The Sickly Omega Is No Longer Pretending to Be Good/Obedient - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Lucid Dream

“Wen Jiangchu, can you stop panting?”

“Wen Jiangchu?”

Shen Qiudu’s tone held a mix of confusion and astonishment. He hadn’t expected Wen Jiangchu to appear here, as if he had known all along that Xu Zhouye would return and bring him to this very place.

His eyes flickered, and he instinctively lowered his gaze to sweep over the loungewear he was wearing. He subtly tried to move his arm forward to cover something, but it was no use.

Wen Jiangchu walked straight to Shen Qiudu’s side, not sparing Xu Zhouye a single glance. He deliberately moved closer to Shen Qiudu, using his body to shield him from the cold wind seeping into the room. He even made a point of displaying their couple’s outfit, leaning down to take Shen Qiudu’s wrist.

“Qiudu, it’s time. You should take your medicine.”

Wen Jiangchu’s expression was calm, as if the person by the window, with his gloomy face and potential for a breakdown at any moment, didn’t exist. His eyes held only Shen Qiudu.

Shen Qiudu hadn’t moved yet when Xu Zhouye spoke first: “Wen Jiangchu.”

In the darkness, Xu Zhouye’s eyes were slightly lowered, and his thin lips moved. He tightly pulled the nearest curtain shut, as if shrouding himself in a dark domain.

Seeing that Wen Jiangchu completely ignored him, Xu Zhouye chuckled, though his face was pale.

“Wen Jiangchu!”

Xu Zhouye instantly raised his voice, picking up the nearby photo frame and throwing it at Wen Jiangchu’s back.

Shen Qiudu instinctively tightened his intertwined fingers with Wen Jiangchu, pulling Wen Jiangchu slightly to the side. However, the photo frame was too fast and still hit Wen Jiangchu’s shoulder heavily, forcing him to knit his brows and let out a muffled groan. When it fell, the sharp wooden splinters scratched Shen Qiudu’s hand, which was wrapped around Wen Jiangchu’s waist.

A sudden sharp pain made Shen Qiudu gasp, but the minor injury was harmless to him. Instead, he was worried about Wen Jiangchu.

The area that was hit was likely already bruised.

Wen Jiangchu, however, completely ignored his own injury. He frowned with concern, lifted Shen Qiudu’s hand, and gently stroked it, even blowing on it, which made Shen Qiudu feel a little embarrassed.

“Wen Jiangchu, if you keep blowing on it, it’s really going to heal soon.”

Wen Jiangchu paused, obediently listened to Shen Qiudu, but the anger in his eyes intensified rather than decreased.

He lowered his gaze and noticed the photo that Xu Zhouye had been clutching in his hand had fallen to the ground.

Wen Jiangchu’s face darkened. He shielded Shen Qiudu behind him, bent down to pick up the photo, and in front of Xu Zhouye, tore it completely into pieces.

“Xu Zhouye, what the hell is wrong with you? I spared your life out of consideration for our past relationship. Don’t forget that the medication your father uses is only available through the Wen family.”

“What, are you planning to abandon all hope now? I’ve been kind enough to you. Do you think the Song family and the Qin family don’t know about your tricks? Taking a stand and keeping you confined to the Xu family, thereby saving your life, was the most lenient decision I could make.”

Xu Zhouye sneered, “Wen Jiangchu, aren’t you tired of acting? You’ve been like this since childhood, always pretending everything you do is for my own good, insisting that I accept your cheap sympathy and pity! Do you really think you’re some Bodhisattva?”

“Actually, I’ve wanted to say this for a long time! Who do you think you are? What right do you have to manage me? What right do you have to bring me in front of those people! Seeing them slander me behind my back for being a bully only possible through you made you happy and superior, didn’t it, Young Master Wen?”

“They all said I only lived like a human being by relying on your light, Wen Jiangchu, that I was nothing more than your dog! Wen Jiangchu, I don’t believe you didn’t know any of this!”

“You were the one who said we were friends, and you were the one who brought me into your social circle, but why was I the one who ended up being isolated and mocked?! You brought me in, watched you flourish, watched you get better little by little. Isn’t that just bullying me!?”

“Wen Jiangchu, stop pretending to be so understanding and helpful. You are actually more… disgusting than anyone else, Young Master Wen.”

Xu Zhouye deliberately spoke in a mocking tone at the end, emphasizing the four characters of “Young Master Wen.” He chuckled sinisterly, his hands clenched into fists by his sides, his eyes filled with years of accumulated hatred.

Wen Jiangchu frowned and said, “I never thought about those things, nor did I know they would treat you like that. At the time, I thought that if I just told them you were my friend, they would hold back their gossip out of respect for me.”

“My kindness towards you was indeed out of sympathy, and I couldn’t bear to see you give up on yourself. I don’t understand why you would think of me this way.”

“And those incidents of isolation and bullying you mentioned, they were simply afraid of you. Have you forgotten the things you did? Secretly adding chemical substances to other people’s water cups, spreading rumors that others cheated, and even intentionally switching someone’s sneakers during a sports competition. Xu Zhouye, the vile things you did are the real reason you were given the cold shoulder by everyone!”

“But look at you! You turn around and accuse me, and you even brought a knife into the school and almost killed that person. It was Mom’s keen eye that spotted something was wrong and stopped you. Xu Zhouye, have you forgotten all of this?”

“Shut up! Wen Jiangchu, what the hell do you know?! They deserved it! They brought it upon themselves! If they hadn’t provoked me first, hadn’t looked at me with those eyes, how would I have retaliated against them?! And what right do you have to stand here and point fingers at me?”

Xu Zhouye was breathing heavily, his finger pointing at Wen Jiangchu as he furiously cursed him.

“Wen Jiangchu, you fundamentally don’t understand that feeling, the feeling of being unwanted by others your entire life. You’ve enjoyed all the affection since birth, you have everything you want, and almost everyone is desperate to meet you. What could a person like you possibly understand?”

“…You are truly incorrigible.”

Seeing Xu Zhouye’s current state of madness, Wen Jiangchu only felt a headache. No matter what he said, Xu Zhouye would only firmly believe that he was not at fault and would even become increasingly resentful of those who kindly tried to dissuade him.

Instead of wasting time on a person like this, he’d rather spend more time with Shen Qiudu.

At this point, Wen Jiangchu and Xu Zhouye had completely cut ties. In truth, their relationship had been precarious before, barely maintained by Wen Jiangchu turning a blind eye.

But now, Xu Zhouye could no longer remain by Wen Jiangchu’s side. He was like a ticking time bomb, and furthermore, Wen Jiangchu was no longer alone.

Thus, Wen Jiangchu simply wanted to take Shen Qiudu’s wrist and leave, but he hadn’t expected that Xu Zhouye had no desire to live anymore.

He came here with the intention of dying.

“Wen Jiangchu, you are the one who ruined me, and a person like you must come to hell with me!”

“Wen Jiangchu!”

When a blinding white flash suddenly appeared, Shen Qiudu knew in an instant that it was a small knife; he was more sensitive to such sharp objects than anyone else.

So, almost instinctively, he threw himself in front of Wen Jiangchu. This sudden act of protection completely stunned Shen Qiudu—he had never imagined he would worry so much about anyone besides his mother.

However, Wen Jiangchu seemed to have anticipated that Xu Zhouye would attack him. As Shen Qiudu lunged, Wen Jiangchu spun his body, securely hugging Shen Qiudu in his arms, and simultaneously sidestepped, deflecting Xu Zhouye’s short knife with his bare hand.

Unfortunately, he was still stabbed in the abdomen. But quickly, a gunshot rang out, hitting Xu Zhouye’s thigh, causing him to instantly fall heavily to the ground in pain, bl00d spilling out, looking utterly wretched.

Following the sound of the sudden gunshot, they looked over to see a man in a tailored black suit, one hand in his pocket, leaning calmly against the door with a raised gun, his expression solemn.

Shen Qiudu had seen this man before, when Wen Jiangchu took him to rescue his mother. His surname seemed to be Qin.

However, before Shen Qiudu could look for a few more seconds, Wen Jiangchu’s palm immediately covered the back of Shen Qiudu’s head, pressing his head into his embrace, seemingly displeased and completely blocking his view.

“Qin Mao, you’re late,” Wen Jiangchu said in a foul mood.

The vibration from his chest as he spoke caused a ticklish feeling on Shen Qiudu’s face. He tried to pull away, but Wen Jiangchu once again raised his hand, gently pressing his head down, even rubbing it as if to comfort him.

Qin Mao indifferently blew on the muzzle of his gun. “It’s only ten seconds. You’re just too weak if you can get hurt like that. I don’t know how you’ve managed to live this long.”

After speaking, Qin Mao ignored Wen Jiangchu’s expression, raised his hand, and motioned for two bodyguards to enter, who then dragged away the severely bleeding and nearly unconscious Xu Zhouye on the floor.

“I’m taking this person. Pleasure doing business. Remember to call me for good opportunities like this in the future.”

Seeing Qin Mao about to leave, Wen Jiangchu seized the chance to taunt him. “Aren’t you going to stay for lunch before you leave?”

Qin Mao remained silent for a moment, then smiled provocatively at Wen Jiangchu. “If I actually stayed, you would behave yourself.”

“…”

“I don’t want to be a third wheel like Xue Shan. Someone is waiting for me to go home. I’ll be going now.”

“Safe travels, no need to see you out.”

Soon after Qin Mao left, the phone rang, followed by the sound of being urged to go home. Shen Qiudu also took the opportunity to lift his head from Wen Jiangchu’s embrace, feeling a bit bewildered by the sudden end to the whole affair.

“Wen Jiangchu, what exactly happened?”

Wen Jiangchu lowered his gaze and curved his lips, his face slightly pale. His body sank little by little, finally leaning his head completely into Shen Qiudu’s shoulder socket, and he murmured hoarsely into Shen Qiudu’s ear.

“Good boy, before I answer you, didn’t you forget something?”

This time, the proximity brought not the scent of carnations, but a strong smell of bl00d.

Shen Qiudu looked down and saw Wen Jiangchu clutching his lower abdomen, a large area of his clothing stained red with bl00d.

*

In the room with the curtains half-open, Wen Jiangchu stood with his back to the light, having taken off his outer shirt, leaving him in only a tight black tank top. His arms were strong and muscular, and his chest was full, rising and falling with his heavy breathing.

He lowered his dark eyes, concealing his emotions, and stared intently at Shen Qiudu, who was applying medicine for him.

Shen Qiudu sat opposite him, cross-legged in front of him, which, from the back, made it look exactly as if he were sitting in his lap.

His slightly curled long eyelashes trembled, his brows furrowed, as he carefully dabbed ointment onto the area near the wound with a cotton swab.

This was the first time Shen Qiudu had applied medicine for anyone else, especially for… a person like Wen Jiangchu. He couldn’t help but be nervous, his slender hands struggling to hold the object securely, constantly searching for the right grip.

Sometimes, when his skin accidentally touched Wen Jiangchu’s exposed skin, Wen Jiangchu would always let out a ragged breath, which, in turn, startled Shen Qiudu, causing his hand to tremble again.

At this rate, the ointment might run out while Wen Jiangchu’s wound remained untouched.

As Shen Qiudu carefully leaned closer to the wound, his body swayed, causing his palm to accidentally press against Wen Jiangchu’s chest. Wen Jiangchu groaned again, and the scorching heat of his body immediately turned Shen Qiudu’s face bright red.

He was slightly annoyed, tossing the cotton swab away, and looked up to meet Wen Jiangchu’s somewhat guilty face, huffing: “Wen Jiangchu, can you stop panting?”