Fouls Prohibited

Ye Ci followed Huo Tinglan to another study on the west side of the third floor.

He had never been to this room before. It seemed that it was used to store more important things. The floor was smooth cedarwood, the carpet soft and plush, and there was a genuine leather safe as tall as a person, dark blue and inlaid with gold, solid and heavy.

There were several flat drawers in the safe, filled with categorized documents relating to things such as real estate and stocks, and the one at the top was reserved for Ye Ci.

There was a thick stack of old certificates with smooth corners and finished coating: “Three-good Award,”[1] “Certificate of Honor,” “Letter of Good News,” in festive bronze and red. They lay peacefully together in the expensive black walnut drawer alongside two big albums and the parenting diary handwritten by Ye Hongjun, exuding the atmosphere of “My whole life is worth something…..”

“……Why, why is all of this in the safe?”

There was actually a “Model of Good Health” that Ye Ci received when he was in the first grade of elementary school.

Ye Ci was so embarrassed that his legs were weak, and he almost knelt down to Huo Tinglan.

The old boxes he brought in were all packed up by Uncle He, and he had always thought they were just piled into a storage room. During this period of time, he had been studying so much that he didn’t even think about it……

“Why?” Huo Tinglan hooked his lips. Taking out a folder, he concealed his teasing and asked calmly, “The purpose of a safe is to hold important items. Aren’t these items important to you?”

“Yes, they’re, they’re important.” Ye Ci was at a loss for words.

But they were not valuable, not worthwhile. This……

“So.” Huo Tinglan gave a smile, admiring the blue smoke sizzling from the child’s head, “What’s wrong?”

Ye Ci: “………”

Seeing that Ye Ci was silent, Huo Tinglan opened the folder and got down to business.

The medical reports of all sizes in the folder were arranged by item and date. The changes in Ye Hongjun’s condition in recent years were clear at a glance. In addition, there were some documents in foreign languages that Ye Ci couldn’t understand.

The folder looked familiar. Ye Ci remembered that he seemed to have seen Huo Tinglan holding it in his hand when he got out of school one day. At that time, he’d felt that the papers somewhat resembled hospital medical reports……

They really were.

“In legal terms, your mother is also my mother. Whether due to my feelings for you or because of law and morality, I should be responsible for her health……I’m sure you agree. If our roles were reversed, you would do the same.” Huo Tinglan explained in a natural tone, and also smoothly roped Ye Ci into his system of logic, as if his actions were normal and it would be strange if he didn’t do it like this. “So I had a chat with her primary doctor some time ago and sorted out her medical reports for the past two years, then got in touch with a biomedical firm in San Francisco……”

Ye Hongjun suffered from a malignant disease related to the Omega biological system, which carried a certain genetic predisposition.

In the last life, because he was worried that Ye Ci would repeat his mother’s tragedy, Huo Tinglan had a comprehensive and detailed understanding of the disease, its risk factors, early signs, prevention methods, and the most important forms of treatment. Fortunately, a new drug with a breakthrough therapeutic effect was approved for marketing at that time, and although the price was high, the treatment effect was excellent. Even if Ye Ci really got sick in the future, he could be cured by this medicine. Sadly, this new drug successfully passed the “breakthrough drug” approval certification by the country’s drug regulation authority in the year of Ye Hongjun’s death. This project that would be hugely successful in the future had not received much attention in the country, and its reliability had not been fully proven.

However, Huo Tinglan had experienced the future of this new drug becoming an effective medicine, and just to be on the safe side, he had consulted many parties in the past two months and conducted a full investigation of the research……right now, it was indeed Ye Hongjun’s only hope for recovery. 

“…… The pharma company went public on the Nasdaq last December. The amount raised reached an astonishing $335 million, and the research and development funds are sufficient. They currently have seven drug candidates in their pipeline, and among them, a drug for malignant Omega gland disease has entered the phase III clinical trial stage, and has become their main project at this stage.” Huo Tinglan explained the situation, took out a paper printed with the company information and drug development status, and handed it to Ye Ci in turn. “I’ve consulted several authorities in the medical industry during this time, and they have a high evaluation of this project. There are of course uncertainties in the clinical trial stage, but under the premise that other treatment options have no obvious effect, I think……it is worth trying.”

Huo Tinglan thought that this plan was feasible, and its importance could not be overstated.

Ye Ci gripped the stack of documents that Huo Tinglan handed to him. His eyes trembled slightly as he anxiously looked them over, and the paper was wrinkled where he pinched it, as if he was afraid that if he responded too slowly, the opportunity would leak out from between his fingers.

Huo Tinglan handed the entire folder over to him and said warmly: “I wasn’t fully prepared before, and I wasn’t sure if it was safe, so I never told you. I was afraid that if something went wrong, I would give you hope only to disappoint you……the information on the project so far is all here, take it back and read it carefully and give me an answer. There is still some time before the start of the Phase III clinical trials.” He raised his hand and rubbed Ye Ci’s hair, his calm tone inexplicably convincing. “Don’t worry, don’t be afraid, your mother is in stable condition now.”

In the last life, Ye Hongjun passed away three months before Ye Ci’s college entrance examination. That was still far from now, and there would be no major problems in the near future.

“If she par, participates in the trial……my mother will go to San Francisco?” Ye Ci asked, his eyes revealing his helplessness.

He could barely even speak Chinese the way he was, and if his English was applied practically, he estimated that he could recognize a street sign or ask, “How, how much?” at a convenience store……

But to let Ye Hongjun go to the other side of the ocean alone to participate in the clinical trial, he couldn’t rest assured.

Huo Tinglan saw through his concerns and smiled softly: “The clinical trial process is very long, and you wouldn’t be able to care for her. If you are willing to send your mother to treatment, I will arrange for a medical team and living assistant to accompany her through the whole process. Your first priority at the moment is to study……the rest can be left to me.”

As for what sort of medical team accompanied someone through the whole process and also accompanied them to foreign countries, Ye Ci had limited knowledge. For a time, he didn’t even think about it at all, and reviewed the previous experiences of seeking medical treatment abroad.

It turned out that things could be resolved this way.

How could there be such a good person in the world as Huo-shushu?

Ye Ci’s nose was painful and stuffy for a while, but he couldn’t speak.

His surging and turbulent emotions were all stuck in his throat, choking him to death.

So he stepped forward abruptly and plunged into Huo Tinglan’s arms. Like a tired bird returning to the forest, he threw himself into the spring breeze and wrapped his arms around Huo Tinglan’s slim waist, so tight, so hard. With a childlike clumsy innocence, he didn’t know how to express his feelings, so he could only hold on tight.

Just as that white shirt showed a hint of drying, it was soaked again.

After a long while, Ye Ci squeezed out a sentence: “I’m not like this normally, I don’t cry, cry at every turn……”

These days, he seemed to have cried all his tears in front of Huo-shushu.

He wouldn’t feel at ease without explaining.

“En.” Huo Tinglan lowered his head and hugged him. “Xiao Ci won’t cry in the future.”

For the rest of his life, he would never again cry tears of bitterness.

Ye Ci nodded and didn’t move, just hugged Huo Tinglan like that, like a sticky little plaster.

This hug, in Ye Ci’s view, was very pure and had nothing to do with desire, just clean attachment and warmth. That chest was like the sea, gentle and accommodating, and he floated on the warm, comfortable waves of his heart, savoring the unprecedented joy and peace. He was reluctant to let go.

After hugging for a while, Huo Tinglan suddenly patted Ye Ci’s back and reminded him reservedly: “Alright…..it’s been an emotional day, go take a hot bath and rest early.”

Not only did Ye Ci not let go, but because he was afraid of being chased away, he hugged him tighter. He rubbed his little head against Huo Tinglan’s shoulder and shook it twice.

“Be good, Xiao Ci.” Huo Tinglan took a step back for some reason.

“What, what’s the matter, Huo-shushu?” Ye Ci stumbled, still sticking to him.

“Nothing, it’s time to rest.” Huo Tinglan pinched the back of Ye Ci’s neck through his shirt collar and used the Omega’s stress response to lift Ye Ci away like a clingy kitten.

Ye Ci didn’t say a word, his eyes dimmed, and he stood still just a step away from him.

Huo Tinglan sighed.

A rarely established intimacy……

“We’ve been hugging for five minutes,” Huo Tinglan pondered for a moment, his expression filled with the innocence of someone who had been forced by Ye Ci into speaking of indecent things. “I am a healthy, energetic Alpha and I’ve liked you for a long time. You holding me like this……” He watched Ye Ci’s confused expression gradually change into one of disbelief, and said helplessly, “Do you need me to make it clear? I’m afraid it won’t be polite.”

Ye Ci’s face turned red, and he subconsciously glanced down.

He seemed to be shocked that Huo-shushu, a gentleman, also had the functions that Alphas should have.

“What are you looking at?” Huo Tinglan laughed in spite of himself and used a finger to lift Ye Ci’s chin, forcing him to look up. “Look forward.”

“I, I didn’t see anything!” Ye Ci was so frightened that he swallowed his saliva and stared straight ahead.

Not to mention that the two were not officially together, but even if they were together, with Ye Ci’s current level of innocence, he couldn’t do much.

Otherwise……

Ye Ci would probably dig a tunnel through the bed and escape overnight.

“Turn around, forward march.” Huo Tinglan couldn’t help laughing. “Go back to your bedroom to sleep.”

“Good, goodnight, Huo-shushu.” Ye Ci hurriedly turned around with the information packet. His steps were stiffer than a robot’s and he walked toward the bedroom on the second floor, dazed.

Huo-shushu just now, did it count as……indecent behavior?

In any case, by his scale, it was hard to determine.

“……”

Ye Ci squeezed his fists.

The blame was on him.

How old was he? He should know better.

He had caused Huo-shushu to play the scoundrel.

[1] The three-good award, 三好学生,  recognizes Chinese students with “good morals, good grades, and good health.” ⮐