Re-engraving the Spring - Chapter 40

The phrase ‘I believe in you’ broke all of Chi Qiu’s rules and scruples.

Chi Qiu sighed with relief in his heart and was glad he was pretending to be blind.

He really couldn’t screw this up. If he really couldn’t see, and Lu Ming insisted on having himself help him to go to the toilet, then in case Lu Ming fell, Chi Qiu couldn’t forgive himself.

In Chi Qiu’s heart, he always cared about Lu Ming.

Then, he listened to Lu Ming’s command; pressing his uninjured hand on the back of Lu Ming’s shoulder, and pushed Lu Ming’s body forward with great effort.

One of Lu Ming’s hands was holding the guardrail of the hospital bed. He endured the pain and sat up with a tense face. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Chi Qiu pressed himself to his side and wrapped his arms around Lu Ming’s back where there was no wound, cleverly turning himself into Lu Ming’s ‘support’.

“Lu Ming, can you stand firm?”

“I can stand.”

Chi Qiu smiled happily, he was happy that he could help Lu Ming.

The two had a tacit understanding like those who had been with each other for many years. Lu Ming directed the direction, and Chi Qiu followed, and the cooperation went smoothly. From the hospital bed to the bathroom in just a few short steps; Chi Qiu walked with ripples in his heart.

However, Chi Qiu was happy too early; when he entered the bathroom, Chi Qiu knew what it was to face the embarrassment.

Lu Ming was probably also a little uncomfortable, he said, “You go out first, then I’ll call you.”

Chi Qiu did not move: “I’m not going, I’m afraid you will fall.”

“I will hold the wall.”

“…I’m not going.”

Lu Ming was silent.

Chi Qiu said hesitantly, “I can’t see, you don’t have to mind.”

Lu Ming replied, “I didn’t mean that.” He stopped rushing Chi Qiu, and slowly, with Chi Qiu’s support, he stretched out his hands to the waist of his trousers.

…………

It wasn’t the first time that Chi Qiu and Lu Ming met naked, but every time they had an in-depth exchange, it was under dim light. Speaking of which, this was the first time Chi Qiu saw Lu Ming under the clear light.

Suddenly, he couldn’t pretend anymore. The rapidly rising temperature made his entire face blushing, and at this moment, even if others said Chi Qiu was a smoking tomato, it would not be an exaggeration.

Chi Qiu’s eyes kept glancing at Lu Ming, and he swallowed. With a heart stuck in his throat, he was nervous.

Big…that’s really big.

Chi Qiu couldn’t believe it, both were men but the gap between the two would actually be so big. He peeked at his crotch, and only four words came to mind: lost completely.

But in another sense, Chi Qiu was a passive winner again.

The more Chi Qiu thought about it, the more wrong it became. He really didn’t dare to think about it. Finally, he simply closed his eyes and heard the sound of water being released with a clatter.

Lu Ming noticed Chi Qiu’s flushed face and silently turned his head away. But even if he didn’t look, he could imagine that Chi Qiu’s face was ‘burning’ now.

Lu Ming also felt embarrassed. He quickly solved his normal physiological phenomenon and pressed the flush button in one go.

“Okay,” he said.

Chi Qiu stammered back: “Ah, okay, okay.”

With Chi Qiu’s help, Lu Ming went to the sink to wash his hands, and then slowly sat down on the edge of the hospital bed again. Chi Qiu was thin, and his weight was far less than Lu Ming. After he helped Lu Ming lie down with one hand, he was already sweating profusely.

In the meantime, Lu Ming touched the wound on his back. In order not to worry Chi Qiu, Lu Ming didn’t say anything.

The afternoon sun outside the window was dazzling, but fortunately, there was a camphor tree covering it and mottled. Today’s weather was not too hot and there was no air conditioner in the ward, only half of the windows were open. The breeze blew in through the screen window, carrying a faint fragrance of plants.

Chi Qiu wiped away his sweat, quietly sat down on the seat beside the bed, and accompanied Lu Ming without saying a word.

To ease the strange atmosphere, Lu Ming coughed lightly.

Chi Qiu lifted his head and blurted out, “Do you want some water?”

“No.” How would Lu Ming dare to drink water, he refused.

Chi Qiu nodded when he heard the words, and stopped talking.

Maybe it was Chi Qiu who usually took the initiative, so once he calmed down, Lu Ming didn’t know what to say.

Time passed extremely slowly, Lu Ming took his mobile phone and looked at the documents in the mailbox. From time to time, he couldn’t help but take a peek at Chi Qiu.

The sensitive Chi Qiu noticed Lu Ming’s gaze and raised his head curiously: “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“I always feel…that you are looking at me?” Chi Qiu worried that he was making a fool of himself,1自作多情: to proffer a love which is not reciprocated but then he thought, he was in front of Lu Ming, any action couldn’t be considered as making a fool of himself.

“……”

Lu Ming couldn’t answer, he thought he was a little abnormal today, probably because he hit his head last night.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, secretary Xu Ling finally arrived at the ward.

The first thing Lu Ming did when he saw him was to ask him to arrange a nurse, the sooner the better.

“Nurse?” Xu Ling didn’t even have time to catch his breath before he had to hoof it to do another job. He came in a hurry, still wearing his work suit, and he was stuffy in the City C temperatures.

Chi Qiu carefully heard the exhaustion in Xu Ling’s voice, got up and took a new cup, pouring a glass of water for Xu Ling. Xu Ling was so grateful, he raised his head and drank.

Lu Ming looked at Xu Ling, who was drinking water, and the dryness in his throat increased a little.

“Mr. Lu, I was scared this morning.” With a glass of water, Xu Ling’s tone became clear. He repeatedly confirmed that Lu Ming was fine and gradually put down his hanging heart.

Xu Ling was young and had not been out of the society for a long time, but he was very responsible for his work. In this situation, he still remembered his work and asked uncertainly, “The meeting next week is related to Lu’s group, you should be able to go, right?”

“I can go.” Lu Ming instructed him, “Xu Ling, don’t spread the news about my injury.”

Xu Ling nodded and then said, “I’ve already had the proposed contract sent to your email address.”

“I saw it.” Lu Ming mentioned, “Some parts need to be changed, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay, I’ll arrange the nurse now.” Xu Ling finished his task and his whole body relaxed a lot.

As soon as he turned back, he saw a bunch of crushed roses sitting by another hospital bed. He didn’t know who hid the roses here, but if it wasn’t for his sharp eyes, almost no one would have noticed the poor-looking bouquet of roses.

Xu Ling walked over in confusion and bent down to pick up the bouquet of roses.

The moment Chi Qiu, who had a keen ear, heard the bouquet being picked up, he stood up abruptly and without thinking about it, he shouted directly, “That’s mine!”

Xu Ling: “…”

Lu Ming: “…”

Chi Qiu, who was anxious, shouted so loudly that Xu Ling was so frightened that he almost missed the roses. Fortunately, he steadied himself. He glanced at Chi Qiu in surprise, then looked down at the rotten rose in his hand; a misunderstanding.

Xu Ling understood that Chi Qiu couldn’t see so he explained kindly: “Mr. Chi, your bouquet of roses is crushed, and it may rot if you keep it. The weather in City C is hot, it won’t smell good after a while. I’ll help you take it out and throw it away, ba.”

Chi Qiu was embarrassed to say that he was reluctant to throw it away. After all, he received this bouquet of roses less than 24 hours ago, he didn’t want to throw it away so quickly.

He watched Xu Ling holding his roses; his heart was anxious and annoyed, unable to think of a suitable rhetoric.

Although Chi Qiu liked the concert yesterday, he liked the rose that Lu Ming personally held for him even more.

However, he was too shy to be discovered by Lu Ming about this trivial thought, so he secretly hid the rose on the side of his bed, thinking that a day was a day, it would not be a waste for their trip.

Unexpectedly, Xu Ling found out.

Chi Qiu pretended to be calm and politely said, “No, I can throw it myself, I won’t bother you.”

Xu Ling was careless for a while and did not notice the difference in Chi Qiu. He had had a lot of tea in Chi Qiu’s house in the past, so he didn’t feel that throwing garbage for them was some kind of trouble. So instead, he enthusiastically said: “No trouble, I will help you throw it away!”

“…” Chi Qiu was unable to speak of his bitter suffering.

There was nothing he could do, he could only comfort himself in his heart: the roses were crushed and they would be thrown away sooner or later.

Chi Qiu pursed his lips. In front of Lu Ming, he could not say anything.

But Lu Ming instantly spoke up and stopped Xu Ling without mercy: “Put the rose back where it belongs, this is not something you need to worry about.”

Xu Ling was dumbfounded, not understanding what he had done to make Lu Ming’s tone so serious. He was in a trance for a few seconds, and after snapping out of it, he wanted to slap himself twice. He hurriedly put the roses back in its place, turned around and left the ward, not daring to delay a single step.

Xu Ling understood it. According to the rumors, ‘Mr. Lu doesn’t like to go home, he and his partner don’t have a good relationship’ – were all fake! It was all fake!

The relationship between these two people was so good that they couldn’t even bear to throw a bunch of rotten roses!