Chapter 41: A Desperate Stand and a Gentle Rescue

“Happy birthday, Senior Ye Zi.”

In the recording, Guan Qing smiled. Then, a piano version of ‘Happy Birthday to You’ began to flow gently in the quiet, cold room. The piano sounded a bit clumsy, with an occasional wrong note, but it still stumbled on.

Until the entire piece finished, until the audio played to the end, neither of them spoke.

Ye Zi’s face was extremely grim.

Guan Qing felt weak all over, unable to utter a single word.

So this idea had sprouted, about two months ago. He had prepared everything. Of course, it was hidden from Xie Xu; if Xie Xu knew, he would probably explode.

Perhaps, as Ye Zi said, he was just unbearably stupid.

But he didn’t think he had done anything wrong. Not now, not ever.

Whatever he did for others, he never expected anything in return.

“I…”

Ye Zi started a syllable, but couldn’t continue.

He sat back down, head lowered, expression unclear, but seemed very dejected. The wind stopped. The ice on the window shattered bit by bit. Guan Qing also felt the oppressive pressure that had been suffocating him slowly weaken.

But it hadn’t disappeared yet.

“I,” Guan Qing took a breath, smiled self-deprecatingly, and said, “I don’t hate you.”

Ye Zi stiffened, suddenly looked up at him, emotions brewing in his eyes.

Guan Qing inhaled. Though his eyes were covered, he lifted his head toward Ye Zi’s direction and said deliberately:

“I only… pity you.”

“Always pretending, always deceiving others, always treating people like fools—is it fun? Others’ negative emotions can’t lessen your pain; they only let you feel at ease in self-deception.”

“In fact, the tumor growing on you—if you don’t cut it off yourself, no one can help you. Even if you infect the whole world with that tumor, it’s useless.”

Guan Qing curved his lips into a carefree smile, earnestly yet disdainfully:

“You think Xie Xu is like you?”

“No, completely different. When he’s sick, he takes medicine; when he does something wrong, he corrects it. His way of loving someone is to embrace them, not to destroy them arrogantly.”

“Love is two people embracing, becoming better together—not two maggots dragging each other into the abyss in a muddy ditch. Your feelings, I don’t think they can be called love. At best… jealousy, possessiveness—”

“Shut up.”

Ye Zi said grimly.

His composure, maintained for so long, finally broke. He casually knocked the tea cup off the table. Scalding tea spilled everywhere, winding and twisting, black tea leaves scattered among it.

The cup rolled on the floor and shattered into pieces.

“Who gave you the confidence? Guan Qing, you’re really something.” Ye Zi twitched his mouth, clapped twice, and said, “If I remember correctly, Xie Xu is abroad, right?”

Even if he took a helicopter, he wouldn’t make it in time.

“Some words don’t need to be backed by power to be spoken.”

Guan Qing shook his head:

“You’re furious… Are you afraid?”

Ye Zi didn’t speak. Guan Qing heard rustling sounds and was suddenly lifted by someone. He struggled violently, panicked, but his voice was extremely calm: “No, Ye Zi, you’re in a hurry.”

Ye Zi had even forgotten to threaten him with his mother.

Someone was coming. Guan Qing thought.

Ye Zi hadn’t shown anything, but Guan Qing inexplicably felt Ye Zi’s tension spike. He snapped his fingers. Someone entered and approached Guan Qing, then—

Guan Qing, relying on memory, found the shattered teacup fragments on the floor. He struggled free from his restraints, threw himself to the ground, pressed the fragment against his throat, and said to Ye Zi:

“Don’t move.”

“…”

Ye Zi’s face showed fury. His expression was terrible. He waved at the group and walked over himself.

“I said don’t move.” Guan Qing exerted force; the skin on his neck broke, and blood soon flowed.

Ye Zi’s expression changed. He stopped and didn’t move forward.

Footsteps came from outside the door. Ye Zi’s heart sank.

The footsteps weren’t steady—hesitant, even humming a tune, like a classic old song ‘Yesterday Once More.’ Finally, the door was knocked.

The entire room fell silent.

The door was locked, and the handle was frozen. It was impossible—

The sound of ice cracking came from the entrance. The door creaked and opened.

“How did this door freeze? Haven’t been back for two months, the weather in S City…” The person complained halfway, holding a doorknob—clearly he had forced the door open with brute strength. Seeing the scene inside, he paused.

After a moment, he said somewhat dramatically:

“Zizi, what are you doing to Qingqing?”

When Guan Qing got on the plane, he was still… Well, he was injured, so of course that was nothing. What was unreal was everything he had experienced today.

Almost being kidnapped twice.

And…

Guan Qing glanced to the side, at Xie Qing, who was humming with legs crossed, playing Snake on his phone.

At such a critical moment, Xie Qing had appeared just in time, and Guan Qing realized that Xie Qing possessed terrifying power. Although the bodyguards waiting outside later arrived, initially, Xie Qing had single-handedly…

“You—”

“Shh.” Xie Qing put his index finger to his lips and said to him, “Qingqing, I know you have many questions, but right now you need to rest.”

Like a loving father, he leaned over to tuck Guan Qing’s blanket in, then stroked his hair, saying, “Sleep.”

Guan Qing had no choice but to pretend to sleep. After a while, unable to resist while Xie Qing was engrossed in Snake, he opened his phone to look at the file Xie Xu had sent him. About his mother’s matters, he still couldn’t contact anyone, but… this plane, according to Xie Qing, seemed to be heading to the Czech Republic.

—”Don’t worry, I’ll send you there now. After dropping you off, I’ll go back to the M country.” That’s what Xie Qing had said.

Although Xie Qing looked nonchalant and carefree, the dark circles under his eyes and a few white hairs among his black strands showed he had been overwhelmed with corporate matters lately. Guan Qing didn’t feel right asking more. He pulled up the blanket and opened the link Xie Xu had sent again.

First, a paragraph came into view:

“Baby, it’s Xie Xu. I’m sorry that during such a chaotic time, I can’t be with you, can’t wait for you to wake up. I’m really worried about what might happen to you, but… I must atone for what I’ve done. To protect you, I’ve done everything I could… But who knows what will actually happen? The moment I wrote this, and every second after, I worry about you and miss you endlessly.”

Guan Qing’s finger paused on the screen.

Xie Xu… had indeed done everything he could. The hospital, bodyguards, the pressure, even Xie Qing’s timely arrival.

It was just that Ye Zi and Jiang Lu’s actions were too unreasonable.

“I’m not good with words. I’ve done many things wrong, from the past, to the present, and even in the future. I’m not a perfect person, not even an outstanding one. I might continue to make mistakes in the future, but I will correct them. I’m willing to change, no matter what I have to do. As for the things I hid from you before, I hope I can slowly tell you in person, bit by bit.”

“Time is short; the plane is about to take off. I can only write this much. Behind this are some things you’ve been puzzled about… You can read them if you want, or delete them if you don’t.”

“That’s it. I love you.”

Guan Qing’s nose tingled, and he felt a surge of tears.

The feeling was inexplicable but overwhelming. He couldn’t help it. He sniffled and scrolled down.

He had more or less guessed the general content, but some things still shocked him. Xie Xu didn’t defend himself in the file, just stated facts. Perhaps due to time constraints, he only roughly listed evidence.

For example, Xie Xu’s frequent contact with Jiang Lu during that period had always been a thorn in Guan Qing’s heart. Even though he had tried to convince himself, it was hard to let go. He had originally thought Xie Xu did it for his paper… but in fact, it wasn’t entirely that.

Jiang Lu was actually Xie Xu’s cousin, Wang Yun’s nephew. This surprised Guan Qing; he had never heard of it before.

The paper was one aspect, but the other was… during that time, Jiang Lu constantly threatened suicide.

Jiang Lu was already frail. With all this, he ended up in the emergency room every few days. As for pheromones… Xie Xu said he had once given Jiang Lu an emergency blood transfusion. He didn’t know if that was exploited.

Xie Xu didn’t want to tell Guan Qing at the time because of the paper. He wanted to handle everything first before telling him.

“But that ‘heat period’ really had nothing to do with Jiang Lu. Even if he is an omega, he has zero attraction for me. How could he induce it? Baby, I think what induced my heat period…

“Was you.”

Guan Qing blushed at this point. Xie Xu’s words were polite, but he felt like he was being teased.

There was more content below. Guan Qing was about to scroll down when his blanket was suddenly lifted. Xie Qing smiled and reached out to him.

Guan Qing: “…”

Like a high schooler caught playing on his phone by a parent, he helplessly handed over the phone.

Without the phone, Guan Qing soon fell asleep. When he woke up again—

The sky over Prague was very blue, vast azure spreading before his eyes. In his ears was the unique, worldly yet peaceful hustle and bustle of a small town.

He was gently held in someone’s arms.

Xie Xu looked down at him, kissed his forehead, and said:

“Sorry, did I wake you?”

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