Chapter 22. Ji Ran's voice was like...
Ji Ran's voice was like the low groan of a demon in the darkness.
Ji Qingyu looked at the person beside her. Fu Han had a light blue tinge under his eyes, as if he hadn't had a proper rest in a long time. His brows were tightly furrowed, as if he had been having a nightmare, which made Ji Qingyu's heart ache as well.
When Ji Qingyu got out of bed, he was almost kneeling. His legs were weak and powerless, and his limbs were not under his control. They struggled repeatedly. Ji Qingyu was panting and looked back at Fu Han.
Fortunately, Fu Han was fast asleep; he didn't want Fu Han to see him like this no matter what.
Ji Qingyu reached out and struggled to take her phone. Ruan Jing had only sent Fu Han a room number followed by a heart emoji.
Fu Han replied with a "?"
Then he quoted Ji Qingyu's previous post: "Are you alright?"
He replied, "I'm fine."
Ji Ran was still knocking on the door. Despite the loud noise, he didn't seem worried at all about waking Fu Han. Ji Qingyu slumped to the ground, reached out to tug at Fu Han's clothes, and called out to him softly.
Then he got up again, half-kneeling on the bed and shaking Fu Han's body: "Fu Han, Fu Han... wake up..."
Fu Han didn't move. Ji Qingyu noticed that his forehead was covered in sweat. There was nothing she could do. In the end, she endured the sharp pain in her neck and leaned on him, tears streaming down her face.
"Wake up... It wasn't me, I didn't do it."
Fu Han didn't react at all. Ji Qingyu was worried that he might be dead. She put her hand on his heart and found that it was still beating. She touched the scar again.
The urging from outside the door grew increasingly impatient.
After a while, Ji Qingyu wiped away his tears, got up and walked outside. He was so disoriented that he didn't see where he was going and suddenly fell to the ground.
His fingers touched something, and the glass bottle shattered. In front of him was a vial of injections. He picked it up and saw that the dosage was three to four times higher than his own, the dosage for hunting large wild animals.
They had planned this all along, intending to deal with Fu Han.
He pushed open the door, and Ji Ran was sitting on a mahogany chair outside, looking down at his phone. Outside the window was a dark, rainy day.
Ji Qingyu knocked Ji Ran's phone away, placed the injection vial on the table, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Why?"
"Don't you like Fu Han? I'm just helping you." Ji Ran remained unmoved, leaning back in his chair with a smug look and a gentle smile on his face.
Ji Qingyu suddenly felt that Ji Ran was a very magical person. He would do anything to achieve his goals and had very little empathy, but he was also incredibly sincere. Before he completely revealed his true colors, no one would ever think he was a bad person.
“Ruan Jing was sent by me from the very beginning. Actually, I wasn’t deliberately targeting you; I’ve always only been targeting Fu Han,” Ji Ran explained. “You were just an afterthought, so could you hate me a little less?”
Ji Qingyu remained silent.
"I think so too." Ji Ran sighed helplessly. "Although I want you to like me and get along with me like before, I have no choice but to do this."
"Please forgive me." Ji Ran's tone was sincere, as if he was really admitting his mistake. Ji Qingyu couldn't connect this person with the person who had just schemed against and used him.
He felt that he and Ji Ran were completely incompatible and that he had never truly known Ji Ran.
"Why...?" Ji Qingyu felt sad. He didn't understand. Just yesterday, Ji Ran was still calling him "brother" in his arms, and today they had fallen to this point.
Ji Ran smiled and touched Ji Qingyu's hair. Ji Qingyu's hair was very messy, just like his whole person. He was like a broken building block that could never be put back together.
Ji Ran spoke calmly, waving the medical record in his hand: "When my people found Auntie, she was secretly crying by herself. She was afraid you would worry, so she went to the hospital to get the diagnosis results herself. I regret to inform you that the results may not be good."
Ji Qingyu froze. He turned to look at Ji Ran, unable to believe what he had said. One blow after another crashed down on him relentlessly, leaving him breathless and speechless.
“My aunt made juice for me, and I really like her. I also really like you.” Ji Ran tapped his fingers on the table a few times. “But you need to know that you are just an illegitimate child.”
All that warmth had vanished. Ji Ran laid bare reality for Ji Qingyu: "Auntie's tumor is malignant. It will be too late if she doesn't have surgery soon. Do you have the money? The initial treatment will cost 400,000."
This number is too big. Lin Ying's small fish stall can only earn 30,000 yuan a year. With the money he earns from his part-time job, he can barely scrape together 50,000 yuan. 400,000 yuan is an astronomical figure.
"What does illegitimate child mean? Why do you know so much about my mother's affairs?" Ji Qingyu felt dizzy and disoriented. He still had Fu Han's bite marks on his body. The mark made him weak. This world is very unfair. Alphas are only responsible for biting, while only omegas are permanently marked and bound.
"Brother, why do you think I call you brother?" Ji Ran covered his mouth and chuckled. At first, the chuckle was muffled, but it turned into a loud laugh, and he couldn't stop laughing. "I've been waiting for this reaction from you for a long time. Do you think you're some innocent child? You're just an illegitimate child who can't be brought into the light. Back then, when your mother went to the banquet kitchen to deliver fish, she ran into Ji Deyong and could only accept her bad luck."
“That’s how it is for people without power in this world. You are one, and so is your mother. People like you can be crushed with a single step by those in power.” Ji Ran sighed and wiped away the tears that had welled up in his eyes from laughing.
“I know you don’t have that much money. Now I can make a deal with you,” Ji Ran said with a sneer, toying with the syringe in his hand. “You leave Mingde and sell me your song, and I’ll give you 400,000.”
Ji Qingyu gasped for breath, and everything before his eyes suddenly seemed unreal. The intense pain in his body had not yet subsided, and the agony seeped in, ravaging his bones.
“No…” Ji Qingyu closed her eyes and just shook her head.
"I can, I can ask others, someone will always lend me money." Ji Qingyu couldn't hear what she was saying anymore, mechanically repeating herself.
"Who is it? Your poor relatives, or..." Ji Ran uttered a name, "or Fu Han."
"He probably hates you to death now, do you really think he'll listen to your explanation?"
The air still carried the scent of rain, and the aroma of green plums seeped out from under the door. He wondered, "Yes, will Fu Han really listen?"
Ji Ran looked down and scrolled through his phone, then laughed at something he saw.
A few words came through my phone: "Breaking news: Fu Hongye, the patriarch of the Fu Group, has passed away. His only grandson, Fu Han, whom he favored most, did not attend the funeral. His sons, Fu Yunbo and Fu Yunsheng, are embroiled in disputes. Currently, the board of directors has unanimously approved the proposal to appoint Fu Yunsheng, who will serve as the new representative of the Fu family..."
“Go check on Auntie first,” Ji Ran said. “Fu Han won’t wake up anytime soon. I used three times the normal dose for an alpha. He won’t be able to stand up properly for at least two or three days.”
“Brother, there are times when I really want to be your younger brother, because I really feel happy when I'm by your side.” Ji Ran smiled lightly, his hands still cold. “But, Ji Qingyu, you are too special. When I see your silly, happy look, I feel it’s not fair.”
After saying this, Ji Ran grabbed Ji Qingyu's hand and walked out. He put Ji Qingyu into the car and then got in himself.
That was the end of it all.
Ji Qingyu was woken up by her cell phone ringing.
It was already late at night, the hospital corridor was empty, and there were more than twenty missed calls and dozens of messages on my phone.
They all come from the same name.
Ji Qingyu looked down at her phone; the white light from it was dazzling, stinging her eyes in the night. Fu Han sent her messages very frequently, with a new message popping up almost every few minutes.
Where did you go?
"Where have you been? Come back right now."
"If you come back now, I won't hold your mistakes against you."
Ji Qingyu covered her face and exhaled.
He stood up. It was already four in the morning. The next second, Fu Han called again. He looked at the caller ID for a moment, then pressed answer.
"Where are you?" There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, then a cold voice came through, and the breathing was heavy. "I'll send someone to pick you up."
Ji Qingyu felt very tired. He didn't want to talk to Fu Han anymore. He leaned against the hospital wall, opened his eyes to look at the dust floating in the air, and a bitter taste came from his mouth. He slowly said, "I'm sorry, I... I'll take a taxi to the south gate of Banshan Park right away."
Fu Han paused, but still didn't hang up. His voice was low and deep. "Ji Qingyu, I want you to know that I am your husband. You should tell me immediately if anything happens to you."
Ji Qingyu held her phone, her expression blank.
"Don't try to use the same trick to trap me again. Even if you have a child, I will only make you abort it," Fu Han's voice turned cold again, adding calmly.
Don't worry.
"My child is dead," Ji Qingyu thought. "I will never have a child like that again."
"I will never have children with you, don't worry." His voice was so soft it was almost inaudible.
The nurse closed the door to the service counter, took off her nurse's cap secured with a hair clip, and placed all the medical equipment into a metal tray, making a few metallic clanging sounds. It was time for her shift to end. She picked up her things and glanced in Ji Qingyu's direction.
The access card beeped, then clicked, and the door was pushed open.
"You'd better be." A long silence followed, and Fu Han stopped speaking, only his breathing could be heard. After a dozen seconds, a few busy tones came from the other end of the phone.
The stars outside the window dimmed, and clouds shrouded the entire city.
The lights in the hospital corridor were malfunctioning and flickering, with moths swirling around them.
Ji Qingyu got into the car and returned to the villa. She lay down next to Fu Han's bed, and Fu Han immediately wrapped his arm around her, tightening his grip. Ji Qingyu found it hard to breathe and tried to ask Fu Han to loosen his grip, but he wouldn't let go.
He pushed it twice, then let it go.
Fu Han's breath brushed against his ear as he continued, "What do you like about that person?"
Ji Qingyu suspected that Fu Han's susceptible period was approaching, otherwise why would he be so sentimental and keep asking trivial questions over and over again?
"I've never liked anyone." He didn't want to answer anymore, he just closed his eyes, the hand on his waist was still burning hot, the scent of green plums seeped in, and Fu Han's teeth rubbed against Ji Qingyu's neck.
Ji Qingyu broke out in a cold sweat, turned around, and buried her head in Fu Han's arms.
He was too tired and fell asleep again. Before falling asleep, he heard Fu Han mutter to himself, "Is it because we grew up together that I like him? We've known each other for a long time."
"He didn't want you and the child, so you married me?" The night was chilly, and Ji Qingyu was unbearably cold. Only Fu Han's body provided warmth.
Ji Qingyu didn't have time to listen to what Fu Han was saying; she felt nauseous and had no energy at all.
He drifted off to sleep, but the person behind him was still whispering something. He couldn't hear clearly, so he snuggled closer to the warmth, and the cool voice stopped talking.
Finally, it quieted down.
The smell of green plums actually made him feel safe, so he moved closer. His wrist was grabbed, and the air smelled of ointment. Someone brushed his hair aside and touched his forehead.
Then he was held very tightly and it was very hot, but fortunately it was already autumn, so the temperature became bearable.
The source of warmth seemed to thoroughly enjoy his dependence. The other person gently patted his back and then wrapped their arms around his waist. The continuous scent of green plums soothed Ji Qingyu. He closed his eyes, a slight smile appearing on his lips as he drifted into a half-dream, half-awake state.
He wished that things would be the same when he woke up tomorrow, but he knew that daytime didn't belong to them; the sunlight was too bright and would distort their faces.
Only in the pitch-black night could they briefly embrace each other in an ambiguous way.
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