Incurable Pain

IP Chapter 38

Incurable Pain | Chapter 38

At six o’clock in the morning, Yu Luoyin’s eyelashes twitched, and consciousness gradually returned amidst the pain throughout his body. Then, he woke up with a start.

It felt like he had been run over by a car, every inch of his body ached. Before he even opened his eyes, a thin layer of cold sweat formed on his forehead.

Retribution, plotting against others comes with a price.

The pain stimulated his alertness instead, and a smile of obvious sarcasm appeared on Yu Luoyin’s lips.

Half-opening his eyes, he reached for his phone with his slender fingers, unsurprisingly finding a dozen missed calls from Zhou Xinsui.

Yu Luoyin lifted his eyelids and called back.

“Yu Luoyin! Are you fucking dead?” Zhou Xinsui, who seemed to have not slept, immediately picked up. 

Uncharacteristically, he cursed angrily, “Why the hell didn’t you answer your phone?”

Yu Luoyin calmly interrupted him. “Have they been caught?”

“Of course! You told me to wait outside the Ji Guang District Shopping Mall with two cars, and we caught three people. How could we not?” 

Zhou Xinsui, relieved that everything went smoothly on his end, couldn’t help but sarcastically remark, ” Brother Yu, you’re playing a risky game here. Aren’t you afraid that Bai Xunyin will hate you even more if she finds out?”

Yesterday, Zhou Xinsui finished his papers around eleven o’clock at night when he unexpectedly received a message from Yu Luoyin: “Bring your two family cars with bodyguards to wait outside the Ji Guang District Shopping Mall and catch three dogs.” 

He was completely puzzled at the time.

But when Liu Yiba and his gang fled in panic and were subsequently captured, followed by the police and ambulances arriving, Zhou Xinsui pieced together the entire incident from the fragmented information.

He was shocked and almost wanted to rush to the hospital with them.

However, upon careful consideration, Zhou Xinsui understood the role Yu Luoyin played in this matter.

Zhou Xinsui knew that Yu Luoyin had always wanted Bai Xunyin’s forgiveness, so he used many methods, even investigating her past and consulting his former psychologist… 

Zhou Xinsui even saw Yu Luoyin secretly reading books related to post-traumatic stress disorder, such as “Trauma and Recovery,” “The Way of Healing,” and so on.

Lu Yue and the others even joked that Yu Luoyin was trying to become a pretentious psychologist. 

To which he replied with a smile, seemingly casually, “What’s wrong with being a psychologist? I even want to be an expert in treating PTSDs.”

At this moment, Zhou Xinsui understood what he meant.

Bai Xunyin was the PTSD sufferer he mentioned; he wanted to cure her and restore her voice.

And one of the several treatments that could help PTSD patients recover was “scene reconstruction stimulation.” 

Suddenly, Zhou Xinsui knew what Yu Luoyin had done.

He was deliberately guiding those debt collectors, leading Bai Xunyin to the scene of the trauma that happened years ago, using the extremists’ methods and his own body as a bet, gambling that this method would be effective for Bai Xunyin.

Whether it was effective or not, Zhou Xinsui didn’t know for the time being, but he knew that Yu Luoyin ended up in the hospital after this ordeal.

And if he were Bai Xunyin and knew he had been manipulated like this… It would be fine if her voice recovered, but if not, she would be furious.

“No pain, no gain. Everything in this world involves a gamble.” 

Yu Luoyin casually smiled, playing with the edge of his phone with his fingers. 

“What if she forgives me?”

The girl had already shown signs of softening yesterday; he felt closer to his goal.

And even if Bai Xunyin found out all the truths and didn’t forgive him… Yu Luoyin wouldn’t regret it. It would be the best outcome if Bai Xunyin could speak again.

After hanging up the phone, Yu Luoyin lay back down, his head throbbing with dull pain.

About an hour later, around seven thirty, there was a knock on the door of the ward. Yu Luoyin half-opened his eyes and saw his father’s personal assistant, Chen Yu, entering.

Yu Yuan knew that his father had been on a business trip to the neighboring province recently… 

Did Gu Yuan come yesterday?

But he was under anesthesia and didn’t know anything.

Chen Yu helped Yu Luoyin into the ward’s private bathroom and then served him breakfast when he returned. Then, he carefully explained Gu Yuan’s arrangements.

“Master Yu, Madam has arranged a nurse for you, who will take care of you twenty-four hours a day until you are discharged. What do you think…”

“No need.” 

Yu Luoyin, who had only eaten two mouthfuls of porridge, interrupted him indifferently. 

“I’m leaving the hospital this afternoon.”

“This afternoon?” Chen Yu was taken aback, and his immediate reaction was to persuade him. 

“Master Yu, your kneecap is fractured. The doctor said you need crutches and intravenous fluids for a week.”

“Intravenous fluids can wait until noon.” 

Yu Luoyin took a bite of bread and mumbled, “High school students, where is there so much time to waste?”

“But Madam…” 

“She doesn’t need to be informed about this matter; she’s busy.” Yu Luoyin interrupted him, lightly. 

“What time did my mom come yesterday?”

Chen Yu’s mind was like a compass, turning wherever it was directed. Hearing this, his attention was immediately diverted. 

“It was around one o’clock.”

Yu Luoyin’s eyebrows twitched, tentatively asking, “Was she alone?”

“Yeah.” 

Chen Yu, recalling how he rushed over in a frenzy and saw Gu Yuan standing alone outside the ward, couldn’t help but say, “Master Yu, Madam still cares about you.”

Yu Luoyin didn’t say anything, his black eyes slightly lowered, the long eyelashes casting a shallow shadow beneath his eyelids.

It seemed that his mother didn’t meet Bai Xunyin yesterday. 

When did the girl leave?

Thinking about it, he felt somewhat relieved.

He had the means to easily produce the hundreds of thousands Liu Yiba and the others wanted, a sum of money that didn’t even compare to the bicycle he casually discarded on the roadside yesterday.

But why didn’t he give them the money?

In the end, as Zhou Xinsui said, he was essentially a selfish person.

From habitually riding a bike behind Bai Xunyin to escort her home a few days ago, hearing a conversation between the two ruffians threatening her and his mother in the quiet alley of Ajun Alley, Yu Luoyin, in addition to being angry, quickly realized that this was a perfect “opportunity.”

He consulted Lu Ying many times and read many relevant books. Almost all books on PTSD treatment mentioned the method of “scene reconstruction.”

Although it was a second injury to the person involved, although the process involved many risks… But the most important thing is for the person to recover normally.

Yu Luoyin was an extreme rationalist who could distinguish clearly between which was heavier, “being stimulated again” or “recovering one’s voice.”

So when he saw Bai Xunyin running out of the alley that night, blood all over her hands, followed by a man, Yu Luoyin immediately had an idea in his mind, even after thinking about it for a few days.

He wanted to use these two people, even himself, to stimulate Bai Xunyin.

He deliberately didn’t use money to solve this matter, deliberately led the debt collectors to Jiguang District… 

In fact, he wasn’t without guilt during the process. At that time, he didn’t care so much about his own safety.

Now looking back, this method might have been too extreme.

But as he said, “no pain, no gain,” nothing extreme wouldn’t move Bai Xunyin.

Gu Yan taught him, “Some people may only have one chance to catch their dreams in their lifetime.”

So Yu Luoyin didn’t want to waste these last two months of high school. He wanted to reconcile with Bai Xunyin during this time.

The knocking on the door interrupted Yu Luoyin’s thoughts.

He looked towards the door, and Bai Xunyin had already opened it and walked in. It was probably her day off today, so she wasn’t wearing her school uniform, just a simple sweater and jeans. Her fair and clean face had obvious dark circles, and she was holding a thermos.

Seeing Yu Luoyin awake and leaning against the wall, staring at her, she walked over and put the thermos aside. 

“Are you feeling better?”

Yu Luoyin was slightly stunned, still not accustomed to the girl’s soft, cold voice.

After a while, he nodded slightly.

 “Yeah, I want to be discharged from the hospital today.”

“Today?” 

Bai Xunyin’s hand, which was opening the thermos, paused, and there was a distinct surprise in her clear watery eyes, “But your knee…”

“It’s okay,” Yu Luoyin smiled. “No problem.”

Hearing this, Bai Xunyin pursed her lips and poured a small bowl of soup, placing it on the bedside table.

No one spoke, and the room fell into a strange silence. It was as if after the heart-pounding experience of escaping from death last night, they should have been open and honest with each other, but they seemed more distant instead.

Bai Xunyin sat quietly by the bedside, not saying a word, as if she was not used to her own ability to speak.

Yu Luoyin understood that the girl probably didn’t want to talk to him, didn’t want to mention what happened in the ambulance late at night.

But… he didn’t want to just let it go like this.

Yu Luoyin’s fingers holding the apple unconsciously tightened, and he looked at the quiet girl sitting beside him. Bai Xunyin seemed to be like this, whenever she was obediently quiet, she would automatically lower her presence to almost the same level as the air.

“Yinyin,” Yu Luoyin’s voice was a bit low as he gently asked, “Do you remember what you said last night?”

Bai Xunyin was startled, and when she looked up, she met Yu Luoyin’s somewhat compelling black eyes.

The school uniform stained with blood and Gu Yan’s rational and indifferent words flashed through her mind. After a while, Bai Xunyin nodded gently.

She imperceptibly sighed softly, “I remember.”

Yu Luoyin’s clear face turned pale, with a band-aid on his forehead and lips, undamaged and handsome, but inevitably somewhat ridiculous and rogue.

He rarely felt a little nervous and asked, “Are you… not going to regret it?”

Even though he was mentally prepared, even if Bai Xunyin regretted it.

Bai Xunyin shook her head, “No.”

Her decisive voice made Yu Luoyin couldn’t help but smile, “Can you guarantee what you said?”

Bai Xunyin blinked, “Why should I guarantee?”

“Because… I’m afraid you’ll find out I’m a jerk,” Yu Luoyin self-deprecatingly laughed, his voice low. 

“And then not want me again.”

After he finished speaking, the atmosphere stagnated for a few seconds, and then Bai Xunyin also smiled slightly, looking at him somewhat helplessly. 

“Can you be more of a jerk?”

Now no matter what Yu Luoyin did, she was mentally prepared and… didn’t care that much, because there were only three months left.

“So what do you want?” 

Bai Xunyin’s lips curled slightly, looking at him somewhat helplessly, “Are you just trying to play the pity card in front of me?”

“…Yes and no.” 

Yu Luoyin self-mockingly smiled, his voice low. 

“Mainly because I read a book.”

“What book?”

“The Way of Healing.” Yu Luoyin’s voice paused, then changed the subject. 

“I’ve been a jerk again, can you forgive me this time?”

Bai Xunyin didn’t answer, but silently murmured the four words “The Way of Healing” between her lips, and after a while, she suddenly realized and smiled.

There was no other reason, just because she had read the book last year—last year, she had tried desperately to regain her voice, trying every method.

Originally, she thought Yu Luoyin couldn’t possibly do such an extreme thing just to gain sympathy from her, but now she glimpsed a corner of the truth.

Although he was a bit excessive and lied to people, but…

“You’re really annoying,” the girl smiled, with a hint of relief and relaxation in her expression. 

“But I forgive you.”

Yu Luoyin, I really forgive you.

Trauma and healing, in the end, are a “circle”, going round and round, always merging in one place.

Where was she better than Yu Luoyin now? 

She would eventually become the long-nosed Pinocchio herself.