MAPF Chapter 26

Chapter 26: Best Actor, Suspecting Xie Shiwei Has Changed His Core

“Forgot,” Xie Shiwei said, his face pale. “Can you forget it too?”

“That radio station broadcasted for a whole year, excluding weekends and holidays, a total of 198 days, and the last ten minutes were always your performance stage.” He Qin overtook a car. “Do you think I can forget?”

Xie Shiwei weakly said, “…You said you forgave me.”

“I can forgive, but I can’t forget.”

Xie Shiwei simply turned off the sound system: “Concentrate on driving, listening to music can be distracting. I won’t bother you; I’ll rest for a while.”

He pretended to sleep, turning to the side and secretly putting on headphones, looping through his playlist. After listening, he felt that He Qin hadn’t directly strangled and buried the original owner, which should be attributed to the author’s leniency.

If the characters in the book could awaken, the first thing He Qin would do is get rid of him.

.

After parking the car, He Qin opened the trunk, took out a folding wheelchair, personally opened the car door on Xie Shiwei’s side, leaned over to help him unfasten his seat belt, and extended his hand: “Come on up.”

Xie Shiwei grasped He Qin’s hand, using the leverage to sit in the wheelchair, curiously asking, “Where did this wheelchair come from?”

“Bought it at the hospital before we left.”

“Quite considerate, CEO He, returning kindness for kindness.” Xie Shiwei teased.

Times were different now. He was doing He Qin a favor, like having a Shangfang sword (imperial sword symbolizing authority), giving him more confidence when speaking.

He Qin raised his eyebrows, not refuting anything, and pushed Xie Shiwei forward.

Before getting out of the car, Xie Shiwei wrapped himself in a down jacket and wore a woolen hat, looking like a festive round ball sitting in the wheelchair.

He Qin looked down and slightly curved his lips into a smile.

.

Back at the house, Wang Butler rushed up like an arrow, grabbed Xie Shiwei’s arm, and two lines of tears instantly burst out. He choked up and said, “Young Master, I heard you saved a child. At first, I didn’t dare to believe it until I saw the report and confirmed it. It seems you’ve really grown up! I’m so happy, sob sob, I didn’t expect to live to see this day, sob sob.”

Xie Shiwei was silent for a moment, laboriously pulling out his arm: “Uncle Wang, thank you. Are the reports already out?”

“Yes, it’s too late today. I’ll send them to you tomorrow morning, Young Master. There are so many! Your heroic demeanor has spread throughout the whole circle. The butlers of the Liu, Chen, and Wang families are all asking about this in the group. You have to tell me all about it tomorrow!”

“…Okay.”

Back in the room, Wang Butler brought dinner, personally fed Xie Shiwei, and carefully studied the medicine and prescriptions brought back, making himself a memo. He also gave He Qin instructions: “Mr. He, my young master was injured for you, so you must take good care of him.”

“Okay.” He Qin took off his coat, neatly rolled up his shirt sleeves to his elbows, and with his strong arms, picked up the medicine bag and started preparing tonight’s dosage.

Wang Butler contentedly closed the door and left. He Qin boiled water and prepared the medicine himself. In less than ten minutes, he placed the tray on the coffee table in front of Xie Shiwei.

“There are three kinds of oral medicine. Swallow these two capsules with warm water, and drink this packet separately.” He Qin placed the different medicines into different colored storage boxes. “Finish these first.”

Xie Shiwei first took the two capsules. The traditional Chinese medicine packet was still very bitter. He frowned slightly and finished it in one gulp.

Knowing that Xie Shiwei found it bitter, He Qin unwrapped a piece of candy and held it to Xie Shiwei’s mouth.

It was the same hawthorn candy from last time, crystal clear.

Xie Shiwei carefully took it from He Qin’s hand, not touching He Qin at all. As he lowered his head, a strand of black hair slid onto his long eyelashes and then into his eyes.

Xie Shiwei blinked uncomfortably, wanting to raise his hand to brush it away, but He Qin had already reached out and tucked the hair behind his ear.

Xie Shiwei said thank you. The moment He Qin’s fingers brushed against his skin, he felt a tingling sensation, and he uncontrollably shuddered.

“You’re really sensitive,” He Qin said.

“Hey!” Xie Shiwei said angrily.

“Just kidding,” He Qin laughed, taking the medicine away. “Xie Shiwei, what were you thinking when you saved Xiao Yue?”

“I…” Xie Shiwei was silent.

He had actually thought a lot on the way he ran over.

He remembered watching his parents get hit by a car when he was little and being powerless. He remembered debt collectors chasing and scolding him, but no one could help him block them. He remembered countless times when he encountered danger while he was alive, but he could only bear it alone.

He was only a year or two older than Xiao Yue when he lost his parents, a naive age when fate forced him to re-recognize this cold, unreliable, vast world.

That’s why at that moment, he rushed over without hesitation, without thinking about any consequences, even though he didn’t know at the time that Xiao Yue was also an orphan. He just saw the small, pitiful, and pathetic version of himself from before.

But how could he say these things to He Qin?

He Qin saw Xie Shiwei’s head gradually lowering, looking suddenly very vulnerable. He didn’t press further, but solemnly thanked Xie Shiwei again.

Xie Shiwei smiled: “You’re welcome. After Xiao Yue’s cochlear implant is done, you can bring her over to play.”

He Qin nodded, squatted down on one leg, flattened Xie Shiwei’s suit pants, and applied medicine to his injured ankle.

Xie Shiwei’s ankle was very thin, he could grasp it with one hand, and his Achilles tendon was also very long. It’s just that the injured area was slightly swollen, which looked shocking on his white skin.

“These days, as long as I’m here, I’ll take care of you. When I’m not here, I’ll have Wang Butler do it.” He Qin applied the ointment to the swollen area, but felt it inconvenient to do the shoulder and hip injuries and sought Xie Shiwei’s opinion.

“I’ll do it myself. My left hand can reach. Actually, I can apply the medicine to all three injured areas myself. I won’t bother you in the future, just don’t let Uncle Wang see it.”

Seeing Xie Shiwei insist, He Qin agreed, poured him a glass of warm water, placed it on the bedside table, and went to the study to work.

.

He Qin worked overtime until eleven o’clock and opened the webpage to read a few news articles.

Reports about the opening of the Xie Shi Group Technology Port branch had already spread. Xie Shiwei’s uncharacteristic behavior, whether it was the wonderful speech in the address session or his heroic rescue during the accident, was extremely inconsistent with his original image, causing a stir in the local forums.

In addition to text, most news articles were accompanied by pictures and videos of Xie Shiwei on the red carpet, giving a speech, and at the press conference. There were also photos of him and Xie Shiwei, as well as the photo of him holding Xie Shiwei at the end.

He Qin clicked on the large version of the photos, looking at them one by one, until he saw the one where Xie Shiwei was like a pendant on him, his ear tips red as if they were about to drip blood.

After looking at it for several seconds, he turned off the computer screen.

At this time, a new WeChat message popped up from Wang Gugu, asking him to go for a drink.

He Qin: [Do you know what time it is?]

Wang Gugu: [I know! But aren’t you sleeping late? Come and tell me about what happened at your opening ceremony today. I’m dying of curiosity.]

He Qin: [Is Bai An there?]

Wang Gugu: [Didn’t you tell him to stay home and reflect? Without your permission, how dare he come?]

He Qin changed into casual clothes and drove to the address Wang Gugu sent, a beach bar not far from the bay scenic area.

At half past eleven at night, the bar was booming with business, with men and women clinking glasses and embracing, and dancing wildly on the dance floor.

Wang Gugu was at a seat by the window. He Qin sat down beside her and ordered a blood orange juice.

“Are you kidding me, drinking orange juice here?”

“Drove here.”

“Get a designated driver!”

“Anyway, it’s inconvenient to drink now.”

“I get it, you’re being a model husband in the Xie family.” Wang Gugu made a face.

He Qin was too lazy to pay attention to her, casually drinking his orange juice with one hand. The lights and shadows in front of him were interwoven into a neon-like painting, but his gaze repeatedly passed through them, seeing the back of Xie Shiwei running to save someone, and his silver-gray suit being lifted by the wind.

Wang Gugu took a sip of a special cocktail: “He Qin, what’s going on with Xie Shiwei? What conspiracy is he up to now? Does he know that Xiao Yue is a child you’re sponsoring, and he just happens to need something from you?”

He Qin turned his head to look at the sea at night, not answering, but asking: “What kind of person do you think Xie Shiwei is?”

Wang Gugu made a vomiting gesture: “Disgusting, scheming, unscrupulous, shameless, good-for-nothing waste.”

He Qin asked again: “If such a person suddenly becomes reasonable, motivated, and kind, why?”

Wang Gugu scoffed: “You still believe he’ll change? Have you forgotten that he’s promised you many times before that he would change, but what happened? He still harassed you, seduced you unscrupulously, and didn’t consider others at all.”

“But he’s different now,” He Qin’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he finished his orange juice. He told Wang Gugu about Xie Shiwei saving someone, and finally said, “In any case, he disregarded his own safety and didn’t think about any consequences.”

Wang Gugu was a little shocked, but still said: “So what? He’s very good at pretending. What’s so difficult about putting on a show of sympathy and pretending to be a good person?”

He Qin sighed, giving up on trying to convince her. It seemed that unless they spent a lot of time together, Wang Gugu wouldn’t believe that Xie Shiwei had changed in any way.

He turned to ask: “Do you believe in supernatural powers? Like, time-travel?”

Wang Gugu was stunned: “What the hell, He Qin! Aren’t you the one who despises me the most for reading these kinds of novels? Don’t tell me you think Xie Shiwei is a time-traveler.”

He Qin’s expression was calm: “That’s what I think.”

“You’re hopeless. You’ve already fallen into Xie Shiwei’s trap.”

He Qin asked again: “So, in the novels you read, if a person suddenly undergoes a drastic change in personality at a certain moment, and all their behavior and habits are different from before, but their appearance doesn’t change at all, what’s going on?”

Wang Gugu looked at He Qin with a complicated expression: “Soul-swapping, which means that one person’s soul travels to another person’s body, or book-transmigration, for example, our world is actually a novel, and a character with the same name and surname travels in, replacing the original person and becoming a new character.”

He Qin thoughtfully nodded, having read the settings of two similar works, he understood almost everything.

Although it was absurd and unreasonable, he had sufficient reasons to suspect that Xie Shiwei had changed his core.

And it was on the day they held their wedding when he suddenly talked nonsense.

It wasn’t because of amnesia at all, it was because he didn’t recognize him at that time.

He Qin’s fingers stroked his brow, recalling Xie Shiwei’s various abnormal behaviors, shaking his head and laughing softly.

If his guess was true, he would have to give Xie Shiwei the Best Actor Award.