DILLYH Chapter 17

TL: Hua

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Chapter 17: Injury

The afternoon sun was even more scorching. After finishing lunch, Zhou Zizheng rested for a while in the room before getting ready to get up and continue working on the shelves. Yu Haozhou, half-asleep, grabbed his hand.

“Wait, I’ll go with you.”

“Just stay in the room. The sun is blazing outside.”

Yu Haozhou had fair skin and could tan after just a few minutes in the sun. Zhou Zizheng didn’t want Yu Haozhou to follow him out and work; he’d never done this kind of thing even at his own home.

Yu Haozhou thought for a moment and felt he had a point: “Then can’t you wait until the sun goes down to do it? Do you have to do it now?”

Zhou Zizheng ruffled his slightly messy hair: “There are many shelves. If I don’t work continuously, I might not finish them in these two days. I have to go to the company the day after tomorrow. I want to finish them if I can, or they’ll just sit there.”

“Call someone to do it then.”

Zhou Zizheng smiled and got up directly, leaving.

Yu Haozhou nestled in the quilt, took a deep breath, and then chastised himself: “You’re just a masochist. If he wants to be busy, let him be busy. Why are you feeling so bad for him? He doesn’t even feel bad for himself.”

Two minutes of silence passed. Yu Haozhou still resignedly sprang up from the bed, wobbled in his slippers, and headed towards the top floor. Zhou Zizheng was fully geared up in sun-protective clothing, a straw hat, and a breathable mask.

He looked hot no matter how. Yu Haozhou also put on sun-protective clothes. He didn’t know how to assemble the shelves, so he consciously went over to hand things over. Zhou Zizheng glanced at him but didn’t send him away: “Hot?”

Yu Haozhou was so hot he felt like sticking out his tongue: “What do you think?”

“Then why did you insist on coming out here in the sun?” Zhou Zizheng said with a smile, “What, feeling sorry for me?”

Yu Haozhou didn’t look at him, still unyielding with his words: “Can you be a bit less shameless? Can’t it just be me being kind?”

“Fine~” Zhou Zizheng drew out the word, looking at him with indulgence, “Zhouzhou is so kind. How about you call me ‘Husband’ once for me to hear?”

Every time Zhou Zizheng heard him call him that, it was in bed, unwillingly, and being forced by him. Zhou Zizheng had never heard him say it properly off the bed.

“Go to hell.”

Sure enough, Zhou Zizheng was the kind of person who would take advantage of any kindness shown to him and become arrogant if given the slightest favor. “Just say it once. I really haven’t heard it.”

Zhou Zizheng pressed his luck.

Yu Haozhou couldn’t be bothered with him. He’d die before he said it.

Zhou Zizheng stood up and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He went to move the square steel tubes that were placed in the shade, intending to weld them into flowerpot stands. His original plan was to carry several pieces together by himself and drag them.

Since Yu Haozhou came, he volunteered to move them together. His strength was ultimately no match for Zhou Zizheng’s. Halfway there, two pieces slipped straight out of his palm and crashed to the ground with a grating noise.

The steel tubes on Zhou Zizheng’s side immediately flipped up, nearly scratching his face and almost hurting his eye. Yet, his first concern was for his wife: “Zhouzhou, are you okay? Did they hit you?”

“No,” Yu Haozhou’s voice was a little weak. “My hand is just a little numb.”

He clenched his fist tightly to cushion the stinging numbness in his palm and urged Zhou Zizheng to hurry up, saying he couldn’t hold them anymore.

Hearing this, Zhou Zizheng sped up. Yu Haozhou was practically being dragged by him, forced to run with a bowed back. For some unknown reason, in this moment of struggle, he felt a strange urge to laugh.

Upon arriving at the designated location mentioned by Zhou Zizheng, Yu Haozhou angrily threw everything to the ground when he heard him say that he could put it down. He then took off his sun hat and fanned himself as he ran, saying, “I can’t stand it anymore; I need to go and enjoy the air conditioning.”

Zhou Zizheng gave a muffled acknowledgement, standing still with his back to him, doing something.

After a while, Yu Haozhou, who had recovered in the air-conditioned room, finally remembered Zhou Zizheng. He looked around outside but didn’t see anyone: “Huh, where did he go?”

Yu Haozhou continued to use his hat as a fan, fanning himself as he walked downstairs, just in time to see Zhou Zizheng coming up with a basin of sliced, iced watermelon.

“What’s wrong? Are you that anxious if I’m out of sight for a moment now?” Zhou Zizheng teased him deliberately.

Yu Haozhou avoided eye contact, looking incredibly guilty, but still maintaining his principle of being verbally obstinate: “Stop being narcissistic. I just wanted to go downstairs and bring up some fruit.”

“Perfect,” Yu Haozhou’s face was as red as a monkey’s butt from the sun. He commanded him like a lord, “Hurry up and feed me. I’m dying of heat.”

Zhou Zizheng leisurely speared a slice of watermelon and fed it to him. Beneath his calm exterior, the corner of his mouth was faintly twitching, and the hand hidden beneath the platter was struggling to hold on.

When Yu Haozhou bit into the watermelon. Zhou Zizheng chuckled: “Zhouzhou, give me a kiss.”

Yu Haozhou assumed he was just teasing him again, rolled his eyes exasperatedly, snatched the watermelon, and headed for the air-conditioned room on the terrace.

After he left, Zhou Zizheng let out a pained ‘hiss’ and looked at the web of his hand, covered by a bandage, with faint traces of blood seeping out. He murmured in a low voice, “It hurts so much from just a small cut.”

*

During dinner that night, Zhou Zizheng uncharacteristically didn’t cook himself, ordering takeout instead. Yu Haozhou figured he must have been tired from working in the afternoon and didn’t suspect much.

When the takeout arrived and they were eating, he inadvertently caught sight of the bandage on the web of Zhou Zizheng’s right hand. His eyebrow twitched: “What happened to your hand?”

Zhou Zizheng took a bite of rice, nonchalantly: “Just a small cut. I put a bandage on it so it wouldn’t get infected by dust.”

“When did you get hurt?” Yu Haozhou asked. “I didn’t see it this afternoon.”

“I accidentally cut myself just now when I was about to cook,” Zhou Zizheng lied effortlessly. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be making you eat this processed food.”

Yu Haozhou vaguely felt something was not right. Zhou Zizheng put on that irritating look again, staring at him with a mischievous smile: “Zhouzhou, I’m starting to think you really are in love with me. You’re so concerned about me now.”

“…” That little bit of worry was scattered by his one sentence. Yu Haozhou made a ‘gagging’ motion and then buried his head in his food.

Zhou Zizheng chuckled softly above his head: “See? You’re shy again.”

Yu Haozhou jabbed his chopsticks angrily into the bowl, his face flushed and slightly defensive: “Can you please shut up and let me eat one meal in peace?”

Zhou Zizheng wisely made a zipper motion across his lips.

He glanced down. The blood seemed to be seeping out again. He had to wait until Yu Haozhou was asleep before he could go to the hospital. He had looked at the wound that afternoon and figured it would need stitches.

…

Yu Haozhou felt that Zhou Zizheng was completely off his game today. Usually, by the time he finished showering and got into bed, Zhou Zizheng would be rushing to shower in the bathroom and then come to the bed to “bother” him.

But not today. He had finished showering and been in bed for half an hour, but Zhou Zizheng was still downstairs in the living room watching variety shows.

Thinking of Zhou Zizheng’s teasing today, Yu Haozhou didn’t dare ask why he wasn’t showering yet, lest he look too eager and make Zhou Zizheng boast even more.

After idly scrolling on his phone for another half hour, Yu Haozhou checked the time. It was already midnight, and Zhou Zizheng still hadn’t come up. He was too sleepy, so he turned off the light and went to sleep without waiting for him. He could sleep wherever he wanted.

In the living room, a funny variety show was playing on the TV screen. Zhou Zizheng lay on the sofa, dozing off for a while. When he woke up, it was already half past twelve. He quietly peeked into the master bedroom, confirmed that Yu Haozhou was asleep, quickly gathered himself, and hurried out the door to the hospital. He felt that if he didn’t get stitches soon, he would lose too much blood and pass out.

As soon as the door closed, Yu Haozhou opened his eyes. In the darkness, his expression was somewhat complicated. He couldn’t guess what Zhou Zizheng was up to, something he was doing behind his back in the middle of the night.

He could only think of two possibilities: one was cheating on him, and the other was also cheating on him…

The thought made him angry. He knew Zhou Zizheng had ulterior motives when he married him. How could he possibly genuinely like him? He’d been so sincere, and Yu Haozhou had almost believed him. Now, he was finally revealing his true colors, right?

Yu Haozhou, furious, violently threw off the covers and got out of bed. If he caught the third party and they weren’t even as good-looking as him, Yu Haozhou really wanted to poke out Zhou Zizheng’s decorative eyes. What kind of taste was that?

All the way there, Yu Haozhou was thinking. Why would Zhou Zizheng be willing to risk being called shameless to marry him? Could it be that the other person came from a poor family? Or was their identity somewhat special, like being a gigolo or something?

Lost in these random thoughts, he watched as Zhou Zizheng’s car drove into the hospital’s underground parking lot.

Why come to the hospital? Was that person injured?

Zhou Zizheng was focused on getting his wound stitched up quickly and didn’t notice the follower behind him. He went straight to the emergency department. Just as he reached the doctor’s office door, he almost collapsed because of a dizzy spell.

Yu Haozhou finally realized that something was amiss. Thinking of the bandage on the web of Zhou Zizheng’s hand, he swore and rushed in.

The doctor was just peeling off the bandage on Zhou Zizheng’s hand to look at the wound. Seeing Yu Haozhou, he said, “It’s not your turn yet. Wait outside.”

Yu Haozhou waved his hand, sweat breaking out on his face as he pointed at Zhou Zizheng: “No, I’m his family.”

The doctor’s eyes questioned him.

Zhou Zizheng nodded, somewhat weakly: “Zhouzhou, go wait outside.”

Yu Haozhou didn’t look at him, his eyebrows tightly furrowed as he asked the doctor, “Can I stay here and watch?”

The doctor hummed and turned to tell Zhou Zizheng that the wound was small and would only need three or four stitches. He advised against using anesthesia, suggesting Zhou Zizheng endure it.

Zhou Zizheng didn’t struggle much and said, “Alright.”

Yu Haozhou’s vision blurred when he heard that. No anesthesia? Stitching it raw? That must be agonizing! He opened his mouth, only to see the doctor already beginning to thread the needle. Zhou Zizheng pulled up his shirt and bit down on it, not looking at him the entire time.

Yu Haozhou closed his mouth. He didn’t know why, but at that moment, he suddenly felt so useless, his mind blank. He sat on the side, listening to Zhou Zizheng’s suppressed groans as the stitches were done. His heart clenched, and he almost ripped his pajama pants with the grip of his hands.

He thought to himself. It would have been better to have discovered Zhou Zizheng cheating; a single fatal blow would be better than this moment-by-moment torment. Watching Zhou Zizheng bite his shirt to keep from crying out, Yu Haozhou was restless. He finally couldn’t sit still and walked forward.

He intended to grab Zhou Zizheng’s hand, wanting to tell him to squeeze his hand if the pain was unbearable. Zhou Zizheng, who had his hand clenched into a tight fist, loosened it, bypassed Yu Haozhou’s hand, and grasped the edge of the chair instead.

Yu Haozhou felt as if he had been slapped in the face, standing there feeling extremely embarrassed.

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