Become the Sickly Villain in the Novel - Chapter 66

The late autumn weather had already turned noticeably chilly, but the scenery was still quite nice, especially with the well-maintained greenery around the apartment complex.

Li Nuo sat on a bench in the community garden, staring blankly at the gray sky. He murmured to himself, “It’s a cloudy day today… Haven’t seen the sun in days.”

He needed to get a set amount of exercise every day, so he always made a habit of going outside for a walk. Staying home for too long felt stifling.

Ever since that conversation with Li Yan the other night, for some reason, Li Yan had been sticking to him even more. Coincidentally, work hadn’t been requiring him to stay late recently, so he was coming home early.

Mo Chuan, too, had been contacting him more frequently than before, and his words had become… a lot more direct. He had clearly said he would give him time to think, yet he wasn’t allowing him any time to relax at all.

Even Qin Xu, who had been relatively quiet, had become much more active. Previously, he had been too busy with work to pay much attention to him, but now, he would check in at noon with simple greetings.

Was he really not just toying with him?

Li Nuo was quite skeptical.

And then there was Zhang Wanhui, who constantly reached out to him as well.

Li Nuo realized that his life had suddenly become very busy.

“Hah, being busy isn’t necessarily a good thing… Whatever, I’ll take a walk.”

He got up and slowly strolled along the tree-lined path, where autumn leaves rustled as they fell. This was also his way of tracking his daily step count. The road was flanked by clusters of red begonias.

Wearing his headphones and listening to soothing music, Li Nuo felt his nerves, which had been tense these past few days, gradually relax.

He had originally planned to take a longer route and stay outside for a while, but unfortunately, the weather was not on his side. The once-grayish sky suddenly darkened, and rain began to fall.

Hurriedly, Li Nuo took shelter in a pavilion, muttering under his breath, “Wasn’t it supposed to be just cloudy today? How is autumn turning into summer, raining on a whim?”

He patted his clothes and ran his fingers through his damp hair. “Damn, I got caught in the rain. Hopefully, I won’t get sick.”

“The rain isn’t letting up.” Watching the fine, dense raindrops fall outside, he sighed in frustration.

Gazing at the still-gloomy sky, he waited in the pavilion for a while, but there was no sign of the rain stopping.

I need to hurry back, change clothes, and dry my hair.

Growing a little anxious, Li Nuo took advantage of the fact that the rain hadn’t gotten too heavy yet. Quickly pulling off his jacket to cover his head, he alternated between running and walking as he dashed toward home.

By the time he reached the apartment building, his jacket was completely soaked. Fortunately, the thicker layers underneath had kept him dry.

A shiver ran through him, and he thought to himself that he definitely needed a hot shower.

When he came out of the bathroom, towel in hand, he finally noticed his phone vibrating wildly. Seeing the name on the screen, the corner of his mouth twitched. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to ignore it for now.

After drying his hair, he checked his phone and found over a dozen missed calls.

Li Nuo figured that if he didn’t answer soon, Mo Chuan would probably show up at his door.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, the phone screen lit up again.

Li Nuo sighed. Mo Chuan’s persistence was truly something else.

“It’s been hard to get ahold of you lately.”

Mo Chuan’s voice came through the phone, sounding aggrieved.

“I was in the shower just now.”

Li Nuo offered a simple explanation.

“A shower? In the middle of the day? What happened?”

Li Nuo folded his blow dryer with one hand. “Nothing much, just got caught in the rain.”

Before Mo Chuan could respond, he added, “Don’t worry, I got back in time.”

Only then did Mo Chuan let out a relieved sigh. “So, when are we having dinner? You promised before, but you never followed up.”

“The weather’s bad today. I don’t feel like going out.”

“When the weather clears up, I’ll come pick you up. Oh, by the way, about that job you mentioned looking for, I might have found something.”

“Oh?” Li Nuo’s interest was piqued. His health had improved significantly, and he had been hoping to find a job to ease the financial burden. However, it had been difficult since his qualifications didn’t quite meet most requirements.

“You did well at your last café job, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did. So?”

Speaking of cafés, he suddenly thought of Sister Yun Jin. She had treated him kindly, and despite only meeting him a few times, she had even visited him when he was hospitalized.

“I heard a café will be needing a new employee soon.”

Li Nuo raised an eyebrow in suspicion. “‘Will be’ needing one? You didn’t force Sister Yun Jin to fire someone at her café, did you?”

He knew Mo Chuan had helped Yun Jin out before.

“… Am I that kind of person?”

“Not too sure about that,” Li Nuo chuckled softly.

“……”

“Anyway, I’ll take care of it. You just sit tight and wait.” Mo Chuan swiftly steered the conversation back.

“You’ll take care of it? Wait, don’t tell me you’re opening a new café?”

“…Alright, that’s it. Remember to keep warm.” Mo Chuan hastily hung up.

For the first time, he didn’t even say goodbye. Mo Chuan had actually ended the call first. Li Nuo tilted his head in thought. Could it be true? Did this guy really open a café?

Closing his eyes briefly, Li Nuo suddenly felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

When Li Yan returned from work, he noticed freshly laundered clothes drying on the balcony. Puzzled, he asked, “Brother, did you do laundry again?”

“Mm, I got caught in the rain today.”

Li Yan’s expression immediately turned serious as he hurriedly took out some cold medicine.

“Brother, take this first.”

Since his discharge from the hospital, Li Nuo had taken so much medication that he was starting to feel nauseous just looking at it. He refused, “It’s fine. I took a shower as soon as I got back, and I dried my hair properly.”

“No way. I’ve told you before, you could get pneumonia. Have you forgotten?”

Seeing the dark, murky cold medicine Li Yan had placed in front of him, Li Nuo grimaced, pinched his nose, and swallowed it in one go.

He really hated getting sick.

But, against his wishes, he still ended up falling ill.

In the middle of the night, Li Nuo woke up from his fever-induced haze. He reached up to touch his forehead and, struggling to move, fumbled for his phone to call Li Yan, who was sleeping in the next room.

Li Yan, who never put his phone on silent, answered immediately and called for an ambulance.

By the time they arrived at the emergency room, Li Nuo was already in a state of fevered delirium. Fortunately, back when Qin Xu had chosen this apartment, he had likely considered Li Nuo’s fragile health and picked a place close to He Yan’s hospital.

After calling in advance, He Yan had already arranged everything.

Looking at how weak Li Nuo had become overnight, He Yan let out a sigh.

“I told you to be more careful.”

He glanced at Li Yan, who had been anxiously busying himself the entire time. “I’ll be checking in on him often. You should head to work after you rest a bit. Sitting around here won’t make him recover any faster, and if you keep this up, you’ll end up exhausting yourself.”

Patting Li Yan’s shoulder, He Yan continued, “He’s had a rough time, but at least we caught it early. It didn’t turn into pneumonia, so you can relax a little.”

“…I’ll stay until he wakes up.”

“There’s nothing you can do by waiting. He’s not in danger anymore.”

Li Yan thought about the company, which had recently become busier. If he didn’t show up, all the work would fall on Secretary Yang alone.

Recalling how every time he took leave, Secretary Yang was left utterly exhausted, Li Yan—whose conscience usually only cared about his brother—hesitated for a moment before forcing himself to his feet.

“Alright, I’ll go to work.”

“I’ll let you know when he wakes up. Take care of yourself too. Don’t end up needing an IV next to him.”

“…Thank you, Brother He.”

“It’s nothing,” He Yan adjusted his glasses. “We’ve known each other for years.”

Li Yan gave a bitter smile. At daybreak, he finally left for work.

The moment Li Yan stepped into the office with exhaustion written all over his face, he bumped into Secretary Yang. Seeing him, Secretary Yang’s expression turned complicated.

“…You look like you’re about to pass out any second.”

Li Yan rubbed his face, trying to shake off the exhaustion. “It’s not that bad.”

As he spoke, he handed Secretary Yang an iced Americano he had picked up on the way.

Secretary Yang glanced at the coffee. “You actually bought one for yourself too? I thought you never drank coffee.”

“Just for today.”

Secretary Yang took the coffee, looking conflicted. He had received a text from Li Yan earlier that morning saying he might take leave. He had been racking his brain over how to inform Qin Xu because if he told him, Qin Xu would either delay his morning meetings or skip them entirely to rush to the hospital.

Fortunately, Li Yan had come in. Since the younger brother was at work, the boss couldn’t very well go running off to the hospital himself.

“How’s Li Nuo?”

Li Yan nodded, then shook his head. “It didn’t get worse, but he’ll probably have to stay in the hospital for a week.”

Secretary Yang glanced at him silently.

He had always assumed they were biological brothers, but they weren’t. And yet, Li Yan didn’t seem to care about that in the slightest. He truly saw Li Nuo as his only family.

He couldn’t help but wonder how Li Nuo would react if he ever learned the truth.

Together, they pushed open the office doors. Secretary Yang offered some words of comfort, “With Dr. He watching over him, don’t worry too much. I understand that you want to get back to the hospital quickly, so let’s finish up work as soon as possible.”

“When you focus on work, time flies.”

His unique way of comforting people made Li Yan chuckle. Since he was already at the office, he might as well work hard.

However, after the meeting, Qin Xu and Mo Chuan both disappeared. That darkened Li Yan’s expression. He forced himself not to think about where those two had gone.

On the way to the hospital, Qin Xu had already called He Yan to ask for Li Nuo’s room number.

He Yan was a little surprised but still provided the information.

Perhaps because Qin Xu had donated a considerable amount of money to the hospital, He Yan had no trouble making the arrangements. Though this hospitalization wasn’t as extravagant as the last one, Li Nuo was still placed in a private room.

Even without Li Yan or Secretary Yang informing him, Qin Xu had already instructed Fang Che to send updates on Li Nuo’s condition every few days.

So last night, he had received the news of Li Nuo’s hospitalization.

Now, he stood beside the hospital bed, gazing at the sleeping Li Nuo.

Why had he been seeing this same scene so often in the past year?

As he was watching, Mo Chuan arrived as well. The sound of the door opening was hurried, prompting Qin Xu to turn and gesture for him to lower his voice.

Mo Chuan, having hurried over, was visibly disheveled. His clothes were slightly askew, and his hair was a mess from the wind, completely unlike his usual polished appearance.

After the meeting ended, Mo Chuan’s department held a separate debriefing session, which delayed him slightly.

Smoothing out his wrinkled clothes, he walked up to the bed. “He was fine when we talked yesterday. I knew I should have taken him to the hospital then.”

A trace of guilt flashed across his face. He was probably the first person to know that Li Nuo had been caught in the rain, yet he hadn’t acted on it.

How many times had he seen Li Nuo hospitalized now?

The thought of it happening again—of seeing this scene over and over—made an unsettling idea flicker through his mind.

Perhaps he should just lock Li Nuo away, and keep him somewhere safe forever.