Xiao Yuanmu had kept his promise. After asking Song Xuanhe what materials he needed, everything the latter had requested was sent to the apartment within a day.
Moreover, Xiao Yuanmu insisted on freeing up half of his study room for Song Xuanhe to use as a workbench when there was obviously still room to spare.
The place near the floor-to-ceiling windows used to be part of Xiao Yuanmu’s desk area. It was transformed into Song Xuanhe’s workbench, while Xiao Yuanmu’s desk had been shifted next to the bookcase. With the two facing each other, both Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu were able to work separately yet survey the other while working. It was harmonious in a weird way.
After the study was rearranged, Xiao Yuanmu did not go back to the company again. Instead, while still busy, he spent fifteen hours in that study, with the difference being that he could stare at Song Xuanhe while the latter was working on his design and tailoring.
As three days swept by, Song Xuanhe got used to working in the same room as Xiao Yuanmu, the two busy with their own work.
But today, people started arriving at the apartment in waves, one after another. Some were unfamiliar faces that needed Xiao Yuanmu to interrupt Song Xuanhe’s work to introduce them, and they greeted Song Xuanhe with a solemn stoicity.
After meeting Xiao Yuanmu’s fund manager, lawyer, and doctor, Song Xuanhe finally couldn’t help but ask, “Why are they all running here, did they all make an appointment to come together?”
“I officially took over the Xiao family.” Xiao Yuanmu pursed his lips, rubbed Song Xuanhe’s head reassuringly, and said with a smile, “The people who report to me and the people who belong to the Xiao family have to move separately. If I’m not in the company, this is where they would go. ”
“Even your…”
Before Song Xuanhe could finish his sentence, Yang Jie knocked on the door and inquired, “Xiao-ge, Young Master Song, Mr. Zhang is here.”
With Xiao Yuanmu working in his home, Yang Jie would also stay at his apartment for assistance. It was just that while he would operate from the living room or in other rooms usually, today he had become the steward in ushering guests to and from the apartment.
“Let him come in.” Xiao Yuanmu gave a soft chuckle as he opened his mouth.
Zhang Siwei walked in and politely greeted Song Xuanhe with a grin. “I heard that this place has become very lively recently.”
“Leadership renewal.” Xiao Yuanmu lightly commented.
“That’s right.” Zhang Siwei walked to the sofa and sat down, glanced at Song Xuanhe’s workbench, and presented an expression of intrigue. “Young Master Song, is that your upcoming design for fashion week? It’s not bad. As an acquaintance, can I book your services in advance?”
“No.” Xiao Yuanmu ruthlessly rejected him. “He designed that outfit for me. There is only one in the whole world, and only I can wear it.”
Zhang Siwei raised his eyebrows and saw the pride in Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes. His lips curled in mirth. “Okay, you would be the one and only owner. Right then, let’s talk business.”
Xiao Yuanmu nodded in response and sat by Zhang Siwei’s side. The two took out their respective laptops, and started a soft-spoken discussion.
Song Xuanhe peered at the two of them before looking away and concentrated on his print.
Time continued to pass day by day, and the system started a countdown in Song Xuanhe’s mind. There were still many visitors to the apartment, before the apartment regained its tranquility three days before his deadline.
Without Yang Jie’s knocking on the door from time to time, without the soft conversation in the other direction, Song Xuanhe could not help but feel slightly discomfited, but within half an hour, he re-entered his work again.
This outfit had taken a week to complete, and it was down to the final finishing touch. With just a few details to be done, it was close to being worn.
Song Xuanhe glanced at Xiao Yuanmu who was facing him. He was signing a document. When Song Xuanhe took a secret glance, the latter met Song Xuanhe’s eyes, politely smiled, before resuming to look at a second document.
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.
“Tbe tjnf j iba bo vbmewfcar ab rluc gfmfcais.” Vbcu Wejctf qea vbkc atf yeaabc lc tlr tjcv, jcv jrxfv, “Jbeiv la yf atja Obelr mjiifv la j vjs jcv abrrfv atfw ab sbe?”
“Obelr tjr wbgf vbmewfcar ab rluc.” Wljb Tejcwe qjerfv kglalcu, yiegglcu tlr ifaafgr abufatfg. Lf iloafv tlr qfc, jcv mbcalcefv, “P’nf yffc nfgs yers gfmfcais.”
Song Xuanhe nodded. He knew just how busy Song Xuanhe was. After going on that company trip, he grew even busier and rested less than before; barely sleeping for five hours.
I hope it will get better after this. Song Xuanhe looked away.
Once he got into the mood, Song Xuanhe could work for hours at a time. An afternoon passed by the time Song Xuanhe cut the last thread. He looked at the finished garment and gave a satisfactory nod, before turning to Xiao Yuanmu. “I’m finished with the outfit, see if it fits.”
There was no response. Song Xuanhe merely figured that Xiao Yuanmu was too focused on his work, and turned his head.
Xiao Yuanmu had planted his head on the table, as though he was entirely exhausted.
Song Xuanhe put down the outfit, took a blanket from the sofa and covered Xiao Yuanmu. During this period of time, Xiao Yuanmu had exerted too much of himself in pouring over the Xiao family’s affairs, RE’s operations as well as the matter of Mrs. Xiao and Xiao Baicong. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Song Xuanhe brushed away his forelocks, and felt Xiao Yuanmu’s forehead. His temperature was a little high. Song Xuanhe furrowed his brow, and just as he was about to try again, the words on the document next to him piqued his attention.
—Property Transfer Contract, Plaintiff: Xiao Yuanmu.
Song Xuanhe paused his fingers, and pulled the contract out from under Xiao Yuanmu’s elbow. Before he could take a closer look, the system interjected: [There’s something wrong with Xiao Yuanmu! He’s not sleeping, he’s unconscious! You need to get him to the hospital quickly!]
“Give him a full body check.” Song Xuanhe immediately put down the property transfer contract, and stretched out his hand to test the temperature of Xiao Yuanmu’s forehead. Still too hot for a normal person.
Song Xuanhe trembled slightly when he touched Xiao Yuanmu’s hand, and a strong unease unleashed within his heart. While taking out his mobile phone to call Yu Yan, Song Xuanhe gently shook Xiao Yuanmu and called his name, but the latter remained unresponsive.
Yu Yan answered the phone before the third dial tone. “Mr. Song? Is there something wrong?”
“Xiao Yuanmu has a fever now, he’s in bad shape. Where should I send him?”
“Wait!” Yu Yan paused, pushed Zhou Nan’s hand away, got up and went outside the room to pick up the landline phone, dialed the phone before going back to Song Xuanhe. “I’ll contact you and Mr. Xiao right away, are you in Mr. Xiao’s apartment now?”
“Yes.”
“Just wait for a while, in about ten minutes, someone will come upstairs to pick him up. During this period, try to help Mr. Xiao cool down, but don’t let him catch a cold, okay?”
Song Xuanhe hung up the phone and called Yang Jie again.
Yang Jie had the key to Xiao Yuanmu’s house. Within two minutes, he ran up. Stunned to see Xiao Yuanmu lying on the sofa, his face turned pale instantly.
With an ice towel in hand, Song Xuanhe noticed Yang Jie’s strange expression, yet he did not feel the urge to ask. Instead, he gave Yang Jie a quick glance before turning his attention back to Xiao Yuanmu.
“Young Master Song…” Yang Jie questioned, “Did you call a doctor? Who did you call? Is it an ambulance from the public hospital?”
“No.” Song Xuan replied, “I called Yu Yan.”
Yang Jie heaved a sigh of relief. He opened his mouth upon seeing Song Xuanhe’s tense face, but changed his mind and kept his mouth shut as his gaze continued to shift onto the unconscious Xiao Yuanmu.
Yu Yan was fast in his arrangements, and the person he had summoned arrived after seven minutes. The doctors and nurses were prepared and started to check on him in an orderly manner the moment Xiao Yuanmu was moved into the ambulance.
Song Xuanhe sat at the side with a mulled expression as he waited for the doctors to finish their examination.
The car slowly left the city area, and headed towards the suburbs.
“Where is this going?” Song Xuanhe looked away from Xiao Yuanmu and faced Yu Yan. “I don’t remember any hospital in this direction, and the Xiao family’s private hospital is not located here either.”
Yu Yan was very calm in the face of Song Xuanhe’s interrogation. “Mr. Xiao’s current situation cannot be known to the Xiao family. Mr. Xiao had invested in the hospital. To be precise, it should be considered a nursing home and Mr. Xiao’s private clinic. Even so, we have all the preparations needed at the clinic, and it’s even more complete than a hospital. Please be at ease.”
Song Xuanhe did not doubt Yu Yan’s words. After all, if Yu Yan could not be trusted, Yang Jie had no objections. Thus, the place they were heading towards was dependable.
It’s just that he had never heard of this nursing home that Xiao Yuanmu had invested in, let alone a private clinic the latter had constructed for himself.
Recalling what had occurred during this busy period, Song Xuanhe’s anxiety grew further. He could only hope that Xiao Yuanmu would be honest with him, and tell him at the appropriate time.
The car was fast, but steady, and within thirty minutes, they had arrived at the clinic with the first-class facilities exceeding that of a private hospital. Song Xuanhe was in no mood to tour the area, and hurried after Yu Yan and the others into a small building.
The doctors pushed Xiao Yuanmu into a separate consulting room to examine him. Yu Yan stayed outside the door, waiting with Song Xuanhe and Yang Jie.
At this time, Song Xuanhe heaved a sigh in relief. “Is Xiao Yuanmu hiding something from me, or are you and Xiao Yuanmu hiding something from me together?” He asked Yang Jie.
Yang Jie pursed his lips, avoided Song Xuanhe’s eyes, and responded in a low voice, “Brother Xiao… he will tell you.”
“Why did you go to Country F?” The faint smell of disinfectant had triggered the depression in Song Xuanhe’s heart. He wore a cold expression and deepened his voice as he continued to hoarsely question Yang Jie. “Tell me.”
“I can’t tell you about this, Young Master Song. Again, Brother Xiao would tell you.”
As Yang Jie’s evasion continued, Song Xuanhe could no longer tolerate the apprehension he held.
[How is Xiao Yuanmu’s body?]
[His physical condition is somewhat complicated.] The system replied. [I still need time for further checks.]
Song Xuanhe frowned. [Isn’t your technology better than the equipment of this era? Why does it take so long just to check Xiao Yuanmu’s body?]
[Since you completed the tasks, many of my functions have been forcibly withdrawn. So the body scanning system is not as advanced as before. I’m sorry. ]
The system’s apology was like a pail of cold water on Song Xuanhe’s face.
[You don’t have to apologize. ] Song Xuanhe rubbed the space between his eyebrows, walked to the sofa by the wall and sat down before putting his head into his hands. [I was too anxious and lost my calm, I should apologize to you instead. Sorry. ]
[You don’t have to apologize. ] The system said: [I’m just… a system, you don’t have to apologize to a system.]
Song Xuanhe felt the corner of his lips reluctantly twitch. [So unfeeling? You have called me brother for so long. We could be friends, you know?]
[Friend? ] The system hesitated.
[What? Your main system stipulates that you cannot make friends?] Song Xuanhe asked.
[Of course not.] The system answered quickly before falling silent. After more than ten seconds, it declared, [I will check Xiao Yuanmu’s body thoroughly. Don’t worry, he will be fine.]
The corner of Song Xuanhe’s mouth dropped. He covered his eyes with a hand, and hummed to himself.
In fact, the whole interrogation he did with Yang Jie? That was just venting.
Xiao Yuanmu’s sudden silence, frequent overtime, the whole mishmash of Xiao Yuanmu’s poor concealment of his trip to country F; Xue Mian’s complicated look, Yang Jie’s hesitant expression after returning from country F, the wave of visitors to Xiao Yuanmu’s apartment, and Xiao Yuanmu’s sudden coma. The property transfer contract.
The truth was obvious, yet Song Xuanhe had no guts to unveil the curtain.
Not long after, the doctor in the emergency room came out. “Mr. Xiao is in very bad health now, but the specific situation will not be known until further examination and analysis.”
Song Xuanhe was not surprised. If the system needed time to do its scanning, the doctor would only take longer. He calmly queried, “How long will it take?”
“Up to three hours.” The doctor gave a conservative estimation.
Song Xuanhe nodded and returned to the sofa. He stared down at the floor, his thoughts elsewhere.
Some time had passed, before the system spoke with a complicated tone [Xiao Yuanmu, he…]
At the same time it opened its mouth, Yang Jie ran over and hissed to Song Xuanhe, “Brother Xiao is awake!”
Song Xuanhe staggered to his feet and ran towards the patient room. When he reached the door, he slowed, and retreated two steps.
Behind this door was the truth that he had always wanted to know, but now, he couldn’t even be clear whether he needed it.
“Young Master Song?” Yu Yan walked over. “Mr. Xiao is awake, won’t you go in?”
Song Xuanhe rolled his shoulders and pushed upon the door. “I’m going in.”
Yu Yan nodded and left. Song Xuanhe stepped into the ward, and turned his attention to the man with a whitened face, but little to distinguish him from before.
Song Xuanhe tightened his grip on the door, put down his raised foot, and waited quietly for Xiao Yuanmu. The latter blinked blearily at him.
“Are you angry?”
Before Song Xuanhe could answer, the light in Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes dimmed. “I’ll buy you porridge, don’t be angry, okay?”
His eyes were full of resignation, yet they were clearer than before.
Oh my. I had my thoughts that maybe XYM has cancer just like SXH had in the last life of his. Kinda like universe balancing it out?
But with this ending… Did XYM return to his timeline – (where he’s dead?) or maybe he’s so out of it he regressed mentally to the original XYM’s state?
Hmm nope but you can figure that out once you read the next few chapters!
Thank you for the chapter ❤️
gAAAHH!! Will he di3???? 😭😭😭
BRUH WE CAME SO FAR DONT JUST LET MUMU DIE OFF LIKE THIS AKSMSLSK
Ty for uploading! 🌸
Honestly SXH has had so much patience and trust with XYM and let things happen around him. He let his questions go unanswered and to wait for XYM to reveal the truth, I would have gone crazy and been mad. Especially when it seems like everyone around you knows what’s going on but they all tell SXH to wait for XYM to tell him. It can be so frustrating!
What a roller-coaster….
I don’t if I want to read the next chapters… Although I’m very much anxious, I’m also very scared ☹️ please please please be a happy end 😭
I kinda forgot about it but didn’t SXH have 3 chances to make the system do smth. didn’t he only use it once to check on XYM through the door or smth?
has this chance been mentioned again?
SXH is such a strong person. I’m an anxious person, I would’ve made scenarios in my head already and overthink it. He has so much trust in XYM than anyone. My poor babies ｡:ﾟ(;´∩`;)ﾟ:｡
Talk, kids, talk! ><
Thank You for the chapter ʚ♡⃛ɞ(ू•ᴗ•ू❁)