If I Die, Will You Still Hate Me? - Chapter 14
“Xiao Xun, what did you see in our Zhouzhou to…”
Before dawn, Wu Yi‘s phone call came in.
Ye Xun and Jiang Xuzhou were both startled awake. Ye Xun glanced at the screen—it was Wu Yi. He knew the drill, so he threw off the blanket and prepared to step outside.
“Xiao Xun, it’s fine,” Jiang Xuzhou called to him. “It’s cold out there.”
When Ye Xun’s eyes weren’t open, he was particularly obedient, so he burrowed back under the covers.
Jiang Xuzhou waited until Ye Xun had his back turned and was covered before answering the call. Before he could speak, Wu Yi shouted: “Jiang Xuzhou! When did you borrow money from loan sharks?!”
“What?” Jiang Xuzhou’s heart pounded faster from Wu Yi’s shout. He clutched his chest, his brows furrowed as he fought down the pain. “What loan sharks? Explain yourself clearly.”
Ye Xun opened his eyes, staring motionlessly at the floor.
Wu Yi summarized quickly: “A group of people suddenly broke into the company this morning, holding banners in the lobby, shouting that you owe money to loan sharks and won’t pay it back.”
Jiang Xuzhou’s words were concise: “Call the police.”
“I did. The police took them away, but someone with a motive photographed it and uploaded it to the internet,” Wu Yi said helplessly. “Are you jinxed this year?”
Jiang Xuzhou never believed in superstitions. He was certain someone was deliberately targeting him, and that person was definitely the one Ye Xun had been in contact with most recently—Zhao Mingrong.
He and Zhao Mingrong had been rivals since the company’s early days. However, neither had succeeded in completely dismantling the other. The latter hadn’t found the opportunity, and the former operated on a “live and let live” policy.
There was another reason: Jiang Xuzhou preferred to obtain what he wanted openly; he despised those who resorted to dirty tricks.
Jiang Xuzhou’s response was still brief: “PR.”
The Baiwen Group hadn’t initially established a dedicated Public Relations department, with related matters handled by the Project Department. But since Jiang Xuzhou’s medical records were leaked, he specifically set up a PR department to deal with such incidents.
He hadn’t expected it to be needed so quickly.
Wu Yi acknowledged the instruction.
“Also, find out from the police who exactly owes the loan sharks money,” Jiang Xuzhou’s voice was frigid.
Who was it that had splashed mud on him?
The events of yesterday flashed through his mind, and he quickly narrowed it down to one person, but without evidence, he couldn’t jump to conclusions.
After the call, Jiang Xuzhou was wide awake and decided to walk around the village.
With that thought, he got up and put a black jacket over his pajamas, carefully moving around Ye Xun.
Ye Xun felt him getting up to leave. For some reason, he suddenly sat up and grabbed Jiang Xuzhou’s arm.
“Hiss.” Jiang Xuzhou gasped sharply, wincing in pain.
Ye Xun suddenly remembered that Jiang Xuzhou was injured yesterday morning, and he, the culprit, had yet to even ask about it.
“Are you okay?” Ye Xun apologized. “I’m sorry, I forgot.”
The meaning of Jiang Xuzhou being hurt while saving him was different from him being hurt while Ye Xun was actively provoking him. The former evoked regret, the latter, hatred.
The two couldn’t be conflated.
“How about… let me take a look?” Ye Xun offered a remedy.
Jiang Xuzhou was eager for him to say that and hastened his steps out of the room to get the medicine box.
Ye Xun hadn’t grabbed his wound, or rather, hadn’t completely grabbed it. But he knew Ye Xun’s only emotions toward him in this matter were apology and gratitude, not hatred.
He thought, this injury was quite worth it.
After grabbing the medicine box, Jiang Xuzhou naturally sat down on the floor mat, exposing half of his shoulder—
Ye Xun was worried that if he rolled up his sleeve too forcefully, he might injure the wound again, so he let Jiang Xuzhou half-undress, while thoughtfully draping the blanket over his back.
“Does it hurt?” Ye Xun held Jiang Xuzhou’s hand, looking at the slightly inflamed wound on his arm.
Jiang Xuzhou’s dark pupils reflected the image of a serious Ye Xun—a few tufts of his just-woken hair were sticking up, his eyelashes were slightly damp, and the tip of his nose was faintly red.
Jiang Xuzhou used his uninjured hand to press down the sticking-up hair. When he let go, the tufts sprang back up.
Hmm, very coarse hair.
Seeing Jiang Xuzhou not speak, Ye Xun looked up at him.
One high, one low, Jiang Xuzhou lowered his eyes and fell into Ye Xun’s light-colored gaze.
The internet often said that light-colored eyes were like a piece of amber. If Ye Xun’s eyes were amber, Jiang Xuzhou would gladly be the insect drowned within it.
The two would be mutually dependent, parasitic on each other, and finally perish together in the vastness of time and the universe.
Ye Xun muttered to himself: “Did you just rinse it with water when you got back yesterday and not disinfect it?”
Jiang Xuzhou was too good at doing things like this, self-destructive things.
“Yeah, I didn’t have time yesterday,” Jiang Xuzhou lied.
Ye Xun finished wrapping the gauze and signaled he was done.
Jiang Xuzhou reluctantly pulled his hand away, his fingertips unconsciously brushing Ye Xun’s. A subtle warmth was transmitted, slowly spreading throughout his body and settling in his heart.
The phone rang suddenly, this time it was Ye Xun’s.
Jiang Xuzhou also saw the screen—Zhao Mingrong.
Although he already knew Ye Xun was cooperating with Zhao Mingrong, seeing the name still made him feel instinctively disgusted, and his gaze darkened.
Ye Xun was waiting for Jiang Xuzhou to tactfully leave, but the latter didn’t seem to have that awareness, so Ye Xun had to leave himself.
“President Ye, guess what,” Zhao Mingrong said. “Jiang Xuzhou’s precious little brother is neck-deep in loan shark debt, and now it’s all been dumped on his dear older brother.”
Ye Xun had already heard this news on Jiang Xuzhou’s phone, but he pretended to be surprised: “Oh? Jiang Xuzhou has a brother?”
Zhao Mingrong, who didn’t know much more, changed the subject: “The Baiwen Group was quite a scene this morning. The loan shark people put Jiang Xuzhou and the Baiwen Group on blast online. I heard they plan to use the media for large-scale promotion next.”
“The loan shark people were all arrested by the police,” Ye Xun told Zhao Mingrong the news he had heard earlier.
Zhao Mingrong said: “They’re family. Mei Yue and Jiang Yongjun naturally know what his weakness is.”
He added: “The barefoot don’t fear the shod.”
The “barefoot” here naturally referred to Mei Yue and Jiang Yongjun.
“These are just stalling tactics. They won’t take over the Baiwen Group,” Ye Xun reminded him.
Zhao Mingrong laughed heartily: “Of course, I naturally have other plans.”
The branch Ye Xun was toying with in his hand snapped with a crack.
Zhao Mingrong was an old fox with countless ways to bring down an opponent.
Perhaps the war of public opinion was only the beginning, and the real show was yet to come.
Ye Xun quickly reasoned in his mind that the flames of war had been ignited on Jiang Xuzhou’s side, and it was only a matter of time before they scorched him too.
He tried to steady his breath and said, “President Zhao, what other plans do you have?”
“Just a few small tricks,” Zhao Mingrong said before hanging up.
Ye Xun kicked away the broken branch at his feet.
Inside the house, Jiang Xuzhou raised his head, quietly watching Ye Xun’s back outside the window—
The rising sun generously shone upon him, and on the ring on his left ring finger.
Jiang Xuzhou’s stomach lurched. He closed his eyes, desperately suppressing the surging nausea.
He had eaten a small bowl of rice last night under Ye Xun’s half-supervision, half-threat, so logically, it shouldn’t be hurting again.
But he forgot. Stomach pain doesn’t follow logic.
He couldn’t suppress it anymore. He rushed to the bathroom, bent over, and pressed his clenched fist against his stomach, vomiting.
Last night’s meal was already digested; now, he only brought up sour fluid.
He fumbled in his pocket for anti-nausea medication, swallowed it whole, and leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths.
The feeling only subsided after a struggle.
The morning wind carried a chill. When it blew across his sweat-soaked forehead, he shivered.
The first thought that came to mind was to remind Ye Xun to put on a jacket.
Regardless of the season, Ye Xun only liked to wear a T-shirt when he slept. He had rushed to answer the phone and hadn’t had time to put on a coat.
The second thought was that he needed to find time to get his stomach checked.
Jiang Xuzhou splashed cold water on his face, bit his lip to restore color, returned to the room, grabbed Ye Xun’s clothes, and headed toward the door.
Ye Xun, head down, walked back inside.
Jiang Xuzhou stepped back a few paces, barely avoiding the preoccupied Ye Xun.
Ye Xun’s expression wasn’t good, just as bad as Jiang Xuzhou’s after vomiting.
“Are you… okay?” Jiang Xuzhou asked.
Ye Xun noticed the clothes in his hand and reverted to his usual demeanor, a flash of disdain in his eyes: “President Jiang, didn’t anyone teach you not to mess with other people’s things?”
Jiang Xuzhou wanted to retort but suddenly remembered something and stopped himself.
Ye Xun didn’t say anything either. He snatched his clothes, put them on, and walked out of the house.
Ye Xun’s words just now reminded Jiang Xuzhou of the day their relationship completely broke down. He had used the same tone to say: “Ye Xun, don’t you know what you should and shouldn’t touch?”
At that time, Ye Xun and the current Jiang Xuzhou were equally silent.
Jiang Xuzhou clutched his chest. The wronged and pitiful Ye Xun made his broken heart pound madly; even his breathing rhythm was off.
He desperately wanted to rush over and embrace the poor, wronged person, but those moments had already dissolved into memory.
Life in the village was always calm and accompanied by boredom. For the next few days, Ye Xun and Jiang Xuzhou liked to lounge on the deck chairs and soak up the sun, whether they had anything to do or not.
Jiang Xuzhou was sensitive to the cold and had an extra blanket over him. Ye Xun disliked the heat and wore a thin shirt.
Today, Jiang Xuzhou was again huddled under the blanket, quietly listening to Tan Hui and Ye Xun’s sporadic conversation, his eyelids slowly growing heavy.
Tan Hui asked: “Xiao Xun, what did you see in our Zhouzhou to…”
Ye Xun laughed: “He’s a good person…”
Jiang Xuzhou didn’t hear the rest.
He had fallen asleep.
Just before drifting off, he managed to update his final wish: to die listening to Ye Xun’s voice.
If he could push his luck a bit further, in Ye Xun’s arms.
As for Tan Hui, it was better not to tell her. Jiang Xuzhou thought drowsily. This old woman had been busy her whole life; she should enjoy her golden years and not worry about him anymore.
Once his thoughts began to wander, his head felt impossibly heavy, and before Jiang Xuzhou could finish his thought, he was pulled into the darkness.