Chapter 72: Pei He: Little Yuan, Can You Live On Now?

At 3:57 a.m., Pei He brought his own father to meet the chief surgeon. After their discussion concluded, he escorted them into Liu Kuo’s operating room.

Once he had finished handling these matters, Pei He returned to Zhou Zhuoyuan’s room only to learn that Zhou Zhuoyuan had been transferred to the RICU.

Pei He’s body swayed for a moment before he steadied himself. He listened quietly to the doctor’s instructions, then asked, “His wrists are injured. After applying the restraint straps, do you recommend that family members stay with him?”

The doctor replied, “Under normal circumstances, we don’t recommend it. But he’s just been through a kidnapping, so he might have psychological trauma. Besides, his will to live isn’t strong. If family talks to him more, it could help soothe him.”

The more Zhu Wan heard, the more uneasy she felt. Tears streaming down her face, she blocked Pei He’s path. “Don’t tie him up. We’ll watch him—twenty-four hours a day.”

Pei He’s dark pupils fixed on her. “Auntie, this might make you feel a little better, but it won’t reduce Little Yuan’s discomfort. Are you really so sure you won’t doze off midway?”

Zhu Wan was at a loss for words as Pei He stepped around her. “You should rest for a bit first. When Little Yuan wakes up, he’ll want his mom by his side. If you wear yourself out before then, he’ll just be disappointed again.”

Pei He suited up in protective gear and entered the room.

Zhou Fuxuan’s beard was unkempt, his suit rumpled. He wrapped his hands around Zhou Zhuoyuan’s wrists with careful control, his eyes brimming with agony. There was no trace of the shrewd businessman who orchestrated deals with effortless precision.

Zhou Zhuoyuan had told him everything, yet Zhou Fuxuan had let his guard down when he couldn’t find any leads. This wasn’t the first time he’d failed in his duties. He hadn’t even recognized his own son at first, letting Zhou Zhuoyuan suffer for so many years outside. Even after bringing him home, he’d neglected him, thinking the more narrow-minded Zhou Zhuoyuan wasn’t as thoughtful as Zhou Zhuoyi.

He hadn’t fulfilled his responsibilities as a father, and now he was trying to discipline Zhou Zhuoyuan like one—which only made Zhou Zhuoyuan resent him more. They could barely exchange two sentences without arguing, leaving Zhou Fuxuan with pounding headaches.

And now Zhou Zhuoyuan couldn’t even get mad at him anymore. He needed a ventilator just to stay alive. Panic threatened to drown Zhou Fuxuan; his mind drew a blank on solutions. All he could do was sit there helplessly, watching Zhou Zhuoyuan endure the pain.

Pei He retrieved the restraint straps from the rack and secured them at the bedside.

Zhou Fuxuan didn’t realize what he was doing until Pei He reached out to take Zhou Zhuoyuan’s wrist. Then it clicked, and he snapped in a low voice, “What are you doing?”

Pei He didn’t falter under Zhou Fuxuan’s imposing presence. He gently grasped Zhou Zhuoyuan’s forearm. “You should go rest, sir. I’ll handle things here.”

Zhou Fuxuan shot back, “Handle things? By tying him up? We can watch Zhuoyuan. His family is all here. Since when do you get to make decisions for us?”

Zhou Zhuoyuan began struggling again. Taking advantage of Zhou Fuxuan’s distraction, he reached for the breathing tube—but Pei He quickly gripped his forearm.

Pei He didn’t glance at Zhou Fuxuan’s expression. With swift efficiency, he padded the restraint strap’s sponge around Zhou Zhuoyuan’s wrist and fastened the buckles.

Zhou Fuxuan stared in stunned silence, making no further move to stop him.

Once it was done, Pei He sat on Zhou Zhuoyuan’s other side. He slowly pried open Zhou Zhuoyuan’s fingers and clasped his hand. “I know it hurts to see Little Yuan like this. But you know him better than I do—he’s incredibly stubborn. Even without consciousness now, we might not be able to overpower his will.”

Zhou Fuxuan said nothing. He mimicked the gesture, pressing down on Zhou Zhuoyuan’s other hand to keep it from rubbing the injury.

Pei He eyed the dark circles under Zhou Fuxuan’s eyes. “Besides, I don’t think bitter ploys should be used on the people you care about.”

Zhou Fuxuan instinctively opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again.

What difference was there between their actions and a bitter ploy? Staying up without sleep, tormenting themselves—it wouldn’t erase the guilt of failing to protect their child.

~~~

Zhou Zhuoli helped Zhu Wan sit down. He wanted to offer some comfort, but the words circled in his throat and wouldn’t come out. Anything he said right now would ring hollow. He couldn’t even calm his own racing thoughts, let alone convince himself to relax. Those words—”his will to live isn’t strong”—stabbed repeatedly into his nerves.

Why wasn’t his will to live strong? Wasn’t Little Tree supposed to be so resilient? Hadn’t they said things would only get better? Why had he suddenly lost the desire to go on?

Was it because Zhou Zhuoli could never show up in time, always letting him get bullied? Had even that incredibly tough Little Tree started to fear more suffering?

The door to the intensive care unit opened, and Zhou Fuxuan stepped out.

Zhu Wan and Zhou Zhuoli both froze. Zhu Wan rushed forward in a panic. “Why did you come out?! How could you leave him alone in there?!”

Zhou Fuxuan replied, “Zhuoyuan’s classmate says he has something to say to him. Wait until his classmate comes out, then you can go in.”

They all knew that Pei He had saved Zhou Zhuoyuan last time, and this time too, Pei He had spotted the anomaly in time, notified them, and brought the boy back at once.

Had Pei He paid even a fraction less attention to Zhou Zhuoyuan or hesitated for even a moment, they never would have cornered the kidnappers so quickly.

~~~

After Zhou Fuxuan left, Pei He had to stand up to pin down Zhou Zhuoyuan’s hands.

His face hovered mere inches from Zhou Zhuoyuan’s, close enough to make out the damp spikes of his eyelashes.

No matter how steadily Pei He had held himself together these past few days, he was still just a student in the end. Staring down at Zhou Zhuoyuan’s deathly pale, hollowed-out face, he finally choked on a sob.

“Little Yuan, don’t be scared. You don’t have to be scared anymore. My dad has saved cops riddled with bullets before—he’s in there operating on that guy right now, and he’ll pull through. Little Yuan, you’ll pull through too.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t let anyone down. You fought so hard to save yourself and that other man—you were brave and clever. I saw the message you tried to send me. You called for help right on time.”

“I watched those two videos over and over, and even I couldn’t tell they were faked. They laid a trap just for you. Not many could have gotten out of that. But the kidnappers are all in custody now. They’ll pay for what they did. Don’t worry—the police will squeeze the truth out of them, find whoever’s pulling the strings.”

“And… and Qinglan. He’s not dead. He wasn’t even on that flight. That morning when I stepped out, I called him. He said he couldn’t leave you behind, so he was heading back to school. Then that plane went down. He faked his death, but he made me promise not to tell you.”

“I’ve got the recording. I can play it for you. You’re not petty—you handed over those priceless Buddhist prayer beads without a second thought. It was all because of Qinglan. He’s the real jerk, ditching you to run off abroad. Forget about him. I won’t let you go chasing after him. You’re mine.”

“Little Yuan, you’re mine. I won’t let you go to him.”

“If… if you have to go find him no matter what, then at least wait until after the Gaokao. I’ll go with you. You promised we’d take the X University exam together—you can’t go back on your word.”

“If we really can’t wait, then we come straight back before the Gaokao, the sooner the better. Our grades are top-notch, but X University is still a tough nut to crack.”

“Little Yuan, please… just live. Don’t give up…”

By the end, Pei He wasn’t even sure what he was saying anymore. His scalding tears splashed onto Zhou Zhuoyuan’s pale forehead, blurring together in his mind with the droplets he’d shed that day in the school infirmary.

Back then, in the school infirmary, Zhou Zhuoyuan had cracked open those beautiful eyes of his and ripped into him, demanding to know if he was ever going to stop. God, Pei He wished Zhou Zhuoyuan would do the same right now—crack those eyes open and shoot him one of those fierce glares.

~~~

When Pei He emerged, he had his emotions locked down tight. He wanted Zhou Zhuoyuan’s parents to see him as someone they could count on.

Zhu Wan jolted awake the instant the door swung open. She didn’t spare a glance at anyone else before hurrying inside.

Pei He made his way back to the door of Liu Kuo’s operating room.

Zhou Zhuoyuan wasn’t sure if the boy had understood him or simply run out of steam, but he had stopped clawing at the breathing tube.

If it was his words that had gotten through, then this calm was only temporary. Until Liu Kuo pulled through, Zhou Zhuoyuan wouldn’t truly recover—and every day spent in the ICU with severe pneumonia ratcheted up the risks.

Pei He sank into a chair. He had called out Zhou Fuxuan earlier for playing the sympathy card, but truth be told, he hadn’t caught a wink in days himself. He couldn’t keep going like this. A quick nap would do—he didn’t want Zhou Zhuoyuan waking up and fretting over him.

Twenty minutes later, a burst of commotion yanked Pei He back to wakefulness. He rubbed his temples and glanced toward the stairs, only to spot the legendary Zhou Zhuoyi.

Zhou Zhuoyi’s eyes were red and puffy, a string of Buddhist prayer beads dangling from the wrist of the hand he pressed to his chest. He shoved past the bodyguards and advanced on Pei He, step by labored step.

His face ashen, he demanded, “Where’s my brother?”

Pei He replied, “How do you know who I am?”

Zhou Zhuoyi just repeated himself. “Where’s my brother? Is the one in surgery inside my brother?”

Pei He eyed his unsteady frame. “You sure you want to go in there? Little Yuan needs his parents right now. I’d recommend you see a doctor first.”

He could tell Zhou Zhuoyi suffered from heart trouble, and it looked like it was flaring up. If the man pushed past him anyway and pulled Zhou Zhuoyuan’s parents away, Pei He would have no choice but to ditch his vigil here and head back to Zhou Zhuoyuan’s side.

Zhou Zhuoyi reeled back two steps. “What do you mean he needs his parents? What’s wrong with my brother?”

That’s when Zhou Zhuoli rushed up. He seized Zhou Zhuoyi’s arm, panic etched on his face. “What are you doing here?”

Tears brimming in his eyes, Zhou Zhuoyi pleaded, “Big Brother, tell me—what’s happened to our brother?”

Zhou Zhuoli gazed at him, unable to muster the usual soothing words. Zhou Zhuoyuan could have called for help from the bodyguards at the door, but Zhou Zhuoyi’s sudden appearance had prompted him to send them to escort his younger brother home instead.

If Zhou Zhuoyi hadn’t gone looking for Zhou Zhuoyuan that night on his own, none of this would have happened. He wouldn’t have been kidnapped.

In Zhou Zhuoli’s silence, Zhou Zhuoyi realized that Zhou Zhuoyuan’s condition must be dire. He fumbled for his medication and swallowed it with trembling hands. He couldn’t afford to break down now.

It took him a while to steady himself before he pressed on. “Big Brother, was it because I went to find Brother that night that he got kidnapped?”

Zhou Zhuoli sighed. “It’s not entirely your fault.”

Not entirely—which meant it was still because of him.

Zhou Zhuoyi’s legs nearly gave out, his voice cracking with sobs. “Why? Didn’t Brother get the Buddhist prayer beads back? Aren’t they supposed to turn danger into safety? Why is this still happening? Does it need both strings to work? Big Brother, I’ll give the prayer beads back to him. I don’t want them anymore. He doesn’t like me touching him, so I won’t touch him again. Tell him I’ve cleaned them spotless. Beg him to wear them, so he can turn danger into safety, okay?”

Zhou Zhuoli steadied Zhou Zhuoyi with a hand on his arm, at a loss for words. Earlier, Zhu Wan had returned in tears, telling him how Zhou Zhuoyuan had refused the prayer beads. Zhou Zhuoyuan had always adored their mother most of all, treating her better than anyone. If he wouldn’t even listen to her, why would he heed Zhou Zhuoli?

Pei He spoke up abruptly. “Give me the prayer beads. I’ll help you get them back on him.”

~~~

At 7:28 p.m., Pei He entered the RICU once more. He couldn’t wait to tell Zhou Zhuoyuan, “Liu Kuo’s out of danger now—they’re just keeping him under observation. Little Yuan, hold on. I’ll play that call for you.”

He tapped into the recording and, with calculated cunning, selected the segment where He Qinglan accused him of faking it and exposed his feelings for Zhou Zhuoyuan.

Once it finished playing, Pei He carefully unfastened the restraints and slipped the Buddhist prayer beads onto Zhou Zhuoyuan’s wrist. “I know the truth now—about how you’ve been bullied all this time. The master gave you two strings of prayer beads, but just one doesn’t work. I’ve gotten the other one back for you. Little Yuan, you’ll turn danger into safety in no time. You’ll recover your health soon.”

“Little Yuan, can you live on now?”

Pei He’s heart pounded with exhilaration as he watched Zhou Zhuoyuan lying motionless on the bed, showing no signs of stirring. The smile on his lips slowly faded.

He was out of bargaining chips.