The Heart of a Smith

Chapter 57 - Proposing

Chapter 57: Proposing

(Unedited)

When Li Sui heard that Lu Shang pulled through, he just couldn’t wait to go to his side. It was as if he just had an energy boost, he removed Liu XinTian and his people in just two days with unprecedented efficiency. In the meantime, there were huge changes to the company’s staffs, all the freeloaders were dismissed, and the employees that got fired in the turmoil were called back, for those who had already found a new job and weren’t interested in returning. Li Sui also allocated some funds to compensate all those affected.

Xe WeiLan seized this opportunity to attack Liu XinTian, who was caught unprepared. He had so much on his plate that he couldn’t cause trouble for Li Sui. Not only did his illegal investments hit the news, the police also went to arrest him for allegiantly attempt murder.

As the incident came to light, Tong Yan, as a company closely related to Liu XinTian was also more or less affected. The company had to make some changes and cooperate with the investigation. Li Sui was already prepared for that, there wasn’t much to worry about. To remove pests, hurting the trunk a little was inevitable, but as long as they had strong roots, Li Sui knew everything would be fine after some getting some warm sunshine and rain.

The company’s original legal representative was Lu Shang, naturally he would be implicated, but because he was legally dead, and Li Sui was a new director. Public security didn’t even bother to call Li Sui in for questioning.

Four days later, Li Sui finally finished everything and handed the company over to Uncle Yuen to handle. Then he hurriedly flew to the island himself.

Li Sui already applied for a two-week vacation last year, most people knew that the vacation got pushed back. So, this time when Li Sui left, it did not attract much attention. Most people just thought he wanted to get away from everything for a while.

When Li Sui got off the boat and stepped foot on the island, Li Sui felt a brief moment of homesickness, the feeling was soon overwhelmed by the strong sense of yearning though.

Leung ZiRui and Leon were lying on the beach, each holding a coconut in their hands, they were talking and laughing under the sun. When they saw Li Sui walking towards them, they raised their hands and said hello. Unexpectedly, Li Sui completely ignored them, he just left his luggage and ran straight to the ward.

“Damn, that brat.” Leung ZiRui laughed as he scolded.

Li Sui was breathing heavily, he stood at the door for two seconds, he forced shoulders to relax, then gently pushed open the door.

The lighting in the room was good. The curtains were slightly waving along with the wind. Lu Shang was sleeping quietly on the bed, the oxygen mask had already been removed and his thin lips were in full view. Sunshine came in through the window and landed on Li Sui’s face, making it look both serene and warm. The scene was as beautiful as an oil painting, Li Sui didn’t dare speak, fearing that he would disturb the beautiful painting.

He walked in silently and held Lu Shang’s hand. Li Sui felt the warmth transmitting from Lu Shang’s skin into his body, and it was as if a plot of cracked land that suffered through a long drought was suddenly flooded with water.

Leung ZiRui noticed that Li Sui stayed in there for like half a day. He wondered what the brat was doing, so he walked in with the coconut and stared at him while leaning against the doorframe.

“Why hasn’t he woken up yet?”

“He just had a surgery, of course he won’t be awake so soon.” Leung ZiRui laughed.

“He woke up once a while back, he will have to stay in hospital for observation for the next three months.”

Li Sui settled down, Lu Shang’s hands were warm, his face was not pale white for a change, the swelling at his legs also disappeared. There were a lot of good signs.

“Thank you, Dr. Leung,” Li Sui said sincerely.

Leung ZiRui waved his hand, “No, he’s just strong.”

What Leon said was true, if a person tried his best to survive, even God will make way. It wasn’t Leung ZiRui or Leon who made the miracle possible, but Lu Shang himself.

Li Sui almost never left Lu Shang’s side since he got on the island. He stayed by Lu Shang’s bed, sometimes moistening his lips for him or checking his temperature. Most of the time, he just sat there quietly and held Lu Shang’s hand while mumbling about trivial things. Li Sui’s face was always seen with a smile as he stayed in the room, one can tell very easily that he was truly happy.

In the middle of the night, Li Sui was covered in sweat because of the heat on the island, so he had to take a bath. As soon as he returned, he saw Lu Shang’s head moving slightly, soon followed by his batting eyelashes, Lu Shang opened his eyes.

At that moment, Li Sui was a little nervous. He stared at Lu Shang closely and noticed that Lu Shang’s eyes seemed to lack focus and that made Li Sui’s heart crackle. He was afraid that Lu Shang would just wake up and lose his memories or something like the plots often seen in TV series.

Fortunately, that moment of blankness flashed by quickly, and light returned to his eyes very soon. Lu Shang noticed that someone was nearby, so he turned his head, and the two men’s gaze met, it was as if they were not looking at each other’s face but hearts and thoughts.

Li Sui imagined many scenarios of Lu Shang waking up. Li Sui thought that he might be ecstatic, he might cry, or he might throw a small tantrum. But when this man finally opened his eyes, Li Sui only felt that something strangling his throat, his mouth was nothing more than a decoration, and there was nothing he could say.

Lu Shang looked at him with emotions-filled eyes. After a few moments, Lu Shang stretched out his arms slowly, making a “Give me a hug” gesture.

Li Sui’s eye whites turned red, he bent down, just like countless nights before, he reached out to hold Lu Shang in his arms. He was afraid of hugging him too tightly though, fearing that it would tear the surgery wounds open, but the trembling in his arms showed how excited he was.

“…Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s good…”

Li Sui embraced him for a while, then let Lu Shang go and reached for his eyes, “Can you see, are there any side effects?”

Lu Shang looked at Li Sui and said, “I can see your eyebags.”

After hearing Lu Shang’s comment, Li Sui was overjoyed. He was so happy that he wasn’t even thinking straight anymore, it took him a while before realizing that he should call for a doctor, “I’ll call Dr. Leung.”

Leung ZiRui examined Lu Shang and he looked pleased.

“Not bad, he’s not healing very fast, but he’s stably healing. Let him slowly recuperate and he will get better. There’s one thing in particular that I have to emphasize, do not let him do any strenuous exercises within six months, that includes…” Leung ZiRui placed one of his hand on Li Sui’s hair and ruffled them, “You know what I mean.”

The two of them looked at each other and laughed. When Leung ZiRui left, Li Sui locked the door and asked softly, “Do you want to drink some water?”

Lu Shang nodded.

Li Sui got a cup of warm water and fed it to him with a spoon. He was still recovering, so Li Sui didn’t dare give him a lot to drink. He put down the cup and asked, “Can I kiss you?”

Lu Shang smiled lightly.

Li Sui moved over and held his chin, they exchanged a brief kiss.

Their breaths spread across each other’s lips and teeth, leaving the taste of sweetness comparable to that of ripe honey. Li Sui let him go reluctantly, then pulled up the blanket for him. Li Sui rested his head on his own palm and smiled lightly, the satisfaction in his eyes were almost overflowing, “You should sleep, I’ll stay here by your side.”

Under Li Sui’s meticulous care, Lu Shang’s recovery was much quicker than expected. Leon got off the island a month later and returned home to do research. RuiGe Hospital’s head couldn’t be gone for too long, so old Dr. Leung couldn’t stay here. Finally, after checking up on Lu Shang, he returned to home as well.

“What are you going to do next? What about Lu Shang’s identity?” Leung ZiRui asked as he packed his luggage.

“I’m going to register a new identity for him in the United States and bring him back home after things settled down.”

“Back home? Aren’t you afraid someone might recognize him?”

Li Sui smiled and looked back at Lu Shang who was just coming out of the bathroom on a wheelchair, “I’m afraid they won’t be able to recognize me.”

Leung ZiRui looked at Lu Shang’s chestnut-colored hair. He was so surprised that he took two steps backwards, “You… you dyed your hair?!”

“Is it that strange? I dyed it this morning,” Lu Shang was puzzled.

Leung ZiRui hit his own chest and said, “I have never seen you torture your hair like this. Lu Lao Ban, are you going through some kind of rebellious phase?”

Lu Shang chuckled, “It’s good to try new things.”

But even Leung ZiRui had to admit, this color unexpectedly suited Lu Shang very well, it made him look younger. Although Li Sui didn’t know who Lu Shang’s birth mother was, Li Sui guessed that she must be a Caucasian. Lu Shang’s skin was quite white and his nose was straight, now adding the chestnut-colored hair in the mix, he looked even more western.

Leung ZiRui looked at Li Sui’s entranced eyes, he knew immediately what was in Li Sui’s mind. Leung ZiRui waved his hand and said, “Argh, I don’t care about you guys anymore. I’m still single, what right do I have to butt into your love lives?”

“Shall I introduce someone to you? There’s a young lady named Xiao Tang in our company. She’s very nice. I can bring her over someday.”

“I’m leaving!” As soon as Leung ZiRui heard the words “young lady”, he hurried fled with his luggage.

When Lu Shang could finally move freely, he was just in time to see the flowers blooming on the island. As Li Sui was leading him on a walk on the beach, he received a call from Uncle Yuen, calling him to go back, “There’s a little trouble.”

“What?”

“Liu XinTian pleaded not guilty and claimed that he had evidences for appeal.”

Li Sui and Lu Shang shared a look, then Li Sui replied, “I see.”

“Are you going back?” Lu Shang asked.

In truth, Li Sui was reluctant to part with him. If it wasn’t for the fact that Lu Shang hadn’t recovered completely yet, Li Sui would really consider taking him home and just hide him there.

“I’m just going back to solve some small problems, I’ll come back soon.” Li Sui leaned down and kissed him.

Lu Shang said, “I’ll go with you.”

“It’s that okay though?” Li Sui asked. “It’s cold back home. Can you stand it?”

Lu Shang held Li Sui’s hand and smiled softly, “I have you, don’t I?”

“But…”

“We should face it together,” said Lu Shang as their fingers interlaced.

Lu Shang was finally able to convince Li Sui and they flew back home together. Li Sui was still afraid that Lu Shang would freeze, so he wrapped Lu Shang in a thick jacket and covered his face with a big scarf.

With the help of lawyer Xe, Lu Shang disguised himself as a lawyer and meet with Liu XinTian in the holding center with Li Sui. He wore a facemask, a thick scarf, and had chestnut-colored hair, so no one recognized him.

The meeting was set inside an interrogation room, public security closed the door. They used their connections and got the surveillance off to ensure that their conversation was private.

In less than three months, Liu XinTian seemed to have gotten older, his hair was cut short, almost all of them turned white, and his figure was not as stern as before, his eyes were still as sharp as ever though.

“What do you want?” Li Sui asked right away.

“Bail me out,” Liu XinTian said. “Otherwise, I’ll spread what you’ve done and we’ll go to jail together.”

Li Sui asked, “And what did I do?”

“Don’t think that I know nothing. I have evidence. You murdered Lu Shang. You only wanted to inherit his shares.”

After hearing that, Li Sui looked back at the “lawyer” behind him and thought for a moment, “Don’t tell me the so-called evidence of yours is from Secretary Yang?”

Liu XinTian stagnated, and Li Sui immediately knew what happened, he said, “Did you think the illegal casino business you did was leaked by Fang Miao?”

Li Sui sighed, “Uncle Liu, things didn’t have to end like this.”

“Yang Yin…” Liu XinTian’s teeth were grinding, even his lover betrayed him, one could say that he had lost everything now.

“Money and power, some people do find that very attractive,” Li Sui just couldn’t sympathize with him, he got up and turned around. The room had poor ventilation, he was afraid that staying here too long would make Lu Shang uncomfortable, so he didn’t want to stay any longer than he had to, “We will arrange for someone to take care of your wife and children.”

“Li Sui! Don’t speak as if you are some saint. Don’t tell me that you have never coveted Lu Shang’s fortune!”

“You really are wrong. The only thing I have ever coveted was Lu Shang.” After saying that, Li Sui looked up and exchanged a look with the person standing next to him.

Liu XinTian’s eyes fell onto the person beside Li Sui. Their gazes collided, Lu Shang only showed his eyes, but seeing them shocked Liu XinTian, he screamed as if he had just seen a ghost. He said incoherently, “Lu… You’re not dead?”

“Let’s go.” Li Sui stood up and left with Lu Shang.

“Lu Shang! Nephew!” Liu XinTian shouted behind them, “Your father and I were sworn brothers. The scar on my face was from when I blocked a knife for your father!”

A cold gust of wind came towards them from the door, Lu Shang coughed softly. Li Sui nervously held his hand and asked, “Are you okay?”

Someone continuously shouted behind them. Lu Shang shook his head to show he was fine and held Li Sui’s hand. They walked out together without looking back at all.

A month later, Liu XinTian’s verdict came down, he was handed the life imprisonment sentence, it was based on several charges, namely, smuggling illegal drugs, setting up overseas illegal casinos and homicide. He will be staying in prison for the rest of his life.

Li Sui didn’t pay much attention to the follow-up of the case, since Xe WeiLan was handling it. He only knew that when Liu XinTian was imprisoned, he kept saying that Lu Shang was not dead, but no one believed him. Most thought that he just couldn’t handle the emotional impact and developed a mental problem.

Ancient people used to say that good deeds had its reward, and evil deeds had its consequence. That was probably how things were, doing evil deeds will eventually lead to bad consequences.

It was a fine autumn day. After finishing his work, Li Sui brought Lu Shang to the tropical islands for a trip, the vacation was nearly a year late. Finally, the curtains to their long awaited trip lifted at night.

“Lu Lao Ban… Lu Lao Ban, are you satisfied with this pace?”

“Will you send me away again next time, hmn?”

“Do you know how upset I was, when I came back only to the news that you are in critical condition?”

“…”

Lu Shang laid on the huge bed, he was so thoroughly fucked that he couldn’t even speak coherently, the pleasure he felt forced him to tears. This kid was getting more and more bold, as Lu Shang was enraptured by Li Sui’s movements, he had a passing thought, did Li Sui intentionally not complain about it before? Li Sui didn’t complain about it at the time, but now that Lu Shang was feeling better, Li Sui just wouldn’t let this go. Moreover, his tone sounded like he wanted compensation.

Previously, for Lu Shang, sexual love was more like a kind of spiritual comfort. Thinking about doing intimate things with his lover, possessing each other and belonging to no one else, that always made him feel satisfied from the bottom of his heart. Ever since Lu Shang recovered, Li Sui was completely let loose. That was also the first time Lu Shang knew what it was like to have physiological pleasure overshadowing his mind completely. At the climax, Lu Shang could not think, he only felt his mind going blank. When his soul returned, Li Sui was panting and holding him, he leaned down a little to kiss the tears off of Lu Shang’s eyes.

“I was so afraid that I feel like I was going to die,” Li Sui buried his head in Lu Shang’s neck and said.

Lu Shang didn’t know what to do, he said, “I’m sorry.”

“If you didn’t pull through, what should I do?”

“But everything is fine now, isn’t it?”

Li Sui slowly thrusted into him deeper, then he bit his ear, “You are so disobedient, I really wish I could just lock you up and do this to you every day.”

Lu Shang laughed as his chest trembled slightly from the thrusting.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Laughing at how tiny your dream is?”

Li Sui kissed his lips again and again, “That’s the only thing I want though.”

When Li Sui’s hard member reached a certain spot, both of them moaned softly at the same time.

Li Sui caught on the moment and began pulling out and thrusting back in vigorously, as Li Sui was gasping for air, he asked, “Don’t you want me to do that?”

Lu Shang looked up, beads of sweat slid down his neck as he replied, “… yes.”

In the past two days, they went nowhere, except for sleeping and eating, they did nothing but make love, in the bathroom, in the study, on the table, on the balcony and even on the floor. Poor Lu Shang’s hole was almost never left alone, for the last few rounds, Li Sui didn’t even need to finger Lu Shang, and just went straight in with some lubrication.

It was as if Li Sui could not bear seeing Lu Shang dressed, he would strip him of his clothes almost as soon as he put them on, then just brought him to bed to cuddle, stimulating him with words. What’s more, after having fun in the evening, Li Sui would sometimes just leave his member inside Lu Shang and slept, as if he was showing ownership or something.

Lu Shang protested by moving around weakly, but his protesting was completely ignored, instead Li Sui’s member just slid further into him. Lu Shang didn’t do any exercises for years due to his health condition, his physical strength was nothing compared to Li Sui’s, so when it came to sex, he was completely in Li Sui’s mercy. Only recently did Lu Shang realize how much restrain Li Sui had been showing before, it must had been hard for him.

When the initial craze was gone and they finally took a break, Lu Shang found that he could not even stand up anymore, it was as if his bones got dislocated, he just collapsed onto the bed and laid there for two days, he was even more exhausted now than right after the operation.

In the evening, Li Sui pushed open the bedroom door in high spirits. He saw that Lu Shang was awake already, so he extended his arm reaching for Lu Shang’s hand. Lu Shang was frightened by his excessive amount of energy and passion, so he flinched back. Li Sui couldn’t help but laugh and pulled him up from the bed, “We are not having sex, promise. Come with me, I have something to show you.”

Outside the house was a white beach, a little boat was tied to the shore. Li Sui took the lead and hopped on, then he stretched out his hand to Lu Shang.

Moonlight sprinkled onto the sea gently, it was as if they were surrounded by a then, white veil. There was no wind tonight, so the sea was very calm, they could only hear the faint sound of waves from afar from time to time.

As their boat got further away from the shore, the coastline faded out of their views. The sea and the sky looked as if they were one, in the quietness, it was almost like they were the only people in the world

“Pretty?” Li Sui put down the paddles and asked Lu Shang under the moonlight.

Lu Shang smiled lightly, “The people here is prettier than the scenery.”

“Is the scenery and people pretty enough for a proposal then?” Li Sui asked again.

Lu Shang was slightly shocked and laughed, “The scenery is pretty enough, the people is pretty enough, the only thing still missing is a ring.”

“Wait for me a bit.” Li Sui leaned forward and kissed him. He moved to the head of the boat, then took off his shirt to reveal his muscles, he jumped into the sea leaving a “pop” sound.

Lu Shang was a little confused, he got up and moved to the position where Li Sui had jumped off. The only thing he saw was water bubbles and the slight movements of the sea, he couldn’t see the things beneath.

The sea was very quiet, almost like a sparkling mirror. In the distance, there were some unknown sea birds chirping. Lu Shang waited for a while but didn’t see Li Sui coming back up, so he began to worry, “Li Sui?”

The water was still calm, there weren’t even bubbles on the surface anymore, Lu Shang increased the volume of his voice and called again, “Li Sui!”

A sudden burst of water along with a head splashed out of the calm sea, the water splashed onto Lu Shang. Li Sui wiped his face, then leaned onto the boat and smiled at Lu Shang. That was when Lu Shang noticed the white, heart-shaped shell Li Sui was holding with his mouth.

“Egg cockle shell.”

Li Sui nodded, he stretched his neck out, hinting for Lu Shang to take it.

Lu Shang took the shell with a light smile and raised his voice, “Did you pick it yourself? Is there a pearl in it?”

“Open it.”

Lu Shang was intrigued, he opened the shell and his smile faded, his smile turned into shock. There was a pair of rings inside. The design was simple but delicate, with the help of the moonlight, Lu Shang could see two letters inscribed on the inside of the rings – “Lu Shang”. The shell was well sealed, there weren’t any sign of waster sipping in, it was obvious that the rings were prepared in advance.

“Would you marry me1.” Li Sui looked up and smiled at him.

Lu Shang looked into Li Sui’s pure and bright eyes, Lu Shang couldn’t control his face and he felt his heart trembling, even the words he spoke were incoherent, “You…you…come up first.”

“I won’t come up until you reply,” Li Sui swam a few meters backward so Lu Shang couldn’t catch him.

“Lu Shang, I don’t want to wait for another year. I want to marry you now,” Li Sui said earnestly at a position not too far away but not too close either, “I want to have mutual property with you, I want to shoulder responsibilities with you, we advance and retreat together, and we can stay together till even out hairs turn white.”

Lu Shang looked at him for a long time, his eyes gradually moistened. Suddenly, he stood up and jumped into the water.

Lu Shang wasn’t very adept at swimming. Li Sui hurried over and held him, he laughed, “I’m the one proposing to you. Why did you jump in too?”

Lu Shang caught Lu Shang’s hand in the water and put a metal object on his finger, “To help you wear your ring.”

Li Sui asked, “So, is that a ‘yes’?”

Lu Shang laughed, “What do you think?”

“No regrets?” Li Sui was super happy.

“No regrets.” Lu Shang smiled and kissed him, they embraced each other in the water under the moonlight.

He used to have nothing but barren rocks in his heart. Later, someone came in and carved out a heart for him.