translator: Eve

editors: xiin

“I’m sorry.”

This was the first time Xiao Yuanmu had seen Song Xuanhe cry. It was also the first time he had ever heard Song Xuanhe apologize to him.

Although it had only been two teardrops that were quickly wiped away, even if the other still didn’t want to tell him the truth yet despite the apology, the dark, gloomy feeling in his chest was swept away by heartache. The anger and harshness in his chest was replaced with concern.

Louis had once said, “Once, when Yang was drunk, he described your relationship with Song as ‘one objects bests another object.’ He said that, because of this, even if he didn’t approve of your relationship, he couldn’t persuade you out of it. After I went home, I looked up what that idiom meant. The only thing I’m not certain of, is who is whose weakness.”

Now, he knew the answer. As long as it was what Song Xuanhe wanted, Xiao Yuanmu was willing to surrender his everything to him.

And he was perfectly happy to do so.

“Xiao Yuanmu.”

Song Xuanhe called out his name. The moment Xiao Yuanmu’s clear eyes met his, Song Xuanhe lifted a hand and covered the other’s eyes gently. He could feel the other man’s long, straight eyelashes tickling his palm. They brought with them an itchy, numb feeling. The feeling made a stark contrast to the pain in his abdomen as he forced himself into a sitting position. Unexpectedly, the feeling against his palm was somehow more intense and clear than the ache in his abdomen.

Xiao Yuanmu, whose sight was suddenly obstructed, paused. He could feel the warmth emanating from Song Xuanhe’s palm. He closed his eyes.

Song Xuanhe’s hand laid over Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes as he took in the lines of Xiao Yuanmu’s straight nose and his perfect, slightly pale lips. He slowly came closer and their noses bumped together. He covered Xiao Yuanmu’s lips with his own.

Xiao Yuanmu’s mind blanked. His eyes snapped open and his eyelashes once again swept over Song Xuanhe’s palm. At the same time, Song Xuanhe thrust his tongue into Xiao Yuanmu’s mouth. He no longer wanted to think about anything else. All he wanted to do was stay in this position and quietly experience this kiss.

Light gradually filtered through the cracks between the other’ fingers. Their intertwined breaths in the space between their noses gradually parted and the moist, soft warm left his mouth. The heat slowly disappeared, leaving only a vestige of its warmth.

Song Xuanhe stared into Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes and asked, “Will you forgive me?”

Xiao Yuanmu quietly said, “Mn.”

He then pressed his hand to the back of Song Xuanhe’s head, pressing their lips together once more. This time, the kiss was much deeper.

Their tongues and lips were locked together, the taste of the other filling their mouths. The heightened atmosphere continued to heat up. Occasionally, their breaths would cause the tiny dust particles in the air to shiver.

Creak—

The sound of the door moving against the floor was especially noticeable in the quiet infirmary. The two of them immediately broke apart, both turning to look at the door.

“Looks like we’ve interrupted something?” Louis and the doctor were at the door. Louis shrugged, appearing regretful, although there was no apology in his tone. “Although I really want to apologize, I think that Song probably shouldn’t do any intensive exercise. What do you think, Dr. Nathan?”

Dr. Nathan smiled and nodded. “As a doctor, I approve of what Mr. Louis has said. Furthermore, Mr. Song might have tore his wounds open with that position so I’m going to have to take a look at him.”

Xiao Yuanmu’s look of displeasure transformed. He turned around and was met with Song Xuanhe’s face that was even paler now, contrasted with his bright red lips.

“Dr. Nathan.” Xiao Yuanmu shifted over, “Please.”

Dr. Nathan nodded and went over to pull Song Xuanhe’s shirt up. When he saw the bloody gauze, his smile turned grave. “Mr. Song, your condition is not looking good right now. There was only a sixty percent chance of infection at the time of surgery, but it looks like it has increased since then. I will require your cooperation in treatment.”

Song Xuanhe leaned against the bed and nodded. “Of course.”

“I will take your temperature in a bit.” Dr. Nathan said, “How do you feel right now?”

Song Xuanhe pursed his lips and glanced at Xiao Yuanmu. He could only tell the truth, faced with the other’s concern. “It hurts more now than when I first woke up. I originally thought it was just because the anaesthesia wore off. Is it already infected?”

Dr. Nathan frowned. “The anaesthesia should have worn off more than ten hours ago. It seems like you do have an infection. I will give you an antibiotic injection in a bit. We have to transfer you as soon as possible.”

Louis said, “I’ve already contacted Hoffman. He’s very interested in our proposal and has already agreed to help. Our flight should land by the aircraft parking area near Mohammed and then in twenty minutes. We should prepare.”

Song Xuanhe looked up. “Rong Hoffman?”

“You know him?” Louis was surprised. He then said, “Yes, Rong Hoffman, the Hoffman Family’s sole successor. If we disregard the authorities of other countries, the only people left capable of making both factions in X Country to compromise are the people of the Hoffman clan. However, the Hoffman Family hadn’t wanted to get involved. Xiao had paid a lot….”

“Louis.” Xiao Yuanmu gave Louis a cool glance before telling Song Xuanhe, “Rest. We’ll leave in a bit.”

Song Xuanhe glanced at Louis, who had shut his mouth tightly, and then turned to look at Xiao Yuanmu. “Mn.”

Xiao Yuanmu nodded at him and then left with Louis.

Dr. Nathan smiled. “Xiao cares about you a lot. This is the first time I’ve seen him care about someone so much. He doesn’t even show half as much care to his relatives.”

“I know.” Song Xuanhe looked away and asked, “Dr. Nathan, how do you know Xiao Yuanmu doesn’t care about his family? Maybe he just doesn’t show it on his face.”

Dr. Nathan shook his head. “A student of mine knows Mr. Xiao. He has taken a post in the Xiao Family recently. The other physicians who serve the Xiao Family have been making things hard on him. If Mr. Xiao’s position in the Xiao Family was stable or the situation in the family was peaceful, that wouldn’t have happened. Oh, he and I have been transferred to Mr. Xiao’s side. When we get to Y City, you’ll probably meet him.

Song Xuanhe: “Can you tell me about the Xiao Family?”

“Of course.” Dr. Nathan said, “What do you want to hear about?”

“Are Mr. and Mrs. Xiao kind to Xiao Yuanmu?”

“Naturally. They treat Mr. Xiao very well.”

Nathan’s ‘naturally’ sounded very certain. But if you listened carefully, it was less certain than his ‘of course’ from earlier.

“What about his younger brother?” Song Xuanhe asked, “There are only four masters in the Xiao Family. Since Mr. and Mrs. Xiao are nice to him, that means that the people causing trouble for your student have to be Xiao Baicong’s people, right?

Nathan shook his head. “If you want to hear more about how Mr. Xiao is doing in the Xiao Family, I can tell you that. But you will have to inquire yourself in the future if you want to learn about their family’s secrets.”

Song Xuanhe’s expression changed slightly. He suddenly asked, “How is Mr. Xiao doing?”

A sliver of surprise flashed through Nelson’s eyes but he covered it up very quickly. “The patriarch is very healthy.”

“Is that so?” Song Xuanhe raised a brow but didn’t ask anything else regarding that. Instead, he asked, “Can you tell me about what you are allowed to talk about with regards to the Xiao Family?”

“I can only tell you about Mr. Xiao Yuanmu.” Dr. Nathan said, “His body is doing well. Although he will occasionally forget to rest, he exercises earnestly every day. Aside from….”

Song Xuanhe raised and interrupted Nathan. “Can you tell me how Xiao Yuanmu is doing in the Xiao Family right now? This is very important to me.”

Nathan paused and then bore into Song Xuanhe’s eyes. “Indeed, it is very important for you. But I cannot influence your thoughts with my own. You have to draw your own conclusions based on your own observations.”

Song Xuanhe nodded. In other words, this conversation was a waste of time. Nathan’s lips were so guarded, it was like he was trained in the special forces or something. He couldn’t get a single thing out of him.

It was just…when he thought of Nathan’s student, someone came to mind. Song Xuanhe looked up. “Dr. Nathan, can I ask you a question? Is your student a Chinese man named Yu Yan?”

Dr. Nathan looked shocked. “You know him?”

“Yes.” Song Xuanhe asked, “Is he doing well?”

Nathan was astonished. He didn’t expect Song Xuanhe to ask this, so he was very honest. “He’s doing well. Are you friends?”

“He’s a friend of a friend.”

Song Xuanhe smiled. He was about to ask something else when he noticed that Xiao Yuanmu was back.

“You know Yu Yan?”

Song Xuanhe chuckled. “Zhou Nan’s first love.”

Xiao Yuanmu didn’t hide his surprise. “Zhou Nan?”

“Mn. I think they dated in elementary school and high school.”

Xiao Yuanmu nodded. He had known from his previous life that Yu Yan had someone he liked. Yu Yan had even said that the reason why he didn’t want to go back to China was because he didn’t want to see his ex. When he did have to go back to the country, he even purposely spoke to him in what could be taken as an intimate manner by outsiders at the banquets they attended, all for the sake of preventing his ex from bothering him. He just didn’t expect that rumours of him and Yu Yan potentially being involved would spread after that. People even started to say Yu Yan was one of the people courting him.

Afterwards, when Yu Yan apologized to him, he also found out that the other’s first love had also been at the banquet. He understood why the other did what he had. He just didn’t expect that the world would be so small. Yu Yan’s first love was unexpectedly Zhou Nan.

Song Xuanhe was thinking about Yu Yan, whose heart had held deep pain for a long time until he finally fell in love with Xiao Yuanmu in the end of the novel. He sighed. “First loves never end well.”

Xiao Yuanmu looked at him and Song Xuanhe added: “At least it seems that way based on the people around me.”

“I’m not your first love,” Xiao Yuanmu said coolly, “So you don’t have to worry.”

Song Xuanhe fell silent for a moment. His gaze grew shifty and he didn’t reply.

Xiao Yuanmu recalled Yu Yan and Zhou Nan’s ending in his last life. While Yu Yan had acted like he had been avoiding Zhou Nan on the surface, he had always paid special attention to news of Zhou Nan. When he had found out that the Zhou Family had arranged a marriage for Zhou Nan, he had rushed back to China. Before Xiao Yuanmu had gotten into that car accident, he had received a call from Yu Yan. The other had been inviting him to attend their wedding. He had said that he wanted to introduce him to his partner.

It seems like Zhou Nan and Yu Yan had gotten back together in the end.

“They will end up together in the end,” Xiao Yuanmu said, “Don’t worry.”

Although Song Xuanhe was surprised at the other’s certainty, he said, “I’m not worried about them.”

“I was talking about us.”

Song Xuanhe was caught off guard for a moment. A few seconds later, he processed what the other meant and replied, “I’m not worried about us either.”

Eve: FINALLY. 131 chapters of slowburn and they are finally, officially together. Song Xuanhe’s show of weakness and desperation in the first few paragraphs hurt, in a good way. He was finally able to break down his walls and show his vulnerable side. He’s finally able to let himself go after his own happiness. Be happy, my babies.