Jiang Zhi and said, "Let's go." Then he closed his eyes.

Jiang Zhi quickly grabbed her and lifted her up, then looked at Li Nian and said, "Your mother knelt before me, begging me to protect you."

Li Nian suddenly looked up at him.

"What do you want me to do?" That was a condescending statement.

Li Nian quickly regained her composure: "Why?"

"Because he kills whoever I tell him to kill."

Li Nian's face turned even paler. "What...what do you mean?"

Jiang Zhi stepped forward. "Liu Jin could have survived, but he dared to set his sights on Cheng Yin."

"So you... hired someone to kill him?"

Jiang Zhi laughed: "They wanted to ruin him all along, didn't you see it all?"

Li Nian's pupils contracted.

"Tell me, do you, with your scheming mind, dancing to Liu Jinyi's suffering song, deserve my protection?" Jiang Zhi kissed the person in his arms. "Cheng Yin's body is nearing its limit. He won't be able to wait until the day the murderer is caught. So I was thinking, you're a good bait. Maybe we can catch the person tomorrow morning."

“They’ve already…” Li Nian looked at Jiang Zhi in horror.

Jiang Zhi: "So, what do you want me to do?"

Li Nian looked around in fear. Some passersby looked at her with puzzled eyes, while others had solemn expressions. No one could tell her what to do.

She retreated repeatedly, finding Jiang Zhi terrifying, but bumped into the person behind her, leaving her nowhere to retreat and terrified.

"Hmm?" The person who was bumped into grasped her shoulders to steady her and slowly said, "Hello?"

Li Nian quickly broke free, saying, "I'm sorry!"

He tried to run away, but the person grabbed his wrist. "Please wait a moment!"

Li Nian turned to look at him, her eyes wary.

Jiang Zhi asked, "Who sent you?"

Zhong Qiyue released Li Nian and said irritably, "Who else could it be?" Although he was dissatisfied, he did not vent his anger on Jiang Zhi.

Li Nian guessed that the two knew each other and became even more afraid, until Jiang Zhi said, "Your brother sent you to protect her?"

Zhong Qiyue was displeased, but determined to succeed. "Brother, don't look down on me. I have the ability."

Li Nian no longer wanted to escape, and knew she couldn't escape anyway.

Jiang Zhi glanced at her, then looked at Zhong Qiyue, "I'm leaving."

"Brother, the driver brought me here. Shall I take you?"

Jiang Zhi hugged Fang Chengyin tightly, saying, "Don't call me brother." Then he left.

Zhong Qiyue watched the departing figure and said, "Once a brother, always a brother."

Seeing that no one reacted, he realized he was being childish. He scratched his short buzz cut, which Zhong Qiqian had personally cut for him that morning, and dyed his hair back to black, making it look much better.

"My name is Zhong Qiyue. I will be officially transferring to your class tomorrow. I hope we can get along well in the future."

Li Nian looked at him, unmoved by his words. "You're protecting me? You've investigated me? What does my mother owe you? Are you going to use me to pay it off?"

A barrage of questions left Zhong Qiyue completely bewildered. He'd only been kicked out the door by his brother and needed to atone for his crime before he could return; how could they portray him as so evil? And—

How can your mind be so dark?

Zhong Qiyue knew he was a naughty child. Zhong Qiqian scolded and beat him but never lost hope in him because he said that his mind was just stuck in a narrow alley and there was still hope. He would hold him and educate him at night, and if he cried, he would comfort him.

But Li Nian thinks in such extreme ways.

Li Nian didn't care about the label he gave her, she just asked, "How are you going to protect me? Without me getting hurt at all?"

"I won't let you die?" Zhong Qiyue was very sincere.

Li Nian's face turned pale again.

Zhong Qiyue added sincerely, "That's what my brother said. Do you need me to do anything else?"

Li Nian looked at this not-so-bright person and angrily turned and left.

Zhong Qiyue, unaware of what he had said wrong again, chased after him, "Don't treat me like this! If you do this, I won't be able to atone for my crimes, and if I can't atone for my crimes, I can't go home..."

The words gradually faded into the distance.

·

"Jiang Zhi?"

Jiang Zhi stopped walking briskly, took a deep breath, and looked at the person in his arms. "Hmm?"

Fang Chengyin looked at him calmly, "What's wrong with me?"

Jiang Zhi's eyes were already red, and as he murmured something, Fang Chengyin said again, "Don't lie to me."

Jiang Zhi said, "The production team sent you this week's script, but I turned it down for you. You can work part-time at the orchard for less money, and I'll pay you double."

Fang Chengyin was in very poor spirits, and his smile was so pitiful that it made me feel sorry for him. "So, how bad is my health that I can't even do part-time work?"

To hide his emotions, Jiang Zhi continued walking, "You can go. It's just that you probably forgot, the scenes they wanted you to act out were very dangerous. I still remember you hitting the sand and gravel again and again, your back groaning..."

Jiang Zhi stopped, his lips pressed against another person's lips, a very light touch, but it was indeed Fang Chengyin's "first" initiative to kiss him.

He reluctantly followed and kissed her, and Fang Chengyin simply went along with it.

Jiang Zhi kissed him very lightly, gently sucking and rubbing his lower lip, then licking his upper lip. Their breaths were very soft, like playing on a cloud. Fang Chengyin murmured something, and Jiang Zhi's tears suddenly fell, just like the day he had a high fever, feeling so wronged that he needed to be comforted.

Fang Chengyin parted his lips: "Did the doctor diagnose me with a terminal illness?"

Jiang Zhi paused for a moment, then kissed his nose.

"If not... then there's only some kind of defect left?"

Jiang Zhi looked directly into his eyes, tenderly kissed his forehead, and gave a muffled "Mmm," then said, "I filled out a leave of absence application for you. You won't be attending classes this semester, right?"

This time, Fang Chengyin wasn't angry; he simply said, "Missing too many classes is indeed not good."

He probably knew how serious his illness was.

How long will it take to be discharged from the hospital?

"Five days later. Then live with me, and you can try to please me more."

Fang Chengyin looked at the tears streaming down his face, a smile spreading across his lips. He reached out and gently rubbed his cheek with his finger. "You really do need to be comforted more."

Jiang Zhi was even more heartbroken.

They carried him back to the ward, where the food tray had already been cleared away. By the time the medical staff arrived, Fang Chengyin was already fast asleep.

The medical staff were young and good-looking, with the words "Qi Xi" pinned to their chests; they were talents recruited by Jiang Zhi from Yanyang Hospital.

He's considered a talent because, despite being the same age, his medical skills are so exceptional that they rival those of several professional doctors, and he has an unusual obsession with rare diseases. However, he's also sharp-tongued, and as a medical professional, his relentless drive to work overtime is unmatched.

Just like now, looking at Jiang Zhi sarcastically without distinguishing friend from foe: "That's it? I don't think it's as serious as Old Man Yang said. Doesn't a rich man like Jiang Zhi consider the budget when asking people to do things?"

Jiang Zhi knew that he was tough on the outside but soft on the inside. He had clearly participated in many surgeries today, but he still read Yang Guozhuo's diagnosis for Fang Chengyin.

"He suddenly lost his strength again, just like before."

Qi Xi stopped teasing, put the instrument case aside, pulled up a chair, and began examining Fang Chengyin. Jiang Zhi was very uneasy while waiting, but Qi Xi was the only person he could trust.

Five years ago, he took Fang Chengyin to several hospitals, and every doctor's conclusion was that Fang Chengyin needed more rest, because Fang Chengyin looked no different from a healthy person. Until they met Yang Guozhuo, who suddenly appeared at Jiangshang Hospital. He gave Fang Chengyin a full examination and saved Fang Chengyin from the brink of death. Jiang Zhi was extremely grateful to him.

During his second week in the hospital, he accompanied Fang Chengyin for a walk on the grass when Yang Guozhuo came over to congratulate them on their discharge. Unexpectedly, they encountered Qi Xi sitting on the grass, cursing his mentor for depriving him of his Sunday afternoon holiday.

His insults were so funny that Fang Chengyin couldn't help but chuckle softly. It was this subtle laugh that completely changed his fate.

Working overtime and being laughed at? Qi Xi didn't care whether he knew the other person or not, and retorted, "Working overtime is great, I can even see two alien species."

His original intention also included his dissatisfaction with Fang Chengyin and Jiang Zhi blocking the sunlight, and he also really liked alien movies at the time. In his later explanation, "alien" was actually a neutral term. But at the time, he was still inexplicably angry, never expecting that Fang Chengyin was even angrier than him.

"So what if I like him?"

It only took Jiang Zhi a second to go from being puzzled to having his ears turn red, and he even found Qi Xi more agreeable.

Qi Xi stood up and patted his pants: "Excuse me, let me state first that I don't discriminate against homosexuals, so please don't get agitated. Didn't you see how white your face is, like you just applied a layer of powder?"

Fang Chengyin calmed down and still held Jiang Zhi's hand tightly.

Jiang Zhi then realized what was truly wrong with Fang Chengyin and immediately apologized to Qi Xi. Qi Xi, who was already looking for an excuse to avoid the tedious training session, agreed to check Fang Chengyin's health.

Back in the ward, Fang Chengyin was so tired that he fell asleep.

Qi Xi was just going through the motions of examining Fang Chengyin, but the examination revealed an unbelievable fact: "The extent of his physical impairment has remained stable."

"What do you mean?" Jiang Zhi asked, puzzled.

Qi Xi looked at Fang Chengyin: "Being hurt and being treated are equal, just like when a person is about to collapse, someone will help him up and keep him standing. But medically speaking, it's no different from a slow death."

Jiang Zhi paused for a moment, then continued massaging Fang Chengyin's fingers. To be honest, he had taken Fang Chengyin to several hospitals, and now, Qi Xi, whom he had met by chance, was not someone he could trust.

So the question is: "What is the specific reason?"

"Someone poisoned him, and intermittently at that. It's a very rare poison in this world called Soft. As the name suggests, it can slowly soften the body's functions, but the person will not notice it because another function of this poison is to control the sensory nerves, preventing the poisoned person from perceiving any abnormal changes in their body. In other words, the poisoned person will not even know how they died."

Jiang Zhi released Fang Chengyin's hand, afraid that his trembling hand would wake him. "Can this poison be cured?"

Qi Xi said earnestly, "I don't know."

Jiang Zhi's eyes reddened.

"But if you give me a medical lab, I can do it."

Jiang Zhi said coldly, "Why should I believe you?"

Qi Xi laughed: "Just because I'm the only one who told you he was poisoned."

Jiang Zhi remained silent.

Qi Xi said, "You can take your time to think about it. Anyway, he's been allowed to be discharged from the hospital, so he won't be poisoned for the time being."

The fact that Fang Chengyin was poisoned in the hospital was hard for Jiang Zhi to accept.

Qi Xi saw through him. "Soft won't circulate in the market. It's a byproduct of medical experiments and can only exist in laboratories. Besides, calling the police won't do much good, because there are hardly any people at Jiangshang Hospital who can detect it. If you anger the person who poisoned him, your boyfriend will be close to meeting his maker."

"Then how can I tell if he has been poisoned?"

Qi Xi smiled again, "You support my ideals in medical experimentation, and I won't treat you unfairly. When the time comes, I will treat the patient, and you will find out the mastermind behind it all and eliminate any future troubles."

Later, Qi Xi installed an application on Jiang Zhi's phone that could monitor Fang Chengyin's physical condition and the reactions to the medications used on him in real time. Whenever Fang Chengyin was hospitalized, Soft could be detected, and the dosage was indeed based on Chengyin's physical condition.

Later, he and Qi Xi worked together to set a trap and tricked Yang Guozhuo into revealing his secret. Yang Guozhuo didn't confess anything, but simply said, "Young Master Jiang, you can cooperate with me. I can promise that Fang Chengyin's condition will remain stable. If the higher-ups find out that I've been exposed and switch to a rarer drug... you probably don't want that to happen."

At that time, Jiang Zhi had just learned who was behind Yang Guozhuo: Jiang Yuecang, his biological father.

Later, while Qi Xi diligently researched the antidote, Fang Chengyin was still poisoned, albeit with a smaller dose, and Yang Guozhuo continued to treat him. However, this couldn't continue, so after Fang Chengyin completely forgot about him, he chose to leave. For a period afterward, Fang Chengyin never went to the hospital again.

·

Qi Xi put away the equipment, his words were calm but extremely damaging: "If you don't deal with them, they'll come after Fang Chengyin."

Yang Guozhuo said that Cheng Yin could be discharged from the hospital five days later.

Qi Xi laughed: "He is no longer trusted."

The person who poisoned them has changed.

Qi Xi continued, "He is on his way to apologize, and if all goes well, you will see him tomorrow."

Jiang Zhi stopped talking.

Qi Xi said, "The antidote is almost ready. Hang in there a little longer."

Soft's global cases are negligible, and there are no comparable cases to refer to. It is truly not easy to achieve this result in five years.

Jiang Zhi: "Thank you."

Qi Xi couldn't stand such mushy words, so he got up and left.

When Fang Chengyin woke up again, sunlight was streaming through the window, falling on his disheveled hair. Jiang Zhi was watching the morning news with his back to him; the news wasn't silent, and he could even hear the content.

"Yanyang News reports that Jiang Yuecang, the Prosecutor General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, arrived at the Yanyang Criminal Investigation Bureau at 9:00 AM today to conduct a month-long oversight of the kindergarten teacher's death."

"Hello fellow citizens, I am Jiang Yuecang. I will do my utmost to bring the criminals to justice and to console the victims."

Jiang Zhi squatted down in front of the bed, meeting his gaze: "Awake? Are you hungry?"

I wasn't particularly hungry. "Why is the prosecutor here?"

Jiang Zhi said, "Because order needs to be restored. After the kindergarten teacher's death and all those other incidents, the investigation bureau's capabilities have been severely questioned. If we don't send someone to keep order, the public might retaliate."

Jiang Zhi sat down in a chair and wrung out a towel. "He'll be quiet for a while now."

"Ta? Why?"

"According to the informant, the prosecutor on TV just now went to ambush the real culprit yesterday. Although he didn't catch him, it served as a deterrent."

So, is it my dad?

Jiang Zhi wiped his face gently, saying, "The informant said no."

Fang Chengyin grasped his wrist, the towel conveniently covering his eyes, and his slightly moist lips parted: "Don't get involved. If you promise me, I'll consider accepting your pursuit."

Jiang Zhi leaned in and touched his lips, laughing as she said, "Then let me pursue him for a while longer. Fang Chengyin, I'm doing this willingly."

Fang Chengyin withdrew his hand.

Jiang Zhi wiped his forehead with a towel and then kissed his forehead: "I like you and I can't bear to see you hurt. It's all my own choice. Don't feel anything is wrong. Being together means sharing life's hardships."

Jiang Zhi stepped aside. "You've washed your face, shall we have breakfast?"

Where is my phone?

After Liu Desheng committed suicide, that devil must have sent something else, right?

Jiang Zhi handed it to him; there was the latest news at 4 AM on Mine:

"You're really something, Fang Chengyin, you even brought the chief prosecutor here."

I'll ask you one last time, what kind of death is the most painful and also the most satisfying? If you answer correctly, I'll turn myself in; otherwise, I'll give you one last big gift.

He closed his phone and asked, "Why aren't the people from the Investigation Bureau contacting me?"

Jiang Zhi said, "Liu Desheng is dead. Although his death was initially related to you, the autopsy results showed that he committed suicide. From the moment the live broadcast started, he decided to rely on public opinion to force the investigation bureau to take action."

"You say you have a wide network of connections, right? Then can you help me look into my parents' relationship back then?"

"That might be a bit difficult. After your mother accepted the novel 'Slipping,' the collaborators have already launched a special public relations management campaign for Song Zixin. Whether it's offline or online, I have a hard time getting any information about her."

"I thought you were some kind of superhuman." There was no sarcasm in his words.

Jiang Zhi laughed: "Others can actually be superheroes, but your mother's national pride is too high, so I, as a superhero, can't just arbitrarily infringe upon her. Language is the bridge to solving problems, so I think you can ask your aunt yourself."

"No parent would want to tell their child that they don't get along, right?"

Jiang Zhi was stunned for a moment.

Fang Chengyin keenly sensed, "Are my parents really like Uncle Liu said, with a less-than-close relationship?"

"If I knew, what do you think our relationship was like?"

Mentioning the past, Fang Chengyin couldn't help but ask, "You have a photo in your room of you wearing the uniform of Yanyang No. 1 Middle School. Were you a student there too?"

Jiang Zhi didn't hide anything, "Yeah, you've never beaten me in exams."

Fang Cheng laughed: "You were already paying attention to me back then? Then why did you go looking for so many male prostitutes later? I was really afraid you'd bring back some disease every time I went back to the dorm."

Jiang Zhi leaned closer: "Are you very scared?"

Fang Chengyin thought about it seriously for a moment, then pursed his lips into an "O" shape: "Oh."

Jiang Zhi opened her mouth and kissed his lips, sucking for a while before pulling away: "Looks like you're not that scared."

Fang Chengyin remained calm and did not speak.

Jiang Zhi held his hand and said earnestly, "I've never been with a gigolo, nor have I ever flirted with anyone. I've always remained chaste for you. Chengyin, I only like you, and I've always only liked you. You are my first love. I did those things before just to get your attention. I felt like you wouldn't even look at me with the usual methods. Only by walking a tightrope can I attract attention."

Fang Cheng smiled; Jiang Zhi hadn't seen him this happy in a long time. "Looks like I still have quite a bit of personal charm?"

"Okay, so kiss me too."

He moved closer again, like a pet dog waiting to be fed. Fang Chengyin felt hot-faced and pushed him away.

Jiang Zhi, with his messy hair, nuzzled against Cheng Yin's neck. "Ah, Cheng Yin's ears are red. Do you like me? Is that it?"

Fang Chengyin was both amused and exasperated by him, and a little itchy, so he ran his fingers through Fang Chengyin's hair and rubbed it haphazardly.

He found it strange that he no longer minded Jiang Zhi doing whatever he wanted to him. Was it because of Jiang Zhi's confession earlier?

Jiang Zhi's eyes lit up, and after rubbing against him several more times, she cupped his face and kissed him.

Fang Chengyin grabbed his hair and said in a muffled voice, "If your grades are so good, how come I have no impression of you at all?"

Jiang Zhi looked up and smiled: "You forgot about me? Back then, it seemed like you weren't thinking about school at all. Now that I think about it, you were probably looking for your missing father, right?"

You can't tell if someone is telling the truth from what they say.

Fang Chengyin didn't ask any more questions; he felt a little tired.