Blinded by Lust chapter 5

Where Huo Zhanyan couldn’t see, Wu Bie was rubbing his head in embarrassment. Now that the impulsive urge had passed, he felt pretty ashamed. What right did he have to call her out of the blue and question her? Why did she have to explain so much to him? Zhanyan was a college student, much younger than him, and he had been way too forward.

Much younger?

Wu Bie felt a bit disoriented. He only knew that Zhanyan was a college student, but he wasn’t sure exactly how old she was. He wasn’t trying to pry into her privacy; it’s just that being in one’s teens and early twenties was different.

Afraid of scaring Zhanyan, he quickly typed, “I’m sorry. You know, there are a lot of scammers online. I didn’t mean to accuse you of being one. I was just being rash.”

Zhanyan remained as understanding as ever, “I know, there are a lot of scammers online. It’s good to be cautious. I understand. I would never deceive you, Ge.”

How was it that just seeing Zhanyan typing made him feel so comfortable? Wu Bie sighed, leaning comfortably against the cabin. The sea breeze mixed with rain was especially cold against his face, but he felt that this temperature was just right, perfectly cooling down his face.

“The rain is coming down so hard, Ge,” Zhanyan had just seen the photo Wu Bie sent him. The ocean, with lightning and thunder, looked nothing like its usual calm and peaceful self. It resembled a fierce monster, and just looking at it was frightening. “Isn’t it dangerous for you?”

In the face of nature, people are insignificant. Once a maritime disaster occurs, the chances of survival are slim. Wu Bie and his group were used to such scenes; fear was useless, and besides, they were currently close to the shore, so the danger level was not high.

“I’m used to it. It’s always like this at sea; the weather changes a lot.”

Wu Bie remembered that Zhanyan had just woken up and casually asked, “Have you had dinner? It should be around dinner time, right?”

He thought about Zhanyan saying her caregiver was on leave, meaning she’d have to handle dinner on her own. Lying in a hospital bed and still getting injections, how could a young girl manage on her own?

Soon, Zhanyan’s message arrived. “No, I haven’t moved. I’m not very hungry, so I don’t want to eat.”

“That’s not acceptable!” Wu Bie was a bit anxious. Being sick in the hospital with no one to take care of you and not being able to rely on meals, “In a situation like today, you should tell your parents. At least let them come and take care of you for a day.”

“My mom came, but she was busy with work and only stayed for a short while before leaving again.”

“They want to send me to a private hospital in the suburbs.”

“It’s far away.”

Isn’t this just pathetic? From just these few lines, Wu Bie began to feel distressed for Zhanyan. “What’s wrong with your parents? Don’t they care about you?”

“They’re busy, and I have a younger sister in middle school. They don’t have time to look after me. I’m alone in the hospital, and the caregiver only handles my daily needs. There’s no one to talk to. I saw your video on my phone and watched a lot of them. I couldn’t help it, so I sent you a message.”

No love from parents, abandoned in the hospital, no one to care for her, enduring the torment of illness through watching his videos.

Wu Bie felt a surge of affection. “What exactly is your illness?”

Fearing that the young girl might be too shy to speak up, he added, “If it’s inconvenient to say, it’s fine. I’m just asking.”

“Car accident, I barely survived. Now I can’t stand up.”

Wu Bie was startled and couldn’t immediately tell if she was joking or serious. He thought it might just be a minor issue that would get better over time, but he never expected it to be so severe.

“The doctor said there’s only a 40% chance of my legs being able to walk normally again, depending on how well I recover.”

“Even with you in this condition, your parents still don’t come to stay with you more?” Wu Bie was annoyed.

“They have to work and take care of my younger sister. They don’t have that much time. As long as I’m still breathing, my issues aren’t their top priority.”

Wu Bie couldn’t take it anymore and was not good at comforting people. “Doesn’t family planning apply to your family? They have no time but still have so many children?”

After saying that, he thought he had gone too far and was about to explain, but Zhanyan sent back a laughing emoji. It seemed she wasn’t upset by his thoughtless words.

A private hospital was probably just as he imagined—single rooms with no one to talk to.

“In a private hospital, doesn’t that mean you’ll have no one to talk to?”

“Yeah.” Zhanyan seemed to be okay with it. “When I message you, I won’t have to worry about disturbing others.”

Wu Bie was angry; he felt the parents were heartless. He quickly typed a message to Zhanyan, promising, “If you want to talk to someone, just message me anytime. I’ll be on standby 24/7, and I’ll definitely reply. If you need anything, just tell me, and I’ll have someone bring it to you.”

“Thank you, Ge. I don’t need anything. Just replying to my messages is enough.”

She didn’t ask for anything, just for him.

……

The transfer procedure was quick. On the day of the transfer, everyone except Huo Zhanyan’s older brother, Huo Zhanxing, was present.

“Your sister specifically took leave to come and accompany you for the transfer,” Liu Fei wanted to improve the sibling relationship and couldn’t help but speak well of Huo Zhanting.

But Huo Zhanyan was unappreciative and suddenly said, “It’s not a discharge, so why make such a fuss?”

Huo Zhanting, a shy girl, was embarrassed by her older brother and bit her lips, her cheeks flushed. The girl was slim with thin arms and legs, tightly clutching the corners of her clothes.

“Can’t you be a bit nicer to your sister? You…”

When Huo Zhanyan spoke to his parents, all his emotions surged, and every bone in his body ached. “Can we not waste time? If we’re going to transfer, let’s hurry. I’m afraid I’ll die on the road.”

The private hospital was located in a remote area, but the environment was good. As long as the payment was settled, someone would be available for 24-hour care.

While the parents were outside negotiating with the doctor, the large ward was left with only Huo Zhanyan and his not-so-close younger sister.

The girl, still shy, hesitated to speak, taking a long time to gather her courage before finally saying.

“Ge… I can come visit you on weekends if I’m not at school. If Mom and Dad don’t come, I can come see you.”

Huo Zhanyan glanced at Huo Zhanting with narrow eyes. Thanks to their parents, the relationship between the three siblings was not very close, and even when they met, it felt distant.

In fact, he was initially quite happy to have a younger sister. At least during his lonely childhood, he had some companionship. But the way his parents treated daughters was always more meticulous than their sons. As he grew older, Huo Zhanyan felt more and more imbalance, especially during his rebellious years, the rift with his parents grew wider, and many conflicts escalated, even making him resent his own younger sister. Rationally, he knew it had nothing to do with Huo Zhanting, but emotionally, he couldn’t accept it.

His family was well-off, and he lacked for nothing. To outsiders, it was unclear why he was so upset. It seemed he was very sensitive, overly concerned with intangible family bonds, as if he were starving for love.

“Ge…” Seeing that Huo Zhanyan remained silent, Huo Zhanting tentatively spoke up.

Huo Zhanyan turned his head indifferently. “Don’t come.”

The refusal was so decisive that Huo Zhanting stood frozen for a while, unable to react. Just as she was about to speak again, Huo Zhanyan’s phone rang. She watched him pull the phone from under his pillow, and his expression softened a bit. Despite just having had an examination and finding it difficult to even lift his arm, he persisted in typing, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curving up.

What was he looking at? Or was he chatting with someone?

Huo Zhanyan had been into motorcycles since high school, and they rarely spoke properly. She seldom saw him smile.

Once their parents had completed the hospital admission procedures, Huo Zhanyan said he was tired. He continued to stare at his phone without lifting his eyelids, and Liu Fei couldn’t say much, only allowing him to rest.

“Arrived at the hospital? Have the procedures been completed?”

Wu Bie had heard from Zhanyan earlier that she would be changing hospitals that day. Although private hospitals offered better care, transferring was still quite a hassle for a patient like her. Wu Bie wondered if Zhanyan would be able to handle it.

The first thing he received was several photos. Wu Bie clicked to view them, and the hospital room looked like a hotel suite—quite nice. His gaze lingered on the bed.

Zhanyan seemed to be lying on the bed, covered with a blanket, with her legs faintly visible.

Maybe it was the angle of the photos, but the girl had pretty long legs and seemed quite tall.

Wu Bie glanced at himself and thought, fortunately, he wasn’t too short—he was at least 180 cm.

“Zhanyan, how tall are you? You must be around 1.7 meters, right?” For a girl, 1.7 meters looks quite tall, and Wu Bie gave a conservative estimate.

Huo Zhanyan didn’t answer directly. “Why? If I’m too tall, will you stop talking to me?”

Wu Bie admitted he was a bit concerned about appearances, but he wasn’t so shallow that he’d ignore Zhanyan just because she was tall. “Who said that? Being tall is great. It’s good to be a bit more graceful.”

“Actually, my voice isn’t very nice, and I don’t look very good. I can’t even stand up now. Ge, will you be disappointed?”

Everyone has their vanity, but Wu Bie wasn’t that superficial. Looks won’t fill your stomach.

“What are you saying? Do I seem like that kind of person?”

“Ge, are you busy right now? Can I send you a voice message?”

Wu Bie had always remembered the idea of voice messages but didn’t bring it up first, fearing Zhanyan might think he was too eager or creepy. Now that Zhanyan mentioned it, he was caught off guard and somewhat unprepared.

“My voice isn’t very pleasant. I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.”

Wu Bie couldn’t stand hearing Zhanyan belittle herself. “Not everyone is a broadcaster. As long as you have a voice, it’s fine.”

Huo Zhanyan couldn’t help but laugh at Wu Bie’s response. He opened the voice changer he had bought a few days ago in the live broadcast room. He hadn’t really tried it out before, but it seemed to have good promotional effects. He wasn’t sure how it would actually sound.

He wanted to give Wu Bie a heads-up. He knew Wu Bie was easygoing and wouldn’t mind these things, but he was already deceiving Wu Bie, so he wanted to make himself as perfect as possible.