Those days in the hospital were probably the most relaxed and happiest moments Ren Yi had experienced in the past few years.
He didn’t have to train, attend classes, or respond to calls. Every day, he chatted, ate, and took walks with Gong Yingxian, acting like a couple, and at night they squeezed into the same blanket to watch movies.
Although Gong Yingxian still spent most of each day working on the phone and computer, almost all of his remaining time belonged to Ren Yi. In order to spend as much time alone with Gong Yingxian as possible, Ren Yi would even find all kinds of excuses to hurry the people from his station away whenever they came to visit him.
Having this much of Gong Yingxian’s time and attention was something Ren Yi had never dared to imagine before. Every second of it was incredibly sweet to him.
But humans were greedy creatures, always wanting more once they had obtained a little. He was immersed in this kind of life together, almost like living together, yet he was also anxiously aware that these good days were running out.
The stronger his desire to have Gong Yingxian became, the less he dared to say anything.
As long as he kept quiet, he could continue spending every day with Gong Yingxian as a friend. But if he confessed, perhaps he would lose everything.
Just thinking about that frightened him.
He had chickened out. He couldn’t blame Qu Yangbo for calling him out on it. He really had… chickened out.
But whenever he saw Gong Yingxian smiling at him without the slightest guard, he was perfectly willing to keep being a coward.
They were both recovering very well, and they were scheduled to be discharged tomorrow.
Gong Yingxian got up early and immediately started doing sit-ups. Ren Yi had not exercised for an entire week and also felt a little sluggish, but he wasn’t in a hurry to work out. Instead, he lazily lay on the bed and watched Gong Yingxian.
Gong Yingxian took off his outer pajamas, leaving only a close-fitting black thermal shirt on his upper body. From this angle, Ren Yi had a perfect view of his taut, well-defined pectoral muscles and biceps, his slim waist, and his firm buttocks that rose and fell in a continuous line. Not to mention those long, straight legs that seemed to go on forever.
Looking at such a beautiful sight, Ren Yi felt he could eat three bowls of rice.
However, the longer he watched, the more something seemed wrong.
How many had he done already? Was this guy deliberately showing off?
“How many have you done?”
“Usually two hundred a day.”
Ren Yi was stunned.
“What about you?” Gong Yingxian asked during a break to catch his breath.
“…Never counted.” Ren Yi answered guiltily.
Gong Yingxian finished the set in one go. Covered in sweat, he immediately felt refreshed. He jumped up from the floor and stretched as he asked Ren Yi, “Aren’t you going to exercise?”
“It’s the last day. Let me enjoy it a little longer.”
Ren Yi narrowed his eyes slightly.
The thermal shirt was thin and somewhat translucent. Clinging to Gong Yingxian’s body, especially after he had sweated so much, it made Ren Yi’s mouth go dry.
Gong Yingxian let out a low laugh. “Lazybones.”
Ren Yi felt as though his entire body had become light and airy. “I just want to be a lazybones for one day.”
“Suit yourself.” Gong Yingxian said. “I’m going to take a shower. Breakfast should be here soon.”
Ren Yi lay on the bed and stretched his body vigorously. Then he rested his head on his arms and stared at the ceiling with a foolish grin.
If, if one day he really lived together with Gong Yingxian, their life would probably be like this too.
Just thinking about it made him yearn for it.
His phone screen flashed beside him.
Ren Yi picked up his phone and saw a WeChat message from Qi Xiao:
Bro, what have you been up to lately?
Ren Yi replied:
Nothing much. Same old.
Are you on vacation lately? I really want to see you.
Ren Yi hesitated.
Although he felt a little guilty about lying, it really wasn’t appropriate for him and Qi Xiao to meet right now.
No. The station is especially busy at the end of the year.
Qi Xiao called.
Ren Yi glanced at the closed bathroom door and answered.
“Hello, Qi Xiao.”
Qi Xiao’s voice sounded lazy. “I’m going to take a break for a while, so I’ll be in Beijing. Take some time off, or I can come to your station and hang out with you?”
“The station is a workplace. You… should probably not come to the station.” Ren Yi said tactfully. “Aren’t you going somewhere else to film?”
Qi Xiao sighed. “After what happened last time, things got a little tense between me and my agency. I haven’t had any work lately. It’s driving me crazy. I’m thinking about terminating my contract.”
“Think it through before making a decision. Anyway, I believe you’ll have a good future.”
Qi Xiao laughed. “You’re always comforting me.”
“I mean it.”
“Ah, I’m so bored.” Qi Xiao complained. “I feel like you’ve been really cold toward me lately. I can’t get you out to meet me, and you haven’t hung out with us in ages.”
Ren Yi chuckled. “I’ve been too busy with work. Besides, lately I’ve been…” Ren Yi hesitated, trying to find an appropriate way to phrase it. But for some reason, he couldn’t think of anything at that moment, and two words slipped out.
“Going on blind dates.”
“Blind dates?” Qi Xiao laughed in disbelief. “Why the hell are you going on blind dates?”
“Just someone a friend introduced me to. We’re getting to know each other.”
Ren Yi couldn’t tell Qi Xiao about Gong Yingxian, nor did he want to directly reject Qi Xiao’s enthusiasm.
With their kind of relationship, once one person had a steady partner, everyone tacitly understood that it was over.
He hoped Qi Xiao would understand the hint.
Qi Xiao’s tone was obviously a little dejected.
“What, are you planning to start dating?”
“Hey, I’m getting older too.”
“So when you wanted to date someone, you never considered me as an option?”
Ren Yi hadn’t expected Qi Xiao to say that.
He stammered twice, completely unable to respond.
At that moment, Gong Yingxian pushed open the bathroom door and emerged surrounded by hot steam.
Ren Yi instinctively shrank back slightly, trying to cover the hand holding the phone.
Gong Yingxian was a criminal police officer and was extremely sensitive to subtle changes in people’s expressions.
He frowned.
“Who are you talking to?”
Qi Xiao heard movement on Ren Yi’s end of the phone but could only make out a man’s voice.
He took a deep breath.
“Good luck, then.”
Then he hung up.
Ren Yi lowered the phone and looked somewhat awkwardly at Gong Yingxian.
He was someone who really disliked lying and was terrible at it. Every time he lied, he had to hesitate over whether he should tell the truth and whether the matter was worth lying about.
That hesitation often turned out to be worse than either choice.
He had just told one lie, and the result had not been pleasant.
So he decided to tell the truth.
“Qi Xiao. We were just chatting about how things have been lately.”
Gong Yingxian unhappily said, “Oh.”
He knew he had no right to stop other people from making friends.
But he still had every right to be unhappy about it.
Ren Yi gave an awkward smile.
“You really don’t like him, do you?”
“Mm.” Gong Yingxian answered bluntly.
“…Why?”
Gong Yingxian glared at Ren Yi.
Ren Yi said dejectedly, “It doesn’t matter.”
He didn’t even know what kind of answer he had been hoping for.
Whatever it was, it certainly wouldn’t be the answer he wanted most.
At that moment, Gong Yingxian’s driver delivered breakfast.
While they ate, Ren Yi coaxed Gong Yingxian. There was a reason Ren Yi described Gong Yingxian’s temper as having “young lady syndrome.” His moods came and went quickly. Although he got angry easily, he was also easy to placate.
Before long, he was smiling again, and the matter was considered closed.
Ren Yi thought that regardless of how Gong Yingxian viewed Qi Xiao, out of respect for everyone involved, he would maintain the proper distance from Qi Xiao.
That had nothing to do with whether Gong Yingxian would ever reciprocate his feelings.
By the time they finished the discharge procedures, it was already afternoon.
Qiu Yan personally came to pick them up.
On the way, Ren Yi sat in the back seat, watching the two of them occasionally discuss the case.
A handsome man and a beautiful woman—they really did look perfectly matched and pleasing to the eye.
Ren Yi felt incredibly jealous, but he didn’t dare reveal even the slightest trace of it in front of Qiu Yan, afraid she would look down on him.
“We’ve almost finished sorting through Red Flame’s background and social connections. We also have some leads on the person with the chemical background. We need to verify them one by one. That person is too cunning and barely left any traces.”
“I can be certain they’ve met at least once. It definitely wasn’t just phone contact like Red Flame and Chen Pei. Because mixing chemical raw materials, especially something as unstable as hydrogen peroxide, requires a professional to handle it. Otherwise, they could easily poison or blow themselves up first.”
“We’ll find him.”
Ren Yi couldn’t help saying, “You just got discharged. Aren’t you going home to rest? You’re already rushing back to work?”
“I think I’ve recovered pretty well.” Gong Yingxian glanced back at him with a smile in his eyes. “You’re going back to your station too.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I haven’t seen them for a whole week. I’m afraid they’ve torn the roof off by now.”
Qiu Yan stopped the car in front of the station.
“Captain Ren, take good care of yourself.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Captain Ren.” Qiu Yan called out to Ren Yi as he was about to get out. “Whether as a private individual or from a professional standpoint, I sincerely want to thank you.”
Ren Yi smiled. “You’re welcome.”
He winked at Gong Yingxian.
“See you.”
“Tomorrow.” Gong Yingxian said. “I’m interrogating Chen Pei tomorrow. Come to the precinct tomorrow morning.”
“No problem.”
When Ren Yi walked into the station, the soldier standing guard saw him and grinned.
“Whoa, Captain Ren, you’re back.”
“Yeah. Did you miss me terribly?”
“Terribly.”
On the training ground, a group of soldiers were doing their regular training, with Gao Ge leading them.
From far away, Gao Ge spotted him. A smile immediately spread across his face.
“About-face!”
The group turned around in unison.
When they saw Ren Yi, their eyes immediately lit up.
Ren Yi swaggered over to them, looking extremely pleased with himself.
“Not bad. Looks like you guys didn’t slack off while I was gone.”
Gao Ge shouted, “Welcome Captain Ren back to the team after his recovery! Applause!”
The soldiers raised their hands and clapped loudly.
The enthusiastic applause echoed throughout the entire training ground.
Ren Yi straightened his back and saluted them.
After the applause, Gao Ge said, “All right, dismissed.”
The soldiers immediately swarmed toward Ren Yi, chattering like a flock of little birds.
“Captain Ren, was the hospital food good? You seem to have gained weight.”
“Nonsense. I didn’t gain any weight.”
“Captain Ren, I heard you shared a hospital room with that famous Doctor Gong from the police force. How was it? Hahahahaha—”
“Captain Ren, did you meet any pretty nurses? Introduce some to us!”
Ren Yi felt as though he had scattered a handful of rice among a flock of ducks. He could barely keep up with all the questions.
Suddenly, he noticed Li Sa standing outside the crowd, watching them with a faint smile.
Ren Yi pointed at Li Sa.
“Come to my office in a little while.”