HRMCF Chapter 10

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🍋‍🟩 Completed Chapter

Zhao Linsu drove Shen Yan to the hospital.

Originally, Shen Yan wanted to just go to the school clinic to get it checked out, but Zhao Linsu vetoed it, "The school clinic is okay for treating a cold, but with you like this, he'd probably just say one thing."

Shen Yan said, "Rest more?"

Zhao Linsu gave him a cold look, "Go to the hospital."

Playing basketball, especially when you play hard, how can you not get injured? Shen Yan felt Zhao Linsu was making a fuss, but it did hurt quite a bit. He lay back in the backseat, feeling a needle-like pain in his left ankle.

Thankfully, Zhao Linsu drove steadily, without any jolting.

Shen Yan hugged his left knee and said, "How did you see that I was injured?"

He had endured it perfectly on the court, making sure not to show any weakness.

"Didn't see it," Zhao Linsu said blandly, "I came down to get an autograph."

"..."

Shen Yan knew Zhao Linsu was mocking him. He was in a lot of pain, and his mind couldn't immediately process how to argue back, so he honestly said, "Luckily you came."

Zhao Linsu pursed his lips slightly and didn't speak.

At the hospital entrance, the two started arguing again. Shen Yan insisted on hopping up the eight steps, and Zhao Linsu mocked him for trying to put on a monkey show.

"Two options," Zhao Linsu held up two fingers, "One, I carry you up, two, you wait here, and I'll go get a wheelchair."

Shen Yan said, "Wheelchair? No need..."

Zhao Linsu directly reached over to scoop him up, startling Shen Yan, who grabbed the handrail of the accessible ramp and hopped aside. "No, I'll wait, I'll wait."

He had only been princess-carried once in his life, and that was enough. Since no one saw it anyway, being carried by Zhao Linsu into the hospital lobby in broad daylight would make Shen Yan want to die of embarrassment.

Waiting alone under a tree, Shen Yan rubbed his lower back. He hadn't realized Zhao Linsu was such a strong guy, carrying him down from the second floor in one go without even getting red in the face or out of breath.

He had thought this guy was made of paper.

Shen Yan's hand pressed against his lower back, and the scene of being carried downstairs by Zhao Linsu involuntarily surfaced in his mind again.

...So incredibly mortifying!

Luckily no one saw it.

Sweat was almost dripping down Shen Yan's forehead.

Ever since he discovered that Zhao Linsu was constantly fantasizing about him, Shen Yan had become a little sensitive to Zhao Linsu's touch.

Just a little.

Mainly because Zhao Linsu usually acted quite normal.

Take just now, carrying him downstairs. One hand supported his waist, the other cradled his knees, basically not touching his body with his palm at all.

Even if he were a girl, Zhao Linsu had been careful and gentlemanly enough just now.

So this guy should be pretty clear about separating fantasy from reality.

As for why Zhao Linsu would fantasize about him, Shen Yan still couldn't figure it out. Maybe once he understood why Zhu Ningbo fantasized about Liang Keqing, he would also understand what Zhao Linsu was thinking.

Speak of the devil, Zhu Ningbo called Shen Yan.

"I... I went back," Shen Yan said, carefully holding the phone receiver to his ear, trying not to expose the noisy hospital sounds outside, "Something came up at home."

Zhu Ningbo said, "Oh, really? Everyone's looking for you."

"Looking for me for what?"

"Xu Junhao said his girlfriend wants to take a picture of you for the media department."

Shen Yan was immediately awkward. "Forget it."

"He said forget it."

Zhu Ningbo relayed the message. Shen Yan said, "Is Xu Junhao next to you?"

"Yeah, and his girlfriend too."

Shen Yan thought that since the girl was waiting right there, it didn't seem right to refuse so directly. He said, "What kind of photo does she want? When does she need it? I've already gotten home, so I can't come over today."

"She said it's best to have a front-facing photo of you holding a basketball, with your face clearly visible."

"It won't be posted on the official website, will it?"

"She said it will."

Shen Yan was awkward again.

"Okay, I'll look for one later."

"Okay, she also asked if she could add you on WeChat. She has some photos from today's game and wants you to pick one."

"Sure, just give her my WeChat."

Shen Yan hung up the phone and spun it on the railing beside him. After a while, a friend request popped up on WeChat. He had just accepted and said hello, not even having time to say two sentences, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of wheels out of the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw Zhao Linsu with his hands on a wheelchair, wearing that same amused expression.

"How come you're like Zhu Ningbo, walking without a sound?"

Zhao Linsu pushed the wheelchair closer. "Is it that I'm silent, or are you too engrossed in your fan meeting?"

Shen Yan said, "No, it's Xu Junhao's girlfriend, from the media department, asking for a photo of me."

Shen Yan leaned on the wheelchair and sat down, instantly feeling comfortable.

Zhao Linsu deftly pushed him from behind. "Showing off now, huh? Feeling good?"

Shen Yan said, "Not bad."

Zhao Linsu chuckled. It was strange; Shen Yan could discern different emotions in Zhao Linsu's laughter. This time, Zhao Linsu's laugh wasn't mocking.

Shen Yan also smiled. "Okay, a little bit good."

Good? How could it not be good? After a year of practicing dunks, today he finally managed a proper dunk against professional players on the court. Even though his foot was killing him, the pain was temporary, but the coolness would last a lifetime.

Those older office workers who often played basketball with him in the park would often complain to him about being busy with work and family, having no time or energy to play. They would get winded after running a few laps and could only get their kicks vicariously.

"It's still better when you're in school. Don't think that working and going to school are only two years apart. Once a person steps into society, the feeling is just different."

Shen Yan could understand what they meant.

He had also watched his older brother gradually grow into the head of the family.

While he was still young, let him be willful one last time.

The price of his willfulness was two weeks of not being able to put weight on his foot, a choice between crutches and a wheelchair, and it wasn't even guaranteed to heal completely.

Shen Yan lay in the hospital bed, his left foot elevated and immobilized, a cooling, slightly numbing spray applied to it. "This long?"

Zhao Linsu held up the developed X-ray. "The bone is fine, otherwise it would be longer."

Shen Yan said, "I know my own body; it's impossible that I actually broke a bone."

Zhao Linsu looked at him. "Is that so? Who was it who was nervously muttering 'it couldn't have really broken' to themselves?"

Shen Yan smiled and didn't argue. He would admit it when he should. He was indeed lucky. He wasn't aiming to fall anyway; he just didn't expect the guys from the sports academy to be so strong.

"I'll go buy some food. What do you want to eat?"

"Rice, a rice bowl with toppings, some meat, and a sweet drink. Thanks."

Before going on the court, Shen Yan had eaten two of Zhu Ningbo's popcorns. He was starving now and desperately needed to replenish his energy.

Zhao Linsu stood up. "Should I order a whole table of food for you?"

Shen Yan: "..."

It wasn't entirely out of the question.

A bunch of photos were sent over on WeChat. Shen Yan took advantage of Zhao Linsu being out buying food to look at them, so that this guy wouldn't be around to make sarcastic remarks.

The photos that were sent were all very large, over ten megabytes each. They must have been taken with a DSLR camera; the image quality was particularly clear, and the colors were clean.

Shen Yan looked at them one by one, wanting to pick a few that were more low-key.

His thrill was only in that one moment, having achieved his goal, that was the thrill. As for being on the official website, honestly, Shen Yan felt a bit embarrassed.

The people in the media department were professional indeed; their photography skills were excellent, especially at capturing dynamic moments. Shen Yan picked a few where his face wasn't so clear and the action was more intense.

【sy: Are these okay?】

【Round Face on the Road: Yes, I'll pick one from these~】

So they only needed one. Shen Yan immediately felt relieved and went back to carefully look through the photos again. Shen Yan felt grateful to the media department.

These photos were really well taken. Picking two to print out would be good memories of his youth.

Just as Shen Yan was carefully selecting one photo after another, his gaze suddenly froze on the bottom left corner of one picture.

In this photo, he had just come onto the court and was high-fiving a teammate he was replacing.

Right in the bottom left corner of the entire frame, in the spectator background, amidst a riot of colorful T-shirts and jerseys, a clean and pure white stood out abruptly and conspicuously.

Shen Yan was stunned for a moment.

There were too many people; it wasn't very clear in the photo.

He tapped the phone screen with two fingers.

Zoom in.

Zoom in again.

Until that corner filled the entire phone screen.

It still wasn't clear enough; he could only see a blurry white shirt and a slightly upturned face.

Shen Yan was stunned again for a while. He lightly tapped the photo back to its original size, hesitated before locking the screen, and then tapped into that girl's Moments.

The first post was "Although we lost, we fought valiantly, so happy happy," followed by a nine-grid photo collage.

Shen Yan opened one of the photos.

The photo showed the opening jump ball.

Shen Yan's eyes instinctively looked to the bottom left corner.

"Beef with rice and gravy, orange juice," Zhao Linsu placed the food on the table. "Don't need me to feed you, do you?"

"No need."

Shen Yan mumbled as he took the rice, "What about yours?"

Zhao Linsu said, "Ate outside."

Shen Yan looked at him suspiciously.

Zhao Linsu opened his mouth. "Want to smell it?"

Shen Yan: "..."

The beef rice smelled delicious and was Shen Yan's favorite. He broke apart the disposable chopsticks and picked up two pieces of beef. Shen Yan ate without tasting much, his peripheral vision secretly glancing at Zhao Linsu.

Zhao Linsu was drinking peach soda, his Adam's apple slowly bobbing. Shen Yan had just sneaked a peek when he was immediately caught.

"What are you looking at?"

Shen Yan choked and quickly shoveled two mouthfuls of rice.

He was panicking a lot.

Then he choked.

His face flushed red, and he coughed so hard he almost spat out his food.

He heard Zhao Linsu click his tongue twice, and the back of his hand felt the coolness of the orange juice. "Drink some."

Shen Yan hurriedly reached for the orange juice and then heard Zhao Linsu say, "It's already opened, don't spill it."

Shen Yan coughed even harder.

Downing almost half a bottle of orange juice in one go, Shen Yan gasped for breath, licked his lips, and suddenly turned his head to ask, "Zhao Linsu, when exactly did you come to the gym?"

Zhao Linsu held the pale pink peach soda, swaying it in his hand. He lifted his eyelids and glanced at Shen Yan indifferently. "What do you think?"

Shen Yan: "..."

Damn it, don't make him say it, he really can't handle it.

"Entry closed five minutes before the game," Zhao Linsu sneered, "The game is quite amateur, but there are quite a few rules."

Shen Yan felt like he was on a roller coaster, and only now did he slowly put his heart back in his chest.

"Then you came, why didn't you say anything?"

"What, did you want to come off the court and give me a cheerleading routine to welcome me?"

"..."

Shen Yan resumed eating, this time the rice smelled fragrant.

"I thought you weren't coming."

"Wouldn't coming have meant missing your pathetic fall?"

Shen Yan really wanted to kick Zhao Linsu with his left foot.

Just kidding.

He was still glad Zhao Linsu came, otherwise Shen Yan reckoned he would have ended up having to ask his teammates for help, and having a bunch of people surrounding him would have been too embarrassing.

Crutches or a wheelchair, Shen Yan chose crutches. At least he could stand.

After getting in the car, he started to worry. Looking like this, his brother would definitely overreact.

Shen Yan's guess was spot on, and it was just his bad luck today. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Shen Yan, leaning on his crutches and having just hobbled forward two steps, ran headfirst into Shen Shen, who was pulling a suitcase.

The deeply doting brother instantly dropped his suitcase and lunged towards Shen Yan. "Yan Yan, what happened to you!"

As soon as Shen Yan heard his nickname come out, he knew his brother was on the verge of losing control. He quickly reassured him, "It's nothing, I just twisted my ankle."

"Twisted?"

Shen Shen let out a high-pitched shriek and immediately squatted down to look at Shen Yan's foot.

Shen Yan said, "Brother, I'm fine, really fine. I've already been to the hospital."

"You even went to the hospital? It's that serious?!"

Shen Yan: The cause and effect are reversed.

"It's nothing, I'm really fine..." Shen Yan hopped around on his crutches, awkwardly dodging his brother.

"Brother Shen."

Zhao Linsu magically produced a thin paper bag from behind him. "Shen Yan's X-ray."

Shen Shen's attention was immediately diverted. He quickly snatched the X-ray and looked at it intently.

Shen Yan gave Zhao Linsu a grateful look. He knew Zhao Linsu was reliable at crucial moments.

"The doctor said it's fine, no broken bones, no ligament damage. He just needs to rest for two weeks and not put any weight on his foot."

Shen Shen looked at the X-ray and finally calmed down a bit. "How on earth did you twist your ankle so badly?"

Shen Yan quickly said, "Playing basketball, I accidentally fell."

Shen Shen's expression was like a storm brewing.

Zhao Linsu interjected, "Let's go inside first, standing here is quite tiring."

He timely prevented the start of a storm.

Shen Yan was supported by his brother as they passed the suitcase by the door. "Brother, are you going on a business trip?"

"You're in this state, what business trip would I go on!" Shen Shen said in a bad mood.

Zhao Linsu brought the suitcase inside.

Shen Shen lectured Shen Yan for a full ten minutes, the gist of it being that he had raised Shen Yan with great care, and any bumps or bruises on Shen Yan were like injuries to his own body and pain in his own heart. Shen Yan was being too careless and irresponsible!

Shen Yan muttered softly, "I was already toilet-trained by then..."

Because of the muttering, he was lectured for another five minutes.

At times like this, an outsider was needed to mediate. Shen Yan kept glancing at Zhao Linsu, making eye signals.

Zhao Linsu was pulling his brother's suitcase—spinning it around for fun.

Shen Yan: "..."

He must have really messed up his brain from the fall to have such unfounded suspicions.

"Brother Shen," Zhao Linsu reminded him, "You seem to have a call."

"Call..."

Shen Shen hurriedly pulled out his phone from his pocket.

The phone was indeed vibrating.

The caller was a colleague who was supposed to go on the business trip with him, asking when he would arrive at the high-speed train station.

"No, my brother is injured, his leg is broken, I can't go. I have to stay home to take care of him."

Shen Yan: "..." It wasn't that serious, really not that serious.

Shen Yan couldn't hear what the person on the other end was saying, but Shen Shen immediately took his phone to the balcony to continue the conversation, even closing the balcony door.

Shen Yan hobbled forward two steps on his crutches. Outside on the balcony, his brother was facing away from him while talking on the phone, but from his brother's body language, it was clear that the communication on both sides was not going smoothly.

Shen Yan quickly hobbled to the balcony door, opened it a crack, and whispered, "Brother, go ahead, I'm fine, don't delay your work."

Shen Shen hastily said into the phone, "I'll contact you later," and hung up.

"What's work? That's creating wealth for the boss. Your foot is much more important than work!"

Just as Shen Shen finished speaking, his phone started vibrating again. He waved his hand and said, "You go inside first, Linsu—could you please help Yan Yan back to his room to lie down—"

Zhao Linsu came over to help him. Shen Yan looked troubled. Zhao Linsu whispered, "Go inside first," and winked at Shen Yan.

Shen Yan went into the bedroom, put down his crutches, sat on the bed, and moved his arms. 

Shen Yan moved his arms a bit. "No, I can't delay my brother's work. It's a crucial time for him."

Thirty was a threshold in his brother's line of work. Whether he would be successful or not depended on this moment, so his brother had been so busy this year.

Working overtime day and night, this small matter shouldn't ruin a year's effort.

Shen Yan said, "Whatever I say, he probably won't listen right now. Zhao Linsu, go out and persuade him first, let him calm down a bit, then I'll go out and persuade him."

"Okay, sit here and don't move." Zhao Linsu went straight out.

Shen Yan knew this guy was reliable. He waited anxiously in the room for a few minutes, and Zhao Linsu came back, along with Shen Shen.

"Brother..." Shen Yan looked pleading. "I know I was wrong..."

"You really scared me. You have to be careful when playing basketball in the future. If you really break your leg, you'll have no time to cry."

Shen Shen sighed twice.

Shen Yan knew he had gotten away with it and immediately felt relieved. He looked at Zhao Linsu, giving Zhao Linsu a "you're indeed reliable" look.

Shen Shen also turned to look at Zhao Linsu. "Since that's the case, then I'll have to trouble you to take care of Yan Yan at home for these two days while I'm on my business trip."