Chapter 30
The tranquility of Pelican Harbor is like a layer of gauze, gently covering the wound, but it cannot hide the undercurrents and hidden pain that are still flowing underneath.
Qin Yu's awakening was like throwing a stone into a seemingly calm lake. The ripples slowly spread out, changing some subtle auras.
He recovered faster than the doctors had expected. The man seemed to possess the vitality and resilience of a wild animal. A few days later, he was able to sit up propped up on pillows and feed himself liquid food. Though his face remained pale and his voice was weak, his deep eyes had regained their usual sharpness and... a sense of control.
Gu Jing still visited the ward daily, but he no longer stayed there for long periods of time. He deliberately kept his distance, devoting most of his energy to handling the seemingly endless "business"—integrating resources, analyzing intelligence, attempting to decipher the mystery of "Nirvana," and engaging in intermittent, puzzle-like communications with "Nightingale."
A strange and tacit balance was formed between the two.
Qin Yu no longer mentioned what happened on the hospital ship, nor Gu Jing's "betrayal" and "rescue," nor the power Gu Jing had exercised on his behalf while he was unconscious. He simply quietly accepted his treatment, occasionally asking 739 or Haidongqing about some external conditions, his tone flat, as if he was just checking the weather.
Gu Jing reported some necessary progress in a businesslike manner, with the same calm and distant tone, and never mentioned his near-collapse of worries in those days and those risky decisions.
It was as if that bloody experience of sharing life and death was just a dream that was deliberately forgotten by both of them.
But some things are different after all.
Gu Jing would find that Qin Yu reviewed the documents he sent him much more quickly than before, rarely raising questions. His instructions, when passed down through Gu Jing, were also executed more efficiently. Even when he and Hai Dongqing disagreed on a particular decision, leading to a stalemate, Qin Yu would casually interject, subtly supporting Gu Jing's view.
A silent, tacit recognition was quietly conveyed in the cold official exchanges.
Gu Jing himself, handling matters that treaded on the gray line, became increasingly adept, even beginning to display a resoluteness and... ruthlessness similar to Qin Yu, which he himself hadn't noticed. It was as if the rules of the Dark Empire had seeped into his bones.
That afternoon, Gu Jing was reading a report on abnormal cash flows at a European art auction house in his temporary office when there was a knock on the door.
"Enter."
The person who came in was Qin Yu.
He wore a loose hospital gown with a black cardigan casually thrown over it. He was still thin, but he could already walk slowly, holding onto the wall. His face looked transparent in the afternoon light, but his eyes were as calm as the abyss.
Gu Jing was stunned for a moment and put down the documents: "Why are you here? Did the doctor allow you to get out of bed?"
"Boring." Qin Yu said concisely, walked to the sofa and sat down. His movements were a little slow, but still with a natural elegance and a sense of oppression. His eyes swept over the pile of documents on Gu Jing's desk, "How is the progress?"
Gu Jing subconsciously wanted to report it, but he felt that the scene was a bit strange - patients came to care about work?
He pursed his lips and said briefly, "Same old news. Qin Zhengfeng's side is very quiet, unusually quiet. Nirvana still has no clue. The last information Nightingale passed on pointed to an underground bank in Southeast Asia, and we're investigating."
Qin Yu listened quietly, and finally nodded: "As for Southeast Asia, we can let Kangaroo go. He's familiar with it."
"Kangaroo" is another secret agent planted by Qin Yu there. Gu Jing had seen it in the database, but the authority level was very high, so he never used it.
"Okay." Gu Jing took note.
A brief silence stretched across the room.
Sunlight streamed through the windows, illuminating the tiny particles of dust dancing in the air.
Qin Yu's gaze fell on Gu Jing's face, lingering on the faded scratch for a few seconds.
"That night," he suddenly spoke, his voice low, yet it broke the carefully maintained calm, "on the platform... thank you."
Gu Jing's body stiffened slightly. He hadn't expected Qin Yu to bring this up so suddenly.
He lowered his eyelashes, staring at the wood grain on the table, and said in a flat tone: "No need. If you die, I can't live. I can only save myself."
These words were cold, even barbed.
Qin Yu was silent for a moment. He didn't get angry at his attitude. He just said slowly, "It's not just the platform."
Gu Jing suddenly looked up at him.
Qin Yu's gaze was deep, with a power that seemed to see through everything: "The bottom floor of the hospital ship. The cooling pipes. And... those documents you signed."
He knew everything. Even though he was unconscious, he had a way to know everything that happened.
Gu Jing's heart felt like it was struck by something. He felt helpless, as if he had been completely seen through, and... a hint of inexplicable anger. He hated the feeling of being controlled.
"We each take what we need." He pushed back firmly, trying to strengthen himself. "You took advantage of Gu's crisis to force me to sign, and I used your resources to protect Gu and myself. It's fair."
Qin Yu looked at him like a cat whose tail was stepped on, with its spines standing up. A very complicated emotion flashed across his eyes, like helplessness, and like... a very faint pain.
"Yeah," he suddenly smiled lightly, that smile full of self-mockery, "very fair."
He looked away and looked at the sparkling sea outside the window. His profile looked a little lonely under the light.
"I've been scheming for ten years, using every trick in the book, thinking I'd win if I could just hold you in my hand." He lowered his voice, as if talking to himself, but also as if speaking to Gu Jing, "It turns out that even the most ruthless schemes couldn't compare to... the look you gave me when you turned around."
Gu Jing's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and his fingertips curled up slightly.
Qin Yu turned his head and looked at him again, his eyes burning with a desperate and desperate honesty.
"Gu Jing, I know you hate me, you're afraid of me, and you think I'm a lunatic."
"I am."
"My whole life, I've lived like a monster wriggling in the dark, shunning the light. My heart is filled with nothing but hatred and that shameful obsession."
"I never thought I'd get any response. I thought I could keep pretending, pretending to be cold and indifferent. Even if I had to tie you up by my side and watch you hate me, it would be better than nothing."
His voice trembled slightly due to weakness and emotional excitement, but every word was clear and hit Gu Jing's heart.
"But when I saw you push me away, when you walked towards that cooling duct without looking back... when I woke up and saw you standing outside..."
He paused and took a deep breath, as if he had used up all his strength. His eyes, which were always filled with paranoia and madness, now clearly revealed an almost fragile and cautious hope.
"I just realized... I can't stand it."
"I can't stand it if anything really happens to you. I can't stand seeing hatred and fear in your eyes. I can't stand it... because of me, you become another person who has to hide in the dark."
He reached out his hand extremely slowly and with difficulty in the direction of Gu Jing. The hand that had once imprisoned him and hurt him, and had once fallen powerlessly and been held by him, was now trembling slightly and suspended in the air, like a clumsy invitation waiting for a response.
"Those agreements... you can tear them up. I will return the Gu Corporation to you cleanly. If you want to leave, you can leave anytime. My people will not stop you again."
His voice was very hoarse, with a sense of desperate desperation and humility.
"I only ask you...don't be afraid of me."
"Even if you hate me, don't be... afraid of me."
The sunlight flowed quietly between the two of them, and the air was filled with the smell of disinfectant and the salty sea breeze.
Gu Jing looked at the slightly trembling hand hanging in the air, and at the almost pleading look on Qin Yu's pale face that broke all disguise.
My heart felt like it was being kneaded by an invisible hand, causing it to feel sour, swollen, and shaking violently.
Hate? Fear?
Yes, there still are.
But even more than that, he felt a vast, surging, complex emotion that threatened to drown him. It was the helplessness of seeing such a powerful monster reveal its weakness, the pathetic feeling of seeing the pitiful obsession behind all that madness, and the trembling of remembering the arms that had protected him so tightly in life-or-death moments...
And there was that slight... abnormal throbbing that even he himself tried to suppress.
He didn't move for a long time.
The glimmer in Qin Yu's eyes gradually dimmed. His arms drooped limply, and the corners of his lips curled into a curve uglier than tears.
"Sure enough... it still doesn't work..." He murmured, his voice so soft that it seemed to break.
Just when he had completely given up, ready to withdraw all his presumptuous expectations and retreat back into that cold, hard shell—
A hand, with a hint of hesitation and a little warmth, gently grasped his drooping wrist.
Qin Yu's whole body trembled violently, and he looked up suddenly!
Gu Jing didn't look at him, but her ears were flushed unnaturally, her eyes were awkwardly looking elsewhere, her tone was hard, even with a hint of anger:
“…It’s so noisy.”
"If your injury isn't healed yet, stop talking nonsense... and get some rest."
His fingers clenched together, not with much force, but clearly conveying a kind of... clumsy, awkward, and unreleased warmth.
The dimmed light in Qin Yu's pupils suddenly seemed to be ignited, and suddenly it ignited again! It was so bright that it even carried a hint of helpless ecstasy and disbelief!
He turned around and eagerly and forcefully shook Gu Jing's hand. His fingertips were cold, but there was a trembling heat in them.
It was like grabbing a life-saving piece of driftwood, grabbing the only light in the darkness.
Gu Jing's hand bones ached from his grip, and he frowned but didn't shake it off.
The two of them just sat there, one sitting and the other standing, their hands tightly clasped together, and no one spoke.
The sun enveloped them warmly and the sea breeze was gentle.
The gap still exists, the wound has not healed, and the road ahead is still full of thorns and unknowns.
But some things have quietly changed in this clumsy hand holding and awkward care.
It was as if a tiny crack appeared in the ice, revealing a faint but real warm current underneath.
for a long time.
Gu Jingcai seemed unable to bear the overly sticky atmosphere. He suddenly pulled his hand back, turned around and walked towards the desk. His back was stiff and his ears were red.
"...If you're fine, go back and lie down." His voice was muffled, with obvious panic. "I still have a lot of things to deal with."
Qin Yu looked at his almost fleeing back, then looked down at his empty but still warm palms, and slowly, extremely slowly, clenched his fists.
The corners of his lips couldn't help but rise up little by little.
A genuine, soft, even a little silly smile finally broke through all the gloom and coldness and bloomed on his pale face.
It's as if the ice and snow have just melted and all things are reviving.
He knows.
His long, dark winter seemed to... finally see a glimpse of light.
At this moment, Gu Jing, with his back to him, raised his hands to cover his burning cheeks and uncontrollable heartbeat, staring at the cold data on the computer screen, but couldn't read a single word.
Qin Yu's words and those eyes filled with humble hope kept echoing in his mind.
"Madman..." He cursed in a low voice, but the corners of his mouth uncontrollably curved up into a very shallow arc that he himself didn't even notice.
It's over.
He thought.
It seems like something is really... wrong.
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