Chapter 99 Kitten Licking Its Fur
Xie Chen climbed back onto the ship's side and untied the other side of the securing rope.
After the anchor rope was untied, the lifeboat was swept a distance by the waves in just a few seconds. Mu Yan nervously looked back at him, and Xie Chen gave him a reassuring look. He was agile and jumped back into the lifeboat with little effort, sat in the driver's seat, and skillfully checked the control panel and start button.
The engine roared to life, and the boat slid slowly toward the sea, its hull vibrating.
The lifeboat had a basic automatic cruise AI. Xie Chen checked the route and found it was correct. Just as he was about to go to the back seat to find Mu Yan, he saw that Mu Yan had already stumbled and walked towards him.
Smaller boats are more susceptible to wind and waves. The lifeboat rocked and swayed, and Mu Yan almost fell several times. Xie Chen, who had good balance, quickly went back to get him.
Mu Yan half-fell into Xie Chen's arms. After being helped back to his seat in the front row, his first reaction was to put the pendant, which he had been clutching until it was warm, back into Xie Chen's hand.
Mu Yan didn't actually recognize gemstones, but since it was something his mother had left him, this pendant must be very precious to the man in front of him.
He had been gripping the pendant very tightly, afraid that if he let go, he would never find it again.
The gemstone shone brightly in the afterglow of the setting sun. Xie Chen carefully put the pendant away and put it back on.
He actually had almost no memory of Chi Yi. The things his mother supposedly left him were actually given to him later by He Qingyun and the foundation. There were actually many gems like these, and they weren't anything particularly precious.
He was just trying to reassure Mu Yan, to put him at ease and to make him believe that he would never abandon him.
"Thank you for keeping it safe for me." Now that it was completely safe, Xie Chen didn't hug him anymore. Instead, he held his hand through the finger cot and helped him to the seat next to the driver's seat, where he fastened his seatbelt.
Xie Chen's personal equipment consisted of only a simple medical kit, blood bandages, battlefield first aid dressings, painkillers, antibiotics...
The contents of this medical kit are basically for keeping people alive. Side effects and pain during use are completely outside the designer's considerations. Therefore, it is not very useful for Mu Yan at the moment.
He hesitated for a moment before taking out the iodine tincture for disinfection, wondering whether he should use it on Mu Yan.
This concentration of iodine tincture is very painful and irritating. If it were him, he wouldn't care whether he used it or not. He's not afraid of pain, and his body can withstand this minor injury.
However, the wound on Mu Yan's forehead was quite deep, and Xie Chen, not being a professional doctor, was actually a little unsure of its depth.
...Let's use it anyway. It's okay if it hurts for a while, it's better than the wound getting infected and then getting a fever.
Xie Chen made up his mind, walked up to Mu Yan, and dipped a cotton swab in iodine tincture: "It might hurt a little, just bear with it. You can shout it out."
Mu Yan was quite tolerant of pain. When the cotton swab was dipped in the irritating iodine tincture and applied to the wound on his forehead, his fingers curled up slightly, as if he subconsciously wanted to dodge, but he still endured it and did not make a sound.
Xie Chen noticed this, paused for a moment, then lowered his head slightly and carefully blew on the wound.
The breath he exhaled was warm, and when it brushed against him gently, it felt like a feather landing on his skin, which inexplicably made Mu Yan feel better. He blinked and stared blankly at Xie Chen.
The man had a unique aura, and for some reason, he seemed somewhat familiar. The smell of blood on him was pungent, but there were no obvious wounds on his body.
“I’m not injured,” the man replied when he saw the man staring at him. “It’s all other people’s blood.”
"You took a flight this morning, right? Haven't you eaten anything yet? I brought some instant food, let me heat it up for you."
Mu Yan then realized that he was indeed a little hungry. He nodded and mouthed thank you.
"It's okay, no need to thank me. I know you can't speak." The man stood up, opened the emergency heating pack, which contained pre-packaged chicken and rice.
He skillfully added water and heated it, then poured a bottle of purified water from the storage box, mixed in electrolyte powder, shook the bottle, and delivered it over.
He seemed to have only a little over half a liter of purified water with him. Mu Yan hesitated for a moment, but the man turned around and smiled. "It's okay, there's enough water. We should be on shore in a few hours. You may feel fine now, but you're actually very weak. You should drink some electrolyte water."
Upon hearing this, Mu Yan obediently took the water and sipped it slowly. He hadn't drunk any water or eaten anything all day and was now nearly dehydrated.
The chicken and rice was ready. Xie Chen brought the rice to Mu Yan and helped him unpack the spoon. The rice tasted mediocre, among the worst-tasting instant rice. Pasta and stewed beef tasted much better. Unfortunately, Xie Chen didn't know what was inside before unpacking it.
If he had known he would be stuck on this lifeboat with him for hours, he should have taken a box of the best stewed beef and a few cans of decent food.
But after a harrowing day of hunger and hardship, a hot, fragrant box of chicken and rice is the most delicious thing in the world for Mu Yan right now.
He pursed his lips and looked at the man who was unwrapping a compressed biscuit.
"Mr. Bodyguard..." Mu Yan finally managed to utter a few words, but he quickly lost his voice again. The man looked at him with gentle eyes, showing no sign of impatience.
The man waited for a long time, but Mu Yan tried very hard and still couldn't make a sound.
"What's wrong?" The man saw that he was getting a little anxious and handed him his phone. The screen showed the memo interface, which was probably meant for him to type something.
There was no signal on the sea, so the phone could only serve as a pen and paper. Mu Yan took the phone and typed a few words on it.
“Mr. Bodyguard, you can have rice too, we can each have half, and I can have compressed biscuits too.”
Military-grade compressed biscuits are quite different from those sold in the market. To prevent soldiers from chewing them when they are bored, they are deliberately made to be very difficult to swallow.
Xie Chen looked at Mu Yan's stubborn expression, sighed softly, and smiled helplessly.
This was the first time Mu Yan had ever seen a man smile. When he smiled, the coldness and unapproachability of his features dissipated considerably.
He was actually very good-looking. The wisps of hair on his forehead, which were originally combed up, had now fallen down, revealing his superior and deep-set eyes and brows.
However, when he usually has a cold face, the first impression he gives people is often one of awe, which often makes people overlook this point.
"Actually, we'll be there in a few hours. I won't eat anything, it'll be fine."
Mu Yan remained silent, only continuing to look at him with that timid yet determined gaze. The man sighed helplessly again and handed him the compressed biscuits he hadn't yet eaten.
Mu Yan took the compressed biscuit and took a big bite, but failed. The biscuit remained unmoved. The man beside him reminded him to take smaller bites.
Mu Yan then took a small bite with some difficulty, but choked after only a couple of chews. This biscuit was different from the ones he had eaten before. He couldn't taste anything; it was probably salty and seemed a bit like the bran he ate when he was a child. It was particularly difficult to swallow.
Although he had been poor when he was young, Mu Yan hadn't eaten real bran for more than ten years. The man reached out to his mouth and made him spit it into his hand, looking somewhat helpless.
"Spit it out, don't chew it, it tastes awful."
The man looked serious, as if he genuinely wanted Mu Yan to spit on his hand.
He couldn't possibly spit it into his hand. Mu Yan tried his best to swallow the small piece of biscuit. Just as he was about to cough, the man handed him the electrolyte water.
"Have some water."
The man pushed the rice back to him and reached out to take the compressed biscuits from Mu Yan's hand.
In the distance, the sound of the speedboat exploding finally rang out. Because of the distance, it sounded even quieter than the firecrackers at the village entrance on New Year's Day morning. Perhaps it was just psychological, but the lifeboat was slightly rocked by the sudden wave.
Mu Yan looked in that direction, but the ship was no longer visible.
If the men hadn't grabbed that lifeboat, they would have been blown to pieces along with the ship.
“I told you, everything will be fine,” the man said, looking at him. “Eat up, there’s only one heating pack, and it won’t be able to reheat it once it’s cold.”
Xie Chen really didn't like eating those compressed biscuits. His comrades usually wouldn't touch them unless they were starving to death. He only took two bites and didn't want to eat anymore.
He looked at Mu Yan beside him. Mu Yan ate quickly and in large mouthfuls, each time scooping up a full spoonful of rice and then gently pressing it down on the edge of the lunchbox. He Qingyun did the same. When he was a child, he heard Leo, Song Jingrong, Goliath, and many of Xie Chengjun's other mistresses secretly mocking her as a country bumpkin.
He Qingyun was very quiet and never argued. She just kept eating her food and carrying the first Hermes bag that Chi Yi had given her. Many years had passed, and that style had long since depreciated in value.
When Xie Chen was a child, he asked her why she ate so fast and in such large bites. He didn't think it was inelegant like others, but he had heard from his kindergarten teacher that eating too fast was bad for the stomach.
He Qingyun smiled and said that it was just a habit she had and couldn't change it anytime soon. When she was little, she was always hungry and never had enough to eat, so she got used to eating very quickly because of the hunger.
What about Mu Yan? Was he also used to being hungry?
Mu Yan seemed to notice his gaze and looked a little embarrassed. Xie Chen realized that he had disturbed him, avoided his gaze, and lowered his head to play Snake on his phone without internet access.
After Mu Yan finished eating, Xie Chen took out a tissue and handed it to him so he could wipe his mouth.
Mu Yan wiped his mouth, probably remembering that his face was also a little dirty and wanted to wipe it with a tissue, but there was no mirror.
Xie Chen handed him his phone and poured some water onto a new tissue to wet it so he could use it to wipe his face.
Mu Yan probably felt it was a waste of water, and seemed to try to stop him when he was pouring water, but he was unsuccessful.
"Wipe it, but don't touch the wound on your forehead."
When Mu Yan saw himself in the camera, he paused for a moment before carefully wiping away the dirt and blood from his face.
He wiped his face slowly and carefully, like a kitten licking its fur. After wiping, he took out another tissue, pointed to his face, and then looked at Xie Chen.
Xie Chen was stunned. What did that mean? Did she want to... wipe it for him too?
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