JingYuan grabbed Tao Qi in a stranglehold and coldly said, "In all the years I've been alive, I, Mu JingYuan, had never hit a woman before. You're quite something, Tao Qi."
All Tao Qi could feel was the air in her chest slowly draining out of her. The handsome man before her eyes twisted into a face as terrifying as an evil ghost's. Never had she ever felt death looming this close to her. She'd never realised the male lead could be this scary. There wasn't a single doubt in her mind that this man wanted to kill her. Perhaps he'd snap her neck in half with his bare hands! No! She's the female lead, the protagonist! How can she die?
Just as she could sense the death reaper waving her over, Mu JingYuan gradually loosened his grip. He stared down at Tao Qi as she hacked and coughed and did her best to catch her breath.
"You think you can die this easily?" he said, voice steeped in ruthlessness. "It'd be the easiest thing ever to have you dead, but you must always pay the price for what your actions and words. Isn't it so? Getting strangled would be too easy a death for you."
At the end of JingYuan's speech, YiHan finally snapped out of his daze. "JingYuan," he said after a long blink. "Can you step out for a moment? I need to have a word with Tao Qi alone."
"Impossible," JingYuan replied without hesitation. "HanHan, I can promise to do anything you want me to do, but I would never allow anything that would put you in danger's way. It's clear to everyone that this woman holds a big deal of ill will towards you. Even if it's not me, even if it's Chen Feng, we couldn't let you two be alone in the same room."
Chen Feng promptly nodded in agreement.
JingYuan walked over and knelt before YiHan. "HanHan," he said to the man in the chair, "all she speaks are lies and fantasies. There's nothing worth listening to. Why don't you go rest up first? I'll help you ask any and all questions you wish to ask. How about it?"
YiHan looked back at the man in front of him. Love and concern were etched into the older man's face. He could see his reflection in those dark eyes. This man was never one to wear his heart on his sleeves, but a simple sentence cursing YiHan out was enough to fan the flames of his anger into a blazing inferno. And even when the man's seething, JingYuan would still speak to YiHan in a soft and gentle tone.
Everything's different now. The heart of the man YiHan had never been able to acquire was now in his hands. A car accident happened to TianYang and he saved XueQing, but he didn't die. Conversely, Feng Qun who was supposed to have killed YiHan was now dead and he'd died in a snap. There's nothing in this world that is destined to happen. Everything can change. YiHan shouldn't continue dwelling in the shadows of his past life, even if it's just so this man before his eyes wouldn't worry. Since he'd started over again, he should cherish what he had before him and do his best to not let this man show this much worry ever again. He should use all his strength and power to protect the man kneeling before him, to protect his family. That is what a man should do.
YiHan let out a soft exhale and gave JingYuan a smile. He reached out and cupped JingYuan's face. Then, he kissed the man on the lips.
"Fool," YiHan whispered. "I'm not made of paper. Do you think I can't even handle a few words? We're all here. Let's see what she has to say. You know, sometimes, gibberish could provide us with an unexpected lead."
JingYuan's one hand that hadn't touched Tao Qi rose and held onto YiHan's wrists. All he knew was his HanHan's smile was so kind and warm that it brought tears to his eyes. His eyes were glued to YiHan's face, mesmerised to the point where a "yes" just slipped out of his mouth.
"How could this be? Why?" Tao Qi gasped, face full of disbelief. "By now, you should've been broken apart by constant arguments. Why did this happen? Why don't all of you follow the plot? I am the protagonist here! I'm the one who should be with Mu JingYuan! I'm the one who should stand at the top of the world! Just what went wrong…?"
YiHan's brows were locked in a deep frown. It seemed like this Tao Qi, the protagonist as she called herself, knew quite a lot. Other people might think she's uttering nonsense but he knew what she was talking about was what happened in his last life. Could Tao Qi have been reborn too? But then why would she think she's the female lead? Why did she think she should be dating JingYuan? Did JingYuan get together with her after YiHan's death? Then, what was going on with the plot she spoke of?
YiHan turned and glared at JingYuan. This filthy playboy! He actually dared to get together with Tao Qi! It's unforgiveable! So this woman really is a huge rival for JingYuan's love. YiHan must nip this dead in the bud!
JingYuan: …why is the cannon being aimed at me all of a sudden? We were exchanging loving glances just now!
The two men simultaneously turned and glared at Tao Qi: This darn woman!
YiHan then looked at JingYuan as the other man continued glaring at Tao Qi. If this had happened in his last life, YiHan would assume this meant JingYuan didn't like him. Now, however, there was no way YiHan could even doubt JingYuan's feelings for him. Thus, it's impossible for the older man to like this woman. So how and why were JingYuan and Tao Qi an "official couple"?
YiHan didn't want JingYuan to know a single thing about his past life, especially not the way he died. He'd rather die than let his lover know about that. Today wasn't the best time to question Tao Qi further but he was eager to know just what happened after his death.
YiHan turned his hand to hold back at JingYuan's, stood up and said, "Tao Qi, you don't need to keep acting crazy here. You should know why we've captured you. Why don't you tell me just why you pushed Wei Quan to kill my sister?"
The shock of surprise after surprise had nearly broken Tao Qi down. "I didn't tell Wei Quan to kill Bai XueQing," she said, deciding to just give in. "I told him to kill Chen TianYang. I didn't think that maniac would change the plan all by himself."
"And just what has my brother-in-law done to have made an enemy of you?" YiHan huffed with a cold smirk.
Tao Qi looked up at him and said with an eerie smile, "He is the Chen family heir. How could he have offended me? This is just the story he should go through. Being killed by Wei Quan in a car crash is his fate."
In a few swift steps, YiHan walked over to her and slapped her across the cheek. His chest heaved up and down.
"Keep your 'fate' and 'should have's," YiHan barked. "My brother-in-law's fate is to live a long and happy life with my sister while you should go to jail!"
Upon seeing YiHan being overwhelmed with rage, JingYuan stepped forward and laid an arm around the other's shoulders to support the younger man.
"It was a mistake to bring you back today," JingYuan said in a low voice. "There's no need for you to question her yourself, was there? Look at how agitated you are now."
"You're right," YiHan said to JingYuan, letting out a heavy sigh as he did so. "She doesn't look like a normal person. She lies in all her answers. However, she seems to have a lot of secrets. Why not keep her for another day? Perhaps we can wrestle something out of her."
JingYuan would never say no to YiHan. He hurriedly nodded in agreement and turned to Chen Feng.
"Take her back to the basement," said JingYuan. "Keep a close eye on her. It's getting late. I'll have an interrogation expert come in tomorrow."
"Yes," Chen Feng replied with a nod. He then threw a disdainful look at Tao Qi before roughly dragging her out of the room with a hand clasped over her mouth.
"Shall we head back to the hospital then?" JingYuan asked.
"I've been sleeping so early for the last few days," YiHan yawned, "that I'm exhausted now. Why don't we just stay? It's tiring going back and forth. We can go in for a check-up tomorrow. If everything's fine, I can be discharged." He sighed. "Just what is going on lately? I keep ending up in the hospital. Now, I'm frustrated and irritated at the mere sight of those white walls."
"Okay," JingYuan replied, his heart aching at YiHan's admission. "We won't return to the hospital. Let's head to our rooms and sleep." As JingYuan said so, he swooped YiHan up in a carry and strode out of the room.
YiHan: …
Later on as they showered, YiHan would brush up against JingYuan over and over again until JingYuan's blood boiled. The man hands reached out and steadied the younger man's body away from his.
"Dearest, please stop," said JingYuan. "Let's wash up and go to sleep."
"JingYuan, do you not like me anymore?" YiHan whined. "It's been so many days since we last – ahem – did that."
JingYuan's legs weakened and his feet nearly slipped out from beneath him. His heart was racing and thumping hard. This was the first time his little one had been so proactive. Unfortunately…
While JingYuan was bashing up against the walls internally in frustration, his voice remained soft as he replied, "How could I not like you? But you're still hurt. We can't do it now. Once you're better…"
"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm fine. Anyway, my injury was on my head, not my bottom," YiHan griped as he slid a leg slowly up JingYuan's thigh.
JingYuan quickly covered his nose with a hand. A peek revealed he'd yet started bleeding from the nose. Only then did he exhale in relief. His other hand reached down and halted the slender leg in its tracks.
"No, HanHan," JingYuan said. "Behave. It's only a few days. At least wait until tomorrow's test results are out. Once you're all healed up, you can do whatever you want, however you want. Okay?" Aaargh! What a waste of a perfect opportunity! Why did the gods have to make things hard for him?
When YiHan realised JingYuan was firm in his resolved, he tugged his foot back and stomped the other's leg in frustration.
"You wish!" he cried. "Since you're that concerned for me, then there'll be no sex for two months! No, three!"
YiHan turned and dashed out of the bathroom, grabbing a bathrobe along the way and slamming the door behind him.
JingYuan stared at the cold-hearted back leaving his sight, tears rolled down his eyes, internally: HanHan, you can't do this to me. I'm suffering too.
The moment YiHan closed the bathroom door behind him, he quickly walked over to his bedside table and began searching through the lowest drawer. Finally, he found a small white bottle of pills. He squinted down at the expiration date before taking it to the desk. He poured out a glass of warm water from the jug on the desk and dropped two tablets into the water. He then hurried back to the bedside table and placed the pills back where they belonged. As he swirled the glass of water to make the pills dissolve faster, he nervously looked at the closed bathroom door.
Eventually, the pills vanished from sight. A thought then struck YiHan and he lightly smacked himself on the forehead for the near mistake. He ran over to the cabinet by the bedroom door and dug out a jar of honey. He scooped a few big dollops into the glass of water and briskly stirred it in. Just as he did so, the bathroom door opened with a clack.
"HanHan?" JingYuan cautiously called out as he rubbed his hair dry with a towel.
Spooked by the sudden call, the glass of water nearly slipped from YiHan's fingers. He hastily steadied his hands and calmly lifted the glass as if he had just taken a sip from it.
"I'm here," YiHan slowly replied.
JingYuan placed the towel aside and walked over to the younger man. "What are you drinking?" he asked, glancing at the cup of water.
"Honey water," YiHan dismissively replied.
"It's late. Why are you drinking honey water?" JingYuan asked, bemused. "Isn't it usually taken in the morning?"
YiHan gave JingYuan the side-eye as he darkly muttered, "To cool off the heat, detox, encourage bowel movement…"
JingYuan could feel his butt cheeks scrunch up in fear. He didn't know what to say.
"I-Is it sweet?" he awkwardly chuckled and asked.