Huo Youqing was used to being taken care of, but seeing Qiu Wenfei crouching before him today made him feel a strange discomfort. He muttered a quick “thank you” before hurrying away.
Before, he wouldn’t have reacted like this. But after seeing what Gong Lang and Qiu Wenfei had become nine years in the future, it was hard to interact with them the same way as before.
Huo Youqing sent the bank card back to Gong Lang’s home by mail. When he returned to the dorm, his roommates were discussing something, but they immediately fell silent when they saw him enter.
“Little Huo, you’re back,” one of his roommates greeted him awkwardly.
Huo Youqing nodded and walked straight to his wardrobe. He had gotten a bit hot while out earlier and wanted to grab some clothes to take a shower.
When he turned around, he suddenly met the gaze of several pairs of eyes.
Puzzled, Huo Youqing looked at his roommates. Some of them turned their faces away awkwardly, while one asked, “Little Huo, do you visit the school forum?”
Huo Youqing shook his head.
The roommate who asked made a sound of acknowledgment, then smiled awkwardly, “Well, it’s better if you don’t.”
***
School Forum.
Anonymous Post: [Shocking! Huo from the Foreign Language Department has broken up with his boyfriend!]
Replies:
“He doesn’t even have a boyfriend. Stop spreading rumors, okay?”
“Break up??”
“Is the information reliable?”
“…”
By the time it hit over 300 comments, the original poster returned and said: “They really broke up. I saw them arguing with my own eyes. Huo’s boyfriend looked like he was going to kill someone. I don’t think the breakup will be that simple, though. But now that Huo is single, wow, things are going to get interesting. Here’s proof.”
The picture was a bit blurry and didn’t clearly capture Gong Lang’s face, but it clearly showed Huo Youqing.
The two seemed to be in the dorm hallway. Morning sunlight was shining on Huo Youqing, and his head was slightly bowed. His long, thick lashes framed his almond-shaped eyes, which were serene and gentle. The person grabbing his arm was quite pale, but Huo Youqing was even paler, almost as if someone was holding a light reflector up to him in the shot.
The tone of the comments following the photo quickly changed, “Huo Youqing’s face is truly lethal. Even as a straight guy, I can’t help but… If only he were a girl.”
Then a wave of commenters started scolding that person.
Suddenly, the thread became a mix of people admiring his looks, arguing, claiming that Huo didn’t have a boyfriend and that the two were just friends, while others asked, “Who’s Huo Youqing, and why does everyone know him?” The thread reached over a thousand comments before it was deleted.
***
Although Huo Youqing knew about the school forum, he had never visited it, so he had no idea about the discussions going on about him.
But lately, he had noticed that more people seemed to be watching him. Or maybe it was just his imagination.
One day, while sitting on a bench at school, he heard the sound of a camera shutter.
He turned and saw a stranger holding up a phone.
The moment the boy met his gaze, his face flushed red, and he hurriedly put away the phone, stammering, “I-I wasn’t taking a picture of you… I was taking a picture of the tree behind you.”
Huo Youqing glanced at the century-old tree above him but didn’t say anything. He simply stood up and walked away to give the boy space to take his picture.
As soon as he left, his phone rang.
“Hello?”
It was one of his high school classmates, someone he had been on good terms with and used to play basketball with.
The classmate invited Huo Youqing to hang out at his family’s new mountain lodge over the weekend, “My dad just finished building it. Come on, we can barbecue, fish, swim, do anything really. We even have a VR room. I’ve invited a bunch of the guys we used to hang out with. You should come too.”
What Huo Youqing didn’t know was that while his high school friend was on the phone with him, Gong Lang was sitting right beside him, listening to their conversation on speakerphone.
After the call, the friend chuckled and nudged Gong Lang with his elbow, “So, what’s your plan? It’s clearly your family’s lodge, but you made me pretend it’s mine and had me invite him?”
Gong Lang’s face remained expressionless, “He’s upset with me.”
“Oh? How’d you manage to upset him? He’s always had a pretty good temper, from what I remember.”
“Who knows. He had a dream where I hit him, and now he’s mad at me because of it. This time…” Gong Lang trailed off in frustration, a particular name flashing in his mind.
His high school friend laughed so hard he nearly fell off the couch, “Haha, that’s adorable! He dreamt you hit him, and now he’s holding a grudge!”
“Stop laughing. Do you know someone named Dai Yuan?” Gong Lang frowned. “Help me look into him.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of town.
After finishing the call with his high school classmate, Huo Youqing started heading toward the library. On the way, someone stopped him.
Without saying a word, the person shoved something into his arms and ran off.
It was a blue envelope.
Curious about why he received a letter, Huo Youqing noticed the small text in the corner of the envelope:
“Sent by Dai Yixin.”
The name sounded like a girl’s, but the person who handed him the letter was a boy.
Seeing the name, Huo Youqing was reminded of another person with the surname Dai. Without thinking, he chased after the boy, intending to call him back.
“Hey, wait a second…”
As he was running, his foot caught on an uneven brick in the pavement, causing him to fall hard to the ground.
Pain surged through his body, his vision blurring for a moment. He closed his eyes, fighting the dizziness before forcing them open again.
“You’re awake? If you’re awake, get out of the car. We’ve arrived.”
A man in the driver’s seat spoke casually, a cigarette between his fingers.
The warm breeze of the spring night carried a distinctive, soothing quality. Huo Youqing raised a hand to rub his aching forehead as the lingering pain finally subsided. He turned his gaze to the man beside him. The man removed the cigarette from his lips and, locking eyes with Huo Youqing, exhaled a slow puff of smoke, “What’s the matter? Changed your mind about getting out?”
White smoke curled from the man’s thin lips and dissipated into the wind.
Huo Youqing didn’t like the smell of cigarettes, so he instinctively moved back a little. At the same time, he realized he had returned to the year he was twenty-seven. He frowned slightly.
It seemed there was no pattern to the time-traveling he was experiencing.
Gathering his thoughts, Huo Youqing apologized, “Sorry, I must have dozed off.” Pausing, he then asked another question, “Earlier, you mentioned Dai Yuan…”
The man smirked, continuing to smoke without answering Huo Youqing’s question.
In the midst of the silence, just as Huo Youqing was about to speak again, he heard his cousin’s voice not far off.
His cousin hurried over to the sports car where Huo Youqing sat, glancing briefly at the man in the driver’s seat before turning to Huo Youqing and saying in a low voice, “Youyou, come on, get out of the car.”
Then, addressing the driver, his cousin added, “Thank you for bringing him back. I’m Huo Youqing’s cousin. May I ask who you are?”
Huo Youqing knew that his employer wasn’t good at Chinese, so he proactively replied, “He’s my boss, a foreigner, and doesn’t speak Chinese.”
While the two brothers talked, the employer was watching from the side. His cigarette had already burned out, and when he saw Huo Youqing about to unbuckle his seatbelt, he spoke up, “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”
Huo Youqing knew that tonight wasn’t the right time to discuss Dai Yuan, so he calmly introduced his cousin, then bid his employer goodbye.
Just as he was about to get out of the car, the employer asked, “Will you be at work on time tomorrow?”
There was something implied in his words.
In the misty night, the employer’s expression was unclear.
Huo Youqing had already stepped out of the car. He glanced back at his employer and answered, “Yes,” then walked into the residential area with his cousin.
When signing the contract, he had read it carefully—he had to give one month’s notice if he wanted to quit.
On the way back, his cousin didn’t look happy. “Your boss doesn’t seem like a good person.”
Huo Youqing agreed with his cousin’s observation, especially considering his long work hours over the past few days.
“Why not just quit?” his cousin suggested cautiously, and when he didn’t get an immediate response, he added, “I think this job has you leaving early and coming home late. You’ve lost weight again. I’ve been helping you look for a new job these past few days. A friend of mine is hiring for a translation role—just document translations, and you won’t have to go out.”
Huo Youqing thought for a moment. “I still want to go out, but I’ll consider your suggestion.”
His cousin opened his mouth as if to say more but ultimately stayed silent.
The next day.
Huo Youqing was sick.
When he woke up, he felt dizzy, and his forehead was burning. His cousin had already gone to work, and the medicine in the first aid kit was expired.
Standing on the living room carpet, Huo Youqing spaced out for five minutes before deciding to take sick leave and go to the hospital. He’d never gone to the hospital alone before. The only time he had was during the incident when he woke up in his 27-year-old body.
He hailed a taxi to a nearby Class 3A hospital, but as he stood in the outpatient lobby, he hesitated.
He was used to seeing a family doctor. If the family doctor couldn’t help, they’d drive him directly to the hospital and take him to a ward.
What should he do now?
Surveying the area, he saw an information desk and walked over hesitantly.
The triage nurse quickly helped him register and directed him to the elevators for the outpatient department.
The respiratory clinic was packed. After a long wait, he finally heard his name called, but as soon as he stepped into the consultation room, he unexpectedly ran into someone he knew.
Qiu Wenfei was sitting behind the computer, dressed in a white coat. He twirled a black pen between his fingers, his gaze cold. “What’s the matter?”
Burning up with fever, Huo Youqing hadn’t even checked the name of the doctor on his registration form. Seeing Qiu Wenfei, he remembered that the other had studied medicine.
Their dorm in university had been mixed departments.
For five seconds, Huo Youqing debated whether to see the doctor or just leave, but the virus won. He sat down on the chair beside Qiu Wenfei. “Flu, fever.”
Qiu Wenfei seemed to snort, but it was unclear. He pulled a thermometer from an alcohol box and handed it to Huo Youqing. Huo Youqing didn’t take it. He stared at the thermometer, thinking about how many people must have used it before, feeling his cleanliness sensitivity flare up.
The thermometer was returned to the alcohol box, and Qiu Wenfei’s tone grew colder. “If you don’t want to take your temperature, leave.”
Huo Youqing had never been someone easily pushed around.
Since birth, he had always been pampered and treated gently by those around him. The first time he woke up in his 27-year-old body and was beaten by Gong Lang, it was because he didn’t fully understand the situation yet. His cousin had implied that he had attacked Dai Yuan first, so he silently endured it.
Not even glancing at Qiu Wenfei, Huo Youqing stood up and walked toward the door.
Before he reached it, Qiu Wenfei’s voice stopped him. “Hold it.”
Qiu Wenfei quickly walked over and closed the door with his hand. His gaze was filled with visible impatience, as if he wanted to be rid of Huo Youqing but couldn’t fully ignore him, fearing that if Huo Youqing left the consultation room, it would cause him more trouble. “I’ll get you a new thermometer. Sit back down.”
“No need.” Huo Youqing’s voice was hoarse, and even speaking made his throat feel burning hot. He didn’t have the energy to argue with Qiu Wenfei and just wanted to check the time to see if he could register with a different doctor.
But it seemed Qiu Wenfei misunderstood something. He grabbed Huo Youqing’s hand as he reached for the door. “Enough, Huo Youqing. Haven’t you had enough of these tricks? After leaving me, are you planning to bully Little Yuan again?”
Ridiculous.
Huo Youqing forcefully shook off Qiu Wenfei’s hand and left the hospital. He crossed the street to a pharmacy, bought some fever-reducing medication, and took it with cold water.
While feeling dizzy and disoriented, his phone rang.
It was his employer calling.
The employer said there was a very important client meeting in the afternoon, and Huo Youqing had to be there.
“I’m sick,” Huo Youqing replied weakly.
The employer said, “I’ll send someone to pick you up.”
With a sigh, Huo Youqing sent his address. About ten minutes later, a car pulled up outside the pharmacy.
When he arrived at the office, Huo Youqing was immediately ushered into his employer’s office. The important client hadn’t arrived yet, and the fever medicine was making him sleepy. Unable to resist, he dozed off on the leather sofa.
Half-asleep, he felt like someone was standing next to him.
Huo Youqing’s eyelashes fluttered, but he couldn’t fight off the effects of the medication to open his eyes.
Who was it?
Was there a snake?
In a hazy half-dream, his brows furrowed. He felt the sticky sensation of a snake’s tongue licking his eyelashes, making things worse. He tried hard to open his eyes but couldn’t. When his eyelashes were soaked, the snake’s tongue moved to his eyelids.
His skin was burning from the fever, even his eyelids felt hot—snow-white tinged with a bit of pink.
The snake’s tongue slowly, patiently, tasted the scorching eyelids, as if trying to pierce through them and hold the eyeball inside.
Disgusting and terrifying, Huo Youqing wasn’t sure if he had struggled or not. He was trapped in his nightmare—
The snake was pressing down on him, emitting soft, heavy breaths.
***
Huo Youqing suddenly opened his eyes. The office was empty, but there was a sound at the door.
Moments later, the employer pushed the door open. Seeing Huo Youqing asleep on the sofa, he raised an eyebrow slightly and said, “Our Sleeping Beauty is finally awake.”
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I briefly wondered if this Mr. Hyde was ML, but now I very much hope not. That description of licking the lashes and his eyes was just so wrong (I think it was him, it seemed implied it was him). 😖
Thanks for the chapter(s).