章 22: Chapter 9.2 - Feigning amnesia to avoid suspicion
Li XinWen was surprised when they reached the private room reserved for Xue Rui. The lighting was cozy to say the least and the room exuded a warmth that was inviting. It was spacious with a high ceiling and the entire room was illuminated by a large raindrops pendant chandelier hanging above a circular table big enough for a small family of four.
Li XinWen approached the wall to his right and ran his hands along the length and realized that the walls were padded. The padding was covered in velvet fabric and accentuated by silver studs. From the feel of it, the padding was relatively thick which contributed to the reduction of sound escaping and coming into the room.
It must be said that since he is a 4th stage Houtian, he had the ability to hear sounds from a hundred meters away. But it seems that this ability was greatly reduced for as long as they were inside the room.
Xue Rui noticed Li XinWen's fascination and wondered amused as he sat down on one of the chairs. 'He's acting like a child again. I wonder what he finds fascinating. It's not like this is the first time he has ever seen this room…'
Catching his behavior, Li XinWen retracted his hand and took the seat opposite Xue Rui. Li XinWen was still processing the room's structure in his head as he made himself comfortable in his seat. At first he thought there was some sort of formation in place that was responsible for the sound barrier, something similar to what cultivators use whenever they want to talk in private back in Long Xing. But when he realized that he was no longer in Long Xing he knew that it was impossible. He initially suspected that there might be other cultivators present in the establishment which triggered him to expand his spiritual sense to confirm this suspicion. But he did not sense any other presence, which prompted him to ask Xue Rui about the room.
"Rui-ge, if I may ask, what is this room?" Li XinWen asked out of curiosity.
"This is a private room XinWen. You could say that only VIP clients of the establishment can make a reservation for a private room. The room is soundproof so it's a favorite among businessmen and C-suite executives who wish to negotiate terms in private," Xue Rui answered automatically as he perused the restaurant's extensive menu.
"I see," Li XinWen responded, gaining a little bit of clarity from Xue Rui's answer.
Xue Rui realized how trivial Li XinWen's question was and recalled that this was not the first time they dined in this private room. He narrowed his eyes and asked Li XinWen: "What's gotten into you XinWen? This isn't the first time you came here with me," he remarked as he set down the menu on the table. "I feel like you are acting a little bit out of character. Is everything really alright?" he asked, his voice full of genuine concern as he reached out to take Li XinWen's hand in his.
Li XinWen's body went stiff when Xue Rui voiced his suspicion. He nervously looked up but immediately looked away, unable to stand that questioning gaze. "I... umm... to be honest..." Li XinWen rushed to look over the memories to see if there were any information that he could use as an excuse. Luckily, there was one. One of the roles that the original Li XinWen played in the past was someone who had forgotten part of his memory due to a traumatic accident. Li XinWen decided to use it in his defense. "I have some fuzzy memories... I think it might be because of the accident. There are some things that I can't seem to remember... this room is one of them."
"Is that so? How long have you been experiencing these fuzzy memories? Did you tell the doctor about this? How come you're only telling me this now?" Xue Rui asked almost in a panic, his initial concern now amplified with worry. He stood up from his seat and took out his phone. He dialed XinZhou Hospital and made an appointment for Li XinWen after lunch.
'Ugh… as expected he's overreacting again. Perhaps it was a bad idea to use that role as a reference for my reasoning… well I guess it's too late to take it back…' Li XinWen sighed.
"Before getting your gift, we'll go to the hospital and have them perform CAT scan on you." Xue Rui said as he walked towards Li XinWen. He kneeled down in front of Li XinWen and placed one hand on Li XinWen's lap as he gazed Li XinWen's eyes.
'What the…why is he kneeling down?' Li XinWen thought his eyes widening, afraid that Xue Rui was going to bring out a ring and ask him to marry him. He braced himself and started to come up with ways to reject Xue Rui.
"I'm worried about you XinWen and I don't want to take any risks. If there is something wrong it will be better if it's found and treated early. So be a good boy and do not make any protests regarding the CAT scan, okay?" Xue Rui said, his voice tender and pleading.
Li XinWen blushed, embarrassed with himself. He caught himself and immediately regained his composure. A part of him felt relieved that it wasn't a proposal. But for a moment, somehow he realized that a part of him almost felt disappointed and a little sad. He quickly disregarded this feeling but tried to analyze it just the same. 'What was that? Was I really disappointed? Was I sad? Did I want him to ask me to marry him? No, no, no… not happening… I'm just disappointed that I ended up wasting my time thinking of ways to reject him in vain... En. That must be it,' and with that, Li XinWen convinced himself and no longer paid that feeling any more attention.
"Thank you for your concern Rui-ge. I appreciate you making the appointment for me," was all Li XinWen could come up with in response to Xue Rui's pleading.
Xue Rui stood up and caressed Li XinWen's cheek. He walked around and stood behind Li XinWen and gently massaged Li XinWen's head. Li XinWen wanted to pull away but when he felt the warm hand, gently massaging his scalp, he couldn't help but close his eyes and unconsciously leaned into the touch.
Xue Rui smiled seeing Li XinWen accept his gesture of affection. "Feels good XinWen?"
"En. Feels really good," Li XinWen replied. "As for the doctor, I didn't tell them about the fuzzy memories. Actually, I don't know what else I might have forgotten…" he continued.
Xue Rui found himself feeling elated at what was happening at that moment. It felt like they were a married couple sharing their concerns at the end of the day. He closed his eyes and thought, 'I could spend the rest of my life just like this. I can spend every moment just like this with you XinWen… so be mine… just how can I make you mine…'
Xue Rui stopped himself when he noticed that he was about to kiss the top of Li XinWen's head. As if awakened from a trance he pulled his hand away, thinking that he needed to avoid doing anything unnecessary and cause Li XinWen to get mad at him again. 'Control yourself Xue Rui. God, I want to hold him right now… but I won't… I need to be patient and not rush at winning his affection.'
Li XinWen felt slightly disappointed when Xue Rui stopped massaging his scalp, yearning for that comfortable warm feeling on his head. He opened his eyes and saw Xue Rui standing on the other side talking into the hand phone mounted on the wall.
"I've asked the chef to prepare and serve us our lunch," Xue Rui addressed Li XinWen smiling as he replaced the phone's handset. He made his way to his seat and sat opposite Li XinWen.
"Will the CAT scan take long?" Li XinWen asked. Right now, he wished that it would. His Jian can wait. If he can disrupt Xue Rui's plans for today, he wouldn't mind acting sick the entire time.
"It depends on your situation. If there is nothing wrong, typically it wouldn't take long. But if they find something wrong, then it might take some time as the doctor's may need to conduct additional procedures. Nevertheless, whatever the outcome, it's better to catch it early," Xue Rui told Li XinWen in a serious tone.
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