Become the Sickly Villain in the Novel - Chapter 59

After Qin Xu left, Li Nuo finally had the time to take a closer look at the luxury apartment.

It was a one-residence-per-floor building with two bedrooms and a living room. His belongings had been placed in the larger bedroom, separate from Li Yan’s.

This arrangement wasn’t bad at all. In the past, the two of them had squeezed into a small bed. Given Li Yan’s tall stature, even turning over had been a challenge.

Now, having his own comfortable and spacious sleeping space would be a great help to his recovery.

Once he finished looking around, the sound of the door opening caught his attention. Li Nuo poked his head out of the bathroom and saw Li Yan entering with a sour expression on his face.

“Li Yan, thanks for all your hard work today. Welcome back.”

Although many people had helped them move, most of the arrangements after arriving here had been made by Li Yan.

“Brother, are you alright?” Li Yan immediately switched to a different expression as he approached. “You’ve been out for a long time today. How’s your health?”

Li Nuo raised his hand and struck a mock pose to show off his muscles. “I’m fine. The sunlight outside was lovely. It’s good to get some fresh air now and then.”

Amused by his actions, Li Yan put down the groceries he had brought back. “I’ll cook. Brother, you just sit down.”

“Alright.”

At the moment, the rather empty living room only had a sofa and a small table. The kitchen, separated by a glass door, was equally sparse, and the refrigerator was practically bare.

Li Yan placed some of the groceries in the fridge and muttered to himself, “I’ll need to buy more stuff tomorrow. We also need fruit.”

He glanced over at Li Nuo, who was sitting on the sofa, absentmindedly flipping through video editing tutorials on his laptop. Seeing his brother like this, Li Yan couldn’t help but notice how much weight he had lost.

Since Li Nuo had been constantly in front of him, it hadn’t been as obvious before. But now, sitting on that large sofa with the empty space around him as a backdrop, he seemed even smaller and more fragile.

It made Li Yan’s heart ache.

Still, Li Nuo’s health was steadily improving, and Li Yan held on to the hope that one day, his brother would be healthy and strong again.

After dinner and a shower, Li Nuo lay in the large bed in his room, worried about whether he’d have trouble sleeping in an unfamiliar place. What if he couldn’t fall asleep?

But as drowsiness crept over him, he realized his concerns had been unnecessary. Fortunately, he wasn’t the type to have trouble sleeping in new places.

Snuggled under the blanket, after spending quite some time outdoors that day, he fell asleep almost immediately.

At one point during the night, Li Yan opened the door to check on him. Seeing his brother fast asleep, looking serene and comfortable, Li Yan finally felt relieved.

Although he owed Qin Xu another huge favor, Li Yan mentally noted it as just another loan to repay eventually.

Elsewhere, earlier that day, Qin Xu had just left Li Nuo’s apartment and was sitting in his car when Fang Che began his report.

“I’m sorry, but we didn’t catch the person. They were keeping a considerable distance and seemed very vigilant.”

“It’s fine,” Qin Xu replied, frowning slightly. “They’ll probably show up again. For now, stick close to Li Nuo for the time being.”

He paused, as if remembering something. “By the way, has the investigation on Liu Ming’s side been completed?”

“The reply was that it’ll take a few more days.”

“Alright. Let’s wait for now, then.”

……………

The next morning, after Li Yan made breakfast and left, Li Nuo stayed in bed for a little while longer before getting up. When the doorbell rang, he was still a bit groggy and confused.

Peeking through the peephole, he saw someone he had met yesterday—Special Assistant Fang Che—along with a large group of people behind him.

Li Nuo opened the door, and Fang Che greeted him with a polite smile before motioning for the people behind him to start moving in the furniture and appliances.

“All of this is…”

“This was already arranged in advance, so please don’t refuse,” Fang Che said, his expression clearly conveying, If you decline, it’ll put me in a very difficult position.

Li Nuo could only nod and agree reluctantly.

After a flurry of activity, the new television, oven, microwave, and other items were installed. Li Nuo didn’t even dare to ask how they’d handle things if they had to move again in the future.

The delivery team didn’t leave a trace of garbage behind, leaving the once-empty apartment with a newfound sense of warmth and livability.

After Fang Che said his goodbyes and left, Li Nuo found himself sitting alone in the now-cozy apartment, staring blankly at everything.

He picked up his phone, intending to send Qin Xu a message to thank him.

However, just as he was about to type, an international call came in first.

Seeing the number, Li Nuo blinked. He already knew who it was.

“Hello?”

“Don’t you miss me?”

As expected, though the sound quality over the phone was slightly distorted, the familiar voice on the other end belonged to Mo Chuan.

“I heard you’ve been working hard.”

“I want to finish early so I can come back to see you,” Mo Chuan’s voice sounded a little sullen.

Hearing that, Li Nuo chuckled softly.

“The moment I return, I’ll come looking for you. Maybe I can even come back a few days earlier. So make sure you stay at home, alright?”

“Ah, I was forced to move yesterday. Did you know that?”

“Yeah, I know. Liu Ming told me.”

“As expected of an all-capable secretary.” Li Nuo felt like, aside from the fact that he was a transmigrator, there wasn’t a single secret of his that they didn’t know.

“What did you do today?”

“I haven’t done much yet. This morning, Special Assistant Fang delivered a bunch of appliances, so I’ve been fiddling with those.”

“Hmm… How’s the laptop I sent you? Have you been using it well?”

“I have. I’ve been watching video tutorials on editing and similar things.”

“You’ve taken an interest in that?”

Sitting on the sofa by the balcony, bathed in warm sunlight, Li Nuo’s voice softened. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about learning more about it.”

“Do your best, but don’t push yourself too hard.”

“I won’t. You shouldn’t overwork yourself either, Brother Mo.”

“Wow, with you saying that, I feel like I can pull a few more all-nighters,” Mo Chuan joked.

The two of them laughed, their laughter intertwining and adding a touch of liveliness to the otherwise quiet atmosphere.

Even though he couldn’t see Mo Chuan in person, Li Nuo felt like he could picture exactly what he looked like right now.

“I have to go now. Thankfully, we’re on nearly the same longitude, so the time difference isn’t too bad. I’ll keep in touch with you.”

After the call ended, Li Nuo felt a bit lost again. One thing was certain—both Qin Xu and Mo Chuan were interested in him. Although he kept telling himself to maintain distance, Li Nuo sadly realized that he had no one else he could reach out to.

What was he supposed to do? Become like the original owner of this body and string them along like fish on a line? He couldn’t bring himself to do that.

Tsk, forget it. Let’s take it one step at a time.

Shaking off the thoughts stirred up by the phone call, Li Nuo refocused on his studies.

Time flew by, and Li Nuo eventually stepped out of the house again.

“Are you going to follow me everywhere?”

Li Nuo asked curiously as he took his first steps outside the building, noticing Fang Che closely trailing behind him.

“Yes. Whenever you go out, I’ll be by your side.”

“I’m just going out to buy a few books.”

“I can carry them for you.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Li Nuo sighed, feeling helpless.

When he saw Fang Che that morning, he’d been startled. He couldn’t understand why the man was here.

“So, someone’s been following me recently?”

“That’s what we suspect. We don’t know who it is yet, so it’s better to be cautious.”

Reluctantly accepting the explanation, Li Nuo managed to tolerate having someone shadowing him everywhere he went.

At the bookstore, he picked out several books based on recommendations from the tutorials he’d watched. Glancing at Fang Che, he said, “I’m planning to head to the library next. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

“No problem. Here, let me carry those,” Fang Che replied, taking the books from Li Nuo without waiting for permission.

On the way to the library, Li Nuo looked up at the sky, then tugged on Fang Che’s arm and led him into a nearby coffee shop. “Let’s grab a drink first. We’ve been walking nonstop since we left.”

Once they sat down, Fang Che placed the books on the table. Li Nuo asked, “What would you like to drink?”

“I don’t need anything.”

“Come on, we’re already here.”

“Then I’ll step outside.”

“I’d feel so guilty if you did that!”

Li Nuo reached out and stopped Fang Che, who was about to stand up from his seat.  “Then I’ll just browse and buy something.”

He glanced at the menu on the counter and ordered a coffee for Fang Che and a glass of milk for himself.

It was a weekday, so the coffee shop wasn’t crowded. Li Nuo planned to take a short break before continuing.

He took a sip of his milk, his eyes drifting to the people passing by outside the window. Suddenly, his expression froze as he noticed someone across the street waving at him.

Li Nuo frowned, thinking he might be mistaken. But when he looked away, his phone buzzed with a new message.

Zhang Wanhui: 【 Who’s the person across from you? 】

【 A new person you’ve hooked up with? 】

Li Nuo’s brows furrowed in displeasure. What kind of awful way of speaking was that? However, judging by the original owner’s personality, it seemed this was par for the course.

Li Nuo’s lips twitched. At least now he could confirm that the person outside was indeed Zhang Wanhui.

What a coincidence. He had been planning to contact him in a few days, but they ended up running into each other first.

So, what exactly was the original owner’s relationship with Zhang Wanhui? Judging by the familiarity of his tone, it didn’t seem like he was one of the so-called “fish” in the original owner’s pond.

It seemed the two of them had had some kind of conflict before. While Zhang Wanhui’s number was still saved, the original owner had deleted all their previous chat history.

As Li Nuo was deep in thought, another message arrived.

Zhang Wanhui: 【 Are you planning to ignore me forever? 】

【 There are other people around today, so it’s not convenient to chat. I’ll contact you later. 】

Across from him, Fang Che seemed to sense that someone was watching them. He turned his head to look out the window, but by then, Zhang Wanhui had already stepped out of sight, disappearing around the corner.

Fang Che raised an eyebrow and quickly sent someone a message. Unbeknownst to Li Nuo, there was more than one person tailing Li Nuo—Fang Che wasn’t the only one tailing him.

The recipient of Fang Che’s message, one of his subordinates stationed nearby, immediately began following Zhang Wanhui.

After finishing his milk, Li Nuo wiped his mouth, grabbed his books, and headed straight to the library. He spent the whole day there in peace, only returning home before Li Yan got off work.

Later that evening, lying alone in bed, Li Nuo held his phone, staring at the messaging app with hesitation.

If he hadn’t taken the initiative, he would never have uncovered the original owner’s secrets.

Usually, in novels, transmigration occurs after some kind of major event. Yet, according to Li Yan, the original owner had simply been hospitalized for a routine matter before his consciousness was replaced. That was far too strange.

But since he himself was experiencing memory loss, could he really dig up any information from Zhang Wanhui?

It was obvious that Zhang Wanhui had been close to the original owner. With the way Li Nuo was behaving now—completely clueless about past events—there was no way his amnesia wouldn’t be noticed.

Rather than pretending, perhaps it would be better to come clean and tell him about the memory loss. After all, it was the truth.

Over the past few months, he really had spent most of his time in the hospital.

After some thought, he opened the chat window and sent over a photo of the original owner’s medical diagnosis, which stated dissociative amnesia. Then he followed it up with a message.

【 Who are you? I’ve lost my memory and don’t remember anything from before. Were we close? 】

After a short pause, Zhang Wanhui responded.

【 ??? 】

【 Are you joking? 】

【 Amnesia? That excuse is way too serious. 】

【 Wait, is this condition real??? 】

It was obvious that the other person was completely dumbfounded.

A few seconds later, Li Nuo’s phone rang.

On the other end of the call, Zhang Wanhui’s voice was anxious as he fired off several questions. When he heard Li Nuo’s entirely different tone and way of speaking, he finally began to believe the amnesia claim.

“Did something really happen to you? I thought you said it was just a simple check-up back then. But after that, you didn’t contact me for months.”

“You knew? Are you really that close to me?” Li Nuo asked.

It was surprising. The original owner’s social circle had been so barren, yet here was someone who knew about the hospitalization.

“You must be out of your mind. Let’s meet up and talk about it in person. Let’s set a time.”

Li Nuo thought for a moment, calculating the time. “How about tomorrow? At the coffee shop you saw me at today.”

“Alright. Nine o’clock in the morning, does that work for you?”

“That’s fine.”

After hanging up, Li Yan knocked on the door and entered a while later. “Brother, are you still awake?”

“I’m going to sleep soon,” Li Nuo said as he turned off his phone and rolled over in bed.

For now, he decided not to tell Li Yan about this. He would check things out for himself before making a decision.