Become the Sickly Villain in the Novel - Chapter 93

Although he had expected the evening to be lively, he hadn’t anticipated this many people showing up.

Li Nuo sat on the sofa, caught in the middle between Mo Chuan and Li Yan, feeling torn.

Secretary Yang and Qin Xu sat on the other side, clearly not planning to intervene.

“So why do I have to move into your house? I might as well just rent another place.”

“Well, since you’re already here, just stay.”

“How could the first night in a new place ever be comfortable?”

Mo Chuan shrugged. “Not really. Li Nuo told me he doesn’t have trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds. Besides, he can get better care here. It’s better than him cooking with a kitchen knife while waiting for you to come home.”

Li Yan was momentarily speechless.

Clearly he was just cooking out of boredom, but Mo Chuan’s comment still hit a nerve. Li Nuo had to tug on Mo Chuan’s sleeve to get him to stop talking.

Qin Xu, who had been watching Li Nuo across from him, naturally noticed this small gesture.

Secretary Yang, whose eyes had nearly spun from watching the drama unfold, rubbed his eyes and clapped his hands. “How about this? Let Li Nuo choose for himself. Stay here? Or keep living at the doctor’s place? Or he could even stay at the chairman’s house.”

Mo Chuan remained unfazed and spread his hands to show he was fine with anything.

Now, all the pressure fell on Li Nuo.

Facing everyone’s gaze, he rolled his eyes in exasperation and slowly said, “Mrs. Zheng is also staying here, so I think it’s better for me to stay. The place is spacious, well-equipped, and gives me room to move around.”

Mo Chuan flashed a smug, self-satisfied smile.

Secretary Yang also nodded. “True, Mrs. Zheng is very efficient and meticulous.”

Although Li Yan was a bit disappointed, he could only nod as well. But Li Nuo’s next words caused his expression to change.

“On the contrary, I hope you, Li Yan, will continue staying at Brother He’s place or rent your own place.”

Only Mo Chuan smiled at Li Nuo’s words.

Li Yan looked stunned, clearly not yet able to react.

Secretary Yang was also surprised and asked, “Why? You’re not living with Li Yan?”

“We were apart for a while before, too. It’s fine. Besides, this place is far from the company.”

“Well, that’s true…”

Secretary Yang subtly shifted closer to Li Yan and nudged him with his elbow, urging him to snap out of it.

“But Secretary Li probably doesn’t want to be separated from his brother, right?”

“…He’s not a child anymore,” Li Nuo said with a soft laugh.

Mo Chuan naturally remained silent since this situation worked in his favor. Qin Xu, on the other hand, was wondering why Li Nuo wanted to stay here alone.

Li Yan took a deep breath and knelt on one knee in front of Li Nuo, who was sitting on the sofa.

“No. I’ll stay here and take care of you too.”

Li Nuo sighed internally. He had expected Li Yan to refuse.

Even so, this was a good opportunity to distance himself from Li Yan. He had to make Li Yan learn to live for himself.

“Traffic is really bad during rush hour. What if you’re late for work living here?”

“I’ll leave earlier. Director Mo lives here too.”

Mo Chuan raised an eyebrow. “Let me be clear. I won’t give you a ride. The subway station is pretty far from here.”

People who live in this area usually have drivers anyway.

At that moment, Qin Xu suddenly said, “My place is close to the company. You two brothers can stay with me. There are plenty of spare rooms.”

“He already agreed to stay here, so why move?”

Mo Chuan frowned and replied stiffly.

Now that he was dating Li Nuo, he was even more alert to the possibility of someone trying to steal him away, especially Qin Xu.

“Secretary Li doesn’t want to be separated from his brother, and Li Nuo thinks this place is too far from the company. My place just happens to be the most suitable.”

To be honest, Qin Xu had already planned for this; it was just that Mo Chuan had beaten him to it.

Secretary Yang rolled his eyes behind their backs. How was this any different from the argument they had in the office that afternoon? He’d had enough. He just wanted to go home.

So Secretary Yang stepped forward. “I think the chairman’s suggestion isn’t bad. Why not agree to it?”

“No.”

“No.”

The voices of refusal from both Li Nuo and Mo Chuan rendered him speechless.

Secretary Yang cast a suspicious look at Li Nuo. Mo Chuan’s stance he could understand, but why was Li Nuo being so firm?

Li Yan was trying to convince his brother, “I don’t care where we live. I can take better care of you here.”

This exact way of centering your life around me is why I need to push you away.

I’m not a child anymore.

Li Nuo rejected him mercilessly. “There are highly trained staff here, all familiar from when I lived in the villa. I don’t need you to take care of me.”

“But…”

“No buts. You’ve already worn yourself out taking care of me every day. Now is the perfect time for you to get some proper rest.”

Li Nuo reached out and covered Li Yan’s mouth before he could argue further, gazing at the persistent dark circles under his eyes.

“If you keep refusing, I’ll have to consider cutting off contact with you for a while.”

Li Yan immediately fell silent.

Although it hurt, he didn’t want to stubbornly upset his brother.

In the end, it was decided that Li Nuo would stay at Mo Chuan’s place alone.

Mo Chuan was very satisfied with this outcome.

Probably the only one dissatisfied was Qin Xu. Even during dinner, his gloomy mood was palpable.

Secretary Yang was forced to keep dragging his chair farther and farther away.

On the other side, Mo Chuan was beaming, cheerfully picking up food with the communal chopsticks to serve Li Nuo.

As a result, the air around Qin Xu grew even heavier. As for Li Yan, he looked like a man caught in a storm, utterly miserable and barely touching his food.

Stuck in the middle, Secretary Yang silently rolled his eyes more times than he could count.

Still, he raised his drink to cover his expression and quietly observed the two across from him.

When Mo Chuan offered food, even though Li Nuo tried to decline, saying there was too much, he didn’t really resist. He just set up a small plate to place the food on.

There was an air between the two of them that no one else could intrude upon.

Exactly like when he was dating his wife.

So, in the end, did Li Nuo choose Director Mo?

Secretary Yang sneaked a glance at Qin Xu. Tsk, guess he lost.

After dinner, they sat for a while until Li Nuo let out a soft yawn. Seeing his expression, Li Yan got up from his seat.

“I’ll message you when I get back. Don’t wait up. Go to sleep if you’re tired.”

“Mm, got it.”

“If you need anything, just say the word and I’ll bring it over.”

“Mhm.”

Li Yan got into the driver’s seat first, and Secretary Yang took the passenger seat.

Qin Xu turned to Li Nuo. “I’ll stop here.”

Li Nuo gave him a small smile. “Goodbye.”

Something stirred in Qin Xu’s heart. He reached out and grabbed Li Nuo’s hand. “My home is always open to you.”

“……”

“If staying here ever becomes inconvenient, you can come any time.”

“……”

Li Nuo remained silent as Mo Chuan emerged from behind.

“There’s nothing inconvenient about staying here. Go on, go on.”

Qin Xu shot a cold glare at Mo Chuan, who met his stare without hesitation.

What, sore loser?

Secretary Yang rolled down the window and called out, “Chairman, let’s go! We still have work tomorrow!”

Only then did Qin Xu turn and get into the car.

Li Nuo stood at the doorway, waving to them. “Be careful on the road.”

“Goodbye, Brother,” Li Yan said reluctantly before starting the engine.

“Mm, see you next time.”

Li Nuo didn’t lower his hand until the car disappeared from view, then he let out a sigh.

“They say too much sighing will make you age faster.”

“I’m not at the age where I need to worry about that. You should be the one concerned.”

“Wow, can you stop bringing up our age gap all the time? It’s getting cold. Let’s go inside.”

Mo Chuan carefully put an arm around Li Nuo’s shoulders and smiled with delight.

Li Nuo glanced at his beaming face and muttered under his breath,

“I just saw Li Yan off, and I’m still feeling a bit reluctant. Why are you smiling so happily?”

“Haha, because I’m just really happy. We finally get to enjoy some time alone together.”

Mo Chuan felt that having Liu Ming pick up Li Nuo early had been a great decision. After everything that happened, it was basically a public declaration of their relationship.

Li Nuo didn’t have a large social circle.

Honestly, neither did Mo Chuan.

Smart people like Qin Xu and Secretary Yang surely picked up on it.

How could he not be overjoyed?

Hmph, Qin Xu still wanted to steal him away? Not a chance!

“Come on, let’s go in and get some sleep.”

“In separate rooms, right?”

“If you want to sleep together, I’m fine with that.”

“No.”

“We’ll be sharing a bed eventually anyway.”

“Let’s talk about that later…”

The next morning, when a voice woke him, Li Nuo turned onto his side, pulled the blanket higher, and curled up completely.

But the voice outside didn’t stop.

“Time for breakfast. I made the things you like.”

“The alarm… didn’t go off…”

“You said last night you wanted a good rest, so you turned it off. Don’t you remember?”

Li Nuo tried hard to recall through his grogginess and finally stuck his head out from under the covers.

Mo Chuan looked at his messy bedhead and couldn’t help smiling.

Cute. So cute.

Especially since Li Nuo was wearing pajamas Mo Chuan had carefully chosen and lying under bedding he’d selected himself, it made his heart itch just looking at him.

Eventually, Li Nuo groggily reached out his hand, clearly unable to get up on his own and asking for help.

Mo Chuan chuckled helplessly and lifted him up, blanket and all, into a sitting position.

Li Nuo opened his eyes. The unfamiliar room and Mo Chuan beside him brought him back to awareness. “What time is it now?”

“It’s already nine in the morning.”

Li Nuo’s eyes flew open. Nine o’clock already?! No wonder Mo Chuan had come to wake him up.

Wait—that’s not right.

He looked at Mo Chuan. “Then why are you still here? Today’s not a day off, is it?”

“I took leave,” Mo Chuan said confidently. “It’s your first day here, of course I should stay with you. But the weather isn’t great today, so going out might not be the best idea.”

“You didn’t have to go out of your way…” Li Nuo mumbled as he got up to wash up.

It was another ten minutes before he came downstairs for breakfast.

“Wow, there’s so much food… I probably won’t even need lunch.”

The table was filled with steaming, delicate, and delicious-looking dishes. It was clear this breakfast wasn’t made carelessly.

“Try this. It tastes really good.”

Even while eating, Mo Chuan didn’t stop, diligently picking out dishes for Li Nuo.

“I can do it myself. I can’t eat that much.”

Li Nuo quietly ate as he glanced over at Mo Chuan. Since he hadn’t gone to work and the house was well-heated, Mo Chuan wore a light-knitted sweater.

A deep V-neck one.

When he raised his hand to serve food or leaned forward slightly, it revealed a bit more… scenery.

Li Nuo quickly looked away.

Mo Chuan noticed his reaction and his eyes curved into a teasing smile.

“No need to sneak looks. If you want to see, I can take it off for you.”

Mo Chuan placed his fingers at the collar, tugging it up and down, revealing even more.

Li Nuo lowered his head further.

Doesn’t this guy have any shame?

He was definitely doing it on purpose.

After the meal, Li Nuo called Li Yan.

“How was your night? Did you get some rest?”

“I didn’t sleep… because you weren’t there.”

“Ha, the whole reason I moved out was to make things easier for you. Isn’t this kind of defeating the purpose?”

“I’ll try my best to get used to it.”

“Of course. Be sure to rest well this afternoon.”

“I’ll try my best.”

After a short conversation, Li Nuo looked at the phone and shook his head.

“He really is attached to you.”

A sour-sounding comment came from behind him. Li Nuo turned around and saw Mo Chuan standing there, unsure of when he’d arrived.

The man walked over with a sour expression, clicking his tongue in displeasure.

Li Nuo said, a bit exasperated, “It was just a phone call.”

Mo Chuan reached out and cupped Li Nuo’s face. “Forget about that clingy little brother. Come watch a movie with me.”

After a pause, he added, “I heard you watched quite a lot with Qin Xu back at the Songshan villa?”

“……”