Reflecting Part 2

After the kiss, the two held each other tightly, neither of them speaking first.

"You can lock me up," Shi Jin finally spoke up, frowning in apology. "I will reflect on my actions, but please don't stop talking to me. I want to know if you're eating well and sleeping well."

Lian Jun reached out and touched his hair, suddenly saying, "It's grown long."

Shi Jin was taken aback and looked up at him. "What?"

Lian Jun touched his face and said, "When we get back to the island, let Number Six cut your hair."

Looking at the tenderness in Lian Jun's eyes, Shi Jin's mouth opened slightly before he tightly shut it.

He buried his head and hugged him tightly, fiercely saying, "You're such a bastard, so cunning and difficult to deal with... Fine! I'll go cut my hair. I'll cut it however you want me to, I'll listen to you!"

As he listened to the man's voice trail off into silence, Lian Jun's heart softened completely. He leaned down and kissed the man's head, sighing inwardly.

Forget it, let's just leave it at that...he can't bear to make this person suffer too much.

......

That night, he finally got his wish and slept with Lian Jun. It was only then that he realized why Lian Jun had been keeping his distance and not sleeping with him - it was to hide the fact that he needed to receive intravenous drips every night to maintain his health.

"He needs to rest now, it's too much of a strain for him to travel," Uncle Long adjusted the speed of the medicine drip and couldn't help but pat Shi Jin's head, scolding him. "You're such a troublemaker, Lian Jun spoils you too much!"

Shi Jin hung his head in shame.

"But it's also thanks to you," said Uncle Long, suddenly softening his tone and glancing at Lian Jun, who was sleeping on the bed. "I heard from Number One and Number Two that because of the situation with the battle, the underworld should be relatively peaceful for a while. Young Master Jun can rest assured and take care of his health... You, kid, always do things that make people love and hate you. If I were your father, I would have to give you a good beating!"

Shi Jin gently held Lian Jun's hand and asked, "Uncle Long, tell me the truth. Did Lian Jun suddenly come out of isolation because he received a more radical treatment?"

During the days of the meeting, Lian Jun's progress bar would have a steady decline every day. Looking back now, that couldn't have been lowered by ordinary recuperation. Uncle Long glanced at him and bent down to tidy up his things.

"Why are you worrying so much? Don't worry, all the treatment measures that Dr. Shao and I have taken for Young Master Jun are within his body's acceptable range and won't have any after-effects. This trip for Young Master Jun is not as bad as you think. It does have an impact on his body, but it's not significant. He just needs some rest and he'll recover. You should rest well. When the drip is finished, call me and I'll come to remove the needle."

As he watched Uncle Long leave, he glanced at the progress bar in his mind that showed Young Master Jun's value stuck at 490. He bent down and pressed his forehead against Young Master Jun's hand. "Impossible, it must have had a big impact. The progress bar, which had dropped to 470, has now risen to 490. And Lian Jun doesn't look like he's sleeping, he looks like he's in a coma..."

"I'm sorry." He reached out and hugged Lian Jun's body, his voice low. "I made you worry... I'm sorry."

......

Lian Jun slept for more than ten hours before waking up. During that time, the alarm clock on the bedside had gone off, ringing at the same time as Shi Jin usually got up. Shi Jin felt depressed when he heard it, so he took out the battery and lay back in bed, holding Lian Jun again.

As noon approached, Lian Jun finally opened his eyes and woke up. Shi Jin immediately leaned over to kiss him and said with a smile, "The ship has docked, it's time to get up and go home."

Lian Jun's eyes were still a bit unfocused. He stared at him for a while, then suddenly reached out and circled his neck, pulling him into his embrace.

"Lian Jun?" Shi Jin looked up at him and asked softly, "Are you still not fully awake? Then let's eat something first before going back to sleep. You didn't have breakfast."

"Just for a while." Lian Jun held him tightly and whispered, "Just for a while."

Shi Jin looked at his pale face and responded softly, also hugging him and burying his head in his chest.

......

As soon as Lian Jun returned to the island, Uncle Long sent him to the hospital room for a detailed examination. After the examination, he was allowed to have lunch.

Shi Jin sat by the bedside, frowning at the white porridge and the nutrition meal that looked unappetizing in front of Lian Jun.

"In a few days, I won't have to eat this anymore. My stomach needs time to adjust, so this is only temporary," explained Lian Jun as he reached out to smooth the furrow between his eyebrows. "But I can still drink soy milk. Can you go get me a cup from the small restaurant over there?"

It was obvious that he was trying to get rid of him.

Although Shi Jin understood, he had no choice but to get up and give him a kiss before saying, "Okay, you eat first. I'll go get you some soy milk."

On his way to get the soy milk, Shi Jin ran into Number Six. Number Six had a worried expression on his face, but when he saw Shi Jin, he quickly adjusted his expression and tried to act as if nothing was wrong. He greeted Shi Jin and they exchanged pleasantries.

As Number Six passed by, Shi Jin suddenly stopped him and asked, "By the way, I haven't seen Number One and Number Two since I got off the boat. Where are they? I wanted to ask them something."

Number Six's nonchalant expression faltered, "Uh, about that..."

Shi Jin sensed something was wrong and furrowed his brows, "What happened to them?"

Number Six glanced at him and reluctantly replied, "They were punished and sent to do hard labor. They kept the truth from Young Master Jun and let you take the risk, which was very wrong. But don't worry, it's not a severe punishment. They'll be back in a few days."

Punished? Shi Jin nodded in understanding and continued walking towards the restaurant, his brow furrowed. In reality, he was the one who deserved to be punished the most. It was he who had made Number One and Number Two keep it a secret from Lian Jun...

As Shi Jin left, Number Six looked at him with a pained expression and muttered to himself, "Should I not have said anything? But Young Master Shi is now the deputy leader, he can't be kept in the dark about these things... sigh, what should I do..."

......

After Lian Jun took his afternoon nap, Shi Jin quietly left the hospital room and sat on a bench outside, lost in thought.

Number One and Number Two had been punished, and Number Five and Number Nine were now in charge of wrapping up the maritime incident. Number Three was responsible for liaising with Zhang Zhuoyuan and Lu Shan, and all official matters were to be reported directly to Lian Jun, leaving Shi Jin with nothing to do.

If only he hadn't angered Lian Jun, perhaps Lian Jun would still be willing to share some of the workload with him...

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him and then his forehead was tapped.

Shi Jin snapped out of his thoughts and looked up.

Fei Yujing stood in front of him and said, "I'm leaving."

Shi Jin exclaimed, "Ah?"

"The energy matter has been taken care of, and Lian Jun has entrusted me with a new task. I have to go meet with Big Brother first," Fei Yujing explained, scanning him up and down and asking, "Were you stupid after being locked up by Lian Jun for a few days?"

Shi Jin furrowed his brow and retorted, "It's not his fault, it's mine. I made him feel insecure. It's all because I lack experience in handling things. I didn't want to worry him, so I kept it from him. But it only made him more worried, and he even came to pick me up himself. Why are you hitting me again?" He covered his forehead, which had been hit once more, and glared at Fei Yujing in anger.

Fei Yujing withdrew his hand and said, "What are you thinking about? From my perspective, the only mistake you made on this trip was not informing Lian Jun in advance of your plans. Setting aside emotions, he is the leader and you are the deputy leader. You have the right to make decisions for the team, but you have the obligation to inform him of your plans. In any case, if you make a mistake, correct it, if you have a problem, ask for help, don't just think on your own.

"But this is also partly Lian Jun's fault. He gave you the position of deputy leader, but didn't teach you how to do it. You've done pretty well on your own."

Shi Jin retorted again, "How can you blame Lian Jun? He wanted to teach me, but he was not feeling well at that time, so he didn't have the chance to teach me... Hey! Don't hit me again, I'm getting angry."

Fei Yujing gave him a hard knock on the head, but this time he didn't use much force. Seeing the pained expression on his face, Fei Yujing gently rubbed his hair and said, "How can you be so foolish...figure it out for yourself. I'm leaving now, I'll come see you next time."

Shi Jin reflexively grabbed his arm.

Fei Yujing turned to look at him, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Can't bear to part with me?"

Shi Jin was taken aback, quickly furrowed his brows and shook off Fei Yujing's arm, standing up and saying, "What nonsense about not being able to bear it, you should go catch your flight, I'll see you off."

Fei Yujing glanced at his arm that had been shaken off and said, "Alright, let's go. We can also go find Old Fifth, he doesn't know I'm leaving yet."

......

After returning to the island, Li Jiuzheng immediately went to help Shao Jianping and was now in the main building. Shi Jin found him and told him about Fei Yujing's departure, and they went together to send Fei Yujing to the airport on the island.

Before boarding the small plane, Fei Yujing suddenly looked at Shi Jin and said, "If you want to use me again next time, I'm happy to do it. Consider it my repayment to you."

Shi Jin was stunned, watching him enter the cabin without looking back, and suddenly felt a very complex emotion in his heart - discomfort, grievance, unwillingness, and anger.

"What is this?" He couldn't help but speak, his voice trembling with anger. "Am I angry about this? Have I ever said that I need you to do all this? You're such a two-faced bastard, changing your mind faster than flipping through a book! You always act like you know everything and can handle anything, why don't you understand this time? I'm clearly angry about something else--"

He abruptly stopped speaking, suppressing the memories that flooded his mind. After Shi Xingrui died, he could never get in touch with Fei Yujing no matter how hard he tried. The other party had completely and decisively abandoned him, leaving him feeling lost and helpless. He wanted to ask for an explanation, but had nowhere to turn.

Taking a deep breath, he turned around and grabbed Li Jiuzheng's arm, striding towards the airport exit while frowning and saying, "Second Brother is a jerk, don't mind him. Come on, Fifth Brother, I'll take you to eat something delicious!"

Li Jiuzheng followed him passively, looking back at the plane. His eyes slowly lit up and he quickly grabbed Shi Jin's hand, saying earnestly, "Okay, let's go eat something delicious!"

Fei Yujing watched the two figures leave through the window, propping up his chin with his hand and tapping his cheek. "If it's not about being used, then what could it be... It's hard to guess the thoughts of children."