NASAY CH 51

The place where Huo Xingzhou’s competition was held wasn’t easy to catch a taxi. He waited in line for a long time without success. After Ye Qiaoqiao briefly explained the situation on the phone, he immediately sensed something was wrong.

When he left in the morning, it seemed like Luo Xing had breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had been waiting for him to leave.
At first, he thought it was because no one would tease Luo Xing anymore, but now he realized it was for an entirely different reason?

Standing anxiously by the roadside, a black car suddenly pulled up in front of him. The window rolled down halfway, revealing a handsome face. From afar, the man called out, “Hey, come here.”

Huo Xingzhou walked over to the car’s left side and politely greeted, “Uncle Lu.”

“What are you doing standing here? Selling roasted sweet potatoes?” Lu Chuiye scanned him up and down with a smile.
“Weren’t you supposed to be in some competition today? Where’s Qinghe?”

Huo Xingzhou didn’t have the mood for jokes and quickly asked,
“Where are you heading?”

Lu Chuiye pushed his sunglasses back with his index finger and smiled.
“Beishi. I’m visiting your uncle on set. What? You want to come?”

“Perfect timing, take me with you.”
Without waiting for a response, Huo Xingzhou opened the car door, got in, buckled his seatbelt, and urged,
“Hurry up. Your goddaughter is waiting there for her life to be saved.”

Ye Qiaoqiao was Lu Chuiye’s goddaughter, someone he had spoiled since she was a child. As soon as Huo Xingzhou finished speaking, Lu Chuiye stepped on the gas without hesitation.

What should have been an hour’s drive to Beishi was shortened to forty-five minutes.

By the time Huo Xingzhou got out of the car, he was almost sick, his face pale as he thanked Lu Chuiye. He turned his head and was stunned by what he saw—a man kneeling before Luo Xing at the entrance of the hospital.

Lu Chuiye, facing him, noticed his sudden wide eyes and turned to look as well.
“Oh my… what kind of drama is this?”
Before Lu Chuiye could finish his sentence, Huo Xingzhou had already opened the door and gotten out.

Since the assistant had just texted that filming would take a while, Lu Chuiye stayed in the car, watching the scene unfold.

“Did you… and him… know that I can’t hear?”

As soon as Luo Xing said this, Lin Xicheng froze. His grip on Luo Xing’s hand loosened slightly. His pale face seemed to flush with a hint of red, but then it quickly faded.

Lin Xicheng suddenly felt guilty. From the moment Luo Xing arrived at the hospital, whether it was Luo Zhiyuan talking about his past with Zhao Jiulan, or his repentance and confessions, Luo Xing had always seemed like an outsider.

Yes, that’s the right word—an outsider.

It was as if Luo Xing was listening to someone else’s story, completely detached, until this very moment, when a ripple finally appeared in the calm surface.

“You… how…”
Lin Xicheng frowned deeply, staring at Luo Xing.

He clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white, suppressing something inside him. It seemed as if he was about to crush his teeth and swallow them along with his blood.

After a long silence, Lin Xicheng raised his voice.
“Your father is innocent. He knows nothing. If you want to hate someone, hate me. Please, save him.”

Just as Lin Xicheng reached out, Ye Qiaoqiao instinctively shut her eyes. When Luo Xing pulled her behind him to shield her, she finally opened them again.

As she did, she caught sight of Huo Xingzhou standing not far away, and then she saw a familiar car in the distance.

Huo Xingzhou shook his head at her, signaling her not to speak. Ye Qiaoqiao didn’t understand why he didn’t come over immediately, but she kept quiet.

He stood at a distance, silently watching Luo Xing’s back—his thin figure confronting a much taller man while stubbornly keeping Ye Qiaoqiao protected behind him.

Look at this boy, who was always so soft in front of him. Even when he wasn’t around, Luo Xing was someone others could rely on.

Huo Xingzhou stood there watching for a while. Ye Qiaoqiao had called him here because she was afraid Luo Xing would impulsively agree to donate bone marrow out of kindness. This wasn’t like donating peripheral blood; it was a painful and serious procedure.

But he wasn’t worried. Luo Xing was kind, but he wasn’t a fool. He knew how to weigh his options and make the right decision. If Huo Xingzhou rushed in now, it might disrupt him instead.

Huo Xingzhou stood under the tree for a long time until Luo Xing turned around and saw him.

The thing in Luo Xing’s hand fell to the ground, just like the first day he transferred to No. 2 High School, bathed in the fiery glow of sunset as he walked toward him.

Huo Xingzhou smiled and waved.
“Come here.”

It was deep winter, and spring was just around the corner. The two of them walked along the sycamore path outside the hospital.

The trees had already shed all their leaves, leaving only bare branches reaching out like claws. Some had grown too wildly and were trimmed back, with new shoots sprouting from the wounds.

Luo Xing counted the trees one by one. Still, Huo Xingzhou didn’t say a word. Luo Xing finally stopped walking and asked,
“Don’t you want to ask me anything?”

Huo Xingzhou didn’t answer but asked in return,
“Is there something you want to tell me?”

Luo Xing blinked, murmuring softly, unsure whether he was talking to himself or to him.
“Did you know? Since I was little, I’ve always envied kids who had complete families with both parents. My mom didn’t have a good temper, and sometimes I’d wonder—was it because I didn’t have a dad that she was so sad? I thought I had to treat her twice as well to make up for it.”

“When I was a kid, my mom would say things I didn’t quite understand. Over time, I vaguely grasped the truth—he abandoned us. But I kept thinking that maybe he had no other choice. After all, there were so many classmates whose parents divorced because they fell out of love.”

Huo Xingzhou quickened his steps, held Luo Xing’s hand, and stuffed it into his own pocket. He listened quietly as Luo Xing spoke in a low voice, as if emptying out his heart.

“Maybe that’s how it was. I’ve never seen him. I don’t know what he looks like or what kind of person he is. To me, a father is just a stranger who is supposed to exist in my life.”

Huo Xingzhou glanced at him, his heart aching at how pale Luo Xing looked.

Luo Xing, who had been cold and distant when he first arrived, later blushed easily whenever teased by him. But now, this Luo Xing seemed like a completely different person.

Huo Xingzhou had never been good at comforting people. He had grown up in a warm and loving family, and most of his skills were used for joking around or teasing. How could he truly understand?
But he liked this person—liked him very much.

“Do you hate him?”
Huo Xingzhou asked.

Luo Xing shook his head, unsure.
“Actually, if he had told me the truth from the beginning—‘I did something wrong to you and your mother, but now I’m sick and need your bone marrow’—that would’ve been better than putting on an elaborate act on social media to deceive me.”

“I don’t know him, but if I can save someone’s life, I’d still be happy to do it,” Luo Xing murmured.
“Because no matter how hard life is, as long as you’re alive, there’s still hope. I don’t like seeing people die. I want everyone to be healthy and happy. But…”

Luo Xing trailed off, unable to continue. He didn’t want to become selfish or cold, but everything they had done—their tearful performances—had all been lies to trick him into agreeing to the surgery.

If there had been even a trace of sincerity, he wouldn’t have hesitated.

After a while, Luo Xing chuckled softly, changing the subject.
“I used to wonder why my mom hated me so much. I tried my best to be good to her, to be obedient and become the perfect child that everyone admired. I thought that if I did well enough, she’d pat my head and tell me, ‘Xiao Ge, you’ve done so well. Mommy loves you.’”

Huo Xingzhou didn’t say anything.

Luo Xing pulled his hand out of his pocket, raised his arms high as if hugging the sky, and laughed lightly.
“But I never heard those words. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t win even a sliver of her tenderness. Maybe…”

Luo Xing couldn’t finish his sentence and stood there with his eyes lowered.

They stood very close. Huo Xingzhou could hear his uneven breathing, the sound cutting through his eardrums, traveling through his nerves, and reaching his heart like an electric current.

It burned and tingled.

After a long while, Luo Xing suddenly let out a self-deprecating laugh, his eyes filled with bitterness yet still forcing a smile.
“I was kind of stupid as a kid, wasn’t I? But as I grew up, I stopped caring about those little things.”

“It wasn’t a small thing,”
Huo Xingzhou interrupted.

He raised Luo Xing’s hand and used his index finger to write, stroke by stroke, in his palm: You’ve done very well, Little darling. I like you. I like you the most.

When he finished writing, Luo Xing was still stunned, unable to react.

Then, Huo Xingzhou pulled him into a hug and repeated the words aloud.
“Little darling, you’ve done very well. I like you. I like you the most.”

---

In the hospital room, Lin Xicheng returned and saw Luo Zhiyuan sitting in a daze, staring out the window, his mood clearly low.

He walked over and followed his gaze, only to see a tree full of bare branches.

Just as he was about to speak, Luo Zhiyuan muttered,
“Xicheng, look how lucky I am. I have such a good son like Luo Xing. Even after all of this, he couldn’t bring himself to blame me. He still wants me to take care of myself.”

Lin Xicheng recalled Luo Xing’s cold and resolute expression, then sneered,
“If he really couldn’t bear it, he should have saved you. Just telling you to take care—what does that even mean? If it were him who got sick today, you wouldn’t hesitate to save him, right?”

“Xicheng, it’s not about an equal exchange,”
Luo Zhiyuan smiled faintly and looked at the sky, slowly closing his eyes.
“In comparison, I owe him far too much. Even if he…”

“Yes, you owe him far too much!”

A strange voice interrupted them. Both men froze and turned around, only to see a young man standing lazily at the door of the hospital room, his expression cold and indifferent.

It was him who had spoken.

Lin Xicheng frowned.
“Who are you?”

Huo Xingzhou didn’t even look at him. He walked directly over to Luo Zhiyuan, pulled a chair over, and sat down boldly.
“When Luo Xing was nine years old, Zhao Jiulan took a workbook and hit him so hard that he lost 70% of his hearing. Did you know that?”

Luo Zhiyuan was stunned, as if struck by lightning. He shot up from his chair.
“What did you say?”

“I said Luo Xing can hardly hear your tearful performance now,”
Huo Xingzhou said coldly, glancing at the two of them before sneering.
“Since he was born, every time Zhao Jiulan was in a bad mood, she’d lock him in a dark room. He developed claustrophobia and a fear of the dark. Did you know that?”

“In Jiangcheng’s winter, where the temperature drops to below minus ten degrees, Luo Xing’s room didn’t even have heating. Did you know that?”

Luo Zhiyuan, almost collapsing, clutched the edge of the wheelchair for support before falling back into it, tears streaming down his face.
“… I didn’t know…”

“Xicheng?”
Luo Zhiyuan turned to look at Lin Xicheng, who avoided his gaze. Luo Zhiyuan turned back and cried silently.

Lin Xicheng quickly said,
“You just finished your checkup. Let’s not talk about this now. Classmate, if you have anything to say, you can tell me…”

“Anyone who makes a little effort to inquire would know all of this,”
Huo Xingzhou interrupted, ignoring Lin Xicheng entirely. He lowered his gaze and looked at Luo Zhiyuan’s frail body, his voice sharp and sarcastic.
“Visiting him at a few competitions doesn’t mean you know how well he’s lived his life.”

Lin Xicheng clenched his teeth.
“Enough!”

Huo Xingzhou stood up, hands in his pockets, tilting his head slightly.
“The suffering you’ve endured isn’t even one-tenth of what Luo Xing has gone through.”

“Enough!”
Lin Xicheng couldn’t take it anymore. Furious, he shouted,
“Whose child are you? How dare you come into someone else’s hospital room and criticize their family affairs? Get out!”

Huo Xingzhou, taller by half a head, grabbed Lin Xicheng by the neck and pressed him against the wall.
“Who gave you the right to speak?”

Lin Xicheng struggled, kicking and punching, but Huo Xingzhou shoved him onto the hospital bed, brushing off his clothes like he was swatting away a fly.
“I get it—you’re in love and want to save your beloved. I have no objection to that. If it were me, I’d do anything to save someone I love too, even at the cost of my life.”

“But…”
Huo Xingzhou returned to the window and stood beside Luo Zhiyuan, laughing lightly.
“I wouldn’t even let him shed a single tear, and you dare ask for his bone marrow? What a joke.”

Luo Zhiyuan sat there in a daze, seemingly unable to process anything except Huo Xingzhou’s words.

He didn’t know. He truly didn’t know that Luo Xing had lived such a life. If he had known… if only he had known…

Luo Zhiyuan buried his face in his hands and let out a painful sob. But even if he had known, what could he have done?

Fight Zhao Jiulan for custody? They had never even been married. Even if he did win custody, how could he and Lin Xicheng—two men—take care of a child?

He’s not any better than Zhao Jiulan.

Seeing Luo Zhiyuan on the verge of collapse, Lin Xicheng gasped for breath, got up from the bed, grabbed a folding chair, and swung it at Huo Xingzhou.

Huo Xingzhou dodged, and the chair smashed into the thermos at the door, shattering it and spilling boiling water and broken glass all over the floor.

“Oh, quite the temper. When you knelt down in front of Luo Xing at the hospital entrance earlier, begging him to donate, where was all this energy?”

“You little bastard!”
Lin Xicheng, who had humbled himself for so long only to be met with Luo Xing’s stubborn refusal, finally snapped. All his pent-up rage exploded in an instant. He was desperate. Their savings were nearly gone, and they still couldn’t find a matching donor. Faced with this double blow, Lin Xicheng felt like he was on the edge of breaking down.

“If worst comes to worst, we’ll die together!”
Lin Xicheng gritted his teeth, his eyes blazing with hatred as he stared at Huo Xingzhou. He seemed to have mistaken him for Luo Xing, and his suppressed resentment instantly ignited.

Huo Xingzhou glanced at him like he was a lunatic, ignored him, and walked back to stand in front of Luo Zhiyuan.
“Don’t worry, you won’t die.”

“I’ll do everything I can to save you.”
He turned around, looked down at Luo Zhiyuan with disdain, and spoke slowly, emphasizing every word: “You are not worth saving, but I won’t let Luo Xing feel guilty for the rest of his life. You’ve already placed too many shackles on him. From now on, leave him alone.”

After leaving the hospital room, Huo Xingzhou immediately called Wu Suyan and asked if she knew any doctors who specialized in treating leukemia and about finding a matching donor.

Wu Suyan was in the middle of a meeting. When she glanced at her phone, she was so startled that she ended the meeting on the spot and rushed out, clutching her phone.

“My precious son, are you sick? Tell me which hospital you’re at! Don’t scare Mom!”
Wu Suyan’s face turned pale as she leaned into the phone, her high heels making sharp clicking sounds on the floor.

“Wait, wait, don’t panic! It’s not me,”
Huo Xingzhou explained hurriedly. It was his first time seeing Wu Suyan with such an expression, and even he got a little scared.
“It’s Luo Xing’s biological father. He’s sick and wants Luo Xing to donate bone marrow.”

Before he could finish, Wu Suyan let out a long sigh of relief, paused for a moment, and then spat,
“Biological father, my foot! When he wasn’t sick, he forgot he even had a son. Now that he’s dying, he suddenly remembers he has a life-saving charm? Donate bone marrow? Does he even deserve it?”

Huo Xingzhou was stunned by Wu Suyan’s quick turnaround. Just a moment ago, she was pale and unsteady on her feet, but now she was standing with her hands on her hips, cursing.

“No way. Not happening.”
Huo Xingzhou thought he had already made it clear, but Wu Suyan calmed down and added,
“You’re worried Luo Xing will feel guilty for not saving him, right? Makes sense. The kid is sensitive. Adding another burden like that would crush him.”

Huo Xingzhou gave a low “Mm.”

Wu Suyan spat again.
“Our family’s future daughter-in-law hasn’t even been bullied by me yet, and these clowns think they can push her around? Not a chance!”

Huo Xingzhou: “…”

On the way back, they rode in Lu Chuiye’s car.

Lu Chuiye had initially planned to stay the night after visiting the set, thinking it’d be a chance to ease his longing. But as soon as Ji Changan heard that the kids had school the next day, he immediately sent him back.

Lu Chuiye drove the car without complaint, a cigarette between his lips that he didn’t light because of the children in the car. After a long silence, he glanced at the rearview mirror and asked calmly,
“Who’s paying for gas this time, kids?”

“Godfather will pay!”
Ye Qiaoqiao grinned and handed a candy to Luo Xing.

Luo Xing froze for a second. Godfather? That’s…

Huo Xingzhou smiled and mouthed silently to him, That’s the same person whose voice you heard in that dubbing clip last time.

“What?”

There’s always a difference between a recorded voice and hearing it live. Given Luo Xing’s poor hearing and Lu Chuiye’s deep voice, it must have been distorted several times before it reached his ears.

He didn’t recognize it at first.

Luo Xing secretly studied him through the rearview mirror. Part of Lu Chuiye’s face was hidden behind sunglasses, and there was a faint smile at the corner of his lips. His aura was calm and reserved, completely different from Huo Xingzhou’s bold and flamboyant energy, which always made Luo Xing’s heart race.

Lu Chuiye exuded a quiet but powerful presence, a restrained intensity that made it hard to imagine what he must have been like when he was younger.

“Hey, a couple of glances are enough,”
Huo Xingzhou noticed Luo Xing staring at Lu Chuiye’s back for a while and thought to himself, Are you getting addicted to looking?

Luo Xing quickly averted his gaze, lowered his head, and peeled off the candy wrapper. As soon as he bit into the creamy fruit candy, he heard Huo Xingzhou ask,
“Who’s more handsome, me or him?”

“I’m asking you a question—between me and Uncle Lu, who’s more handsome?”

Luo Xing turned his head to look out the window. There was a faint trace of warmth on the glass, as if it had just rained.

After a while, his phone vibrated. Luo Xing glanced at it—it was a message from Huo Xingzhou.

—What are you thinking about?

Luo Xing blinked, his fingers slowly tapping on the screen. After hesitating for a moment, he pressed send.

—I’m thinking, when I chose not to save him, did I become someone driven by hatred? Am I any different from him?

Huo Xingzhou’s fingers paused. He knew Luo Xing would be weighed down by this guilt until it suffocated him. Sighing softly, he typed another message.

—Luo Xing, you’ve misunderstood one thing.

Luo Xing didn’t understand. He raised his head and looked at Huo Xingzhou in confusion. What does he mean by that?

He had always believed that having or not having a father shouldn’t matter to him. Even if he was as indifferent as Zhao Jiulan, it wouldn’t be a big deal. But every time he heard those fake lies, he couldn’t help but feel sad.

—You are not the only person in the world who can save him. As long as there’s a suitable stem cell match, he can undergo surgery. You’re just their safest option.

—His life has never been entirely in your hands.

Luo Xing read the message over and over again, dissecting each word until he finally grasped a bit of what Huo Xingzhou was trying to say.

The heavy weight that had been pressing on his chest for days seemed to fall to the ground all at once.

After a long time, Luo Xing typed a few more words and sent them to Huo Xingzhou:

—Will he die?

It was a ridiculous question. Huo Xingzhou wasn’t a god; how could he control someone’s life and death or easily make such a promise? But at that moment, Luo Xing just wanted to hear him say something reassuring.

He wasn’t usually a willful person. He hated troubling others, but ever since being with Huo Xingzhou, he had unknowingly become more selfish, craving promises from him. He wanted to hear him say everything would be okay, as if those words could make it true.

He forgot that the person he was turning to, the one who gave him an infinite sense of security, was actually just a high school student.

Huo Xingzhou smiled and replied:

—Trust modern medicine. It won’t be a big problem.

Luo Xing softly responded, “Mm,” and didn’t say anything more.

Ye Qiaoqiao tilted her head and glanced back. She couldn’t help but remember how, at the hospital entrance, he had instinctively stepped forward to protect her without a second thought.

He probably didn’t even have time to consider his actions. Standing tall, he faced Lin Xicheng without flinching and said,
“No one is allowed to hurt my friend.”

In that moment, Ye Qiaoqiao seemed to see a different side of Luo Xing—one whose defenses would rise instantly when his bottom line was crossed. She suspected that if Lin Xicheng had dared to touch her, Luo Xing would have fought him without hesitation.

He treasured his friends so much. If it were someone he liked, what kind of person would he become? For them, he’d probably cross mountains of blades and seas of fire without a second thought.

Luckily, the person he met was named Huo Xingzhou.

Huo Xingzhou would never give him mountains of blades and seas of fire. He would only carefully pave his path with flowers.