123: Love Brain

"Mom?" Yan Zhuoyang was surprised to see Jiang Fuyue in the living room outside the hospital ward. "Why haven't you gone home yet? And why are you sitting out here instead of going inside?"

Jiang Fuyue and Lin Fang, who was behind Yan Zhuoyang, first nodded in greeting before turning their expectant and trusting gazes back to Yan Zhuoyang.

"You're finally here!"

Yan Zhuoyang was still in a daze even after entering the hospital room. He hadn't even had a chance to say a word before Jiang Fuyue pushed him into the room, telling him to act like the eldest brother and back up Mom and Dad.

What on earth was going on?

"Big Brother!" Yan Zhuohua exclaimed in surprise at the sight of the person entering the doorway.

He was lying in bed, eating the fruit Yan Qinghe had cut for him, when he saw Yan Zhuoyang walk in with an indescribable expression.

"Big Brother, what... what's wrong with you?" Hearing the commotion, Yan Qinghe also turned to look.

"It's nothing." Yan Zhuoyang shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Weren't you feeling unwell? Why are you still eating fruit?"

Yan Zhuohua looked confused. "Being uncomfortable doesn't stop me from eating!"

Forget it. Mom really messed with my head!

"What kind of trouble did you stir up with Mom that dragged Dad into it too?" Better to ask directly for clarity. "Why did Mom tell me to back them up?"

"...This is hard to explain..."

Who knew Mom would hold such a grudge and even tattle to you about something like this!

Yan Zhuoyang roughly guessed it wasn't anything serious. He couldn't be bothered to waste more time on it. At most, he'd just hit the culprit a few extra times when settling the score later—that would count as backing Mom up.

"If it's hard to explain, let's not talk about it for now. Let's discuss you willingly delivering yourself to be kidnapped instead."

Yan Zhuohua's hand, holding the fruit, froze. "I suddenly feel like the pain is becoming unbearable!"

"Stop pretending."

"Qinghe, hubby..."

"Lin Fang, take Qinghe outside."

Yan Zhuoyang countered every move, cold and ruthless.

"No! Don't do that, Big Brother! Don't you love me anymore?" Yan Zhuohua hurriedly stopped Lin Fang, who was about to act, then pleaded with his elder brother. "Let me off this once! I promise there won't be a next time!"

"You said the same thing last time," Yan Zhuoyang said mockingly.

"This time it's absolutely true! If there's a next time, I'll accept any punishment without complaint!"

"Next time? The trouble you cause gets bigger each time. If I really wait until the next time to deal with you, I'm afraid I'd only be whipping a corpse, right?"

"...It probably wouldn't come to that."

The two suddenly fell silent. During the wordless standoff, Yan Zhuohua secretly reached out and tugged on Yan Qinghe's sleeve, looking pitifully at him.

"Big Brother, Zhuohua suffered quite a bit from that drug too. Consider it his punishment. How about you forgive him one more time?"

"Are you already bewitched by his good looks?" Yan Zhuoyang looked at Yan Qinghe, whose stance was incredibly shaky. "You weren't like this last night when you were frantic with worry. It hasn't even been a day. Have you already forgotten all the agony and torment you felt then?"

Yan Qinghe, with his unsteady resolve, began to waver again.

Seeing Yan Qinghe about to be persuaded, Yan Zhuohua grew anxious and started speaking softly and humbly again.

"Hubby..."

"Big Brother! I'll take his place then." Yan Qinghe looked down at Yan Zhuohua's pitiful expression and decided to protect him one more time.

"You're just giving in like that?" Yan Zhuoyang stared incredulously at this infatuated, foolish ruler.

"I wanted to teach him a lesson too! But he called me 'hubby' and acted all coquettish with me..."

Dammit, can love-struck fools just get out of this world?

Furious, Yan Zhuoyang stormed out of the hospital room, grinding his teeth.

"Why are you so angry?" Jiang Fuyue approached him.

"Qinghe is going to save Zhuohua again," Lin Fang, who had followed out, explained quietly to Jiang Fuyue.

So that bold, reckless little brat really managed to win Qinghe over again? Her younger son really was... best not to say.

"Mom, let me take you home first. It's getting late." Yan Zhuoyang made a great effort to suppress the fire in his heart and spoke gently to Jiang Fuyue.

"Alright, I have work tomorrow."

The three of them soon took the elevator down to the parking garage.

"Zhuoyang, do you really plan to let him off again?" In the car, Jiang Fuyue asked Yan Zhuoyang, who was in the passenger seat.

Yan Zhuoyang snorted with a laugh. "Of course not."

Even if Yan Qinghe had agreed to discipline him, he couldn't have done it today anyway. He'd have to wait until the person was discharged from the hospital, right? Besides, Yan Qinghe couldn't possibly guard him forever.

In the hospital room, Yan Zhuohua, busy expressing his gratitude for Yan Qinghe's lifesaving grace, was unaware of his elder brother's plans.

"Thank you, hubby, for saving me again." Yan Zhuohua snuggled in Yan Qinghe's arms, a smile in his eyes as he expressed his thanks. "What reward do you want? I'll agree to anything."

"You think I saved you for a reward?" Yan Qinghe massaged some acupoints on him to help with metabolism. "Last time, you promised to play the role of a little wife for a month, but you ended up resorting to domestic violence against me, didn't you?"

Yan Zhuohua gave an awkward laugh. "That definitely won't happen this time. I'll cooperate fully with whatever you want."

"Do you really have to make me ask for it? Who gives a gift and then asks the recipient what they want?"

Understood. He still wanted the initiative to be taken.

"I'll definitely give you a huge surprise."

"Then I'll wait and see." Yan Qinghe nodded in satisfaction and switched to massaging another acupoint. "Now that the reward is settled, let's talk about this thing you did."

"Didn't you already forgive me?" Yan Zhuohua's eyes widened in shock. "You even pleaded for me!"

"I only stopped Big Brother from taking you away. I never said I wouldn't hold you accountable for your fine deeds. Didn't we say last night we'd put it on the tab first?"

Yan Zhuohua thought carefully. Last night, he indeed hadn't promised to let him off directly.

"Then scold me." Yan Zhuohua put on an obedient, ready-to-be-lectured expression.

"Is that why I'm doing this? To scold you?" Yan Qinghe poked his forehead in exasperation. "Have you even considered how wrong what you did was?"

"I know those things have been weighing on your mind, and I understand your desire to uncover the truth as soon as possible. But you can't just recklessly charge ahead like that." Yan Qinghe, for once, adopted a serious attitude to reason with him. "You're not alone. You have family you can rely on. Why can't you talk to everyone about things? If we all put our heads together, wouldn't that be better than your method, which almost cost you your life?"

Yan Zhuohua nodded obediently, all ears.

"And another thing, why do you always choose such high-risk methods? This time it was infiltrating the enemy's camp, last time it was secretly investigating. Looking further back, I even heard about the incident when you were ten and landed yourself in the hospital. Can't you just be steady and safe? Do you have any idea how worried I was about you yesterday? I was ready to avenge you and then follow you in death if anything happened to you!" Yan Qinghe's anger rose as he brought up these matters.

"I really know I was wrong. I won't dare again..." Hearing from Big Brother earlier how worried Yan Qinghe had been yesterday already filled him with guilt and unease. Now, hearing that Yan Qinghe had even considered following him in death, Yan Zhuohua was utterly ashamed and mortified, unable to show his face.

Seeing his deeply ashamed expression, Yan Qinghe almost softened again. But striking while the iron was hot, he suppressed his desire to stop here and continued reprimanding this disobedient person.

"It wasn't just me. Cousin, Big Brother—who wasn't worried about you yesterday? Who didn't nearly die of fright? Zhuoyue even rushed back from out of town on short notice, risking a breach of contract, just to see how you were doing."

"Tell me, what were you in such a hurry for? Did these things absolutely have to be dealt with immediately? Were you that short on time?" Yan Qinghe continued his lecture. "In such a hurry that you ended up in the hospital. Did you ever consider what you would do if they had intended to kill you outright? What would we have done?"

Yan Zhuohua hung his head even lower.