Chapter 145.1
Thank you Smh136 and an anonymous reader for the Ko-fis!
Editor: Sahloknir
The doctor soon arrived.
The tall man sat on the side with a nervous look on his face, watching the doctor use his healing powers to examine Song Xiabing’s body.
When the doctor withdrew his hand, he asked, “How is he Doc? He’s not going to die, is he?”
The doctor seemed rather confused. “He doesn’t have any wounds on his body…”
Song Xiabing sat up with a pained expression. “But I’m in a lot of pain. I have this constant urge to cough and my head hurts too. Why don’t you examine me for internal injuries?”
The doctor: “…I’m only a level four healer. Internal injuries require a level seven, and there aren’t any at this base, ah.”
Shi Qing was furious. “Then Laozi will give you all the crystal nuclei you need. Level up already.”
The doctor: “…”
“Boss, I won’t reach level seven even if I absorb a thousand crystal nuclei. I just don’t have that much potential.”
Song Xiabing weakly coughed a few times.
“Cough, cough, cough. Forget it Boss. I’ve been quite sickly all my life. The shock of what happened just now as well as the few days I spent in the water prison must’ve caught up with me…”
The doctor was afraid that Shi Qing would actually force him to level up. He quickly agreed with Song Xiabing being sickly even though his results indicated no such thing. “Yes, yes, yes. Boss, he’s been like this all his life. We healers can only treat internal and external injuries. I’ve never heard of anyone who could improve the condition of someone’s body.”
Shi Qing’s expression flashed through a mult.i.tude of emotions before settling on a dark grimace. He grimly asked, “Is he going to die?”
The doctor quickly shook his head. “No, no. He’s not going to die.”
Only then did the man sigh with relief. He patted Song Xiabing on the shoulder. “That’s good.”
Although a faint smile appeared on Song Xiabing’s face, the look in his eyes was complicated.
He didn’t understand.
Shi Qing was clearly a h.o.m.ophobe who hated him to the bone before.
Why was he being so nice to him now?
The doctor left.
The man sat by his bedside. He immediately took the blanket and covered Song Xiabing up.
Song Xiabing was caught off guard by the blanket that suddenly covered him from head to toe. He uncovered his head and directed a lost look at Shi Qing blankly
“Boss, what’s this for?”
“Sleeping, of course.”
Shi Qing fished out another cigarette from who knew where. He put it in his mouth with an impatient expression before throwing the blanket back over Song Xiabing’s face.
So Song Xiabing could only listen to his mumblings from within the blanket. “Aren’t you sickly and dizzy? You should get a good night’s sleep and recuperate.”
In the darkness, Song Xiabing clenched his fists slightly.
He didn’t understand.
Why?
After spending three days with him, Song Xiabing came to understand that Shi Qing was straight to the bone in both personality and orientation.
You had to be direct when communicating with him.
He carefully removed the blanket and blinked his good-looking eyes innocently. While showing he was harmless to make Shi Qing relax his guard, he asked softly, “Boss, why are you so worried for me?”
The man stiffened before guilt appeared in his eyes. He muttered, “When has Laozi ever been worried about you?”
Seeing that Song Xiabing was still staring at him unblinkingly, Shi Qing impatiently took the cigarette out of his mouth.
“Fine, fine. It’s because you’re one of mine now. I’m a person that cares for my own a lot.”
Song Xiabing didn’t believe that.
Any normal person in his shoes probably wouldn’t either.
Shi Qing had wanted to kill him before. Then he suddenly released Song Xiabing after locking him up in the water prison for three days. Even though his tone was still as temperamental as ever, the man was very protective of him.
Even someone with multiple personalities couldn’t do something like this.
Song Xiabing asked again in a very white lotus tone, “But you raised a hand to your subordinates for my sake today. Won’t they have a problem with that?”
“Who said that Laozi did it for you?” Shi Qing answered very hastily this time.
Seeing Song Xiabing looking at him with watery eyes like the purest little puppy, the man furrowed his brows and muttered in frustration, “Fine, fine, fine. I’ll tell you. My ma was in that line of business too.”
Song Xiabing’s surprise made him bristle with discomfort. “That old hag didn’t treat me all that well and whooped my a.s.s plenty of times growing up, but she sold her body to raise me.”
“That’s why Laozi can’t stand anyone disrespecting prost.i.tutes. No one gets into that line of work unless they have no other options.”
The man’s handsome face was filled with indignation. “If only my ma was still alive. Then Laozi could give her the life she deserved.”
Only then did Song Xiabing suddenly understand why Shi Qing reacted so explosively before.
Both he and Shi Qing had their mothers as their bottom line.
Song Xiabing: “But Boss, you really were worried about me just now.”
“The f.u.c.k you mean by worried? You’re my little brother, my personal property? So what if I’m worried about my property getting damaged?”
Shi Qing continued to curse, “Shut your G.o.dd.a.m.n mouth, ah. You’re troublesome enough as it is.”
Song Xiabing’s intuition told him there was something more going on here.
But Shi Qing’s demeanour told him that this was all he would get for now.
He could only be quiet and let the man put the blanket over his head again.
Shi Qing spoke to him in a tone that could be considered caring for him outside, “Just stay here and rest today, okay?”
Yep. Very caring.
Even though he had a stomach full of doubts, hatred and bewilderment, Shi Qing’s behaviour still almost made Song Xiabing laugh.
So in the end, he laid down on Shi Qing’s leopard print bed with a sheet over his head like he was dead and closed his eyes.
Something rustled outside. Shi Qing seemed to have brought another blanket over and laid down beside him.
After an unknown amount of time, Song Xiabing slowly lifted the blanket on him. He propped himself up to a sitting position and turned to look at the man lying next to him.
Shi Qing was sleeping peacefully.
He was usually very ostentatious when awake. The black wife beater he had on was tight over his firm muscles. His honey-coloured skin rose and settled with every breath.
He was sleeping so soundly, like he wasn’t afraid of Song Xiabing taking advantage of this to do something to him.
The corners of Song Xiabing’s lips suddenly curled up at the thought.
It really wasn’t that surprising. Shi Qing had already entrusted his biggest weakness to Song Xiabing. In a way, the man had entrusted him with his life.
The youth’s gaze gradually traced over the man’s handsome, chiseled features.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that some secret was hidden beneath this ostentatious exterior.
Was Shi Qing treating him like this because he believed Song Xiabing was just trash that wouldn’t have the guts to do anything?
Or…did he trust him?
From that day on, it seemed like the Boss of the Blazing Thunder Company suddenly realized what a fragile young master his new little brother Song Xiabing was.
He no longer let Song Xiabing go out to work, nor did he let him fight zombies. He took Song Xiabing everywhere with him in the base. And when he went out to fight zombies or scavenge supplies, he locked Song Xiabing in his room like he was hiding treasure.
Before, Song Xiabing would’ve thought Shi Qing was taking precautions because he was wary.
However, he eventually arrived at a very different conclusion.
After noticing how Shi Qing treated him differently, Song Xiabing began to test the limits of the man’s tolerance.
One day he said he was dizzy and wanted to eat rabbit meat.
The next day he said he felt weak and wanted a mutated healing plant.
The day after, he said his clothes were uncomfortable and asked for x.x.x brand clothes specifically.
The requests would just be a bit excessive in normal times, but they were in a post-apocalyptic world, ah!
In these times, rabbit meat didn’t come from small bunnies that you could pick up by the ears. Mutated rabbits were now larger than people and possibly armed with supernatural abilities.
Not to mention the plants now. Mutated plants were each more difficult to take down than the last.
Clothes might not seem like a big requirement at first, but keep in mind that everywhere was overrun by zombies now. If you wanted clothes, you had to to go to a clothing shop, which meant clearing out a new route.
These requests were clearly too much.
Yet Shi Qing had fulfilled them all.
The man who had previously locked him in the water prison with an expression of hatred was now basically treating him like some doll that would break at the slightest touch. As long as Song Xiabing pretended to be dizzy or ill, Shi Qing would carefully ask what he needed and give it to him.
Shi Qing was a person with a hair trigger temper who said whatever was on his mind.
But because of this, when he wanted to be kind to someone, he was more akin to molten fire than the warmth of spring.
Song Xiabing had to admit that his hatred for Shi Qing has subsided by more than half.
Especially when the man who had such a presence in front of everyone else came trotting obediently over to him every day, flicking that big tail that no one else could see in front of him and letting him touch it as much as he wanted.
Then the man would lean on him with a flushed face and misty eyes.
Song Xiabing had fallen.
He even felt like he wouldn’t mind being around Shi Qing forever like this.
Of course, him falling was contingent on successfully obtaining crystal nuclei as one of his various requests over the past few days.
Song Xiabing hadn’t tested what level his ability was at, but he was certain that he could overpower Shi Qing now.
There was no need for him to scheme anymore when he could easily crush someone, and someone so submissive to him at that.
He could just relax and enjoy being a caged canary.
Of course, he hadn’t forgotten about getting his revenge on the Song family.
He couldn’t stay inside and hide under Shi Qing’s protection forever.
The thought made a hint of joy flash across the youth’s eyes.
Protection~
He savoured the sensation of the word on his tongue.
Inexplicably, Song Xiabing was in a better mood now.