After I Married the Comatose CEO - Chapter 25

After more than eight months, the head of the He Group, He Siyan, finally appeared in the public eye again.

He Siyan turned his head slightly and gestured to his assistant. “Sunglasses.”

Assistant Fang immediately pulled a pair of sunglasses from his pocket and handed them over.

He Siyan took the sunglasses and handed them back to Xie Qiu.

Xie Qiu was startled, but he took them and put them on. “Thank you.”

As expected, after a moment of shock, the paparazzi couldn’t resist the temptation of a front-page story. Despite President He’s intimidating aura, they all rushed forward.

But before they could get close, the tall, strong bodyguards in black stepped up. They formed a solid human wall, keeping all the reporters behind a safety line.

“President He! President He, how is your recovery going?”

“President He! There are rumors that you were in a vegetative state after the accident and only recently woke up. Is this true?”

“President He! Reliable sources say the He Group is currently in an intense internal power struggle. Now that you are awake, can you tell us about your future plans?”

…

The reporters held up their microphones, competing to ask questions. The sound of shutters and the flash of cameras were everywhere.

Wearing the sunglasses, Xie Qiu stood behind the man with a cool face, silently complaining in his heart.

These reporters ask such low-level questions. If he told you the plan directly, would it still be a plan?

He Siyan raised his hand, and the noisy shouting instantly quieted down.

The reporters all shut their mouths, waiting to see which agency’s question President He would answer first.

Under everyone’s gaze, He Siyan spoke: “Thank you all for your concern. I am no longer in any danger.”

After saying that, he lightly patted the hand resting on the wheelchair.

Xie Qiu understood and started pushing the wheelchair again.

Just then, a loud male voice suddenly burst from the crowd: “President He! Rumors say you have a marriage contract with the Xie family’s foster son, Xie Qiu. Does Xie Qiu’s appearance at the hospital today mean you are about to get engaged?”

Xie Qiu’s hands tightened on the wheelchair. Just as he planned to walk forward as if nothing had happened, a familiar voice sounded by his ear.

“The marriage contract is real,” He Siyan said in a deep, calm voice. “As for whether we get engaged, or when, that depends on his wishes.”

These words were like a bomb dropped among the paparazzi, instantly causing an explosion of noise.

Xie Qiu was also stunned. He couldn’t help but look at the man in front of him, but from his angle, he couldn’t see the man’s expression.

Assistant Fang stepped forward to draw the reporters’ attention away from his boss. “Everyone, I will answer the rest of the questions on behalf of President He.”

The paparazzi knew they wouldn’t get any more useful information from He Siyan, so they gave up and pointed their microphones at Assistant Fang instead.

Xie Qiu snapped back to his senses. Protected by the bodyguards, he successfully pushed the wheelchair to the car.

He Siyan waved over a bodyguard behind him. “After this is over, check the reporters’ cameras.”

The bodyguard asked, “President He, should we delete the photos and videos they took?”

He Siyan gave low instructions: “Delete everything they took before I came down.”

Xie Qiu finally realized that Mr. He meant to delete the photos the reporters took of him alone. He thanked him in a small voice, “Thank you, Mr. He.”

He Siyan replied, “You’re welcome.”

The driver opened the car door and handed a cane to He Siyan. “President He.”

He Siyan took the cane and used his other hand to push himself up from the wheelchair.

Xie Qiu instinctively reached out, wanting to help support him.

He Siyan glanced at him, then raised his hand to rest it on Xie Qiu’s thin shoulder, using his strength to get into the car.

Seeing this, the paparazzi behind them began snapping photos like crazy again.

Xie Qiu walked around to the other side of the car and quickly sat inside.

The low-profile black Bentley drove away from the hospital, followed closely by several other cars.

Through the rearview mirror, Xie Qiu saw the paparazzi being left far behind and finally let out a sigh of relief.

He lowered his eyelashes and tried to keep a calm, focused mind.

It was very quiet inside the car. He couldn’t help but peek at the person sitting next to him out of the corner of his eye.

He Siyan had closed his eyes since getting into the car. His large, well-defined hands were folded over his knees, and his expression was as calm as water.

Xie Qiu had many questions, such as why he said those things to the reporters and what they meant, but seeing the faint exhaustion on the man’s face, he didn’t have the heart to disturb him.

He rested his elbow on the car window and closed his eyes to nap, trying to clear the messy thoughts from his brain.

The driver was very steady. He could barely feel any stops or bumps. After leaning there for a while, Xie Qiu actually fell asleep.

After a long time, He Siyan opened his eyes.

He turned his head, and his deep gaze fell on Xie Qiu’s delicate features.

Perhaps the days of exams had used up too much of his energy; Xie Qiu’s small head kept nodding and bumping against the window glass, yet he didn’t wake up.

He Siyan raised his hand, pressed his palm against the soft cheek, and slowly moved the small head toward himself, letting it rest on his shoulder.

Slightly curly strands of hair brushed against his neck, causing an itchy feeling, and the temperature of his skin rose.

He Siyan looked down. His fingers, still touching the cheek, slid down slowly and gently.

He remembered this feeling—soft and smooth. With a little pressure from his fingertips, it would sink in. He didn’t want to let go.

At that moment, the driver happened to look at the rearview mirror. Seeing this scene, he could not hide the surprise on his face.

He Siyan looked up and met his eyes in the mirror.

The driver shivered, quickly looked away, and focused entirely on driving.

The car slowly drove into the He family mansion. When it stopped, the sky outside was already dark.

Xie Qiu was sleeping soundly when he heard a deep, magnetic voice calling his name.

He frowned and opened his eyes unwillingly.

He Siyan asked softly, “Are you awake?”

The next second, Xie Qiu suddenly sat up straight. “I fell asleep?”

“Yes,” He Siyan replied. “Go back inside and keep sleeping.”

Xie Qiu looked at the man’s shoulder and noticed a suspicious, shiny wet spot on the black suit fabric.

He immediately reached out and rubbed it, trying to destroy the evidence.

He Siyan turned to look at him with a hint of a question in his eyes.

Xie Qiu gave a forced laugh. “Mr. He, your suit is a bit wrinkled. I’m helping you smooth it out.”

He Siyan’s gaze moved down to Xie Qiu’s red lips. He reminded him, “Wipe the corner of your mouth.”

Xie Qiu instinctively wiped his mouth and suddenly realized what happened. His face turned bright red instantly.

He Siyan stared at him for a few seconds before looking away. “Let’s go. Let’s go home.”

The driver waiting by the car quickly opened the door. “President He, please step out.”

He Siyan used his cane to get out and sat back in the wheelchair.

Xie Qiu got out from the other side and put his hands on the wheelchair handles. The tips of his white ears were still red.

“Brother!” He Jingchen came running over when he heard the noise. “You’re finally back.”

He Siyan nodded slightly. “Something came up and delayed us for a moment.”

He Jingchen didn’t ask what it was. He signaled to Xie Qiu, “Let me push.”

Xie Qiu was about to move out of the way, but he heard the man speak: “Let Xie Qiu do it.”

Both of them paused for a second. Xie Qiu gripped the handles again. “Okay, Mr. He.”

He Jingchen had no choice but to follow behind them, talking as they walked. “Brother, everyone has arrived.”

He Siyan asked, “Who didn’t come?”

He Jingchen thought for a moment. “Basically, everyone is here except for Third Uncle’s family. I heard they went on vacation.”

He Siyan’s tone was very cold. “I have returned, yet Third Uncle went on vacation. What a coincidence.”

He Jingchen let out a cold laugh. “If you ask me, they probably have a guilty conscience, so they flew away overnight.”

“Jingchen,” He Siyan warned, “Do not make wild guesses without evidence.”

He Jingchen replied, “I understand, Brother.”

Xie Qiu listened quietly, not interrupting the conversation between the two brothers.

His guess was correct; He Siyan’s car accident was indeed not an accident, and the man likely already knew exactly what was going on.

Soon, Xie Qiu pushed the wheelchair into the house.

“Siyan!” Su Wanrong stood up first and greeted him with a big smile. “Welcome home!”

He Siyan spoke: “Mom, thank you for your hard work during this time.”

“Oh! It wasn’t hard at all!” Su Wanrong was so happy that tears welled up in her eyes again. “As long as I can see you recover your health, any amount of hard work is worth it.”

He Jing also came forward. “Oh dear! On such a wonderful day, sister-in-law, don’t cry.”

“Yes, on such a wonderful day…” Su Wanrong wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and took Xie Qiu’s hand. “Xiao Qiu, you are the person who worked the hardest in this family.”

Xie Qiu gave a small smile. “It wasn’t hard for me.”

“Alright, let’s not all stand at the door,” He Jing organized. “Let’s go inside and talk.”

Su Wanrong let go of his hand, and Xie Qiu pushed the wheelchair further in.

“Siyan.” He Feng stood up and said with emotion, “You have finally recovered and returned. This family really cannot function for a single day without you.”

“Second Uncle, look at what you’re saying.” He Jing said from the side with a fake smile, “When Siyan wasn’t at the group, didn’t I see you and Third Brother doing quite well for yourselves?”

He Feng’s expression changed slightly as he defended himself: “Xiao Jing, didn’t I do everything for the sake of this family? When Siyan was away, if no one stepped up to lead the He Group—”

“Second Uncle.” He Siyan calmly interrupted him. “I already know about the things you did for the group while I was away.”

With just that one sentence, He Feng almost broke into a cold sweat.

Among the three generations of the He family, the person most feared was no longer the Old Master, but the young man sitting in the wheelchair—the head of the He Group.

He Siyan was not a moody person; in fact, it was hard for most people to tell if he was happy or angry. No one had ever seen him fly into a rage, but only those who had experienced his methods knew exactly how terrifying he could be.

“Si… Siyan…” The smile on He Feng’s face became stiff as he explained carefully, “Actually, some things are not exactly as they seem on the surface.”

He Siyan replied indifferently, “Don’t worry, Second Uncle. I know what’s going on.”

Seeing the atmosphere turn awkward, He Zijie quickly tried to help his father: “Cousin, you have no idea! So many things happened in the He family while you were away!”

He Siyan looked at him. “Is that so?”

The others took the chance to crowd around, expressing their concern one after another.

However, Xie Qiu noticed that He Siyan’s attitude toward everyone was the same—equally lukewarm.

Not long after, the butler came up to announce that dinner was ready.

At Su Wanrong’s signal, Xie Qiu pushed the wheelchair to the head of the table.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, his wrist was caught.

“You sit, too.” He Siyan pulled him closer and asked, “Sit next to me, okay?”

Xie Qiu looked into the man’s eyes for a few seconds and gave in. “Alright, I’ll sit here.”

Normally, with the head of the family at the main seat, the two top side seats should belong to Mrs. He and the second young master. It shouldn’t have been his turn.

But since He Siyan had spoken, it wouldn’t be right to embarrass him in front of everyone.

The others looked at each other, and the way they looked at Xie Qiu changed.

During the meal, He Siyan spent the whole time taking care of the person next to him, barely eating much himself.

Xie Qiu ate with his head down for a while. Suddenly feeling a bit bad, he picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork rib and put it in He Siyan’s bowl.

He Jingchen’s brows furrowed. “My brother—”

He Siyan glanced at him, picked up the rib, and took a bite. “The taste is good.”

Encouraged, Xie Qiu put another piece in the bowl. “Eat more. I think it’s very delicious, too.”

He Jingchen: “…”

Watching the couple looking so sweet, Su Wanrong’s surprise turned into relief. She raised her glass. “Come, let’s all toast to celebrate Siyan coming home safely.”

Everyone raised their glasses together. Xie Qiu also joined the toast, but he only took a tiny sip before setting the glass down.

After dinner, He Siyan suggested going back to his room to rest.

“Go ahead, Siyan,” Su Wanrong said softly. “You must be exhausted after moving back from the hospital today. Go back to your room and rest well.”

He Siyan glanced at the crowd. “Everyone, please make yourselves at home.”

Xie Qiu naturally pushed the wheelchair toward the elevator.

He had accurately decided his own role: today, he was Mr. He’s exclusive wheelchair pusher.

With a ding, the elevator doors opened.

Xie Qiu pushed the man to his room. After entering, he noticed the layout had completely changed; even the bedsheets had been swapped from white to black.

He guessed that while He Siyan was in the hospital, Su Wanrong had restored the room to its original look in advance.

Xie Qiu pushed the wheelchair to the bedside. “Mr. He, do you need me to help you onto the bed?”

Before He Siyan could speak, the door behind them was pushed open.

“Eldest Young Master, Eldest Young Madam.” The caregiver walked in carrying a medical kit. “I’m here to give the Eldest Young Master a massage and acupuncture.”

“Alright.” Xie Qiu asked for permission, “Then Mr. He, should I head back to my room?”

“Mm,” He Siyan replied. “You worked hard today.”

Xie Qiu took a shortcut, walking through the bedroom to the connecting door and returning to his own room.

Once the door closed, he let out a long sigh. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, only to find it had run out of battery and turned off.

He plugged it into the charger. As soon as it turned on, the phone wouldn’t stop vibrating.

Xie Qiu opened WeChat. It lagged for several seconds before loading. When he looked closely, his message list had exploded.

A bad feeling rose in Xie Qiu’s heart. He quickly clicked on his chat with Meng Ziye.

Meng Ziye: 【Xiao Qiu! Did you see the latest reports!!】

Meng Ziye: 【Is this President He officially announcing you to the media!!!】

Meng Ziye: 【Xiao Qiuqiu!!! Answer my messages quickly ah ah ah ah!!!】

Xie Qiu ignored Meng Ziye’s crazy exclamation points and clicked on a Weibo link sent in the chat.

It was a video. The camera was focused on He Siyan’s handsome, cold face, faithfully recording the sentence: “As for whether we get engaged, or when, that depends on his wishes.”

At the end of the video, the camera tilted up and froze on Xie Qiu’s face, which was mostly covered by sunglasses.

Xie Qiu: “…”

The only thing to be thankful for was that he was wearing large sunglasses at the time, so he didn’t show too stupid of an expression on camera.

Xie Qiu wasn’t in the mood to see how the news media wrote about him. He exited the video to reply to the messages.

Xie Qiu: 【Can I say that, actually, I don’t know what’s going on either?】

Meng Ziye: 【Ah ah ah you finally replied!!!】

Meng Ziye: 【What do you mean you don’t know what’s going on? Isn’t this an official announcement?】

Xie Qiu: 【I don’t think so…】

Meng Ziye: 【He Siyan didn’t answer any other questions except for the one about your marriage contract!!!】

Meng Ziye: 【If this isn’t an official announcement, what is it?!】

Xie Qiu: 【It’s not what you think. He Siyan probably did it to keep the reporters from writing nonsense.】

At first, he couldn’t understand why Mr. He would admit they had a marriage contract in front of the paparazzi. It wasn’t until he saw the news just now that it became clear.

He had been caught off guard at the hospital entrance. If the paparazzi couldn’t get a headline about President He, they would definitely focus all their fire on him and write whatever they wanted.

So, He Siyan admitting the contract was actually a way to protect him. At least those reporters wouldn’t say anything too nasty now.

But…

Why did He Siyan step in to protect him?

Xie Qiu dealt with the flood of messages while falling into deep thought.

After thinking it over, there seemed to be only one explanation.

Mr. He probably helped him out because Xie Qiu had taken such good care of him during his recovery.

But later, after returning to the He house, why did He Siyan intentionally act like Xie Qiu was special in front of the family?

Xie Qiu ended the conversation with his friend. He ignored the messages from others and went to take a shower.

After showering, he changed into clean home clothes and dried his hair until it stopped dripping. He walked to the connecting door and knocked politely.

Since he couldn’t figure it out, it was better to just ask.

A familiar voice came from the other side of the door: “Enter.”

Xie Qiu pushed the door open and saw the man working in his wheelchair. The caregiver was no longer in the room.

“Mr. He,” Xie Qiu walked over. “Is the nursing care finished?”

“Mm.” He Siyan’s gaze fell on his face, his eyes darkening slightly. “Did you shower?”

Xie Qiu had pale skin, and his cheeks were flushed pink from the hot water. His large eyes, like glass beads, were misty, making his red lips and white teeth stand out even more.

Just as he had said before, his hair curled more when it got wet. His curly bangs rested damply on his forehead; he was as beautiful as a doll.

“Yes, I showered,” Xie Qiu replied obediently. He asked, “Is Mr. He still working?”

He Siyan took the laptop off his lap and put it on the table. “No, just looking at some things.”

Xie Qiu advised softly, “Mr. He, your body hasn’t fully recovered yet. You should focus on resting.”

“Mm,” He Siyan replied. “I’m ready to rest.”

Since he said that, Xie Qiu had to set aside his questions for a moment. “Then should I call the caregiver back in?”

“No need.” He Siyan took the cane leaning against the wall and stood up. “I can shower by myself.”

Xie Qiu blinked. “Do you really not need help?”

“What?” He Siyan stared at him and asked with a half-smile, “Do you want to help me?”

Xie Qiu: “…”

The caregiver! I clearly meant let the caregiver come in and help!

He Siyan stood there and said in a casual tone, “If you really want to help, then help me take off my clothes.”