Xiao Yuanmu left alone, Song Xuanhe and Louis stayed at Louis's house waiting for news, but after a while, Yang Jie also came over.
The three grown men looked at each other with serious expressions. No one wanted to speak. They all looked elsewhere, some in deep thought while others watched the time pass by.
Song Xuanhe talked to the system in his mind: [Xiao Yuanmu will be safe. 】
[The plot has been advanced a lot. I can't be sure whether he is safe, but I can be sure that his life is not in danger. 】The system said:【After all, he is the protagonist. 】
[Of course I know.] Song Xuanhe said: I want to ask if he will be hurt. 】
[You should know.] 】The system said: 【Of course if you don’t know, my data can tell you that if the number of people on Xiao Yuanmu’s side is equal to that of Xiao Bocong, then he is likely to retreat safely. If Xiao Yuanmu’s number is less than Xiao Bocong’s, but their weapons are more than Xiao Bocong’s, then he may also retreat safely, but...】
Song Xuanhe interrupted the system: [He went to rescue Xiao Bacong this time, at least on the surface. It’s just that Xiao Bacong wants to keep this lie going, so it won’t involve the issue of weapons you mentioned. 】
[But you have just raised another possibility. 】The system said: 【Xiao Bacong wants to kill people to silence them. 】
Noticing Song Xuan's mood changes, the system quickly continued: [But I can be sure that Xiao Baicong can't kill Xiao Yuanmu. You know the reason. 】
[Do you have a way for me to see Xiao Yuanmu's current situation? 】Song Xuanhe asked.
The system answered firmly: [No. 】
The answer was as expected. Song Xuanhe drank a few sips of hot tea and fell silent.
The clock pointed to twelve noon. It had been nearly three hours since Xiao Yuanmu left. Song Xuan and the other three sat in the living room almost motionless, and no one mentioned lunch.
Until Louis checked the time and his stomach started growling as usual.
"Friends." Louis clapped his hands, drawing the attention of Song Xuanhe and Yang Jie, and then said, "I think we should eat something. I'll ask someone to bring it to you."
Yang Jie frowned and said, "It's best not to let outsiders in and out here at this time."
Lewis was stunned for a moment, glanced at Song Xuanhe and nodded, then felt a little distressed: “But we don’t know how to cook, what should we eat?”
"I can cook noodles." Yang Jie said, "But the taste is only enough to fill my stomach."
Louis thankfully said, “As long as it’s edible.”
Yang Jie nodded and asked Song Xuanhe: "What kind of noodles do you want to eat? I heard that you like tomato and egg noodles, why don't I cook this."
Song Xuanhe shook his head: "Let's eat something else, something simpler."
Yang Jie moved his mouth, wanting to say that tomato and egg noodles are simple, but when he saw Song Xuanhe's absent-minded look, he swallowed the words back. He nodded and said, "Then let's have meat sauce noodles."
Louis was delighted: “I love eating spaghetti bolognese!”
Yang Jie turned and went into the kitchen. Louis walked to his original seat and sat down. Seeing Song Xuanhe looking like he didn't know what he was thinking, he walked over and sat next to him and said, "Don't worry. Since I met Xiao, he has done everything he said. He said he could come back safely, and he could come back safely."
Song Xuanhe shook his head and said, "Do you know that we in China have a saying?"
"What?"
"A desperate dog will do something desperate." Song Xuanhe said, "Now Xiao Bocong knows very well how botched the kidnapping he created was, but he will not let such a botched drama really appear in front of Xiao Lin and the others. In order to cover up his mischief, he can only drag Xiao Yuanmu into it. Only when this kidnapping becomes a reality and his only competitor disappears, can he rest easy."
Louis knew very well that what Song Xuanhe said was right. This was also what he had been worried about before, but at this moment he couldn't put more pressure on Song Xuanhe. He patted him on the shoulder and said, "Xiao must be very clear about this, and he must have thought of countermeasures."
Xiao Yuanmu certainly knew it, and Song Xuanhe also knew that Xiao Yuanmu had made absolute preparations.
However, there are many things that cannot be changed even if we know them. He was so worried about Xiao Yuanmu that he wanted to drive after him the second Xiao Yuanmu went out. He just wanted to ensure his safety with his own eyes and stay by his side in person to help him deal with Xiao Bocong.
However, he couldn't.
This excessive concern, the worry that was so heavy that he couldn't think rationally, also made Song Xuanhe extremely flustered.
A voice in his heart told him: Stop struggling, you have fallen in love with Xiao Yuanmu, so stay here. You have nothing in that world, why do you insist on going back?
This voice had appeared a long time ago, and it was now growing louder and louder, so loud that it almost disturbed his thoughts and made him unable to think rationally.
Louis looked at Song Xuanhe's expression and knew that he could not comfort him. He could only pat his shoulder silently again and wait with him.
Yang Jie came out with the noodles and saw the two of them sitting side by side. He looked confused for a moment.
Lewis stood up, took a bowl of noodles and handed it to Song Xuanhe, and said with a smile: “Maybe Xiao will come back after eating.”
Song Xuanhe smiled and thanked him, then sat quietly aside and finished his noodles.
After the three of them finished lunch and Yang Jie washed the lunch dishes, it was already one o'clock in the afternoon. Xiao Yuanmu had been away for nearly four hours.
Louis took out a deck of cards and spent the unbearable time with them. Song Xuan and Yang Jie did not refuse, because sitting still would indeed make it easier to have random thoughts, so it would be better to play cards to distract their attention.
They played for three hours and it was almost time for dinner, but there was still no news from Xiao Yuanmu.
Before he left, he said that he would contact them immediately as soon as Xiao Bacong was rescued and left there.
It would take four hours to drive from Y City to Xiao Bacong's location if he drove fast, or five hours if he drove slowly. It had been seven hours since Xiao Yuanmu left, which meant that even if he drove slowly, Xiao Yuanmu should have come into contact with the kidnappers two hours ago.
The fact that the problem had not been solved in two hours meant that the matter might indeed be developing in the worst possible direction.
At this time, no one was in the mood to play cards anymore, and the living room became quiet again.
More than ten minutes later, Yang Jie's cell phone rang, and three pairs of eyes were focused on the phone on the coffee table at the same time.
"It's Mrs. Xiao." Yang Jie looked at the number and said to the two of them.
Song Xuanhe and Louis looked away at the same time.
Lewis laughed, with a hint of sarcasm in his tone: “That lady finally lost her patience.”
Yang Jie didn't understand, so he answered Mrs. Xiao's call in the living room.
"Hello, Mrs. Xiao, I am Yang Jie."
"Do you have any news about Yuanmu now?" Madam Xiao asked, "Is he back?"
"No, Madam Xiao." Yang Jie said, "Brother Xiao has been gone for seven and a half hours, and no news has been sent back yet."
"Seven and a half hours..." Madam Xiao murmured and repeated, and then said: "If he has any news, remember to inform me as soon as possible."
"Okay, I understand, Madam Xiao." Yang Jie said calmly, "Anything else?"
"No more." Mrs. Xiao didn't hang up the phone for a long time. After about half a minute, she said, "He's back. Take good care of him."
Yang Jie's eyebrows were knitted together, but his voice remained calm: "Okay, I understand."
When he hung up the phone, Lewis also frowned and said, “When will Xiao be able to come back?”
Song Xuanhe had a tense face and kept looking outside the yard.
I don’t know how long it had been, but suddenly there was a slight sound outside the yard, startling the three people in the living room. Song Xuanhe reacted immediately and got up and ran to the door.
Louis and Yang Jie followed closely behind, looking very excited.
"I'm back."
Almost the next second after Song Xuanhe opened the door, Xiao Yuanmu opened his arms and hugged him in his arms, and the faint smell of blood on his body also entered Song Xuanhe's nose.
"Are you okay?" Song Xuanhe pulled him in, looked him up and down, and after making sure he had no external injuries, he asked, "Whose blood is that on you?"
"It belongs to Xiao Baicong." Xiao Yuanmu said calmly, "He's in my car now."
Louis stretched his head and looked outside, but saw nothing. He couldn't help but ask, "Did Xiao Bocong's people let you bring him out?"
"His people are dead."
When saying this, Xiao Yuanmu's tone was very calm, without the slightest ripple.
Yang Jie and Louis looked at each other, and Louis frowned and asked, "Is it clean?"
"It's an internal dispute caused by the kidnappers' uneven distribution of the spoils." Xiao Yuanmu said, "It's not within my scope of responsibility."
Louis raised his eyebrows, gave a thumbs up and said, “Great.”
Only Yang Jie was a little worried: "Brother Xiao, are you sure there are no fish that slipped through the net? And how are you going to deal with Xiao Bocong?"
"Call Madam Xiao." Song Xuanhe said, "Didn't she just say that she would call Xiao Yuanmu when he came back?"
"By the way, call an ambulance." Louis smiled and said, "Xiao, is your brother's injury serious?"
"It's not serious." Xiao Yuanmu took off his blood-stained coat and said, "It's just my legs that are broken."
Louis was startled, then teased: "Xiao, Horsman is right, you should cooperate with him. You two always look nonchalant when talking about such creepy things, which makes me feel that you two must have a common topic."
Xiao Yuanmu curled the corners of his lips, turned his head to look at Song Xuanhe, put his hands gently on both sides of his neck, and whispered: "I promised you that I would come back safely, and I will definitely do it."
"Your leg is injured too." Song Xuanhe looked unhappy: "Let me see."
Xiao Yuanmu was startled, and Louis and Yang Jie who was on the phone also looked over immediately.
In fact, Xiao Yuanmu concealed it very well. No one could detect any signs of injury from his movements, not even Song Xuanhe. But just to be on the safe side, he asked the system to scan his body, and only then did he discover that Xiao Yuanmu was lying.
"It's nothing, actually." The smile on Xiao Yuanmu's face faded a little, and a hint of uneasiness appeared in his eyes.
"Roll up your trouser legs." Song Xuanhe looked at him coldly: "I don't want to say it for the third time."
Xiao Yuanmu lowered his eyes and had to roll up his trouser legs.
The gauze was wrapped around the calf near the ankle, just enough to be covered by the pants. Blood seeped out from the thick gauze, and one didn't need to look too hard to know that the wound was definitely not shallow.
"I have bandaged it." Xiao Yuanmu glanced at Song Xuanhe's expression, his long eyelashes drooping, and explained softly.
Song Xuanhe glanced at him lightly, his eyes fell on his roughly wrapped calf, and there was no emotion in his voice: "Did you do this by yourself or was it an accidental injury?"
Xiao Yuanmu hesitated for a second, and Song Xuanhe's eyes swept over him.
"It was an accident." He explained: "When I left, I didn't notice that Xiao Bocong was still awake. He broke free from the person holding him and stabbed me with a dagger."
Song Xuanhe's expression became even colder, and Xiao Yuanmu signaled Yang Jie to speak with his eyes.
Yang Jie received Xiao Yuanmu's gaze, but had no idea what to say. In fact, this was the first time he saw Brother Xiao, who had always been tall and calm in his mind, being so humble, which caught him off guard. Before, he always thought that even though Song Xuanhe looked a bit domineering at ordinary times, Brother Xiao's character was also difficult to be controlled by others.
Moreover, Brother Xiao is now more unpredictable than before, so he feels that between Song Xuan and Brother Xiao, Brother Xiao should still take the initiative.
Now it seems that he might have been wrong.
As an expert who has been single for more than 20 years, he can help single people solve the problem of loneliness, but he cannot help Brother Xiao solve the problem of how to make his boyfriend calm down when he is angry.
So, Yang Jie turned his attention to Louis.
Louis, who has broken up and gotten back together with his childhood sweetheart no less than ten times, is the most qualified person to solve this problem.
Louis also felt that he had a say. He had already seen Xiao Yuanmu looking at Yang Jie's distress signal. He raised his eyebrows, quietly bent down and pressed his legs, then covered the area above his ankles and made a painful expression.
Xiao Yuanmu understood immediately, frowned and hissed softly.
Song Xuanhe looked at him, his tone was emotionless: "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Xiao Yuanmu said calmly, "It's just that the wound hurts a little."
Song Xuanhe raised his eyebrows, "Does the wound hurt?"
“A little.”
Xiao Yuanmu answered calmly, but his slightly pale lips and slightly furrowed brows all showed his superb acting skills.
Yang Jie was amazed and suddenly remembered a sentence he had seen somewhere before: All men in love can win an Oscar.
He didn’t understand what this meant before, but now that he saw Brother Xiao, he felt that he might understand.
However, Song Xuanhe was not fooled by Xiao Yuanmu's acting skills. Instead, there was a hint of teasing in his eyes: "Since it hurts, why don't you hold your legs and jump a few times?"
Xiao Yuanmu paused and looked at Louis. Louis shrugged. He didn't expect that all the actions between him and Xiao Yuanmu were seen by Song Xuanhe.
Xiao Yuanmu could only return to the traditional way, resting his head on Song Xuanhe's shoulder and said in a low voice: "I was wrong, please don't be angry."
The words "What on earth did you do wrong" almost came out of his mouth. However, before he said it, Song Xuanhe suddenly thought of the pattern of quarrels between couples circulating on the Internet. Basically, the boy said that he said it, and the girl would ask him what he did wrong, and then the two of them started quarreling. Thinking that he almost fell into the role of the female, Song Xuanhe's face became even darker.
"Whether I get angry or not depends on whether you are honest or not." Song Xuanhe glanced at him coldly and said, "When the ambulance comes, you can go with Xiao Bocong to get your leg treated."
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of an ambulance was heard outside the door.
Song Xuanhe glanced at Xiao Yuanmu and saw that his long eyelashes were slightly drooping, and he looked rather cold and pitiful. He paused and retracted his leg that was about to step out, grabbed Xiao Yuanmu's arm and thought to himself: He is definitely not soft-hearted.
Xiao Yuanmu stood up with the help of Song Xuanhe. A little smile appeared at the corner of his mouth but was instantly suppressed. He pursed his lips slightly, leaned his strength on Song Xuanhe, and let him support him to go out.
The doctor took Xiao Bacong in the car into the ambulance. Song Xuanhe and others also drove behind with Xiao Yuanmu and drove all the way to the private hospital.
Not long after entering the emergency room, Mrs. Xiao hurried over. With her came the housekeeper whom Song Xuan had met before. She was relieved when she saw them.
When Madam Xiao saw the wound on Xiao Yuanmu's leg, she gasped and said to the doctor, "Doctor, is my son's leg okay?"
The private doctor didn't know Mrs. Xiao, but he knew that the other young man who had just entered the operating room was the younger brother of the patient in front of him, so he said, "His leg is not seriously injured. He can recover by changing the dressing every day and resting for a while. But his brother is not in good condition and may need amputation."
Madam Xiao was stunned, her face was blank for several seconds, and then she raised her voice and asked, "His brother? Which brother?"
After saying that, she didn't even look at the doctor, but turned to look at Xiao Yuanmu and asked, "The brother the doctor is talking about is not your brother, right?"
"It was Xiao Baicong." Xiao Yuanmu said, "The gangsters had an internal fight, and Xiao Baicong and I were both injured while escaping. His injuries were more serious than mine, and both of his legs were crushed."
"Grinded..." Madam Xiao's eyes turned pale. She took a step back and supported the housekeeper's hand to stand firm. After she stood firm, she asked tremblingly, "What did you say? Grinded?"
"Those people were chasing us on a heavy motorcycle. Bai Cong got on the motorcycle last, but was dragged down before he could climb on. His legs were crushed while he was climbing on the motorcycle." Xiao Yuanmu said, "Then those people kept chasing us, so he missed the best time for treatment."
"My legs are broken..." Madam Xiao murmured, her eyes instantly reddened: "Both legs are broken, how painful it must be."
The housekeeper supported Madam Xiao, with a worried look on his face, but he still asked in a low voice: "Do you need me to tell the gentleman about this right away?"
"No." Madam Xiao stood up and tried to calm her pale face. She said, "Wait until Bai Cong comes out. Ah Lin is not in good health now. Tell him when his condition stabilizes."
"Yes, ma'am."
Song Xuanhe retracted his gaze, looked at the doctor who was stitching Xiao Yuanmu, and asked, "His leg is injured. Is there anything he needs to pay attention to during this period?"
The doctor treated Xiao Yuanmu's wound and stood up and said, "Be careful not to let the wound get wet, and come to the hospital regularly to change the dressing. If you find it troublesome, you can also ask your family's private doctor to come to the hospital. I will communicate with him about Mr. Xiao's condition, and he will know how to take care of him."
"Just tell me directly." Song Xuanhe said.
The doctor was a little surprised and looked at Xiao Yuanmu with an inquiring look.
Xiao Yuanmu suppressed the smile on his face and nodded, "Listen to him."
Song Xuanhe glanced at him, then looked away and listened attentively to the doctor's instructions.
Mrs. Xiao, led by the nurse, was guarding outside the operating room door. The doctor left after explaining all the precautions to Song Xuan. At this time, there were only four people in the ward: Xiao Yuanmu, Song Xuanhe, and Louis Yang Jie.
Louis said: “Mrs. Xiao seems to find it difficult to accept the fact that Mr. Xiao Bocong may not be able to walk in the future.”
Song Xuanhe laughed and said, "She doesn't know yet that Xiao Bacong won't be able to walk anymore. She is just thinking about how sorry he is for his broken leg."
"With today's medical technology, it should be easy to cure Xiao Bocong's leg." Yang Jie said bitterly, "The Xiao family has abundant resources and connections. Maybe his leg will be healed soon."
Louis teased, “Yang, I remember that you were very friendly to Madam Xiao and Xiao Bocong before, why are you so...unfriendly now?”
"I am friendly to them only because they are good to Brother Xiao." Yang Jie said expressionlessly: "If they are not good to Brother Xiao, then Brother Xiao might as well not have these relatives."
Xiao Yuanmu curled his lips when he heard that, but pursed them again when he saw Song Xuanhe looking at him.
Song Xuanhe glanced at him lightly, then moved his gaze to the door, and said in a light tone: "If Madam Xiao knew that Xiao Bocong could never stand up again, would she be very sad?"
"Of course, he is her son." Yang Jie said indignantly: "In her heart, Xiao Bocong is much more important than Brother Xiao."
"I'm very curious." Song Xuanhe asked in confusion, "How did you determine that Xiao Bacong's legs can no longer walk? This is the United States, and Yang Jie also said that the Xiao family can find the best medical resources for Xiao Bacong. Even if his legs are really gone, there are countless possibilities for him to stand up in the future, and wearing a prosthetic limb is one of the possibilities."
"Xiao Bocong will not wear a prosthetic limb." Xiao Yuanmu said: "Even if he wants to, it will take a few years at the earliest. He himself is also very clear that even if he is clear, the fact that he is disabled will make him useless and he will never be able to stand up again."
Louis nodded in agreement: "Xiao Bocong is a very proud man. I have met him many times. He is very proud of everything about himself. The sudden loss of his legs will definitely make him depressed for a long time. By then, Xiao will have taken control of the Xiao family. After he knows that he has no hope, he will most likely be truly devastated."
Xiao Yuanmu didn't want to discuss this topic too much. He glanced at Yang Jie and signaled him to leave.
Yang Jie understood what was going on, and he made up an excuse and took Louis away.
After they all left, only Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu were left in the ward.
Xiao Yuanmu asked: "Do you think I am cruel to my brother?"
Song Xuanhe turned her head and met his gaze. After seeing the uneasiness in his eyes, she pursed her lips slightly, leaned close to him and whispered, "You said that you wouldn't be sad no matter what I do, and I am the same. I believe that you have your own reasons for everything you do. No matter what you think is right, I will stand by your side."
Xiao Yuanmu's eyes sparkled: "Forever?"
Song Xuanhe hugged him, rested his chin on his shoulder, and whispered: "As long as I live in this world."
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