77 – Well Done, Cousin
Chapter 77: Well Done, Cousin
“So, in Young Master Chen’s opinion, is he a capable doctor?”
The tone was insolent even to the casual listener. Chen Man, not understanding the context, frowned slightly.
“I think there’s some misunderstanding. Brother Qingcheng isn’t my primary physician; he’s more like a friend I’ve known for a long time.”
At those words, He Yu gave a thin smile, his eyes as cold as ice.
Still looking bewildered, Chen Man continued to stare at He Yu as he spoke.
“I believe Mr. He Yu is also a close younger brother to Brother Qingcheng.”
He Yu’s smile became even more poised.
In truth, he wanted to pull Xie Qingcheng toward him right in front of Chen Man, pin him against the wall, and shower him with retaliatory kisses. He wanted to defile Xie Qingcheng in front of everyone.
However, the pride that had been poked and prodded by Xie Qingcheng blocked such thoughts.
He spoke in a tone that was beyond calm—it was contemptuous.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard such a joke. We are simply connected through work.”
The three of them, feeling uncomfortable due to Hu Yi’s presence, returned to their rooms, each harboring their own anxieties.
The moment he returned to his room, He Yu’s patience collapsed.
He sat on the sofa for a while, staring blankly. Even with the passage of time, the suffocating feeling in his chest would not subside. Eventually, he went downstairs and bought a pack of cigarettes.
Marlboro. The brand Xie Qingcheng often smoked.
Standing by the roadside, He Yu held a cigarette between his slender fingers and smoked it with an air of elegance. His eyes flickered in sync with the glowing ember of the cigarette.
After returning to his room, he contacted a junior staff member and requested to change his room to one next to Chen Man and Xie Qingcheng.
“I can’t sleep because of the noise from the machine room next door.”
Since he was such a precious guest, the staff member quickly changed Young Master He’s room.
Not stopping there, He Yu examined the room layout and even moved his bed against the wall shared with Xie Qingcheng’s room. He collapsed onto the bed, closed his eyes, and let dark emotions tear through his body. After some time had passed, he picked up his phone and called Xie Qingcheng, who was just beyond the wall.
The soundproofing in this hotel was poor. Lying against the wall, he could faintly hear the constant ringing of Xie Qingcheng’s phone.
He could also hear Chen Man’s voice.
Brother, you have a call!
Xie Qingcheng’s voice sounded from a distance. Because he spoke softly, it was impossible to tell what he was saying.
Ultimately, however, the call was not answered.
Refusing to give up, He Yu called again.
Brother, he’s calling again…
Once again, Xie Qingcheng rejected the call.
By the time he called for the third time, he finally heard the sound of Xie Qingcheng’s footsteps approaching. Soon, the ringing stopped.
Just as He Yu was about to speak, Xie Qingcheng muted the microphone so He Yu couldn’t be heard and tossed the phone next to the hotel TV.
A certain city council member of the City Committee visited a nursing home in [visit our site]a certain district yesterday to look after the elderly living alone…
“….”
He wondered if Xie Qingcheng intended to wash his filthy soul with this righteous light by letting the nightly news play all night.
Despite the spell-like content of the news drilling into his ears, He Yu did not hang up.
It was because he could hear the conversation between Xie Qingcheng and Chen Man.
Brother, I’ll go talk to him. It’s a bit much to just ignore it…
Forget it.
…Did something happen? You two seemed to get along well until recently.
Go wash up first.
Xie Qingcheng dismissed Chen Man’s question.
Go to sleep early. You have to guide Officer Shin at the police station tomorrow.
Young Master Chen was kind enough not to pry further. Seeing the silence that followed, it seemed he had sat down quietly. Soon, a rustling sound came through the earphones, followed by the sound of Chen Man entering the bathroom and closing the door.
He Yu listened to all of this quietly while lying on his bed. Though he hadn’t grown out his bangs, his hair was soft, and the untrimmed strands flowed down over his forehead.
The news continued to broadcast. Xie Qingcheng remained silent throughout.
Even so, He Yu did not hang up.
The young man stared at the ceiling. The news coming through the earphones shifted from the city council member visiting the elderly to a story about a neighborhood dog carrying a basket to do the groceries for its owner.
He Yu waited silently until then.
It was a feeling beyond words. A heavy anger piled up steadily in his heart. Now he knew not only Chen Man’s identity but also who Xie Qingcheng had been with and what he had been doing. This fragment of anger took root like a plant, digging deep into his heart.
He couldn’t understand why he was so displeased. Who the hell was Xie Qingcheng? At most, he was just a sex partner.
He was simply tasting a moment of novelty. Once he had tasted enough, he was sure he would grow tired of it soon.
And yet, he didn’t want to hang up.
Traditional essence, the delicious liquor of the homeland…
An advertisement played over the receiver.
Soon, he heard the sound of Xie Qingcheng getting off the bed and picking up the phone next to the TV.
A short silence followed.
Xie Qingcheng probably hadn’t expected He Yu to endure listening to boring news. After checking the call screen and seeing it was still connected, he remained silent for a while.
At the end of the silence, He Yu finally heard Xie Qingcheng’s voice.
What on earth do you want.
It was a question he couldn’t answer.
He Yu stared at the ceiling with sunken eyes, then brought the phone close to his lips.
“Xie Qingcheng.”
….
“You’re just an ugly middle-aged man. You’re divorced, you have no mood, no money, and your body isn’t even unauthorized copythat great. Why would the maternal grandson of a high-ranking government official like you? [stolen content]He’s not an idiot; why would he hang around a guy like you?”
He Yu wondered how twisted his own psychology had become to utter such childishly jealous remarks. He wasn’t even sure if Xie Qingcheng had unmuted the microphone or if he had heard him clearly.
Finally, Xie Qingcheng hung up first.
When He Yu tried to call back, the other phone had already been turned off.
He tossed and turned for a long time, unable to sleep. He Yu rested his head on his arms and stared blankly at the ceiling with his pretty eyes. Every time a car mechanically cut through the light on the road outside, the shadows reflected on the ceiling wavered like a swimming whale.
And He Yu sank deep into the ocean, like a whale carcass.
He felt as if his heart was rotting and crumbling. Unlike when he was at the asylum, he could now actually feel the pain.
His entire body felt like ice.
It felt as if every nerve had gone numb.
Thus, the night gradually deepened.
At that moment, two women walking down the 7th-floor hotel corridor passed by He Yu’s room.
He Yu, who was lying in bed struggling to sleep, heard the women’s conversation.
“Today’s event was so much fun, right?”
“Yeah, totally… Hey, what’s that?”
A glass case about two meters tall at the end of the hotel corridor caught the two young ladies’ eyes. It looked less like a display case for objects and more like a cryogenic capsule.
Because the corridor lighting was dim, a blurry shadow was cast inside the glass case. The two young ladies, who had returned late after playing, were shocked to witness a human figure inside.
“Uh…?”
“That…”
“Is it a corpse? Isn’t that a corpse?”
“There’s a corpse in the glass case here!”
A piercing scream rang out. He Yu snapped out of his melancholy, sat up, and stepped out into the corridor.
The two women, flustered and panicked, stumbled toward He Yu as soon as the sturdy young man appeared. While running hurriedly, they pointed in the opposite direction.
“Over there, someone died over there! Inside the glass cabinet!”
Perhaps the scream was too loud, as the door next to He Yu’s also opened.
Xie Qingcheng stepped out into the corridor.
He Yu locked eyes with the man who had prank-called him a few hours ago. Of course, Xie Qingcheng quickly averted his gaze.
Chen Man also rushed out.
“What is it? What happened?”
“That, in that glass case… a person… a person… they’re just standing there… not moving… they must be dead…”
The woman, her face pale, barely managed to continue before falling silent, just like her friend standing beside her.
At this point, Xie Qingcheng stepped forward.
“I’ll go take a look.”
As he took a step, He Yu flinched. But Chen Man was one step faster. As Chen Man followed Xie Qingcheng, He Yu’s mood instantly [unauthorized copy]plummeted; he crossed his arms and watched the two from a distance.
After approaching and examining the corpse, Xie Qingcheng grasped the situation and turned to the two women.
“It’s alright. It’s a prop.”
“What…?”
“A prop from the
Xie Qingcheng turned on his phone’s flashlight to illuminate the inside of the glass case.
The bright light of the flashlight poured in. Thanks to this, the two young ladies could see that the figure standing in the glass case was a silicone model made to look like a real person.
The two ladies sighed in relief, while simultaneously feeling absurd and laughing.
“Who put a mannequin like that here?”
“I know, right. So rude.”
Then, Chen Man kindly explained.
“The 8th floor is the makeup team’s workshop. I think they put a sample they brought from there here for a moment.”
Only then did the ladies calm their racing hearts and return to their rooms.
Xie Qingcheng scanned the mannequin inside the glass case. For some reason, he felt uneasy. Perhaps it was the uncanny valley effect; seeing a fake so realistically implemented gave him the creeps.
He looked away and returned to his door.
As he glanced back for a moment, he saw the back of He Yu, who had already entered his room. In front of Chen Man, He Yu seemed as if he didn’t even want to exchange words with him.
He Yu’s door closed with a click and locked.
However, less than a minute after Xie Qingcheng felt relieved, his phone vibrated.
[He Yu: Xie Qingcheng, I’m warning you for the last time, that bastard is gay. You two don’t suit each other anyway. You’re a divorcee, and the cop is only in his twenties. You have no money or status, while the cop’s maternal grandfather is a high-ranking government official. Nothing about your levels matches. What could that guy possibly see in you to like you? Wake up quickly before you get stabbed in the back and lose more money.]
“….”
Thinking there was something wrong with He Yu’s head, Xie Qingcheng deleted the message entirely and returned to his room, closing the door.
The corpse commotion ended like this. However, no one noticed that in the dim shadows behind the glass case, near the entrance to the stairs, there was a man dressed in a black raincoat and boots. A knife was half-hidden inside the sleeve of the raincoat.
“Consider yourself lucky,” the man in the raincoat muttered gloomily.
“I was planning to start tonight. If the higher-ups hadn’t changed the target to a bigger fish…”
He chuckled and slowly hid the knife back into his sleeve.
“Fine, let’s postpone today’s fishing trip.”
The first day of filming for
“Looks like we’ll be cleaning up the site late tonight,” the set designer sighed, perched on a light box.
On a cold winter night, the director ordered a box of hot drinks for the staff. The resting staff crowded around the drink box, warming themselves by holding or drinking the beverages.
He Yu was beside the director, immersed in studying the filming process. His eyes were aching from staring at the monitor, but it helped distract him.
Only after the main filming ended did He Yu walk toward the drink box. Most of the remaining drinks were fruit teas. Since fruit-flavored drinks weren’t to his taste, he bowed his head and rummaged through the box for a while before finally finding a hot chocolate. But at that moment, someone’s hand leisurely grabbed and took that hot chocolate can.
He Yu looked up. The night sky was very dark, as if it were about to snow. There were no lights in this area, so he could only identify the other person’s face after his eyes adjusted to the darkness for a moment.
The person he locked eyes with was none other than Xie Qingcheng.
Both of them fell silent.
“….”
“….”
Today, Xie Qingcheng participated in the site as part of the B-team advisory group. Both Team A and Team B were assigned to the same scene. The head director’s passion was truly immense, mobilizing all sorts of advisors on the first day of filming. From the first day of cranking in, actors, advisors, stuntmen, and extra part-timers gathered, making the site feel like a crowded marketplace.
Xie Qingcheng only now recognized He Yu. Had he known it was He Yu from the start, he wouldn’t have come close.
After a long silence, he turned around holding the hot chocolate and fruit tea.
Should he be glad that he just walked away?
Because He Yu had just felt a strange impulse upon seeing Xie Qingcheng wandering alone.
The mental illness lurking inside him was screaming for him to drag the solitary Xie Qingcheng into his lair and tear him apart alive.
He wanted to pin the sacrifice onto a stone bed and press down on him until he became obedient. If he didn’t listen, he would break the sacrifice’s limbs. This was the instinct of the evil dragon.
Xie Qingcheng was a sacrifice who had once lain on the evil dragon’s bed. Even if he died and became bone, he should rot within the evil dragon’s domain. Even as a corpse, he should not be defiled by the touch of another.
He Yu quietly closed his eyes, suppressing the delusions that he must not act upon now, and returned to the studio with a fruit tea and a hardened expression.
Despite it being warmer than outside, He Yu’s heart grew colder than before.
While filming a scene that required professional advice, Xie Qingcheng and Chen Man from Team B had come over to Team A to observe the situation. Xie Qingcheng handed the hot chocolate—which He Yu had just given up—to Chen Man, who was waiting for the second take after the camera setup was complete.
It probably wasn’t a deliberate act. Moreover, He Yu hadn’t mentioned that it was a drink he had searched for to drink himself. Still, he felt extremely displeased.
With a darkened face, he sat on a plastic [stolen content]chair and asked a junior staff member for a piece of [unauthorized copy]scrap paper. Then, after thinking deeply, he wrote a few words on it and folded the paper into a plane.
The paper plane flew behind Xie Qingcheng and landed softly on his shoulder.
Xie Qingcheng turned his head. At the end of his gaze was He Yu, sitting on a plastic chair with a bored look, resting his cheek on one hand and crossing his long legs.
The moment their eyes met, the pretty young man, who looked innocent enough, provocatively arched an eyebrow. Then, he rolled his eyes and turned his head away with an arrogant expression.
Picking up the paper plane, Xie Qingcheng found words faintly written on it. When he unfolded the plane, the ominous writing crawled across the paper like a ghost-expelling talisman. Perhaps because it was written while he was in a low mood, the handwriting was exceptionally worm-like.
[Was the drink tasty? Did you two enjoy it together?]
After reading the note, Xie Qingcheng’s expression became twice as cold as usual. In front of He Yu, he folded the paper in half, tore it, and threw it in the trash.
He Yu watched the scene in silence.
He Yu knew that Xie Qingcheng would most likely react this way. Yet, he insisted on provoking [Read on Read BL Novels]him in [stolen content]this manner, only to face a face colder than the winter weather outside.
As Xie Qingcheng turned away to talk to Chen Man, his eyes were as chilly as a blizzard.
He Yu stared at Xie Qingcheng with a gloomy gaze. It was more explicit than the gaze of the lead actor performing desire for his lover on camera.
He was as bleak as ice and as hot as fire. He felt as if a small flame in his heart was slowly boiling something. That something grew hotter and hotter, creating spray. He Yu turned his head. The Adam’s apple beneath his chin bobbed silently up and down.
When Xie Qingcheng entered the resting tent to sit, He Yu gave the director a plausible excuse and followed him inside.
Soon, Xie Qingcheng looked up and stared at him. His already cold gaze dropped several more degrees, frosting over.
The moment he entered the tent, He Yu felt irritated. He had come in seeking a chance to speak with Xie Qingcheng alone, but who knew that several staff members would be sitting around the plastic table resting?
“Is there a seat left?”
“There are more chairs here.”
As the young man, who was not only handsome but also the head director’s assistant, entered, several staff members quickly stood up, found a plastic chair in the corner, wiped it, and handed it to He Yu.
“Thank you.”
The staff member who received He Yu’s thanks quietly blushed.
Of course, He Yu didn’t properly see that blushing face. He took the chair and sat opposite Xie Qingcheng.
The staff were all gathered around a single long table. Some were eating lunch boxes atop the table, which was cluttered with all sorts of miscellaneous junk.
Given his neat personality, He Yu normally wouldn’t have set foot in such a messy place. However, sitting opposite Xie Qingcheng, he stared intently with wide eyes at Xie Qingcheng, who kept his head down, fiddling with his phone.
As if determined not to look at him, Xie Qingcheng didn’t spare He Yu a single glance, staring only at the screen of his phone.
Regardless, He Yu kept his gaze fixed on Xie Qingcheng. He had long since forgotten the self-suggestions he’d fed himself: ‘Cut this man off,’ ‘Stop being addicted to Xie Qingcheng,’ ‘Xie Qingcheng is an ugly, poor, old, chain-smoking divorcee.’ In [Read on Read BL Novels]the air thick with the mingled breath of many [stolen content]people, he felt as though he could smell only the cold scent of disinfectant emanating from Xie Qingcheng.
An incredibly stimulating scent.
The look in He Yu’s eyes as he watched him grew increasingly clouded. If that gaze could materialize, Xie Qingcheng’s suit might have been stripped off long ago.
Unfortunately, however, human gazes are simple and honest entities; they did not act as accomplices to his inner desires. They certainly lacked the criminal capability to strip a partner and undo their belt.
He Yu never imagined he would become such a lustful person. Until now, he had been very modest regarding sex. He had looked down on the young masters around him who lived immersed in wine and women as low-class beings.
He never dreamed that such “lust” could make a person this thirsty.
When Xie Qingcheng refused to look at him, He Yu lowered his head and sent him a message.
[Mr. Xie.]
[Are you pretending not to see me right now?]
Xie Qingcheng’s phone vibrated.
He must have seen the message.
He Yu waited quietly.
But there was no reply.
The wild grass in his heart began to grow lush once again. The more Xie Qingcheng ignored him, the stronger the internal stress became. And as the stress level rose, so did the likelihood of doing something crazy.
Thus, in this crowded place, He Yu sent Xie Qingcheng several ‘Good Morning’ emojis—composites of his own photo and photos of Xie Qingcheng from that night.
“…….”
This time, Xie Qingcheng’s fingers tightened around his phone, his knuckles turning white. Not only did the lines of his [Read on Read BL Novels]face tighten, but a cold, stolen contentsharp energy, like a blade, radiated from his entire body.
That sight calmed He Yu’s dark and diseased interior a little. He slowly extended his leg under the table and nudged Xie Qingcheng’s foot.
Xie Qingcheng finally lifted his sharp eyes. Despite his uncomfortable expression, he maintained his composure. He had no intention of getting angry at He Yu. What difference would it make to be angry at a beast?
He looked back at He Yu indifferently. It was a gaze like someone staring down an animal in heat.
When that look flew toward him, He Yu recalled something Xie Qingcheng had said while being thoroughly ravaged by him last time.
Humans and animals are different. Humans have self-control.
Xie Qingcheng didn’t say a word, but He Yu read that sentence in his eyes.
Suddenly, he felt a surge of inexplicable, intense anger.
He, too, once had something called self-control. Since Xie visit our siteQingcheng had shattered stolen contenthis self-control, shouldn’t he be the one to take responsibility?
And yet he had lain on the bed with eyes completely unfocused. How was that any different from a female in heat who has lost her reason after being marked deep inside?
What makes him so great that he looks at people with such a cold face?
As Xie Qingcheng tried to move his foot away, He Yu’s long leg firmly blocked him.
“…….”
“…….”
The people gathered around the table all looked relaxed. They were busy chatting, eating their meals, or looking at their phones; no one noticed the two legs suggestively entwined beneath the table.
He Yu stared intently, as if intending to carve his gaze into Xie Qingcheng’s pupils. He was frustrated with himself, wondering how he had become this kind of man.
Then, suddenly, a strong desire for revenge surged through him.
Soon, He Yu tapped on his phone screen.
[Teacher, since when did your legs get so strong?]
[I don’t think you were like that in front of me. Were you pretending to be frail because you liked having sex with me?]
[Oh, right. Does Young Master Chen know that you and I slept together? Or what you looked like when you were having sex with me?]
The content became more scandalous by the second.
If the higher-ups at Huzhou University found out that He Yu—the man they had personally designated as a ‘Top 10 Outstanding Youth,’ ‘Male Student Council President,’ ‘Exemplary Freshman,’ and ‘Academic Excellence Scholar’—was sending such vulgar messages to someone, those old men’s glasses might have shattered instantly.
[Chen Man clearly isn’t your style. If you’re only with him because he’s rich, just give up and stay with me. Tell me whatever you want. I can give you everything that guy can.]
A loud thwack echoed.
Xie Qingcheng had slammed his phone face-down onto the table.
At the sudden noise, the surrounding people looked around in confusion.
Xie Qingcheng had no intention of showing his emotions on the surface, but he was so infuriated that he struggled to control his strength. Not wanting to become a spectacle, he exercised maximum self-control, kept his mouth shut, glared menacingly at He Yu for a few seconds, and then stood up.
Just then, the tent entrance was pushed aside, and another person entered from outside.
Xie Qingcheng’s gaze stiffened slightly.
He Yu, who had his back to the entrance, saw Xie Qingcheng’s expression and assumed Chen Man had come in to rest.
He didn’t want to see Young Master Chen right now. He felt as though he wished an eraser would fall from the sky to wipe Chen Man’s existence from the world.
So, he didn’t look back.
Until the other person’s voice rang out.
“……Mr. Xie. You’re here too.”
It was a mature, low male voice. The scent of disinfectant wafted from his body as well.
Only then did He Yu turn around. The man standing at the entrance was dressed neatly and looked to be around thirty-six years old. His posture, with hands in his pockets, was calm, and his gaze was peaceful.
The man’s gaze shifted and landed on He Yu’s face.
Then, he quirked an eyebrow.
“Why are there so many people I know on the production staff? It must really be a masterpiece. Seeing as my cousin is here too.”
Xie Qingcheng, who had just been surprised to see the man, looked even more shocked—despite his [Read on Read BL Novels]coldness—when the man [unauthorized copy]called He Yu his ‘cousin.’
This man was the head of the emergency department at Huzhou First People’s Hospital, the one who had examined Xie Qingcheng when he was admitted to the ER with a high fever after spending the entire night having sex with He Yu.
At the same time, he was He Yu’s cousin.
The director was a distant relative of He Yu. Since they weren’t close blood relatives, the two families rarely interacted. He Jiwei and that side’s parents’ generation only met occasionally at family gatherings, and their relationship was awkward. They were more indifferent to each other than neighbors, so He Yu hadn’t even known that this older cousin was a doctor at Huzhou First People’s Hospital.
If even He Yu, a family member, didn’t know, how could Xie Qingcheng have known?
Huzhou First People’s Hospital was so large that it was difficult to know every employee. The director and Xie Qingcheng had only seen each other a few times during joint consultations or medical staff meetings; they weren’t particularly close.
Though they weren’t close, Xie Qingcheng had actually liked the director quite a bit.
And yet, this head of the emergency department was He Yu’s distant relative.
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