My Husband is Suffering from a Terminal Illness

Bonus ko-fi chapter

Xie Yang looked silently at Qiu Xing.

“…..” Qiu Xing took back his hand uncomfortably. “Drink quickly and go to bed afterward. It is late.”

Xie Yang drank the milk in one go. Then he stepped forward to hug Qiu Xing, his fingers touching Qiu Xing’s neck.

Qiu Xing’s body froze. His hands instinctively lifted until he forced them to stop. There was a stalemate for a long time before he finally bowed his head like a compromise and nudged Xie Yang’s hair. He whispered, “Xie Yang… welcome home.”

Xie Yang smiled silently, retracted his fingers and moved back. He put the cup back into Qiu Xing’s hand and said, “Thank you. Go to bed early and good night.” After speaking, he turned to go upstairs, pretending not to hear the weak hint in Qiu Xing’s words.

“……”

Qiu Xing stared at the stairs, touching the heat that belonged to Xie Yang remaining on the cup of milk and lowered his eyes.

“Good night.”

***

Qiu Xing was already sitting at the dining table when Xie Yang came downstairs the next day. Xie Yang glanced at the breakfast for one on the table and then at Qiu Xing sitting on the opposite side. “You don’t want to eat?”

Qiu Xing told him, “Many tests require an empty stomach.”

Xie Yang nodded in understanding and sat down to eat breakfast.

Qiu Xing watched Xie Yang. Xie Yang concentrated on eating breakfast and didn’t seem to notice Qiu Xing’s gaze. He finished eating and got up. “Let’s go.”

Qiu Xing retracted his gaze and followed. “There is milk in the thermos. Take it with you.”

Xie Yang saw the thermos on the table and obediently picked it up.

On the way to the hospital, Qiu Xing closed his eyes and rested. In order to not disturb him, Xie Yang took out his phone to chat with Ji Zehui on WeChat.

After more than a week of tug-of-war, Ji Zehui finally successfully terminated his contract with Huangtian. He was severely cheated by Huangtian when terminating the contract but he didn’t care about the losses at all. He was just fortunate that he ran fast enough.

Ji Zehui: Do you know that Huangtian has been completely occupied by the people from Ka Xu? Hong Zhijie filled all the vacancies in Huangtian’s high level positions with the people he brought and also drove away the former director of Huangtian’s artists department.

Ji Zehui: Since he came with resources and projects, the chairman turned a blind eye to his behaviour. Everyone is angry but they can’t say anything.

Xie Yang: Did you pick up everything before leaving?

Ji Zehui: Clearly. By the way, I heard gossip before I left that Mu Zhouyi seems to be with Hong Zhijie. Hong Zhijie raised her contract specifications as soon as he came. The two of them go out and enter together. Hong Zhijie’s attitude towards Mu Zhouyi is particularly close.

Together? Xie Yang’s eyebrow shot up and he typed quickly.

Xie Yang: If I remember correctly, Hong Zhijie seems to be nearly 50 years old?

Ji Zehui: Hong Zhijie is 49 years old. Hey, this isn’t unusual. Young or old doesn’t matter in this circle.

Xie Yang: Is this reliable?

Ji Zehui: It is reliable. Some Huangtian employees said that Mu Zhouyi and Hong Zhijie’s mailing addresses are in the same building of the same community. At the same time, Mu Zhouyi moved to the community where Hong Zhijie lives. Is it possible that there is no relationship?

Xie Yang immediately took a screenshot of the chat history with Ji Zehui, roughly covered Ji Zehui’s name and sent it to Feng Qinglin.

He finished talking about gossip and Ji Zehui mentioned business again. He said that since Huangtian was stabilized too quickly and he had to cancel the contract in a hurry, it was estimated that all the talents he looked for previously couldn’t be dug out.

Xie Yang typed: It’s fine. You and Xiao Jin are the main ones. The others are the icing on the cake.

The car drove into a roundabout and kept turning. Xie Yang was unsteady and accidentally leaned on Qiu Xing. Qiu Xing’s eyelashes moved but he still didn’t open his eyes. After the roundabout was over, Xie Yang glanced at Qiu Xing. Then he sat up straight and continued to watch his phone.

***

30 minutes later, the car parked at the parking lot of a private hospital. Qiu Xing finally opened his eyes, got out of the car and took Xie Yang into the hospital.

The hospital was small but the internal facilities were very good. A grey-haired doctor was waiting at the service desk in the lobby. He saw Qiu Xing coming in and hurriedly greeted him, asking, “How is the situation recently?”

“It’s fine.”

The doctor was helpless. “You should go into more detail.”

Qiu Xing said very little and just told the doctor, “Do the examination as soon as possible.”

The doctor saw that Qiu Xing’s expression wasn’t good and wisely stopped talking nonsense. He walked toward the location of the first examination with Qiu Xing. Halfway there, Qiu Xing stopped and looked back at Xie Yang following him.

Xie Yang also stopped and wondered, “What is it?”

Qiu Xing hesitantly raised a hand to Xie Yang’s head, touched it lightly and told him, “There is a rest area for family members. You can go and sit there. I will have people call you once I am checked.”

“Can’t I follow?”

“…Go.”

Xie Yang compromised. Qiu Xing walked away while Xie Yang followed the guide to the rest area to sit down. He didn’t play on the phone, watch TV or read magazines. He just sat and waited. The passage of time became very slow. As the minute hand made its fourth lap, the guide who brought Xie Yang to the rest area reappeared. “Your family told me to take you to the dean’s office.”

Xie Yang got up and went to the dean’s office with the guide.

There were only Qiu Xing and the dean in the office. Xie Yang entered the door and sat down beside Qiu Xing. He observed Qiu Xing’s slightly pale face and asked, “How do you feel?”

Qiu Xing didn’t reply and told the dean, “Say it.”

The dean looked between Qiu Xing and Xie Yang before finally setting his gaze on Xie Yang. “Qiu Xing’s heart surgery was very successful and he recovered well. It is good and there are basically no problems.”

Xie Yang wondered, “Then?”

The dean had never seen such a calm family member. He looked at Qiu Xing again and spoke carefully. “Then… judging from the film taken today, the tumour in Qiu Xing’s brain hasn’t deteriorated. It has even shown a tendency to stop growing. However, it is still… difficult to treat.”

Qiu Xing’s hands on his knees clenched.

Xie Yang nodded. “It’s just that it is difficult to treat, not that it is impossible to be treated. Then according to Qiu Xing’s current situation, what treatment do you think is appropriate for him?”

Qiu Xing’s clenched fists stiffened and he glanced sideways at Xie Yang.

Xie Yang didn’t look at Qiu Xing and watched the dean seriously. He saw that the dean didn’t answer and continued, “You said that the tumour in Qiu Xing’s brain has stopped growing. This means he is getting better, right?”

“Theoretically, that is the case—”

“Speak clearly.” Qiu Xing suddenly interrupted the dean. He stared at the dean with oppressive eyes, his voice heavy. “Make it clear… everything.”

The dean shut up, watched Qiu Xing and sighed in his heart. He took out the piles of examination data and old case data and spoke to Xie Yang. “Before I talk about Qiu Xing’s treatment plan, I will first explain Qiu Xing’s physical condition in detail.”

***

For a full hour, Xie Yang learned about the details of Qiu Xing’s disease development, the treatment process and the physical changes from the time he was diagnosed with brain cancer to the present. More than that, the dean told Xie Yang about how troublesome brain cancer was and how the location of Qiu Xing’s tumour wasn’t easy for surgery.

All types of information were told and finally summarized in three points.

The success rate of the surgery was less than 20%.

The possibility of having no side-effects, maintaining a sound mind and not affecting the functions of the body was 5%.

There was only a 30% chance of not relapsing after surgery.

It was too low. However, such a low success rate was already based on Qiu Xing’s physical condition improving recently. In other words, before this, the possibility of Qiu Xing being cured was lower than what Xie Yang heard now.

“It is basically like this.” The dean put down the case, glanced at the expressionless Xie Yang and asked Xie Yang, “Do you have anything else you want to know?”

“Yes.” Xie Yang stared into the dean’s eyes. “According to the current conservative treatment method, how long can Qiu Xing live?’

Qiu Xing’s fingers firmly clenched and released. He saw the dean looking over and adjusted his tone. “Say it.”

The dean replied, “Four years… at most.”

Four years. In the original novel, Qiu Xing died in three years.

Xie Yang immediately nodded. “I understand.”

***

The two of them returned to the car. Qiu Xing turned to Xie Yang and asked in as calm a tone as possible. “Do you understand?”

Xie Yang’s expression was calm, so calm that he seemed unkind. “I understand.”

“……”

Qiu Xing concealed his emotions by adjusting his posture. By the time he raised his head again, he was already calm. “It’s good that you understand. Xie Yang, our transaction will continue. After the transaction is over, in addition to what has been given to you, I will leave some of Rongding’s shares and real estate to you.”

Xie Yang watched Qiu Xing and asked, “What do you want in exchange for giving me these?”

“Exchange…” Qiu Xing avoided Xie Yang’s gaze. He tentatively reached out to hold Xie Yang’s hand and said, “In exchange for the new year’s holiday.”

What a timid and soft-hearted person who only dared to express his demands so implicitly. The thing he wanted was in front of him and he could grab it, but he still only dared to put on the coat of a ‘business transaction’ and stretch out two fingers to hold it gently.

“Is it enough?” Xie Yang held Qiu Xing’s hand, interlocking their fingers and raising their hands. “Holding hands every night, an occasional hug and shallow verbal concerns, is that all you need?”

Qiu Xing tried to pull back his hand and frowned. “Xie Yang.”

“Qiu Xing, don’t you want to spend these four years fighting for a long life?”

Qiu Xing’s actions stopped.

Xie Yang let go of Qiu Xing’s hand. “I will only be 24 years old in four years. I will take what you have given me and become the youngest boss in the entire entertainment industry. There are countless people who admire me. If I want, I can change boyfriends and girlfriends every week. I will hold hands, hug, kiss and even go to bed with them. Maybe I will truly fall in love with someone and be willing to get married. I will do all the things with them that I have done for you now. Every day, I will open my eyes and see them. Gradually, I will forget the man who only wanted to trade with me.”

Xie Yang stared straight at Qiu Xing. “I will forget you. Aren’t you afraid?”