DREB CHAPTER 56

Lu Lianning sat on the sofa across from Qi Zhen, who lounged back in his chair, hands behind his head. After hearing everything Lu Lianning said, Qi Zhen repeated the latter part of it in a puzzled tone, “He doesn’t let you touch him?”

He immediately straightened up, eyes filled with disbelief as if he couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of Lu Lianning’s mouth. Was Lu Lianning possessed? The idea was utterly inconceivable. “You’re here to tell me about his wishes? Since when does it matter whether he wants it or not? Are you out of your mind!”

Lu Lianning was already extremely irritated, and hearing Qi Zhen’s words only fueled his anger. He snapped back, “You told me back then that your drug wouldn’t cause any problems!”

Seeing that he was genuinely upset and even seemed to be looking at him with a hint of blame, Qi Zhen’s expression gradually turned serious, his tone becoming colder. “I still say my drug won’t cause any problems.”

“At nearly 163,000 yuan per vial, the worst it’ll do is cause some fatigue. The side effects are minimal. If he’s having health issues now, it’s not because of the drug. It’s because of you.”

The harsh truth, delivered so bluntly by Qi Zhen, left Lu Lianning momentarily stunned.

“No matter how harmless the drug is, I never told you to give him seventeen injections over thirty days. You enjoyed it back then without even thinking to thank me, and now that he’s broken, you’re here blaming me!?” Qi Zhen’s frustration was clear. “Ah Ning, you’re being unreasonable.”

Li Yan’s condition had been steadily worsening. Now, Lu Lianning finally understood what Chen Yu had meant when he said that deep down, Li Yan was very traditional. Since that day, Li Yan had been fiercely resisting any touch from him. Even if Lu Lianning came too close, Li Yan would scream and tremble, refusing to be touched or even looked at.

Sure, he could force it, but Li Yan fought back desperately. He had lost a terrifying amount of weight recently, and when Lu Lianning hugged him at night, he could feel his ribs protruding beneath his thin skin. In the end, it was Lu Lianning who had gone too far. After all, Li Yan was also a man in his twenties, a time when he should have been in his prime, full of vitality. Yet, he had been pushed to this state. Though Lu Lianning never said it out loud, he couldn’t bring himself to be rough with him anymore.

Li Yan had tried to please him with his mouth, but for someone like Lu Lianning, that was never going to be enough. Li Yan wasn’t particularly skilled either, and his jaw would often feel sore long before Lu Lianning felt even remotely satisfied.

After returning from Qi Zhen’s place, Lu Lianning stayed in the study for a long time. Eventually, he went to the bedroom and turned Li Yan around, who had been lying with his back to him.

Li Yan’s mental state was in shambles. His eyes were open, but his gaze darted around anxiously. Even though they were facing each other with only a person’s width apart, Li Yan’s pupils never focused, and despite the close distance, he still wouldn’t look directly at him.

Lu Lianning had braced himself for this. He took a deep breath while looking at Li Yan and said, “We’re going to see a doctor tomorrow.”

Li Yan blinked as if he hadn’t fully processed the words.

Lu Lianning repeated, “I’ll take you to the hospital. We’ll get a doctor to examine you.”

This time, Li Yan seemed to slowly comprehend.

He shook his head, a crack forming in his expression, as though he feared Lu Lianning might drag him to the hospital right then and there. He tried to break free from Lu Lianning’s grip. “No hospital… I don’t want to see a doctor…!”

He scrambled backward frantically on the bed, using both his hands and feet, inadvertently kicking Lu Lianning several times in the process.

“You!” Lu Lianning reached out, trying to restrain him and calm him down.

Li Yan completely refused to cooperate. It wasn’t until he landed a kick to Lu Lianning’s stomach that he finally let go.

Lu Lianning’s clothes had become disheveled from the scuffle. He watched as Li Yan immediately pulled the blanket around himself, retreating into it the moment he was freed. A flood of emotions surged within him.

He hadn’t known back then that Li Yan had always disliked hospitals and had a natural fear of needles.

“What on earth do you want!? Just tell me what you’re throwing a fit about! Are you making a habit of this? So it’s not working properly because I overdid it! I already said I’d get you treated! What more do you want! Putting on that face every day! Are you trying to piss me off on purpose?!”

Lu Lianning cursed angrily, “Fuck!” and stormed out.

After slamming the door, he stood outside, feeling even more infuriated. He kicked the door hard, producing a loud “bang.”

Inside the bedroom, Li Yan, hiding under the blanket with only his eyes peeking out, trembled at the sound, as if the kick had landed on him instead.

Lu Lianning’s muffled yelling came through the wooden door, “Why the hell are you avoiding treatment and refusing to see a doctor!”

After storming out while cursing for the third time that month, Lu Lianning finally compromised.

In exchange for a three-minute phone call with Chen Yu, Li Yan agreed to go to the hospital with him.

The hospital was owned by the Lu family. Lu Lianning took Li Yan out, bundled him up tightly, and led him inside after getting out of the Bentley.

This private hospital had been an early investment of Lu Anling’s.

As soon as they exited the elevator, Dr. Zheng greeted them.

Zheng Zhi, only a few years older than Lu Lianning, had been financially supported by the Lu family during his studies and was now practically a family doctor for them.

Li Yan underwent a thorough examination, with checks and tests covering every part of his body.

However, he lost control during the blood draw. Lu Lianning had to step in to hold him down, so they could get the blood sample. Li Yan’s face turned pale, and he remained visibly shaken, which made Lu Lianning look even worse as he sat beside him, pressing a cotton swab to stop the bleeding.

By the end of the tests, Li Yan was utterly exhausted as his physical condition wasn’t as strong as before. Zheng Zhi took him to a room to rest, and he fell asleep almost immediately.

Lu Lianning followed Zheng Zhi to pick up some of the test results. About an hour later, they returned.

Zheng Zhi held Li Yan’s examination reports in hand, his gaze shifting between Lu Lianning and the sleeping Li Yan.

The last time Zheng Zhi had been at the Lu house, he still vividly remembered the dark-skinned young man’s half-dead state after he had been tossed around on the bed by Lu Lianning. At the time, he’d assumed Li Yan was some enemy of Lu Lianning’s, someone he wanted dead. Now, seeing Li Yan being dragged in for a check-up, Zheng Zhi sensed a subtle hint of nervousness in Lu Lianning’s expression.

Zheng Zhi flipped through the reports, his brows furrowing. Finally, he spoke seriously to Lu Lianning. “If you keep going like this, he’s going to suffer a lot when he gets older.”

After hearing this, Lu Lianning let out a cold snort and replied viciously through clenched teeth, “When he gets old? By the time he’s old, I won’t want him anymore. I’ll throw him out. Let’s see who’d bother picking him up when he’s old, ugly, and useless.”

Even though Zheng Zhi worked for the Lu family, he was still a doctor. Hearing Lu Lianning say such things, especially considering how many of Li Yan’s health indicators were below standard, he couldn’t help but feel displeased. He thought to himself: if Lu Lianning didn’t care, why go through all this trouble to bring him in for a check-up and waste an entire day like this?

Before Zheng Zhi could say anything, he noticed that Lu Lianning’s eyes were fixed on the young man lying in the bed like a tiger watching his prey.

The young man’s eyelids twitched, then squeezed tightly shut, almost as if on purpose.

Zheng Zhi realized that Li Yan was pretending to be asleep and that Lu Lianning had said those words deliberately for him to hear.

Zheng Zhi held back from saying anything further. First, it wasn’t his place to lecture Lu Lianning, and second, there was clearly more complexity in their relationship than met the eye. Who would end up suffering in the end was still uncertain.

Lu Lianning opened the car door and watched as Li Yan slowly climbed inside before ducking in himself.

Across the street, Yu Ren and Ren Qi sat in another car. Ren Qi clicked his tongue and turned to Yu Ren. “Not going to say hi?”

They were on their way to attend a film awards ceremony in City A when they unexpectedly ran into Lu Lianning, whom they hadn’t seen in over two years.

Since taking over as CEO, Lu Lianning had an imposing presence, always surrounded by layers of bodyguards whenever he went out.

Yu Ren shook his head. “Forget it. It would only make things more awkward…” He looked a bit puzzled. “It’s just…”

Ren Qi turned his head when he noticed Yu Ren hesitating. “Just what?”

Yu Ren decided not to keep him in suspense and continued, “It’s just that something’s off between him and Chen Miao.”

“What do you mean?”

Yu Ren’s expression was exaggerated as if he thought Ren Qi, as a director, had lost his sharpness when it came to reading emotions and atmospheres. “Back when Lu Lianning was with Chen Miao, he acted like some spoiled rich girl with a bad temper. He’d make Chen Miao open the car door for him before he’d get in.”

He seemed to be boasting about his keen observations. “Didn’t you notice? When Miss Lu was filming on set, he only ever sat in Chen Miao’s passenger seat.”

Ren Qi found Yu Ren’s description interesting and asked, “And now?”

Yu Ren raised an eyebrow. “Now?” He curled his lips. “Now, Lu Lianning looks like a rich girl who was about to run off with a poor guy, only to get dumped at the last second. Tsk tsk, just look at the resentment in his eyes. From the moment they left the hospital to when they got in the car, he kept trying to talk to Chen Miao, but Chen Miao wouldn’t even give him a glance, clearly not wanting to deal with him!”