Ever since they connected with the very talkative and plump Auntie Jiang, the quality of Ji Xun and Huo Ranyin’s meals skyrocketed. This warm-hearted auntie hadn’t been boasting; she was not only skilled at nutritional pairing but also very eager to help others. For three meals a day, the two of them always got to eat a variety of nutritious dishes, guaranteeing a taste of creatures from the sea, land, and sky every single day.
In just a mere five days, Ji Xun already felt that his somewhat baggy hospital gown fit a little better. When he stepped on the scale to check—good heavens, he had gained 1 kg.
Huo Ranyin was present when he weighed himself. He glanced at the number, showed a thoughtful expression, and then started using his phone.
Huo Ranyin was young, and young people always recovered quickly. Although the injuries on his back were still too gruesome to look at, it wasn’t like in the beginning where he couldn’t even move his arms. The doctors who came for ward rounds every day also told Huo Ranyin that he could slowly move his arms and do moderate activities when he had nothing else to do; it would speed up healing and prevent the fascia in his back from adhering.
Having nothing to do, Ji Xun glanced over at Huo Ranyin’s phone.
Anyway, Huo Ranyin wasn’t working right now, so he wasn’t afraid of accidentally peeking at confidential information. He could peek as he pleased, casually checking up on his boyfriend.
The message he saw from this peek made Ji Xun a bit surprised: “You’re planning to hire a cooking nanny?”
Huo Ranyin: “Mm.”
Ji Xun had already forgotten that just a few days ago, he had been carefully discussing the matter of hiring a cooking nanny with Huo Ranyin on the hotel bed.
This time, taking a work-oriented perspective, he seriously analyzed it with Huo Ranyin: “It’s not worth it, is it? Once we go back, we’ll definitely start working. Once we’re working, where would we find the time to go home and eat every day? We’ll either settle it at roadside stalls or in the cafeteria.”
When criminal investigators work on a case, every second counts. They even find walking into a small restaurant and waiting for a dish to be stir-fried a waste of time. How could it be like a desk job where you clock in and out on time every day, live a healthy life at noon and night, and go home to eat hot food and take a walk?
“As an external expert consultant, you can go back on time,” Huo Ranyin said.
“As an external expert consultant, do you want me to go back even earlier, cook the rice, stir-fry the dishes, and wait for you, Captain, to come home for dinner?” Ji Xun rolled his eyes. “My value does not lie in cooking.”
“Your value indeed does not lie in cooking. But eating and drinking well will allow your value to be exerted for a long time.” Huo Ranyin swiftly swept his gaze up and down Ji Xun, his eyes lingering particularly on Ji Xun’s wrist.
The gauze on his wrist had already been removed, but the burn had not completely healed yet. It was still smeared with ointment, and the swollen hand made the wrist look even more frail and disjointed.
Tracing further up from the wrist—hospital gowns never fit perfectly, and Ji Xun couldn’t be bothered to wear it properly.
Consequently, a baggy piece of clothing hung crookedly on his body. Although the 1 kg of newly grown meat filled it out a bit, there were still large empty areas left, allowing the air to whistle freely in and out.
Ji Xun fell silent for a moment.
Meeting Huo Ranyin’s sharp, critical gaze, he recalled that 8888-yuan gym membership card of his, which he seemingly hadn’t even activated yet…
He made a secret resolution.
Changing dressings, eating, resting.
Days in the hospital were always pretty much the same.
What was worth mentioning was that Yuan Yue was indeed a man of his word. On the twelfth day of Ji Xun and Huo Ranyin’s hospitalization, he finally managed to get time off. Traveling a long distance, he brought the chicken soup his own mother had stewed to the hospital to comfort Ji Xun and Huo Ranyin.
In front of him was Yuan Yue’s exceptionally concerned gaze; beside him was Huo Ranyin’s deeply meaningful look. Caught in the middle holding the chicken soup, Ji Xun couldn’t shake the feeling that the soup was burning his hands—he really couldn’t hold onto it.
Taking advantage of Yuan Yue going to the washroom to wash his hands, Ji Xun hurriedly handed the chicken soup to Huo Ranyin and whispered in his ear:
“Don’t be jealous, don’t be jealous. Look, I’m giving you the entire pot of chicken soup Yuan Yue’s mom stewed for me. If you’re good, I’m good!”
He heavily emphasized “Yuan Yue’s mom” and “giving it to you,” doing his utmost to ensure his boyfriend wouldn’t misunderstand!
Huo Ranyin didn’t misunderstand.
He simply made Ji Xun, the patient, lie down properly on the bed, while he sat next to him. Twisting open the lid of the thermos, right in front of Yuan Yue, he very intimately and very considerately fed the chicken soup to Ji Xun spoon by spoon.
“…” Ji Xun.
“…” Yuan Yue.
Ji Xun labored to drink the soup.
Yuan Yue looked like he wanted to say something but held back.
“Captain Huo,” Yuan Yue finally said. “You’re injured too. How about I do it?”
“No need.” Huo Ranyin’s hand was incredibly steady. “Ji Xun took care of me a lot before. Escaping death this time was also all thanks to Ji Xun. It’s fine if I do it. Don’t trouble yourself.”
“That’s what he ought to do, it’s his duty as a police officer.” Yuan Yue was completely oblivious, then seemed to realize something as an afterthought and added one word: “Ex.”
Huo Ranyin’s hand trembled slightly.
Chicken soup spilled onto Ji Xun’s collar.
“Did it burn you?” Huo Ranyin asked. “Take your clothes off, I’ll get you…”
Another one… This sentence was caught at the tail end. Before he had time to say it out loud, Yuan Yue had already naturally taken the hospital gown Ji Xun took off, saying, “I’ll do it. You two severely injured patients just rest peacefully.”
After saying that, he carried the clothes into the washroom. Before long, the sound of splashing water from washing clothes could be heard from inside.
“…” Huo Ranyin.
“…” Ji Xun.
“Is he doing this on purpose?” Huo Ranyin found it unbelievable.
“…I don’t think so.”
“He doesn’t feel a thing at all?”
“He really probably doesn’t. He just doesn’t have that string in his brain.” Ji Xun let out a tragic sigh. “I don’t know why either. I’m a gay man, yet the friends around me are all pure, unadulterated straight men…”
The sound of water in the washroom stopped, and Ji Xun and Huo Ranyin’s hushed discussion ceased immediately.
Yuan Yue hung up the clothes, then, as if performing a magic trick, produced another thermos container from behind his back. Inside the container was a bowl of piping hot tangyuan (glutinous rice balls). “Captain Huo, Ji Xun.”
Yuan Yue called them one by one.
The two looked at Yuan Yue simultaneously and asked, “What is it?”
Consequently, a tangyuan was fed into each of their mouths.
“???” The two were stunned.
“It’s tangyuan. Knowing you guys are working outside, you definitely wouldn’t remember the Lantern Festival. My mom specially told me to bring these for you to eat. Eating tangyuan means you’ll have a safe and smooth year,” Yuan Yue smiled.
Huo Ranyin held the tangyuan in his mouth, his face a picture of indescribable complexity.
Ji Xun was more pragmatic and chewed.
The white, plump tangyuan was still hot. Biting into the outer skin, the black sesame filling flowed out like water, filling his mouth with the fragrance and sweetness of sesame.
He hissed out a breath: “It’s quite hot—I get the chicken soup, taking the high-speed rail, it’s definitely feasible to bring it over; but how did you bring tangyuan over? Wouldn’t they turn into mush?”
“Of course they’d turn to mush, how could I bring them over already cooked? Isn’t there a shared kitchen in the back alley of the hospital? I saw that it was quite clean over there, so I cooked them there before bringing them up,” Yuan Yue said.
Ji Xun was amazed.
He had only discovered the shared kitchen in the hospital’s back alley after staying in the hospital for several days. Yet Yuan Yue, who just came for a sick visit, spotted it instantly. He absolutely refused to admit his observational skills were weaker than Yuan Yue’s; it was definitely because Yuan Yue had too much “mom energy”!
“Are there more?” Ji Xun finished the tangyuan in his mouth and glanced at the container in Yuan Yue’s hands. “I’ll eat them.”
“Knowing you like sweets, I cooked quite a few for you,” Yuan Yue said, handing the entire thermos container to Ji Xun.
“Thanks.”
“Oh right, feed a few to Captain Huo too. Captain Huo was just feeding you chicken soup,” Yuan Yue suddenly said.
“…Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough.” It was a good thing Ji Xun didn’t have anything in his mouth, or he would have choked to death on a tangyuan. “I’ll do it without you telling me.”
“No, you won’t.” Huo Ranyin swiftly denied it on Ji Xun’s behalf. Only now did he belatedly realize just how… embarrassing his impulsive action of feeding the chicken soup earlier truly was.
“No need for the trouble, really… I don’t like sweets,” he forced himself to add.
The two, harboring their own guilty secrets, exchanged a glance and then looked at Yuan Yue in unison.
But Yuan Yue smiled very gratifyingly. “Before, I always felt the atmosphere between you two was a bit weird, like you found each other an eyesore. Now I’m finally at ease…”
Ji Xun recalled his and Huo Ranyin’s childish behavior of mutually deleting each other on WeChat before. Falling silent for a moment, he struggled a bit, then gave up trying to correct Yuan Yue’s hopeless thought process and changed the subject: “Are you leaving this afternoon after visiting us, or are you planning to stay and play for a few days? Chief Zhou was kind enough to give you consecutive days off, you should cherish it.”
“It doesn’t count as a vacation. I actually came to talk about official business too, so I’m leaving this afternoon.” He turned to Huo Ranyin. “Captain Huo, you remember the matter of Sun Hongfa—the guy who kidnapped Ji Xun—having Zhu Huan’s contact info in his phone, right?”
Huo Ranyin’s gaze suddenly sharpened: “What did you guys find investigating further?”
“It was mostly Tan Mingjiu who found it, since I temporarily took over your duties while you were severely injured.” Yuan Yue pulled out a file folder like magic again, spreading it out on the hospital bed. Pointing to a photo of Zhu Huan, he said, “Sun Hongfa and Zhu Huan had no chat records and had never spoken on the phone, so we suspected they were introduced and connected by someone else. If they were connected, there must be some intersection—Tan Mingjiu thought it was inherently strange that Zhuo Cangying knew about Zhu Huan doing underground business, so he went to investigate Ning City Healthcare Hospital.”
Yuan Yue pulled out a photo of Zhuo Cangying and placed it on top, followed by a photo of a middle-aged doctor whom Ji Xun didn’t recognize.
“We found out that Zhu Huan and Sun Hongfa both previously sought medical treatment from this doctor, Dr. Xi Yongchuan. And Xi Yongchuan is Zhuo Cangying’s colleague.”
Ji Xun was stunned for a moment: “Zhuo Cangying is an oncologist. Are you saying Zhu Huan and Sun Hongfa both had cancer?”
“Sun Hongfa had a medical checkup on August 22nd last year, and subsequently, a 2.8cm malignant tumor was confirmed in his lungs, though it was in the early stage. On August 26th, he and Zhu Huan added each other’s contact info. As for Zhu Huan, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer six years ago, on October 25, 2010. On January 7, 2011, he went to prison for a traffic accident. Shortly after entering prison, he applied for and underwent surgery to remove the thyroid tumor inside the prison. After that, he went to jail multiple times for various different offenses, but the durations were never long.”
After stating these facts, Yuan Yue drew a conclusion in a very certain tone: “Their family backgrounds are very ordinary; they cannot afford exorbitant medical fees. Therefore, they have immense motivation to take desperate risks and commit crimes, utilizing the free medical care in prison to treat their illnesses.”
Ji Xun murmured, “I remember during the interrogation, Zhu Huan was very familiar with the law.”
Huo Ranyin frowned: “If you’re turning taking the fall for someone into a business, being familiar with the law—only taking the blame for what you can bear without getting in too deep—is a necessity. Did you guys summon Xi Yongchuan?”
Ji Xun remembered that among the three people who kidnapped him, Sun Hongfa wasn’t familiar with the other two. If these people had anticipated the possibility of being discovered by the police during the kidnapping, and therefore found an unskilled rookie to be their backup scapegoat, negotiating the terms with him beforehand—this would explain why they took on that yellow-haired guy’s kidnapping job, which was full of loopholes.
The so-called “full of loopholes” was only from the perspective of the police, who quickly caught someone they could convict. If they hadn’t discovered the connection to Zhu Huan in Sun Hongfa’s phone, who would have thought that catching them so easily was actually problematic?
Sometimes the simplest crime is also the most highly efficient and meticulous one.
Yuan Yue shook his head regretfully: “We don’t have any more evidence right now.”
Ji Xun asked again, “I remember an inmate of Mo Nai’s, named Zhang Xinyou, was also a repeat offender and knew Zhu Huan. Have you checked him? Does he have medical records?”
Yuan Yue: “Not yet.”
“Even if he’s not sick, he’d do this business.” Huo Ranyin recalled the expression Zhang Xinyou had back then when talking about the cars on the road that he could never catch up to. He said bitingly, “They recruit people who have no room for choice. With no choices left, their definition of living is very low; just having enough to eat and breathing counts as living. Meanwhile, another group of people has a very high definition of living—acting wantonly, doing whatever they please, challenging social morality while still arrogantly unwilling to be judged by order. The gap between these two definitions spurred the birth of this business. Using the hospital—a place everyone has to go to—as the connecting link, the former sells freedom, and the latter enjoys freedom. Presumably, this business is booming. The massive number of suppliers makes freedom something that can be easily purchased like a commodity. Because it’s convenient, the buyers stop caring about it and can’t resist committing even more acts that violate ethics, thereby generating even more demand to purchase freedom. The cycle repeats endlessly, regenerating without cease.”
After Huo Ranyin finished speaking, the three people in the ward fell somewhat silent.
Finally, Yuan Yue conveyed Chief Zhou’s regards to Huo Ranyin and Ji Xun, telling them to recuperate well and not take it lightly just because they were young. He also stated that he was aware of the Healthcare Hospital matter; it was a major case that required long-term digging. He told Huo Ranyin to take his time and rest easy, as he would keep an eye on it himself.
The Ning City Criminal Investigation Detachment couldn’t be without a single leader actually doing the work.
After finishing his briefing, Yuan Yue quickly boarded a train and rushed back to Ning City.
Because of this small interlude during the day passing quickly, when evening arrived, Ji Xun and Huo Ranyin—the two disabled patients—helped clean each other’s bodies in the washroom as usual.
Ji Xun helped wash Huo Ranyin’s body first.
Huo Ranyin’s entire back had suffered heavy trauma and couldn’t get wet. Usually, they could at most wipe it with a hot, damp towel.
Before Huo Ranyin could move, Ji Xun helped. Once he could move, he tried to handle the easy-to-reach places himself, but for his shoulders, neck, and lower back, he still needed Ji Xun to lend a hand.
Steam curled in the bathroom.
The usually clear mirror was completely fogged up, only reflecting two blurry silhouettes.
Huo Ranyin’s clothes were removed. Leaning against Ji Xun, he felt the scalding hot towel drape over the back of his neck. His skin relaxed as a result, but it seemed to tug at the wounds under the bandages, triggering a series of needle-prick-like pains.
Huo Ranyin remained silent, merely resting his head on Ji Xun’s shoulder, leaning half his body weight against him.
Over the past few days, this posture had become second nature to both of them; it was the most effortless and intimate posture.
He pressed against Ji Xun’s neck, feeling the warmth flowing through it; he pressed against Ji Xun’s chest, feeling the beating heart hidden within.
Every time they were this close, Ji Xun’s presence would suddenly magnify, invading every corner his senses could reach. The external world, all worries, troubles, and anxieties were pushed out. He was left with only Ji Xun, only leaning against Ji Xun’s chest.
This time, this barrier-like tranquility didn’t last very long.
Ji Xun spoke:
“Does it hurt a lot today?”
“…It’s alright.”
The hot towel wiped across his white shoulder. The bloodless, pale skin looked increasingly like a pristine statue—beautiful indeed, but lacking a bit of vitality.
Ji Xun bent his finger and tapped Huo Ranyin’s shoulder. This statue-like body was trembling faintly.
“Liar. It hurts so much here that you can’t even stop trembling.”
“You don’t hurt?”
“Probably not as much as you.”
Huo Ranyin’s gaze fell first on Ji Xun’s shot right arm, and then on Ji Xun’s burned left hand.
The two had become increasingly synchronized. Ji Xun didn’t even need to look at Huo Ranyin to know what he was thinking: “It’s impossible to say the right arm doesn’t hurt. We know each other well, so I won’t play the tough guy. But the left hand really doesn’t hurt; it’s just a burn. It’s been almost half a month, it’s pretty much completely healed, just looks a bit ugly. If it really hurt that badly, I would’ve hired a caretaker to wipe our bodies a long time ago…”
“You wouldn’t,” Huo Ranyin exposed him.
“Why wouldn’t I? This was a last resort; we can’t just stay dirty all the time…”
“You couldn’t bear letting someone else see me,” Huo Ranyin said.
His ordinary voice, echoing in this tiny, steam-filled washroom, rang in Ji Xun’s ears and made his heart skip a beat.
“…Is the water temperature a bit too high today?”
“Mm,” Huo Ranyin said.
“Then I’ll lower the temperature a bit, cool it down.”
“You only know how to use cold water to cool down?” Huo Ranyin asked in return.
“…”
“Do it.”
Huo Ranyin licked his lips. Whether from dehydration or blood loss, his lips were dry, cracked, and pale, but moistened by saliva now, they took on a faint red hue.
“Use your hand…” he said. “I’ll do it.”
The fog grew thicker, seemingly trembling as well.
The sound of water pattered down continuously. The washroom remained quiet, without a single human sound. Just when one might doubt if there was anyone inside, an extremely suppressed yet seemingly extremely pleased muffled groan sounded out.
Followed by soft, exhausted, languid, and drowsy panting.
Carrying a trace of fresh fragrance and a bit of dampness, quietly slipping into the night.
By the twentieth day of their hospitalization, the two were finally discharged and could return to Ning City.
Of course, it didn’t mean the injuries on his back were healed; it just meant they could stay at home, and they still had to go to the hospital to change dressings.
For the past twenty days, the Qin City police, who had constantly assigned personnel to keep an eye on the First People’s Hospital, finally breathed a solid sigh of relief. Just as they were planning to see things through to the end and put Ji Xun and Huo Ranyin on the car back to Ning City, Huo Ranyin received a call from a lawyer.
On the phone, the lawyer introduced himself as surnamed Xiong. He said Mr. Hu Kun had a sapphire and diamond flower brooch worth 1.19 million yuan to give to Huo Ranyin as an inheritance. However, there was some trouble right now, and he needed Huo Ranyin to come to a designated location to handle some procedures.
A sapphire and diamond flower brooch—Ji Xun and Huo Ranyin had only ever seen it on one person.
Lao Hu. Only now did the two know Lao Hu’s full name: Hu Kun.
Lao Hu, who had been so healthy… was dead?
