My Brother's Arranged Marriage Partner Is My Boyfriend - Chapter 52

For the next week, Bai Nanxing stayed in his room the entire time. To prevent him from having any contact with the outside world, Bai Yi confiscated his phone as soon as he entered the room. He also ordered the servants to remove all related electronic devices, leaving only a row of paper books sitting quietly on the bookshelf. It was unknown how long it had been since anyone had touched them, as they were covered in dust.

Bai Nanxing had long since grown accustomed to such treatment. He neither cried nor made a scene; he simply sat on the bed, hugging his legs and staring blankly into space.

He would sit like that for half a day at a time.

When it was time to eat, he would endure the hunger and force himself to sleep.

In the beginning, someone would deliver food at set times, passing it through a small window in the room. This was something Bai Yi had specially ordered long ago; fearing that Bai Nanxing might use the opportunity of a servant entering to knock them down and escape, Bai Yi had a large square hole carved into the room. It was opened when needed and closed when not.

It was just like a prison cell.

The only difference was that the environment was slightly better than a prison, and he could enjoy a large private room all to himself.

However, food was only delivered on the first day. By the second day, Bai Nanxing saw no movement at the small window. Even by nightfall, the little door had not been opened.

Bai Nanxing knew then that no more food would be coming.

This sort of thing usually wasn’t Bai Yi’s direct idea; Bai Yi could only be considered an accomplice. The ones who would carry out such retaliatory acts were only Bai Ruoning and Qiao Qian.

But the accomplice was even more damnable.

If it weren’t for Bai Yi’s tacit approval, Bai Ruoning and Qiao Qian would never have dared to do this.

Bai Nanxing gritted his teeth and lay on his side in bed, his hands pressing hard against his stomach, which was growling with hunger. He forced himself to fall asleep.

It seemed that as long as he was asleep, he wouldn’t feel the hunger.

But this thought was nothing more than burying his head in the sand. When his body pierced through the illusion again, an even more intense sense of hunger instantly swept from his stomach through his entire body, reaching every single cell.

Bai Nanxing clutched his growling stomach, his brow furrowed in pain. He could clearly feel his stomach cramping from excessive hunger, and the secreted acid was flowing back up toward his throat. Gradually, his tongue felt bitter and astringent, as if something was churning deep inside him.

Finally unable to take it anymore, Bai Nanxing got out of bed and ran to the sink to dry heave.

But after retching for a long time, nothing came out.

Bai Nanxing wiped his mouth, washed his face, and returned to the bed.

He was so hungry that he could only force himself to sleep.

Yet, after lying down, the hunger only grew more severe. He had to use his hands to clutch his stomach even tighter.

But it was of no use.

His stomach continued to rumble loudly, and the bitterness in his mouth felt as if he had eaten pounds of goldthread root, making him feel nauseous.

Bai Nanxing curled up under the covers, feeling a strange sense of bitterness in his heart. He wanted to cry, but he hated his own fragility; it only made others feel he was an easy target.

But if this continued, Bai Nanxing didn’t know if he could hold on.

Could he really persevere until the day he escaped the Bai family?

Bai Nanxing didn’t know how many times he had asked himself this question in his heart.

But no voice could answer him.

He was like a human being completely abandoned by the world, appearing utterly redundant everywhere he went. No one would ache for him, no one would love him; he grew up all alone, never knowing where his true home was.

The more Bai Nanxing thought, the more distressed he became. Finally, he couldn’t help but sob into his quilt.

Later, due to excessive sorrow, Bai Nanxing unknowingly fell asleep.

In a daze, Bai Nanxing heard people arguing outside the door. He didn’t need to listen closely to know it was the Bai family servants.

“It’s been a day. No food or water—will something really go wrong?”

“But without Master Ning’s orders, if we secretly give him food and the Madam or the Young Master finds out, we’ll be the ones suffering for him. It’s better to avoid trouble.”

“I heard from my son’s teacher before that back in high school, a student starved until his blood sugar got so low he fainted in the dorm. If his roommate hadn’t found him and sent him to the hospital in time, the boy probably would have died.”

“What? It’s that serious?! Then the Master and Madam should know, right? With Master Ning doing this, is he really not afraid of a life being lost?”

“Can’t you see something so obvious? Let’s not even talk about the Madam; she already finds this illegitimate son an eyesore. It’s understandable—anyone would be angry if their husband raised another woman’s son in their own home. For Master Ning to dare to do this now, it’s clearly authorized by the Master.”

“Sigh, it’s truly a sin. Why is he being so stubborn? It’s just an apology. Better to live a base life than to die a noble death—anything is better than starving to death.”

The two went back and forth, but neither dared to secretly give Bai Nanxing food. Bai Ruoning was famously petty, especially when it came to Bai Nanxing; he would rather kill by mistake than let him go.

The servants of the Bai family had suffered plenty at the hands of Bai Ruoning, but because he had Qiao Qian and Bai Yi protecting him, no matter what he did wrong, the two would only turn a blind eye and not care at all.

Over time, the servants could only endure, angry but afraid to speak out.

Perhaps the discussion was too loud, as Bai Nanxing was woken up. He slowly opened his eyes and found tears still swirling in them. He reached up to wipe them away carelessly and went back to sleep.

By the time he woke up again, it was already the afternoon of the third day.

An intense hunger rolled in like a torrential river, and the nausea was significantly more violent than the day before. The bitter taste of bile grew stronger, even filling his entire oral cavity.

Feeling miserable, Bai Nanxing threw off the quilt and crawled up, wanting to boil a cup of hot water. However, he found he had no strength left in his body. His head spun with a bout of vertigo, and he fell directly from the edge of the bed.

With a thud, his kneecap hit the hard floor heavily.

It was currently approaching winter, and the pain was several times worse than in other seasons. Bai Nanxing was in so much pain that tears nearly burst out. He lowered his head and rolled up his pant leg to look; his knee had already turned a bruised blue-black.

When he tried to rub it, it throbbed with agonizing pain.

Bai Nanxing gritted his teeth and leaned against the bed to slowly stand up.

But he found his hypoglycemia was acting up. His vision blurred, his hand failed to grip the bed firmly, and he fell back onto the floor.

The most terrifying thing in the world is not various kinds of pain, but hunger.

This was Bai Nanxing’s deepest realization after suffering from low blood sugar.

Pain can be healed, but hunger cannot.

Hunger can strip a person of all thought and reason, turning them into a cold-blooded, heartless being who could resort to cannibalism just to fill their stomach.

Bai Nanxing was too hungry. The physical discomfort was beyond words. In the past, even when Qiao Qian punished him, she only let him go hungry for half a day. Bai Ruoning truly wanted him dead.

But he didn’t want to die yet.

Even if he were to die, he would not die in the Bai family home.

This time, he surrendered.

Bai Nanxing used all his strength to slowly crawl to the door. He raised his hand and knocked weakly on the wood. “Open the door… let me out…”

He admitted his mistake.

He would apologize.

He shouldn’t have done what he did.

Bai Nanxing’s hand slid powerlessly from the door, and he lay motionless on the cold floor, his eyes unconsciously moistening with tears.

And at that moment, the bedroom door finally opened.

As expected, it was Bai Ruoning who came.

He seemed to be holding a bowl of something. After telling the butler to open the door and seeing Bai Nanxing lying on the floor from hunger, his face filled with a triumphant smile.

“Can’t take it already? I thought you could last another day. Weren’t you so full of backbone? How come you’re failing now?” Bai Ruoning crouched down and held the bowl in front of Bai Nanxing. “Want to eat? No problem. Beg me. Beg me and I’ll let you eat.”

Bai Nanxing slowly lifted his head, trying to reach out to take it.

But this action enraged Bai Ruoning, who directly stepped on Bai Nanxing’s hand.

“Are you deaf? I said, if you want to eat, beg me!”

The pain was so great that Bai Nanxing almost cried out, but he forced himself to hold back the tears.

Bai Ruoning pressed down even harder with his foot, venting all the anger he had previously received from Mo Leyang. “Aren’t you quite the expert at seducing people? How come you haven’t been back to school for so long and none of them have thought to come looking for you? Could it be they’ve grown tired of you?”

“Makes sense. Your backside has probably been slept through by others; there’s no novelty left. If it weren’t for this face, they’d probably have found you disgusting long ago.”

“I don’t know why my dad still keeps you in the Bai family. A bastard born of a wild woman should be thrown directly onto the street to be beaten to death! If it weren’t for my dad stopping me, I would have acted long ago. Would I have left you alive until today?!”

Bai Nanxing no longer had the strength to speak to him. His vision was gradually becoming blurred, and he could only reach out his hand toward the bowl out of a primal instinct for survival.

The butler noticed something was wrong and reminded him from behind, “Young Master, he looks like he’s failing.”

Hearing this, Bai Ruoning became even more furious. “Failing what? Can’t you see he can still move?! I’m going to teach him a lesson this time, make him remember who the real young master of the Bai family is!”

He stood up, feeling that stepping on the hand wasn’t enough to vent his anger, and raised his foot to stomp on Bai Nanxing’s back.

The butler couldn’t watch any longer and reached out to pull him back. “Young Master, he really isn’t doing well. The Master explained that nothing can happen to him right now.”

Bai Ruoning kicked him twice more. “You piece of trash, just as cheap as your mother. I am the young master of the Bai family, remember that clearly!”

But Bai Nanxing was already lying motionless on the ground, unable to hear whatever madness Bai Ruoning was spewing.

Seeing this, the butler hurriedly crouched down to check on him, then immediately took out his phone to call the Bai family’s private doctor.

After finishing the call, he carefully carried Bai Nanxing back to the bed and covered him with the quilt.

Bai Ruoning was so angry he stepped forward to rip the quilt off, but he was stopped by the butler.

“Young Master, you need to think clearly. If something happens to him, it won’t just be the Master—the entire Bai family will suffer, and you, the young master, won’t escape it either.”

“He deserves it!”

The butler couldn’t reason with such a willful person, so he simply pulled him out of the room. “I won’t tell the Master about this, but if you cause any more problems like this, I will definitely report everything to the Master. As for how he punishes you, that will be his business.”

Bai Ruoning was still afraid of Bai Yi. He gave the lying Bai Nanxing a fierce glare before throwing his hands up and heading downstairs.