Chapter 76

Visiting the Sick

The doctor returned quickly, report in hand.

"Mr. Chao — it appears you recently came into contact with a circulating virus, and the viral infection has since triggered a secondary bacterial infection. You'll need approximately five days of IV treatment." He passed the report over. "None of it is serious, though — please don't worry."

"Thank you, Doctor." Chao Musheng looked at Xu Chenzhu, who was not wearing a mask. "Is there a risk of transmission to people who've been in close contact with me today?"

It had to be Master Xuan and all that theatrical coughing.

"That depends on individual immunity — adult resistance is generally higher than in minors." The doctor looked at Xu Chenzhu, mask-free, and guessed at Chao Musheng's actual concern. "That said, if your visitors are able to wear masks, that would be the safer choice."

"Cough, cough." Chao Musheng covered his mouth. "Mr. Xu — why don't you go back and rest today? There are doctors and nurses here to look after me, I'll be perfectly fine."

The doctor moved to support this: "We provide every patient in our ward with dedicated nursing staff who ensure—"

"It's fine." Xu Chenzhu cut the doctor off and straightened Chao Musheng's blanket. "You're sick — stop worrying about this. I won't catch it."

Reading that the boss had no interest in hearing the rest of the sentence, the doctor swallowed the remainder and said nothing further.

If the hospital director hadn't personally received Mr. Xu, he'd almost have assumed Mr. Chao was the Kunlun CEO and Mr. Xu was simply his life assistant.

In his years at the hospital, he had seen every kind of overworked professional — people still drafting campaigns with an IV in their arm. This was the first time he'd seen an employee attended on all sides by their own employer.

Employers who genuinely cared about their employees' wellbeing were rarer than things with three legs.

The nurse came in with the treatment cart, and behind her, a bodyguard with a meal box.

The nurse was experienced and quick — she got the IV cannula placed in one hand, then moved to the other arm for the skin test.

The skin test stung a little. Chao Musheng couldn't help a brief wince. Xu Chenzhu reached out on instinct and put his hand in front of Chao Musheng's line of sight.

"Mr. Xu." Chao Musheng pulled his hand away with a helpless smile. "I'm not a child. I'm not afraid of needles."

"This is Mr. Xu showing his care." The nurse withdrew the skin test needle and smiled as she hung up the IV bag. "Being afraid of needles isn't only for children — many adults need a partner with them for injections."

She said it, realized immediately that it wasn't quite right, and quickly amended: "Or a good friend, of course. Many people prefer that too."

"After the skin test, we'll need about twenty minutes of observation before beginning the medication." The nurse checked the time, noticed the bodyguard still holding a meal box, and steered the conversation away from her own misstep. "Mr. Chao — you're welcome to have something to eat first."

Xu Chenzhu opened the box: a bowl of congee prepared for Chao Musheng, along with rice and side dishes.

Chao Musheng had no real appetite, but he caught sight of the sweat still drying on the bodyguard's forehead and picked up the spoon anyway, working through it slowly.

He glanced at Xu Chenzhu's bowl beside him. The smell, which he'd always found appealing, now sent an unpleasant roll through his stomach.

Xu Chenzhu noticed his expression shift, closed his meal box lid, and took it out of the room. When he came back a few minutes later, all Chao Musheng could smell on him was the faint green-leaf scent he'd always carried.

"You finished that quickly, Mr. Xu." He stirred his congee, which had barely gone down at all.

"Mm." Xu Chenzhu poured him a glass of water. "Don't force yourself. Eat when your appetite comes back."

"All right." Chao Musheng put down the spoon and rinsed his mouth with water.

"Mr. Chao — we can start the IV now." The nurse set the drip, adjusted the flow rate, and settled into the corner to keep watch.

"Excuse me." Secretary Liu went over to her quietly. "You've worked hard. He has us here to watch — please go to the nurses' station and rest. We'll call you when the bag is finished."

The nurse hesitated. Premium ward protocol required nursing staff to monitor the patient throughout any IV.

"We'll take good care of him — don't worry." Secretary Liu smiled. "I'll explain to the head nurse."

"Of course." The nurse looked at Chao Musheng, who had already fallen asleep, and at Mr. Xu sitting beside the bed without any apparent intention of moving. She understood what Secretary Liu was telling her. "I'll come by every thirty minutes for a check."

She was a nurse. She would be responsible for her patient.

Secretary Liu thanked her warmly.

The cold fluid moved through the needle into his veins. Chao Musheng closed his eyes. "Mr. Xu — could you plug in my phone to charge? I want to sleep for a while."

"Rest well." Xu Chenzhu took the phone. "I'll stay here with you."

Once Chao Musheng was asleep, he put the phone on charge and sat quietly at the head of the bed, watching the small bubbles rise and turn over in the IV bag.

"Boss." Secretary Liu approached softly. "You have a call."

Xu Chenzhu came back to himself, got up, and went to the small meeting room down the hall. He closed the door before taking the call.

"Push the acquisition price to the floor before moving." His tone was even. "They tried to invoke Chao Musheng's personal connections?"

"Don't entertain it." The warmth in his voice disappeared. "Assistant Chao's family name is Chao. Not Song."

*

Song Enterprises.

"Chairman." The secretary pushed open the office door to find the chairman who had aged visibly in less than a week. Her mood was complicated. "Kunlun has rejected our terms. They also said — if you don't sign today, all future discussions are off the table."

Song Enterprises was unraveling. The tax investigation team was in the office daily. The scandal around Song Cheng continued to dominate the news cycle. Shareholders were offloading stock. Staff were anxious. Apart from Kunlun, there was nobody willing to take on what remained.

Chairman Song read through Kunlun's acquisition terms once, then again. It was a brutal document — if he signed it, Song Enterprises would cease to be Song Enterprises and become an unremarkable subsidiary tucked under Kunlun's umbrella.

But if he didn't sign, the tax shortfall would stay unfilled. Not only his relatives on Song Enterprises' payroll, but Song Cheng himself—

Both the company's assets and his own had been frozen by the bank. If he wanted to hire a proper legal team for Song Cheng, he had no other option but to sign.

"You didn't tell them—" His voice strained. "That Kunlun's chief assistant Chao Musheng is my grandson?"

The secretary opened her mouth and closed it. If Kunlun had any concern about that, they wouldn't have drawn up terms this harsh.

"Never mind." The chairman let out a long breath. Whatever pride he'd carried through the better part of his life seemed to go with it. He bent, hands unsteady, and signed his name.

"If Chao Musheng hadn't intervened, Song Enterprises would never have come to this." He put down the pen. "That one's a wolf cub. Whoever provokes him, he'll take down completely. No sentiment, no exceptions."

The secretary took the acquisition document from the desk without a word and walked out of the chairman's office. The outer office was quiet and empty.

The colleagues who remained saw her come out and showed little reaction. Everyone knew Song Enterprises was finished. Whether their own jobs would survive was an open question.

Who could have imagined that the once-formidable Song Enterprises would end like this?

*

Hungry.

So hungry.

The two players who hadn't eaten lunch watched Curly Hair and the others come out of the break room with expressions of satisfaction, and felt a faint, shameful pull toward the garbage bin.

"Done eating?" The floor manager appeared. "The corridor's had foot traffic all afternoon — go mop it down before patients and families start thinking our hygiene is poor."

"Yes, Director." Curly Hair, well-fed and full of energy, pulled on her gloves at once and went out to handle her section.

"Good." The director allowed himself a small smile. "Look at Xiao Juan's attitude. Something to learn from, all of you — especially you two."

He looked at the two unfed players. "This is a hospital. Patients are already suffering. The last thing they need is your faces making them feel worse."

"Bring some energy." He frowned. "If you can't manage it, you can leave."

Both immediately arranged their expressions into something presentable and smiled at him.

"Given it's your first day, I'll let this go." He put his hands behind his back. "Not again."

When he'd gone, one of the players pressed a hand to his stomach and muttered under his breath: "Didn't expect an NPC in an instance to run a psychological manipulation operation just to make players work harder."

He'd encountered all kinds in instances. Ones that ate people. Ones that ran kill-games. But an NPC gaslighting players purely to maximize labor output — that was a first.

"What else would an NPC who gets to work us from three in the afternoon until five in the morning enjoy?" The other picked up her mop with resignation. "Even a brick kiln isn't this ruthless."

Their conversation drifted to You Jiu. He looked ahead at Curly Hair working with remarkable enthusiasm and thought: this broken instance just keeps getting worse.

They were players. Not the village donkey. And even the village donkey didn't work fourteen-hour shifts.

*

Chao Musheng's phone rang.

Xu Chenzhu looked at Chao Musheng sleeping deeply on the bed, and declined the call.

The phone rang again. He hesitated for a second, then answered.

"Four — it's the weekend, tonight me and Two are meeting some people from school for karaoke, you coming?"

"My apologies — I'm a friend of Chao Musheng's."

A brief silence on the other end. "Oh — hello. I'm Four's friend. Is Four available?"

"He's asleep right now."

"He's — asleep ?!" The voice on the other end nearly tripped over itself. "Then why are you answering his phone? How are you next to him?"

Four was asleep and a strange man was picking up his calls — was that normal?

"He's unwell. I'm looking after him at the hospital." The voice on the line was young-sounding, warmer in tone than he was.

"Four is sick?" An edge of alarm. "Is it serious — which hospital is he at, what did the doctor say?!"

"Thank you for your concern. It's nothing too serious — he'll need a few days of IV treatment."

Several voices on the other end, overlapping. Xu Chenzhu held the phone and found his gaze drifting, without intention, to Chao Musheng's face.

Zhaozhao always had people around him. Friends.

Young, energetic — people who could walk beside him openly, an arm over a shoulder, laughing.

He was never going to be the particular one.

"Hello? Hello—"

"Are you still there?"

"I'm here." Xu Chenzhu looked back down. "Zhaozhao should have a few more hours left on today's drip."

"Then we'll come to the hospital in three hours. Could you give us the address and the room number?"

Xu Chenzhu pressed his lips together, and gave it to them in a steady voice.

Zhaozhao had friends. Family. Many, many people who cared about him.

That was good. To have that many people who loved him and worried about him.

That was good.

*

By five in the afternoon, the two players who'd missed lunch had hollowed out to the point where front met back. Mops in hand, they re-mopped the corridor every time anyone passed.

After one final, exhausted pass, before they'd even drawn breath, the elevator opened and deposited a group of young people — students, clearly, vibrant and unweathered by the world, who smiled at the nurses' station as they went by.

No.

Both players leaned against the wall in quiet despair.

Another mopping.

"This place is so fancy." Third stood in the corridor looking around, eyeing the freshly mopped floor with reluctance to step on it.

"Hello, everyone." Secretary Liu came out and gave the group a nod. "Xiao Chao is awake. Please follow me."

He scanned the get-well items in their hands: mostly fragrant, spicy snacks. Only one student — lean, a bit quieter than the others — was holding a bag of fruit.

"Thanks, Brother." They filed happily into the room, clocked the IV in Chao Musheng's hand, and raised their offerings. "Xiao Chao — we're here to see you."

Chao Musheng looked at what they'd brought: "..."

Who in the world brings sick people food they can't eat?

"Zhou Yi?" He gave up on the others and found the one with the fruit. "You came too?"

There were good people in the world after all.

"I ran into them downstairs and found out you were here." Zhou Yi set the fruit on the table. "Are you all right?"

"Just a standard virus cold — a few days of drips and I'll be fine." Chao Musheng looked at him with concern. "What were you doing at the hospital entrance — are you sick?"

"No — my parents work here as cleaners. I was bringing them dinner." Zhou Yi looked around the room. "Is there nobody looking after you?"

"There is." Chao Musheng glanced toward the small meeting room door and smiled. "He thought you'd be more comfortable if he stepped out for a while."

If they found out who was actually looking after him, they wouldn't know where to put their hands and feet.

Perhaps Mr. Xu had thought of that himself, and used some paperwork as a reason to move to the adjacent room.

Behind the door, Xu Chenzhu was looking through the gap — and then, abruptly, looking away.