HTi: Chapter 143

Qiu Xing’s weight was rising slightly and his complexion improved every day. At the beginning of November, Qiu Xing’s illness was suppressed and he became a cool boss again.

Xie Yang had gradually become used to Rongding’s affairs. He no longer always worked overtime and could go back and forth between Yang Xing and Rongding with ease. He had lost some weight due to being so busy but he was intentionally fed by Qiu Xing and it rose back up.

Everything was developing in a good direction except for supplementing his ability.

Winter in B City came very early. After November, the surrounding vegetation started to wither and decrease at a speed visible to the naked eye. Even if there were some evergreen plants that didn’t wither, the plant energy in their body became thinner. It was hard for his ability to enter and the harvest was small. Xie Yang’s ability had upgraded by two levels and it might’ve made it more delicate and easy to use but it also made it extremely difficult to collect and recover energy. Every time, he had to ‘massage’ a large area of plants to ensure the supply.

There was expanded consumption on one side and reduced supply on the other side. His ability soon became insufficient.

Xie Yang wanted to buy some plants back or find a place with lots of plants to stay. The first option was too much trouble and the efficiency was too low. Secondly, he had to work most of the day and didn’t have time to stay with plants to collect energy. His ability was consumed every day and needed to be replenished every day. He could only give up.

Once it reached the point where his ability was exhausted after just ‘moving’ Qiu Xing’s tumor for a few minutes, Xie Yang finally made up his mind and focused on the blocked area near his ability core.

The health of Qiu Xing’s body couldn’t be delayed. Every bit of ability he expended on Qiu Xing now was a guarantee for his smooth operation. He had to act.

Xie Yang opened his eyes, watched Qiu Xing who was sleeping close to him and touched Qiu Xing’s face. However, he needed to pick a suitable time to do it so he didn’t scare Qiu Xing if something happened.

***

Xie Yang had already talked about it with Qin Cheng so at lunch, he told Qiu Xing about his business trip next week. Qiu Xing frowned and raised an eyebrow. “Where are you going and for how long?”

“Y Country and one week. This time, D Brand’s new commercial is being shot there.”

Qiu Xing frowned deeply. “Y Country?”

Xie Yang nodded and promised. “I will try to come back as soon as possible and I will handle Rongding’s affairs remotely.”

Qiu Xing put down his chopsticks. “I don’t need you to work yourself so hard. During your business trip, I can handle Rongding’s affairs myself. However, going abroad… will it be another situation where you’re not used to the environment?”

It turned out he was worried about this.

Xie Yang considered that the action he was trying this time might be a bit dangerous and gave Qiu Xing a preventative shot. “It is possible but the chances are very low. I will pay more attention to this type of illness.”

“It can’t be prevented by paying attention.”

Xie Yang saw Qiu Xing’s furrowed brow and got up to sit next to him. He held Qiu Xing’s hand and coaxed, “I’ll ask Qin Cheng to prescribe medicine for me first. I will take it as soon as there is something wrong.”

Qiu Xing held Xie Yang’s hand silently for a few seconds before confirming, “What time is your departure next week?”

“Wednesday at noon.”

Qiu Xing nodded to show he understood. Then he got up, grabbed the dish on the other side, put it in front of Xie Yang and touched his head. “Eat.”

Was this a pass? Xie Yang observed Qiu Xing’s expression. This person wasn’t happy but his expression wasn’t particularly ugly. Xie Yang was relieved and picked up his chopsticks to continue eating.

In the blink of an eye, Wednesday arrived. Xie Yang got up early and checked his luggage again. Qiu Xing also got up and helped. This time, Xie Yang didn’t stop Qiu Xing from getting up early and helping.

Soon, the items packed were confirmed and the two of them went down for breakfast. After breakfast, Xie Yang went back to his room to change clothes. Qiu Xing followed and also changed clothes.

It wasn’t the usual time for Qiu Xing to go to work. Xie Yang thought that Qiu Xing changed clothes because he wanted to take Xie Yang to the airport. Xie Yang saw this and took the initiative to help Qiu Xing put on a hat.

“It is winter and the cool boss has to keep warm.” Xie Yang helped Qiu Xing adjust the position of the hat and smiled. “Yes, it has a distinctive style.”

The evaluation was messy.

Qiu Xing pressed down on Xie Yang’s head, went to the dressing room and pulled out a big black suitcase. He told Xie Yang, “Let’s go.”

Go…? Xie Yang’s gaze fell on the big suitcase in Qiu Xing’s hand and a bad premonition rose in his heart. He tentatively said, “This doesn’t seem to be my suitcase.”

Qiu Xing replied, “It’s mine.”

Xie Yang raised his eyes to look at Qiu Xing. “I thought it was an empty suitcase.”

Qiu Xing was calm. “It really was empty yesterday.”

“……”

Xie Yang immediately understood. “When did you pack your bags?”

“When you were working in the study last night.”

Xie Yang made one last struggle. “Are you going on the business trip with me?”

Qiu Xing had an expression that said ‘If you refuse, it will be a big problem’ as he asked, “I can’t?”

Xie Yang would definitely agree if it was an ordinary business trip but he had other purposes this time. He glanced at Qiu Xing’s face and then the hand that was holding the suitcase tightly. “Of course… you can. However, I have a request. Once abroad, you must adjust to the jet lag as soon as possible. You aren’t allowed to sleep less.”

Qiu Xing’s hand squeezing the handle of the suitcase relaxed slightly and he stepped toward Xie Yang. “I will.”

Xie Yang got in the car and finally remembered one thing.

“What about Rongding if both of us are gone?”

“He Jun will look after it. He will connect to me remotely if there is a problem. It just so happens that this is a good opportunity to give those restless guys on the board a chance to test each other.”

Xie Yang was relieved. Then he thought about what he was hiding from Qiu Xing. After considering it, he decided to wait until they were abroad before confessing to Qiu Xing.

They arrived at the airport. Qin Cheng pulled his luggage and came to find Xie Yang. He was following Xie Yang on this business trip and would help him handle all matters of external communication. He was stunned for a bit after seeing Qiu Xing and hurriedly glanced at Xie Yang.

Xie Yang shook his head imperceptibly to Qin Cheng and explained, “Ah Xing will accompany me on the business trip this time.”

Qin Cheng suppressed his emotions and greeted Qiu Xing.

The group quickly went through the boarding process. This once again reflected Qiu Xing’s calculations. After knowing that Xie Yang was going on a business trip, Qiu Xing took the initiative to help Xie Yang and his team book a ticket. Then he booked one for himself.

On the plane, Xie Yang leaned close to Qiu Xing and deliberately murmured, “Scheming mouse.”

Qiu Xing pretended not to hear it.

During the flight, Xie Yang was afraid that Qiu Xing couldn’t sleep well. He secretly used his ability to help soothe Qiu Xing’s body. 10 hours later, the plane landed in Y Country. It was still in the afternoon in Y Country. Xie Yang carefully observed Qiu Xing’s expression when getting off the plane. Seeing that he didn’t look tired, Xie Yang was a bit relieved.

The hotel was booked in advance which was also Qiu Xing’s work. The group settled in and ate something simple to fill their stomachs. Xie Yang returned to their room and immediately urged Qiu Xing to wash. He drove Qiu Xing to bed the moment they washed.

It might be afternoon in Y Country but according to the time in B City, it was actually past midnight. Qiu Xing might’ve slept on the plane for a while but it definitely wasn’t sufficient. Qiu Xing listened to his arrangement in this regard. He obediently washed up and went to bed. He first pulled Xie Yang to take his temperature and asked, “Aren’t you sleeping?”

“You go to bed first and I’ll stay with you when I’m done taking a shower.”

Qiu Xing asked again, “What time will you start working tomorrow? Are you feeling uncomfortable right now?”

It was time.

Xie Yang sat down on the bed and held Qiu Xing’s hand. “In fact… the official commercial shooting won’t start until four days later.”

Qiu Xing immediately sat up straight. “What?”

“I was afraid that I couldn’t ‘acclimatize to the environment’ when abroad so I set a bit of time in case I get sick.” Xie Yang explained and immediately added, “It was just in case. I didn’t deliberately lie to you.”

“……”

“Are you angry?”

“No.” Qiu Xing leaned back on the bed and grabbed Xie Yang’s hand. “Your sickness… take a shower first. Pay more attention these days and try not to get sick.”

He secured a pass.

Rather than taking a shower, Xie Yang smiled and leaned toward Qiu Xing. “If I don’t get sick, can we explore these few next days? It will be a date.”

A date.

Qiu Xing’s cloudy expression finally cleared up and he pinched Xie Yang’s hand. “Then you have to fight hard.”

***

By the time he came out of the shower, Qiu Xing had already fallen asleep. Xie Yang lay down next to Qiu Xing and looked at the time. He felt that since he couldn’t avoid Qiu Xing, some things should be tried as soon as possible.

He pulled Qiu Xing’s arm and leaned over. He waited for Qiu Xing to instinctively hug him and then closed his eyes, putting his forehead on Qiu Xing’s collarbone and slowing down his breathing. A lot of his ability had been consumed on the plane so he needed to collect a larger amount first to prepare for the inevitable resistance of the system.

His ability slowly emerged from his body, spread out and wrapped around all the plants closest to it.

Around four hours later, his ability core was slightly full. Xie Yang withdrew his ability and first circulated the new energy around his body two times to digest it. Then he used the ability to create a sealing barrier around his body like last time.

The pre-preparations were complete. Xie Yang became more focused and kept extracting his ability from his core, sending it toward the area blocking the system. He made the ability in that area more dense and solid.

His thinking was very simple. The system was just hiding and hadn’t really disappeared. As long as he kept squeezing its hiding space, it would show up sooner or later. In any case, it was impossible to release the blockade. He was afraid the system would run away secretly or move its position.

The ability in the blocked area was getting denser. It was unknown how long it took. Just as the ability in the blocked area was so dense that it almost formed an entity, an intermittent mechanical sound finally appeared.

[Hibernation interrupted… alarm… detected a crisis… sending a help signal to the main system… sending failed… alarm! Detected a crisis!]

Xie Yang hurriedly increased the ability. A series of intermittent prompts sounded again and a vague dark shadow finally appeared in the blocked area. It was caught.

Xie Yang immediately manipulated his ability to surround it, eroding the power around it to quickly strengthen himself. Then he used his increased ability to devour the power of the dark energy group more fiercely.

The alarm in his head suddenly became sharper.

[Alarm! Attacked by an unknown energy! Starting the defense… failed to start. Starting the final self-protection program… successfully started.]

The moment this prompt was heard, the dark energy group that was being nibbled on suddenly disappeared again. Then Xie Yang clearly felt something swelling and spreading in the blocked area, trying to break the blockage of the ability.

Xie Yang was dizzy for a moment. He wondered if this dark energy group was going to kill him and run away. He tightened his fingers and simply used his ability to surround the dark energy group and bring it to his ability core.

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Proofreader: Paranoid Kitten