The Silent Thank You

Inside the villa.

A doctor in a white coat stepped out of the room, removing his stethoscope and tucking it into his breast pocket. The supervisor and servants standing by the door immediately swarmed him, chirping questions about Shi Ji’s condition inside.

Li Chen stood at the back of the crowd, leaning against the railing. He tilted his head slightly to look toward the doorway, his lips pressed thin and his brow unconsciously knit together.

“He’s fine. Young Master Shi is only temporarily unconscious; there is no danger to his life,” the doctor stated. The surrounding staff let out collective sighs of relief, some patting their chests.

Li Chen retracted his gaze, his tight brows relaxing just a fraction.

But then, the doctor’s tone shifted: “However—”

That single word sent everyone’s hearts back into their throats.

“Young Master Shi has multiple injuries on his body. Did he get into a conflict with someone?” the doctor asked.

Hearing this, the others looked at one another, all shaking their heads in ignorance.

Only Li Chen straightened his spine. His hands at his sides gripped the fabric of his trousers. His relaxed brow furrowed once more, and his long lashes lowered, masking the subtle flicker of emotion in his eyes.

“Eh? I recall the Young Master’s secretary saying that she saw him appear with Master Li right before he fainted,” someone suddenly piped up.

This short sentence successfully drew everyone’s attention. they turned to look at Li Chen, their blunt gazes making him feel utterly exposed and uncomfortable.

“Did our Young Master get hurt because of you?!”

The hypocritical title of “Master Li” was gone. They stared at him as if interrogating a criminal, their eyes turning into scorching flames that seared his skin.

Li Chen’s face darkened. The glare he shot back actually startled them, and he let out a cold sneer.

“What does it have to do with me?”

“He brought it on himself.”

As soon as Li Chen finished, the servants’ expressions turned strange. They began whispering and muttering to one another, and it wasn’t until the doctor stepped in to smooth things over that they finally settled down.

The doctor gave a few brief instructions and departed. Once his figure disappeared downstairs, the worried expressions on the faces of the butler and servants vanished instantly. They crowded together to head downstairs, and as they passed Li Chen, he overheard fragments of their conversation—

“Scared me to death. I thought he actually died.” “How could he die? If he dies, what happens to our wages?” “Is it really okay just because the doctor said so? Why don’t you go in tonight and check?” “What! No way!” “Honestly, I hope he never wakes up.” “Then I hope your dream comes true.”

The sound of their playful laughter drifted into Li Chen’s ears. His hands tightened into fists, his gaze fixed sharply on their retreating backs.

Until the last person vanished from sight, the surroundings were so quiet that Li Chen could only hear the sound of his own breathing.

Then, he relaxed his fingers. His short nails had left deep crescent marks in his palms. He took a few steps forward, then hesitated and stepped back, stopping at the door to Shi Ji’s room.

Li Chen turned his head, staring at the door.

‘Just one look.’

A voice deep inside him whispered.

In the next second, he turned the handle and pushed the door open with gentle movements.

Shi Ji’s room wasn’t as flamboyant as the villa’s living room; instead, it had a touch of antique elegance. He had heard that his mother had personally designed it before she passed away, which was why Shi Ji never allowed anyone to move a single piece of furniture.

He usually didn’t let anyone in; even his previous personal servant had to stay in the adjacent guest room.

A stick of soothing incense burned on the cabinet near the bed. Heavy curtains blocked out the sunlight, and the warm glow of a floor lamp spilled across the wooden floor. Li Chen involuntarily lightened his steps as he walked in, stopping by the bedside to look down at the sleeping Shi Ji.

The man’s face was still bloodless. Raven-feather lashes rested against his eyelids, and his thin lips were slightly parted. He lay there motionless. If it weren’t for the slow rising and falling of his chest, Li Chen would have been tempted to reach out and check his breathing.

The man had lost his usual aggressive demeanor, and those eyes that were always hidden and cold were now unable to open.

Li Chen thought: If I strangled him right now, he could only die obediently under my hands.

His gaze shifted to the exposed skin on Shi Ji’s arm. It was covered in blue and purple bruises, looking quite severe.

‘How did he get hurt like this?’

He leaned over, reaching out to cautiously touch the bruises. The slight contact made Shi Ji frown instinctively, and a few muffled groans escaped his throat.

“Serves you right,” Li Chen whispered.

“Who told you to come save me?”

He looked at Shi Ji, the image of the man running toward him flashing through his mind.

Helpless, urgent.

In that moment, Li Chen truly felt that Shi Ji was afraid of something happening to him.

“Why did you save me?”

Li Chen addressed the unconscious man. He even wanted to force Shi Ji’s eyelids open, to make those charcoal-black eyes look at him, and to pry open those closed lips to demand a logical reason.

Everything Shi Ji had done to him…

He needed a reason to convince himself.

Li Chen’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he raised a hand to touch the back of his neck.

The bite mark that had been there was long gone. Or rather, Shi Ji hadn’t bitten hard at all; the force had been as light as a kitten’s nip.

Not only did it fail to leave a mark, but the man had also thoughtfully avoided his gland.

Shi Ji’s apology echoed inexplicably in his ears—that light, airy tone was like a feather brushing against Li Chen’s heart.

He lowered his hand and blinked.

After a few seconds of silence, Li Chen murmured.

“Thank you.”

The short syllables dropped into the cracks of the floorboards.

Shi Ji opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings blankly.

The same familiar scene. He wasn’t dead, and he hadn’t returned to the real world.

He propped himself up. He didn’t know how long he had been out. Besides his head feeling heavy, his stomach gave an untimely growl.

A wave of inexplicable exhaustion nearly knocked him over again. Shi Ji rubbed his aching temples while recalling the previous events.

He remembered completing the task and successfully preventing the protagonist from being assaulted. However, the price had been steep. Shi Ji truly hadn’t expected that breaking character to such a degree would result in electric shocks!

Thinking back to that near-death sensation made him shudder. If it weren’t for his sheer luck, he really would have crossed the line this time!

He took a deep breath, clutching his chest and marveling at how good it felt to be alive.

Except… Shi Ji felt like something was missing.

He bit his lower lip, pondering the plot. His eyes stared vacantly at a spot on the floor. After a long while, it dawned on him: in the original text, after Li Chen was assaulted, the first male lead was supposed to appear and prevent him from being forcibly marked. But as it stood, the first male lead hadn’t shown up at all.

Could it be that because he interfered with the plot, the timing of the first male lead’s appearance had changed?

‘Oh no! When is the lead going to show up then?!’

‘If he doesn’t show up, how am I supposed to push the romance between the leads?!’

‘If I can’t push the romance, then my mission to complete the story is miles away!’

Realizing the severity of the situation, Shi Ji let out a long wail and buried his face in the soft pillow.

Pushing himself into a fire pit was something he was always naturally good at.

But in the original text, the first male lead was Li Chen’s classmate. So he just needed to wait for school to start, and they would surely meet.

He just didn’t know if this plot point would delay the development of the protagonists’ feelings.

Wrestling with his thoughts, Shi Ji rolled out of bed. Having been lying down for so long, his legs felt weak. He slowly shuffled to the door and headed downstairs.

The living room was empty. Shi Ji looked up at the clock on the wall, figuring the servants were all working outside at this hour.

He walked dizzily into the kitchen, intending to find something in the fridge to fill his stomach. Shuffling forward, he raised a leg and kicked right into a warm body.

The sound of someone catching their breath cleared Shi Ji’s head a little. He looked down and met those familiar misty-blue eyes.

Li Chen was crouching by the fridge with a thin magazine spread across his knees. Shi Ji caught a glimpse of the colorful patterns on the pages. Li Chen reacted instantly, snapping the book shut and hiding it behind his back, looking at Shi Ji with a wary expression.

Shi Ji pulled at the corner of his mouth and took a sandwich from the fridge. He tore open the packaging and stuffed it into his mouth. The cold bread didn’t taste great. He chewed mechanically with puffed cheeks and looked down at Li Chen. Seeing the boy still staring at him, Shi Ji simply sat down, squeezing in right next to him.

This move made the youth bristle instantly, his expression looking as if he were about to extend his claws and scratch Shi Ji. Li Chen opened his mouth to say something to drive him away, but the man beside him finished the sandwich in a few bites and asked muffle-voiced: “When does your school start?”

The sudden question choked back the words at the tip of Li Chen’s tongue.

His expression turned awkward. He turned his body away to avoid Shi Ji’s sprawling legs, forced into a corner by the man’s proximity.

“Three days later,” Li Chen replied.

Seeing Li Chen being so compliant, Shi Ji arched a surprised eyebrow.

“That’s pretty soon,” he said, rubbing his chin.

Li Chen said nothing.

‘Is Shi Ji… in a hurry to get rid of me?’

His gaze instantly cooled by several degrees.

Shi Ji didn’t notice the change in the person beside him. “When the time comes, I’ll reluctantly…”

Before the words “give you a ride” could leave his mouth, Li Chen suddenly stood up and walked away at a pace too fast to be stopped.

Shi Ji stared blankly at the boy’s retreating back.

Strange. How did I offend him again?!