ABLO Chapter 56

Lu Yang originally wanted to go to the hospital to pick up Ruan Mian after getting off work, but on the way out of the military district, he received a message from Ruan Mian, who said that he would stay in the hospital to take care of Ren Ge and would not go back tonight, so he didn’t need to go to the hospital to pick him up.

Lu Yang stopped, put his phone back in his pocket, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and told himself in his heart that he should give Ruan Mian the freedom to make friends, and tried to control his impulse to pull Ruan Mian back from the hospital.

He calmed down, opened his eyes, and smiled slightly. He retracted his foot that was about to leave the military district, turned directly, and returned to the training ground.

Since the little rabbit isn’t returning to the nest, why should he go back? Is a lone wolf lonely, desolate, and cold? Of course not. He would stay to continue training the new recruits, striving for the future of the Galactic Empire.

So… that night, the soldiers in the army faced brutal training. Not only was the training intensity increased, but there were also sudden night attacks, with two emergency assemblies in total. They were exhausted and miserable before finally being allowed to go back to sleep.

The next day, Lu Yang waited patiently the whole day, and finally, it was time to get off work. He eagerly grabbed his car keys, humming a cheerful tune, ready to bring the little rabbit back to the nest.

As soon as he picked up the keys, his phone rang. He frowned and looked at it. The message was exactly the same as yesterday, from the same disobedient little rabbit.

Lu Yang’s mouth straightened, and the song he was humming stopped. He stood there for a while and took a few deep breaths repeatedly.

This time, he did not return to the training ground to torture the recruits but drove out of the military district without hesitation.

What a joke. If he gave the little rabbit freedom again, his wife would run away with someone else.

He felt a headache when he thought about the two rivals who had been lingering for years and refused to leave.

In the hospital, Ren Ge leaned on the bed, looking at Ruan Mian, who was absent-mindedly peeling the apple, and couldn’t help but smile, and reminded him in a gentle voice: “Xiao Mian, be careful, don’t cut your hand.”

Ruan Mian came back to his senses, raised his head and smiled awkwardly, lowered his head and carefully peeled the fruit in his hand, and handed the apple to Ren Ge.

Ren Ge took the apple and took a bite, looked at him, and smiled: “Did you quarrel with Lu Yang?”

“No.” Ruan Mian shook his head and smiled lightly, saying, “We don’t fight. Even if we do, we can’t stay mad for more than an hour before we start talking again. It’s been this way since we were young. I can’t control myself; I just forget the reason for the argument without realizing it.”

When he thought of Lu Yang, a gentle smile would unconsciously appear on his face. Ren Ge noticed his reaction and couldn’t help but feel a bit helpless.

“Then what happened to you these two days? You suddenly hid here for two days and refused to go home. Apart from him, I can’t think of anyone else who can affect your mood like this.”

Ruan Mian didn’t want to hide it from Ren Ge, he just lowered his head and said, “I just don’t understand some things.”

He replayed Li Zhan’s words yesterday in his mind, but he couldn’t figure out the answer. He wanted to stay with Lu Yang for the rest of his life, but he was not sure what kind of feelings Lu Yang had for him now.

He didn’t want to morally bind Lu Yang, nor did he want to use the engagement to restrict him. However, he simply couldn’t bring himself to actively request to cancel the engagement. Just thinking about it felt heartbreakingly painful, as if it were a bone-deep sorrow.

He was a little ignorant about emotional matters, and the more he thought about it, the more confused he became.

Ren Ge looked at him tenderly and said patiently, “If you need someone to listen, you can talk to me. Although my own romantic experiences are few, I’m older than you and might be able to offer some advice.”

Ruan Mian shook his head, “Brother Ren, thank you for your kindness, but no need. If I really can’t figure it out, I will ask Lu Yang directly.”

Because Lu Yang is so precious, he doesn’t know what to do. However, he doesn’t want to seek help from others to solve the issues between him and Lu Yang.

Since they were young, whenever he encountered a problem, the first person he would consult was Lu Yang. This has always been his habit. Even if this time the issue is between him and Lu Yang, if he absolutely had to find someone to discuss it with, it would still be Lu Yang. There is no doubt about that.

Ren Ge looked at him and sighed helplessly: “Xiao Mian, I have always been very persistent. I will never give up what I want unless I have no other choice. But do you know why I gave up pursuing you so easily?”

Ruan Mian shook his head silently. He always remembered that Ren Ge wanted to help him and offered to be engaged to him. He was always grateful for Ren Ge’s kindness. But at that time, he didn’t understand that Ren Ge really wanted to marry him. He thought that Ren Ge just couldn’t stand Wu Yongjuan’s behavior, so he wanted to help him.

Later, when he grew up, he had contact with Ren Ge several times, and then he figured out Ren Ge’s hidden feelings. After he got engaged to Lu Yang, Ren Ge had always behaved politely and never mentioned the past. He thought Ren Ge had let it go long ago.

Ren Ge looked at the apple in his hand and said in a low voice: “Because apart from Lu Yang, you have never thought about others in your mind. I don’t know how to describe it. You and Lu Yang seem to be covered by an invisible net. There’s only two of you in the net, and no one else can be allowed in.”

He paused and smiled: “As long as there is that layer of net, you can’t feel the love of others, and you won’t respond at all. It’s like you don’t consider other people at all, so I don’t see hope in you at all, because I know that layer of net will never disappear. I haven’t snatched you from Lu Yang yet, but you have already ruled me out of your heart.”

Ruan Mian lowered his eyes with some guilt, “Brother Ren, I’m sorry.”

“I don’t mean to blame you.” Ren Ge smiled and said with relief: “I have let it go, but I can’t help but envy Lu Yang, envy that he can have such a pure love as yours.”

“He treats me better than other people.” Ruan Mian said.

Ren Ge looked at Ruan Mian, who still did not forget to speak up for Lu Yang at this moment, and shook his head helplessly. “You… it’s a good thing Lu Yang is genuinely good to you. Otherwise, if he sold you, you’d probably still count the money for him.”

“Why would I sell Mian Mian? Don’t try to sow discord between us while I’m away.”

Lu Yang pushed the door and walked in, wearing sunglasses on his face and holding a fruit basket in his hand, looking very imposing.

He thought that in front of his rival, losing face was not an option. So when he arrived, he bought a fruit basket, pretending to visit a patient. He walked in, trying his best to not appear too eager.

Ruan Mian was a little surprised to see Lu Yang, “Why are you here? Didn’t you see the message I sent you?”

“What message? I didn’t see it.” Lu Yang pretended not to know, told an obvious lie, and put the fruit basket in his hand on the table.

Ren Ge saw the fruit basket in his hand and smiled, deliberately picking up an apple and taking a bite. In a calm tone, he said, “You don’t need to buy me so much fruit. I can just eat apples. Xiao Mian just peeled one for me, and eating it, I feel it tastes better than any other fruit.”

Lu Yang’s forehead jumped slightly, knowing that Ren Ge was deliberately irritating him, but he still couldn’t help getting angry. He looked at the apple in Ren Ge’s hand with red eyes and wanted to walk over and snatch the apple.

He tried to remind himself that he was already a mature adult and couldn’t be easily angered by Ren Ge like he was when he was a child.

He forced a smile, casually saying, “Mian Mian is a doctor, and you’re a patient. He’s always attentive to his patients, peeling an apple is nothing special. However, since you can already eat apples, you must be fine and don’t need any more care. So I’ll take Mian Mian back. After all, doctors need rest too, and as his fiancé, I do worry about him.”

Lu Yang gritted his teeth as he said the word ‘worry’, unable to stop the fire from flaring up in his eyes.

Ren Ge finished the apple in two or three bites. Listening to his words that concealed his anger, he couldn’t help but smile, “I feel sorry for Xiao Mian, but Xiao Mian is really worried about me being here alone, and I can’t let Xiao Mian down.”

Lu Yang crossed his arms over his chest and let out a cold snort. “So grown up and still needs someone to keep him company.”

“I haven’t been your rival for many years,” Ren Ge said slowly. “But you should reflect on why Xiao Mian would rather stay here with me than go back to see you.”

“You!”

Ruan Mian stood up at the right time to stop the two of them from continuing their childish confrontation. He walked to Lu Yang’s side and said goodbye to Ren Ge, “Brother Ren, we’ll go back first.”

He hadn’t seen Lu Yang for almost two days, and he missed Lu Yang a little. Now that Lu Yang came to pick him up, he wouldn’t let Lu Yang go back alone.

After Ren Ge teased Lu Yang, he was in a good mood and nodded, saying, “Okay, be careful on the way back.”

Lu Yang didn’t give them more time to say goodbye and walked out of the ward holding Ruan Mian’s hand.

He thought he had finally gotten away from his rival, but when he opened the door, he saw Wang Dali walking towards him.

Wang Dali was holding two lunch boxes in his hands. When he saw them, he paused, hesitated for a moment, and walked over. He first greeted Lu Yang, then turned his head and looked at Ruan Mian and said, “Xiao Mian, didn’t you say you would stay in the hospital tonight? I just got you a meal; don’t you want to eat it?”

Ruan Mian glanced at the lunch box in his hand and explained, “Thank you, Dali. I won’t eat here. Lu Yang came to pick me up and I want to go back. You can take these meals to Shen Cheng in the treatment room. He may not have finished work yet. You can give them to him.”

Lu Yang stood on the side with his hands in his pockets, listening to their conversation. His expression was cold, and he watched them silently, slightly narrowing his eyes in frustration.

“Alright, then. Shen Cheng is in for a treat today. He’s spent all his salary for the month and was planning to save money tonight by cooking instant noodles at home.”

“How did he spend all his salary again? Well, it’s good that you’re giving him the food. Constantly eating instant noodles isn’t good for his health.”

…

Lu Yang listened to the two of them talking non-stop, his eyebrows twitching slightly. He discreetly raised his finger to adjust his glasses.

He quietly listened for a while, but eventually couldn’t hold back and slowly said with a smirk, “Ji’er, your feathers…”

“I have something else to do, so I’ll leave first!”

When Wang Dali heard the words related to feathers, all the hairs on his body stood up. Before Lu Yang finished speaking, he had already gathered all his strength and ran away, leaving no hair behind.

Lu Yang looked at his running back and slowly smiled.

There are so many rivals in love; I’ll eliminate them one by one!