Those blood marks were bluish, with tiny blood-red spots at the edges, seeping out from the skin. The ligature marks were deep and clear…
“Do you like me?”
Su Ling’s numb eyes blinked twice, and he nodded. Afraid that his master wouldn’t believe him, he leaned closer and pressed his head against her chest. Feeling his master’s heart beating faster and faster, Su Ling frowned and placed one hand over his own heart.
It was very calm, the pulse weak and faint. That wasn’t strange at all.
He had been like this since childhood—his heart always beat weakly, but it didn’t affect him much. It was as if he wasn’t living by this heart.
And now this heart was as calm as ever, not pounding wildly like his master’s.
‘It seems that only when facing Elder Sister does this heart beat fiercely. But why is that?’
‘I can’t figure it out, and I don’t want to think about it.’
His head was tired, and his whole body was tired. He wanted to sleep. There seemed to be a voice in his head telling him that as long as he fell asleep, all his worries would disappear…
‘But what worries do I have?’
His master was right beside him. No one could disturb them. He should be happy and free of worries…
“Little Thing, the doctor will be here soon to give you some checkups. Remember to be good and don’t do anything I wouldn’t like, okay?”
Su Ling nodded.
Gu Qingyuan savored the moment, dressed him, and finally carried him back to the bedroom where he had slept before—not the room where he had been hung up, but the one where he could lie down and sleep.
“The doctor is almost here. Wait for me here. I’ll go meet her at the door. Be good, don’t run off.”
After watching his master leave, Su Ling was silent for a while, then slowly pulled the blanket over his body.
He was so tired. He really wanted to keep sleeping… He didn’t want to move.
“Wake up…”
Su Ling woke up groggily, his head swollen and aching. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but no sound came out.
“How did you fall asleep again? Didn’t you just wake up?”
Gu Qingyuan frowned and straightened Su Ling’s body, then turned to look at the person beside him.
“Take a look at him.”
“Alright.”
The unfamiliar woman approached. Su Ling only lifted his heavy eyelids.
“Hello.”
The woman reached out her hand, a hint of tenderness in her smile. Su Ling’s eyes flickered. He didn’t respond immediately but turned to look at his master.
Gu Qingyuan frowned but said nothing.
With no clear instruction from his master, Su Ling didn’t know what to do. Without his master’s order, he didn’t dare respond to the woman. He could only look at his master with tearful eyes.
The woman looked awkwardly at Gu Qingyuan, then back at Su Ling. A heavy feeling rose in her heart.
“Miss Gu, I need a quiet environment to examine him. Could you step outside?”
“No!”
Gu Qingyuan refused without a second thought. The little thing was hers. It was already generous of her to allow this woman to touch him. There was no way she would let the little thing leave her sight and be alone with another woman!
“If you think it’s interfering with your work, then you can leave now.”
“But that really would affect me…”
Gu Qingyuan’s voice was cold, with a hint of anger. She was already losing patience, and she was ready to ask the woman to leave if she refused again!
The woman sighed and said nothing more. Instead, she turned and took out a small flashlight and a long mirror that looked like a microscope from her medical bag.
“Open your mouth. Let me see your throat.”
Su Ling hesitated for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth. Ever since he lost the ability to speak, he rarely made a deliberate effort to open his mouth. Because if he opened his mouth too wide, it would pull at the wound in his throat and hurt badly.
So even when he opened his mouth, it was only a little. That wasn’t enough for the woman to see inside clearly.
With no other choice, the woman gently pried his mouth open with her fingers, then inserted the mirror and shone the flashlight in to examine carefully.
After observing for a while, the woman’s brow gradually furrowed.
“How is it?”
“The wound on the throat is severe. It looks like a chemical burn from some kind of medicine. To recover, surgery is needed, and the success rate isn’t very high. Even if the surgery is successful, he will need a long period of training to regain the ability to speak. But even then, he won’t return to normal.”
“It might be something like a stutter, maybe a little better, but if he gets emotional or affected by other factors, he could lose his voice.”
When Su Ling heard this, his small hands clutched together a little tighter. He might be slow, but he understood these words. His throat couldn’t be recovered—at least not to what it was before. He… felt awful and wronged. He wanted to cry. Tears fell silently.
Seeing this, Gu Qingyuan immediately came over and gently wiped away his tears.
“It’s okay. Little Thing can recover. Trust me, okay?”
Feeling his master’s embrace, Su Ling said nothing but buried his head in her arms, sobbing, his body trembling.
At this moment, only his master could give him a little, a little bit of warmth…
“Please step out. I’ll contact you later.”
Gu Qingyuan gently stroked the back of the little thing’s head to comfort him, but her tone turned cold as she spoke to the woman.
The woman wasn’t angry. She just glanced at Su Ling with an unreadable look before turning and leaving.
After crying for a while, Su Ling fell asleep again. ‘I’m really tired…’
Gu Qingyuan stayed by the little thing’s side. She wasn’t sleepy, but holding the little thing like this was a bit boring.
After thinking for a moment, she simply picked up the little thing and carried him to her esports room. She placed him on her lap and started a game.
At first, Su Ling felt uncomfortable and wanted to wake up, but after several attempts, he still couldn’t open his eyes.
He was so tired. He didn’t want to care about anything anymore. If it was uncomfortable, so be it.
With that thought, he stopped worrying and ignored the discomfort, falling back asleep.
When he woke again, the sun in the sky had already begun to slant westward.
Su Ling supported himself on the windowsill, standing on one leg, staring at the scenery outside.
“Do you want to go out?”
Su Ling hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“Alright. I’ll take you out.”
His master carried him down to the first floor. As soon as they arrived, he saw a wheelchair. His first thought was that it was for him, but then a feeling of unworthiness suddenly rose in his heart. He felt that it shouldn’t be for him.
Gu Qingyuan didn’t let him wonder. She simply carried him over and set him down in the wheelchair.
She had asked the woman to bring it this morning. It was originally for the little thing. She had prepared prosthetics, but then she thought—what if the little thing got legs and ran away?
So she settled for this instead.
It wasn’t convenient for escape, but it allowed the little thing to move around the area. Kill two birds with one stone.