They parted on bad terms. To be precise, it was Li Mingge who was the one-sided one. Li Xuan knew that he would not let him go too easily, and he never cared.
However, the results of the second CT scan showed that the intracranial congestion had not significantly decreased compared to the last time. So the next few days were quite relaxing.
"Your blood clot is not much, it can be absorbed by itself." The old doctor said earnestly, "You young people are so busy and have so many things to do instead of taking a good rest every day? Why do you have to rush to get it done in the past two days? I can see that your family is not short of money, why are you in such a hurry? If you continue like this, you will have to have surgery to remove it."
The doctor was kind enough to follow the doctor's orders regardless of whether the patient was in the VIP ward or not. The visiting hours were naturally shortened, but Li Xuan didn't mind. However, he was caught working in the ward twice, and his laptop was taken away.
Qi Boyuan could do the work, and the company wouldn't be in turmoil without him for two or three days. But Li Xuan couldn't just sit there and do nothing, so he thought about not leaving the hospital. But before he could take action, Yang Xu came again.
"Half an hour." The nurse reminded, "The patient needs to rest."
"It won't take that long. I'll just say a few words and leave." Yang Xu was not shy at all. He sat down and took a guava. After taking a bite, he belatedly asked, "Can I eat it?"
"You eat."
"Of course you can, Li Xuan. A true man never reveals his true identity." Yang Xu bit his tongue and looked around his ward. "You're treated even better than my brother. Was that man your father's secretary that day? He said what your father's name was... Oh, I looked it up at the time, but I forgot it now... Your family's business is quite big. The camera and lens that my brother endorsed are your family property."
"It has nothing to do with me." Li Xuan said coldly.
"Tsk tsk." Yang Xu obviously didn't listen. While eating, he kept asking him, "Your family is so rich, why is your eldest son here to be my brother's assistant?... Hey, wait..." He stopped talking halfway, still holding half of the guava in his hand, looking a little funny, "You didn't come here just to pick him up, did you?"
"What nonsense!"
Yang Xu looked at him suspiciously.
Li Xuan cleared his throat uncomfortably and changed the subject: "Why did you come here today?"
"I'm here to see you for my brother, since he can't come himself."
"What happened to him?" Li Xuan's heart sank when he heard that. He was originally half leaning against the head of the bed, but he sat up unconsciously. "Didn't you say that his injury was not serious?"
"It's not serious." Yang Xu was puzzled, and after a while, he said, "Hey, no. He was hiding from paparazzi... He had a car accident on the main road, and when he was sent here, it was on the news. I guess all the fans know that he is hospitalized here. I don't know how many paparazzi have sneaked into the hospital now. He didn't come to see you last time, but when he came back and walked to the door, more than ten people rushed in. They were using long guns and short guns, and almost broke the wound."
Yang Xu got angry as he was talking. He bit a guava hard to vent his anger. The juice almost splashed on Li Xuan's arm. "The hospital security guards came and made a fuss for more than an hour. Other patients also have complaints. I don't know how many people are hiding in the hospital now. Yesterday, someone even tried to climb through the window... He is Spider-Man!... But I have encountered more radical fans before, but my brother has a good temper. If it were me, I would send them all to the police station and put them in jail!"
"He has a good temper, and your company doesn't do anything about it?!" Li Xuan frowned and asked, "Where is Zhang Zhihua?"
Yang Xu was stunned for a moment, and Li Xuan suddenly realized his own gaffe, so he took the initiative and said, "I'm asking you."
"Yes, Zhang Zhihua is afraid of my brother now. The company has assigned four bodyguards to take turns standing guard at the door of the ward." Yang Xu still looked at him a little strangely, "Hey, Li Xuan. You were silent some time ago, and it seems that you have a better temper than my brother. Why are you so arrogant today... Did you hit your head..."
Li Xuan exhaled and reminded himself not to curse.
Yang Xu didn't really mean to be sarcastic. After he finished speaking, he slapped his thigh as if he had made a major discovery: "Oh, yes, I almost forgot, you hit your head." He actually sounded quite happy.
"... ... Anyway, my brother can't come over now, and I heard that you're being naughty and not taking care of your illness, and you're even making a fuss about being discharged from the hospital, so I asked me to come over and persuade you."
Li Xuan held his forehead and licked his back teeth: "I didn't make a fuss."
"That's what I mean." Yang Xu finally finished eating the guava. "It's not convenient for him to come over. You can go see him when you recover. Forget about these few days. He wants you to lie down and recuperate every day. You'd better not move around. Don't do it again. My brother is worried to death."
"He is worried about me?" Li Xuan repeated softly.
"Oh, look at your expression, you are so beautiful." Yang Xu rolled his eyes secretly, "I am so worried. He was quite energetic some time ago, but now he is as worried as Lin Daiyu again."
"Is he in a bad mental state?" Li Xuan frowned unconsciously.
"You are the one who is in a bad mood!"
"I mean emotions." Li Xuan sighed.
"Oh." Yang Xu touched his chin, "Not really. He was just very excited a while ago, like a different person... Is he normal now? He's mainly worried about you. When you recover from your illness, and you two are getting along well, maybe he'll be fine again... I didn't like you that much in the first place. But if my brother is happy with you, I'll be happy."
Yang Xu's thinking was simple and optimistic. But Li Xuan knew that things were different. He pursed his lips and was unable to respond. Yang Xu did not notice his silence. He praised the guava for its sweetness and happily ate another one. Li Xuan simply let him take all of them away.
"Then I'll go back. My brother will have dinner soon... Auntie should have made him some pigeon soup today. Do you want some? I'll get you some."
"Need not."
"That's right. Your family must have arranged a nanny for you." Yang Xu had an expression that I had guessed long ago. "My brother wanted to ask someone to send you a nutritious meal the other day, and I advised him like this... Anyway, don't do it, and get well soon. When the doctor allows you to walk in a few days, you can go see him. The ward is just at the end of the corridor."
"Okay." After a while, Li Xuan hummed, "Pay more attention to his mood. Tell me if there is anything."
Having said that, it was a week later that I really saw Sheng Min again.
This week, there was some new news coming out that was related to Qin Zhengchen.
Many of his indecent photos were circulated on the Internet, and his agency quickly issued a letter of termination. This was only the surface news. There were also some gossips saying that he was kicked out of the hospital while he was still in the ICU, and no hospital in City N dared to take over.
The other party was obviously interested and was not afraid to make a big deal out of it. The news spread like wildfire, almost overwhelming the heat of Sheng Min's car accident. The reason why Qin Zhengchen was admitted to the hospital became an irrelevant matter and was left unresolved.
Qin Zhengchen has been in the entertainment industry for so many years, but he has probably never received such high attention. It’s just that the person involved has long disappeared.
Some people said that he went abroad for treatment, while others argued that he probably couldn't even pay the company and brand the liquidated damages, so how could he go abroad? But compared to exploring who the other protagonists in the obscene photos were, Qin Zhengchen's whereabouts were insignificant.
Li Xuan knew who did it. Qin Zhengchen's phone and the huge amount of photos inside were sent to the office of the brother-in-law of the vice president of the video website by Shouhou. The vice president made his fortune with his wife's family. His father-in-law passed away, but his wife's brothers were quite capable. When the only little sister in the family was insulted like this, there would always be someone to stand up for her.
The video website also announced the resignation of the vice president at almost the same time. It's just that people who don't know the inside story don't connect the two together.
"They know each other, right? They're not from the same group?"
"Really? I don't know. I've never heard of this person before. I have seen Sheng Min's TV series..."
"Speak softly... I don't know either. I'll just listen to what my girl says..."
The two nurses changed the medicine and carried the tray out, while stealing glances at Sheng Min, and couldn't help but whispering.
"Is it over?" Sheng Min suddenly spoke after the nurse closed the door.
Today is a sunny day. Looking out from the ward window, many patients are basking in the sun in the hospital garden. There are also children playing in groups of three or four. Even from upstairs, you can hear their laughter downstairs.
"What?" Li Xuan was stunned for a moment, then realized that Sheng Min was asking about the last time he said "It's over." He pursed his lips and said in a somewhat stiff voice, "It's over."
"That's good."
Sheng Min hummed softly, picked up the flower teapot on the table, and poured a cup of red date and ginseng tea. He lowered his head and took a sip, then suddenly said, "Qin Zhengchen went to Germany. The doctor there said that if the follow-up rehabilitation is in place, he may be able to stand up again in two or three years."
"You sent him away?" Li Xuan actually didn't want to talk about this topic with Sheng Min, and frowned when he heard it.
Sheng Min shook his head: "He had a girlfriend before he entered the circle... Qin Zhengchen should have saved a lot in the past few years, and he still has some left after all the losses. It's just that he encountered some trouble with the visa. He can't stay in the country. The girl knew that we had a good relationship before, so she came to me with no other choice. I asked someone to handle it. He took a flight a few days ago and has arrived. The girl went with him to take care of him."
Li Xuan smiled with an ambiguous tone: "There are people who are so stupid."
"A person's true character is revealed in times of adversity. He is not stupid." Sheng Min pursed her lips. "They have been childhood sweethearts for many years and were going to get married. But the girl's family thought he was poor and had no future, so they asked them to break up. That's why Qin Zhengchen wanted to try his luck in the entertainment industry. But he didn't make a name for himself in one or two years... "Picking the Moon" is under closed management, and after the group was formed, I found out that the other party had been married during the competition. Qin Zhengchen had shown me her photo... After marriage, her husband always abused her. At the beginning of this year, Qin Zhengchen hired a lawyer to help her divorce and gave her money to make a living. Later, there was no contact... She heard that he had an accident, so she came to him again."
"Did his girlfriend tell you herself?" Li Xuan raised his eyes. "It seems that everyone knows that you are soft-hearted and are willing to help anyone."
"He's always like this because of me..."
Li Xuan interrupted him almost immediately: "I've already said it has nothing to do with you."
This was a familiar word, and Li Xuan blurted it out. As soon as he finished speaking, he felt uncomfortable. He lowered his eyes and pursed his lips into a thin line.
"People are multifaceted." Sheng Min sighed, "Many things may not have been so bad at the beginning, but they went astray and there was no going back. If he hadn't fought for this, he might have been married and had children, which would have been much better than it is now."
"You don't have to tell me this." Li Xuan said, "Anyway, I did it, and he deserves whatever happens to him."
Sheng Min didn't say anything. After a while, Li Xuan finally raised his eyes and looked at him: "Are you blaming me?"
His tone was still calm, but his hands had quietly clenched without him noticing.
"Li Xuan." Sheng Min shook his head and called his name softly, "Don't you really understand? I won't blame you because of others, never."
This unexpected answer shocked Li Xuan, who was at a loss for a moment, and didn't know how to react. Sheng Min didn't seem to notice, and after a moment, her voice rang again: "I just think that you probably didn't expect things to turn out like this. I told you, and the matter is over, so that you don't think about it later and feel resentful."
"Impossible." Li Xuan denied it flatly, "I'll say it again, he deserves it."
"That's what I want to say." Sheng Min did not refute, and sighed softly, "Anyway, it's over. Don't be so impulsive in the future."
After the scented tea cooled down, it soon began to heat up automatically, bubbling away, and a slightly sweet aroma emanated from it.
"Do you just want to talk to me about other people?" Li Xuan asked gloomily after a while.
"What do you want to talk about?" Sheng Min lowered her head to drink water, her eyelashes blocking her eyes, making her eyes difficult to discern.
Li Xuan looked hesitant, licked his lips unconsciously, and hesitated in a rare way.
"When will you be discharged from the hospital?" The silence in the room lasted for a long time, and Sheng Min spoke first.
"It should be next Monday." Li Xuan coughed and asked him, "What about you?"
"The day after tomorrow morning."
"Is everything alright?"
"The doctor said it's OK."
Li Xuan hummed, thought for a moment and asked him: "How are you feeling these days? I mean, now that your body has been restored, will you... Yang Xu said that you have been feeling depressed recently..."
He rarely stuttered, but Sheng Min understood him.
"Nothing, I'm fine. I've been taking my medicine on time. I saw a psychiatrist a few days ago, and he said it was nothing serious."
"That's good."
"You don't have to worry about me." Sheng Min finished a cup of tea and said, "I've just taken on a new play and will have a script reading next week. Filming will start at the beginning of the month. After I'm discharged from the hospital, I'll go out of town."
"So urgent." Li Xuan frowned in surprise.
"They approached me a long time ago, but they kept saying they were considering it, so I didn't take the offer, and it's been delayed for a long time. So..."
Sheng Min paused, and the smile he had been trying to maintain disappeared unconsciously. This made Li Xuan a little nervous about what he was going to say next.
"So if you go back to get something, I probably won't be home. You have the key, just go in and get it yourself. If you don't have time for the moment, it's okay. You can continue to stay here... I've been very happy during this time." He smiled and looked at Li Xuan sincerely, "Thank you."
Without a mirror, Li Xuan couldn't see his own expression, but he knew it was definitely not decent. His whole body was stiff.
"Is this what you want to tell me?" He said dryly, "You said, let's be quiet for a while... Is this your answer after you've been quiet?"
Sheng Min's fingers were wrapped around the tassels of the sofa, and his fingertips were a little white due to lack of blood. His calmness just now was just a thin veil, which could be easily pierced by Li Xuan's words. He shook his head almost imperceptibly, and after a while, he sighed: "This is your answer."
Inexplicable sadness and huge emptiness enveloped Li Xuan at this moment. But he found that he had no way to refute it. He just suddenly remembered that today was the last day of June. From the time he saw Sheng Min at the station to now, it was only fifty-one days. It turned out to be such a short time.
"What about you?" Li Xuan raised his head suddenly, his tone showing weakness that he himself did not realize. His breathing became rapid as if he was short of oxygen. "Sheng Min, what do you want? Tell me."
Sheng Min stared at him blankly, met Li Xuan's gaze, then looked away as if burned, and turned to look out the window.
The silence between the two of them stretched for a long time, which made the laughter downstairs more obvious. The playful children found a net from somewhere and chased each other to catch butterflies in the garden.
For no reason, Sheng Min remembered seeing in a script before that there were a total of 17,000 species of butterflies in the world.
Which one of them flapped its wings, causing them to meet each other
Of course he could ask for it. As long as he asked for it, Li Xuan would agree to anything and everything. It was precisely because he knew this that Sheng Min couldn't say a word at this moment. He didn't want him to have any hesitation or reluctance.
They should be strangers, like two parallel rivers, but they were able to meet for a moment because of the turn of fate. But they originally had different shores, and he was lucky enough to hold him for a moment, but he couldn't and shouldn't let the river stop for him.
Li Xuan was still waiting for his answer.
"Do you remember what I said to you when we first met?" Sheng Min finally looked at him with a frank expression and tried her best to smile, "What happened between us was just an accident, an accident that did not appear in anyone's plan. Now everything should be back on track, and you don't have to make some changes that you are not prepared for because of this episode... ... Don't disrupt your life, that's what I want."
"Brother!" Yang Xu pushed the door open and came in. "Why are you the only one here? Isn't Li Xuangang here?"
Sheng Min stood quietly by the window with his back to him.
"What are you looking at?" Yang Xu didn't hear his answer and walked over and patted his shoulder.
Sheng Min then noticed him: "You're here."
"Yes, what are you looking at? You look so absorbed." Yang Xu looked down curiously. It was almost time for lunch, and most of the patients had returned to their wards. Only a few children were seen holding a net and walking dejectedly out of the garden. "What are you doing?"
"The butterfly flew away." Sheng Min said softly.
"What?" Yang Xu was puzzled. He scratched his hair and asked him, "Where's Li Xuan? Isn't he eating here at noon? I brought him a portion as well."
"He..." Sheng Min's voice was a little hazy, so Yang Xu had to concentrate to hear it clearly, "He won't come back."