Chapter 111

"Cough, cough, I... cough, I'm fine... cough, cough."

His fingertips were somewhat rough from years of training, but at this moment, he used the lightest force of his life to wrap around that slender wrist, as if holding some rare treasure, terrified of crushing it.

When the coughing subsided, he didn't let go of her hand and asked slowly, "How have you been lately?"

Qiao Suisui was startled and said, "If I said it wasn't good, it would be a bit pretentious, because everyone has been taking very good care of me."

Anubis did not miss the flash of dejection on her face. He voluntarily ignored the 'everyone' she mentioned, paused for two seconds, and said, "Then, are you happy?"

Qiao Suisui's expression froze slightly. This was the first time since arriving here that someone had asked her if she was happy.

Her throat tightened, and she subconsciously avoided the question. It seemed that if she answered Bi's question, she wouldn't be able to help but lay out all her grievances in front of him.

She forced a smile and changed the subject: "It wasn't convenient earlier with them around, so I didn't ask—is the person who hurt you someone I know?"

By asking this, she already had an answer in her heart.

Anubis was silent for a few seconds, emotions surging in his eyes.

"Yes."

"Is that person Zongfang?"

Fearing that Anubis might not know his name, she took out his photo and showed it to him directly.

Anubis nodded stiffly. He had concealed Zongfang's act of hurting him, not to cover for him, but because he didn't know how to face Qiao Suisui.

Although the incident happened suddenly and his consciousness was scattered due to his severe injuries, Anubis remembered every word Zongfang said. Therefore, he could infer from the meaning of those words why this man was causing him trouble, and even wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

And realizing this, Anubis dared not look into Qiao Suisui's eyes. At this moment, his heart was constantly wavering: Does Qiao really like me? If not, why would Zongfang want to kill me? If so, how is he supposed to face this affection? After all, they are both males...

"Qiao, you are very good... I mean... I won't reject you. It's just that I don't know if I... but I will seriously give you an answer... Maybe, maybe it will take some time..."

Anubis spoke in a confused manner, and Qiao Suisui was also left bewildered.

She tilted her head and asked in confusion: "It should be me giving you an answer."

Anubis was startled, and upon hearing what she said next, his heart sank.

"Bi, I'm sorry, the matter started because of me. There are some issues between him and me that haven't been resolved. Although he is paranoid, he is very good to me, so even if everyone thinks he is a man who stops at nothing, I don't want to join others in blaming him. I know he did something very excessive to you; let me compensate you for this. No matter what it is, I will find every way to compensate you."

After she finished speaking, she didn't hear a response from Bi for a long time. Qiao Suisui looked up and saw him watching her quietly. His eyes seemed to have become exceptionally black, so black they lost all reflection.

"Bi?"

Qiao Suisui looked at him naively, only to see Anubis lower his head and chuckle slowly. The smile was wider than any he had shown before, but there was no happiness in it. The emotion was too complex; Qiao Suisui couldn't understand it.

"I don't want your compensation," he said.

Qiao Suisui's heart tightened, thinking he wouldn't forgive her, but then she heard him say: "I have already received so, so much from you..."

Those were memories he had never possessed before—ordinary yet precious. They were the days he had always longed for, for which he would be willing to trade anything.

"And that person didn't kill me in the end. Look at this." Anubis stretched out his arm to show her the black blood line. "He made me drink his blood. I suspect that because his blood didn't cause a rejection reaction in my body, it suppressed my Rampage Gene."

Qiao Suisui was surprised to hear this.

"Qiao, he helped me." Anubis stared at her, the seriousness in his eyes giving him a maturity that didn't match his age. "He misunderstood, and he cares about you very much."

Qiao Suisui was startled. After digesting the information in his words for a long time, she finally realized: "You mean he thought I liked you?"

Anubis looked at her in silence. For a moment, he almost asked: Was he right in his assumption?

However, he merely shifted his gaze away calmly, restraining the impulse in his heart—an impulse like a frantic sparrow flying wildly inside him, wanting to break out of his body.

Qiao Suisui didn't notice his lonely expression and frowned in thought, "But that's not right. If it were only to that extent, it wouldn't make him act so abnormally..."

In her eyes, Zongfang was a proud person. Because of his own strength, he never did things to harm others in the shadows; usually, whoever annoyed him would be dealt with on the spot. He certainly wouldn't be as fickle as this time, killing one moment and helping the next.

Qiao Suisui's thoughts began to trace back, and she discovered that the root of everything was that night at the banquet, starting from his unannounced departure. Although she had asked Zongfang for the reason, he hadn't explained what exactly had happened.

"The banquet... Lanze?"

Anubis saw her muttering something to herself, and then, as if she had suddenly thought of something, a flash of light passed through her eyes.

"Bi, thank you for telling me this." Qiao Suisui looked at him earnestly. "No matter what, I will definitely give you an answer."

Walking out of the ward, Qiao Suisui still had Bi's words echoing in her mind. She slowly stopped her steps, tapped on her light brain, skillfully found Zongfang's ID, stared at it for a while, and then clicked exit. She took a deep breath, her fingertips trembling slightly, and opened the chat box with him again, seeing the message stop at three words—

【I'm waiting for you】

This was sent when he came to pick her up at school last time.

Qiao Suisui clicked on his ID, her finger hovering hesitantly over the call button. Even though it was only two short seconds, it felt extremely long. Suddenly, the light brain screen popped up an audio call.

Qiao Suisui was stunned, but eventually clicked accept. A pleasant voice rang out, though the tone was as annoying as ever.

"Excuse me, I'd like to find Doctor Qiao."

Qiao Suisui: "..."

"Doctor Qiao, are you there? Can you help me take a look?"

"What kind of serious illness do you have?"

"I've been stabbed by your indifference."

Qiao Suisui: "..."

Five minutes ago, Ka'er had finished his mission and couldn't wait to open his light brain.

There were no missed calls as he had imagined. OK, that's fine, she never liked making audio calls, it didn't matter. OK, let him check the messages.

Ka'er's hand slid down, the light brain refreshed, and he pulled down to see unread messages.

0.

Just then, a colleague from the Federation patted Ka'er on the shoulder to say hello, but seeing he had no reaction, his back even looked somewhat stoic.

The colleague was puzzled and wanted to call out to him, but heard Ka'er closing his eyes and chanting over his light brain: "This is not a light brain, this is not a light brain, this is stir-fried pork intestine, this is stir-fried pork intestine. I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming."

The colleague peered at the light brain in his hand and said: "This is a light brain, Ka'er. Are you hungry?"

(End of chapter)