After I Married the Comatose CEO - Chapter 20

With the sharp glass shard pointed at his throat, Shen Yinan instinctively backed away. “You, what do you want to do?”

“I don’t want to do anything,” Xie Qiu said calmly, continuing to move closer. “I should be asking you—what exactly do you want to do?”

“Calm… calm down!” Shen Yinan blustered while backing up. “Today is Grandpa He’s birthday. If you hurt me, not just the Shen family, but even the He family won’t let you get away with it!”

Though his words were a threat, his tone was nowhere near as arrogant as before. The two followers hadn’t expected this situation either; they were stunned and didn’t dare move forward, only backing away along with him.

“So, you do know that today is Grandpa He’s birthday,” Xie Qiu laughed. “You keep making trouble because you think someone is backing you up, don’t you?”

“I—” Shen Yinan’s face turned white, but he still tried to lie. “You’re talking nonsense, I didn’t make trouble!”

“So, you think you can humiliate me just because I’m an adopted son of the Xie family?” Xie Qiu’s eyes turned cold. “Too bad, you misjudged me.”

Shen Yinan kept backing up until he accidentally tripped over a step and fell hard on his bottom.

The two followers rushed over. “Young Master Shen, are you okay?”

Shen Yinan clumsily leaned on them to get up. Just as he was about to speak, he heard a familiar voice: “Shen Yinan.”

He looked back angrily, only to find that the person standing next to Shen Xibai was He Jingchen.

Shen Yinan completely lost his spirit. He pushed away his followers and limped away. As he passed the two, he hung his head even lower, scurrying back into the banquet hall like a beaten dog.

Shen Xibai walked toward Xie Qiu. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Xie Qiu hid the hand holding the broken glass behind his back and asked casually, “Why did you guys come out?”

He Jingchen’s gaze went from the wet hair on Xie Qiu’s forehead down to his face. “Shen Xibai saw his brother chase after you and asked me to come check.”

Xie Qiu was a bit surprised, then replied with a smile, “Thank you for your concern, Mr. Shen. But don’t worry, your brother didn’t get the better of me.”

He didn’t expect Shen Xibai, who looked so cold and distant, to care so much about a stranger he had only met once.

“I’m sorry, my brother has always been like this,” Shen Xibai said with an apologetic look. “If you hadn’t helped me earlier, he wouldn’t have targeted you.”

“It’s fine, let’s just consider it making a new friend,” Xie Qiu introduced himself. “My name is Xie Qiu. Xie as in ‘thanks,’ and Qiu as in ‘autumn.'”

“I am Shen Xibai,” Shen Xibai reached out a hand. “Xi as in ‘stream,’ and Bai as in ‘white.'”

Xie Qiu used his free hand to gently shake his. “Nice to meet you, Shen Xibai.”

He Jingchen frowned slightly, though he didn’t say anything.

“The banquet seems to have started; you guys should go back first,” Xie Qiu reminded them. “I should leave, too.”

“Alright,” Shen Xibai agreed. “Thanks for the jacket. I’ll return it the next time we meet.”

Xie Qiu replied, “You’re welcome.”

He stood there and watched them walk away. They really were the main couple from the book; even their backs looked so perfect together. They were a match made in heaven—it would just be better if they actually talked to each other more.

Xie Qiu cleared his thoughts, turned toward the end of the porch, and threw the broken glass into a trash can.

After turning a few corners, he felt the surroundings finally become completely quiet.

As soon as Xie Qiu walked into the living room, someone came to meet him: “Eldest Young Madam, why are you back already?”

“Because I was worried about your Eldest Young Master,” Xie Qiu joked. “How could I have the heart to let him stay in this room all alone?”

The young maid couldn’t help but cover her mouth and giggle: “The Eldest Young Madam really cares for the Eldest Young Master.”

“Of course,” Xie Qiu walked toward the stairs and replied casually, “He’s my husband, so of course I’m the one to care for him.”

He went up to the second floor. He had already reached the door of the sickroom, but after a thought, he turned around and went back to his own room first.

He had picked up all sorts of smells in the banquet hall and had been splashed with a large glass of red wine. If his clean-freak husband smelled him, he would definitely be disgusted.

*

Xie Qiu went into the bathroom for a quick shower and changed into clean home clothes.

He dried his hair until it was just damp, put his phone back in his pocket, and then walked through the room to push open the connecting door.

When he entered, the caregiver was performing daily stimulation therapy on He Siyan.

The man on the bed had his hands clenched into fists, and his breathing was becoming faster and heavier, as if he might suddenly snap his heavy eyelids open at any second.

Fearing he might interfere with the treatment, Xie Qiu stopped and watched from a short distance away.

However, after about thirty seconds, the man’s clenched hands finally loosened and fell weakly onto the sheets.

Just like every other failed attempt, everything quickly fell back into a deathly silence.

The caregiver looked at Xie Qiu: “I’m sorry, Eldest Young Madam, I—”

“It’s okay. This isn’t something that happens overnight,” Xie Qiu comforted him softly. “You did your best. Let’s take it slow.”

“Thank you for understanding.” The caregiver stood up and moved aside. “But why are you back so soon? Is the Old Master’s banquet over?”

Xie Qiu replied, “It’s not over yet. I came back early.”

“Oh, I see!” The caregiver understood instantly. “You must have been worried about leaving the Eldest Young Master alone, so you rushed back to be with him.”

Xie Qiu gave a small smile: “Yes. The banquet won’t miss one person like me.”

“Alright, then please stay with him. I’ll head out first.” The caregiver quickly cleared the items off the nightstand. “Call me if you need anything.”

Xie Qiu responded: “Okay, thank you for your hard work.”

The caregiver left the room, thoughtfully closing the door behind him.

Xie Qiu pulled his small chair over and sat by the bed, staring at the sleeping man.

He Siyan had just gone through a silent struggle. His pale face was flushed, and a layer of fine sweat had broken out on his forehead.

“Husband, you’re sweating a lot.” Xie Qiu stood up right after sitting down. “Let me wipe it away for you.”

He went to the bathroom to wring out a towel, returned to the bedside, and gently wiped the sweat from the man’s face.

They were very close during this, and Xie Qiu noticed the man frown slightly.

“What is it, Husband?” He straightened up and asked with a smile. “Did you smell the alcohol on my face?”

The wine Shen Yinan had splashed on him was very high quality; even after a shower, a faint scent of grapes remained on his skin.

He Siyan’s eyes stayed shut, and he didn’t respond. He seemed to have used up all his strength during the stimulation therapy.

“Husband, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t sneak any drinks tonight,” Xie Qiu sat down again, draping the towel over the back of the chair. “Someone splashed this wine on my face.”

As soon as he said this, He Siyan’s fingers on the bed moved, slowly curling inward.

Xie Qiu thought his husband was already asleep, so he didn’t notice this tiny change.

“Speaking of the banquet tonight, it was really lively.” He briefly explained the conflict between the Shen brothers. “To be honest, I planned to just put up with it, but sometimes they are really pushy.”

Xie Qiu was silent for a few seconds, and his voice got lower: “They always like to attack me for being an orphan. But is it my fault I don’t have parents? Don’t they think I wanted to grow up happy and carefree in my parents’ arms?”

When other kids fall, they can go home to their parents for comfort. He could only brush the dust off his knees, smile, and get back up on his own.

Even though the orphanage director was kind and loving, she had too many things to worry about; he wasn’t her only child.

As he grew up, he learned to protect himself, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt when he got wounded.

Xie Qiu leaned over, resting his head on the edge of the bed and burying his face in his hands: “It’s so annoying. I really hate how they bully me like that.”

It was because they knew he had no one behind him, no one to back him up that they could bully him so shamelessly.

Xie Qiu picked up the man’s arm and rested his cheek on it, muttering, “Husband, your cute wife was bullied. When are you finally going to wake up?”

His voice held a rare trace of sadness, and his words were a bit slurred and clingy, like a child complaining to someone close to them. It sounded both cute and pitiful.

But after the words left his mouth, Xie Qiu himself was stunned for a moment.

It was all because Meng Ziye kept saying that his husband would stand up for him once he woke up. His subconscious had started to believe that He Siyan really would back him up.

“Forget it, Husband,” Xie Qiu laughed at himself and comforted himself in a whisper. “I actually bullied the person who bullied me tonight right back.”

Suddenly, a large, pale hand slowly stroked his soft, damp hair. From above his head came a deep, raspy voice: “Who…”

“It’s that Shen Yinan,” Xie Qiu replied without thinking. “The brother of my new friend, Shen Xibai—”

His voice cut off abruptly.

Xie Qiu could hear his own heart beating—thump, thump, thump, thump—each beat incredibly clear.

He held his breath in disbelief and carefully lifted his face.

In the next instant, Xie Qiu fell unexpectedly into a pair of dark, deep eyes.

Support