Become the Sickly Villain in the Novel - Chapter 52

After the two left, Li Yan appeared quite pleased. Although there were still things to handle, most of the tidying up had already been completed.

Li Nuo watched him busying around and asked, “Are you planning to stay here? I see you’ve brought your clothes over.”

“Of course. Being hospitalized, especially for major surgery, definitely requires someone to stay by your side.”

“But you won’t be able to rest well here,” Li Nuo glanced at the companion bed. Although it was a VIP room, the bed was still very small; for someone of Li Yan’s height, it was impossible to turn over freely while lying down.

“It’s convenient here, close to the company, and most importantly,” Li Yan hung up all the clothes, “How could I feel at ease leaving you here alone? I must stay with you.”

Li Nuo gave a reassuring smile but still tried to persuade him, “You should occasionally go home for a proper rest. You can’t leave the house unoccupied all the time.”

“I will, when necessary.”

“Alright, but there’s no need to always stay by my side. It’s more important for you to focus on your own thing.”

“No, staying by my brother’s side is the most important thing to me.”

Looking at Li Yan’s smile, Li Nuo’s face also lit up with a beautiful smile.

……………

Qin Xu and Mo Chuan often came by. It seemed as if they had made arrangements to come together. Mo Chuan also started bringing flowers each time, beautiful bouquets that were never the same.

Although Li Yan always impatiently pushed open the hospital room door with them, Li Nuo was delighted. During working hours, he was alone in the room, but after work, it became lively, and he felt very content knowing there were always people coming to see him.

At some point, he had grown used to waiting. Watching the clock, once it hit a certain time, he would glance toward the room door, waiting for someone to push it open.

Today was no exception. Around six o’clock, the sound of leather shoes stepping on the floor echoed in the corridor.

There were only two sets of footsteps today.

Someone pushed the door open from the outside, and Li Yan’s voice rang out, “Brother, I’m here.”

Following behind was Qin Xu.

Li Nuo jumped off the bed to greet them. “Li Yan, Brother Qin, you’ve had a hard day at work.”

He glanced back and asked, “Where’s Brother Mo?”

“He’s working overtime. Have you had dinner?”

“I’ve eaten a bit, but I’m still a little hungry.” Li Nuo rubbed his stomach, feeling like his appetite had grown a bit lately.

“Do you want me to get you something?”

“I want some fried skewers,” Li Nuo’s eyes lit up.

“Got it, I’ll go get porridge.”

“…Then why did you ask me?” Li Nuo gave Li Yan a resentful look.

“To see if you had any self-awareness,” Li Yan smiled faintly. “Of course, it’s impossible to let you eat fried skewers here.”

Li Nuo sighed. The hospital food was truly unappetizing—too bland. He wanted to eat something with a stronger flavor.

“Then when you go out, remember to bring food back for both you and Brother Qin.”

“The Director needs to go home for dinner, doesn’t he? Auntie must have already prepared something.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

Li Yan turned around. “Director, let’s head out together.”

“…I’ve only been here a few minutes.”

“A few minutes is enough. You don’t have much to say, do you?”

“Actually, Auntie happens to have the day off today, so there’s nothing to eat at home. Secretary Li, when you’re buying porridge, could you get an extra portion for me as well?”

Li Yan insisted on going out with Qin Xu, but after hearing Li Nuo’s stomach growling, he reluctantly went out alone.

The auntie at Qin Xu’s house was an old employee who had been with him for a long time. How could she just happen to take today off? Li Yan, of course, knew this, but to avoid letting his brother go hungry, he begrudgingly went out.

For the first time in a while, it was just the two of them in the hospital room. Li Nuo felt a little uneasy, darting his eyes around. If it were Mo Chuan, he wouldn’t feel this way, but Qin Xu’s reserved personality and quiet demeanor made it difficult to find a conversation starter.

Noticing Qin Xu was still standing, Li Nuo quickly said, “Brother Qin, please have a seat.”

Qin Xu sat down on the edge of the sofa as requested and asked, “How’s your health?”

“It’s pretty good. Brother He said that if I keep it up, there shouldn’t be any issues with the surgery.”

Qin Xu stared at him, noticing that his complexion seemed to have improved somewhat recently. Li Nuo avoided his gaze, thought for a moment, and picked up the phone on the bedside table. Finally, he made up his mind and asked, “Um, Brother Qin, could you give me your phone number?”

Thinking carefully, it had been a few months since Mo Chuan’s and Qin Xu’s phone numbers were completely deleted. After all, they were just work numbers. Later, Mo Chuan kept pestering him to add him as a friend and gave him his personal number, but Qin Xu never did.

“Hmm? Did you delete it before?”

“Uh—” Li Nuo felt a bit embarrassed. How could I say, “I deleted you”?

He spoke softly, “I deleted all the numbers while cleaning up my phone. So, um, now that I think about it, it’s still good to have yours.”

Li Nuo thought that there likely wouldn’t be much interaction with Qin Xu. Once his illness was cured, there wouldn’t be many opportunities to meet.

Previously, the original owner of the body had forced Qin Xu to give his number, which turned out to be a work number.

This time, wanting his contact information was purely my idea. Since there was no longer any danger to my life, and given the precious connection I had made in this world, I wanted to repay him for his help.

Having his contact information would make things more convenient.

Qin Xu stood up, walked over to Li Nuo, and took his phone. On the screen, the contacts list was pitifully sparse.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Qin Xu noticed Mo Chuan’s personal number. He then remembered that the number he had given previously was indeed a work number.

In recent weeks, having been in constant face-to-face contact, he had almost forgotten about phones altogether.

He entered his phone number, saved it, and then opened the WeChat app to send a friend request. Taking out his own phone, he approved the request and skillfully handled the settings before returning the phone to Li Nuo.

“Done. The number and contact have been saved.”

Li Nuo took his phone and noticed that Qin Xu had added the letter “A” before his name, automatically sorting him to the very top of the contacts list.

He looked at Qin Xu in surprise, not expecting him to do that.

Qin Xu didn’t feel embarrassed at all, instead asking him with his eyes, “What’s wrong?”

Li Nuo smiled slightly and asked, “Would it be okay to occasionally send you messages?”

“Of course. Not just occasionally—you can send them frequently if you want.”

Li Nuo rolled his eyes. “What about game invites?”

“What kind of game invites?”

“You know, when playing mobile games, you need to share things with others to get extra resources. I don’t have many friends…”

Qin Xu raised an eyebrow. “So, is that why you asked for my number?”

“That’s not it,” Li Nuo waved his hand repeatedly, feeling slightly embarrassed at having pushed his luck. “Just kidding. I wouldn’t actually send them.”

“It’s fine. Send them if you want, I’ll take care of it for you.”

“Ah, there’s really no need for that.”

“I mean it,” Qin Xu said, reaching out to pat Li Nuo on the head. The soft feel of his hair was unexpectedly pleasant. “Thanks to that game, we’ve gone from acquaintances to friends.”

“…It’s really not like that.” Li Nuo mumbled the words under his breath, regretting making a joke in the first place.

While they were chatting, Li Yan returned quickly with the food he had bought.

In addition to porridge, he had also brought sushi, thinking that Qin Xu probably wouldn’t want to eat anything else and that something simple might be better.

Li Nuo watched the two of them eat sushi listlessly, stirring his porridge with a spoon. Fortunately, Li Yan wasn’t so strict as to buy plain porridge; instead, he chose a flavorful meat porridge.

After finishing a bowl, Li Nuo finally felt less hungry.

The other two also finished eating. Qin Xu glanced at the time, stood up, and prepared to leave.

“Are you leaving?”

Qin Xu nodded.

Li Nuo stood up as well. “I’ll walk you to the front. I just finished eating, so a little walk will help with digestion.”

Staying in the hospital room all the time was stifling; taking a walk outside was a nice change of pace.

Li Yan wanted to follow, but someone needed to stay in the room, and there was trash to clean up from their meal. He had no choice but to call out, “Don’t wander off. Just take a short walk and come back.”

“I know.”

Li Nuo followed Qin Xu all the way to the hospital entrance and watched as his car disappeared into the distance. Then his phone began buzzing incessantly with notifications.

Picking it up, he saw that the messages were from Mo Chuan.

【 What are you doing? 】

【 I originally planned to visit you today. I’m sorry. 】

【 Has Director Qin left? 】

Li Nuo lowered his head to avoid the crowd and replied, 【 He just left not long ago. 】

Mo Chuan: 【 How are you feeling? 】

Li Nuo: 【 Very good~ 】

【 Are you still at the company? 】

Mo Chuan: 【 Yes, crying.JPG. 】

【 There’s just too much work. 】

【 I’ll come back to visit you tomorrow. Do you need anything? 】

Li Nuo quickly typed: 【 No need, just take care of yourself. See you tomorrow. 】

Mo Chuan: 【 See you tomorrow. 】

Looking at the phone screen, Li Nuo’s face lit up with a bright smile. He also sent a message to Qin Xu.

【 Thank you for visiting me today. Good night! 】

After a short while, a message came back from the other side, 【 Good night. 】

……………

Qin Xu and Mo Chuan frequently visited the hospital room. On days they couldn’t make it, they would message Li Nuo. During such times, Li Nuo would chat with them for a while through text.

Mo Chuan often called during the day. Although it was supposed to be his working hours, he didn’t seem to mind. While Li Nuo was happy to have someone to talk to, he was also concerned that he might be disturbing Mo Chuan’s work.

Mo Chuan always reassured him that it was fine, often asking if there was anything Li Nuo wanted to eat, offering to bring it for him. Although Li Nuo sometimes craved junk food, he ultimately restrained himself. With the surgery date approaching, Brother He had repeatedly reminded him to be careful about his diet.

Talking with Mo Chuan made Li Nuo’s days less dull. Occasionally, he also messaged Qin Xu, though most of the time there was no reply, or just a simple “Hmm.”

Because there was little else to occupy him, his contact with Mo Chuan became something he particularly looked forward to.

If Li Yan knew about this, he would probably be furious.

Time passed quickly, and soon it was the day before the surgery.

Li Nuo sat clutching his stomach, sighing deeply.

The day before the surgery required fasting, and now he was starving.

“Once you’ve recovered, I promise I’ll let you eat skewers,” Li Yan comforted him from the side.

“And I want chili sauce on them.”

“Yeah, I know.”

Li Yan had no intention of deceiving his brother; after the surgery, eating such things should be fine.

“Then I also want barbecue, donkey meat sandwiches, fried chicken wings, hamburgers, hot pot, crawfish…”

Li Nuo rattled off a long list of snacks, and Li Yan responded with a wry smile, agreeing to everything.

With thoughts of all the delicious food, Li Nuo lay on the bed as he was being transferred to the operating room.

“Don’t worry so much. Didn’t I reassure you before?” Seeing the worried expression on Li Yan’s face, it was Li Nuo’s turn to comfort him.

Now that he was lying on the hospital bed, he had come to terms with it. After all, if he didn’t go through with the surgery, his body would deteriorate, leading to inevitable death. It was better to give it a try.

“Don’t stay outside the operating room the whole time. The surgery will take several hours. Go back to the room and rest.”

“…I understand,” Li Yan replied reluctantly, forced to agree under Li Nuo’s gaze.

A nurse arrived and pushed the hospital bed into the operating room, leaving Li Yan outside with a face full of worry.

The doors to the operating room closed, and the light indicating “In Surgery” lit up.

Li Yan plopped himself down on a long bench by the corridor and began the hours-long wait.

Meanwhile, even though both Qin Xu and Mo Chuan were preoccupied with work, the thought of Li Nuo undergoing surgery today remained vivid in their minds.