“What happened?”
Yan Sui’s voice was not low, but the seriousness pierced straight to the heart.
Zhen Han stepped forward, a hint of guilt in his expression. “Zhong Ming and I were with Sister-in-law. We got him a glass of juice, and after he took a sip, we found out it was drugged…”
“What kind of drug?” Yan Sui furrowed his brows and interrupted Zhen Han.
“Barbiturate, a sedative.”
Yan Sui’s hand holding Meng Ting clenched into a fist. Then, instead of getting angry, he smiled, but the smile was cold and ruthless. Gu Lang and Zhong Ming shivered; they knew Yan Sui’s inverted scale had been touched.
“Did it attract the attention of others?” he suddenly asked.
Meng Qi paused. He knew Yan Sui was asking him. He thought it over carefully and shook his head. “I came straight here, so it shouldn’t have.”
“Good, since someone has set up a play, it would be a waste of their effort if we don’t see it through to the end!”
Zhen Han and the others exchanged glances, understanding Yan Sui’s intention. He wanted to follow the clues and directly expose the person who had set Meng Ting up.
Meng Qi looked at Meng Ting in Yan Sui’s arms, who remained silent after calling out Yan Sui, and then nodded, indicating his willingness to cooperate.
“Little Sister-in-law, he…”
Finding the mastermind behind the scenes was indeed important, but Meng Ting’s condition was even more critical at the moment.
Yan Sui tilted his head and kissed Meng Ting’s forehead. “He will be fine.”
No one knew Meng Ting’s condition better than him. He patted Meng Ting’s back, “You will be fine.”
Meng Ting didn’t respond, but the hand gripping Yan Sui’s side waist tightened a bit more.
After a brief discussion, Gu Lang and Zhong Ming left first, followed by Zhen Han and Meng Qi a moment later. Only Yan Sui and Meng Ting were left in the room.
Once everyone left, Yan Sui could no longer hide the distress in his eyes. He kissed Meng Ting on the lips and then spoke in a very low voice as if he was afraid of scaring the person in his arms.
“Be good; don’t be afraid. I am Yan Sui. Open your eyes and look at me…”
Meng Ting’s eyelashes trembled slightly, and finally, his eyes slowly opened. The depths of his eyes were pitch black, hollow enough to make one feel uneasy. It took a long time for his eyes to focus, “Yan Sui…”
Yan Sui continued to rub Meng Ting’s neck, gently kissing him, “Yes, I’m Yan Sui.”
“You are Yan Sui,” Meng Ting repeated Yan Sui’s words in a low voice. He blinked, as if he had briefly escaped from a nightmare, “Yan Sui, you are Yan Sui.”
“Be good, I’m here; it’s okay, it’s okay…”
Yan Sui said as he continued to kiss Meng Ting. Meng Ting’s complexion was poor, and his temperature was frighteningly low. He could only use this method, which Meng Ting liked, to make him feel a bit warmer.
Meng Ting’s expression seemed unchanged, but the look in his eyes could evoke feelings of sadness and despair.
“Turns out, I’m still not okay…”
If it were anyone else who suddenly heard Meng Ting say this, they might not understand what he meant. But Yan Sui could. He completely understood his past, all the dark past, so he could empathize.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, Meng Ting; I said it’s okay.”
Meng Ting had a drug addiction, and after finally overcoming it, he was sent to a special closed-off high school. That place treated those unruly students as if they were mental patients, and Meng Ting was no exception.
In the closed-off high school, Meng Ting, who couldn’t take medicine or get injections, was forcibly fed sedatives and forcibly injected, simply because he resisted taking medicine and getting injections. Those three years… were too miserable and too terrifying, so much so that after Yan Sui found out, he chose to follow Meng Ting’s example, not mentioning or confronting it.
But today, when neither he nor Meng Ting were prepared, it was suddenly revealed, and Meng Ting fell back into that never-ending shadow, while he felt so distressed that he wanted to kill someone to vent his anger.
“I’ll stay with you; we’ll take it slow, and we’ll get better slowly.”
Yan Sui said as he lifted Meng Ting’s chin and kissed him again, his touch still very gentle, afraid of causing pain, afraid of making Meng Ting uncomfortable.
Meng Ting didn’t say anything more. He didn’t respond to Yan Sui’s kiss, nor did he resist it, but the gloom in his eyes seemed to have dissipated a bit.
Some commotion could be heard outside the door. Yan Sui let Meng Ting lean against him, then took off his suit jacket and covered Meng Ting with it.
Just as he finished these actions, the door lock turned, and a group of ten or so people crowded in.
The first few who saw Yan Sui were so startled that they stopped in their tracks, unable to make a sound for a moment. However, those behind them, who couldn’t see the situation inside the room, were still making a loud noise.
“Meng Qi… you’re too inconsiderate, coming here to have fun by yourself…”
“Yeah, yeah, I want to see which beauty… Yan… Yan family’s patriarch.”
“Sorry, we got the wrong room…”
Gu Ya, who was the first to enter and reacted the quickest, quickly said. He had a good relationship with Meng Qi and was one of the people who had been drinking with him earlier.
“Sorry…” A series of apologies and sorrys made the atmosphere extremely awkward.
Yan Sui didn’t respond to anyone’s words. He patted Meng Ting’s back and then picked him up.
As they got closer to the group, he said, “Step aside; keep your distance.”
Everyone instinctively did so. Yan Sui carried Meng Ting out of the lounge. Gu Lang and Zhong Ming also rushed over. They nodded at Yan Sui, having basically identified the suspect, but there were still more details to investigate.
“Give me results by tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Gu Lang nodded repeatedly. The incident involving Meng Ting happened at his family’s place. Yan Sui didn’t hold the Gu family accountable, which was already out of respect for their childhood friendship. Not to mention that someone dared to pull tricks at his birthday banquet; how could he let it go so easily?
After finishing with Gu Lang, Yan Sui continued to carry Meng Ting towards the hall. He slightly tilted his head. “We’re going home.”
“Okay,” Meng Ting replied. The scent on Yan Sui’s body filled his nostrils, and he held him even tighter. He nestled into the little world Yan Sui had created for him, feeling much better than before.
Yan Sui ignored everyone’s gazes and directly carried Meng Ting through the banquet hall, the bustling courtyard, and out of the Gu residence.
***
Yan Sui took Meng Ting into the car, and they remained silent all the way to the Yan residence. Throughout the journey, Yan Sui held Meng Ting tightly, not giving him a chance to push him away. After getting out of the car, he directly picked Meng Ting up again.
Uncle Xiao and Nanny Wang were a bit surprised, but Yan Sui and Meng Ting hugging at home wasn’t unusual. After a brief moment of surprise, they went back to what they were doing.
“Don’t think about pushing me away; I won’t let you be alone.”
Yan Sui said as he placed Meng Ting back on the bed.
From the moment he hugged Meng Ting in the lounge, he knew why Meng Ting’s body was so stiff. He rejected any contact with others, including him. But deep down, Meng Ting didn’t want to push him away; he was just afraid of hurting him, which was why he was so stiff.
The investigation report mentioned that once Meng Ting was given a sedative, he would have a period of excitement lasting three to four hours, with very obvious violent tendencies, rejecting anyone who got close to him.
But as long as he was locked in a dark room, he wouldn’t harm anyone, and he would return to normal after a day and a half.
“I didn’t think about it,” Meng Ting said. His body’s instinctive reaction was to reject everyone, but he didn’t want to push Yan Sui away. He recognized Yan Sui; he didn’t want to push him away.
“Okay, I misspoke,” Yan Sui said, then leaned down to kiss Meng Ting’s lips. The coldness on his face finally eased a bit. After a slight pause, he began to undress Meng Ting.
Meng Ting’s body was so stiff that it was almost unbearable. That instinctive rejection was very obvious. Even though they had already done the most intimate things, any part of his body that Yan Sui touched now would cause goosebumps to rise.
Meng Ting’s hands unconsciously clenched into fists. He was forcing himself to accept Yan Sui, forcing himself not to hurt Yan Sui.
Yan Sui took off Meng Ting’s suit jacket, then unbuttoned his shirt and covered his head with a pajamas. However, when the clothes obscured Meng Ting’s vision, he suddenly moved. Although he didn’t hurt anyone, he quickly retreated backwards. If Yan Sui hadn’t been quick to grab his leg, he would have fallen off the bed from the other side.
Yan Sui pressed down on Meng Ting’s legs, which were instinctively trying to resist, and then helped him pull the clothes down. When Meng Ting saw Yan Sui, he stopped moving.
Yan Sui looked at Meng Ting intently for a moment, then continued with his actions, taking off his pants and putting on his pajamas.
Then he did the same for himself. After changing, he sat on the bed and pulled Meng Ting into his arms.
His hand patted Meng Ting’s back again and again.
Meng Ting’s eyes were still wide open. Usually, at this time, he would have already squinted his eyes and felt sleepy, but now he couldn’t find a hint of drowsiness. He felt very cold; even though Yan Sui was holding him, he still felt very cold.
He slowly curled up his body. Yan Sui’s patting motion paused slightly, then he continued to hold him.
“Don’t be afraid; you won’t hurt me. Let me stay with you.”
As Yan Sui spoke, the distress in his eyes suddenly became difficult to control. He gently ruffled Meng Ting’s hair, saying, “I’m here; I’ll stay with you.”
Meng Ting slowly raised his head to look at him. There was an indescribable hollowness in his dark brown eyes, but compared to before, there was also a flicker of confusion that occasionally appeared. It wasn’t intense, but it was different nonetheless.
Yan Sui felt a deep ache in his heart. He leaned forward and kissed Meng Ting’s eyes.
“Who am I?”
Meng Ting looked at Yan Sui and slowly replied, “Yan Sui…”
He saw Yan Sui’s overly thin clothes and saw him exposing his fragile neck in front of him. He held him in his arms, exposing his softest and most vulnerable parts to him.
How could he say he wouldn’t be hurt by him? What if, what if he hurt him?
Meng Ting still had no reaction to his words. Yan Sui wanted to feel anxious but didn’t know what to be anxious about. His gaze fell on Meng Ting’s somewhat dry lips, and he glanced around again. When he saw the kettle on the table in front of the sofa, he patted his back gently and then stood up…
But before he could turn around, Meng Ting suddenly wrapped his legs around him, pulling him back, their positions reversed, with Meng Ting pinning Yan Sui beneath him. His eyes widened as he looked at Yan Sui, his panic unmistakable.
“Didn’t you say… you would stay with me?”
His hands trembled slightly as they fell on Yan Sui’s collar. “Don’t leave.”
“I’m not leaving,” Yan Sui didn’t expect that his intention to get water made Meng Ting mistakenly think he was going to leave. He raised his hand to pull the person down a bit, holding him tightly. “I’m not leaving.”
Meng Ting’s limbs trembled slightly, and then he released his hold on Yan Sui.
[dropdown title=”List of Idiom in Chapter 049.2″]
順藤摸瓜 (shùn téng mō guā): lit. to get to the melon by tracking the vines; to follow the vine to get to the melon; to follow the clues to get to the bottom of a matter or to thoroughly inquire into a matter; to track sth following clues; trace something to its source; follow clues to uncover the truth; investigate step by step; pursue a lead to find the solution.手疾眼快 (shǒu jí yǎn kuài): quick of eye and deft of hand; moving or acting quickly; act quickly and decisively; be quickwitted and agile; swift of hand and keen of eye; fast reaction; nimblefingered and sharpeyed; quick in action and sharp in vision. It describes people who are alert, quick in reaction and agile in action.
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