Translated be Eve
Edited by Kara
Thank you Lin and anon for the kofi
When Song Xuanhe brought the medkit over, he sighed in relief when he saw that Xiao Yuanmu was still quietly sitting in the same spot.
He only remembered the unfinished design left on his desk when he had already reached the bottom of the stairs. The original host and fashion design had nothing to do with each other. Moreover, he had outstanding talent. Anyone who caught a glimpse of his designs would never believe that someone who had never designed before could show such shocking skill.
The System quietly listened to Song Xuanhe’s boastful thoughts, unruffled. It then didn’t hesitate to delete that data like it was trash. After pondering over it for a long time, the System decided to refrain from telling Song Xuanhe that Xiao Yuanmu had only glanced at his design, making no reaction whatsoever.
Song Xuanhe placed the medkit onto the ground. He thought for a second and then just sat on the carpet. He looked up at Xiao Yuanmu and said, “Lift your pant leg up.”
Xiao Yuanmu tugged the pant leg up, revealing his injured calf. Although the doctor had said it was just a superficial wound, when the gauze came off, the scrape that took up half of his calf still looked quite terrible.
Song Xuanhe furrowed his brows and unconsciously clicked his tongue. He asked, “It’s not like you were scratched by rocks. Why is the hole so big? And, how could that doctor have not given you any stitches?”
The injury looked really large, but most of it was just a surface wound. It was just the centre of his calf where the wound had pierced through the deeper layers of his skin. The flesh there had split open and had yet to close.
“It’s a small injury. There’s no need for stitches.”
Xiao Yuanmu slightly lowered his head, peering down at Song Xuanhe, who was pursing his lips in concentration while helping him change his dressings. The words he had wanted to use to sound the other out were choked back down when he looked at the other’s appearance. Song Xuanhe was frowning, the corner of his lips twitching, as if the one in pain was himself.
Song Xuanhe slowly pulled off the bloody gauze. As he pulled, his lips would twitch. It looked like he was afraid of reopening Xiao Yuanmu’s wounds.
When he finally got it all off, Song Xuanhe heaved a long sigh. Now that he was relaxed, he realized he had a layer of sweat over his forehead.
Song Xiao Shaoye was raised as though he had been as precious as gold in his past life. Even after the death of his parents, his family on his father’s side had been a large, powerful family. Although there had not been much familial affection, the servants who took care of him had acted very carefully around him, trying their best not to offend him, as they were afraid of being reprimanded by their employer. Therefore, before he had started getting into fights in high school, he had practically never been injured before.
The first time he had gotten into a fight in high school, he had suffered a bitter defeat, having been ganged up on by five people. He then got down and learned how to fight with a retired special forces soldier. He hadn’t cared about how tiring or hard it was. After that, there basically had been no one who could hurt him. That was why he thought Xiao Yuanmu’s wound must hurt a lot.
“Wait a bit. I’ll put on some medicine for you. If it hurts, tell me. I’ll be more gentle.”
Taking in the way Song Xuanhe was tightly furrowing his brows, Xiao Yuanmu made a soft sound of acknowledgement. He didn’t say a thing during this time, however. No one could see this, but his slightly pursed lips were suppressing a smile that he didn’t even notice himself.
After applying the medicine and redoing the dressing, Song Xuanhe stood up and rolled his neck. He felt like he had been even more prudent while changing Xiao Yuanmu’s dressing than he used to be when working in his studio. If it wasn’t because he held some responsibility for Xiao Yuanmu’s accident, he would never have done such a thing.
Xiao Yuanmu also stood up. His gaze fell on Song Xuanhe, who was currently packing up the medkit, and said, “Thank you.”
“It was because I told you to buy congee that you got into an accident.” Song Xuanhe waved a hand. “It’s my responsibility to help you change your dressing.”
“I’ll buy it for you next time.”
When these words were uttered, it wasn’t just Song Xuanhe who widened his eyes in surprise. Xiao Yuanmu was also startled. However, this only lasted a second. Very quickly, he returned to his usual indifferent look. He suddenly remembered why he had come over. He gazed into Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes and asked, “Why did you follow me the day of the accident?”
It wasn’t “Were you following me?” but “Why were you following me?” Xiao Yuanmu’s certain tone made Song Xuanhe unsure of how he could even go about denying it.
However, Song Xuanhe was a quick thinker. A half-second later, he spoke in a very natural manner, “The rain was coming down too hard that day. You hadn’t come home after so long, so I came looking.”
Xiao Yuanmu didn’t comment on this. He asked another question, “Why didn’t you tell me to get in the car?”
“Why do you think?”
Song Xuanhe cocked a brow, turning the question back on him with a calm tone.
It had been a long time since anyone had dared to question him to his face. When he saw Song Xuanhe suddenly raise an eyebrow at him, Xiao Yuanmu was taken aback for a moment. His memories had already melded together in his brain. Suddenly, a voice echoed through his head—If I come back with congee, don’t be angry anymore, OK?
At that time, Song Xuanhe didn’t tell him to get in and instead chose to follow him. Was it because he had still been angry?
The reason he had been angry…almost instantly, the scene of him pressing Song Xuanhe down and kissing him deeply in that room appeared in his mind.
When he came back to himself, Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes softened slightly for a second before he quickly averted his eyes. He said, “I’m going back to my room.”
He didn’t wait for Song Xuanhe’s reply. Xiao Yuanmu took the medkit with him and left without looking back. His steps seemed quicker than when he had walked in.
Back in his own room, Xiao Yuanmu stood in place for a long time. He looked a bit hesitant. He didn’t doubt that if he had stayed there for a second longer, “Are you still angry?” would have come out of his mouth.
Ripples appeared in Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes, eyes that had always been as calm as still water. But quickly after, they regained their calm.
What was most important right now was to investigate and figure out just exactly why Song Xuanhe was different from his memories of his previous two lives.
*
After the storm on Friday, a light drizzle continued for the next two days. It wasn’t until Monday that the sky cleared up.
The passing scenery flitted by Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes but attracted none of his attention. He was thinking about what had happened that morning.
He had gotten up for a morning jog out of habit. Therefore, he had woken up before six to go for a run as per usual. After his run, he had taken a shower. When he came downstairs, he had found Song Xuanhe already there.
When Song Xuanhe saw him, he had first sized up Xiao Yuanmu. He had then said, “The wound on your leg hasn’t healed yet. How could you go for a morning jog?”
Xiao Yuanmu hadn’t wanted to reply. However, when he saw the concern in Song Xuanhe’s eyes that could not be hidden, he had ended up saying, “I’m fine.”
Song Xuanhe had snorted at his words. He then had twisted his face away and said, “Do you think I’m concerned for you? I just meant that it’s up to you whether or not you run but don’t delay my breakfast.”
After he had said this, he added as if compromising, “Since your leg hasn’t healed, I’ll just have tomato egg stir-fry today.”
Xiao Yuanmu had only then remembered that the version of himself prior to his rebirth would personally make breakfast for Song Xuanhe every morning. Several scenes had flashed through his mind. All of them had depicted him and Song Xuanhe having breakfast together.
In these scenes, his past self had always appeared indifferent. But, he knew from his memories that he had actually been very happy. He would have even thought of what he would make for breakfast the next day before bed every night. No matter how many times he had cooked, when he had watched Song Xuanhe finish the food he had made and heard the other say it was delicious, his mood would always become better because of it.
His past self had been a disgrace.
Although Xiao Yuanmu didn’t know why his relationship with Song Xuanhe was so different despite the trajectory of this world being more or less the same as his previous lives, he didn’t want to spoil Song Xuanhe like he had in his memories. He didn’t want to happily let the other order him around.
Therefore, Xiao Yuanmu had said in a slightly cold, dull voice, “I’m not cooking.”
Who would have expected that Song Xuanhe would immediately look up at him and only snort a “Then, don’t do it” despite his limpid eyes being full of complaints?
His tone had been bossy and had carried an air of feigned disdain. It had overlapped with his own memories but hadn’t made him feel the usual loathing that made him want to tear the other’s head off.
In contrast, not only had he not felt any hatred, but he also actually had felt a different emotion.
Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes darkened slightly after thinking through all of this. It seemed that the memories of his self prior to rebirth in this world had more influence over him than he had thought.
After getting into the car, Song Xuanhe noticed that Xiao Yuanmu had been silently staring out the window the whole time. He didn’t know why, but he felt rather awkward. Since the car accident, he’d felt that his relationship with Xiao Yuanmu had changed somehow, but he couldn’t figure out just what had led to this change no matter how he tried.
Had it been the accident or the kiss?
The longer the silence persisted, the more chaotic his thoughts became. Song Xuanhe casually turned on the radio, wanting to break the silence in the car.
“Another clear and bright morning. Hello everyone. We are Chenjian Xinqing....”
Song Xuanhe glanced at his radio. He had thought that it would play music. However, a radio show was fine. Voices worked too.
“Yesterday, our official Weibo account got many comments. The one that got the most likes said: ‘Yesterday, a guy kissed me. I’m actually pretty happy about it. I didn’t hate it like I had thought I would. But, I had always thought that I liked girls. Moreover, it had happened so suddenly. I don’t really know if I like him. I hope that Chenjian can give me some advice….’”
What the heck are they playing at here? Song Xuanhe’s fingers twitched slightly while clutching onto the steering wheel. They weren’t giving traffic updates or telling “chicken soup for the soul” kind of tales to raise people’s spirits on a Monday morning and were instead giving love advice?
Nevertheless, he had just turned on the radio. Wouldn’t it look like he was trying to hide something if he were to turn it off so soon?
Song Xuanhe secretly peeked at Xiao Yuanmu. He caught sight that the other was no longer looking out the window and was instead sitting there quietly with his gaze cast down as if listening to the broadcast.
Song Xuanhe could only give up on turning it off. He continued to drive, expression not changing. He perked up his ears to listen to the broadcast though. If he heard anything fishy, he’d shut it off immediately.
“…Hahahahaha, anytime anyone has a ‘first awakening of love,’ I can’t help but feel happy. To our online friend, if you’re listening right now, listen earnestly, oh. Chenchen thinks that before you’ve met ‘the one,’ an ideal type is just an embodiment of what you want yourself to be. If you take gender out of the equation, you can just take into account your ideal type’s personality and three views. Is your ideal type now similar to yourself?”
“Actually, liking someone is no simple matter. However, finding out whether you like someone or not is pretty easy. Listen to the following statements. If you agree to three or more, then you definitely like him.”
“Number one, when you see him, you’re really happy.”
Song Xuanhe sighed a breath of relief. He never felt particularly happy when seeing Xiao Yuanmu.
“Number two, when you find a novel thing or something that makes you happy, the first thing you would do is think of him and want to share it with him.”
Something novel or something that made him happy? Song Xuanhe thought about it. He’d never seen anything like that. But even if he had, he wouldn’t think to share it with Xiao Yuanmu.
“Number three, you can’t help but want to be good to him. You can’t help but want to agree to his requests. Even if you wouldn’t have done something in the past, as long as he asks, you’d be willing to do it for him.”
That wasn’t the case either. Song Xuanhe completely relaxed. It seemed that he had really been thinking too much.
“Number four, you don’t reject being intimate with him. Sometimes, you even think that it feels good, that you want to be even closer.”
“If you agreed to at least three of the four statements, then you’ve fallen in love with him. If you agreed to two, that means you like him. If you agreed to one, then you have a favourable opinion of him. You can think about taking things further, oh.”
Song Xuanhe was in a pretty good mood. He manned the steering wheel in a much more carefree manner now. He didn’t pay attention to how Xiao Yuanmu had lowered his eyes and pursed his lips unnaturally upon hearing the host’s summary.
The voice continued, “There’s one more thing that I forgot to say. If you were thinking of one specific person the entire time I was telling you the statements, that’s proof that you’re interested!”
Song Xuanhe’s hands grew rigid on the steering wheel. He nearly drove onto the curb. Luckily, he reacted quickly enough to avert danger.
However, Xiao Yuanmu turned to look at him right then. His expression didn’t change despite the abrupt swerve. He only gave Song Xuanhe a cool glance and then continued staring into his lap. Who knew what he was thinking about?
Song Xuanhe secretly sighed in relief. When he recalled what he had heard from the broadcast, his chest felt stuffy.
He was interested in Xiao Yuanmu?
Impossible!
Xiao Yuanmu was the man who would try to kill him in the future! He wasn’t a masochist! Liking Xiao Yuanmu meant death, OK?
The only reason he had thought of Xiao Yuanmu was because it was just the only two of them in the car, so he would naturally think of him. It had nothing to do with his feelings.
This host was full of nonsense. For the sake of garnering attention, they were spouting rubbish.
After passing the area with the worst traffic, Song Xuanhe stepped on the gas pedal and sped towards the company. He made it there in five minutes, despite it normally taking ten.
Before getting out of the car, Song Xuanhe suddenly remembered something. He said to Xiao Yuanmu, “I have something to do after work. Head home by yourself.”
Xiao Yuanmu nodded his head slightly, his expression one of indifference.
After getting off work, Song Xuanhe headed straight to his appointment. He pushed open the private room door and found Xiao Shenglin and Zhou Nan sitting inside.
The two of them turned to look at him the moment the door opened. Xiao Shenglin nodded at him with a smile and greeted him. Zhou Nan waved a hand. He said, “Finally here. I’m starving.”
They called the waiter, who was waiting outside, and placed their orders. Zhou Nan smiled at Song Xuanhe and said, “It’s so hard to get you to come out. Is your man keeping a strict leash on you?”
Song Xuanhe casually pulled a chair and sat down onto it. When he heard this, he kicked the other. “Nonsense.”
Zhou Nan didn’t get annoyed. He joked, “Your kiss last week was really scorching hot. Qian Qin also said that you and Xiao Yuanmu are a good match. If you really like him, it’d be pretty good to spend your days without any worries like this.”
Xiao Shenglin chimed in when he heard this, “Since you’re together, you have to take responsibility. Xiao Yuanmu’s not bad. I think you two make a good match.”
Song Xuanhe folded his arms over his chest and cocked a brow. He asked, “Tell me, what makes us a good match? Is it just because we’re both attractive?”
Zhou Nan held himself up with the table, dry heaving. He said, “Quickly eat. Stop making me lose my appetite here, OK?”
The waiter carefully brought in the dishes and placed them onto the table. They then left quietly.
“If you’re expecting, eat blander foods.” Song Xuanhe gave him a lazy glance, “Don’t blame your morning sickness on me. Go bother whoever knocked you up.”
“Lin zi!” Zhou Nan turned to speak to Xiao Shenglin, “Hold me back if I hit him too hard.”
Xiao Shenglin’s face was completely covered by his smile. He said, “But, you should eat blander foods.”
Song Xuanhe laughed. Zhou Nan rolled his eyes and then looked at Xiao Shenglin. “You’ve changed.”
Xiao Shenglin’s expression didn’t change. His smile was kind. “Blander foods are better for the body.”
“I’m not going to bother arguing with you guys.” Zhou Nan pouted, grabbing his chopsticks as he said, “I called you guys out ‘cause I had things to discuss, not so that you guys could team up against me.”
Song Xuanhe picked up some food. He found that it tasted pretty good after a few bites. He spoke after having tasted enough, “So, what is it?”
Zhou Nan said, “You guys should know what my major in university was.”
Xiao Shenglin nodded in an elegant manner. Song Xuanhe innocently said, “I don’t know.”
Zhou Nan rolled his eyes. “Information engineering. Now you know.”
“I see.” Song Xuanhe picked up more food and said indifferently, “And?”
Zhou Nan didn’t doubt that when Song Xuanhe said ‘And?’ he really meant “What does that have to do with me?”
But, he had just rolled his eyes. If he were to do it anymore, it’d ruin his image. Therefore, he just glared at him. He asked, “Do you guys know of the Wei Family?”
The hand holding his chopstick paused as Song Xuanhe looked up and answered, “What about the Wei Family?”
“It’s not the Wei Family per se but rather Wei Chen,” Zhou Nan said, “He’s in medicine. After graduating, he’s not planning on working at the hospital and is instead planning on starting a business. I asked around. It seems like he’s interested in medical robots. This is a nationally backed project. Moreover, with the Wei Family’s support, as soon as this company is founded, it’s all set. I heard that he’s looking for partners. What do you guys think?”
“Are you going to join?” Xiao Shenglin asked in a gentle voice.
“Of course,” Zhou Nan said. “Anyone who hears of this will want a piece of it. It’s just that making robots…regardless of whether it’s the early experimenting phase or the later investment phase, it all requires a huge sum of money. It’s not easy for people our age to be a part of businesses like this. Moreover, those who come from compounds are all haughty people. Wei Chen is more or less the same. He doesn’t choose his investors based on money. He also wants them to participate in testing. Those are his two conditions. With that, 99% of possible investors have been eliminated. Otherwise, how on earth could this opportunity have fallen into my hands?”
Song Xuanhe raised a brow. “You plan on making us all invest in this, but I don’t think Wei Chen will give out that many shares.”
Since they would be partners, it was unavoidable that the shares would have to be divided. With Wei Chen’s background, he just needed one giant public investment. But, he would definitely not give out a large portion of the shares for it. Therefore, it was obvious that he would be even less likely to partner with a whole gaggle of people.
“You’re wrong.” Zhou Nan shook his head and told them his analysis, “As the founder, he would obviously hold the largest share. As for the smaller share leftover, however many pieces it’s cut up into or how it’s cut up will be balanced according to everyone’s interests. It’s not impossible. But, I don’t think there will be too many people looking to take a cut.”
Song Xuanhe thought it over. He thought that Zhou Nan was right. But still, he said, “I don’t know anything about robots. I also don’t know anything about medicine. It’s useless for you to pull me in.”
“If there was no hope for you, did you really think I’d call you over?” Zhou Nan shook his head. “You don’t fit Wei Chen’s conditions, but you can still get in.”
Song Xuanhe was startled. Before he could react, he heard Zhou Nan say, “Did you forget what your uncle does? The case data your uncle has in his possession is enough to tempt Wei Chen.”
When he heard Zhou Nan say this, Song Xuanhe searched for information about this uncle of his from his memories. This uncle was the younger brother of the original host’s mother. He was currently the director of a privately owned hospital. He was also a very renowned neurosurgeon. He was crowned the top neurosurgeon in the country.
“Wei Chen plans on creating medical robots for neurosurgery?” Song Xuanhe frowned.
There wasn’t much difference in terms of the science and technology of this world and his own world. They were both still in the preliminary stages of researching artificial intelligence and robots. Researching medical robots indeed went along with the current trend. However, looking at the current state of technology, it would already be very difficult to create robots for ordinary surgeries and diagnoses, let alone neurosurgery. It would be a pipe dream.
Zhou Nan didn’t know what Song Xuanhe was thinking. He answered, “Yes. Moreover, he’s able to get immense funding and technological support. Although I don’t know exactly who he’s roped in, it’s possibly one of the eight major corporate groups. One of the eight major groups and the Wei Family to boot—that’s why I think that his company will really be set.”
When Song Xuanhe heard this, his heart skipped a beat. He suddenly remembered the scene of Xiao Yuanmu and Wei Chen eating together a few days ago. The major group couldn’t possibly be the Xiao Family, could it?
When Zhou Nan saw that no one was speaking, he added, “A lot of people think that it’s the James Family or the Xiao Group.”
After saying this, he smiled radiantly, “So, what about it? Are you interested?”
Song Xuanhe didn’t even hesitate. “No.”
What a joke. After his scenes were done, he was going to jet off. How could he even think of getting involved with Xiao Yuanmu again down the line?
Xiao Shenglin also shook his head. “I’m not interested in this stuff either. You should ask someone else.”
Seeing that both of them had rejected him, Zhou Nan clicked his tongue in disappointment at the two, “Don’t you understand what a great chance this is? It’s not an ordinary investment! It’s a chance to get connections to one of the eight major families!”
Song Xuanhe remained unmoved. Xiao Shenglin also just smiled.
Zhou Nan shook his head. He hadn’t thought that no one would agree. Not even the mention of the eight major corporate groups swayed them.
But alas, Zhou Nan wasn’t the type to force others or make things difficult for them. Seeing that neither of them were interested, he dropped it and changed the topic. “Speaking of the Wei Family, I also heard of a little matter. Last Friday, Wei Chen seemed to have hit someone with his car during the storm. I don’t know if that’s true or not.”
Song Xuanhe had just eaten his fill and was planning on putting his chopsticks down to respond when his phone rang. He paused, seeing that it was an unknown number. He still answered it, however.
“Xuanhe? It’s me, Wei Chen. We said we’d catch a meal together a few days ago. I found a pretty good restaurant….”
Song Xuanhe accidentally pressed the screen, and the phone went into speaker mode. Wei Chen’s voice clearly transmitted to every corner of the room.
The author has something to say:
Xiao Yuanmu: Is my food better or is the food better at the restaurants he takes you to?
Kara: Ah, the battle of the Mumus! Which Mumu will reign supreme? I’m betting on reborn Mumu losing.੧ ‾́︶ ‾́ ੭ And, oh? Is this SXH finally becoming a little more aware of his feelings? Hahaha, I can’t wait to see their relationship develop even more!! (≧艸≦*) (This chapter is also super long….I die….（；￣д￣）)
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