Ex-Husband's CallChapter 7

The university entrance exams hadn’t even begun and the students hadn’t collapsed either, and yet the teacher was already leaving early to go to the hospital. When you put it that way, it was actually kind of embarrassing.

Tong Qiu wasn’t the type of person to call attention to his own misery, especially in front of Huo Zhixing, so even though his migraine had returned in full force, he put on a smile as he walked out and greeted Huo Zhixing. “Why didn’t you just keep the food for yourself?” A9B5Kl

“I’m not home all that much,” Huo Zhixing shrugged. “And I’ve been too busy to sit down and eat properly anyway.”

Huo Zhixing’s mother had given Tong Qiu some fruits as well as some tonics. Tong Qiu wondered idly if he had, against all odds, gotten himself pregnant and his mother-in-law had somehow found out about it. If that wasn’t the case, then why did she give him so much stuff that was meant to restore the body?

Chrysanthemum Garden.

“Are you heading home?” Huo Zhixing was a criminal investigator at his core and he also had an advantage in that he was familiar with Tong Qiu’s routine. Judging by the hour, classes were still in progress, and yet Tong Qiu looked as if he had packed up and was about to leave work for the day. Even though Tong Qiu hadn’t said a word, Huo Zhixing knew something was wrong.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Tong Qiu lied. He didn’t want to seem like a helpless little bird in front of Huo Zhixing. “Just wanted to get some sun and you happened to call so I came by.” lJ126q

Huo Zhixing didn’t question him further and simply nodded, handing him the bag. “I’ve been busy this whole week and had a work trip, so I just got back.”

Tong Qiu nodded but mentally thought, ‘don’t worry about it, you don’t have to report back to me’.

“How have you been these days?”

“I’ve been great,” Tong Qiu responded. Things really were going great, when Fang Baicheng wasn’t bothering him, that is. “I’m going to head back first then. You should go home and get some rest too.”

“Alright,” Huo Zhixing made to leave, then added, “Let’s get dinner some time. There’s something I have to tell you.”

“What?”

“I’ll tell you then, it’s not urgent.” Huo Zhixing gave him a wave, and when he noticed that Tong Qiu still hadn’t budged, he turned first and walked out towards the main road.

Tong Qiu hated the feeling of being left hanging. The sensation was just like the saying ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop’. He had to give props to Huo Zhixing, thought, and suspected that Huo Zhixing had done it on purpose, just to whet his appetite. hPLzq0

He stood at the school’s front entrance and watched as Huo Zhixing disappeared around a corner. After waiting another five minutes, he walked out to hail a cab.

“I see Tong-laoshi has learned the art of telling lies.”

Huo Zhixing suddenly appeared in front of him, a wide grin on his face. Tong Qiu almost had a heart attack and even his palms started sweating. The reason he had almost jumped out of his own skin was because he thought Fang Baicheng had come back.

“Why are you still here?” QdyRIU

“I dropped something, so I came back to get it.”

“What did you drop?”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Huo Zhixing didn’t reply but answered with a question of his own. “So you really were on your way out?”

Kbcu Hle ygbeuta j tjcv ab tlr afwqif jcv wjrrjufv la. Lf weaafgfv, “P tjnf j tfjvjmtf rb P kjcafv ab ufa la mtfmxfv bea ja atf tbrqlaji.” STA7d

Snfc atbeut Kbcu Hle kjr bc atf atlc rlvf jcv gjgfis fzfgmlrfv, Leb Itlzlcu xcfk Kbcu Hle’r ybvs kjr ojlgis vegjyif jcv tf tjv cfnfg rffc Kbcu Hle rlmx bnfg atf sfjg jcv tjio atfs tjv yffc abufatfg.

“Is it a cold?”

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“I’m not sure,” Tong Qiu admitted, “but I don’t think it is. My head’s been hurting every afternoon these past few days. It might be because I’ve been using my brain so much.” He flashed a smile and joked, “Must be because I’m in third-year. After all, third-years studying for their entrance exams have to think a lot.”

Upon hearing his words, Huo Zhixing took a closer look at Tong Qiu and realized that Tong Qiu’s face was ashen and his lips were just as pale. 1w9XFb

“I’ll go with you.” Huo Zhixing took the bag from Tong Qiu’s hand. He stood at the side of the road and waved down a cab. “I can’t let you go alone in your current state.”

“It’s fine, I’m a grown man. I’m just going to the hospital.”

Despite Tong Qiu’s refusal, he still found himself getting into the car with Huo Zhixing.

While they were still standing outside, the fresh air had kept Tong Qiu’s discomfort at bay. However, as soon as they were in the car, Tong Qiu felt his nausea return. He really was starting to wonder if there was something awful growing inside his head. edtUpR

People were like that sometimes – they couldn’t help but imagine the worst possible scenario.

“How long has this been going on?” Huo Zhixing asked with a frown.

“It started this week.” Even talking made Tong Qiu feel weak. After he spoke, he let out a sigh and sagged against the car door.

Huo Zhixing glanced over at him, then reached out to wrap his arms around Tong Qiu. Tong Qiu made a noise but Huo Zhixing said, “Don’t lean against the door, it’s not safe.” LYGZVg

It wasn’t safe to lean against the door, which of course meant that it was very safe to lean against an actual person.

Under normal circumstances, Tong Qiu would have pushed him away but right now, he really did feel ill and couldn’t sit still. He wanted to lean against something for support and the truth was, he did feel a bit better with Huo Zhixing’s arms wrapped securely around him.

Huo Zhixing didn’t speak to Tong Qiu on the rest of the drive, though he did press a hand against Tong Qiu’s forehead, then felt his own forehead to compare their temperatures. Thankfully, Tong Qiu didn’t seem to have a fever.

The two of them went to the hospital that was closest to the school. It was a twenty minute drive and after they arrived, Tong Qiu ran directly to the washroom in the front foyer and vomited. y7m9x1

Huo Zhixing paid the cab fare then went inside. It took him some time to find Tong Qiu and he eventually spotted him coming out of the bathroom, looking sick as a dog and much too pitiful to bear.

“What’s wrong?” Huo Zhixing had no idea why Tong Qiu had bolted as soon as they got out of the car. It was almost as if he had seen a ghost.

“Just threw up a little.” Tong Qiu smiled faintly. “Who knows, maybe I’m pregnant.”

Huo Zhixing let out a laugh. He wrapped his arm around Tong Qiu’s shoulders and guided him to an empty seat in the waiting area. “I’ll go register for you, so wait here.” GkyUx

If Tong Qiu had come to the hospital alone today, he would have done the registration himself no matter how terrible he felt. But since Huo Zhixing was here anyway, he figured he should just do what he was told and let himself be lazy for once.

“I’ve troubled you.” Tong Qiu sat there with the bag that Huo Zhixing’s mother had given him on his lap. He looked like a poor little bunny as he said to Huo Zhixing, “Thank you.”

Chrysanthemum Garden.

In that moment, it was as if they had returned to the time before their divorce, when every little interaction came with a ‘thank you’ or a ‘I’ve troubled you’. It was getting old, to be honest.

Huo Zhixing casually ruffled Tong Qiu’s hair and joked, “You don’t have to thank me. That baby in your belly is mine anyway.” owhe3p

Tong Qiu let out a laugh as he watched Huo Zhixing walk towards the queue. Who would have thought the uptight Officer Huo could crack a joke like that?

Huo Zhixing buzzed around like a busy bee, running back and forth between the registration area and the consultation room. Afterwards, he even went off to pay the bill and then hurried back to accompany Tong Qiu for his CT scan.

Tong Qiu thought it was overkill for something like a headache and figured some medication would do, but the doctor insisted on a CT scan. After the scan, they had to wait until 4 o’clock to pick up the results.

“Four o’clock is a good time,” Huo Zhixing said with a glance at his watch. “If it’s any later the doctor will be off work for the day and you’d have to come back tomorrow.” PKcIfT

The fact that Tong Qiu was sick made Huo Zhixing’s own heart feel as if it were suspended in mid-air. He couldn’t stop worrying and could barely think of anything else.

The hospital was noisy and bustling with people and once Tong Qiu was finished, there were no unoccupied seats as far as the eye could see. Every free seat was occupied.

Huo Zhixing could tell from a single glance that Tong Qiu was uncomfortable – his lips were white and his deeply furrowed brows had formed lines on his pale skin. “Let’s go outside and find somewhere quiet to wait. You should try to rest, if you can.”

Truthfully, Tong Qiu was too tired to go somewhere else but the hospital was so crowded that he had trouble breathing. 0 dTy7

They left the building and walked out of the hospital, then headed towards a coffee shop across the street. “Let’s go over there,” Huo Zhixing said.

Huo Zhixing had planned on finding a quiet corner inside the shop where the two of them could chat, but before he knew it, Tong Qiu had sprawled across the table and fallen fast asleep.

It was just as well – if Tong Qiu could still fall asleep then he probably wasn’t in so much pain that it was unbearable.

Huo Zhixing shrugged off his jacket and gently draped it over Tong Qiu’s shoulders. He took a seat across from Tong Qiu and over the next two hours, he alternated between playing on his phone and flipping through the shop’s magazines. He also snuck a few photos of Tong Qiu’s sleeping face and when the sun was starting to set, Huo Zhixing lightly shook Tong Qiu by the shoulders to wake him. WoZMdH

Tong Qiu hadn’t had a good sleep in ages because of his migraines, so he was a little dazed when he came to. Still half-conscious, he reached out and grabbed hold of Huo Zhixing’s hand and mumbled softly, “Don’t wanna…”

Huo Zhixing was utterly powerless in the face of Tong Qiu’s display of childishness. Tong Qiu’s hand on his was slightly damp, likely from sweating while he was asleep. The way in which Tong Qiu had whispered was soft as a marshmallow and he didn’t seem like a teacher at all. In fact, he looked more like a cute student.

Huo Zhixing rarely thought of people as ‘adorable’. In fact, the last person he had called ‘adorable’ was his four-year-old niece.

Calling someone ‘adorable’ was high praise in Huo Zhixing’s books. He used the term only when every facet of a person stirred his heart and rendered him completely speechless. It was only in those moments that he would describe someone as ‘adorable’. Xdgy2a

In Huo Zhixing’s humble opinion, Tong Qiu was extremely adorable.

“It’s time to wake up,” Huo Zhixing said softly as he lightly kneaded Tong Qiu’s hand. When Tong Qiu didn’t react, Huo Zhixing went to sit beside him and gently rubbed his back. “Xiao-Qiu, wake up. If we don’t go back now the doctor will be gone soon.”

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Tong Qiu’s head shifted a bit in the crook of his arm and he grudgingly opened his eyes. He looked completely dazed, almost as if his spirit had fled his body while he was asleep.

Sleep had made him disheveled and his hair was a complete mess. He stared blankly ahead and it took him a few moments to wake up. V1IaRs

Huo Zhixing couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at his appearance. He reached out and flattened Tong Qiu’s bedhead. “Here, have some water. Once you’ve cooled down we’ll head back for your results.”

Tong Qiu turned to look at him and sucked in a breath when he suddenly realized what a mess he had become while asleep.

“Ah…” Tong Qiu rubbed his temples. “I have no idea when I fell asleep.”

“It’s good that you could sleep – better than being kept awake because of your headache.” Huo Zhixing glanced at him and noted that his complexion hadn’t improved. “After you see the doctor you should go home and rest some more. Even if it gets busy at work don’t push yourself and stay up late. And you should probably lay off the alcohol too.” BOc6Fw

Tong Qiu wanted to explain that he wasn’t an alcoholic, and that he didn’t normally stay up late anyway – he actually led a fairly healthy lifestyle. Huo Zhixing was probably aware of the fact, but maybe he thought Tong Qiu had run wild after being released from the shackles of their marriage.

While it was true that marriage had restricted Tong Qiu’s free spirit to some degree, he wasn’t so free-spirited as to soar away completely once freed. He wasn’t the high-flying type to begin with, and as someone who simply bottled up his repressed passions, he was more talk than walk when it really came down to it.

“Alright, let’s go,” Tong Qiu said. As he stood, the coat slid down his shoulders onto his seat.

As he bent to pick it up he realized with a start that it was Huo Zhixing’s police jacket. 9uy0UW

The jacket was very thick, very heavy and incredibly warm.

Tong Qiu had loved that jacket. Huo Zhixing had been given two jackets by the police department and had always alternated between them. Their apartment used to be a bit chilly when the central heating wasn’t turned on. On those days, Tong Qiu would throw on Huo Zhixing’s jacket over his pajamas and strut around the apartment like an emperor in his new clothes.

Tong Qiu handed the jacket back to Huo Zhixing and watched helplessly as Huo Zhixing put it on. He suddenly remembered his new igloo-like apartment and couldn’t help but think longingly of the days when he could curl up on the couch with a book, Huo Zhixing’s jacket wrapped snugly around him.

Tong Qiu thought, ‘if it really can’t be helped, should I just save up and buy one off him?’ gRXB1f

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Please be aware that this is not an mpreg story. Tong-laoshi doesn’t actually have a womb~ cgDXrs