Protection

Le Xi was completely dumbfounded.

He stared at Liang Shining in disbelief, the words slipping out: "Why?"

Liang Shining turned back. Le Xi's expression crumbled — he looked like he'd finally broken.

"That show had already blown up so badly back then, why are you still helping him now—"

Before Le Xi could finish, he saw Liang Shining snap his head back around: "What did you say?"

Le Xi froze. Liang Shining's expression tightened, his usually calm features uncommonly cold: "That cross-industry Variety Show — what do you know about it?"

Le Xi finally realized what he'd just said.

He gritted his teeth, putting on an innocent, unknowing look again: "I mean, Shining-gege hasn't always had a misunderstanding with Shifu? How did your relationship suddenly get so good without me knowing?"

Le Xi took a deep breath, barely steadying his emotions at the last moment.

He turned to Ying Huai, the corners of his mouth pulling up with effort: "But I'm really happy for Shifu that Shining-gege can let bygones be bygones."

Ying Huai turned his head with a half-smile, half-not: "What, you say this—"

He leaned down slightly, his peach blossom eyes glinting with scattered light: "On his behalf, to forgive me?"

Le Xi froze, his eyes slowly reddening: "If I could, of course I'd hope Shifu and Shining-gege could clear up their misunderstanding..."

Before he could finish, he heard Liang Shining speak quietly: "There's no misunderstanding."

Le Xi froze. Ying Huai beside him also paused, then suddenly laughed: "Yeah, there's no misunderstanding between us."

He covered his lips with a small cough, casually fidgeting with the Hongyu Jewel Pendant at the end of his braid, then lazily straightened back up: "We're just on bad terms. Not meeting up."

Ying Huai's demeanor clearly showed he'd misunderstood something again. Liang Shining's brow tightened.

He opened his mouth to say something more, then suddenly saw the person in front of him sway slightly.

"Ying Huai?" Liang Shining's expression instantly tensed.

He stepped forward to catch him, but Ying Huai closed his eyes briefly and stepped back directly.

"I'm fine, just suddenly a bit dizzy." Ying Huai took a deep breath, casually avoiding his touch.

He hadn't eaten all day, and what little he'd just eaten he'd thrown back up.

Ying Huai's vision was going dark. He glanced at the few people standing frozen nearby, sighed silently, and tried to sit back down on the sofa.

But just as he slowly turned around, bracing himself against the wall, a panicked voice came from beside him.

"Shifu, please don't."

Ying Huai furrowed his brow.

He forced his eyes open and saw Le Xi standing half a step behind him, looking at him with a panicked expression.

By coincidence, his body was mostly hidden behind Ying Huai's, and with his head shrunk down and panicked look, it appeared as if Ying Huai was — about to hit him.

"Shifu, I was really wrong, please don't, I'm scared......" Le Xi's voice carried a hint of panic and a sob.

The moment his words fell, he suddenly felt a shadow loom over him.

"What are you afraid of?" the person in front of him asked with interest. "Are you afraid I'll hit you?"

Le Xi gritted his teeth.

He was betting on the live stream chat's distrust of Ying Huai.

Le Xi had originally brought up the earlier cross-industry Variety Show to stir up Liang Shining's hatred toward Ying Huai, but today Liang Shining had some crossed wire somewhere, and had been protecting Ying Huai, whether intentionally or not.

Le Xi was unwilling to give up, and the moment he saw Ying Huai turn around, he suddenly spoke up.

—He believed he could use online public opinion to crush Ying Huai once again.

Inside the live stream, as expected, comments from those who didn't know the full story began to fly in righteous indignation.

[What is Ying Huai doing?]

[Too far, can't quite see clearly, but it looks like Ying Huai and Le Xi had a dispute, and Ying Huai in his embarrassment and anger... is about to hit Le Xi?]

[?? This is too outrageous. Even if Le Xi seems like a white lotus, you can't just bully someone so openly like this.]

Outside the live stream, Le Xi was secretly delighted, but still wore a panicked look on his face: "That's not what I meant, Shifu, please don't..."

Before he could finish, he suddenly heard the person in front of him laugh softly.

"You've got it backwards." Ying Huai endured the dizziness before his eyes and spoke unhurriedly.

"It should be me saying that to you."

Le Xi froze.

The next second, he suddenly saw Ying Huai's body sway violently, clutching his chest and gasping for breath.

Before he could react, he watched Liang Shining stride over and reach out to catch the person who had suddenly gone limp.

—Ying Huai fainted without warning, in front of everyone.

Le Xi was completely dumbfounded.

He opened his mouth soundlessly. The next moment, a crisp smack suddenly rang out, and Le Xi felt a sharp pain on his face.

"Satisfied?"

Lu Jing lowered his hand with a dark expression, stared at the person in front of him, and laughed coldly: "Xiao Huai didn't teach you a lesson."

"Then I will."

·

Online, with Ying Huai's sudden fainting on the live stream just now, things heated up again instantly.

[So actually Le Xi was bullying Ying Huai?]

[Definitely, didn't you see Ying Huai's lips turn purple when he fainted? He must have been feeling terrible for a while. Le Xi really has no conscience, Ying Huai was already that unwell and he still tried to turn things around.]

[No, sometimes having more memory than the internet is really helpless? Doesn't anyone remember how Ying Huai used to suppress others? Maybe this time it's also a reversal of black and white.]

[Then why did Lu Jing help Ying Huai teach Le Xi a lesson? It's not like Lu Jing was also deceived by Ying Huai, right?]

[Why not?]

[Swear Brother: Alright, stop arguing, I'll go check for you.]

[Hahaha, did Swear Brother get hit so hard he's hallucinating now?]

[If Swear Brother really can go, please help me confirm whether Ying Huai is faking his illness!]

This time Ying Huai really wasn't faking it.

His body wasn't in serious condition — the faint was just from low blood sugar. After getting glucose, he woke up quickly.

But Liang Shining keenly noticed that after Ying Huai realized he had woken up in the Hospital, his mood had visibly shifted.

"The IV's done, I can go home now, right?" Ying Huai said, swinging his legs out of bed as he spoke.

Liang Shining frowned. He had just opened his mouth to say something when he saw Ying Huai deftly pull out the IV needle, casually slap a medical bandage over the spot, and immediately get up as if to walk straight out.

He reached out to stop him, but the next second a shadow beside him suddenly strode over.

Lu Jing stepped directly in front of Ying Huai: "No."

Ying Huai froze for a beat. His peach-blossom eyes flickered, and he looked up at Lu Jing, then suddenly smiled: "Shixiong still thinks I'm faking it even now."

"No." Lu Jing startled, and hurried to speak.

He suddenly stepped past Liang Shining and went straight to half-kneel before Ying Huai.

"Don't leave yet, okay, Xiao Huai," Lu Jing said softly from where he half-knelt in front of Ying Huai, "let's get your heart checked too, I'm worried......"

The memories from his past life — of Ying Huai going in and out of the Hospital in his final stretch — kept circling through Lu Jing's mind.

In his past life, he had not learned of Ying Huai's condition until after Ying Huai's death. Lu Jing had no idea what state Ying Huai's heart was in now.

When he had seen Ying Huai faint today without any warning, Lu Jing had felt every drop of blood in his body freeze in an instant.

He needed urgently to confirm Ying Huai's current condition before he could ease even a fraction of the panic in his chest.

But Ying Huai had clearly misunderstood something.

He looked at the person half-kneeling before him, and his expression instantly chilled.

"What is Shixiong saying?" Ying Huai began slowly. "It's just low blood sugar. There's nothing wrong with my heart."

Lu Jing froze.

He realized at once that Ying Huai thought he meant him harm, and hurried to explain: "No, Xiao Huai, I didn't mean anything else, I just heard from someone that your heart isn't good......"

"Where did Shixiong hear another rumor about me this time?"

Ying Huai toyed with the Hongyu Jewel Pendant at the ends of his hair, his peach-blossom eyes curving slowly. "Didn't I already tell Shixiong — rumors can't all be trusted."

"Shixiong seems to believe everything, except for what I say."

Lu Jing was starting to feel a little desperate too. He opened his mouth, wanting to keep arguing the point with Ying Huai.

But the moment he saw the pallor of Ying Huai's face, not a single word would come out.

—What right did he have to be angry at Ying Huai?

The one who had done wrong in the past life was him. The one consumed by regret in this life was also him. The Ying Huai of now knew nothing — what right did he have to make Ying Huai bear any of this?

Lu Jing closed his eyes.

—He had spent his past life making Ying Huai angry. In this life, he did not dare — and did not want — to do so again.

"I know you don't trust me right now, Xiao Huai," Lu Jing said, bracing his knee as he slowly rose to his feet. He looked at Ying Huai and forced a smile. "It's my fault. I'm sorry, Xiao Huai."

Lu Jing's eyes were burning. He drew a slow breath, turned, and walked out of the hospital room.

·

Lu Jing walked the Hospital corridor in a daze.

Ying Huai was still inside the Hospital. He didn't feel right leaving like this, but he also didn't dare go back into the room and make him angry.

The corridor quickly reached its end again.

Lu Jing drew a slow breath, turned around, and suddenly heard a timid voice from beside him.

"Lu Shu?"

Lu Jing turned his head.

Le Xi stood half his face flushed, hiding in the stairwell, looking at him somewhat at a loss: "Did Lu Shu go check on Shifu's condition?"

"Is Shifu still angry?"

Le Xi said quietly: "What Lu Shu scolded me about just now was right. I was too scared, I misunderstood Shifu."

"But Shifu shouldn't...... be angry at Lu Shu."

Lu Jing paused, then frowned at the person in front of him who was once again trying to drive a wedge between them.

In his past life, Lu Jing had never realized just how shameless Le Xi was.

But as he recalled what had happened in his past life, he slowly understood why Le Xi was doing this.

—He remembered that in his past life, it had been Le Xi who, right before this Variety Show, suddenly released 'hard evidence' of Ying Huai's scandals — and that had ultimately led to a chain of irreversible consequences.

Lu Jing remembered that the 'scandals' Le Xi had released about Ying Huai in his past life had been stolen from him, then published out of context.

But back then, he had been disgusted with Ying Huai to the extreme, and had turned a blind eye to Le Xi's behavior, doing nothing about it.

Lu Jing could now openly send Le Xi away, but he didn't know exactly how Le Xi had stolen the material in his past life, so he couldn't guarantee he'd be able to keep the person out of trouble in this life.

—He could patiently wait for Le Xi to slip up bit by bit, but he didn't dare let Ying Huai face any more irreversible risk.

Lu Jing stared at Le Xi, and an idea slowly took shape in his mind.

"Yeah. What right does he have to be angry at me." Lu Jing drew a slow breath and said quietly.

Le Xi paused, then felt a surge of delight in his chest and hurried to say: "Right, how could Shifu treat Lu Shu like that."

Seeing that Lu Jing really did seem to have been angered by Ying Huai, he ventured carefully: "Speaking of which, what is Lu Jing angry at Shifu about?"

He said cautiously: "Is it about when Shifu suddenly jumped companies right after debuting?"

"Yes." Lu Jing pressed his brow, then suddenly frowned at Le Xi. "Ying Huai didn't tell you about this?"

Le Xi hurriedly shook his head: "No."

"Shifu only told me it was a misunderstanding, that Lu Shu shouldn't be angry......"

Before he could finish, Lu Jing suddenly let out a cold laugh: "Oh? That's what Ying Huai told you?"

He suddenly looked down at Le Xi: "I have all the documentation of what actually happened back then. Do you want to see it?"

Le Xi froze, and his eyes lit up at once.

·

Lu Jing had promised to compile the materials and send them over in a few days. When Le Xi left, his face was bright with barely contained delight. Lu Jing closed his eyes and slowly let out a breath.

His heart had steadied a little. He turned, meaning to go back to the hospital room and check on Ying Huai, when he suddenly heard a voice behind him, carrying a hint of a smile.

"Shixiong?"

Ying Huai, supported by Liang Shining, stood smiling in the corridor.

He looked meaningfully toward the direction Le Xi had gone, and said offhandedly: "Shixiong really is — busy as ever."