APCF – Chapter 49 Thank you

Being sent to the hospital by a classmate… Didn’t Qi Jiaze promise him that he would never bully Tao Xuan again?

Could it be another classmate?

Qi Xingchen’s mind was a mess. He took several deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down, and holding onto his last bit of hope, he called out to An Ran: “An Ran Jie, I need to go out for a while. Can you help me take the things back to the hotel?”

An Ran: “Where are you going?”

“The hospital!”

Since the incident had already happened, waiting at the set would not help at all. He quickly ran out, jumped into the car, and instructed Lao Qin to follow the business vehicle of Shang Yuliang.

Half an hour later, Shang Yuliang stopped in front of the public hospital. Qi Xingchen also got out of the car, following him as they ran to the sixth floor of the hospital.

In the fourth room on the sixth floor, a boy was lying on the hospital bed, receiving an IV, his eyes closed, and it was unclear what his condition was.

Tao Tao was sitting on the edge of the bed, her eyes red, asking the boy next to the bed, who was wearing the same school uniform as Tao Xuan, about the situation.

The worst part was that there was a third person standing in the middle of the room.

Wearing a black t-shirt and cargo pants, paired with high-top combat boots and that distinctive granny gray hair color, just by his back, Qi Xingchen immediately recognized who he was.

“Classmate,” Tao Tao’s voice trembled. “Did you bring Tao Xuan here?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Do you know why he collapsed?”

Hearing this question, the boy seemed very angry, snorted heavily, and turned to point at Qi Jiaze:

“He hit him with a basketball!”

He hit him with a basketball…

The ominous premonition came true. Qi Xingchen froze on the spot, unable to imagine why the situation that had already been avoided was happening again!

It was just like the last time when Zhou Yu came as a guest on “Let’s Budget Travel.” If Qi Xingchen hadn’t intervened in advance and dealt with Zhou Yu, Qi Yujie might have already turned into a malicious supporting character, causing trouble for Tao Tao everywhere.

Could it be… that the plot really can’t be changed?

Qi Xingchen was in a daze for a few seconds before Shang Yuliang entered the room before him.

Seeing the classmate accusing Qi Jiaze, Shang Yuliang’s face darkened, and he reprimanded, “At such a young age, you don’t learn well. How can you just hit someone like that?”

“I didn’t hit him!” Qi Jiaze loudly protested. “I just… I just threw a ball at him!”

“Throw?! You hit him! If you didn’t use force, how could Tao Xuan have collapsed so suddenly?!” the male classmate yelled angrily.

“What’s the difference between throwing and hitting? No matter how you try to cover it up, Tao Xuan is already lying there,” Shang Yuliang frowned. “If you make a mistake, admit it. Don’t lie. Lying kids are even more hateful.”

“…. I didn’t lie!” Qi Jiaze clenched his fists, the veins on his forearm standing out. “I’m not wrong! I won’t admit to something I didn’t do! Why don’t you believe me?!”

Qi Jiaze shouted these words, his voice trembling with a barely noticeable quiver at the end.

“You don’t wear the school uniform, dye your hair, smoke, fight, and drive sports cars, and with you being… ” the male classmate paused for a moment, “with you being such a troublemaker, who would believe you?”

“You—” Qi Jiaze was furious, losing control, and raised his fist, charging at the male classmate!

The male classmate stumbled back a few steps, almost bumping into Tao Tao. Shang Yuliang quickly stepped in between Qi Jiaze and the male classmate.

“Jiaze!”

Just as Qi Jiaze, ignoring everything, was about to charge forward again, he heard a familiar voice that was too familiar to miss.

He lowered his fist, turned toward the source of the voice, his lips pressed into a tight line, and after a few seconds, he spoke: “Ge…”

Like a kitten that had bristled its fur in preparation for a fight, but upon seeing its owner, it dropped its tail, retracted its claws, and meowed softly to express its grievance.

Qi Xingchen’s heart also tightened.

“Director Shang, Tao Tao, Jiaze is my younger brother,” Qi Xingchen moved Qi Jiaze behind him, turning to face the male classmate. “Has the medical fee been paid?”

The male classmate, still shaken, saw that Qi Jiaze had been stopped and, still unsettled, patted his chest. “The ambulance fee is paid, but the IV and bed fees haven’t been paid yet.”

“Jiaze, go pay the fees for Tao Xuan,” Qi Xingchen whispered, giving his brother an order.

“…… Ge, you don’t believe me either?!” Qi Jiaze was frustrated.

“Go now!” Qi Xingchen’s tone became more serious.

Given the male classmate’s statement, no one in the room believed Qi Jiaze. If he forced an explanation now, it would seem like he was just taking his brother’s side.

Tao Tao and Shang Yuliang wouldn’t believe him either.

This matter needs to be handled with evidence first, then gradually infiltrated.

When Qi Jiaze heard his brother reprimanding him, he gritted his teeth and turned to handle the procedures. Qi Xingchen walked up to the bed and leaned down to observe Tao Xuan.

Then, he realized that Tao Xuan’s face seemed familiar, like he had seen him somewhere before.

…That’s right, isn’t this the boy from the day Qi Jiaze almost hit with his car when he returned from Let’s Budget Travel?!

…It turns out that what he thought he could avoid was already arranged by fate.

Now, Tao Xuan lying on the hospital bed was the greatest mockery of fate.

Qi Xingchen’s face darkened, suppressing his thoughts as he carefully observed Tao Xuan’s condition.

He was frail, pale, with obvious swelling on his exposed hands. Under the open collar of his hospital gown, there was a small patch of red rashes.

Not long ago, Qi Xingchen had looked up the symptoms of systemic lupus erythematosus. All the signs before him indicated that Tao Xuan’s illness had likely entered the active phase.

He took a deep breath, straightened up, and said, “Classmate, thank you for bringing Tao Xuan to the hospital. I’ll have the driver take you back to school and cover all the costs.”

“No need,” Tao Tao, who had recovered a little, replied, “Xingxing, don’t trouble yourself, I’ll pay for the medical expenses.”

“Regardless of whether Jiaze actually hurt Tao Xuan, this incident was caused by him, so I should take responsibility.”

He spoke indirectly, but it also hinted that he did not acknowledge that Qi Jiaze had hurt Tao Xuan.

Shang Yuliang clicked his tongue.

Qi Xingchen ignored him and went to the door to make a phone call. He instructed Old Qin to send the male student back to school, pay him, and gather his name, address, and other information during the drive. Five minutes later, Old Qin came up and took the male student away.

Only Tao Tao, Qi Xingchen, and Shang Yuliang remained in the hospital room.

“Tao Tao Jie…” Qi Xingchen began, wanting to apologize on behalf of his brother.

But Tao Tao interrupted him, “It’s fine, Xingxing. Since he’s your brother, I won’t hold it against him.”

Tao Tao’s words eased Qi Xingchen’s worries. At least the immediate crisis was averted.

His eyes glanced at Shang Yuliang.

Shang Yuliang’s expression was full of suspicion and disdain.

It wasn’t surprising, considering that people of their age often viewed Qi Jiaze as a delinquent simply because of his appearance and behavior as a student.

Who would believe a delinquent’s words?

To prevent Qi Jiaze from coming back and further angering Shang Yuliang, Qi Xingchen sent him a message, telling his brother to go home directly after paying the fees.

He then made a phone call to arrange for a private hospital. By the time Tao Xuan was transferred, checked, the nurse was chosen, and the hospitalization procedures were done, it was already past 8 PM.

Fortunately, the doctor confirmed that Tao Xuan’s vital signs were stable, and he just needed to rest in bed for a while.

Seeing that Qi Xingchen was busy, Shang Yuliang returned to the set. Tao Tao, as the lead actress, understood the urgency of the filming and, after confirming the professionalism of the nurse, returned to the hotel.

It had been over four hours since 4 PM. Qi Xingchen wiped the sweat from his forehead and finally had time to call Qi Jiaze.

“Brother.” The voice on the other end of the phone was hoarse.

Qi Xingchen was stunned for a moment. “Jiaze, you’re still at home, right? I’ll come back to find you.”

“No, I’m outside the hospital.”

“You’ve been waiting for over four hours?”

“Yeah…” Qi Jiaze paused, “Brother, I really didn’t lie.”

Perhaps it was because he had waited for so long, the boy’s feelings of grievance couldn’t be suppressed. His voice trembled, and the last word was almost inaudible.

Qi Xingchen furrowed his brows. After making sure the nurse would take good care of Tao Xuan, he quickly walked out of the hospital.

Qi Jiaze’s Lamborghini was parked in the corner, and Qi Xingchen opened the car door.

The ashtray in the car was filled with cigarette butts, and the whole space was hazy with smoke. Qi Xingchen waved his hand a few times, but the smoke didn’t disperse. Instead, he was choked and started coughing uncontrollably.

Hearing the coughing sound, Qi Jiaze quickly stubbed out his cigarette and turned on the air circulation.

Once the smoke cleared, Qi Xingchen noticed the boy’s messy hair, eyes bloodshot, and his chin tilted up to hide the emotional strain.

Qi Xingchen sat in the passenger seat. “Jiaze.”

“Go ahead and yell at me.”

“I’m not going to yell at you,” Qi Xingchen’s tone was soft, “I believe you.”

Qi Jiaze had already prepared himself to be scolded, but upon hearing that, he froze for a few seconds, then reached out to grab Qi Xingchen’s arm. “Then why did you ask me to go pay the fees just now?”

“I’m your brother. If I protected you without evidence, do you think they would believe me? They would just think I’m covering for you.”

Qi Jiaze: “…”

He hesitated for a moment and confirmed, “Brother, you really believe me? It’s not just to comfort me?”

“Of course. Otherwise, I would have made you apologize on the spot.”

Qi Xingchen helped him straighten his messy hair. “Tell me the details of what happened.”

Hearing that his brother believed him, Qi Jiaze’s mood did a 360-degree turn, but his expression still remained somewhat aloof. “That day I promised you I would take care of him. Then this afternoon, I was playing basketball, and he passed by the basketball court. I thought he didn’t have any friends and was lonely, so I asked him if he wanted to play together, and also to let others on the court know that he’s my friend and they shouldn’t mess with him.”

“But he just stood there and didn’t say anything. I wasn’t sure if he didn’t want to talk to me or if he was agreeing. So, I threw the ball to him. Who knew… who knew he’s like a porcelain doll, and the ball just touched him and he fell!”

“I didn’t throw it hard! I swear! I was afraid of hurting him, so I threw the ball lightly!”

So this was the case, Qi Xingchen sighed. Qi Jiaze’s intentions were good, but it just so happened that Tao Xuan was feeling unwell, which led to this misunderstanding.

However, this also proved that the entire Qi family was still under the influence of the story. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be such a coincidence.

“Jiaze,” Qi Xingchen said, “the boy who brought Tao Xuan to the hospital—does he have a grudge against you?”

“Cui Hao,” Qi Jiaze’s tone was rather dismissive. “He stole a classmate’s game console in the classroom, and I caught him and beat him up. I didn’t tell anyone since the game console wasn’t worth much, but I never expected him to frame me today. He’s such an idiot, disgusting!”

He was about to continue cursing, but Qi Xingchen quickly stopped him and asked, “How are Cui Hao’s grades?”

“Not bad, he’s our class’s study commissioner, and the teachers really like him.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Xingchen understood.

Cui Hao resented Qi Jiaze and deliberately framed him for hitting someone.

Not just today, but when the school handles this malicious incident tomorrow, the teachers will probably side with the study commissioner and place the blame on his younger brother.

Qi Xingchen thought for a moment and said, “Jiaze, you have to go to school tomorrow, or the teachers will think you’re guilty. And if anyone tries to force you to admit to something you didn’t do, you have to stand firm like you did today.”

“Because you didn’t do anything wrong, understand?” Qi Xingchen smiled. “You did great.”

Qi Jiaze was cheered up by his brother and happily whistled as he drove Qi Xingchen back to the hotel.

Before getting out of the car, he asked, “What about Tao Xuan? Do I need to go to the hospital to take care of him?”

“You?” Qi Xingchen raised an eyebrow. “Forget it, it’s not about who takes care of whom. I hired a nurse, so don’t worry about it. By the way—”

Qi Xingchen paused. “His illness can cause numbness, lack of focus, and suicidal tendencies. If you want to visit him, be extra gentle.”

“Mm-hmm!” Qi Jiaze nodded vigorously.

Qi Xingchen got out of the car and ran back to the hotel. On his way upstairs, he reminded the nurse to notify him immediately when Tao Xuan wakes up.

He swiped the room card to open the door. An Ran was almost asleep, but she got up and asked, “Have you had dinner?”

“No.”

“I made some salad, come and eat.”

Qi Xingchen was exhausted after the whole afternoon, and his stomach was growling. He flopped down on the sofa and eagerly dug into the salad.

While eating, An Ran casually said, “The hype around Bo Ye’s scandal has died down.”

“…Mm,” Qi Xingchen blinked. “Has he responded?”

“No, responding isn’t his style. Even if you don’t bring it up, he wouldn’t explain anything.”

That was true. His idol’s personality was indeed like that—he never cared about baseless rumors.

Before being a top celebrity, he was a singer, rapper, dancer, and songwriter.

He attracted fans through his work, not public opinion or scandals, and didn’t need to care about those things.

Qi Xingchen didn’t answer, and An Ran asked again, “Has Bo Ye contacted you?”

“No… I don’t think so,” Qi Xingchen suddenly lost interest in eating and put the plate down. “I’ve been so busy this afternoon, I didn’t check my phone.”

He then stood up and went to the bathroom, turning on the bathtub faucet. About five minutes later, he heard the sound of the door closing—An Ran had left.

He crouched beside the tub, quietly watching the water level rise inch by inch.

What he had told An Ran earlier was the truth—he had been too busy taking care of Tao Xuan this afternoon to pay attention to his phone messages.

Would Bo Ye contact him?

Seeing that he helped clarify the rumors, he should at least express his gratitude out of politeness.

But beyond that… would he explain anything?

Qi Xingchen hugged his knees, and when the water was almost full, he soaked himself in the bath and grabbed his phone.

Opening Weibo, the flood of messages almost crashed the phone!

Most of them were private messages. He randomly opened a few.

【Ahhhh, I’m really shipping them! Xingxing, promise me, you must treat your old gong (partner) well!】

【Last night, the stars were locked, and I swallowed the key. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness!】

【Thank you for stepping up to help Bo Ye clarify the rumors, I wish you all the best.】

【So curious about what you two did in the hotel, was it really just acting? Hehehe.】

Qi Xingchen looked at the screen, both amused and helpless. He didn’t expect that by clarifying the rumors, he would end up becoming the target of CP (couple) fans’ excitement.

He then clicked on the trending topics. As An Ran had said, Bo Ye’s scandal had slipped to the lower half of the trending list. After all, his evidence was too strong. The commotion would probably be over by tomorrow morning.

He closed Weibo and hovered his finger over the WeChat icon for the little green person, hesitating for a long time.

In the end, he pressed down and saw that there were two unread messages next to Bo Ye’s profile picture, marked by a red circle with the number “2”.

He took a deep breath and clicked to open them.

The first message: 【Thank you for helping me clarify the rumors. You don’t need to do that again next time, it’s easy to get hate.】

The second message: 【I brought you some late-night snacks. Come to the back door of the hotel.】

Late-night snacks…

Qi Xingchen’s eyes widened in shock as he brought his phone closer to his face.

The first message was sent at noon, and the second one… was sent half an hour ago!!!

Had Bo Ye left or not???

Qi Xingchen hurriedly typed: 【Sorry, I came back late and just saw this.】

“Zizi—”

The reply came quickly: 【It’s fine, I just took a nap for a bit.】

“Just took a nap” means… Bo Ye is still downstairs!

He hasn’t left!

Qi Xingchen quickly scrambled up, wiped off some of the water on his body, hastily put on clothes and pants, and ran downstairs in his slippers.

Afraid of being spotted by paparazzi again, Bo Ye’s nanny car was parked at the back door this time. Qi Xingchen aimed for it and made a quick leap—

Bai Ye caught his arms: “Slow down, why are you always in such a rush?”

“I, I was worried you’d wait too long.” Qi Xingchen responded, his answer identical to two days ago.

“It’s fine, I was planning to wait until ten o’clock, I won’t leave before then.”

As Bo Ye spoke, he noticed that the little fan’s slippers were half soaked. His gaze shifted downward, and he realized that the person had actually come out wearing slippers. The round toes were wrinkled from being soaked, and the foot tops were so pale they almost looked translucent, with a very visible red mark.

Bai Ye’s tone was displeased: “What happened?”

It was probably from running too quickly earlier and accidentally bumping into something. Qi Xingchen pulled his feet back and lied, “My shoes didn’t fit well and rubbed against my feet. It’s fine, I’ll just change shoes tomorrow.”

Bai Ye sneered.

It was just a bruise, no bleeding, so Bo Ye didn’t press further. He reached over to the front seat, grabbed the food box, and handed it to him. “This fish porridge is good. I packed a portion for you. It might be cold by now, so heat it up when you get back.”

“… No need,” Qi Xingchen immediately opened the box. “It’s too hot to eat, I had grass tonight anyway, so I’ll just use this to fill my stomach.”

Bai Ye had originally planned to leave after delivering the late-night snack, but seeing the little fan eating on his car, he couldn’t leave. He leaned back in the chair, watching the other person eat.

After a while, he noticed that the fan appeared to be looking at the bowl, but in reality, every one or two minutes, he’d steal a glance at him, as if holding back something he wanted to say but didn’t dare to.

“Do you want to ask me something?” Bo Ye guessed.

Qi Xingchen: “…”

How did he know?!

Of course, Qi Xingchen wanted to ask. He was about to explode! He opened his mouth… but just before speaking, he suddenly panicked.

He was afraid the answer Bo Ye gave wouldn’t be the one he wanted.

The words on the tip of his tongue turned into something else, “You should be done with filming tomorrow, right?”

Bai Ye replied with an “mm,” “I’ll finish in the morning. I’ll take a quick look in the afternoon, and if there’s anything unsatisfactory, I’ll reshoot the day after tomorrow.”

“What style are the new song and MV going for?”

After all that hesitation, the little fan was trying to get him to spoil the details. Bo Ye smiled and said, “This… I can’t tell you for now.”

Qi Xingchen pretended to be disappointed, lowering his head to continue eating. After slowly scraping the last grain of rice, he wiped his mouth. “It’s good. Well… I’ll go now.”

Bai Ye chuckled: “You’re like you’re at a fast food place, eat quickly and leave quickly.”

Qi Xingchen bit his lower lip and asked back, “Then what should I say?”

Intuition told Bo Ye that the fan’s tone sounded a little off, as if he wasn’t happy.

Was it because he didn’t spoil the new song?

Bai Ye reached out, holding Qi Xingchen’s chin with his index finger, and gently brushed his thumb across the corner of his mouth to wipe away any remaining liquid.

“For some special reasons, I really can’t say,” Bo Ye said, “Just wait a bit longer, okay?”

The warmth of his fingertip made Qi Xingchen’s attention focus entirely on the place Bo Ye touched. It was so vivid that he could even feel the direction of the fingerprint patterns.

It felt like he had been burned. Qi Xingchen pushed the car door open with a loud “bang,” “Thank you for the late-night snack, I… I’m leaving.”

Until the elevator doors opened, the heat on the corner of his mouth hadn’t faded. He lowered his head, walking quickly to his room, almost colliding with someone coming in the opposite direction.

“Sorry, sorry…” He hurriedly apologized, looking up to see a familiar face. “Sister Tao Tao, are you here to find Director Shang?”

“… Yes, to go over the script with him,” Tao Tao said, scrutinizing him closely. “Xingxing, do you have a fever? Your face is really red.”

“Probably from the wind, it’s nothing. You came at the right time, I was just about to find you.”

The important matter at hand, Qi Xingchen set aside the chaotic thoughts in his head and repeated what Qi Jiaze had said.

Tao Tao nodded after listening, “I know Xiao Xuan’s health hasn’t been good. I don’t blame your brother, it’s okay.”

Though she said this, Qi Xingchen could tell that her tone was forced.

Indeed, without evidence, everything was just hearsay.

The quickest way to resolve the situation now was to wait for Tao Xuan to wake up and ask him directly—then the truth would be clear in an instant.

Alternatively, they could gather evidence from the students who were present on the playground at the time. Either way, Qi Jiaze had done nothing wrong and would eventually clear up the misunderstanding.

“Sister Tao Tao,” Qi Xingchen said sincerely, “Give me a few days. I will definitely give you and Tao Xuan an explanation.”

“… Alright, filming is important, don’t push yourself. By the way, Xingxing,” Tao Tao paused, “There’s something I still need to thank you for.”

“You’re welcome,” Qi Xingchen waved his hand, “I know the director of that private hospital. They’ll take good care of Tao Xuan.”

“… That’s one thing, but I’m talking about something else.”

Qi Xingchen looked confused. He thought Tao Tao was thanking him for helping to contact the best private hospital. Apart from that, he didn’t think he had done anything else for her recently.

“What is it?”

Tao Tao: “The Weibo incident, thank you for coming forward to help Night Brother clarify the rumors.”

How did helping Bo Ye relate to Tao Tao? Qi Xingchen was even more confused.

“… Oh, I forgot to tell you.” Seeing his confusion, Tao Tao explained, “After we finished filming on the 22nd, he came to stay with me for a while.”

Tao Tao lowered her voice: “If the media had found out, we wouldn’t have been able to explain ourselves. Fortunately, you helped.”

_{The author has something to say: I know you’ll be upset when you read this, but don’t worry, this is a sweet story.}