Chapter 29 Forced to stick out her tongue...
Chapter 29
"hug!"
As the ward lights were turned on, Chu Xingli heard Luo Xiaoran's slightly panicked voice.
"What happened? Does it hurt?"
Luo Xiaoran walked over quickly.
Chu Xingli was still reeling from the shock of the text message when Luo Xiaoran grabbed his arm and adjusted the curvature of his wrist, which brought him back to his senses.
My first instinct was to pull my hand back.
"Myself..."
Luo Xiaoran gently supported his arm with one hand, pressed the bell with the other, and commanded in a deep voice: "Don't move."
Chu Xingli was stunned by his unusually tough attitude and sat there without resisting, letting him fiddle with her IV tube.
Gu Zezhou had just stepped down from the stage and was about to go home to rest when he came to the ward to take another look at Chu Xingli.
They happened to run into a nurse who came to adjust Chu Xingli's IV drip.
"I'll take care of it, you go eat," Gu Zezhou said to the nurse, glancing at the digital clock in the corridor.
It was already evening.
Knowing that he had a good relationship with Chu Xingli, the nurse smiled and thanked him, saying, "Thank you for your help, Teacher Gu."
"Was something that scared you?" Gu Zezhou immediately saw the problem.
He exchanged a glance with Luo Xiaoran and realized that the other seemed to think the same way, but out of consideration for Chu Xingli, Luo Xiaoran didn't ask.
Chu Xingli, as if burying her head in the sand, shoved her already-off phone back under her pillow: "No, I just had a nightmare."
Luo Xiaoran and Gu Zezhou both pretended not to see his little tricks.
"You've worked so hard. What would you like to eat tonight?" Luo Xiaoran asked gently.
Chu Xingli kept having nightmares while sleeping, which was very physically demanding.
Gu Zezhou was adjusting the needle for Chu Xingli when he heard this. He looked up and chuckled at them, "Oh, you get praised for your hard work even when you have a nightmare? Why doesn't anyone ask me if I'm having a hard time after surgery?"
Chu Xingli: "..."
Luo Xiaoran: "..."
"Want to go to the emergency room? Then report for duty tomorrow. Thank you for your hard work, Director Gu." Luo Xiaoran's words were like poison, but his hands didn't stop. He gently fed Chu Xingli a small half cup of water.
Gu Zezhou: "..."
All they say are things that make people want to die.
However, Gu Zezhou's words also brought Chu Xingli to her senses.
Without moving his left hand, which was receiving an IV drip, he raised his other free hand and took the water glass from Luo Xiaoran's hand: "I can do it myself."
The main character is going back to China next week.
He also had to keep track of the time, waiting until it was about time to gracefully make his exit and give way.
Before that, he needed to personally confirm whether the protagonist was as kind and pure as he had imagined.
If so, that would be the best outcome, a happy ending for everyone.
If not, he would help Luo Xiaoran eliminate his rivals and find another suitable husband.
Luo Xiaoran is a good person, we can't let him fool us.
"Why do I feel like the way he looks at you..." Taking advantage of Chu Xingli's dazed state, Gu Zezhou sneaked up to Luo Xiaoran and whispered while covering his mouth with his hand, "It looks like he's showing pity."
Luo Xiaoran: "..."
In fact, Luo Xiaoran also noticed it.
But he didn't want to admit it.
And she gave Gu Zezhou a look that seemed to say, "Emergency room warning."
Gu Zezhou shrank back, put his hands in the pockets of his white coat, turned around and left: "I'm going back to my office to write my thesis. Goodbye."
“If you have any worries and are willing to talk to me,” Luo Xiaoran switched to warm yellow lighting to avoid making Chu Xingli too tense due to the white light, “I would be very happy.”
The gentle warmth of youth cannot be hidden.
Chu Xingli looked up at him in surprise, paused for a moment, and then chose not to say anything.
He didn't know who this protagonist was.
However, the perfect image and extraordinary abilities created for him in his dreams and books were enough to make Chu Xingli feel intimidated.
Let alone the fact that he's just a straight man now and can't develop any feelings for Luo Xiaoran.
Even if he really liked Luo Xiaoran, he wouldn't gamble his entire family's future on a love that was already predetermined and destined to have no happy ending.
This is unfair to the entire Chu family, and it's also unfair to Luo Xiaoran.
The ward was quiet.
Chu Xingli and Luo Xiaoran sat in separate places, neither of them speaking.
After a long silence, Luo Xiaoran finally broke it.
“I saw that Sister Lu was already awake before I came in,” Luo Xiaoran said, fiddling with the ring on his ring finger. “If you feel alright after your IV drip, we can go visit her.”
Chu Xingli couldn't help but get nervous the moment he touched the ring on his ring finger.
After hearing Luo Xiaoran's words, he could only focus his attention on what he cared about most: "Be careful, don't touch the wound."
Luo Xiaoran lowered his head, and before Chu Xingli could finish speaking, he couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.
...No matter how much Hug seemed to want to keep her distance from him, she couldn't remain indifferent when it came to matters concerning his health.
"Ah, I almost forgot, thank you for the hug," Luo Xiaoran looked up at Chu Xingli to express his gratitude, "Thank goodness you reminded me, otherwise it might have really caused secondary trauma."
Chu Xingli couldn't understand Luo Xiaoran's behavior of exaggerating his feelings to her at any time.
But I have to say, I did feel good after hearing the praise.
.
Ms. Ye Huihui was concerned about her three children's dinner.
On the way back from the hospital, I had already told the cook at home that we could start preparing dinner.
Just as it was getting a little dark, the driver from the Chu family, who was delivering food, knocked on the ward door.
"Let's invite Gu Zezhou over to eat together." Chu Xingli still thought of her good friend.
Chu Xingli waved her phone: "I've already sent him a message."
When Gu Zezhou arrived, following the scent, Chu Xingli had just finished her IV drip.
"Wow, cabbage and tofu stew, brown sugar glutinous rice cakes, garlic shrimp paste, steamed buns, twice-cooked pork, shredded pork with garlic sauce, and stir-fried cabbage with vinegar. I can have such a sumptuous dinner just from getting an acupuncture needle removed," Gu Zezhou said excitedly, rattling off the dishes. "I've really hit the jackpot."
Chu Xingli had just scooped a large mouthful of rice into her mouth with a spoon when she was speechless for a moment. She could only stare at Gu Zezhou with her eyes, signaling him to hurry up and remove the needles from her mouth.
"What's wrong? Did you faint from carbon monoxide?" Gu Zezhou teased him with a smile.
Chu Xingli: "..."
After the needle was removed, Chu Xingli immediately went into the bathroom to tidy herself up.
Luo Xiaoran didn't follow him step by step. He leaned against the wall by the bathroom door, smiling as he looked at the small indentation on the hospital bed caused by Chu Xingli sitting for a long time, ready to go in and help him out at any time.
“I think he’s doing fine now,” Gu Zezhou said. He hadn’t gone home because he was worried about his friend, but seeing Chu Xingli so energetic, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. “He can go home and rest tomorrow.”
Seeing Luo Xiaoran staring at Chu Xingli's hospital bed, he leaned closer and whispered, "I think there are factors in what he's thinking that are not conducive to his recovery. You could try to give him some further guidance."
Luo Xiaoran nodded.
He knew.
But there's nothing we can do.
Baobao feels insecure these days. As his partner, or rather... as a partner who is destined to break up, she can't make things worse by probing his secrets.
In this situation, the best time to resolve the problem is when Chu Xingli is willing to speak up on his own initiative.
Ye Huihui had a large amount of food prepared, and even after the three of them ate it, there was still a lot left over.
Gu Zezhou claimed that they could heat it up and eat it the next morning, then took the leftover food home, leaving the ward to the two of them again.
"Let's go visit Sister Lu," Luo Xiaoran suggested.
Chu Xingli accepted the suggestion, temporarily putting aside her worries, and walked behind Luo Xiaoran with her coat on, until she reached the door of Lu Yunxin's ward next door.
"Hahaha, really? You even saw a monkey head mushroom on Brother Zhou's head? That's hilarious..."
“When I was filming in Yunnan last time, I also hallucinated because of eating mushrooms. It really messed me up. I saw the medical staff as a group of monkeys from Mount Emei and was so scared that I kept covering my head and wouldn’t let them touch me.”
A burst of laughter came from Lu Yunxin's hospital room.
It looks very lively.
Just as Luo Xiaoran raised his hand to knock on the door, Zhou Maidong happened to walk out from inside and saw the two of them.
"Hey? Xingli is awake too," Zhou Maidong said, turning around to the people in the ward. "Yunxin, Xingli has come to see you."
Lu Yunxin hurriedly called out towards the door, "Please invite Xingli in quickly."
The bowl of herbal soup that Chu Xingli drank was actually not very full.
So upon closer examination, he only drank a small half bowl of soup, so his poisoning was not considered serious.
But Lu Yunxin is different.
When Chu Xingli entered the room, she was sitting on the bed wearing a hospital gown, looking haggard.
Even when she was having a pleasant chat with her friends who came to visit, she couldn't hide her fatigue.
Lu Yunxin held her phone in her hand and waved to Chu Xingli and Luo Xiaoran as they entered the room with a smile: "I was just about to send you a message. I was planning to come see you after I calmed down a bit."
"Sister Lu, how are you feeling?" Chu Xingli stood at the foot of the bed, knowing her place, and didn't get too close. "Is there anything else that's bothering you?"
"I don't feel uncomfortable anymore, but," Lu Yunxin ran her fingers through her messy hair and sighed, "after drinking these two bowls of soup, I feel like I've aged a lot."
When Lu Yunxin’s friends in the industry met Chu Xingli and Luo Xiaoran in person for the first time, they were so amazed by their appearance that they were speechless. They looked them up and down, their eyes filled with undisguised admiration.
"Hello, sisters." Chu Xingli greeted them politely.
Like Lu Yunxin, Ding Siying and Guan Jiajia are both elegant and intellectual actresses with great talent. Upon hearing that their friend had been poisoned on the show, they rushed over to visit her.
Unexpectedly, I ran into the young CEO of the Chu Group, and Luo Xiaoran, who rarely appears in public except when filming.
After Lu Yunxin and her friends finished greeting Chu Xingli, they asked her, "Xingli, I'm doing a live stream here, do you want to say hello to everyone?"
The chief director didn't dare to make any demands on Chu Xingli and Luo Xiaoran, but only dared to suggest to Lu Yunxin and Zhou Maidong that after they recovered, they use their own accounts to do a live broadcast for the viewers who care about them.
Lu Yunxin naturally agreed, and shortly after the needle was removed, she and Zhou Maidong started a live broadcast to let everyone know that she was safe.
The camera was right there, so Chu Xingli no longer needed to use the excuse that she had already done a live broadcast today to refuse Sister Lu and make her lose face.
He smiled and said "Okay," then stepped forward and, taking advantage of the camera angle on Sister Lu's phone, waved to the lens: "Hello everyone."
Lu Yunxin couldn't figure out Luo Xiaoran's temper, so neither she nor her two friends sitting next to her watching the show with starry eyes dared to speak to Luo Xiaoran.
They were already very grateful to have met someone as easy to talk to as Chu Xingli.
[I can't believe I got to see our Mushroom Judge twice today!!! Thank you, Sister Lu!!!]
[Our Mushroom Judge has recovered enough to stand up and move around again, that's great, sob sob]
[Brother Ranzi has turned into a wife-obsessed maniac again, not communicating with anyone else, just staring at his wife the whole time.]
[Being able to take care of his wife closely in the hospital has made Ranzi even happier.]
[Haha, Sister Ding and Sister Guan's eyes haven't left the room since the two of them entered.]
[Just kidding, who doesn't love looking at handsome guys?]
"Xingli, your normal appearance now feels so unfamiliar to me."
Lu Yunxin was made to drink another glass of water by Zhou Maidong. After drinking it, she smiled and teased Chu Xingli.
Chu Xingli sensed something was wrong from her words.
"...Was I acting strangely before, Sister Lu?" Chu Xingli asked warily.
In fact, he only remembered the few minutes before he completely lost consciousness.
If we go any further back, he can't remember anything at all.
Lu Jie's words immediately made Chu Xingli feel very insecure.
Could it be that he did something even more shameful than popping a melon or bringing apples and grapes home?
Lu Yunxin thought for a moment and said, "It's not that it's abnormal..."
Chu Xingli waited patiently for Sister Lu to continue.
Lu Yunxin smiled and said, "For you young people, it's normal to kiss and hug after drinking a little alcohol and being poisoned by mushrooms. However, judging from the extent of your relationship, it's really not something you would do to keep hugging and kissing Xiao Ran."
As soon as Lu Yunxin finished speaking, Chu Xingli felt a sudden darkness before her eyes.
He repeated, somewhat incredulously, to confirm, "I...kissed him?"
As she spoke, she pointed to her lips and then to Luo Xiaoran's direction.
Lu Yunxin nodded with a maternal smile.
"They were kissing so happily."
Chu Xingli: "..."
[Hug: Is this something I would actually do?]
[Ranzi Bro: You're amazing!]
[Haha, Sister Lu truly lives up to her title as an award-winning actress. With just a few words, she brought back that scene for me.]
[Aww, Sister Lu, please say more! I love liking comments that make Judge Mushroom feel awkward!!!]
[Sister Lu: Sorry, even if I'm addicted, it won't stop me from being a first-line CP shipper]
[This has completely baffled our mushroom-shaped judge (doge)]
[Ranzi, don't love him too much, you can't even hide your smile!]
Putting aside the fact that she kissed Luo Xiaoran, Chu Xingli still quite liked the atmosphere in Lu Yunxin's hospital room.
The older women chatted with him in a friendly manner, which made him feel very relaxed.
As she spoke, Lu Yunxin's thoughts, which had been somewhat dulled by the poisoning, gradually became clearer.
Perhaps the poison had been mostly eliminated, and she once again sincerely apologized to Chu Xingli.
“If it weren’t for your sister bringing you that bowl of fresh mushroom soup,” Lu Yunxin said with a wry smile, “you would be lying at home sleeping soundly right now, instead of suffering here.”
Chu Xingli smiled and comforted her, "But I have to say, sister, that herbal soup was really delicious. Next time we have the chance, let's go and have some fully cooked soup."
Lu Yunxin smiled and agreed.
Ding Siying and Guan Jiajia also said a few good words for their sister during this time, worried that they would be blamed by Chu Xingli and Luo Xiaoran.
But after talking to the two children in detail, I found that their worries were really unnecessary.
They both have really great personalities.
[Ranzi only looks cold; otherwise, how could he have won over Hug, whose defense is maxed out (doge)]
My wife is so sweet, she even knew how to comfort Sister Lu, sob sob.
Hug seemed sleepy, and curled up obediently in a ball on the sofa.
[You really need to rest more after being poisoned. Although I'm reluctant to let you go, honey, go back to sleep now~]
"Everyone, get some rest. We're going back to sleep." Luo Xiaoran's words were ambiguous.
It just happens to be on the edge where Chu Xingli is easily suspicious, yet also makes her wonder if she has misunderstood something.
Sure enough, as soon as Luo Xiaoran finished speaking, Chu Xingli blinked as if she couldn't quite grasp what was going on.
After trying to figure it out for a while without success, Luo Xiaoran half-embraced and half-carried her out of Lu Yunxin's ward.
*
Chu Xingli has memories like a fish.
Back in his hospital room, he forgot what had just happened.
After washing up, I went straight into bed.
When he heard Luo Xiaoran tell him that he would be leaving for a while the next morning, he just nodded vaguely and closed his eyes wearily.
Chu Xingli slept very soundly this time.
I also didn't encounter any troublesome nightmares.
However, my heart was beating just as fast as before—
In the same hospital ward scene.
Luo Xiaoran kissed the young man huddled under the covers with a fierce intensity.
Once.
She kissed his tongue again and again.
The tips of my teeth grazed the tongue piercing, which had become slightly cool from protruding.
"Hmm."
Chu Xingli was forced to stick out her tongue, her eyes hazy as she looked up at the person looking down at her.
Please let me go.
Chu Xingli wanted to say something.
But he was lost in his dreams.
He couldn't make a sound.
Please, let me go.
It's been so long since we've kissed that we've even forgotten how to breathe during a kiss.
Luo Xiaoran seemed to have discerned the thoughts of the person in his arms.
Reluctantly, he released his grip on Chu Xingli's wrist, then slowly loosened his jaw, freeing Chu Xingli.
"Huff... huff..."
Chu Xingli slowly opened her eyes.
He was still lying in the center of the sickbed in his dream.
There was no one around.
Chu Xingli began to feel somewhat embarrassed.
He actually had a... erotic dream about Luo Xiaoran.
Could it be that spending so much time with Luo Xiaoran has influenced him to become gay instead of straight?
Chu Xingli absolutely would not allow such a thing to happen.
"Hiss..." A faint stinging pain came from the corner of my lips.
Chu Xingli fumbled for her phone, held it up to her face, and looked at her slightly chapped lips.
My doubts only deepened.
What... how did this happen? Could it be that he accidentally bit it open while he was sleeping?
Surely his dream couldn't have been real?!
Impossible, Luo Xiaoran clearly left before he woke up.
Why would she suddenly turn back halfway just to come back and bite his lip?
Luo Xiaoran isn't that abnormal.
"I'm probably overthinking it," Chu Xingli thought to herself.
Or perhaps the aftereffects of the poisonous mushroom soup haven't worn off yet, and all of this is just an illusion.
Yes, that must be it.
After clearing her mind and calming herself down, Chu Xingli's attention deficit disorder clearly flared up again.
This made him forget about the slight cut on the corner of his mouth and instead start thinking about when the toxins in his body would be completely metabolized.
Chu Xingli picked up her phone to watch some videos to distract herself from the things that only gay people think about.
The phone vibrated the next second; it was a call from my cousin.
Chu Xingli answered the phone: "Cousin."
Nie Zian's voice sounded very energetic, unlike the low spirits he had during his depression a few years ago.
Judging from the background noise, it seemed like he was making the call in a very lively setting.
"Xingli, how are you recovering from the poisoning? Are you still talking nonsense and hallucinating?"
Chu Xingli: "..."
How come everyone knows about this?
Fortunately, Nie Zi'an wasn't as shameless as Gu Zezhou. After teasing Chu Xingli a couple of times, he got to the point: "Xingli, my place is officially opening today. Do you want to come and support your brother? It's a good opportunity to relax, listen to some music, and watch some dancing~"
After returning to China, Nie Zi'an was in much better shape and began to return to the business world, running his lavish and magnificent nightclub with great success and living a carefree life.
Chu Xingli was originally scheduled to be discharged from the hospital and go home today.
However, Gu Zezhou has a major surgery today, which is estimated to take six or seven hours to complete.
Before the surgery, he specifically instructed Chu Xingli to wait for him at the hospital and to have the examinations on brain nerve recovery done there, so that he wouldn't have to come back in a few days.
Chu Xingli glanced at the time and realized it was only around nine o'clock in the morning, so she readily agreed to her cousin's invitation.
...He really hasn't had any fun in a long time.
It's a good opportunity to relax my mind, which has been constantly tense lately, while Luo Xiaoran is away.
*
at the same time.
President's Office of Chu's Group.
Busy with official business, Chu Lianqing also received an invitation from Nie Zian to come to the nightclub in the evening.
Chu Lianqing pushed open the door to Chu Xingli's office: "Going to a bar?"
Chu Lianqing, who has always focused on serious matters since childhood, regards all places like bars and nightclubs as his lifelong enemies, collectively referring to them as "unproductive bar-hopping."
Anything that hinders his career from being filled with extravagance and debauchery is a devil.
Chu Lianqing sounded shocked: "You actually dared to take Chu Xingli out drinking and clubbing? Have you forgotten how he embarrassed himself while drunk a few days ago?!"
Nie Zi'an corrected, "Oh, it wasn't going to a bar, it was just a relaxing outing. Xing Li and I were just trying to unwind."
"Aren't you afraid Luo Xiaoran will get angry? He's incredibly jealous, he'd even be jealous of a dog."
Chu Lianqing seemed to have gone to a secluded place to say it, and things turned out to be such a coincidence.
Luo Xiaoran brought the information he had prepared to Chu's Group to find him and arranged to meet in Chu Xingli's office.
Just as I pushed open the door to Chu Xingli's office, I overheard my older brother and cousin talking on the phone.
"It's okay, I won't be angry."
Luo Xiaoran's voice sounded flat.
She maintained a firm and proper demeanor as the empress.
It was quite noisy on Nie Zi'an's side, so he didn't hear Luo Xiaoran's voice at all.
He even replied to Chu Lianqing's question: "Oh my, just kidding, how can a male model compare to Luo Xiaoran?"
He drank quite a bit, and even took the opportunity to say a few words: "Tsk, but Lianqing, there's a saying that's quite good."
Chu Lianqing turned to look at Luo Xiaoran, who had sat down and was flipping through documents, and asked her cousin, "What did you say?"
Nie Zi'an grinned: "Homegrown flowers aren't as fragrant as wildflowers!"
Chu Lianqing: "..."
Luo Xiaoran: "..."
Nie Zian hung up the phone.
A long silence fell over the office.
Chu Lianqing put down her phone and cleared her throat awkwardly: "I know my brother well, he would never do anything to betray you."
"It's alright, big brother," Luo Xiaoran remained calm and composed, casually flipping through the folder. "I'm confident in myself."
Chu Lianqing greatly admired his brother-in-law's composure in the face of adversity, and sincerely expressed his admiration:
"That's why I said Hug chose you. You're generous and easygoing. Even knowing he's surrounded by male models, you don't care at all..."
Before he could finish speaking, Luo Xiaoran jumped up from the sofa, opened the office door, and strode out.
Chu Lianqing: "..."
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