Blinded by Lust chapter 19

Recently, Huo Zhanyan cooperated extremely well with his rehabilitation training. He no longer argued with the doctors and followed instructions obediently. After consulting the doctor, he even bought two dumbbells online. Now, he could sit up and, when in his wheelchair, he exercised when he had free time.

“The recovery is quite good,” the attending doctor, after reviewing Huo Zhanyan’s X-rays, couldn’t help but express his feelings. In private hospitals, patients were like gods. These wealthy and eccentric patients not only needed treatment for their physical ailments but also care for their twisted mental states.

Huo Zhanyan was a rebellious teenager who didn’t cooperate well at first. When he first arrived, no matter how the doctors and nurses reminded him, he always had a dismissive attitude, as if his body didn’t belong to him but to someone else. Now, he suddenly changed his attitude, and the doctor silently thanked the heavens.

“Do I still only have a forty percent chance of standing up?” Huo Zhanyan asked the doctor with a blank expression. He wasn’t good at hiding his concern; his eyes were flickering.

The attending doctor spoke earnestly, “You know, the success rate of any surgery can’t be a hundred percent. Before, we only spoke in terms of data. You’re recovering well now and will only get better. Your mindset is more important than anything else.”

Although the doctor’s response was still vague, Huo Zhanyan was comforted. Having hope was better than nothing.

After being wheeled back to his hospital room, Huo Zhanyan asked the caregiver to leave. His upper body strength had improved a lot recently, and he could manage on his own. He didn’t want an extra person in the room, disturbing his calls with Wu Bie. He glanced at his phone, already showing Wu Bie’s message notifications.

The other port in Cherbourg was a bit far from the city center, with incomplete facilities and almost no entertainment options. The waiting days for the cargo were somewhat dull.

Others might find it boring, but Wu Bie didn’t. With signal on the shore, he could video call Zhanyan. He wished he could stay on the shore forever… but forever was too long. He preferred to return early to avoid making Zhanyan anxious.

He had just sent a message to Zhanyan but hadn’t received a reply. He lay on the bed, staring at his phone, wondering what Zhanyan was doing. Could it be that the test results were not good?

A “ding” sound from the phone, and the screen light reflected in Wu Bie’s pupils. He quickly opened the phone to find Zhanyan’s message.

“Ge, I just came back from seeing my attending physician.”

Wu Bie didn’t have time to type, so he directly sent Zhanyan a video request. As soon as the video connected, he sat up from the bed. This angle was perfect—it showed off his jawline.

“So, how was it? What did the doctor say?”

Seeing how concerned Wu Bie was, Huo Zhanyan deliberately hesitated, making Wu Bie worry even more. “Well…”

“Well, what? Is it good news or not?” Wu Bie observed Zhanyan’s expression, probing, “Is it not so good?”

But from what he could tell, Zhanyan had been looking a lot better lately. Her energy had improved, and the signs of illness had faded considerably.

Wu Bie was the type to protect his own. When it came to illness, he wouldn’t blame Zhanyan’s ability to recover; instead, he would question the hospital’s treatment.

“Could it be that this private hospital doesn’t have the right expertise? Shouldn’t you tell your parents to switch hospitals?”

After all, switching hospitals and doctors is normal—doctor skills vary. Without trying different options, where’s the hope? Didn’t Shen Jixue have to switch hospitals several times to get his eye treated?

Wu Bie thought for a moment. Zhanyan’s parents didn’t seem to care much about her. Maybe Zhanyan was worried about the money?

“Don’t worry about the money. If your parents won’t agree, I’ll cover it… Forget it, I’ll ask my friend to help you find a reliable hospital.”

Wu Bie was always quick to act, so Zhanyan didn’t dare tease him any longer. “Wu Ge, the doctor said I’m recovering very well.”

“Really?” Wu Bie squinted, scrutinizing Zhanyan’s face. The more time they spent together, the better he understood Zhanyan. This girl might seem obedient, but she could be quite mischievous. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you? Just wanted to see me worry about you.”

Zhanyan wasn’t embarrassed at being exposed. She pouted slightly. “I did it on purpose. No one else cares about me, so I can only make you worry about me.”

“Tsk.” That hit Wu Bie hard. Not only did his anger fade, but he even had to comfort her. “Why beat around the bush? Don’t I check in on you every day?”

Being so far apart, all Wu Bie could offer was words of concern. He suddenly understood people like Chen Xian, who were so dedicated to their work but could still drop everything when someone important showed up. Wu Bie wanted to go back.

Saying a few words was easy, but he didn’t want to just give Zhanyan lip service. He wanted to be by her side when she needed him.

Zhanyan didn’t know what Wu Bie was thinking, but she knew Wu Bie cared for him. A little playful affection was enough; she didn’t want to trouble Wu Bie.

“Are you still unloading cargo today? Or do you have nothing to do?”

Wu Bie didn’t want to admit that ever since he got close to Zhanyan, he’d been spending all his free time on video calls with her, leaving no time for anything else.

You really can’t focus on two things at once.

“My mind’s been on you— I haven’t even written in my sailing log.”

Despite his rough demeanor and out-of-tune singing, Wu Bie was surprisingly meticulous in his work. Zhanyan, curious about all of this, asked, “Can I see your past entries?”

Wu Bie couldn’t refuse her. Without hesitation, he sat down at his desk and pulled out his old sailing logs.

To be fair, his handwriting was decent, and the logs were detailed—a nice balance between thoroughness and simplicity.

“Back then, we had to wrack our brains to figure things out ourselves. It’s not like today, where you can just look things up online.” Wu Bie had worked his way up from a deckhand, and when he worked for others, he had to follow the captain’s orders to the letter. Even if writing logs wasn’t his job, he had to do it anyway.

Zhanyan was curious about the contents of the log, and Wu Bie patiently turned the pages, explaining as he went.

“You wouldn’t believe it. A rookie sailor made a mistake while dropping anchor. Not only did the anchor chain catch fire from friction, but he almost dropped it into the sea. If that thing went overboard, you couldn’t pay for it even with a lifetime of work.”

Huo Zhanyan loved hearing Wu Bie’s stories about life on the ship. It wasn’t just because he longed for a free life; it was also because Wu Bie seemed most confident during these moments, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Why did you even write about cleaning your room?”

“I don’t know much, so I wrote everything—big or small—to fill the pages. Even if the content wasn’t great, my attitude was.”

Wu Bie chuckled shamelessly. “Why shouldn’t I write about it? I cleaned it up, so I can write about it.”

With that, he stood up, holding his phone, and panned the camera around his cabin before stopping at the bathroom.

“I’m really tidy. My bathroom is the cleanest on the whole ship. I’m not like the others.” Wu Bie took the opportunity to praise himself in front of Zhanyan while belittling the others.

Just as they were laughing, someone knocked on the door. A sailor outside shouted, “Wu Ge, come out! The captain’s offering his Valdivia pocket watch as a prize. Aren’t you joining?”

Wu Bie swung the door open, still holding his phone, and walked out. “What are we playing? If it’s fishing, I’m out.”

He’d rather video chat with Zhanyan than fish.

“Swimming—it’s your strength. Let’s see who’s fastest.”

From the earpiece came Zhanyan’s voice. “Wu Ge, are you really that good at swimming? I want to see.”

Of course, Wu Bie excelled at everything. And since Zhanyan was asking, he had to show off. Even if she asked whether he could pee the farthest on the ship, he’d have to keep a straight face and say yes.

With a wave of his hand, he signaled the sailors to go ahead. Once they were gone, he casually replied to Zhanyan, “I’m good at everything. I don’t like to show off, but that pocket watch is an antique and really beautiful. You girls would definitely love it. Just wait—I’ll win it for you. I’ll send it along with your birthday gift and some sand from Cherbourg.”

“Okay.” Regardless of whether Wu Bie could win or not, Huo Zhanyan just loved hearing his overconfident tone.

Wu Bie jogged downstairs, where a lot of people had already gathered on the deck. He squeezed into the crowd and heard that he had to sign up first. Thinking it seemed pretty formal, he was about to say something when the colleague at the registration desk told him to pay a 500-yuan fee.

No wonder the captain was willing to use his pocket watch as a prize—it was such a rip-off! If it weren’t for Zhanyan wanting to see him in action, Wu Bie wouldn’t have wasted his money. He took out 500 yuan and slapped it on the table.

“Write my name down: Wu Bie.”

The more people participated, the more hyped everyone got. Covering his earpiece mic, Wu Bie spoke to Zhanyan, “I need to find someone to record a video for me. I’ll send it to you once it’s done.”

“Okay!” Zhanyan responded sweetly. “Good luck, Ge.”

With Zhanyan cheering him on, Wu Bie felt pumped. He needed to find someone reliable to record the video for Zhanyan. He even started missing Chen Xian because none of the burly men around him seemed trustworthy.

Not burly? Aside from Chen Xian, the first person that came to Wu Bie’s mind was Tan Yi. He looked around but couldn’t spot him. Where was he at such a crucial moment?

As the race was about to start and Tan Yi still hadn’t shown up, Wu Bie had no choice but to hand his phone to an older colleague. He gave strict instructions, “Film carefully, just focus on me, and make sure I look handsome.”

The referee was already calling, “On your marks!” Wu Bie quickly threw off his vest and shorts and, as the countdown hit “321,” he leaped into the water. Like a fish, he swam skillfully toward the distant buoy under the shimmering sea.

Swimming was as easy as breathing for Wu Bie, and coming in first was a walk in the park. He was the first to turn back, hearing the deafening cheers from the boat.

More than his rank, Wu Bie cared about how he looked on camera. Without even drying off, he rushed back to the deck, grabbed the phone, and checked the video. The filming was average, but since he was handsome, it would still leave Zhanyan swooning.