Abandoned White Moonlight Chapter 53

Dai Yixin moved openly into Huo Youqing’s place, with the purple tulip essentially serving as rent. After failing to evict Dai Yixin the first time, Huo Youqing stopped trying. He had experienced Dai Yixin’s various tactics and understood that resistance often only made things more interesting for Dai Yixin.

Besides, the satisfaction of revenge began to suppress his dislike for Dai Yixin. He wanted to witness Dai Yixin’s pain, to see him powerless, just as he had been in the past.

Thus, the two of them started a brief cohabitation.

The apartment had three rooms: two bedrooms and a study.

Huo Youqing walked out of the study when he heard noise coming from the kitchen. As he was about to grab a drink from the fridge, he headed in that direction.

The person in the kitchen was Dai Yixin, wearing an apron. The warm evening sunlight streamed through the large windows, falling on his slender fingers as he chopped vegetables.

Huo Youqing had known for a long time that Dai Yixin was skilled at household chores. When they were forced to live together, their home rarely saw any outsiders.

Watching Dai Yixin skillfully prepare the ingredients reminded Huo Youqing of a past event. There had been a time when, in order to lower Dai Yixin’s guard, he pretended to fall in love with him.

Before that period, they had fought fiercely, to the point where all the furniture in the house was bolted to the floor, and even the decorative items were secured to the tables—anything that could move would likely end up being thrown at Dai Yixin.

The worst incident was when Huo Youqing smashed Dai Yixin’s head in the middle of the night, sending him to the hospital in an emergency.

After the furniture was secured, Huo Youqing’s ability to resist was further limited. A few months later, Dai Yixin took him on a trip, claiming it was to relax, but to Huo Youqing, being with Dai Yixin was like being in prison no matter where they went.

Unexpectedly, something happened during the trip. Maybe it was the harsh climate—Huo Youqing fell seriously ill after just three days due to the extreme cold.

They were staying in a remote wooden cabin, surrounded by nothing but endless snow.

On the day he came down with a high fever, the snow was falling particularly heavily, making visibility poor. He could barely remember the details of that night.

Dai Yixin carried him out of bed, bundling him up in thermal clothes, sweaters, and a down jacket, wrapping him so tightly he looked like a bear. He was too weak to even stand, his head burning with fever, his nose and the skin around his eyes flushed red, his breaths heavy and labored.

He couldn’t hold on to Dai Yixin’s neck and was slipping down. Dai Yixin had to stop every few steps to adjust him.

After a long struggle, they finally made it to the car. Dai Yixin put him inside before walking around to the driver’s seat.

Driving in the snow was difficult, and despite his fevered haze, Huo Youqing sensed Dai Yixin’s tension. His knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel, and his jaw was clenched tight.

Things got worse when the car stalled in the freezing cold. They were stranded in the snow, with no lights ahead and no one behind. Dai Yixin got out to check for a long time, then returned to the car wrapped in cold air.

By then, Huo Youqing was beyond miserable, both physically and emotionally. He vaguely recalled being pulled into an embrace, with someone constantly on the phone while using towels from the car to wipe his sweat.

He didn’t know how long the calls lasted, but the illness made him feel wronged. He weakly called out for his uncle and aunt. The person holding him paused, then put the phone down, gently kissing his forehead, offering him water, and whispering, “I’m sorry.”

At some point, Dai Yixin left the car again, but Huo Youqing didn’t remember when he returned. When Huo Youqing woke up, he was already in the hospital.

But instead of Dai Yixin by his bedside, it was one of Dai’s assistants.

This assistant, surnamed Gui, had been with Dai Yixin the longest. When he saw Huo Youqing wake up, he visibly relaxed, but Huo Youqing found it strange.

For someone like Dai Yixin to let others take care of him, it was like the sun had risen in the west.

“Where is he?” Huo Youqing asked, his voice hoarse.

Assistant Gui hesitated before answering, “President Dai is also in the hospital.”

From Assistant Gui’s account, Huo Youqing learned that they had been airlifted out by helicopter in the middle of the night. The car’s signal had been too weak, so Dai Yixin had walked far enough to make a call for help. Now, he was even sicker than Huo Youqing.

Assistant Gui finished speaking and noticed that Huo Youqing had no reaction at all. He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, as he was somewhat aware of the backstory. “Mr. Huo, President Dai really loves you. The doctor said that if President Dai had stayed outside any longer last night, there was a high chance he would have had to amputate.”

Huo Youqing didn’t reply, and seeing this, Assistant Gui could only stay silent.

After an unknown amount of time, Huo Youqing’s voice broke the silence in the quiet hospital room, “Which room is he in?”

Assistant Gui quickly gave him the answer.

However, Huo Youqing didn’t go to see Dai Yixin. Instead, Dai Yixin came to see him first once he could get out of bed. Huo Youqing didn’t pull his hand away when Dai Yixin reached for it, nor did he make his usual sarcastic remarks when he saw the look of surprise in Dai Yixin’s eyes.

It seemed that this illness had somehow made him fall for someone who treated him so well.

He thought his acting skills were good enough, at least to fool Assistant Gui. Assistant Gui genuinely believed that Huo Youqing’s softened attitude was due to being moved by Dai Yixin. Assistant Gui even took it upon himself to book a couple’s dinner for them once.

As for Dai Yixin, Huo Youqing wasn’t sure if he had managed to deceive him. He started to accept Dai Yixin’s goodnight kisses, and once, he even pretended to be lost in passion and took the initiative. His fingers crawled up to Dai Yixin’s shoulder, and his tongue lightly brushed the man’s lips.

After the kiss, it was as if he suddenly came to his senses. He hurriedly covered his lips and turned away, refusing to look at Dai Yixin. When he heard Dai Yixin’s low chuckle, he quickly grabbed a blanket to cover himself tightly, as if too shy to face anyone.

It wasn’t long before Dai Yixin climbed into the blanket with him, kissing him repeatedly with eyes full of laughter and affection.

“I really like you like this,” he said.

Huo Youqing held back his disgust, weakly hitting Dai Yixin a few times. “Like what?”

A kiss landed on his collarbone. “Not like anything in particular. It’s just that tonight, I really want you. I’m sorry.” He grasped Huo Youqing’s hand, placing a fiery kiss in his palm.

That night, Dai Yixin’s eyes gleamed unusually bright, reminding Huo Youqing of a butterfly in a science class he took in elementary school. The science teacher had shown them a specimen, and Huo Youqing still vividly remembered that butterfly encased in amber, with its brilliantly colored wings that appeared to be alive yet dead.

That day, he had stared at the specimen in his teacher’s hand, considering the idea of creating a butterfly specimen of his own.