Married the Abandoned Puppy Alpha - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Uncertain Heart

As soon as he appeared, He Xinglou’s brain felt like it was lagging. He said stiffly, “You’re awake.”

“Since you’re awake, you must have heard what was said just now,” Shi Yaoran spoke up.

He pointed a finger at He Xinglou. “This ‘good wife’ of yours has been refusing to let us in to visit you. I’m sure you know exactly what kind of scheme he’s plotting.”

“Qingze, the members of the Shi family share the closest blood ties, and more importantly, I am your father! How could we harm you? On the contrary, this fellow appeared out of nowhere right after you became an heir candidate. You nearly died the moment you got married it’s hard not to suspect he’s after your fortune!”

Shi Yu also smiled smoothly. “That’s right. He was just saying he wanted to inherit your estate.”

Upon seeing Shi Qingze, the momentum He Xinglou had forced himself to maintain collapsed completely. He listened in silence to the group’s judgment.

He had indeed said many grand things to put on a front earlier; perhaps he had mentioned the inheritance part? He couldn’t quite remember.

“What is this old man talking about!” Song Xiao was angrier than he was, tilting her chin toward Shi Qingze. “Such an obvious provocation you wouldn’t actually believe it, would you?”

Shi Qingze manipulated his wheelchair and came to He Xinglou’s side.

Xinglou turned to look at him, but before he could speak, his hand was gripped firmly by the other.

“What he said is a fact. Do you have a problem with that?” Shi Qingze said coldly.

“Exactly! What I said is a fact… Wait, who?” Shi Yaoran whipped his head around.

“My estate and insurance all have his name on them. There’s no need for you to stick your noses where they don’t belong.” Shi Qingze was still holding He Xinglou’s hand, staying very close to him.

Shi Yaoran froze, his face twisting with rage. “Shi Qingze! I am your father!”

This time, Shi Qingze didn’t argue. He said calmly, “You indeed are; that is undeniable. But according to the law, I have the right to manage my own property. From the moment the marriage registration took effect, all my assets are shared with Xinglou, and no one else has the right to interfere. Which means…”

He smiled, but only with his lips. “Even if I die, the rest of you won’t get a single Starcoin.”

The moment the words left his mouth, the faces of Shi Yaoran and his assistant changed drastically.

However, Shi Qingze was no longer interested in the topic. He turned his gaze toward the conflicted Shi Yu.

“Shi Yu, what are you here for?”

Hearing his name, Shi Yu’s legs felt too weak to stand straight. He gave a dry laugh. “Just here to see you, isn’t it? I haven’t done anything.”

Shi Qingze stared at him for a moment. Just as the smile on Shi Yu’s face was about to break, he slowly looked away.

“Now that you’ve seen me, you can go back and report to your father.”

Shi Yu breathed a private sigh of relief and waved his hand hurriedly. “Right, seeing you alive and kicking puts me at ease. I’ll take my leave.”

“You’re just letting him go like that?” Song Xiao watched Shi Yu retreating back in disbelief. “You have no idea what he said about Xinglou earlier!”

He Xinglou pulled her back, trying to soothe her. “It’s fine, it’s fine. A few words can’t hurt me. Besides, didn’t I give him a piece of my”

Before he could finish, a dark shadow flashed past the window, followed by a thunderous boom from downstairs.

The hovercar alarms wailed toward the sky. The hospital security guards had their hands full today, shouting as they ran toward the source of the noise.

He Xinglou and Song Xiao looked out to see a very expensive-looking car with a massive hole smashed into it by a steel bar that had fallen from the roof.

Shi Yu, who had just bid them farewell, stumbled out and fell to his knees in front of the car, his legs turning to jelly.

“That car must have cost a fortune; it’s a limited edition,” Song Xiao remarked, watching the drama. “Restoring it to its original state will be difficult.”

Xinglou realized something and tried to look closer at Shi Yu’s reaction. Could that car belong to Shi Yu?

Unexpectedly, as he leaned toward the window, he met Shi Yu’s gaze as the latter looked up sharply.

Shi Yu’s eyes were red with distress, but his face was a ghastly shade of green; he looked quite the colorful mess.

He recognized the two people watching the fun from the window and immediately pointed a finger. “You”

Only half a word made it through before Shi Qingze quickly pulled the soundproofing layer over the window. The corridor became instantly silent.

He turned back to Shi Yaoran. “You’re not leaving?”

Shi Yaoran felt incredibly uneasy and began to frantically recall where his own car was parked.

The assistant gave a sycophantic smile. “Seeing that you’re fine, we’ll be heading back as well. Qingze, get some rest.”

“Wait a moment,” Shi Qingze called out slowly.

“I just saw on the Star Network that the news of my injury seems to have broken?”

Shi Yaoran grew nervous and said quickly, “This time it wasn’t us who told the media! I really rushed over as soon as I heard the news.”

Shi Qingze smiled. However, only the corners of his mouth moved; there was no curve in the corners of his eyes, making him look somewhat terrifying.

“I’m not blaming you, Father.”

For some reason, after he affectionately said “Father,” Shi Yaoran’s expression became even more unnatural.

“Since Father is so concerned about me, do me a favor.” Shi Qingze tapped the armrest of his wheelchair rhythmically with his index finger.

“Those reporters should still be downstairs, waiting to corner someone for information. Since Father is leaving the hospital anyway, go tell them that I’ve woken up.”

Reporters loved to catch people and grill them for information like an interrogation; no sane person wanted to deal with them.

Yet, Shi Yaoran had no choice but to agree.

Song Xiao watched him handle the troublemakers with just a few sentences. She couldn’t help but shiver, whispering to He Xinglou, “I told you a long time ago, this kid is a ‘natural black’ (secretly manipulative)…”

“It’s not that bad,” He Xinglou said, keeping his eyes downcast and avoiding the gaze of the person staring at him. “Actually, I used to think he was a bit too easy to bully.”

Song Xiao: “…Fine, whatever you say.”

“Brother.” Shi Qingze didn’t give them a chance to keep whispering. His eyelids fluttered slowly. “Was it you who brought me to the hospital?”

Xinglou chose his words carefully. “We were lucky. A kind person gave us a ride.”

“I see.” Shi Qingze’s eyes crinkled. “It seems I’ve been saved by Brother once again.”

What did he mean by “once again”? He Xinglou frowned.

If it weren’t for him, Shi Qingze wouldn’t have lost his composure and taken him away alone, which means this whole mess might never have happened. How could he say he saved Shi Qingze?

But before he could argue, Shi Qingze’s face suddenly turned white, and he leaned over to vomit violently.

“What’s happening? Doctor!” He Xinglou hurriedly supported him. As Shi Qingze arched his back, the gauze on the back of his head revealed it was already soaked in blood.

He Xinglou shook all over and shouted again, “Is there a doctor!”

Several nurses rushed in. Seeing the situation, they were startled. “He just had brain surgery! He’s not allowed to get out of bed!”

They lifted the once-again unconscious Shi Qingze back onto the bed and called a team of doctors for a meticulous examination. Only after ensuring there were no major issues did everyone feel a sense of relief.

“He absolutely cannot be allowed out of bed again. This is pure nonsense; by all rights, he shouldn’t even have woken up today.” The doctor wiped his sweat and left after giving a thousand warnings.

Lin Shuyan stood by the bed, at a loss. “You were arguing quite loudly outside just now. He suddenly woke up and told me to hide in the ward and not come out, saying he would handle it.”

He looked around. “What exactly happened?”

He Xinglou was still holding Shi Qingze’s hand. He shook his head wearily. “It’s nothing. He handled it.”

Song Xiao let out a short laugh and couldn’t help but say, “This man is a complete lunatic.”

To think she was feeling indignant for He Xinglou just now.

“I bet if he truly died today, and someone gave Xinglou a hard time at his funeral, he’d crawl right out of his grave to settle the score for him.”

“What kind of talk is that? It sounds terrifying,” Lin Shuyan shivered.

He Xinglou said nothing, merely squeezing the hand in his palm.

…

A smart robot entered the ward and began cleaning while broadcasting the day’s news.

Unsurprisingly, it was more news about the Shi family either the stock market was falling, the heir struggle was intensifying, or Old Master Shi was critically ill and the business empire was about to change hands…

He Xinglou found it annoying. He turned the robot around and let it walk out by itself.

The room fell silent.

Lin Shuyan asked, “What should we do next? With Shi Qingze’s injuries… We don’t know when he’ll recover. By then, the heir might have already been decided.”

Song Xiao shrugged. “What does that have to do with us? We can’t interfere in those high-society feuds even if we wanted to.”

“I have to interfere,” He Xinglou said. “After all, this is our contract. He handled my affairs, so I should handle his problems.”

“Then… what do you plan to do?”

He Xinglou was actually feeling a bit of emotional dissociation again. He couldn’t even hear his own voice clearly, as if his soul were floating away.

Under his friends’ worried gazes, he opened the medicine bottle and swallowed two pills without hesitation. Only then did he barely manage to pull himself back.

“Doing this… what can you actually do?” Even Lin Shuyan spoke up in disapproval.

He Xinglou shook his head. “I have to make sure this wedding proceeds smoothly. I need to let the public and Old Master Shi know that Shi Qingze is the first to complete the heir evaluation.”

The assistant had sent him the wedding itinerary; it was only a month away. In his current state, Shi Qingze definitely wouldn’t have time to confirm the details, so it had to be him.

“If you do that, your identity will be completely exposed to the outside world,” Lin Shuyan said softly. “Is it worth it? It’s just a one-year agreement.”

Xinglou looked at his hands. “I have no choice. Besides, the moment I stood before the reporters today, I had already accepted that.”

Song Xiao wiped her face forcefully. “I think you’re ‘the one involved who is confused,’ Xinglou.”

She pointed to the two hands still interlaced on the hospital bed. “Anyone with eyes can see how Shi Qingze feels about you. But do you have any idea what you think of him?”

“I…”

Song Xiao didn’t give him a chance to defend himself and interrupted, “When you went on that blind date, wasn’t it because his eyes and name resembled his that you suddenly relented and went? If you really wanted a clean break, why would you lose your composure over such a tiny similarity?”

She grew angrier as she spoke. “He Xinglou, you’re an idiot. Do you even realize? To an outsider, everything you’ve done… it looks like you’re hopelessly in love with him.”

He Xinglou bit his lip, stubbornly refusing to yield. “I am not.”

Lin Shuyan sighed. “Then why go to such lengths? We’ve known each other for years, but this is the one thing I truly can’t understand your motive for.”

“Xinglou, do you know? Do you understand your own heart?”

That was a question He Xinglou could not answer.

…

Since Shi Qingze had already woken up once, only one person needed to stay behind to watch him. He Xinglou half-persuaded and half-pushed his friends to go back and rest.

Without company, the private ward was terrifyingly quiet, save for the sound of steady breathing from the bed.

He Xinglou wasn’t sleepy, so he sat by the bed in a daze, watching the light from the streetlamps outside spill over Shi Qingze’s face.

Shi Qingze’s eyelashes were very long; he had always known that. Now, he could easily count the distinct shadows they cast.

Xinglou counted for a while like a man possessed, then his reason returned. Feeling like he was going crazy, he quickly looked away.

Then, he heard a voice from the bed, soft as a dream:

“When we were falling from the sky, what I said was from the heart, Brother.”

He Xinglou lengthened his breathing and touched his forehead soothingly. “Alright, whatever you have to say, we’ll talk slowly after you’ve recovered. Go to sleep.”

The person on the bed seemed unwilling to give up, frowning slightly, but the effect of the medication was strong. He soon sank back into sleep.

A long time passed. Even the streetlights outside went out. There was no telling how deep the night was.

He Xinglou finally moved, propping his elbows on the bedside and burying his face in his arms.

“I know.”

A few warm drops fell onto the bedsheet, making a distinct sound in the dark night.

“All of that… I know.”