He is Lovestruck in the Revenge

Chapter 86 - 86 085 Xie Shang Dotes on Someone (Second Update)

?Chapter 86: 085: Xie Shang Dotes on Someone (Second Update) Chapter 86: 085: Xie Shang Dotes on Someone (Second Update) Yan Cong swallowed the pill, “Changling.” His eyes turned red, and he was very upset, “The medicine is so bitter.”

Wen Changling opened her palm as if by magic, “I’ve prepared some candy for you.”

She tore the candy wrapper and placed the candy in his hand.

Strawberry-flavored, very sweet.

“Yan Cong, let’s stay at the hospital.”

Pancreatic cancer in its late stages can be very painful.

Yan Cong was out of strength and leaned against Wen Changling, clutching the blanket with fingertips turning white: “I don’t want to stay in the hospital, it’s a waste of time.”

He didn’t want to die in a hospital. He didn’t want to let Wen Changling see his ugly state; he wanted to die where she couldn’t see him.

Wen Changling took a tissue and wiped his sweat, “Please, stay at the hospital, okay?”

She was terrified at the thought of Yan Cong collapsing alone outside, with no one to help him, no one to save him.

She couldn’t bear to imagine that scene.

“Is it okay to stay at the hospital?” she coaxed in a soft voice, “Hmm?”

The young man was stubborn and refused to relent.

“Yan Cong.”

Wen Changling tugged at his clothes.

Yan Cong loved being coaxed by Wen Changling. The candy his mother never gave him, Wen Changling had given.

He buried his head and rubbed his forehead against her clothes like a lonely and weak little animal: “Okay.”

Staying at the hospital wasn’t so bad; he could see Wen Changling every day.

Wen Changling left only after Yan Cong had fallen asleep. The Yan Family’s driver took her back to Lotus Pond Street. It was late, and no one was on the street, just solitary lights and shadows.

She walked with her head down, wandering, like a soulless ghost.

“Changling.”

She looked up in a daze.

Xie Shang stood at the front entrance, walking towards her; he must have been waiting for her on purpose: “I just called the hospital, they said you were on leave.”

Wen Changling’s phone was unreachable; she hadn’t answered.

Xie Shang noticed her absent-mindedness: “Did something happen?”

“Nothing.”

She was dismissive.

Xie Shang persisted patiently, “Tell me.”

She looked at him, her gaze cold: “Don’t ask.”

She was all thorns.

“Fine, I won’t ask.”

Xie Shang held her.

Miss Wen needed a lot of love.

He lowered his body, one hand wrapping around her waist, the other around her shoulder. Due to the difference in their body sizes, he could completely shield her in his embrace—an utterly safe, encompassing stance: “If you want to vent, you can take it out on me.”

He said, “You can even bite me.”

But Miss Wen didn’t; she clung to him tightly instead.

Xie Shang was slightly taken aback, then lowered his head and kissed her face.

*****
The car Yan Cong bought for Wen Changling had arrived, three in total, and she didn’t refuse them; she accepted all. She rented a locked shed, parked the cars inside, covered them with dust covers, and took good care of them.

When Yan Cong got better, she planned to drive him in the new car and take him to see the tea plantations in her hometown.

After dealing with the cars, Wen Changling returned home to find Xie Shang in her yard, not sure if he was waiting for her.

Xie Shang had been in a bad mood before, he told her the reason afterwards, but she didn’t want to talk about it with him, even if she had been a bit rude last night, she didn’t feel like explaining.

About Ah Na, about Yan Cong, she didn’t want to talk.

She decided to take the initiative: “About last night, I hope you won’t ask too much.” Her tone was very firm, indicating that whether she was wrong or not, she didn’t plan to admit it, “If you think I’m strange, then so be it.”

It was indeed strange.

Xie Shang didn’t say anything.

She asked again, “Do you think I have a bad temper?”

Xie Shang sat on the old bamboo bed in the yard, looking as comfortable as if he were in his own home: “A bit.”

“Oh,” Miss Wen was full of reasons, “If a man can change before and after marriage, then I can be different before and after a relationship, right?”

“…”

That logic was irrefutable.

Xie Shang stood up and approached Wen Changling: “Miss Wen, I came to ask if you want to go pick bayberries together?”

“…Yes.”

Xie Shang smiled.

He had recently become quite fond of smiling.

It was time to pick the bayberries planted by Grandma Lin. Since she lived alone and had difficulty moving around, a lot of folks from the neighborhood had come to help—everyone from Lotus Pond Street who had nothing else to do showed up. Regardless of who gossiped about whom on normal days, when it came to helping out, they were there.

Aiguo and Aimin were also there, Sister Tao couldn’t make it because she had to tend to her shop.

The orchard was a bit far, on a hill, so Boss Wen from the grain and oil shop brought his truck, filled with a group of neighbors. Auntie Wang and Sister Chu, who didn’t get along and often badmouthed each other, thus creating a tense atmosphere. Xie Shang drove his own car, taking Wen Changling, Granny Zhu, and the future cartoonist Miss Yang Xining with him.

Grandma Lin’s orchard had been around for many years, and the bayberry trees were all quite old, lush and rich with branches reaching up high.

Grandma Lin handed out bamboo baskets she had woven herself to everyone, telling them to take their time picking and to eat as much as they wanted.

Having stayed indoors for a long while, Yang Xining was as excited as a horse freed from its reins once she was outdoors, “Granny, should we pick the red ones?”

Grandma Lin replied, “Don’t pick the red ones yet, pick the purple ones.”

The purple ones were ripe, each one plump and juicy. The fragrance of the bayberries mixed with the mountain breeze was refreshing in the summer heat—but…the June sun was still fiercely hot.

Among the young girls who came, only Wen Changling didn’t wear a hat and was dressed in short sleeves, her fair arms glaringly exposed.

Xie Shang glanced at her face.

She looked bewildered, “Is there something on my face?”

“Did you put on sunscreen?”

“No.”

Wen Changling rarely ever wore makeup. Once, a colleague of hers who wore makeup to work was complained about by a patient’s relative, accusing her of seducing the patient. The patient was over forty—what was there to gain? No money and a weak kidney too?

Afterward, the girls in the department seldom wore makeup.

Xie Shang said to her, “You’re not afraid of sunburns?”

She didn’t seem concerned, “I have thick skin.”

“…”

Some people from another part of the orchard were resting; the area was a bayberry grove, but not all of it belonged to Grandma Lin.

Xie Shang went over and politely asked to borrow a straw hat.

Wen Changling was surprised, “She actually let you borrow it.” Yang Xining had just been refused when she asked.

Xie Shang casually responded, “Hmm, probably because I look agreeable.”

“…”

He put the hat on Wen Changling, tying the straps under her chin, and knotted the sunshade cloth that came with the hat under her chin as well, wrapping her up so that only her nose and eyes were exposed.

Wen Changling thought to herself: I look like a thief.

The bayberry trees were tall, and everyone brought ladders. Wen Changling hung the bamboo basket gave her around her neck and prepared to start picking.

Xie Shang instructed, “Pick from the bottom, don’t climb up.”

Xie Shang himself climbed up.

Grandma Lin was a little worried about him because he was seen as a young master from a prominent family, afraid that the branches might ruin his clothes. But he himself didn’t seem to care at all and made his way into the thick of the branches. With his tall stature and strong presence, the lush leaves could not hide the occasional glimpse of his profile, and the girls in the neighboring orchard kept stealing glances at him.

Wen Changling silently climbed the tree.

When Xie Shang turned and saw her, he exclaimed, “Wen Changling, why did you climb up here?”

She stood on her tiptoes, reaching for a high branch, and successfully picked a large, juicy bayberry which she popped into her mouth, “The ones at the top are sweeter.”

Xie Shang called to her, “Come a little closer.”

Wen Changling moved over a bit.

Before long—
When Wen Changling reached for a faraway berry, he said, “Don’t stretch so far.”

When she used both hands to pick, he said, “Use one hand to hold on.”

When she stood on her tiptoes, he said, “You can easily fall like that.”

Wen Changling was a little annoyed, “You’re so naggy, can you stop fussing over me?”

Fine, Miss Wen had quite the temper.

Xie Shang moved over to her side, keeping the distance within an arm’s reach.

Yang Xining was down below, finding the perfect angle and snapping pictures like crazy.

Ah, the composition was set.

She had previously drawn a pure romance comic based on Boss Xie, but now she had changed the outline to a transmigration strategy story.

The female lead transmigrates into a book to win over the pawnshop tycoon who epitomizes aloofness and scorns worldly possessions.

Because the theme had changed so drastically, most of her already sparse readership had dropped off. No big deal—satisfying herself was what mattered most.

She continued to snap away.

Ah, the composition, the atmosphere, the chemistry between the couple.

It was nearing ten o’clock, and the temperature was getting too high, so they decided to stop picking for the day.

Xie Shang went to return the hat.

“Thank you.”

The owner of the hat, a woman in her early thirties with a slight accent, remarked, “Young man, you and your girlfriend seem very affectionate. When are you getting married?”

Xie Shang shook his head without speaking. He turned around to see Wen Changling squatting with Aiguo and Aimin, eating burst bayberries. When she encountered a sour one, she was reluctant to spit it out and scrunched up her face as she swallowed.