Futile Devices Scans

Zhou Ruo An woke up again in a hospital.

The sunlight in the ward came in broad patches, no longer thin, stretched lines.

He raised a hand to block the light and saw the needle taped to the back of his hand. Following the slender IV tube up to the drip bottle, a smile suddenly spread across his sickly face.

His throat hurt badly, like it had been scraped by a blade, but it didn’t stop him from speaking in a hoarse, low voice: “As expected… I bet right.”

When Zhou Ruo An poured ice water over himself in the warehouse, he was gambling on Lin Yi’s soft heart.

Lin Yi was ruthless, but not hard-hearted. It sounded like nonsense, but it was a truth few people knew.

Every winter, Lin Yi wore cotton gloves—made by an old man whose gas tank he had helped replace; if his shoes broke, he could get them repaired for free, because the cobbler hadn’t paid protection fees for three years, and Lin Yi had said, “That won’t do—you’ll repay me by fixing my shoes”; even Bai Ban, who followed him around, had stuck to him on his own—once a debtor who had his head smashed open by Lin Yi, yet had also kowtowed to him. When the old building caught fire and everyone hesitated, only Lin Yi rushed back into the flames with him and rescued Bai Ban’s grandmother.

Zhou Ruo An understood Lin Yi’s soft-hearted nature completely. If it came down to it, he was the one who had benefited most from that “softness.”

For some reason, the thought irritated him. Zhou Ruo An struggled to turn over and pressed the call button by the bed.

The first person to enter was unexpectedly Ren Yu. Dark circles hung under his eyes, and his complexion looked terrible.

“Didn’t Lin Yi let you go? Why do you look worse than me?”

Ren Yu poured water for him, looking dejected. “I was worried about you… and about my own future. Everyone knows I’m tied to you now. The eldest young master has already caused me trouble several times—he’s clearly trying to kick me out of Shengkai.”

He handed over the warm water, his voice miserable. “Fourth Young Master, if you’re finished, I’m finished too. I’ve worked at the company for four years—diligent and hardworking—but I’ve always been suppressed by Fu Chun Shen. I thought things would finally turn around, that I’d picked the right person. If my boss takes down his boss, I could indirectly take him down too. But you haven’t even stepped onto the battlefield yet, and you almost got yourself killed by Lin Yi. Why did you provoke that demon?”

“Fu Chun Shen? Why do you hate him?”

“He was my high school classmate. He spread rumors about me. Shouldn’t I hate him?”

“Rumors?” Zhou Ruo An grew interested. “What happened?”

Ren Yu turned his face away and refused to speak. Zhou Ruo An brushed it off casually. “Then you should hate him. Don’t worry—I’ll make sure you get your revenge someday.” He glanced toward the door and asked, “Where’s Lin Yi?”

“He brought you to the hospital and then called me. He left an hour after your fever went down. Oh, right—he told me to remind you to review your lessons.”

Ren Yu frowned. “What lessons? You’re supposed to study even while sick?”

Zhou Ruo An suddenly flushed red.

…

After turning off the heater and drenching himself in cold water, Zhou Ruo An indeed developed a fever in the middle of the night.

When Lin Yi finished work at the bar and returned to the warehouse, Zhou Ruo An was already delirious with fever.

His skin was burning to the touch, his breathing heavy, broken by weak murmurs.

“Cold… so cold…”

Lin Yi sat by the bed and reached out to touch the heater’s casing, tapping lightly on the cold metal. He let out a faint scoff. “You only turned the heater on after hearing me come back, didn’t you? Trying to make yourself sick? Young Master Zhou has plenty of tricks, but they’re not exactly clever.”

He turned off the heater, pulled away Zhou Ruo An’s blanket, and lay down sideways beside him.

The bed was narrow. Even lying on his side, there was little space—Zhou Ruo An and Lin Yi ended up pressed against each other.

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll take advantage of you and use you to vent?”

The hot breath brushed against his ear, and Zhou Ruo An’s hand at his side clenched into a fist.

“The video said it feels good when you have a fever—burning hot.”

Zhou Ruo An’s chest rose and fell, then paused slightly as he coughed softly.

The cough turned from fake to real. The little clarity he had left slipped away. He wrapped his arms around himself and muttered unconsciously, “Cold.”

This time, it was real.

A large hand covered his forehead. Because of the difference in temperature, the warm palm felt cool, and Zhou Ruo An leaned toward it.

He opened his eyes and saw the man’s face close up. “Lin Yi?”

Then, as if wary, he shrank back slightly.

“Looks like Young Master Zhou isn’t that seriously ill.” Lin Yi made a move to get up. “Then I won’t disturb you. Rest well.”

A hand shot out and grabbed his clothes, pale fingers twisting tightly into the fabric.

Lin Yi followed that hand up to Zhou Ruo An’s eyes and asked simply, “Cold?”

“Cold.”

“It’s warm in my arms.”

In the silent night, Zhou Ruo An’s breathing grew heavier. His lashes remained lowered, his entire face hidden in the shadow of his bangs, unreadable.

After a long time, Zhou Ruo An slowly leaned toward Lin Yi, his movements stiff and cautious.

Lin Yi, however, pushed him away. “Not right. Relax more—soften up.”

His dry lips pressed together. Anger layered over the heat of his fever, making every joint in his body ache.

He forced himself to relax and leaned into Lin Yi’s arms again—but just as he touched the warmth, he was pushed away once more.

“Not right. Want it more.”

Under repeated pressure, Zhou Ruo An was like a tamed animal, finally giving up resistance. Carefully, he reached for Lin Yi’s shoulders, and with a mixture of hesitation and yielding, slowly settled into the broad embrace.

“Lin Yi,” he wrapped his arms around the man’s waist, “I’m very cold.”

This time he wasn’t pushed away. Lin Yi pulled him into his arms, holding him tightly, almost pressing him into his own body.

“Zhou Ruo An, you win. I’ll take you to the hospital,” Lin Yi’s warm lips brushed against his burning neck. “But remember how you hugged me. Next time, I’ll be testing you.”

…

In the hospital room, Zhou Ruo An wiped his face with his hand. He resented himself for not having burned into stupidity, for leaving behind this kind of memory that made him want to die over and over again.

Eager to change the subject, he asked quickly, “Has anyone from the Zhou family been looking for me these past two days?”

Ren Yu shook his head. “No one’s mentioned you.”

Zhou Ruo An didn’t find it strange. Relationships were thin to begin with—especially in the Zhou family.

“Any news from the company?” he asked again.

At that, Ren Yu perked up. “Fourth Young Master, just like you predicted, the Second Young Master used this incident to propose to the headquarters a plan to acquire a physical manufacturing enterprise. I heard the board of directors is already showing signs of approval. This might actually go through.”

After hearing this, Zhou Ruo An adjusted the IV drip to full speed. The liquid in the tube flowed so fast it formed a continuous line.

“That’s not good,” Ren Yu said quickly. “Your body won’t be able to handle it.”

“I won’t die.” Zhou Ruo An stopped him. “Go prepare some gifts. I’m going to visit Old Master Jin tonight.”

“But you haven’t recovered yet.”

“Exactly, I haven’t recovered. I originally planned to spend New Year’s Day with Old Master Jin, but I was locked up for three days and had to delay it until now.” Zhou Ruo An looked at the liquid rapidly entering his body and said softly, “As for who locked me up—it could’ve been Zhou Bin, or Zhou Zhe. After all, I ruined their plans.”

“Wasn’t it Lin Yi who locked you up?” Ren Yu paused, then caught on to Zhou Ruo An’s thinking. “You want Old Master Jin to believe that your imprisonment was Zhou Bin and Zhou Zhe venting their anger? Old Master Jin hates internal family conflict the most. Fourth Young Master, you want to use… his anger to help you secure the project?”

Zhou Ruo An smiled. “Do you want to crush Fu Chun Shen under your feet?”

“Of course I do.”

“Then we’ll bury them step by step.”

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