Dark Fire chapter 19
Offering Oneself
Ling Zhuo still felt dizzy, his fever hadn’t gone down yet. After drinking some water, he leaned back in bed and closed his eyes for a moment.
Lu Chixie didn’t linger much, he helped adjust the bed flat and said, “Get some rest, I’ll keep an eye on you.”
Ling Zhuo hoarsely replied, “No need, Teacher Lu, you’ve already gone through so much trouble today. Let my assistant take over. You have filming tomorrow, you should go back.”
Lu Chixie stood by the bed, bent down to press the electric button at the head of the bed, and casually tapped his forehead, “No need to be polite with me.”
Ling Zhuo frowned, and Lu Chixie continued, “There’s still half an hour left. I’ll leave after you finish your IV.”
Ling Zhuo didn’t know what to say. He wanted to keep his distance from Lu Chixie, but this person had saved his life today.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Lu Chixie sat back on the chair by the bed, smiling, “Do you feel indebted because I saved you at the risk of my own life, and you can’t repay me, feeling like you owe me?”
Lu Chixie: “Then just owe it for now. We’ll talk about how you can repay me when I figure it out.”
Ling Zhuo said nothing and closed his eyes again.
Later, he heard voices; it was probably Yang Ming returning after paying the hospital bill. Lu Chixie and Yang Ming exchanged a few words, sounding like Lu Chixie was instructing him about something. Ling Zhuo was too exhausted to keep his eyes open and soon drifted back to sleep, half-conscious.
When he woke up again, it was already the next morning. The doctor came for rounds, noting that his fever had subsided to below 38 degrees Celsius. Aside from feeling weak all over, there were no other adverse reactions, and he could be discharged after another day of observation.
Yang Ming had gone back and brought his phone and necessary items. He also brought a thermos with steaming chicken porridge and soup.
Yang Ming: “Teacher Lu specially had these made this morning. He insisted that you must eat.”
Ling Zhuo sighed slightly: “Go ahead and open it.”
While eating, he glanced at his phone. Both Zhang Jing and Zhong Yiran had messaged him, along with other group members in the chat. Yang Ming mentioned he had already called Zhang Jing back, and she would visit the hospital later in the evening. “Chen-ge also called me last night and I told him about you being hospitalized with a fever,” Yang Ming added.
Ling Zhuo nodded and casually asked, “Where is this place?”
Yang Ming replied, “It’s a private hospital. Teacher Lu arranged for you to be brought here last night.”
Ling Zhuo quietly swallowed the porridge in his mouth, feeling truly grateful to Lu Chixie.
Around ten o’clock, Zhong Yiran appeared at the ward door.
Ling Zhuo looked at him in surprise, “Captain, why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be out of town for work and returning tomorrow?”
“No particular reason, just came back early,” Zhong Yiran replied, assessing his complexion for a moment before asking with concern, “Has your fever gone down?”
“Much better,” Ling Zhuo said. He knew Zhong Yiran must have taken the earliest flight back this morning and come straight to the hospital. He had come early specifically to see him.
Seeing Zhong Yiran, Ling Zhuo’s mood improved. Zhong Yiran sat down by the bed and talked to him. He brought up Ling Zhuo’s near-drowning incident on the set yesterday, asking, “How did that happen?”
Ling Zhuo chuckled, “Just an accident. The river looked quite clear, otherwise the director wouldn’t have chosen to shoot there. But once I got in, I was unlucky to get entangled in water grass..”
“Did Lu Chixie save you?” Zhong Yiran asked.
Ling Zhuo felt slightly uncomfortable, “Ah, it was him.”
After a brief silence, Zhong Yiran said, “Luckily he reacted quickly. You should really thank him.”
“I know,” Ling Zhuo replied.
After that, they changed the subject and didn’t mention it again.
Later, they talked about next year’s concert tour. Ling Zhuo asked excitedly, “I heard we’ve already booked several venues and dates, is that true?”
Zhong Yiran nodded, “Yes, we’ve signed for two venues first to give us ample preparation time. Liu-ge said it’s better to secure the venues early to avoid any last-minute rush.”
It was rare good news. After the recent conflict between Zhang Jing and Liu Tao, Liu Tao still managed to secure the endorsement deal for CL perfume for their group of four, and Zhang Jing was close to finalizing things with T&G. Though it seemed like everyone benefited, it was actually quite awkward. Zhang Jing couldn’t swallow her pride and deliberately leaked the news to the fan circles, manipulating public opinion, which caused chaos among fans. It was really ugly. During this time, they had been recording a new album together and preparing for the concert, and Ling Zhuo felt that their bond had improved somewhat compared to before. Regardless of what happened in the future, he hoped they could at least smoothly finish this tour.
After chatting for a while, a nurse came to administer Ling Zhuo’s IV, and Zhong Yiran stepped outside to take a phone call.
The conversation drifted in intermittently; it seemed to be from the company’s side. Ling Zhuo couldn’t hear clearly, but Zhong Yiran’s tone didn’t sound good. Later, he seemed to have made a call himself and spoke for over twenty minutes before hanging up.
When Zhong Yiran returned, his expression had become much more serious. He informed Ling Zhuo that something had come up at the company and he needed to leave early. Ling Zhuo stopped him, “Is something wrong at the company?”
Seeing Zhong Yiran hesitate, Ling Zhuo added, “If it’s related to me, just tell me. I’ll find out sooner or later.”
Zhong Yiran sat down again with a sigh, “It’s not about you; it’s about Zhang Xun.”
Ling Zhuo asked, “What happened to him?”
“Just now, Liu-ge called me and said Zhang Xun told the company today that he won’t renew his contract after it expires in January next year,” Zhong Yiran explained.
Ling Zhuo was stunned. “He’s not renewing?”
Zhong Yiran nodded, “Yeah, he’s the first in our group whose contract is expiring. He never mentioned wanting to switch before. When Liu-ge asked him before, he said he definitely would renew. Today, he suddenly said he won’t continue. I just called him to ask, and after a lot of questioning, he finally admitted another company has poached him with much better conditions. He couldn’t resist. He was hesitant whether to tell us so early, but when he heard Liu-ge had started booking concert venues, he hurriedly told him about it.”
“…What about our concert then?” Ling Zhuo asked.
“I’m planning to discuss it with Liu-ge when I go back. Don’t worry, even without Zhang Xun, the four of us can still go ahead with the concert,” Zhong Yiran assured him.
Ling Zhuo remained silent.
Shortly after Zhong Yiran left, Zhang Jing also arrived at the hospital.
Upon entering, she asked about his condition first. She mentioned she had already dealt with yesterday’s accident with the production team and they would publicly apologize and compensate accordingly. Ling Zhuo absentmindedly responded, and suddenly, Zhang Jing asked, “What’s going on between you and Lu Chixie?”
Ling Zhuo blinked in surprise, “Huh? There’s nothing going on…”
Zhang Jing didn’t believe it: “That young master didn’t have much to do and was the first one to dive in to save you?”
Ling Zhuo awkwardly replied, “Maybe he’s just a good person, likes to act bravely.”
Not only did Zhang Jing not believe it, Ling Zhuo himself didn’t either.
Zhang Jing continued, “Before, I thought he just wanted to play with you. Now it seems he really is interested in you. Of course, I’m not saying you should do anything, but being friends is fine. Do you know he’s exceptionally popular among your fans now?”
Ling Zhuo asked, “Why?”
Zhang Jing explained, “Why else? Besides the fact that he saved your life yesterday, with his background, your fans think being friends with him is advantageous. Not only won’t you be exploited, but there are benefits. Even your fan circle is all aboard shipping you two together. Last time he liked a comment supporting you going solo, he got cursed out by your fan groups, but your personal fans were thrilled, thinking it might mean something to you.”
Ling Zhuo was at a loss for words. Zhang Jing changed the subject: “Did you know Zhang Xun isn’t renewing his contract and plans to leave?”
Ling Zhuo replied awkwardly, “I just heard.”
Zhang Jing scoffed, “Well, he’s practical. Just as he’s getting popular, he’s using your group as a stepping stone to leave. But there’s nothing to say. Being practical isn’t wrong; at least he’s smart.”
Ling Zhuo remained silent, not responding.
Zhang Jing didn’t stay much longer. She had work to do. Seeing Ling Zhuo was fine, she instructed Yang Ming to take care of him and left.
Ling Zhuo lay in bed continuing his IV drip, idly scrolling through his phone. The incident from yesterday where he almost drowned during filming and Lu Chixie risked his life to save him was now trending on Weibo. Clicking on it, he saw the official apology from the drama’s account. The comments were filled with suppressed anger from his fans. He reshared the post, soothing his fans and giving the production team a way out, thanking Lu Chixie again.
The video of Lu Chixie saving him was also trending. Ling Zhuo watched it.
The video started with Lu Chixie standing by the river, arms crossed, staring in the direction where he had fallen in. After a moment, Lu Chixie shouted for someone to pull him up. Several tried but couldn’t, so Lu Chixie, still in his costume and without his shoes, jumped into the water.
Staff followed him down, and two minutes later, with his eyes closed, Lu Chixie pulled him up from underwater. Supported by others, they brought him to shore.
The few minutes of video ended quickly. Ling Zhuo sat stunned for a moment, feeling conflicted.
Seeing the trending tag of him and Lu Chixie’s relationship, he almost clicked into it out of impulse. This tag had only a couple thousand followers before, but now it was approaching a hundred thousand, ranking in the top twenty.
“Heavenly love! Beautiful love!”
“The young master really risked his life for love, sob sob sob.”
“Ling Chixie is the longing of our hearts, this time it’s real!”
The screen was filled with such comments. Zhang Jing hadn’t lied to him; his ship with Lu Chixie was really taking off.
Feeling somewhat strange, Ling Zhuo closed Weibo. Lu Chixie sent him a WeChat message: “You even took the effort to thank me on Weibo?”
Ling Zhuo replied, “It’s only right.”
Lu Chixie: “Tsk.”
Lu Chixie: “If you are so grateful, why not marry me?”