After Sharing Senses with the Paranoid CEO, the Infamous Starlet was Forced into Pampering Chapter 30

Chapter 30: “Mhm, over here too…”

Xia Mu’s voice wasn’t loud, and he spoke with some stammers, but Li Yanzhou heard every single word with utmost clarity. He put down Xia Mu’s clothes that he was holding and looked at the boy—his head hanging low, his hands picking at the corners of the blanket in nervousness—asking coldly:

“You think I’m acting like this because I want to sleep with you?”

“Is that not it?”

Xia Mu lifted his head in bewilderment, meeting Li Yanzhou’s dark, profound pupils.

A hint of confusion shone through Xia Mu’s clear eyes. Li Yanzhou watched quietly without speaking. Truthfully, even he wasn’t clear on what he was doing all this for.

He clearly hated this predetermined fate. They clearly didn’t have to meet or know each other in the first place. He clearly could have spent his whole life just listening to the private investigator report Xia Mu’s schedule, ensuring that he would never cross paths with him, and that would have been enough.

But Li Yanzhou didn’t understand either. Why, when he saw Xia Mu’s thin, helpless figure that night of the earthquake, he couldn’t control himself from rushing forward? He wanted to protect him, touch him, and lock him by his side to fiercely pamper and spoil him.

Xia Mu’s name at his waist and abdomen was still scalding hot. At such a close distance, it felt like a reminder to Li Yanzhou that the two of them were destined, and everything was arranged by fate.

There was simply no way to avoid it, no way to escape.

Li Yanzhou couldn’t sort out his own thoughts. His heartbeat was extremely fast right now, like a stormy sea, turbulent and surging. But even with his mind in complete turmoil, Li Yanzhou couldn’t distinguish whether it was his own, or if it was produced by Xia Mu and forced upon him through their shared senses.

Li Yanzhou felt this was like an instinct spawned by the name mark—an instinct to have his mind disturbed by Xia Mu, an instinct to care for Xia Mu, an instinct to fall in love with Xia Mu.

[Xia Mu]

These two words were like a curse, completely permeating his life and existence. It was as if from the very moment of his birth, this net woven with Xia Mu’s name had already seeped into his future.

Seeing Li Yan remain silent for so long, Xia Mu thought he was silently acknowledging it.

Actually, when Xia Mu asked that question, his heart was both conflicted and nervous. Xia Mu was afraid that Li Yan would answer that he indeed had his eyes on his body, but he was also afraid that he would say no.

Because Xia Mu had been beautiful since he was a child, and for a boy to be beautiful meant encountering a lot of malice, whether at school or in the village. His mother would always warn him, “No one will treat you well for no reason. Anyone who approaches you has a purpose. When you accept their goodwill, you might as well think first about what they will want you to exchange for it.”

Xia Mu remembered these words of his mother to this day. Suddenly recalling them made Xia Mu’s eyes grow a little moist.

Since starting university, even though he was professionally trained for the actor’s path, he spent his winter and summer breaks studying while auditioning. He was incredibly busy and hadn’t been home to see his parents in over two years. He didn’t know if they were doing well.

Li Yanzhou saw Xia Mu lying flat on the bed, holding back tears with reddened eyes. Just because he assumed he wanted to sleep with him, he felt this wronged?

Li Yanzhou twitched the corners of his mouth. But he had no way to answer Xia Mu’s question. If it weren’t for the name mark, if it weren’t for the shared senses, perhaps he wouldn’t need to be like this either.

Li Yanzhou turned and pulled out a tissue, pursing his lips as he said, “I don’t want to sleep with you. If it’s because of that, then you don’t need to be afraid anymore.”

Xia Mu casually wiped his tears, sniffing softly as he said, “I’m not afraid, I just miss my mom and dad.”

“…?”

Li Yanzhou didn’t understand the connection between the two. What did sleeping with him or not have to do with his mom and dad?

Right at that moment, Qin Yu knocked and entered, carrying dinner and setting it up on a small table on Xia Mu’s bed.

He kept feeling that the atmosphere in the room was a bit weird. Once Xia Mu and President Li finished eating, Qin Yu quickly cleaned up and hurriedly left.

Li Yanzhou glanced at Xia Mu. The cold urticaria on his body had mostly subsided, and he wasn’t as itchy anymore.

“I’ll be right next door. Call me if you need anything.”

Xia Mu nodded. Li Yanzhou had just reached the door when he suddenly thought of something. He returned to Xia Mu’s side and said:

“Give me your phone.”

Although he didn’t know what Li Yan wanted to do, Xia Mu obediently pointed to the nightstand on the other side.

Li Yanzhou took Xia Mu’s phone, opened WeChat, added himself as a friend, and conveniently set the chat to pinned before returning the phone to Xia Mu.

“Send me a message if something comes up, or press the call button by the bed; either works.”

After speaking, Li Yanzhou went next door. Qin Yu had long been waiting there. The schedule had been pushed back half an hour, and the meeting had been changed to online.

During the meeting, Li Yanzhou kept feeling that the room was a bit hot. Thinking the AC temperature was set too high, he lowered it a bit, but it still didn’t provide any relief.

Just as the meeting was about to end, Li Yanzhou suddenly felt his body growing hotter and hotter, and his left temple began to ache.

Xia Mu was running a fever?!

Li Yanzhou couldn’t care less about listening to the concluding remarks. He stood up and bolted, instructing Qin Yu as he ran:

“The second proposal isn’t working. Have the planning department redraft it.”

When Li Yanzhou opened the door to Xia Mu’s ward, Xia Mu was already burning up to the point of being dizzy. He hurriedly pressed the overhead call button to summon a doctor.

After taking his temperature, it read 39.3°C. The doctor immediately drew blood for a routine check-up and prescribed a few medications for Li Yanzhou to feed to Xia Mu.

“His fever is too high. Use physical cooling methods in tandem to bring his temperature down as quickly as possible.”

Qin Yu was still dealing with the remaining work. The medical staff handed over an ice pack, and Li Yanzhou wrapped it in a towel before applying it to Xia Mu’s forehead.

Then he took off Xia Mu’s shirt, wrung out a towel soaked in alcohol until it was half-dry, and wiped down his entire body from top to bottom.

For the first time, Li Yanzhou felt that having shared senses had its benefits. At the very least, when Xia Mu was feeling unwell, he would be the first to know.

Xia Mu was burning up, rendering his entire person dazed and his consciousness fuzzy. However, he could vaguely feel a pleasant coolness on his forehead, and someone was continuously wiping something over his body.

Is it Li Yan?

Is he the one taking care of me?

What should I do? It seems I owe him more and more… Furthermore, Li Yan even said he wasn’t after my body and didn’t want to sleep with me.

Then why exactly is he treating me so well?

What on earth is his purpose in approaching me?

Mom, is there really no one who just purely wants to get close and approach me without an ulterior motive?

Xia Mu had a headache from being unable to figure it out. He also felt that no one would treat him well unconditionally. It would be better if Li Yan just wanted to sleep with him. At least he would have something on his body that Li Yan wanted, and using the things exchanged for it wouldn’t bring him so much guilt.

Li Yanzhou switched to a softer towel to wipe Xia Mu’s face. To a highly feverish Xia Mu, the cool towel felt exceptionally comfortable. He couldn’t resist nuzzling his cheek against it.

“Mhm, over here too…”

Li Yanzhou’s movements halted. The cold urticaria on Xia Mu’s body had completely faded, but under the high fever, his entire body was flushed pink. This ambiguous phrase in particular caused Li Yanzhou’s heartbeat to skip a beat.

Translator’s Note: Xia Mu references “offending the Tai Sui” (犯太岁) earlier in the chapter. In Chinese astrology, Tai Sui refers to the God of the Year/ Grand Duke Jupiter. Offending him is believed to bring about a year of bad luck, turbulence, or continuous misfortune (hence all of Xia Mu’s hospital trips!). Little does Li Yanzhou know that Xia Mu is half-dazed in a fever dream begging to be wiped down!