"rule"
Gu Yansheng was in a bad mood when he was called to have dinner, but he was not very angry. He just silently held a mouthful of porridge in his mouth and couldn't swallow it. He had no appetite for the dishes on the table. Generally, his appetite was very poor after three consecutive days of illness.
That's why Jiang Lin came to catch him for dinner...
"Is there a nail or thorn in this porridge? Why is it so hard to swallow?"
Jiang Lin looked up at him, and Gu Yansheng swallowed it silently. Then a big steamed dumpling appeared on the porridge in the bowl.
"I just want to drink porridge..."
"It's best to arrange surgery for Fan Zhong's mother's brain tumor as soon as possible. The CT scan showed that the tumor is quite large."
Jiang Lin suddenly mentioned Fan Zhong. Gu Yansheng stared at him with his round eyes, then silently picked up the shaomai and took small bites.
"Will you be the lead surgeon for her surgery?"
"I was arranged to be hospitalized and given a bed in my group."
Hearing this, Gu Yansheng knew the answer. He smiled and poured the shrimp dumplings on the table into his bowl in a flattering manner. "Eat more protein to replenish your energy. Come on!!!"
Before he could finish his words, the three shrimp dumplings were put into his bowl.
Jiang Lin looked at him without saying anything. It was obvious that this was his dinner mission tonight!!!
"I'm full..."
"It's already very little, Gu Yansheng. For a grown man, a bowl of porridge, three shrimp dumplings, and a siu mai is not excessive at all. A five-year-old child can finish it."
Jiang Lin's tone left no room for argument. Besides, he also helped Fan Zhong. Gu Yansheng sighed softly and slowly accepted this fact.
"Haven't you seen a psychiatrist recently?" Jiang Lin asked suddenly. Gu Yansheng immediately tensed his shoulders, not daring to look up, and stammered that he had.
"Really? But I just asked Hu Meiling today, and she said you haven't been there for three weeks."
"I……"
Gu Yansheng's lie was exposed and his heart was beating wildly. Jiang Lin was silent and without a trace of warmth. His cold expression brought a strong sense of oppression.
"Because... because I'm very busy. The clinical data for the new drug is in the final stages, and the team is incredibly busy. Brother Hu's wife is about to give birth, and I still have to help him with the data, so I don't have time to go over..."
No wonder I had such a big reaction yesterday...it turns out I hadn't been to therapy for three weeks.
Jiang Lin felt a little irritated and chest tightness. He forced himself to control his bad temper and not show it, but the expression of not being able to hold back still made Gu Yansheng sweat with fear.
"I'm taking medicine..."
"You know those medicines won't help your condition at all, Gu Yansheng! What you need is the intervention of a professional psychiatrist."
Jiang Lin's tone was very harsh, and his already sharp facial features seemed even more inhuman under this low pressure. Gu Yansheng was stunned by the scolding. Besides feeling wronged, he was more angry!
"It's been so many years. If psychological intervention really worked, I would have recovered long ago. I'm basically a monster. You know I can't get better. I'm a loser. Are you tired of me? That's why you're so anxious for me to get better soon?"
After he finished speaking, they were both stunned for a moment. Gu Yansheng was even more shocked by the truth he had said without thinking. He saw Jiang Lin's face was still expressionless, and an invisible voice in his heart told him - go ahead and provoke Jiang Lin. You two shouldn't be too close. He has his own life...
"Go away, Jiang Lin. Don't force yourself to take care of me. You've already paid back the tuition my parents provided for your high school books and miscellaneous fees. Don't hold yourself hostage."
This was the first time that the good man lost his temper. He hated his own incompetence and couldn't stop crying after saying those harsh words. Afraid of being seen, he strode back to the master bedroom and covered himself with the quilt.
Crying in silence will easily lead to oxygen deprivation. He pulled back the quilt to create a small gap to let air in. Then he found that his arms began to itch. He sat up immediately, and under the light, the dense rash began to appear on his arms.
It’s over. He’s having a mental breakdown and is starting to show these symptoms?
He hurriedly opened the cabinet and took out the anti-allergic medicine. This medicine was available everywhere around him because Jiang Lin was afraid that he would be alone at home on a rainy day, so he put some in all the cabinets so that he could get it everywhere.
Gu Yansheng looked at the medicine bag without taking it. Jiang Lin and he should have separated long ago. Everyone around them treated them as close friends, but in reality, it was only because he was clinging to Jiang Lin...
“Knock, knock…”
The knock on the door startled him, and he held his pounding heart in silence.
"Shengsheng, I'm coming in."
Jiang Lin hasn't left yet...
The door was pushed open, and Gu Yansheng immediately covered his arms with the quilt. He nervously moved his Adam's apple, and Jiang Lin interrupted his dinner.
"We haven't finished eating yet. We'll settle the bill after we're full."
Clearly, the other party had no intention of letting him go. Under the quilt, Gu Yansheng scratched the skin on his forearm. The itchy and tingling sensation told him that the allergic reaction was still there. It wasn't raining outside...
"Then I'll feed you..."
Jiang Lin didn't hesitate. He held the bowl in his left hand and the spoon in his right hand, ready to feed him. Gu Yansheng immediately reached out and took the bowl.
"I'll eat it myself."
Gu Yansheng bit his lower lip as he took the bowl of still-warm porridge, his fingers turning slightly white from the pressure. He could clearly feel the burning itch on his arm, that familiar, unnerving tingling sensation spreading along his nerve endings.
He didn't dare look at Jiang Lin, for fear that his eyes, as sharp as a scalpel, could penetrate the thin blanket and see his current miserable state - emotional breakdown could actually trigger this damn hypersensitivity reaction.
He mechanically scooped up the porridge and forced himself to swallow. Each mouthful tasted like chewing wax, and his throat tightened. Jiang Lin stood beside the bed, his tall figure casting a heavy shadow and bringing an invisible sense of oppression.
He didn't say anything, nor did he urge anyone. He just watched quietly and almost coldly as Gu Yansheng struggled to stuff the porridge, the three shrimp dumplings, and the steamed bun in the bowl into his mouth bit by bit.
The air seemed to freeze, leaving only the subtle chewing sounds of Gu Yansheng and his own heartbeat like a drum.
The itchiness on his arm became more and more obvious, as if countless tiny ants were crawling and biting him. He couldn't help but rub his itchy forearm with his elbow through the quilt.
This subtle movement didn't escape Jiang Lin's notice. His gaze lingered for a moment on Gu Yansheng's arm, where the quilt had been wrapped tightly around him. Something seemed to flash through his eyes—was it understanding? Or a deeper chill? Gu Yansheng couldn't tell, only feeling a chill running up his spine.
Finally, the bowl was empty. Gu Yansheng felt relieved, yet even more anxious as he handed the empty bowl to Jiang Lin.
Jiang Lin took the bowl and placed it on the bedside table, his movements smooth and silent. He didn't leave, nor did he mention the rash, as if the brief glance just now was just an illusion on Gu Yansheng's part.
"Have you finished eating?" Jiang Lin's voice was calm, without any emotion.
Gu Yansheng lowered his head and hummed in a muffled voice.
"Okay," Jiang Lin replied calmly, his eyes sweeping across the room until they landed on the dark wooden cabinet against the wall. "Go take out the stuff from the top right drawer."
Gu Yansheng's body stiffened instantly. He knew what was inside.
That was the "rule" they set in their youth - a heavy, polished dark wooden ruler.
The reason was that when Jiang Lin was a child, his mother abandoned him and ran away. He used extremely hurtful words to vent his anger on the innocent Gu Yansheng. At that time, Gu Yansheng was so scared that he cried for several days.
From that moment on, Jiang Lin established an ironclad rule: no matter what happened, during an argument, no one was allowed to use harsh words, personal attacks, or outright denial of the other's existence. If one person broke the rules, the other person had the right to use the ruler and smack the palm of their hand as punishment. The number of strokes was determined by the person who was verbally offended.
After this rule was established, Gu Yansheng often beat Jiang Lin. Later, Jiang Lin slowly learned to treat Gu Yansheng gently. After they grew up, the ruler was hardly mentioned again, but the ruler remained like a silent warning.
Gu Yansheng's heart sank to the bottom. He knew that the words he had just said—"monster," "useless," "annoying," "self-abduction"—every word had precisely stepped on the red line of that iron rule, and every word was heartbreaking.
He struggled to get out of the quilt. The rash on his arm was exposed under the light, patches of glaring red. He subconsciously wanted to hide his arm behind his back.
Jiang Lin's gaze swept over his bare arm, revealing the dense, new rash. His expression remained unchanged, showing no surprise, no worry, and no question. Instead, he looked at an insignificant object, his gaze gliding coldly across his face before finally settling on Gu Yansheng's face, a commanding expression that held no room for questioning.
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