SABA Chapter 71

Chapter 71: “I want you, I want to be with you…”

Chapter 71: “I want you, I want to be with you…”

Jiang Tiao saw Huo Shen’s expression and knew something was wrong. He must have found out something. Where did they find this miraculous doctor? It definitely wasn’t any of the original doctors, as they hadn’t figured anything out for so long.

Chu Yanhao and the others also noticed the awkward atmosphere and quickly stood up one by one. Some were patted a few times before they could even react: “Oh oh oh, Brother Huo Shen, you’re back.”

“It’s getting late.”

“Then we won’t chat much longer.”

“Mhmm, we won’t disturb Jiang Tiao’s rest.”

Jiang Tiao desperately gave them meaningful glances.

What happened to being good brothers! When they were needed, why did they all run away faster than the others?!

Unable to help, unable to help.

Even a wise official can’t settle a family dispute.

You guys figure it out yourselves, we’re leaving.

Soon, only Jiang Tiao and Huo Shen were left in the room.

Huo Shen: “The doctor just told me…”

“Ah,” Jiang Tiao collapsed onto the bed, covering his head, feigning unbearable pain, “My head hurts so much!”

Huo Shen looked at the flat, unwavering curve on the instrument’s screen: “…”

Jiang Tiao rolled around on the bed clutching his head in agony. This was the only benefit of being an actor – being able to convey emotions vividly and with exquisite detail, making the fake seem utterly real.

Huo Shen knew Jiang Tiao was faking it, but the pain he usually endured was not. The fact that he could put on such a convincing act now was also a reflection of his daily suffering. A huge weight pressed down on Huo Shen’s heart, making it almost impossible to breathe.

He couldn’t bear it any longer and sat down, his heart filled with overwhelming concern. He placed his hand on Jiang Tiao’s head, gently massaging it to provide relief. “What kind of pain is it?”

Jiang Tiao secretly opened one eye and saw the obvious worry on Huo Shen’s face. Jiang Tiao always knew how to press his advantage. He pulled Huo Shen’s hand from his head, held it in his own, and placed it over his chest.

“My head hurts so much, I don’t want to talk about this with you,” Jiang Tiao’s eyes darted around cleverly, his face a mix of feigned pain and grievance. “Let’s change the topic, I want to distract myself.”

Huo Shen almost burst out laughing in exasperation: “What do you want to talk about?”

Jiang Tiao: “I want to talk about relationship problems.”

Huo Shen’s expression turned somber. Fate always seemed to relentlessly toy with him with the greatest malice, as if it derived immense satisfaction from watching him struggle and suffer. If the price of them being together was Jiang Tiao enduring endless pain and torment, if every contact with Huo Shen caused him unbearable agony, how could he bear it? How could he live with himself? Why wasn’t it him who was in pain? Why wasn’t it him who was suffering?

Jiang Tiao: “Although I was the one who initiated it that night, you didn’t refuse, you didn’t push me away, and you even took the initiative in the end.”

“The person you like is me, isn’t it.”

The curve on the monitoring screen suddenly fluctuated violently, and Huo Shen shot up from his seat.

Jiang Tiao’s entire being was resisting the sudden onset of a headache. He struggled to maintain his facial expression. Before he could react, his hand felt empty. He saw Huo Shen’s ashen face, a rare expression of panic and pain. He froze for a moment, then noticed the rapidly rising red curve on the medical equipment screen. He realized that an electronic monitoring bracelet had been placed on his wrist at some point.

Damn it! He hadn’t noticed that!

He fiddled with it for a long time, unable to remove the metal bracelet. Seeing Huo Shen making up his mind and daring not to have any contact with him, intending to find a doctor, Jiang Tiao panicked.

“Huo Shen, stop!” Jiang Tiao, not even wearing shoes, pulled out his IV drip, ignoring the blood flowing from the vein, and grabbed Huo Shen’s hand.

Jiang Tiao shivered from the coldness of Huo Shen’s palm. He could even feel the cold sweat on Huo Shen’s hand. He felt both head pain and heartache. He knew what Huo Shen was thinking and what his concerns were.

“I won’t hide it from you anymore. Can we talk properly?” Jiang Tiao’s tone was overflowing with grievance and pain. “Don’t be like this. My head already hurts, and now my heart is starting to hurt too. Are you trying to kill me with pain?”

Huo Shen’s eyes stung from the dripping blood. He picked up the cotton balls and gauze from the medical tray.

“Do you know why I never told the doctors the truth?” Jiang Tiao watched Huo Shen tend to his wound. “Because compared to enduring physical pain, I’m more afraid of you leaving me.”

“I’m an adult now, I know what I want and what I can give up. I believe I have the right to live my own life. You always say you hope I pursue what I like, so why don’t you agree when I want to live according to my own heart?”

Huo Shen’s eyes trembled. His heart felt as if it were being squeezed by a thin steel wire; with every beat, he felt a sharp pain. His throat felt tight and sore, and when he spoke, his voice was rough and dry. He wanted to reason with Jiang Tiao, to break down the situation piece by piece. “You…”

Jiang Tiao: “I want you, I want to be with you.”

The howling east wind swept everything away, carrying off the white snow that had covered everything. It turned out that beneath the ice and snow was not a barren, lifeless expanse. Green sprouts pushed through the earth, indifferent to anyone’s will, breaking through the frozen soil and unfurling two tender green leaves from their seed coats.

Whether he was right or wrong, Huo Shen found that he could never win an argument with Jiang Tiao.

He didn’t know what to do with Jiang Tiao.

Seeing Huo Shen’s expression, Jiang Tiao deliberately tilted his head and leaned closer to Huo Shen, feigning cuteness. “I don’t know what that doctor who pretends to know everything told you. But if you observe more carefully, you’ll find that headaches are actually a rare occurrence. Most of the time when I’m with you, nothing happens. Otherwise, no matter how much I can endure, I wouldn’t be able to tolerate it if it hurt like this all day.”

Huo Shen instinctively turned to look at the instrument screen by the bed, only to find that the screen was off – the power cord had been accidentally kicked out by Jiang Tiao at some point.

Blaming the doctor, destroying evidence, speaking nonsense… Huo Shen was truly exasperated, yet he couldn’t bring himself to say anything harsh to Jiang Tiao.

“You can’t blame me for this,” Jiang Tiao said with an innocent expression. “You were emotionally unstable, and I was afraid of stimulating you.”

“At worst, I can plug it back in now,” Jiang Tiao said with great “sincerity.” “You can observe for a few days, and you’ll know if I’m telling the truth.”

No matter what, it was about buying time with space. As time went on, many problems would cease to be problems.

Huo Shen naturally knew what Jiang Tiao was thinking, but human will was sometimes so weak. Now, if he were asked to let go, how could he do it? If it were him in pain, or if he could transfer Jiang Tiao’s suffering, he would not hesitate to be with Jiang Tiao. For over three thousand days and nights, he had been like a moth drawn to a flame. Moth after moth flew into the fire, only to be burned to ashes, and then painstakingly grew flesh and blood from the ashes. If he were to push Jiang Tiao away now, he didn’t know what else could comfort him for the rest of his life. He didn’t know what the right thing to do was, but the only thing he knew for sure was that if he pushed Jiang Tiao away like this, he would definitely regret it later.

“You lie back down first, I’ll do it.”

Jiang Tiao felt Huo Shen’s attitude soften and happily sat back onto the hospital bed. “Are you afraid I’ll tamper with it again?”

Huo Shen glared at Jiang Tiao, who was acting exceedingly well-behaved. “You have quite a bit of self-awareness.”

Jiang Tiao looked at the steady, unwavering curve. “See? See? I told you, most of the time there’s no problem.”

Huo Shen’s brow furrowed as he saw Jiang Tiao’s determined expression. “Have you figured out the pattern?”

“Then why would you let yourself hurt until you passed out?”

Jiang Tiao: “…”

“People, often, have a hard time controlling their thoughts,” Jiang Tiao’s gaze flickered, and he awkwardly touched his slightly red earlobe.

Admitting what thoughts and impulses he had towards someone in person was a challenging task. Even someone as thick-skinned as Jiang Tiao found it difficult to articulate. But then he thought about it and felt it wasn’t a big deal. Food and desire were natural human instincts; love and desire were born together, so there was no need to feel embarrassed.

“Don’t you ever have moments when you really want to do something with me?”

“Yes,” Huo Shen looked at Jiang Tiao with a half-smile. Jiang Tiao felt as if he had been licked by the rough tongue of a cat with barbs, his entire upper body tingling from his rapidly beating heart.

“I don’t know what you think about when you… relieve yourself, but every time I do, I’m thinking of you.”

Jiang Tiao hadn’t expected Huo Shen to admit it so frankly. His face instantly turned bright red. “You… I…”

Jiang Tiao quickly suppressed his train of thought.

Both of them looked at the screen. The curve remained still.

Huo Shen pondered thoughtfully.

“Actually, the headaches have been happening less and less frequently recently,” Jiang Tiao explained his discovered pattern and speculations to Huo Shen.

At first, he would get a headache whenever he got close to Huo Shen or had any feelings for him – like, admiration, or being moved. But after Chu Xu’s major downfall at his father’s birthday banquet, he found that everyday contact no longer caused headaches. However, as soon as he entertained the idea of expressing his feelings, or had truly intimate contact with Huo Shen – like that night – the headaches would still occur.

He had initially thought his headaches might be related to Chu Xu’s influence or wealth. But he had continued to disrupt Chu Xu’s investment projects during this period, and it hadn’t provided any relief. Instead, his symptoms had worsened after waking up today. This led him to believe that it might not be solely related to what Chu Xu outwardly possessed.

“Perhaps I’ve oversimplified things. This situation seems quite unbelievable. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, and it has nothing to do with Chu Xu? Or should we still consult a doctor?”

Huo Shen, however, thought that Jiang Tiao’s intuition might not be wrong.

…