CH 28

They were clearly repaired… Why did they become like this…

That was the only thought that came to Qi Han’s mind as he stared in shock at the diamond shards on the table.

Xiao Ge had already repaired the rings, the diamonds were fitted back in solidly. When had he done it?

It should have been this morning, or noon. After agreeing to install the diamonds, he had done it as soon as possible, so he really would have given the rings to him if what had just happened had not happened.

Obviously he could get the rings, obviously the relationship had eased, obviously Fu Ge could already draw, obviously everything was going in a good direction…

But Qi Han’s mania and loss of control was like a derailleur on a track, abruptly sending them to a gloomy ending, as if the current result was destined.

Diamonds are obviously the hardest thing in nature, but they are very brittle. If they are intact, they will be crushed by a few blows of hammer, not to mention if there are already cracks in the structure.

Then it only takes a little external force to smash them to pieces.

Just like the relationship he once thought was firm like an oath between them, it was now so battered that it couldn’t withstand the slightest bump on the road.

Qi Han was in a daze for a long time before he could take a breath. His gasps were chaotic, his eyes were red, his fingers were trembling helplessly. His chest was like a bellows that had a large hole, and the cold wind was pouring in.

He walked over to pick up the smashed, deformed rings, moving stiffly to gather up the diamond shards.

The sharp cutting surface left countless tiny cuts on his fingers, and soon the pile of shards was stained crimson, but he picked up the last of his belongings as stubbornly as if he couldn’t feel the pain.

“You promised to give them to me… no matter what they become, they’re mine…”

He smiled embarrassedly, and his voice was trembling. Fu Ge looked at all this in front of him on the verge of a breakdown, only to feel that his life was terrible and tattered to the extreme.

“What I promised to give you… what I promised to give you… you really have the nerve to say that! I gave you everything I promised!” He clutched Qi Han’s collar and yanked the man closer, asking desperately and hysterically, “What about what you promised to give me?!”

“What about your promises? What about your love? What about the future you promised me?! What about all the good you said you would do for me?! Have the dogs eaten all your promises?!”

With a muffled thud exploding in his ears, the table was smashed under Qi Han’s body, diamond shards mixing into the wood chips, never to be found again.

“You have given me nothing but deceit, torture, fear, false love and endless nightmares! You have ruined me over and over again, what more do you want, to kill me? Insult me? Keep torturing me? What do you have to do to me before you will stop! Just leave me alone!”

Everything at hand slammed on the Alpha’s body. Fu Ge was fragile and furious like a piece of glass about to shatter. Qi Han’s heart was in so much pain that he couldn’t breathe. Ignoring the injuries on his body, he lunged over to hold his shoulders.

“Gege… I’m sorry… I’m sorry, it’s my fault today, I, I shouldn’t have disturbed your chat, I shouldn’t have torn your drawing, it’s all my fault, I won’t do it again, I’ll change…”

He stretched out his fingers and lightly and gently touched the side of Fu Ge’s face, his voice so low that it was about to fade away: “Give me one more chance, okay? I just want you to get better… be happier, be healthier, go back to that carefree little prince you used to be. You can do whatever you want to me. Don’t hurt yourself… okay?”

Fu Ge laughed mockingly, “Go back?”

He avoided Qi Han’s hand, his voice terribly grim, “Can’t you see, we can never go back, whether it’s you, or me, or us, we’re already unrecognisable.”

“In my life, the worst pain I’ve ever tasted, the most heartfelt love, and the deepest joy I’ve ever felt, were all given to me by you… You’ve given just too much for me to bear, so I’m giving them all back to you…”

He took two steps back, his stiff smile like a layer of cold oil solidifying on the stew. From under his pillow he took out the navy blue silk ribbon with the prayer wheel dangling on it and said, “This is the last thing I owe you.”

Qi Han’s heart trembled: “This… you also have it…”

It was the first gift after their relationship was confirmed. Fu Ge spurred his horse through twenty-two prayer flags at the foot of the sacred mountain of Zhaga and won this khata. He took a small strip and made it into a bracelet, and repeatedly instructed Qi Han to keep it well, not to tear or cut it, otherwise his good luck would be taken away.

“Do you know what I did that night after you fell asleep?”

“I held the prayer wheel and wandered outside the tent all night, praying that my Mr. Bear Cub would be happy and healthy forever.”

At these words Fu Ge ripped off the prayer wheel, tossed it aside and picked up the scissors.

Qi Han’s expression cracked like a mask. He shook his head stiffly, too scared to look but unable to blink, “Gege… don’t… don’t do this…”

Fu Ge cut the ribbon to pieces and threw it on the floor in front of him, “Fuck happiness and health! You deserve to live like me forever, worse than dead!”

The frozen river that was about to break the ice froze again, and it was more tragic than before the thaw.

That day Qi Han stood in front of Fu Ge’s door, like a walking corpse drained of blood, knowing that he would never be able to enter this ward again.

That night the doctor brought a half-tube of pheromones to give Fu Ge an infusion, and Qi Han watched for a long time before finally realising that it was from the increase in pheromone dose that the little Beta had eased up on him.

So it wasn’t that he was touched, trading the fatal evidence for the ring, it was just that his spirit involuntarily softened after the infusion of too much pheromone.

From start to finish, Fu Ge never took pity on him.

Like two extremes on a scale, Fu Ge and Qi Han were infinitely distant, but at the same time Fu Ge began to slowly move closer to Qi Chuan.

In addition to the necessary thanks in the morning after the “extraction of pheromones”, Qi Chuan would come over every afternoon to keep Fu Ge company, and they would draw together and chat, as if they had many common topics to talk about.

Qi Han had hundreds of ways to deal with Qi Chuan, from getting his company into trouble so that he would have no time to bother Fu Ge, to pulling the carpet from under the Qi family so that Qi Chuan would never be able to appear in front of the little Beta again.

But he dared not do anything now.

The lesson he had learned last time was too painful, and he was both afraid that Fu Ge would break with him completely and that the vitality that had just been restored to him by Qi Chuan would disappear again.

Although he was jealous to the point of madness, there was nothing he could do.

Fu Ge used his free time to prepare lots of nourishing soups and snacks for Qi Chuan. His hands were now able to hold a brush with some skill. Although the lines drawn were still crooked, it was a gratifying improvement.

And he had returned to the habit he had when he was young: to stamp everyone close to him.

But Qi Han had already lost this qualification.

The little bear holding the honey jar never appeared again. Instead, it was replaced by a fluffy red-beaked bird. Qi Han saw with his own eyes that Fu Ge painted that bird on the wrapping paper of every snack prepared for Qi Chuan, just as carefully as he used to when he prepared surprises for Mr. Bear Cub back then.

“Mr. Qi, could you please take these snacks to Teacher for me? I would like to go with you to visit him this weekend if it is convenient.”

Accepting the snacks, Qi Chuan first complimented him on another improvement in his drawing of the red-beaked bird, then said, “Anytime is convenient, he has put off all his exhibitions this week and is waiting for you to come, urging me every day.”

After they exchanged a few more pleasantries, the little boy ran into the garden with his easel in his arms.

He had already gotten to know Fu Ge well and was calling him “wife”. Clutching his hat, he ran over to Fu Ge. Qi Chuan picked him up, “Little daredevil, don’t knock him down.”

The little boy patted Qi Chuan’s face with a smile and sat on his arm, stretching out his chubby hands towards Fu Ge: “Wife, hug!”

Fu Ge, embarrassed, took his hand and rubbed it, “Isn’t Brother Qi holding you?”

Qi Han, who was standing in the pavilion, couldn’t hear their conversation, but could only see Qi Chuan and the little boy standing intimately next to Fu Ge, drawing together. The little boy accidentally got paint on Fu Ge’s clothes, and Qi Chuan pinched the little boy’s face as he held the paper.

It looked like a happy family of three, just like the future Qi Han had been dreaming of for him and Fu Ge.

“I’d say, you’re just watching like this, huh?”

Next to him, Chen Xing was even more sour than him, gritting his teeth and pulling all the chlorophytum in the pavilion bald.

Without any expression on his face, Qi Han handed him the coat he was holding and said, “Do me a favour.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Chen Xing instantly became energetic, “What, we’ll cover Qi Chuan’s head and beat him up? Or strip him of his trousers and parade him around? Man, I’ll beat him up wherever you want, no day like today!”

Qi Han said, “Give Xiao Ge the coat, it’s cooling down and the one he’s wearing is too thin.”

“Ffff…uck! You’re a big fucking loser!”

Chen Xing looked at him like he was an ancient relic, “Are you alright, man, your wife is about to be snatched away! And you’re still putting up with it?”

“You don’t have to talk so much.” Qi Han was so annoyed with him that he took the coat back and shoved it at a passing doctor, “Please help me give this coat to that Beta by the flower bed.”

The doctor took a look and asked, “The one dressed in blue, painting with his boyfriend?”

Qi Han: “……”

Qi Han: “The one dressed in blue but it is not his boyfriend.”

“Ah so, I misunderstood, I misunderstood, I just think they look quite intimate.”

The doctor carried the coat to Fu Ge and the others. At the same time, a family member of a patient suddenly walked out of the pavilion opposite, dressed in black from head to toe, his right hand in his pocket, his eyes staring straight at the doctor.

Qi Han’s eyes narrowed, “Chen Xing, go check out the one on the opposite side… Xiao Ge!”

The change happened in an instant.

The doctor had just stepped in front of Fu Ge when the man suddenly rushed straight ahead, holding a huge bone-cutting knife in his hand, “Bastard! Give me back my wife’s life!”

The knife slashed through the doctor’s shoulder, and the splatter of blood drove the man crazy, his scarlet eyes bulging as he went after the doctor with the knife in a frenzy.

The doctor’s arm was hanging limply. Qi Chuan shielded Fu Ge, Fu Ge protected the little boy, and the wooden easel was chopped to pieces in a few blows.

The doctor, an Omega, was terrified. He suddenly shrieked, knocked Fu Ge down and ran behind him. The murderous man roared and chased after him, kicking Fu Ge, who was in the way, and raising his knife to slash.

“Gege!” The little boy screamed in terror. Fu Ge gritted his teeth and pulled him into his arms to protect him. Just a second before the blade fell on his head, a huge muffled noise exploded in his ears, and Qi Han, who rushed up, kicked the man two metres away.

Without waiting for a reaction, strong arms lifted Fu Ge straight up by the shoulders, and Qi Han touched his face soothingly, “Run!”

The frenzied man quickly propped himself up from the ground. Qi Chuan finally reacted and was about to rush over to help but Qi Han pushed him in Fu Ge’s direction and ordered, “Protect them.” At the same time, he pressed his Bluetooth headset, his voice stern: “Everyone downstairs, here comes the job.”

The man covered the place where he was kicked and walked forward with a grim smile, “Yo, 3S level Alpha, you look rich and powerful, I won’t die in vain by bringing you along.”

Qi Han picked up the knife and held it in his hand, his Alpha pheromones filled with aggression rushing out. His gloomy eyes looked as if he was looking at a dead man.

“Which leg did you kick him with?”

The man made an obscene gesture at his crotch, “The middle one.”

Qi Han smiled, “Fine, I want you to watch me cut it off and feed it to you.”

For years after his father’s death, Qi Han was in a state of guilt for not being able to protect him. He had tasted enough of the despair of being powerless in the face of criminals, so he started boxing at the age of fifteen or sixteen, and in his heyday was able to take down an IBF (International Boxing Federation) gold belt boxer in a close hand-to-hand combat.

Genetic bloodline suppression aside, even a 3S level Alpha like Qi Chuan was no match for him.

One could only hear a scream from the surveillance blind spot behind the flower bed. Fu Ge covered the little boy’s ears and held him in his arms. Qi Han’s bodyguards were there before the hospital security guards. A team of well-trained men divided into two halves, half to help Qi Han, half to protect Fu Ge.

After losing too much pheromone, Qi Han’s physical strength couldn’t last too long. He withdrew his blood-stained hand, and as soon as he got up, he heard Fu Ge suddenly cry out.

Qi Han’s heart was in his throat and he immediately turned his head to look. At that moment, the man lying on the ground got up abruptly, holding the knife and slashing at his back.

With a single blow his skin was split and his flesh pierced.

Qi Han’s body shook, and he fell face down on the ground. He saw Fu Ge run towards Qi Chuan, exclaiming anxiously, “Mr. Qi, are you injured?”

“Brother Han… Brother Han!”

Chen Xing rushed over with a howl. The man was subdued by the bodyguards. Fu Ge paused in his steps and stared blankly at the scene in front of him, frozen, his breath caught.

Qi Han was turned over; blood trickled out of his mouth. His eyes were no longer able to focus, yet he was still trying to search for Fu Ge, some broken syllables coming out of his throat: “Gege… Xiao… Xiao Ge…”

Chen Xing cursed frantically, turned his head and looked at Fu Ge with wet flushed eyes: “Come here, come and take a look at him! He is calling for you!”

Fu Ge was trembling all over, and there was no blood in his face.

Chen Xing was going crazy, “You are so fucking cruel… How can you be so cruel! Who should you be supporting, ah? Who should you feel sorry for? Whose pheromones do you think you have been using all the time?!”

He pulled down the neck of Qi Han’s turtleneck jumper, uncovering the gauze on the back of his neck that was soaked with blood. The Alpha glands were festering and purulent, shrivelled so much that they looked like rotten sores on his skin.

Fu Ge opened his mouth in disbelief, his breath hitching.

Chen Xing pleaded with him one last time, “Thirty-three tubes of pheromones, he’s pumped his glands to pieces. I beg you to come and take a look at him, okay?”

“Don’t force him…” The Alpha lying in a pool of blood managed to say these words through clenched teeth as he half closed his eyes.

His bleeding hand took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, and Chen Xing quickly opened it for him.

It was the little bear that had been torn in half.

“I… know you won’t draw it for me again… this is the last one…” Qi Han propped himself on his elbow on the lawn. Holding up the drawing, he said to Fu Ge, “It can… it can be glued up… Gege, don’t be angry with me…”

Time and life were flowing away together. Fu Ge never took a step closer to him. Qi Han hooked his lips with difficulty, smiled at him, and finally let his hand drop .

Just in the last second before the back of his hand hit the ground, Fu Ge suddenly rushed over and held his wrist, saying, “The little bear, it was not drawn for Qi Chuan…”

The moment he picked up the brush again after the painful struggle of five years, he still couldn’t help but draw a bear first.