A Round Trip To Love Volume 1 Chapter 43 311 Apr 24, 2020

Message to early readers of Chapter 42: if this chapter does not seem like a continuation, then you would have missed a latter portion which was updated later. Do go back to chapter 42 after the separator.

“What ……. did you say?” He pushed me away unceremoniously, “Six, six months? Look at me, I am fit as a fiddle, even half a century more is a conservative estimate. I am very touched by your heartfelt confession, but you didn't have to curse me like this.”

” ……..” I stared at him, my mind spinning like some connections in my brain has gone haywire.

“Who told you that I only have six more months to live?”

“I overheard the doctor saying this to your sister …….. could it be you are unaware how bad your condition is, he said you have ten months at most, it's not possible that I heard it wrong ……” If the prognosis was half a century, why would she look so devastated?

Lu Feng pondered for a while, and let out a long exhale: “You didn't hear wrong ……. but …… the person who is in bad shape is my father.”

“I initially planned to wait two days for you at Xiamen, but my Dad suddenly returned to Shanghai, so I had to rush back, his health hasn't been good, and he probably overtire himself on the long flight, plus it didn't help that he found out I flunked a couple of business deals.” He looked slightly ashamed, “It's because I have gone half mad looking for you …… so I made some mistakes …… he was so angry that he fainted on the spot ……"

"His health has been failing these past few years, we have been careful to contain the news to the public. Him constantly putting on a front has no doubt piled on the stress, worsening his condition, so we are all ……. mentally well-prepared. It so happened the day he arrived, I was in a pretty messed-up state myself, and once we sent him to the hospital, I collapsed too." He smiled bitterly, "It could be a combination of anxiety, exhaustion from running around for days, and exposure to the cold from that night. In any case, it really isn't that big a deal, but my sister forced me to get hospitalized, and take care of my dad in the adjacent ward at the same time. Of course I would never expect …… that you would end up misunderstanding that it is I who has fallen sick ……"

My head that has been floating in the clouds finally found a solid peak, and I slowly descended to reality, finally clicking in place what is going on.

Zhu Sha told me 'Mr Lu has fainted, and his condition is not looking good.' They usually address Lu Feng as Boss, so this Mr Lu, must be referring to his father, the big boss who might as well be the emperor sitting inside the forbidden city, never visible to us mere commoners.

It is my own fault for losing it the moment I received the news. A spell of giddiness hit, paralyzing my ability to perceive the information properly, assuming Mr Lu is Lu Feng.

No wonder Ding Ding and the gang are so oblivious to the bad news, even in the mood to play mahjong to pass time, towards a complete stranger 'Mr Lu' whom they have only heard but never met, it is impossible for them to exact any form of depression, some sympathy should suffice.

Speechless at my embarrassing blunder, I pushed Lu Feng away, stood up, turned around ready to leave.

"Hey, Xiao Chen, You can't go back on your words! !" That guy with the strength of a large hound circled one arm around my waist and held me back with a death grip, "You said it yourself you will not leave this time, how can you break your promise! !"

"The day you have only six more months to live I will naturally come back and stay with you everyday until you enter your grave, liar."

"You are the one who got it wrong, no one lied to you! ! " He exclaimed in an aggrieved voice, "You are unjustly accusing me."

"I need to get back."

"You are the liar! You are going back on your words."

"I promised Yi Chen I will return."

The voice from behind me stayed silent for all of two seconds, before the muscled arm encircled around my waist gave a hard pull, and I slammed straight into his broad chest.

"I knew that guy is suspicious!" Lu Feng said hatefully, he rashly pulled out the needle in his hand, freeing himself to flip me around and pressed me onto the bed, "You better stay the hell away from him from now on!"

"Suspicious your head, he is my flesh and blood brother!"

"So what if he is your brother, homosexuality is already a taboo, why not add incest to the mix? I bet he has undesirable intentions towards you!"

"You are thinking too much! Yi Chen already has a person he loves."

Lu Feng snorted.

"Get off, you are so heavy."

“……. So you are only willing to stay with me if I have not long to live?” He grasp me by the shoulders in a sudden burst of emotion, glaring at me earnestly, “Tell me the truth, ……. you came here for me …….. and told me you want to be with me, was it all because you feel sorry for me?”

I could not respond immediately.

He let go of me, and lifted himself up: “If it is really because you feel sorry for me …….. then you can leave, I will not hinder you.”

I sat up quietly. He pursed his lips and turned his head away.

“Lu Feng, ……. I'm sorry.”

He did not turn back, his shoulders started shaking powerlessly.

“Of course I will feel sorry for anyone who has only six months of life left.”

“However if that person is you, I will hate you. You treat me so poorly, and tortured me so badly, do you think you get away with just compensating me for six months? Even if you become a dog slave or a horse slave to me, I may not forgive you, you have to know I am someone who bear a grudge for a long time, I will expect a payback ……”

I have yet to finish speaking and he has pressed me down firmly again on the bed.

” ……. Let me go …….. Argh ……..”

A look of amusement crossed his face, visible in the shift of his eyebrows: “I'm willing, I'm willing, I will be your dog and your horse, you can ride me anytime.”

“Pervert! !”

Half the day passed with us messing around on the bed, he buried his face in my neck, whispering, “Actually …….. I was so scared earlier. If you really left …….. I don't think I will be able to keep my word, and even though it would mean I am humiliating myself, I will definitely chase you back. Even if you don't love me anymore ……. I can't give up ……. I will keep waiting, keep pestering, keep harassing, I will wait for you downstairs everyday ……”

I could not help myself from commenting, “When have you become a scoundrel? !”

“When have I stopped being a scoundrel?”

What he said …… is true.

“Xiao Chen, can we really go back to how we were?”

“………. We can.”

He smiled without humor: “I feel so afraid suddenly …… the more you gain, the more you have to lose.”

“We can go back.” I paused for a while, and hugged him back. “We will take it slow, no matter how far we have veered off course…….. we will find a way back…….”

“Take it slow? But I want it faster.”

” ………? ? ?”

…….. ………

“What are you doing! ! This is a hospital! ! Stop! !”

“No one will come in, don't worry, relax, be good ……”

“PA! !”

“You, how can you abuse a sick patient? !”

“Are your actions befitting of a sick patient? ! !”

During the struggle, we accidentally pressed the emergency button. The high efficiency of a reputable hospital is evident by the speed of their respond, we barely had time to sit up and adjust our disheveled self, before a bombshell nurse came swaggering in.

“You pulled out the needle just like that? !” This woman's temper is even more fiery than her figure, “If you want to die just let me know I can give you a quick one! Are you for real? What are you staring at? Not happy? You think your money is so great …….”

I pulled on my wrinkled shirt, ignoring Lu Feng's sideways pleading glance at me, a hysterical mix of laughing and crying while enduring under the nurse's rough attempt to reinsert the needle. I looked outside of the window idly.

The January sky is cold but sunny, a clear and light colour.

It seems like winter is finally coming to an end.