Jiao Bai felt that his very being inherently clashed with the Shen family.

To break free from the old one’s dog leash and escape his predicament, he paid the price of a broken left hand. He only went to the Third High after he had recovered.

As a result, after just a month of attending school, he ended up in the hospital again, this time for the sake of the younger one.

It was the same hospital he stayed last time—what a coincidence.

The hospital was owned by the Shen family so they had to interpret the Shen family’s intentions and act according. Last time, Jiao Bai was a neglected bok-choy yellowing in a field, but this time, Young Master Shen brought him here, so not only were the medical staff in complete disbelief, the way they treated him was also substantially different. Jiao Bai was smoothly admitted to a VIP room and received top-notch medical care, with all his tests going smoothly.

However, this couldn’t alleviate his pain or lift his gloomy mood.

Jiao Bai lay in the hospital bed. Wang Chuqiu’s body was in terrible shape, plagued by numerous issues, big and small. After he taking over, he had planned to restore this body’s health properly, but before he had even addressed his dermatitis, he had broken his bones on two separate occasions, and even aggravated his tailbone injury.

The most frustrating thing was that in the original story, Liang Dong only fractured one rib, while he had broken three.

What? Did they think since his constitution was far inferior to Liang Dong's, it would be unreasonable for him to only fracture one rib?

Vgzs sgd etbj.

Jiao Bai was in so much pain that he didn't dare to cough or take a deep breath. He only dared to take shallow breaths, but even that caused excruciating pain, leaving him sweating and his limbs feeling weak and drained.

He couldn’t go on like this. He needed to engage in some self-therapy, or else he would be consumed by negativity.

So Jiao Bai reflected. He was already dead, with blood flowing out all over the ground and no intact bnqord. The only reason he was still alive today was because he was a player, a soul chosen by some mysterious rules.

Those series of difficult, passive and torturous predicaments were something he inevitably had to endure and overcome.

There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

Moreover, he was originally supposed to be assigned to another world, where he would have to deal with twenty friends and pull each of them into the “My Boyfriend” group. That would have been R-rated years of chaotic battlefields[1], a destroyed chrysanthemum[2], bnmcnlr all over the ground, zmc rghs zmc ohrr.

The reason he could remain in Broken Wings was purely due to some sort of code malfunction that occurred during the transmission process, which caused him to bind and merge with Wang Chuqiu, a character who was about to die, making it impossible to amend the error and send him back to his correct world line.

Twenty became eight.

The "My Boyfriend" group turned into four groups related to ‘life’ and ‘lifetime.’

Not R-rated.

Yup, I should be secretly celebrating.

Jiao Bai closed his eyes and smiled. Haha, I really am a little genius at comforting myself. I’m awesome!

He had come to terms with his current situation and felt at ease now.

The mission had to be completed and he had to secure permanent control of this body. His suffering could not be in vain. He was going to seek revenge and settle all scores.

When Shen Er'an entered the hospital room, he saw Jiao Bai’s curved lips. He was taken aback for a moment and then gently closed the door.

Jiao Bai didn't open his eyes. It hurt to speak now, so he declined to communicate with Shen Er'an for the time being.

Shen Er'an stood beside the hospital bed for a moment, lowered his head and conveyed the test results the doctor shared with him to Jiao Bai.

Words such as “no damage to the organs,” “no surgery needed,” and “chest brace” made its way into Jiao Bai's ears. All he could think about was that it was lucky that he had turned off the stove before leaving, otherwise the pig trotters would have turned to charcoal.

.

Shen Er'an came every day, three times a day: in the morning before school, during lunch break at noon, and after school in the evening. The morning and noon visits were brief, lasting about ten minutes, while the evening ones were longer, typically around half an hour to an hour. Usually, he didn’t say anything and would sit quietly.

Jiao Bai couldn’t sit up or lie down comfortably, so he wanted to stop drinking water. However, the doctor listed the many illnesses that could arise from not drinking, so even though it was very difficult for him, he gritted his teeth and drank. Each time Jiao Bai held it in until he couldn’t anymore and had to get up to urinate, if Shen Er'an was nearby, he would immediately go over to help him. Once Jiao Bai was done, Shen Er'an would carefully assist him back to bed.

Shen Er'an's technique quickly transitioned from awkward to skilled, with the poise of a professional nurse’s aide. It was clear he had specially learned these techniques to take care of Jiao Bai, and knew how to move him in a way that would avoid putting stress on the fractured area.

But Jiao Bai wasn’t shocked by Shen Er'an's attentiveness, nor was he so touched he was beside himself. Because Broken Wings had mentioned that Shen Er'an had also taken care of Liang Dong, who had fractured a rib for his sake, in this manner.

The position of his best friend really had been assigned to Jiao Bai.

On the third day of his hospital stay, Jiao Bai's pain had eased somewhat. In the morning, he heard the “Your friend has come online” notification sound and saw Shen Er'an walk into the room. With a hoarse voice, he asked, “How many?”

This question came out of nowhere without any buildup, but Shen Er'an understood and answered, “Seven ribs.”

Jiao Bai blinked. Shen Er'an's profile picture of Mt. Cheng, which was originally bleak and grey, had now come to life with a touch of green.

Shen Er’an had gone back to the apartment after school before coming here. He placed the cloth bag he was holding on the table and asked, “Not enough?”

Jiao Bai came back to his senses and said, “It’s enough. I have a question for you—come sit down.”

Shen Er'an moved a chair and sat down beside the bed.

So, Jiao Bai admired Shen Er'an's stunning, gorgeous face up close. That group of people were quite clever, knowing to avoid injuring his face.

They must have known that as long as they didn't cause any visible injuries that others could easily spot, there wouldn’t be any issues.

Because, given Shen Er'an's personality, he wouldn't share his joys, anger or sorrows with anyone, let alone let someone know about the wounds hidden beneath his clothes.

Jiao Bai gazed absentmindedly at Shen Er'an's long, thick eyelashes. What questions should he ask? There wasn't really anything to ask about, since he didn’t care about what happened to those people.

No, he did have questions to ask. Jiao Bai thought about which question to ask first and then said, “Hey, I’ve been in a lot of pain these past few days. That’s why I haven’t been talking. I wasn’t purposely ignoring you.” He said without thinking, “My back is a bit itchy. Can you help me scratch it?”


[1] 修罗场 (xiūluó chǎng) – literal translation ‘Asura Field’ – chaotic battlefield, scenes of carnage/mayhem - a scenario where an individual gets caught up in a volatile situation involving multiple love interests.

[2] Bgqxrzmsgdltl hr Bghmdrd rkzmf enq zmtr.