CFHE Chapter 76

A long while later.

 

Fu Yuhan suddenly threw off the blanket, his waist arching up like a swimming fish as he sat up completely: “Hiss…”

 

He wanted to turn on the bedside lamp, but any movement of his thigh caused a wave of pain, making him curse under his breath: “Wen Yu, I’m going to kill you.”

 

“What’s wrong?” Wen Yu touched his arm and sat up too, “What are you trying to do?”

 

“Turn on the light.”

 

“I’ll do it.” Wen Yu reached over him and turned on the bedside lamp.

 

The warm yellow light instantly illuminated the room. Fu Yuhan looked down and indeed saw a visible red area on his thigh, with some white things standing up like barbs.

 

Those were raised patches of skin.

 

“I’m going to kill you,” he grimaced in pain, constantly sucking in air, “the skin’s broken.”

 

Wen Yu leaned over: “Let me see.”

 

“Stop looking,” Fu Yuhan was annoyed just seeing him now and pushed away his dog head, “Get me some tissues! So dirty!”

 

“…Oh.” At this time, Wen Yu would listen to whatever Fu Yuhan said. He got off the bed and walked out while saying, “Didn’t know you had a cleanliness obsession.”

 

“Is this about cleanliness obsession?!” Fu Yuhan roared.

 

Besides.

 

He felt very wronged—normally the more picky and fussy person was Wen Yu, not him, right?

 

Wen Yu came back quickly, bringing Fu Yuhan a pack of tissues, and also found hydrogen peroxide, cotton balls, and gauze. He threw the tissues to Fu Yuhan and crouched by the bed: “Should I apply medicine for you?”

 

“You go shower first,” Fu Yuhan glanced at him, “look at all that sweat on you.”

 

Wen Yu smiled: “I’m not in a hurry, you’re more important.”

 

This should have been a very touching thing to say, if Fu Yuhan hadn’t just been bullied by him.

 

Fu Yuhan was too lazy to pay attention to him and just wanted to clean up quickly and go shower.

 

“Still need to apply some medicine,” Wen Yu crouched there looking carefully, “although there’s no bleeding, the broken skin is quite severe.”

 

“Because of who?!”

 

Fu Yuhan glared at him in embarrassed anger, only to see Wen Yu crouching by the bed, looking up at him with a smile: “My fault, sorry.”

 

Those eyes were bright and sparkling under the bedside lamp.

 

Fu Yuhan: “…”

 

Damn, he felt like this person was acting spoiled again.

 

Fu Yuhan had a temperament that responded to gentleness but not force, and couldn’t stand it when someone acted like this, especially when it was his boyfriend. He pursed his lips and muttered: “Then apply it, thank you for the trouble.”

 

“What trouble is this?” Wen Yu smiled as he opened the hydrogen peroxide bottle cap.

 

Not long after—

 

“Mmph!!… Wen Yu… do I… have some grudge against you?” Fu Yuhan struggled to grip the bedsheet, his eyes squinting from pain.

 

“Hydrogen peroxide disinfection is supposed to hurt,” Wen Yu felt a bit sorry seeing him like this and said softly, “Should I be gentler?”

 

“Forget it,” Fu Yuhan shook his head, “let’s go to the bathroom and pour it directly.”

 

“…Wouldn’t that hurt more?”

 

“I have to shower after disinfecting anyway,” Fu Yuhan grimaced, “hiss… better to get the pain over with quickly.”

 

In this respect, Fu Yuhan was truly a tough guy.

 

It’s just that the location of the injury wasn’t suitable for walking—he climbed off the bed while wincing, supported by Wen Yu as he hopped into the bathroom.

 

School bully Fu felt he had never been so embarrassed in his life, but fortunately only Wen Yu was around, so he could barely tolerate it.

 

Once in the bathroom, Wen Yu removed the inner cap of the hydrogen peroxide and poured it directly onto Fu Yuhan’s wound. Fu Yuhan bit his lip, clenched his fist, and forced himself not to cry out.

 

“Does it hurt?” Wen Yu screwed the cap back on and turned to see a fresh layer of cold sweat on Fu Yuhan’s forehead under the fluorescent light, so he reached up to wipe it for him.

 

“Why don’t you try it?” Fu Yuhan said with difficulty, pushing him out, “Get out—aren’t you supposed to learn housework? Change the sheets and duvet cover.”

 

“…Oh.” Wen Yu was pushed and stumbled, walking out while looking back three times.

 

And his cruel boyfriend had already closed the bathroom door.

 

“Sigh,” Wen Yu muttered as he walked out, “used and discarded, I’m truly a tool boyfriend.”

 

After saying this, the “tool” hummed a tuneless melody and went into the room shaking his head to do manual labor.

 

Wen Yu was quick-witted and learned things fast. Changing sheets was no longer as clumsy as when he first did housework, and he quickly tidied up the room, wrapped himself in a thin blanket and sat waiting for Fu Yuhan to finish showering.

 

Late at night, there were few new messages to look at on his phone. After casually scrolling through a few, Wen Yu felt bored.

 

Somehow he remembered what Fu Yuhan had said.

 

“A number in the contacts that you can call anytime.”

 

His gaze softened, and he smiled, opening his contacts and changing “Mr. Ready to Pick Up”‘s name to “House Cat.”

 

Then he added his house cat to the whitelist—

 

“Allow calls even when in Do Not Disturb mode.”

 

Wen Yu was satisfied.

 

However, at this moment, Fu Yuhan’s phone, casually placed by the bedside, started ringing.

 

At first Wen Yu was startled, thinking he had accidentally dialed out, but a second later he realized he hadn’t pressed anything wrong—someone was indeed calling Fu Yuhan close to 3 AM.

 

He leaned over to look and saw it was an unknown number.

 

The phone rang for a while then stopped, then started ringing again after more than ten seconds.

 

It wasn’t a wrong number.

 

Wen Yu thought for a moment, mentally preparing an explanation about “Fu Yuhan fell asleep while tutoring at my house,” and reached out to press the answer button: “Hello?”

 

There was no sound from the other end.

 

“Hello?” Wen Yu frowned—3 AM, could it be a prank call?

 

Just as he was considering whether to hang up, a timid female voice came from the other end: “This… isn’t this big brother’s phone?”

 

Wen Yu was stunned: “Qin Xiaolu?”

 

He had heard Fu Yuhan mention this name.

 

The female voice let out a short “ah”: “Who are you?”

 

“I’m Fu Yuhan’s… classmate,” he paused, “Fu Yuhan can’t answer the phone right now. Is there something you need?”

 

“I…” Qin Xiaolu seemed to hesitate, saying intermittently, “I want to… see him.”

 

“Where are you?”

 

“The convenience store by the river, big brother knows.”

 

Wen Yu thought for a moment: “You mean you want him to come find you?”

 

“I… I don’t have money, I borrowed the store’s phone to call.” Qin Xiaolu said, “I have to… pay for it.”

 

Wen Yu: “…”

 

Fu Yuhan rarely mentioned this sister, and Wen Yu only knew she had been sick.

 

Although he didn’t know why this girl was at some “riverside convenience store” instead of being in the hospital or at home in the dead of night, Wen Yu vaguely remembered that Fu Yuhan didn’t dislike his sister.

 

Therefore, he didn’t hang up.

 

After thinking for a moment, Wen Yu told her: “Wait a moment, I’ll go get Fu Yuhan.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

Wen Yu got up, took the phone and walked out, pushing open the bathroom door—

 

Fu Yuhan had just finished washing and came out naked, about to put on clothes, when he was startled by his sudden entrance: “What are you doing?”

 

While not exactly shy, this kind of “honest meeting” was really hard to handle gracefully.

 

But Wen Yu wasn’t in the mood to tease him, handing over the phone: “You have a call.”

 

“Who?”

 

“Your sister.”

 

Fu Yuhan was stunned.

 

He straightened up and didn’t bother getting dressed, taking the phone from Wen Yu: “Hello, Xiao Lu?… Where are you?… Now?”

 

His watch was on the bedside and he couldn’t see it, so he asked Wen Yu: “What time is it?”

 

Wen Yu showed him his own phone—

 

2:59 AM.

 

Fu Yuhan was somewhat speechless.

 

“Can you tell me why you’re not in the hospital at this hour?” he asked irritably, “How did you get out? Does Uncle Qin know?”

 

The other end was silent for a long time, then came the sound of suppressed crying.

 

“I ran out by myself… Big brother, I don’t want to continue treatment anymore.”

 

–

 

The situation was urgent, and Wen Yu didn’t even have time to shower. The two hurriedly put on clothes and prepared to go out.

 

Fu Yuhan’s injury would rub when he walked, making it too painful to walk, so before going out, Wen Yu crouched down in front of him.

 

“Get on.” He looked back, “I’ll carry you.”

 

Fu Yuhan was slightly surprised.

 

“After all, it’s all my fault,” Wen Yu smiled, “I should take responsibility, right?”

 

That made sense, so Fu Yuhan climbed onto his back: “Doesn’t it bother you not to shower?”

 

“I’ll shower when we get back,” Wen Yu carried him out, locked the door, and shoved the keys in his pocket, “Besides, carrying my wife will make me sweat anyway—”

 

Fu Yuhan slapped the back of his head.

 

“By the river” referred to a river that passed through this area. That convenience store, according to Fu Yuhan, was on the route from Wen Yu’s place to Fu Yuhan’s home, very secluded.

 

Although they didn’t know how Qin Xiaolu had escaped from the hospital, her hiding there likely meant she didn’t dare go home.

 

“Uncle Qin told me he hired caregivers to work in shifts, so maybe he’s sleeping at home at night?”

 

In the deep winter early morning, the air was damp and cold. Fu Yuhan rested his head on Wen Yu’s shoulder, listening to his breathing as he said, “It’s understandable that Xiao Lu doesn’t dare go home.”

 

“You two have a good relationship?” Wen Yu tilted his head slightly, using his cheek to touch his face, “I thought you didn’t have much contact with your sister.”

 

“Indeed, not much contact…”

 

“Then why did she run out to find you in the middle of the night?”

 

Fu Yuhan was silent for a moment: “Probably because I’m handsome.”

 

“…” Wen Yu laughed, “That’s certainly handsome.”

 

The convenience store wasn’t too far. Wen Yu walked for more than ten minutes to get there. His stamina was good—carrying a tall, long-limbed man all the way didn’t even make him seem out of breath.

 

At the store entrance, Wen Yu put Fu Yuhan down. Fu Yuhan moved two steps with difficulty and poked his head into the store: “Xiao Lu?”

 

A small head peeked out from behind the shelves.

 

Qin Xiaolu’s fine, soft yellow hair was messy, her face pale and sickly. But when she saw Fu Yuhan, her eyes still lit up, and she stumbled toward the entrance.

 

“Don’t run,” Fu Yuhan frowned, “you can’t run.”

 

Qin Xiaolu stopped immediately, her large, watery eyes wide open.

 

“Walk over slowly.” Fu Yuhan said, then looked back at Wen Yu, “Could you please pay for the phone call?”

 

“Kiss me?” Wen Yu raised an eyebrow.

 

Fu Yuhan was choked up: “I’ll owe you one.”

 

Late at night, there was no one by the river at all.

 

Although Qin Xiaolu was walking this way, there were quite a few miscellaneous items piled at the store entrance, and once outside the glass door’s range, the inside of the store couldn’t see outside at all.

 

Wen Yu wouldn’t accept “owing one.” He grabbed Fu Yuhan’s collar and pulled him aside a bit, giving him a heavy peck.

 

Fu Yuhan said helplessly: “Can you go now?”

 

“Mm.” Wen Yu lifted his head slightly and walked into the store with dignity.

 

Qin Xiaolu finally reached the entrance: “Big brother.”

 

“What’s wrong?” Fu Yuhan looked down and noticed her eyes were a bit red—the crying he’d heard through the phone earlier wasn’t his imagination.

 

Qin Xiaolu looked at the grayish concrete ground, which perhaps because of the cold weather, looked even colder and harder than usual.

 

“I don’t want Mom and Dad to keep being so tired,” she said softly, “Mom cried that day and threw things. It was scary. Later Dad told me Mom was sick.”

 

Fu Yuhan was stunned.

 

Uncle Qin had spoken so casually before that he thought He Yan just had a minor illness, but hearing this… it sounded like a mental problem?

 

“They said Mom’s brain has problems, that she’s gone crazy. She must be like this because of me.” Qin Xiaolu said, “Dad hasn’t been resting well lately. He even has gray hair now, but he’s not old. The brother in the next bed told me Dad is just too exhausted.”

 

Fu Yuhan reached out to touch her head, helping to tidy her messy hair.

 

“But I… probably can’t be cured.”

 

“What nonsense are you talking?” Fu Yuhan said, “Do you think your parents are working so hard just to watch you give up on yourself?”

 

“But I was born like this, big brother,” Qin Xiaolu looked up, her eyes reddening again, crystal tears pooling in her eyes, “I’ve been treated for so many years, but it’s useless. They were discussing sending me to a hospital in the capital recently, saying the medical conditions are better there, but it’s very expensive. Big brother, I know I’ve cost the family a lot of money over the years. They don’t have that much money and have to keep working, and they have to spend time taking care of me. Even you can’t focus on school. I… I’m a burden… I’m completely useless… wuu wuu wuu…”

 

“Don’t cry.” The coat Fu Yuhan was wearing was Wen Yu’s, and when he reached into the pocket, there was actually a pack of tissues. He quickly took them out to wipe Qin Xiaolu’s tears, “I already told you not to worry. There’s still another house at home. At worst, they can sell the house—part for your treatment, part to exchange for a smaller one. What’s the big deal?”

 

“But there’s no suitable organ to transplant…”

 

“If we wait longer, there will be.” Fu Yuhan said flatly, “Don’t cry. Didn’t the doctor tell you not to have intense emotional fluctuations?”

 

In fact, Qin Xiaolu had been waiting for a suitable heart for seven years and still hadn’t found one.

 

His words were just powerless comfort.

 

But perhaps his cold demeanor was too intimidating, because Qin Xiaolu actually controlled her emotions slightly because of his words.

 

Wen Yu finished paying and came out with two cans of hot coffee and a box of hot milk he’d bought in the store, stuffing the coffee into Fu Yuhan’s hands.

 

“Besides,” Fu Yuhan took the hot milk for Qin Xiaolu, lowering his eyes and saying softly, “I don’t know about other things, but He Yan definitely didn’t get sick because of you. Don’t blame yourself for everything. You’re already in poor health, and you’re giving yourself mental pressure every day.”

 

Qin Xiaolu looked up.

 

“She’s been off for a long time,” he said, “if we really had to trace it back, it would be before she divorced my dad.”

 

##

 

---

 

 (advanced chapters available on kofi)