Awakening - Tame Upon Opening His Eyes

“It was a heroic act for a just cause!”

Yuan Hang defined Shen Zhengning’s actions righteously and forcefully, “This was a noble act of heroism!”

If one were to ignore his butt, which was barely on the edge of the chair, and his knees, which seemed ready to give way and slide into a kneel at any moment, and only look at his upper body, the scene would be a standard award ceremony where a police officer honors a public-spirited citizen (and their family) for their bravery—the kind of picture you could post online as a news headline.

Shen Zhengning’s mother, Ms. Qi Yue, was using a tissue handed to her by Zhuang Mingqi to wipe the tears from her face. She covered her eyes and let out a long sigh, her voice still trembling with choked sobs. “I tried everything to protect him, so afraid something would happen, but in the end, I couldn't prevent it. What evil star has the Shen family offended...”

Zhuang Mingqi didn't know how to face her. He had been half-squatting beside her, acting as a silent tissue box. Now, he silently pulled out another tissue, handed it to her, and said in a low voice, “I’m sorry.”

Even in this moment filled with heartache and lingering fear, Qi Yue maintained a rare sense of reason and did not shift the blame. “Don’t say that. I don’t mean to blame you. You’re a victim too.” She sniffled. “I know Zhengning. His personality hasn’t changed since he was a child. He seems quiet, but he’s actually a very chivalrous kid... He’s not the ‘you’re good to me, so I’ll go through hell for you’ type of loyal. It's that even if you have nothing to do with him, if you're being treated unfairly, he'll reach out and help you.”

Nothing... to do... with him...

An arrow shot straight through his heart, and Zhuang Mingqi almost couldn’t catch his breath.

Yuan Hang quickly chimed in, “Auntie, I know. I know better than anyone. If Zhengning hadn’t pulled me aside back then, I don’t know where I’d be, loitering on the streets now.”

Qi Yue and Shen Zhengning were clearly mother and son at a glance; they shared the same narrow, straight, high-bridged nose and high cheekbones. This type of appearance tended to look serious and aloof, and Qi Yue’s aura was even more formidable due to the weight of her experience. She turned her head to study Yuan Hang carefully. “I know about that incident. You’re a police officer now, right?”

“Yes, I’m in the Criminal Investigation Division.” Yuan Hang felt the guilt of a poor student being scrutinized by the head teacher. The skin on the back of his neck tightened, and he deliberately made a joke to lighten the mood. “Back then, I was terrible at everything and barely scraped my way into the Police Academy. But even after becoming a cop, I’m still completely outclassed by Shen Zhengning. How is that fair?”

Qi Yue managed a faint smile. “You’re too modest. Professionals do professional work; amateurs can only fool other amateurs. But Zhengning really does enjoy this kind of detective work. He once seriously considered joining the police force...”

Yuan Hang naturally continued the conversation, “Although our protective gear is much better now than it used to be, our profession is still quite dangerous compared to ordinary jobs. It’s understandable that families would have concerns.”

Qi Yue nodded. “Yes. Zhengning’s father was a police officer who died in the line of duty. His parents were devastated by the blow and saw Zhengning as their only hope. They really couldn’t bear to let him take that risk again.”

“When it was time to choose a college major, he wanted to apply to the Public Security University. We had a huge fight over it...”

She paused imperceptibly, likely because the old memory still carried a lingering pain that touched her heart whenever she recalled it. But it had been a long time since she had talked to anyone about the young Shen Zhengning; it felt as if she were the only one who remembered. Zhuang Mingqi and Yuan Hang gathered around her, listening intently. Their earnest expressions inexplicably gave her the motivation to continue:

“Zhengning was only ten when his father passed away. The old couple kept begging me not to take him away. Sometime later, someone introduced me to a potential partner for remarriage. I tried to get to know him and found that the ones without children wanted me to have another, while the ones with children wanted me to take an easier job and focus on managing the household. They called it building a life together, but really, they were just looking for a nanny. In a fit of anger, I decided not to bother looking anymore. I could raise Zhengning all by myself.”

“My idea was quite nice—I thought I could juggle both family and career. But how could it be that easy?”

The red light above the operating room doors seemed like two balls of fire, searing her vision. With a blink, tears rolled down her face uncontrollably. “In the end, it was Zhengning who was forced to grow up by our family situation, having to become mature and sensible early to share the burden with me.”

“But even though he was so worry-free, I was still under a lot of pressure. The year he was about to take the college entrance exams, I suddenly had an opportunity to start a new life. At that time, my only thought was to quickly get through until he turned eighteen, got into a good university with a good major. Then my mission would be complete. I would have done right by his father, right by the Shen family. I would have fulfilled my duty completely, and no one could find any fault with me.”

Sometimes, when a person becomes too fixated on something, they go to extremes. The more she wanted to prove “I can do it,” the more stubbornly she demanded that everything develop according to the best outcome she had imagined.

Therefore, when Shen Zhengning casually mentioned wanting to apply to the Police Academy at the dinner table that day, her reaction was abnormally fierce. She broke down on the spot, throwing down her chopsticks in a rage and questioning him, “After your father passed away all these years, how much hardship have I endured alone to make it to this day? If anything happens to you, how am I supposed to live? Everyone wants you to have a stable life. Why must you go against me?”

Shen Zhengning had expected her to object, but he probably hadn't anticipated that her emotions would explode at the slightest spark. He tried to explain to her, saying he wanted to choose a major he liked and that he would be careful about his own safety. But Qi Yue’s mind was filled with the frustration of her plans being disrupted, and she couldn't listen to a word he said. “You’re just relying on being a little clever, reading a few trashy books, and getting a couple of compliments from your classmates to think you’re really Sherlock Holmes! You have no idea what being a police officer is about! You think it’s some great job? Can’t you see how your father held me back? Do you want to keep making me worry for the rest of my life?!”

“Mom.”

The teenage Shen Zhengning sat at the table strewn with scattered bowls and chopsticks, a stark contrast to Qi Yue. His expression was so calm it bordered on cold. He asked softly, “I don’t quite understand why you’re so angry.”

“Isn’t this what you’ve always hoped for? The college entrance exam is an end for both of us. I leave home, and you no longer have to be weighed down by a burden. You can start your new life.”

“Since you’re just in a hurry to turn in this answer sheet that is me, you shouldn't care what answers are written on it, right?”

This quick, precise, and ruthless needle pierced the anger-filled balloon in Qi Yue’s chest. As if she hadn’t processed it, she asked, “What did you say?”

Shen Zhengning raised his eyes to meet hers and said coolly, “That uncle, the one with the Audi, license plate Green E20DC3. Are you going to marry him?”

“...” The breath in Qi Yue’s chest dissipated in an instant, leaving her feeling suddenly adrift. “How did you know...?”

“The ‘little cleverness’ you look down on, the kind you think is not worth mentioning, is actually easy to notice if one pays a little attention. After all, you two weren’t very careful about hiding it.” Shen Zhengning knew exactly what words could pierce her and himself at the same time. “Don’t be so surprised. It’s not a bad thing that I know now... It’s better than receiving a notice from you one day completely unprepared, right, Mom?”

It was all over.

Her endurance, her expectations, her fantasy of a bitter past giving way to a sweet future—all of it was shattered to dust and smoke by these few words.

“You think I’m stopping you from going to the Police Academy because I’m getting remarried, is that it?” Qi Yue felt all the blood in her body rush to her head. While she roared at him in a fury, her heart was filled with an icy sorrow. “Fine, go then. I won’t stop you from being Sherlock Holmes. Do whatever you want. You don’t have to call me Mom anymore, and I won’t care if you live or die. I’ll just treat these past ten-odd years as if I was feeding a dog. Get out!”

“In the end, he compromised, treating it as a way of repaying me, of repaying the whole family.” Qi Yue sighed softly, saying wistfully, “Relatives and friends praised him to everyone they met, saying what a promising child he was. He didn’t disappoint anyone’s expectations. But I never dared to ask him if he was very disappointed in us.”

“Over the years, his grandparents have passed away. I have a new family. He’s alone in Sheng'an, and we don’t contact each other frequently. He only ever shares good news, never the bad. If this hadn’t happened today, I wouldn’t even have known what he was doing...”

The light above the operating room door finally went out.

A nurse pushed the mobile hospital bed out of the operating room. Shen Zhengning was still unconscious from the general anesthesia. He wasn't intubated and didn't have an oxygen mask on. There was an IV catheter in the back of his hand. Other than his overly pale face and lips, he looked almost no different from usual. The doctor took off his mask and walked out, instructing the nurse to put the removed knife into an evidence bag and give it to Yuan Hang. “...It didn’t injure any major organs or blood vessels. The knife went in at an angle, so the wound is long but relatively shallow. It’s possible the patient turned his body to dodge when he was stabbed. Plus, his winter clothes were thick, so the knife only went in about a third of the way. He didn’t lose much blood. The patient is young and in good health, so it’s not a major issue. He just needs to rest and recover well.”

Everyone simultaneously let out a long, exhausted breath. Amid a chorus of “Thank you, doctor,” they pushed Shen Zhengning back to the top-tier private suite in the International Department, which cost two thousand a night.

The efficiency and service that money could buy were an entirely different level of experience. Qi Yue briefly scanned the room’s furnishings, then secretly took out her phone behind her back to urgently search for the hospital’s International Department insurance reimbursement rates. When she saw the words “Entirely self-funded,” she couldn’t help but close her eyes for a moment.

As the injured party’s family member, she shouldn't be concerned about the wallet of the person who was protected, but—

She glanced at Zhuang Mingqi's completely undisguised look of concern, the way he reached out to check Shen Zhengning’s temperature without any hesitation, and how he naturally listened to the doctor’s instructions as if he were family. She thought to herself, ‘Although I’m not that kind of feudal parent, this ‘hero saves the damsel’ plot is really too cliché!’

“Ahem!”

Yuan Hang promptly acted as an alarm bell, clearing his throat with an exaggeratedly loud noise. He shot a subtle glare at Zhuang Mingqi, signaling that the man’s mother was still here and he should watch his behavior. It was unclear if Zhuang Mingqi got the message. After the doctor and nurse left, he casually stood by the bed, exuding a subtle, territorial sense of protection. “The first night after surgery is the most dangerous. I’ll stay here to keep watch. The weather is bad today, so Yuan Hang will take Auntie home first. You should rest well and come see him again tomorrow. A caregiver will be here tomorrow, so there won’t be any problems.”

Qi Yue was still a bit hesitant, looking like she wasn't quite at ease. Seeing this, Yuan Hang quickly chimed in with support, “It’s fine, Auntie. He’s young and strong, at the perfect age for pulling all-nighters. Besides, if you don’t let him watch over him, he’ll feel bad. Just entrust Zhengning to him with peace of mind!”

Seeing the situation, if she didn't leave now, she would be playing the villain. Qi Yue politely said her goodbyes. “Then I’ll... head back first? Xiao Zhuang, thank you for all the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble.” Zhuang Mingqi walked them to the door of the hospital room. Although he still maintained a slightly distant and unfamiliar space from her, he finally looked at her without dodging or flinching. “I should be with him.”

Because he had said he liked the kind that he saved with his own hands, who was close only to him, and would never leave him—

The night was already very deep, and it was extremely quiet both inside and outside the hospital room, with only the monotonous, rhythmic beeping of the monitor. Sleeping pills no longer worked on him. Zhuang Mingqi ignored the readily available sofa bed and instead rested his head on his arms by Shen Zhengning’s hand in an uncomfortable position. With no intention of sleeping, he closed his eyes to rest, occasionally trying to hold his cold hand.

On what must have been the umpteenth time he reached out, his hand suddenly met empty air.

Zhuang Mingqi looked up alertly, and in the dim light of the room, his eyes met a pair that had been watching him for who knows how long. “Zhengning?”

“Mm.”

Shen Zhengning’s first sound came out with some difficulty. Zhuang Mingqi’s panicked movement of getting up nearly knocked over the chair. He asked nervously, “Does it hurt a lot?”

“It’s alright.” Shen Zhengning squinted, adjusting to the sudden brightness in the room. In a faint, airy voice, he said to Zhuang Mingqi, who was leaning over to press the call bell, “It feels less like I woke up from the pain and more like you prodded me awake.”

Zhuang Mingqi: “...”

The moment this person opened his eyes, he would begin to automatically calibrate his observation and control over his body and everything and everyone around him. In a sense, he was a total control freak. After the doctor and nurses who had rushed in upon hearing the bell finished their checks and left, Zhuang Mingqi followed the doctor's orders and used a wet cotton swab to moisten his chapped lips. Shen Zhengning suddenly said, out of the blue, “Don’t force yourself too much.”

Zhuang Mingqi paused, baffled. “Force myself to do what?”

“Just because you could handle it back then, don’t force yourself to desensitize.” Due to the pain and weakness, each of his sentences was compressed and short, but he spoke with clarity and steadiness. “Vomiting every time you touch something will only increase your resistance. Just take it slow. Don’t be impatient.”

From his injury to his awakening, the time seemed long, but it had only been six or seven hours, less than half a day. Yet to Zhuang Mingqi, it felt like he hadn’t seen him in a very long time, and he felt the grievance of finally coming home. The cotton swab he pressed against Shen Zhengning’s lips applied a little more force. “Are you using your mind-reading powers again?”

Shen Zhengning let out a soft laugh. “Your face is a mess, you idiot.”

Zhuang Mingqi: “?”

“Take a look in the mirror, it’s really obvious.” Shen Zhengning couldn’t lift his hand, so he used his eyes to pinpoint the areas on his face. “Conjunctival congestion, petechiae around your eyes, vasodilation from excessive exertion... probably from vomiting or crying hard...”

“Don’t tell me I missed you wailing your eyes out?”

Zhuang Mingqi: “...Doesn’t general anesthesia affect your IQ?!”