CH 103

Chapter 103 – Get Out

He Keqiang died.

Wei Chen didn’t find it surprising. The car had crashed into the statue at such a speed, and a fierce fire had ignited. Under those circumstances, it would have been a miracle for He Keqiang to survive.

Wei Chen didn’t feel that He Keqiang’s death was unjust. He didn’t have the authority to pass judgment on whether He Keqiang deserved to live or die. But since the person was already dead, everything that happened when they were alive was gone with the wind. There was no need to continue chastising He Keqiang for those things after his death.

With He Keqiang’s death, everything related to him came to an end in Wei Chen’s mind.

However, Wei Chen couldn’t help but have some doubts. Given He Keqiang’s personality, how could he have made such a decisive move? How could he not have left himself a way out?

Wei Chen didn’t delve into the matter, but instead kept this doubt hidden in his heart. Now that the police had provided an answer, this matter should be put to rest.

Sheng Jiaqi saw Wei Chen’s expression and guessed that Wei Chen had also noticed the issue. He walked over and patted Wei Chen’s shoulder, saying, “Let bygones be bygones.”

“Yes, I understand,” Wei Chen nodded.

“Since you’re hospitalized, take good rest and don’t worry too much about the company’s affairs,” Sheng Jiaqi said with a frown when he saw the laptop next to Wei Chen’s hospital bed. There was a hint of blame in his tone, as if he was scolding Wei Chen for still being concerned about work while being hospitalized.

Wei Chen knew that Sheng Jiaqi cared about him and nodded, saying, “I know my limits.”

Sheng Jiaqi knew that he wouldn’t be able to convince Wei Chen to stop working, so he decided to take an indirect approach. He turned to Chen Li, who was standing at a distance, and said, “If Wei Chen wants to work, just take away his computer and keep an eye on him.”

Chen Li didn’t respond, but Sheng Jiaqi knew that Chen Li had taken it in. He reminded Wei Chen of a few things before leaving the hospital room.

Wei Chen’s condition wasn’t particularly severe, so he was discharged from the hospital after a week. During that week, Wei Zhenxiong, his father in the capital, hadn’t shown up at all. He hadn’t even made a single concerned phone call. Wei Chen didn’t find it strange. It would be strange if he actually remembered him.

Old Master Wei made a phone call once. It was on the third day of Wei Chen’s hospitalization. The voice on the phone was calm. After hearing that Wei Chen was not seriously injured, he hung up.

Wei Chen had already passed the stage of longing for love, so the reactions from both sides didn’t stir up any waves in his heart. On the day of his discharge, he held Chen Li’s hand and felt quite happy.

Chen Li had spent a whole week accompanying Wei Chen in the hospital and hadn’t attended any classes. Zhuge Yu knew how Chen Li felt, so he moved the art supplies to the hospital room and let Chen Li accompany Wei Chen.

And Chen Li really took Sheng Jiaqi’s words to heart. Whenever Wei Chen had the urge to work with the laptop, Chen Li would fixedly look at him without any other expression. Wei Chen inexplicably felt guilty under Chen Li’s gaze and put the laptop down.

During that week, Wei Chen felt deeply that he was a useless person. He didn’t have anything to do and would wake up every day just staring at the ceiling. He was actually somewhat uncomfortable with it. Wei Chen even had a feeling of going back to the last few days of his previous life.

Weren’t those days like this?

He lay in bed like a vegetable, without any consciousness, relying only on the ventilator to sustain his faint life. At one point, Wei Chen thought that the world had abandoned him, didn’t want him anymore. It was at that moment that Chen Li’s thin figure emerged, standing in front of him. Even though he couldn’t do anything, Chen Li learned to take care of every little thing for him, even cleaning up his waste. But Wei Chen didn’t see any hint of disgust on Chen Li’s face.

Wei Chen didn’t know how to describe that feeling at that time, but he just knew that his heart was full.

Only those who have experienced deep darkness know the preciousness of the sudden appearance of light when they are engulfed in darkness.

The feeling of being trapped in a previous life reached its peak for Wei Chen on the third day of his hospitalization when Wu Zikang and Chen Qing entered the hospital room.

Wu Zikang and Chen Qing came in the evening. Chen Li had just finished drinking Chinese medicine. Wei Chen was about to use the excuse of the bitter medicine to eat Chen Li’s tofu when a knock on the door of the ward sounded. Wei Chen could only raise his head and say, “Come in.”

Wu Zikang entered while holding a fruit basket and placed it on the table. He said, “Aqing and I heard that you were hospitalized, so we came to see you. How are you doing?”

Wu Zikang’s pleasant demeanor was a far cry from his fierce appearance in the previous life, instantly snapping Wei Chen out of his illusion.

Yes, he had already been reborn once. Such things would not happen again, at least he wouldn’t let the events of his previous life repeat themselves.

“I’m much better,” Wei Chen said expressionlessly, as if a wall had been erected between him and Wu Zikang, distancing their relationship.

Wu Zikang vaguely sensed something but didn’t show it on his face. His tone was full of concern, “It’s good that you’re fine. I saw it in the news. How big of a grudge does that person have against you to go to such lengths?”

“Yeah, since it’s already like this, why don’t you go back to your own company and work? Wherever you are, you at least have enough status to suppress those petty people,” Chen Qing said from the side. He couldn’t understand why Wei Chen, who clearly had a family business to inherit, insisted on venturing out on his own. Wasn’t that foolish?

“Yeah, if I had your abilities, I would definitely return to the capital and be by my old man’s side. I would use my capabilities to give those people a good slap in the face. Why would I choose to face them alone like this?” Wu Zikang chimed in, clearly not fully supportive of Wei Chen’s decision to go solo.

Wei Chen didn’t explain the reasons to them. Instead, he turned his gaze to the window. The sun was setting, casting a warm yellow light. Perhaps it was because winter was approaching, but even the fallen leaves and bare branches outside seemed somewhat desolate.

Seeing that Wei Chen didn’t respond, Wu Zikang and Chen Qing exchanged glances, unable to decipher what Wei Chen was thinking. They each took turns talking about recent events in Shanghai, without any particular topic. In the past, when the three of them were together, it was usually Wu Zikang and Chen Qing who did the talking, while Wei Chen listened. This kind of dynamic didn’t strike them as unusual.

“Get out.” Just as they became more audacious, a slightly hoarse voice rang in their ears. The three people in the hospital room turned their gaze towards Chen Li, the one who spoke.

Wu Zikang and Chen Qing were surprised, but Wei Chen’s gaze was filled with joy. He looked at Chen Li, who stood straight, his eyes fixed on Wu Zikang and Chen Qing, showing no signs of retreat or timidity. Then he said, “It’s noisy, get out!”

After a momentary surprise, Chen Qing stood up with a smile and said, “So, you can speak? I thought you were mute.” There was no hiding the sarcasm in his tone, as if he wanted to use words as a sharp knife to hurt Chen Li.

Chen Li stared firmly at Chen Qing, refusing to back down. “Get out.”

“Why should I leave?” Chen Qing asked, a mocking expression appearing on his face.

“Because I don’t want you two to stay here.”

Before Chen Qing could utter the word “fool” Wei Chen’s cold and low voice emerged.

Chen Qing looked at Wei Chen incredulously. “What did you say?”

Wu Zikang couldn’t believe it either. Didn’t Wei Chen like Chen Qing? Why would he drive Chen Qing away today?

“Get out!” Wei Chen repeated the same two words that Chen Li had said earlier, expressionless with a cold gaze.

Chen Qing stared at Wei Chen’s face, hoping to see a hint of reluctance in his expression, but there was none. Wei Chen was so resolute, so unwavering.

“Wei Chen.” Chen Qing didn’t know why he suddenly got angry. He pointed at Chen Li and asked angrily, “Is our friendship of over a decade not worth more than this fool?”

“Yeah, Wei Chen, you went too far today,” Wu Zikang disagreed.

Wei Chen remained silent, his icy gaze fixed on Chen Qing and Wu Zikang. When he was first reborn, he had wanted to question the two of them: why was their nearly twenty years of friendship worth less than those trivial gains?

Seeing Wei Chen’s silence, the fire inside Chen Qing burned even fiercer. “Wei Chen, you’ll regret this!”

After saying those words, Chen Qing turned and left. To him, it didn’t seem like a big deal, but he felt as if something was about to overflow from his eyes.

Wu Zikang quickly followed him and couldn’t help but say before leaving, “Achen, find an opportunity to apologize to Aqing. He’s soft-hearted, maybe he’ll forgive you.”

Inside the hospital room, only Wei Chen and Chen Li remained. After this incident, Wei Chen didn’t feel any ripples in his heart. Instead, Chen Li’s subsequent words filled Wei Chen with joy. He took Chen Li’s hand and asked, “You spoke just now. Does your throat hurt?”

Chen Li shook his head. The medicine prescribed by the old Chinese doctor was indeed effective. After taking two doses, his throat felt much better, and speaking was no longer as painful.

“Does it hurt?” However, Wei Chen, as if not understanding Chen Li’s meaning, asked again.

Chen Li shook his head once more.

“Does it hurt?” Wei Chen asked again.

Chen Li understood Wei Chen’s intention this time, that he wanted him to answer. “It doesn’t hurt.” His voice was soft, but each word was clear.

“Li Li, you’re amazing.” Wei Chen hugged Chen Li excitedly, kissed his ear, and asked, “Why did you make them leave earlier?”

Although Chen Li resisted getting close to strangers, most of the time he wouldn’t express his resistance so strongly. He would usually hide in the sidelines, deceiving himself by avoiding the outside world. This was the first time he had strongly expressed his resistance, and it was something Wei Chen couldn’t understand.

“Hate them,” Chen Li, who had just started speaking, stuttered and repeated this phrase intermittently. He believed that Wei Chen would understand what he meant.

Sure enough, Wei Chen immediately understood the meaning of “hate” in Chen Li’s words. It wasn’t that Chen Li hated them, but rather that Chen Li felt his own hatred towards them. So, when they were chattering by his ear, Chen Li mustered the courage to make them leave.

“Li Li,” Wei Chen called Chen Li’s name.

“En?” Chen Li responded.

“What should I do? I’m falling more and more in love with you.”