Don't You like Little Dogs? Now that I'm Taking Liberties, You're Suddenly Reluctant? - Chapter 38

In the hospital, Pei Ye had just completed a set of rehabilitation exercises. He leaned against the headboard to rest, his face still pale, but his eyes were slightly sharper than before.

A member of the organization responsible for guarding him answered a low communication and then walked to the bedside. “Brother Ye, the adjutant just sent word. The third miss of the Jiang family came and left. Fourth Brother is in the meeting room alone. He has not allowed anyone to enter.” The team member’s voice was kept very low.

Pei Ye’s heart tightened instantly. Although he did not know the specific details of the conversation, he could imagine it was by no means a pleasant family reunion. He wondered how his Master was doing. He could almost feel the cold, low pressure radiating from a distance.

He struggled, attempting to get out of bed. “I must see Master.” He felt a sudden, strong, and uncontrollable urge to go to his Master’s side. Even if he could do nothing, and even if he might be punished again for overstepping, he wanted to be there.

“Brother Ye? You cannot move around yet,” the member tried to dissuade him.

“Help me up.” Pei Ye’s voice was weak yet carried an indisputable resolve. “Take me to see Master.”

The guard hesitated for a moment, but meeting Pei Ye’s calm yet stubborn eyes, he finally chose to obey. “Understood.”

He carefully supported Pei Ye, draped a coat over him, and walked slowly toward the elevator step by step. With every movement, the wound on his back sent a tearing, agonizing pain through him. Fine beads of cold sweat broke out on Pei Ye’s forehead, but he clenched his teeth and did not make a sound. His entire mind had already flown to the side of the man who might currently be surrounded by the cold shadows of the past. He thought to himself, “Master, wait for me.”

Upon arriving outside the top floor meeting room, the adjutant was standing guard. When he saw Pei Ye being supported, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. “Fourth Brother is inside,” the adjutant said softly. “He needs to be quiet for a while.”

“I know,” Pei Ye’s voice was very light. “I will just go in for one look. Just one look. Please, Mr. Adjutant, inform him.”

The adjutant looked at Pei Ye’s pale but determined face. He remained silent for a few seconds before finally nodding. He knocked lightly on the door, but there was no response. He waited a moment and then carefully pushed the door open.

The light in the meeting room was dim. Jiang Si sat on the sofa with his back to the door, gazing out the window with a glass of liquor by his side. The entire space was filled with an extremely oppressive and lonely atmosphere.

“Fourth Brother, Pei Ye is here.”

The adjutant spoke softly and then withdrew, gently closing the door behind him. Jiang Si did not turn around or speak, acting as if he had not heard anything. Pei Ye let go of the team member’s support and, relying on his own strength, moved extremely slowly toward Jiang Si. Every shift in position cost him immense effort, and the pain made his vision turn black, but he persisted.

He looked at Jiang Si’s back. That broad back, which was always held straight, now revealed an indescribable exhaustion and loneliness. His Master seemed to have removed the hard, cold armor he wore for the outside world, exposing the unknown scars within. Pei Ye’s heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, aching with bitterness. He had never seen his Master like this: lonely, dejected, and even fragile. He opened his mouth to say something, whether to ask for forgiveness or to offer comfort, but found his throat choked. He could not say a single word.

He could only stand there silently like a voiceless guardian, accompanying this heartbreaking silence. After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Si finally moved. He picked up his glass, drained the remaining liquor, and then turned around extremely slowly. His face held no expression, appearing even calmer than usual, but in those bottomless eyes, there remained a trace of cold weariness and void that had not yet been fully concealed.

When he saw Pei Ye standing not far away, pale as paper, swaying, yet still forcing himself to remain upright, a slight ripple suddenly surged within that void. “Who allowed you to come?” His voice was somewhat hoarse and devoid of emotion.

Pei Ye’s legs weakened and he almost knelt down, but he gripped the back of the nearby sofa to maintain his stance. “I was worried about Master, so I came.” He lowered his head, his voice weak but clear.

Jiang Si’s gaze fell on Pei Ye’s body, which was trembling from suppressed pain, then on the cold sweat on his forehead, and finally fixed on those eyes filled with pure worry and an emotion he could no longer deliberately ignore. It was that look again, reckless and without reservation. After just experiencing the nauseating hypocrisy and coldness of the Jiang family, this look was like a light too intense, almost burning him.

He should have rebuked him and ordered him to return. He did not need anyone to see his state, much less did he need this weak worry. But when the words reached his lips, they became, “Does the wound no longer hurt?”

Pei Ye froze, then shook his head vigorously. “It does not hurt.”

It was an obvious lie. His lips were trembling. Jiang Si looked at him in silence for a long time. Only the slight sound of their intertwined breathing remained in the room. Suddenly, Jiang Si let out an extremely faint sigh, a sound so light it almost seemed like an illusion. He reached his hand out toward Pei Ye. “Come here.”

Pei Ye was stunned, almost doubting his own hearing. He looked at that hand with its well defined joints, the hand that had given him countless pains but also gave his life meaning, and his heart pounded frantically. He moved toward him with great difficulty, every step feeling like he was treading on the edge of a blade. Finally, he stood before Jiang Si.

Jiang Si did not withdraw his hand. Instead, keeping to the height at which Pei Ye was struggling to stand, his fingertips lightly touched the location of Pei Ye’s heart on his left chest, through the thin layer of the hospital gown, right where the name Jiang Si was tattooed.

Pei Ye shuddered violently, his breathing halting instantly. The intense pain in his back seemed to vanish, and all his senses concentrated on that single point of contact.

“Here,” Jiang Si’s voice was low and hoarse, his gaze deep as a vortex as he locked onto him. “Does it still hurt?”

It was the same question as before in the study, but the context and atmosphere were entirely different. Pei Ye’s eyes reddened instantly. He looked at Jiang Si, at those eyes that were finally no longer entirely cold and scrutinizing but carried a complex emotion he did not understand. All the suppression, fear, love, and grievance seemed to burst like a flood through a broken dam. Tears fell silently as he choked out a reply, shaking his head forcefully. “It does not hurt. As long as Master is fine, nowhere hurts.”

Jiang Si’s fingertips could feel the violent pounding of his heart and the searing temperature coming through the fabric. He could see the surging emotions in Pei Ye’s eyes: pure, scorching, and even possessively destructive. This time, he could no longer simply define it as the loyalty of a tool. This was a fire that could scorch an ice field.

He remained silent as his thumb moved extremely slowly, almost clumsily, to wipe the wet corner of Pei Ye’s eye. The movement was still somewhat stiff, yet it was no longer purely cold.

“Silly words,” he whispered, his tone an indescribable complexity. “My affairs do not require you to trade your life.”

“But,” Pei Ye desperately wanted to argue, but Jiang Si interrupted him.

“No buts.” Jiang Si withdrew his hand, his gaze regaining some of its usual coldness, but beneath that coldness, something was different. “Remember, your life is mine. Without my permission, you are not allowed to be injured so easily again. That is your most important mission.”

This was no longer a simple command; it seemed to be mixed with a very faint, nearly imperceptible something else. Pei Ye stared at him blankly, forgetting to cry. Jiang Si stood up, supported Pei Ye’s nearly powerless arm, and half carried him to the nearby sofa to sit down.

“Wait here,” he commanded. He then walked to the door, opened it, and whispered a few instructions to the adjutant waiting outside. Soon, the adjutant brought painkillers and warm water. Jiang Si took them and handed them to Pei Ye. “Take them.”

Pei Ye obediently took the medicine. It would take time for the effect to kick in, but his Master’s current behavior was already acting like the best painkiller. Jiang Si sat back down on the sofa opposite him, returning to his silent posture, but the cold loneliness surrounding him seemed to dissipate slightly because another person was in the room.

The two did not speak again. Sunlight streamed through the floor to ceiling window, casting long shadows on the carpet. A silent, subtle change was quietly occurring on this oppressive and cold afternoon. The hard ice had not melted, but beneath the surface, a warm current had begun to flow slowly.

Pei Ye leaned back into the sofa, the pain and exhaustion gradually soothed by the medicine as his consciousness blurred. Before he fell completely asleep, he thought he saw his Master’s gaze land on him. The gaze was no longer piercingly cold but carried a deep, complex scrutiny and a trace of softening that even Master himself had not yet realized. Pei Ye thought of his Master one last time. Under that gentle gaze, he finally closed his eyes in peace.