Zhou Zhuoyuan looked baffled. “What are you doing?”
Zhou Zhuoli didn’t answer. Instead, he slipped his hand under the covers.
Zhou Zhuoyuan’s eyes flew wide open. He grabbed Zhou Zhuoli’s hand with a fierce grip, staring at him like he was some kind of pervert. “Are you out of your mind?!”
Zhou Zhuoli blinked. “What?”
The air turned thick with awkwardness.
Zhou Zhuoli hadn’t expected Zhou Zhuoyuan to have forgotten everything from the night before. He explained helplessly, “I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just helping you keep it warm—it’ll hurt less that way. That’s what I do when my stomach inflammation flares up.”
He sounded a bit depressed. “And besides, I’m your brother—blood-related. Can you stop looking at me like I just groped you?”
Zhou Zhuoyuan was struggling to hold on to that hand. Zhou Zhuoli wasn’t fighting him; he simply hadn’t rested well and hadn’t regained his strength yet. “It doesn’t hurt. I don’t need it.”
Zhou Zhuoli arched a brow. “That’s exactly what I did for you last night, and you have zero memory of it? You were whining and begging me not to leave when I tried to go.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan sputtered in outrage. “You’re making that up!”
The grip on his hand loosened, though. It wasn’t that he had no recollection at all—just that he’d been half-asleep, unable to make out faces, convinced it was all a dream. But there was no way he’d whined and clung to Zhou Zhuoli like that.
In the end, that large, unusually warm hand settled just above his incision.
Zhou Zhuoli wasn’t lying; it did feel better this way. But with someone sitting right there watching him, Zhou Zhuoyuan felt wide awake, not a trace of sleepiness in sight.
He nudged Zhou Zhuoli’s arm. “No, this isn’t working. I can’t sleep with you like this.”
Zhou Zhuoli sighed. “If this doesn’t work and that doesn’t work, what do you want?”
Zhou Zhuoyuan replied, “Stop sitting here. I’m not hurting anymore.”
Zhou Zhuoli was about to say something more when his phone buzzed. It was a message from Zhou Zhuoyi—he’d had another sleepless night.
Zhou Zhuoli lay back on his fold-out caregiver’s bed and chatted with Zhou Zhuoyi. By the time he finished, Zhou Zhuoyuan’s breathing had evened out; he was sleeping soundly.
The next morning, the moment Zhou Zhuoli opened his eyes, he felt a scorching gaze fixed on him.
Zhou Zhuoyuan had woken up ages ago and was propped against the headboard, staring at Zhou Zhuoli with puppy-dog eyes.
Zhou Zhuoli knew exactly what he was after. Though reluctant, he knew that butting heads with Zhou Zhuoyuan would get him nowhere. Playing along might actually work.
Sure enough, Zhou Zhuoyuan got his tablet and swore up and down, “I’ll really only watch videos today.”
Zhou Zhuoli only half-believed him. He needled, “Do whatever. I hope you wreck yourself so you can’t hurt Little Yi anymore.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan fell silent, either ignoring the jab or actually taking it to heart.
Zhou Zhuoli panicked for a split second—just a split second. Someone as thick-skinned and selfish as Zhou Zhuoyuan wouldn’t be fazed by a single comment like that, right?
That evening when he returned, Zhou Zhuoyuan wasn’t the desperate workaholic from the day before. Instead, he was dutifully watching online classes.
At double speed, no less—God knows how he followed along.
Zhou Zhuoli cleared his throat pointedly. “Time for bed.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan snapped the tablet shut, stowed the bedside tray, and burrowed under the covers.
His compliance left Zhou Zhuoli at a loss.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Zhuoli asked, “Are you still mad about this morning?”
Zhou Zhuoyuan blinked, not following at first. “Mad?”
Remembering what Zhou Zhuoli had said, he added, “Nah, I’m not mad. But you do have a point—if I wreck my body, how am I supposed to bully Little Yi?”
Zhou Zhuoli ground his teeth. “No idea who you got that vicious streak from.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan burst out laughing. “Definitely not from you Zhou family folks.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan wasn’t mad, but Zhou Zhuoli was. The third day on caregiver duty was a Saturday; he skipped the office and moved through the hospital with a heavy low-pressure gloom hanging over him.
Zhou Zhuoyuan bossed him around from the bed. “Pass me some tissue? My nose is running.”
Zhou Zhuoli ignored him on purpose.
Thinking he hadn’t heard, Zhou Zhuoyuan raised his voice a tad. “Please pass me some tissue.”
After a beat, he tried even louder. “Hey, pass me some tissue?”
Zhou Zhuoli had meant to let him stew a bit, make him feel the anger. But that last plea struck him as oddly off, though he couldn’t pinpoint why.
Zhou Zhuoyuan started getting impatient. “Zhou Zhuoli, pass me some tissue!”
That’s when Zhou Zhuoli finally figured it out. He’d been at the hospital with Zhou Zhuoyuan for so long, yet Zhou Zhuoyuan hadn’t called him “bro” once?
Back when he’d first returned to the Zhou family, Zhou Zhuoyuan had called him “bro” outright. Later, he’d picked up Zhou Zhuoyi’s habit and called him “big bro.” But at some point, he’d stopped using the word altogether.
He couldn’t remember exactly when it had started. He hadn’t cared about it before at all, but now that he realized it, an indescribable feeling welled up inside him, making him deeply uncomfortable.
Before he could figure it out, Zhou Zhuoyuan had already swung one foot onto the floor.
Zhou Zhuoli stood up, grabbed a pack of tissues, and tossed it into his arms.
Zhou Zhuoyuan said harshly, “You’re not pretending to be dead anymore? If you don’t want to take care of me, just call the nurse back. I’m not forcing you to stay here!”
He put on a fierce front, but deep down, he was feeling weak.
Zhou Zhuoli didn’t indulge him and simply returned to his spot after throwing the tissues.
Zhou Zhuoyuan still wanted to curse him out, but his phone suddenly rang—it seemed to be He Qinglan’s number.
“Are you busy right now? Am I disturbing you?”
Zhou Zhuoyuan softened his tone. “No.”
“That’s good. You left so suddenly that day, and we hadn’t seen you back for ages, so we even called the teacher. The teacher said you had family matters. Is it something urgent?”
Zhou Zhuoyuan replied, “It’s not a big deal. I’ll head back in a few days.”
Seeing that he didn’t want to say more, He Qinglan didn’t press the issue. He always respected boundaries and never pried into others’ privacy. He Qinglan let out a breath. “Actually, I’ve been worried this whole time that you might have suddenly fallen ill again. The teacher didn’t elaborate, but now that I hear you’re fine, I can finally relax.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan’s heart tightened. Just then, the doctor pushed the door open for rounds. He hurriedly said, “Someone’s here to see me. Gotta go—bye.”
After the doctor left, Zhou Zhuoyuan saved He Qinglan’s number in his contacts. He flipped through the chat history again; he’d already looked at it many times over the past few days.
A smile emerged in Zhou Zhuoyuan’s eyes. The old him had never imagined that one day, so many people would care about him like this.
Zhou Zhuoli suddenly asked out of nowhere, “Are you in love?”
Zhou Zhuoyuan always held grudges and still hadn’t forgotten how this guy had ignored him for so long earlier, so he simply ignored him in return.
Zhou Zhuoli got no response and continued working with irritation.
He hadn’t been at it long when rustling sounds came from nearby. He looked over and saw that Zhou Zhuoyuan had already put on his jacket and was using the wall for support as he stood up. Zhou Zhuoli immediately scolded him. “What nonsense are you pulling now?!”
Seeing Zhou Zhuoyuan treat his words like wind passing by his ears, Zhou Zhuoli strode forward and grabbed his arm. “Back to bed!”
Zhou Zhuoyuan shook him off. “I just want the charger, and you have to control even that? I can’t count on you, Eldest Young Master, so I can’t get it myself?”
The doctor had casually placed the charger on the table near the door during rounds.
Zhou Zhuoli knew he was in the wrong. He’d deliberately kept the nurse away today to avoid interruptions and had even bullied Zhou Zhuoyuan earlier, so he couldn’t blame the guy for reacting this way.
He suppressed his anger and apologized in a low voice. “I’ll get it for you. I was wrong just now.”
Only then did Zhou Zhuoyuan sit back down on the bed.
–
The doctor said he could have some liquid food that evening, so Zhou Zhuoli went home, packed a bowl of porridge made by the family cook, and rushed back before the evening rush hour.
Zhou Zhuoyuan glanced at it and saw it wasn’t a flavor he liked, so he wasn’t really in the mood to drink it.
But Zhou Zhuoli had already cleared the bedside table, so he reluctantly took a few sips before calling out to Zhou Zhuoli, who hadn’t even warmed his stool yet. “I’m done. Help me clear it away.”
Zhou Zhuoli came over, took one look, and laughed out of anger. “You only drank this much? And you wasted my time making a special trip.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan thought it was pure robber logic. “I didn’t ask you to go at all. The hospital has nutritional meals, and what you brought is way too bland—I don’t like it one bit!”
Zhou Zhuoli gritted his teeth. “Eat it if you want, or don’t.”
He’d gone out of his way to get the porridge from the family cook and had put in a lot of effort to keep it from the rest of the household, but Zhou Zhuoyuan showed zero appreciation.
Why should Zhou Zhuoyuan appreciate it, though? They’d already torn each other’s faces off long ago. Zhou Zhuoli fumed as he cleared the bedside table, then yanked the tablet right out of Zhou Zhuoyuan’s arms.
Zhou Zhuoyuan pursed his lips tightly.
Zhou Zhuoli said, “I’m not lending it to you anymore. Tomorrow, I’ll have the nurse come back. After that, you can do whatever the hell you want.”
Stingy bastard. Zhou Zhuoyuan’s new tablet was arriving tomorrow anyway, so good riddance.
True to his word, Zhou Zhuoli didn’t show up the next day. Five days later, when he finally thought of Zhou Zhuoyuan again and returned to the hospital, he discovered that Zhou Zhuoyuan had already checked himself out. The room had just been cleaned, standing empty with no trace at all that they’d ever stayed there.
The anger that had barely subsided reignited in an instant. He’d told Zhou Zhuoyuan on the very first day that the doctor recommended two weeks of hospitalization, and he’d prepaid for the hospital stay and nurse for the full two weeks. Yet this guy had gone straight back to school after barely a week!
Zhou Zhuoli completely couldn’t understand why Zhou Zhuoyuan was studying so desperately. When the doctor explained the situation to him, he was full of praise, saying that this child had ideals and ambitions, was willing to put in the effort, and would definitely become an elite in society someday.
Zhou Zhuoli didn’t take it to heart and responded perfunctorily with a couple of sentences. Once he got back in the car, he called Zhou Zhuoyuan. Zhou Zhuoyuan was in class at the time, so he called several times without getting through, which infuriated him to the point where he wanted to smash his phone.
Finally, that evening, Zhou Zhuoyuan sent the returned money to him, along with a message: “I’ve transferred all the unspent money back to you. You wouldn’t be so stingy as to ask me for the portion I’ve already spent, right?”
Zhou Zhuoli was in the middle of syncing the week’s progress with his subordinate when he received the message. His subordinate watched as his usually shrewd and calm leader sneaked a glance at his phone, after which his tone rose several degrees. He didn’t chat much longer before dismissing him.
With a darkened face, Zhou Zhuoli furiously typed away on his phone.
