After I Married the Comatose CEO - Chapter 8

The slap was loud, and Xie Qiu was startled awake.

There was no mosquito; he had clearly slapped He Siyan’s hand.

Xie Qiu lifted his face and held the hand to check it. Several red finger marks appeared on the pale back of the hand, looking very sharp.

“I’m sorry, Mr. He! I was sleepy and didn’t mean to hit you.” Xie Qiu apologized immediately. He instinctively lifted the man’s hand and blew on it gently.

His warm breath hit the skin, and the small “pearl” in the center of his upper lip touched the back of the hand—it was soft and damp.

Xie Qiu noticed the hand he was holding moved slightly, the fingertips curling to grip the back of his own hand. But he didn’t panic; after all, such small movements were just basic physical reflexes to external stimulation and had nothing to do with whether the patient was conscious.

Xie Qiu carefully placed the man’s hand back on the bed. “There, it won’t hurt after I blow on it.”

It was as if the person on the bed wasn’t an unconscious patient, but a child who needed to be comforted with gentle words.

Xie Qiu stretched and stood up. “Goodnight, Mr. He. I’ll come see you again tomorrow.”

He straightened the corner of the blanket and turned to go back to his room.

As Xie Qiu left, the room became quiet. The man on the bed kept his eyes closed, and the hand at his side struggled to turn over. But he soon lost his strength, and everything returned to silence.

Xie Qiu spent his days traveling between school and the He estate. Time flew by, and soon it was Friday.

After waking up in the morning, he greeted He Siyan as usual and then went to school with his backpack. When the morning class ended, he was packing his books when he heard a female voice call his name: “Xie Qiu!”

Meng Ziye looked toward the door. Seeing the girl’s unfriendly expression, he was a bit worried. “Xiao Qiu, is someone coming to find trouble with you again?”

Xie Qiu looked up. “I don’t know.”

The girl was wearing designer clothes and perfect makeup. Her high heels made a “thump-thump” sound as she walked over. “You must be Xie Qiu, right?”

“I am.” Xie Qiu leaned back against his chair. “And you are?”

“I am Song Xueying.” She lifted her chin. “I am also He Jingchen’s fiancée.”

Xie Qiu raised an eyebrow, remembering that this was indeed a thing. The He family was a powerful clan, so an arranged marriage was very normal. However, since the Second Young Master wasn’t old enough to marry yet, the matter hadn’t been officially scheduled.

He remembered that this young lady from the Song family would cause some trouble between the main couple later in the story. Of course, they would make up in the end; people like him were just catalysts to make the main couple’s relationship stronger.

“Miss Song,” Xie Qiu asked politely, “is there something I can help you with?”

Song Xueying looked down at him. “You should know exactly why I am here.”

Xie Qiu immediately stated his position: “Don’t worry, Miss Song. There is nothing going on between the Second Young Master and me.”

It seemed that Master Bai wasn’t doing a good enough job; he hadn’t spread the word about Xie Qiu’s “devoted lover” persona yet.

“I know that, of course. He Jingchen wouldn’t be interested in someone like you.” Song Xueying’s voice was full of disdain. “I just hope you have the sense to stay away from him. It will save him from unnecessary trouble and strange rumors.”

Xie Qiu: “…”

This Miss Song was a bit more skilled than little Master Bai; she was already acting like the official wife.

Just as Xie Qiu was about to speak, an unhappy voice came from the door: “Song Xueying.”

Song Xueying turned around. Her proud expression vanished instantly, replaced by a gentle look. “Brother Jingchen, why are you here?”

“I should be asking you that.” He Jingchen frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“I…” Song Xueying tried to act cute to get out of it. “Brother Jingchen, why are you being so mean?”

He Jingchen glanced at Xie Qiu, who was sitting calmly in his chair, then looked back at her and ordered: “Don’t ever come looking for Xie Qiu again.”

Song Xueying still wanted to explain: “Brother Jingchen, I was just trying to help you—”

He Jingchen cut her off rudely. “My business is none of your concern.”

Song Xueying bit her lip, stomped her foot, and ran away. “Fine then! You think I care?”

Only the three of them were left in the classroom. For a moment, no one spoke.

“Second Young Master,” Xie Qiu broke the silence after a while. “Do you also have business with me?”

He Jingchen stood at the door and replied coldly, “No. Just passing by.”

Xie Qiu: “…”

As he watched the cold figure leave, Meng Ziye took a huge breath. “Holy crap, that was intense!”

Xie Qiu laughed. “Why were you holding your breath?”

“It was like a battle without weapons!” Meng Ziye shook his head and patted his friend’s shoulder sympathetically. “Being a daughter-in-law in a rich family is hard work. You’re suffering, Xiao Qiuqiu.”

“But it pays well,” Xie Qiu replied casually. “It’s much easier than working like a slave.”

“You’re just looking for pain!” Meng Ziye pretended to slap his own mouth. “I want to suffer that kind of ‘work’ too!”

Xie Qiu stood up. “Let’s go to the cafeteria.”

“But I don’t think the ‘school grass’ was just passing by,” Meng Ziye said as he followed. “It looked like he came specifically to help you.”

Xie Qiu thought for a moment. “Maybe he was just worried I would say something wrong to his fiancée.”

He Jingchen’s impression of him was probably still as bad as ever.

Meng Ziye nodded. “That makes sense too.”

“Anyway, forget about him.” Xie Qiu smiled and changed the subject. “What do you want for lunch?”

Meng Ziye: “Braised pork ribs!”

There were only two professional classes on Friday afternoon. After they ended, Xie Qiu went back to the He house.

It wasn’t dark yet when he arrived. He put his backpack in his room and went to the sickroom next door.

The daytime caregiver heard him and called out, “Eldest Young Madam.”

Xie Qiu asked curiously, “What are you doing?”

He Siyan was strapped to a standing frame, held upright.

“Oh, this is to exercise the Eldest Young Master’s muscles and leg strength. It prevents muscle loss,” the caregiver explained. “We do this once in the morning and once at night, for 40 to 60 minutes each time.”

Xie Qiu stood at the door, looking the man up and down. When He Siyan was lying in bed, you could tell he had good proportions and long legs, but you only realized how tall he truly was once he was standing.

Xie Qiu couldn’t help but walk into the room and stop in front of the man. He stood on his tiptoes and used his hand to compare their heights.

The caregiver volunteered the information: “The Eldest Young Master is 194cm tall.”

“No wonder…” Xie Qiu took a step back. “He looks really tall.”

As expected of a storybook world, even the height was competitive at 194cm. His own height of 180cm didn’t seem like much at all.

Xie Qiu asked again, “How much longer does he need to stand?”

The caregiver looked at the timer nearby. “Ten more minutes.”

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

Over the past few days, he had only been wiping He Siyan’s body, reading bedtime stories, and helping move his joints. Those were easy tasks. But taking care of a person in a coma was much more complicated than he had imagined.

The caregiver smiled. “It’s no trouble, just my job.”

After dinner, Xie Qiu talked with Su Wanrong for a while before returning to the sickroom.

He dragged his special chair to the bedside and picked up the fairy tale book from the nightstand. “Good evening, Mr. He. It’s time for our bedtime story.”

“Let’s see where we left off…” Xie Qiu turned to the bookmarked page. “Ah, today we read The Princess and the Pea.”

He looked up at the sleeping man and began to read softly: “Once upon a time, there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess, but she had to be a real princess.”

Xie Qiu read with great emotion: “…’Oh, it was most uncomfortable!’ said the princess. ‘I scarcely closed my eyes all night! Heaven knows what was in my bed? I lay on something so hard that I am black and blue all over. It is quite dreadful!'”

After reading this part, he amused himself.

Smiling, Xie Qiu reached out and took the long, handsome hand on the sheet: “Mr. He, why do I feel like your skin is even more sensitive than the Princess on the Pea’s?”

Last time, he only slapped it by accident, and the back of the man’s hand turned red.

Xie Qiu laughed again after saying this, completely failing to notice the man’s lip twitching almost invisibly, as if expressing speechlessness.

“Let me feel it again.” He used his fingertip to gently rub the pale back of the hand and said confidently, “Mm, very smooth, feels good.”

Under his touch, the man’s fingertips curled up slightly again.

“Mr. He, I’ve noticed that every time I hold your hand, your fingers seem to move,” Xie Qiu said with curiosity. “Could it be that your hands are a sensitive spot for you?”

To figure this out, Xie Qiu held the man’s hand to his lips and blew on it gently.

Sure enough, He Siyan’s fingertips gripped the back of his hand again, seemingly with more strength than before.

“It really is…” Xie Qiu muttered to himself. Just as he was about to put the hand down, a familiar low shout came from behind him.

He Jingchen: “What are you doing?”

Xie Qiu blinked. He realized a bit late that his current action looked a lot like he was taking advantage of the man…

“My brother is in a coma!” He Jingchen said with disbelief. “What are you trying to do to him?”

“I…” Xie Qiu paused, then decided to just go with it and asked back, “What about me?”

Before the other could speak, he picked up He Siyan’s hand and gave it a solid kiss.

He Jingchen: “!”

After the kiss, Xie Qiu tucked his own hand into the man’s large hand and said confidently, “Your brother is my husband. I can do whatever I want to my husband.”

“You—” He Jingchen was choked up by his words. He could only stare, not knowing how to argue back for a moment.

No one noticed that a faint blush appeared behind the ears of the man on the bed whose hand had just been kissed.

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