Become the Sickly Villain in the Novel - Chapter 80

Three days after Mo Chuan left, Qin Xu also set off.

“Are you sure your body is fine?”

“It’s already scarred over.” Qin Xu put on his coat and patted Li Nuo’s head. “I’m sorry, you’ll be alone again.”

Ever since he had uttered that apology, he had felt more at ease in front of Li Nuo.

“Hmm, I’ll be waiting here. Brother Mo said that Li Yan will be coming over next week.”

“Mm, just be patient for the next few days.”

After Qin Xu left, the spacious villa once again had only Li Nuo in it. Although he wasn’t truly alone, the loneliness in his heart was impossible to dispel.

“Come to think of it, am I technically being imprisoned?” Lying on a recliner in the greenhouse, Li Nuo lifted his head and glanced at the surveillance cameras scattered throughout the house. He took a deep breath. “Forget it, just ignore it. Since even Li Yan is involved, it should be safe.”

Thinking too much about it only gave him chills.

He took out his phone. Though the internet was disabled, he could still use it to jot down his thoughts.

It didn’t matter if it couldn’t be saved, because he didn’t want anyone else to see it anyway.

“Zhang Wanhui, Li Yuzhi, Li Yan, me… Death.”

Previously, he had no idea what the original owner of this body had done to bring about their death. But now, he had a clue. It had something to do with Li Yan.

For Qin Xu to have killed so mercilessly, whatever the original owner had done must have been equally heinous.

…Did you really hate Li Yan that much, original owner?

But at this point, since the story had already deviated significantly from the original novel, Li Nuo couldn’t be sure whether the original owner had taken action or not.

And before he had arrived here, Zhang Wanhui had said he would take him somewhere. Could that place be related to this matter?

Now that he thought about it, Li Nuo suddenly realized that ever since he was discharged from the hospital, he hadn’t contacted Zhang Wanhui at all.

This wouldn’t do. His investigation had completely stalled. Li Nuo felt deeply frustrated.

He stepped out of the greenhouse and surveyed his surroundings. Having lived here for quite some time, he had already explored every part of the fenced-off area. Although signal jammers were in place, there were still some blind spots, especially near the perimeter.

But then again, given how large the area was, even if he walked around slowly with his phone, it would take a long time to test for signals. On top of that, he had to be careful not to get caught. He had no choice but to take his time and plan carefully.

Take it slow.

From a distance, Aunt Zheng’s voice called out for lunch. Li Nuo responded, deleted his notes from his phone, and left the greenhouse.

Perhaps it was because he was alone again, or maybe it was because he had spent the day thinking about the original novel, but that night, he started dreaming once more.

And this time, the dream seemed to connect with his previous one, shifting into a third-person perspective.

It appeared to be a hospital. The child who had collapsed earlier was sitting quietly on a chair, while an elderly man was loudly arguing with a doctor, clutching a stack of papers in his hand.

The doctor, flushed red with frustration, clearly did not want to argue but was unable to hold back under the verbal assault. The veins on his neck were bulging.

The child, seemingly unable to bear the loud voices, covered his ears with his hands.

Why are they arguing like this in front of a child? Could the illness be really severe?

Before long, the shouting ceased. The child lowered his hands, and someone gently stroked his head. He looked up to see a kind and gentle face, completely different from the furious man who had just been arguing with the doctor. It was clear that the old man cherished the child dearly.

“Don’t worry, my dear. I will make sure you get better.”

“……” The child remained silent.

“This hospital is useless. These doctors are all incompetent. We’re going somewhere else.” The old man huffed in anger.

“Okay, Grandpa.”

The child stood up, and the old man took his small hand in his own, leading him away. In a place the child couldn’t see, the old man’s eyes brimmed with tears.

Then, as if the scene had been put on fast-forward, the old man took the child from hospital to hospital. But every time, he would end up arguing, and every time, unwilling to give up, he would take the child to another province. But the result was always the same.

With each argument, the old man’s back grew more hunched.

And so, eventually, the child returned to the very first hospital they had visited.

From then on, the doctors and nurses became familiar faces, and his grandfather continued to visit every day.

The middle-aged man who had once carried the child, as well as the middle-aged woman he had seen before, also came by.

The man always tried to put on a smile, but there was a sorrowful expression in his eyes whenever he looked at the child.

And so, time passed.

Until the child was about ten years old.

One day, the middle-aged man was nowhere to be seen, and overnight, his grandfather seemed to have aged significantly.

The middle-aged woman, on the other hand, did appear, her eyes red from crying.

The two of them walked out of the hospital room together and closed the door behind them.

The child climbed down from the bed and secretly pressed his ear against the door, trying hard to listen to their conversation outside.

Though it was difficult, he could still hear them. They seemed to be standing just outside the door, not far away.

“What do we do now? My brother died in a car accident, and my sister-in-law passed away a long time ago. This child… We’re the only family he has left.” The woman’s voice was tinged with sorrow.

“……” The old man remained silent.

“And the child’s condition… How has it been recently?” The woman hesitated, as if afraid of hearing bad news.

The grandfather let out a heavy sigh. “There’s some hope for a matching heart, but he’s too young, too weak. The doctors are afraid he won’t survive the surgery.”

The heart… Hmm. Li Nuo pondered. This child—no, was it himself? Did he also have a heart condition? No wonder he had been in the hospital before.

“Then… will he undergo the transplant?”

“He has to. But not now.” The grandfather coughed a few times as he spoke.

The woman’s worried voice followed. “Dad, you need to take care of yourself too. Let me handle taking care of Xiao Nuo from now on. I’m his aunt, after all.”

Aunt? Then… that middle-aged man before—was he my father?

Even though it was just a dream, Li Nuo felt a sharp pain in his heart. An uncontrollable sorrow spread through him. The fleeting images in his mind were all happy memories with his father.

But the reality was that his father was already gone. He had died in a car accident on his way to visit him at the hospital, killed on the spot.

“Ngh—” Li Nuo clutched his chest tightly, as if trying to suppress the sorrow welling up inside him.

Time continued to pass.

The child grew a little older.

One day, he saw his grandfather lying in a hospital bed, an oxygen mask over his face.

His vision blurred slightly. Li Nuo realized he was crying.

The child curled up beside the bed, letting out quiet sobs, wanting to wail but afraid of disturbing the elderly man lying there.

“Xiao Nuo… Xiao Nuo…” The old man weakly called his grandson’s name, his voice barely distinguishable.

But the beeping alarms of the medical equipment brought doctors and nurses rushing in. Someone pulled the child away from the bedside. From that moment on, he never saw his grandfather open his eyes again.

And then came the funeral.

The woman who had called herself his aunt held him tightly, weeping softly.

Gradually, the people left, and only the two of them remained.

Then, the memories stopped.

When Li Nuo woke up, he realized he was truly crying. His pillow was soaked with tears. Knowing there were no surveillance cameras in the room, he covered his face with his hands and let the tears continue to flow.

Unable to dispel the grief in his heart and knowing that the past could not be undone, all he could do was cry to relieve the overwhelming emotions.

After his tears had run dry, he sat up in bed. “No, this won’t do. If Aunt Zheng sees me like this tomorrow, she’ll definitely ask questions. I need to put something on my eyes.”

He pressed a towel over his swollen eyelids, while his other hand clutched the fabric over his chest.

This dream… truly felt like a knife to the heart.

Compared to the blissful memories of playing happily before, this was nothing short of a nightmare. Life had taken a sudden nosedive. His body had failed him, and his loved ones had died one after another.

Li Nuo tilted his head back, suppressing his grief. He couldn’t cry anymore. If he did, his eyes would be completely swollen.

Instead, he forced himself to think about something else.

My memories are slowly returning… Does that mean I’m going back to my original world?

Especially this time. He had remembered something so important.

Is it because my heart has wavered? Is this world refusing to let me form attachments…?

Li Nuo bit down on his lip. At that moment, he regretted taking the initiative to kiss Mo Chuan.

If the original owner of this body came back… Who knew how he would treat Mo Chuan? He would probably use him.

A sense of urgency welled up in his heart. If the original owner of this body truly returned, he hoped that all the memories from the past six months would disappear, that none of them would remain, especially not the memories of those two growing fond of him or treating Li Yan with kindness. If they were only going to end up hurt, it would be better for everything to return to its original state.

Facing the morning glow that had already risen, he silently prayed.

……………

Perhaps because he would soon be reunited with his brother, Li Yan had been particularly diligent at work recently. After all, the sooner he finished, the better it would be for everyone.

Perhaps knowing that there was nothing to be gained here, Director Wen withdrew his forces from the company, shifting to a new battlefield in an attempt to make a comeback.

Thanks to this, both Li Yan and Secretary Yang were finally able to step out of the small office they had been confined to.

That day, as Li Yan was working, Secretary Yang entered with a strange expression.

“Li Yan, um… There’s someone outside asking for you. Uh… It’s your father, the one listed on your household registration.”

Li Yan froze for a moment.

Seeing his reaction, Secretary Yang studied him before asking, “If you don’t want to meet him, I can have security—”

“No, I’ll go,” Li Yan stood up. “I want to see what he’s after.”

“Alright, I figured you’d say that. I’ve already brought him to the reception room on the first floor,” Secretary Yang patted his shoulder, as if offering him strength.

Upon reaching the first floor—

“How did you know I was working here?”

He casually closed the door behind him, his tone devoid of emotion.

He had changed jobs several times before, never once informing this man.

The middle-aged man, lounging lazily on the sofa, waved a hand dismissively when he saw him enter. “Does it make sense for a father not to know where his son works?”

Li Yan ignored him completely, instead pondering, Did Brother tell him before? Or… was it someone from Director Wen’s side?

“Then why are you here?”

“What else? I can’t get in touch with Xiao Nuo. Where did he go?”

“His phone broke,” Li Yan answered without the slightest change in expression.

“…That’s the worst excuse I’ve ever heard. If his phone really broke, he’d have already bugged you to buy him a new one,” Li Yuzhi scoffed. He knew his own son well.

“Forget it. I went to the place you used to live, only to be told you had moved out. So, you had the money to move, huh…” Li Yuzhi muttered to himself, then turned to Li Yan and asked, “Where exactly is Xiao Nuo?”

“……”

Li Yan remained silent.

Typically, when Li Yuzhi came looking for him, there was only one reason—money.

It wasn’t surprising that this man had reached out to Zhang Wanhui, but if he also had connections with Director Wen’s secretary, that was concerning. Was it to harm him, or to lure his brother into a trap?

“He’s staying somewhere to recover. You know how weak he is. He catches colds easily in winter. If you have anything to say, tell me, and I’ll pass it on.”

“Oh, come on, just tell me where Xiao Nuo is.”

“Why do you want to know?”

Li Yuzhi gave him a puzzled look.

Li Yan’s attitude had changed over the years, becoming increasingly distant. Especially after the last time when he had taken a sum of money from him, Li Yan had made no effort to hide his disgust.

“A father asking where his son—what’s so strange about that?”

“……”

“Have you forgotten? I’m his father, his only real family. We share a bond of blood that can never be severed.”

In the past, hearing those words would have made Li Yan turn pale and avoid the topic.

But now, the words his brother had said to him in the hospital surfaced in his mind, filling him with confidence.

Back then, his brother had already made it clear. He wanted to cut ties with their father completely.

Perhaps now was a good opportunity.