45 – He Doesn’t Care About Death

Episode 45: He Does Not Care for Death

Sure enough, He Yu openly rejected Xie Qingcheng.

He remained completely silent, as if he had decided to evaporate entirely from Xie Qingcheng’s side.

Xie Qingcheng had stopped by the hospital. However, He Yu, unable to adjust to the noisy public hospital, had moved his room to a private clinic, meaning Xie Qingcheng couldn’t even set foot inside.

The following few days were incredibly chaotic for Xie Qingcheng.

Xie Xue, Chen Man… old neighbors, colleagues, and even superiors—all sorts of people asked what on earth had happened that night. They asked why a dark organization had broadcast his video. In addition to this, he had to appear at the police station frequently for investigations to finalize the given procedures.

Xie Qingcheng knew the internet was buzzing over the incident, but unexpectedly, he remained unaffected. This was simply because he had no time to sit back and leisurely browse social media.

Xie Xue, needless to say, had been crying and sobbing, unable to hang up the phone for a long time. She asked where he was and said she would come find him, but Xie Qingcheng hid his specific location and firmly refused.

Fortunately, Xie Xue had never seen the photos of the scene where their parents died. To protect his younger sister, and to ensure she wouldn’t fall into a long despair like he had, he had kept the specific cause of their parents’ death a secret from her.

Xie Xue had to remain as ignorant as possible.

And then there was Chen Man.

Unlike Xie Xue, Chen Man knew the inner workings of the situation, so he was the first to arrive while Xie Qingcheng was undergoing his primary investigation.

Since he didn’t belong to Zheng Jingfeng’s organization, he took a leave of absence and rushed over. As soon as he entered the police station, he hugged Xie Qingcheng tightly. His usual impatient nature had vanished; unexpectedly, it took a long time before he could barely squeeze out a single sentence.

“Hyung, you did this just to scare me, right?”

Xie Qingcheng noticed the bluish stubble spreading beneath his chin. He must have been too distracted to shave properly these past few days. He sighed and patted Chen Man on the back.

Later, once the investigation had finally wound down, Chen Man returned to the police station, saying he would escort Xie Qingcheng back to the dormitory.

Actually, Xie Xue had also planned to see Xie Qingcheng that day, but her health deteriorated due to severe stress. Xie Qingcheng told her to take sick leave and return to the Mowugang alley to get some deep rest. In essence, he left Xie Xue in Aunt Li’s care.

He returned to the Huzhou Medical University staff dormitory with Chen Man.

There are ranks even within the university staff dormitories. An example would be the fact that Xie Qingcheng lived in a larger place than Xie Xue. Of course, it couldn’t be denied that Xie Xue’s room was a mess of clutter. Regardless, Xie Qingcheng’s single-person dormitory was close to the level of a four-star hotel.

“Hyung, take a nap and rest for a bit. I’ll boil something for you.”

Leaving those words behind, Chen Man headed for the kitchen.

Perhaps because he had been to Xie Qingcheng’s dormitory many times, his attitude was as natural as if he were entering his own home.

Soon, the sound of the ventilation fan echoed from the kitchen. Xie Qingcheng lay listlessly on the sofa.

Suddenly, it occurred to him that this scene felt familiar. After searching through his memories for a while, he remembered that on the day he had a fever due to a mango allergy, He Yu had also cooked in that kitchen while looking at an internet recipe.

Xie Qingcheng opened his mobile messenger app. After digging through a pile of accumulated messages, he finally found He Yu’s name.

The chat history stopped at his own message asking about He Yu’s condition.

He Yu was still completely silent.

After thinking it over, Xie Qingcheng found He Yu’s number in his contacts and tried calling him once more.

Unsurprisingly, the ringing tone was cut off shortly after.

Xie Qingcheng sighed. He didn’t even know how to soothe a woman, and yet he was expected to soothe an angry [unauthorized copy]boy. Moreover, the boy wasn’t simply angry; [Read on Read BL Novels]he was heartbroken and had severed his emotional ties.

Helplessly placing a hand on his forehead, he waited for a long time before finally putting down the phone with a weary face and heading toward the bathroom.

When he came out wearing a robe after showering, Chen Man was setting the cutlery on the living room table.

“Hyung, by any chance…”

Starting to speak, Chen Man looked up and fell silent.

Xie Qingcheng, wearing a snow-white robe, was leaning languidly against the window, just as he was putting a cigarette in his mouth and lighting it.

Because he had left his wet hair untended, droplets of water flowed down his neck. Like a shimmering crystal bead hiding a strange desire, a drop rolled slowly down inside the collar of his robe.

Feeling out of sorts, Xie Qingcheng didn’t care about his own appearance. He took a puff of the cigarette, coughed softly, and turned his head to look at Chen Man.

“What?”

“Ah. I, well…”

Chen Man’s face flushed. However, since his mental state was a [unauthorized copy]mess and the [Read on Read BL Novels]living room lighting was dim, Xie Qingcheng didn’t see it clearly.

“I was asking if you need vinegar. I boiled dumplings.”

Xie Qingcheng answered half-heartedly.

“…Anything is fine.”

Chen Man quickly returned to the kitchen. As he turned, he almost tripped over the flooring.

Standing by the window smoking, Xie Qingcheng sent another message to He Yu.

[Still, I should say this. Thank you for helping me at the archives.]

The falling cigarette ash fluttered in the wind, resembling soft jellyfish floating in water.

Xie Qingcheng stared at the phone screen for a moment and added one more sentence.

[I was short-sighted. I’m sorry.]

He knew that these weren’t the words He Yu wanted to hear.

He Yu had been deeply hurt by the words he had spoken in the video.

But Xie Qingcheng had no way to explain that video. He couldn’t explain it, nor did he want to.

“Hyung, the dumplings are done, so come and eat quickly.”

Xie Qingcheng locked his phone screen and headed for the table.

The dumplings Chen Man boiled were the ones Aunt Li had made and sent over last time; the skins were thin and the filling was very hearty. Inside was a moist filling of minced pork, bamboo shoots, and even pork fat.

Chen Man scooped out the dumplings and put the broth in a separate bowl. It was the secret to cooling the food down quickly. Exhausted and hungry, Xie Qingcheng devoured about thirty dumplings in one go.

Only then did Chen Man speak quietly.

“Qingcheng hyung, don’t ever do something like this again. Don’t you remember what you told me to persuade me before you left? That no matter how painful it is, the past cannot be changed, so if you intend to keep living, you must somehow pull yourself together anew.”

“…”

“You talked about Granduncle and Grandaunt, too. I was too young back then to know anything, but before you left, I asked why you gave up on tracking the culprit. And what did you say? You stolen contentsaid that while the answer is important, one cannot live bound to [visit our site]a single answer. That you were curious about the true cause of their deaths, and that you unauthorized copywanted to find the culprit who framed them… but if you poured all your energy into that, you wouldn’t be able to properly support your family. Because you had a younger sister, and also…”

“Xie Xue is all grown up now.”

“…”

“If it were ten years ago, I would have endured without digging for the truth. Because I might have paid a price I couldn’t handle. But now Xie Xue is an adult, and I have no wife to support or children to raise. I’ve lived for nineteen years with a calculating heart, and now that all my worries have vanished and a clue regarding my parents’ death has appeared, I cannot just stand by and watch.”

Chen Man, who rarely raised his voice in front of Xie Qingcheng, finally exploded at these words.

“Hyung, what does that mean? Are you saying it doesn’t matter if you die now? That since you raised your sister well and everyone is independent, we should just accept it if you die? Qingcheng hyung… how can you say such a thing?”

His agitated voice began to tremble.

“How can you even think that?”

“…”

Suddenly, Chen Man became afraid of the person called Xie Qingcheng. To consider the life and death of every family member and friend around him so carefully, yet to not factor his own life into the equation at all.

The prerequisite for Xie Qingcheng throwing [Read on Read BL Novels]away his unauthorized copylife wasn’t ‘Do I want to die?’, but ‘If I die, can the unauthorized copypeople I’ve looked after live well on their own?’.

Facing a massive threat, he had instead harbored the intention to self-destruct.

“Hyung… do you live your life for others? Are you saying that as long as you’ve planned out everyone else’s path in life, it doesn’t matter if you die?”

Xie Qingcheng sighed and took out another cigarette.

“That’s not what I meant—”

“Stop smoking.”

Abruptly standing up, Chen Man pressed down on his hand and, with a pale face, snatched the cigarette, the lighter, and the pack all at once. Then, right in front of Xie Qingcheng, he threw them into the trash can.

Xie Qingcheng remained sitting in his chair without standing up, and after a silence, he spoke.

“Chen Man, I’ve never regarded my life as cheap.”

“Then what did that just now mean?”

“It didn’t mean much. But everything has a priority. In the past, raising Xie Xue was visit our sitethe most important thing to me. More than chasing the truth. But now, I’ve visit our sitecompleted that mission and my worries have lessened. That’s why chasing the truth has become important again.”

Chen Man said with reddening eyes.

“Your life is just as important.”

“…”

“At least to me, it’s more important than the truth.”

“You’re a police officer.”

“I’m also your brother.”

“…”

For a while, silence flowed through the dormitory living room. Only the sound of the wall clock’s hands ticking echoed.

His heart softening at Chen Man’s appearance, Xie Qingcheng finally sighed and changed the subject.

“Just sit down. Let’s eat something.”

“…”

“Stop it and sit.”

This alone was a huge concession from Xie Qingcheng.

Chen Man felt stifled, but as always, he didn’t have the nerve to defy Xie Qingcheng’s sharp pressure.

After holding out for a few seconds, he slowly sat down under Xie Qingcheng’s gaze. As soon as he picked up his chopsticks again, a teardrop fell into the broth.

* * *

Inside a villa in the city.

“What? He Yu is a blood bone?”

Lu Zishu looked at the person in front of her with shocked eyes before finally speaking after a long while.

“President Duan, what kind of joke is this…”

Then, President Duan spoke while flipping through a newspaper.

“Having a son like this, you should naturally be happy, CEO Lu.”

Short fingers painted with red nail polish messily ruffled her hair. Lu Zishu, fallen into shock, muttered to herself before speaking to the man in front of her.

“That child… he was Case No. 4, and the organization judged him a defective product and discarded him long ago. Even I have cared for him like an ordinary patient all this time. I never once thought he would have a supernatural ability. You all… you all didn’t feel any research value in him either…”

President Duan smirked.

“Everyone makes mistakes sometimes.”

“…”

“I later investigated how the patients of Qingkang Mental Hospital escaped, and it turned out He Yu and Xie Qingcheng jumped into the fire scene that day. The police said they were able to open the door because it was locked only from the outside without a lock—but such excuses might work for the police, but they don’t work for us.”

President Duan took a sip of well-brewed Pu-erh tea and spoke leisurely.

“Still, don’t worry too much. Since He Yu is your son, he is also one of us.”

Lu Zishu avoided his gaze and shook her head.

“No. With his personality, he would never…”

“Humans are emotional animals, and blood is thicker than water. Even if not immediately, he will eventually become our ally. What son would defy his mother’s words?”

President Duan spoke hypocritically, with only his eyes smiling. Lu Zishu merely remained silent.

“…”

President Duan took another sip of the sweet Pu-erh tea.

After the silence, Lu Zishu spoke.

“President Duan, regardless, I cannot guarantee that. For him to truly be a blood bone, he has never once mentioned it to the family until now…”

Hearing this, President Duan burst into laughter.

“CEO Lu, isn’t that all because of favoritism? Everyone knows, even someone like me, that you and President stolen contentHe have a poor relationship with the eldest son. Having been discriminated against like that, it’s only natural he would distance himself from his parents. However, after stolen contentseeing this incident, it seems your son isn’t such a cold person. Just because he spent a little time with him in childhood and was respected, he sacrificed that much for Xie Qingcheng.”

When he mentioned this point, Lu Zishu instead felt a surge of anger inside.

“If He Yu had actually been hit in a vital spot…”

“You still have your second son, He Jiwei, don’t you? To you, He Jiwei is the most important, right?”

“…”

President Duan made a joke while observing Lu Zishu’s expression. Lu Zishu’s complexion was mottled, like a poorly mixed milkshake.

“You two should share some affection with your eldest son from now on. I know you cherish He Jiwei because he is a normal child. But He Yu is a blood bone. It would be wonderful if that child gave up and followed us. We could even save the trouble of forcing him.”

President Duan lifted the tea pot, poured red tea into the cup, and spoke kindly.

“I’ll leave this matter to you, CEO Lu. Give him attention slowly and steadily. Soon, he will understand the family that has ignored him all this time. There’s no need to rush.”

This time, after pouring tea into Lu Zishu’s cup, he raised his hand.

“This is Pu-erh tea that [visit our site]Xiaosen brought from Yunnan this time; visit our sitethe taste is quite [Read on Read BL Novels]good. You should try it too, CEO Lu.”

“…”

As Lu Zishu remained standing, stiff as a board, President Duan’s gaze became considerably sharper.

“CEO Lu, you are a clever person in every aspect. That’s how you deceived He Jiwei for all those years. Your acting is not inferior to the celebrities raised by President Huang. But acting is something where one can make an NG even while immersed, isn’t it? CEO Lu, you know what I mean, right?”

Lu Zishu flinched, as if he had poked a sore spot.

President Duan smiled thinly.

“How long have we worked as partners? I even know you better than President He does. As long as you cooperate well, I won’t reveal your past to He Jiwei, so rest assured. Now, sit.”

He pushed the teacup closer to Lu Zishu.

“Hurry and try it. You can’t resist tea, can you?”

Finally, Lu Zishu slowly sat on the sofa. After holding the cup with fingers that had become eerily pale for a long time, she finally tasted the tea once it had cooled sufficiently.

The tea that went down her throat was merely astringent.

Lu Zishu forced a smile.

“It’s fine.”

Looking at the anxious Lu Zishu, President Duan spoke calmly.

“You just need to do well, CEO Lu. Persuasion operations always take time, so don’t get too stressed. Your son is only nineteen, isn’t he? The symptoms of Psychological Ebola mutation worsen as time goes by. Let’s start with training first and settle things when the time comes. By then, your son will gladly become a member of our organization.”

“Training… how?”

“Let’s just watch for now.”

President Duan looked cheerful, as if he were playing an interesting game.

“We’ll see the situation as it unfolds. In the first place, isn’t He Yu like a surprise gift? I don’t think there’s any need to make unnecessary plans. And he must have been properly hit thanks to Doctor Xie. Since the youngster was shocked, we must wait until he sorts out his emotions.”

Leaning over to fill the tea pot with water, he continued speaking while removing the tea leaves.

“We also have a lot to do. Now that the rats have been frightened by this murder case, we must cleanly cut off the remaining tails in Qingkang and Huzhou University. We’ll have to watch until the police devour all the bones we’ve thrown them. unauthorized copyWe’ve diverted [unauthorized copy][stolen content]their attention overseas, so there must be no instance of them smelling something and poking around our side again.”

President Duan began to brew tea leisurely.

“Be good to He Yu. But naturally. If He Jiwei finds something suspicious, the one who will suffer the loss is one hundred percent you, CEO Lu.”

After staring for a long time at her distorted reflection in the teacup, Lu Zishu muttered.

“…Yes, I will.”