Singer

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Translator: Lynn

In the hospital room, Long Zichen was feeling a bit bored, passing the time by using music arrangement software to create simple accompaniments for the new songs written by Jian Jie. His mind, however, was completely preoccupied with thoughts of Xiaojie’s return. Long Zichen envisioned taking a few days off once Xiaojie arrived, and they would discuss the second album after a well-deserved rest. His mind kept circling around various matters related to Jian Jie, filling his thoughts with joy and excitement.

As Long Zichen was happily immersed in his thoughts, the door of the ward gently opened, and there stood Xiaojie, the person he had been longing for, with a bright smile. The monotonous room suddenly came to life as if the sun had lit up the entire space. Long Zichen’s eyes sparkled with delight upon seeing Jian Jie.

“Xiaojie, you’re back!” Long Zichen exclaimed joyfully.

Upon noticing that Long Zichen was covered in gauze on his hands, feet, and head, Jian Jie was taken aback. It seemed that his injuries were far from minor. “Brother Chen, you’re hurt so badly! How did this happen?”

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing serious. Why did you come here so quickly? Did you just get off the plane?” Long Zichen’s spirits lifted even more upon seeing Jian Jie. If his limbs weren’t immobilized, he might have jumped out of bed with excitement.

Xiao Wang, though often ignored, spoke up for Jian Jie dutifully, “Brother Xiao Jie came straight to see Brother Chen as soon as he returned to the company.”

Long Zichen beamed at Jian Jie, “Sit down and rest. Mom is getting some food. There are fruits and drinks over there. Help yourself.” Long Zichen wished he could get up and serve Jian Jie himself.

Jian Jie nodded and placed the food he bought for Long Zichen on the bedside table. “Should I call Auntie to come back? We also bought some food. It should be enough. Can you eat spicy food with your broken bone? I got you some sour and spicy boiled fish. I hope you can have it.”

“I can eat anything! I’ve been eating boxed lunches and that bean sprout and pig’s trotters soup every day. I almost feel sick.” Long Zichen grumbled, looking pitifully at Jian Jie, trying to evoke sympathy. “My mom is so busy; she only comes to see me once a day. She doesn’t even bother to cook for me or care about her own son’s well-being.”

Guan Fen happened to return from buying a box lunch at that moment and scolded her unscrupulous son. “What nonsense are you talking about? The restaurant was closed today, so there’s no soup for you!” Then, she turned to Jian Jie and Xiao Wang with a warm smile and said, “Xiaojie, Xiao Wang, I heard from Xiaochen that you recently went abroad. Did you just come back?”

“Hello, Auntie. I just returned to China this morning. I came to see Brother Chen. Is he feeling any better? When will he be discharged from the hospital?” For some reason, Jian Jie couldn’t shake off the feeling that Long Zichen’s mother was looking at him strangely.

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Long Zichen immediately chimed in, adopting an extremely sorrowful tone, “I still have to stay in the hospital for another week. It’s so boring! Anyway, I’m trying my best to gain some sympathy here. Xiaojie, you should stay for a while longer. It’ll make me feel much better seeing you around.”

Guan Fen didn’t hold back her criticism, “It’s your own doing. Even after you’re discharged, you’ll stay with me. If you heal faster, you can go out and about.”

“Hmph, Mom, you always talk about me,” Long Zichen pretended to be annoyed and continued their playful banter. In front of Jian Jie, he couldn’t resist the urge to interact and be heard, but he also worried that he might come off as too noisy.

Jian Jie had something on his mind, but he decided to keep it to himself for the time being. Instead, he set up a small dining table for Long Zichen, placed the dishes and chopsticks, and prepared the meal.

Long Zichen, not seeing Jian Jie’s actions, quickly shouted, “Xiao Wang, you’re being useless again! How can you make Xiaojie work for me?”

Innocent Xiao Wang thought Jian Jie had done it voluntarily, so why was Long Zichen blaming him? Thankfully, Jian Jie came to his defense immediately, “It’s not a big deal. I can handle it. I heard that Xiao Wang commutes between the hospital and the company every day. That’s hard enough, and you’re always scolding him.”

Guan Fen also playfully scolded Long Zichen, “Exactly! You always complain, even though you’re sick now, you can’t just keep nitpicking at others. Your temper is bad; maybe it’s better if nobody cares about you.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll stop complaining. Are you happy now?” Long Zichen grumbled, feeling even more pitiful as he saw that even Xiaojie wasn’t taking his side.

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After sharing a meal with Jian Jie and the others, Guan Fen prepared to head back to the orphanage. The round trip to the hospital takes over two hours, and she can’t spare much more time away from the children. She felt guilty and pulled Jian Jie aside under the pretext of taking out the trash to have a few private words:

“Xiaojie, I have a favor to ask. If you have any free time, please come and visit Xiaochen. Being sick and injured can be quite depressing, and I hope someone can accompany him. I can’t leave the orphanage much. His father passed away early, and I had to leave him alone at home when he was young, which I’ve always regretted. I see that Xiaochen holds you in high regard, and he’s in a better mood when you’re around. If you’re busy, at least talk to him on the phone. When you were overseas, he always seemed so happy after talking to you.”

When Long Zichen’s mother made such a request, Jian Jie was taken aback and quickly agreed, “Auntie, please don’t say that. I will definitely come every day. Brother Chen has always taken care of me like this. I actually wanted to discuss something with you and Brother Chen. Once Brother Chen is discharged from the hospital, it would be best for him to come live with me. I have a spare room in my house. Even if I can’t be at home all day, I’ll arrange someone to take care of him.”

“That sounds like a lot of trouble for you, isn’t it?” Guan Fen felt uneasy, “Xiaochen’s rented house is too small, and my place isn’t very quiet. It’s not right for us to stay at your place and cause more inconvenience.”

“No, it’s really no trouble. I live alone in my house,” Jian Jie reassured her.

“Well, let’s go inside and ask Xiaochen about it and see what he thinks,” Guan Fen said, eyeing Jian Jie thoughtfully. He was young, kind, and had a gentle and cute demeanor. It was no wonder her son had fallen for him. Anyone who saw that gentle smile would undoubtedly love it too. Guan Fen had always had a good relationship with Long Zichen and treated him as both her son and friend. Since he was young, she had respected her son’s wishes, so whoever he liked, she couldn’t object.

After discussing the matter with Long Zichen, he couldn’t be happier about the idea. He was excited and eager to be discharged from the hospital immediately and move into Jian Jie’s house. The thought of living with Jian Jie made him feel overjoyed, and he even felt thankful for the accident. If he had known that getting a broken leg would result in such treatment from Jane, he would have jumped down the stairs even earlier. If he knew that his mother had pulled at Jane’s heartstrings on his behalf, he’d be even more grateful.

Seeing Long Zichen’s happy expression, Jian Jie couldn’t help but feel a mix of emotions. He didn’t know if he should be happy or not about the situation.

After Guan Fen left and Xiao Wang was sent back to the company by Long Zichen, only Jian Jie and Long Zichen remained in the ward. Jian Jie had been given two days off by the company, so he planned to spend the afternoon with Long Zichen and return to the hospital with Xiao Wang in the evening. He took an apple and wanted to peel it for Long Zichen, but there was no paring knife available. Struggling with a fruit knife, Jian Jie almost peeled off most of the flesh in the process.

Long Zichen lay on the bed, laughing non-stop, “Xiaojie, you truly are a young master. You can’t even peel an apple properly.”

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“…I’m not good at using this kind of knife. Let me cut another one,” Jian Jie said, looking at the incomplete apple in his hand with a sense of helplessness.

“Don’t worry about it, this much is enough for me.” Long Zichen took the apple, which was now mostly core, and happily nibbled on the remaining flesh. A contented smile adorned his face as he gazed at Jian Jie. Despite spending a whole week confined to bed due to the fracture, he seemed to have forgotten all his usual anxieties and boredom. In this moment, his heart felt peaceful and brimming with happiness.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable under Long Zichen’s intense gaze, Jian Jie tried to divert the conversation: “Auntie mentioned hiring a nurse, but why isn’t anyone here?”

“We’re short on nurses. They all work part-time and come every two or three hours,” Long Zichen explained.

Jian Jie nodded, considering that he might be able to help by hiring a full-time nurse with a bit more money: “In that case, just give me a call if you need anything.”

“Okay.”

Jian Jie took out the sunglasses he had planned to give to Long Zichen. Seeing them, Long Zichen’s face lit up with joy. He commented that Jian Jie was spending too much money on him, but Jian Jie only smiled without responding. Ignoring the bandage on his head, Long Zichen put on the sunglasses and tried them on, then blushed slightly and said, “My hair has been shaved off. Do I look ugly now?”

“No, Brother Chen, you look as handsome as ever.”

Long Zichen blushed a little more, finding his Xiaojie utterly lovable. The ward fell quiet once more as people often felt a bit drowsy after lunch. They lazily stayed in the room, occasionally exchanging a few words without the need to force conversation.

An hour flew by, and Brother Jian called to ask if Jian Jie had finished work. Jian Jie hesitated for a moment and then told his elder brother, “One of our company colleagues got injured and is hospitalized. I’m at the hospital.”

“Which colleague is it? Come back home after a while.”

“It’s our music director. I’ll go back after having dinner in the evening.”

Long Zichen eavesdropped on Jian Jie’s phone conversation and couldn’t contain his joy when he heard that Jian Jie planned to stay until the evening.

Brother Jian knew that Jian Jie’s music director was the one who discovered his career and had a close friendship with him. After a moment’s thought, he said, “What kind of injury did he get? Since he’s your music director, I should visit him too.” He asked for the hospital’s address and said he would come later.

After hanging up the phone, Jian Jie told Long Zichen, “My elder brother said he wants to see you too, is that okay?”

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“Of course, your elder brother is too polite.” At this moment, Long Zichen’s heart raced, and although he hadn’t done anything harmful to his younger brother yet, he couldn’t help feeling guilty. Seeing his parents’ affectionate interactions made him feel even more remorseful.

Please let me know if there are typos/mistakes in the chapter.

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