In the evening, a caregiver brought a bouquet of flowers—sunflowers—and placed them by the bedside.

Chi Yao turned his head to look at the flowers, which had no fragrance, and gently touched them with his fingers.

He would never have bought such flowers himself, but suddenly seeing them now, it seemed like he had immediately grown fond of them.

His child, his future child—Chi Yao lightly placed his hand on his abdomen. What should he name the child when the time comes?

He didn’t know the gender yet. In his past life, the child had died in his womb and never had the chance to be born, so Chi Yao never knew its gender.

Chi Kui?^[1]吃虧 chī kuī to suffer losses to come to grief to lose out to get the worst of it to be at a disadvantage unfortunately.

Hahaha, Chi Yao laughed at himself. The pun wasn’t good at all. “Chi Kui” sounded like “suffer a loss,” just like his own name, “Chi Yao,”^[2]chī yào to take medicine

Forget it, there was still plenty of time. He could think about a name after the child was born.

This hospital was actually quite good, and it had a maternity ward. When the time came, he could give birth to the child here.

Chi Yao lay down and quietly drifted off to sleep.

Over the next twenty or so days, Chi Yao stayed in the hospital. During that time, he turned his phone on, and Shen Ling had sent him a few messages—not many. Chi Yao called him back, saying that the surgery had gone well and that he was recuperating in the hospital. He would return after a while.

Some of his friends, the kind who only came around for drinks and food, also contacted Chi Yao. Since their generous benefactor was no longer around, many of their days of lavish spending had come to an end.

But none of them dared rush Chi Yao to return, so they could only flatter him.

Chi Yao told them he would return next month. A little over a month was still bearable for them.

Chi Yao also contacted the manager of an entertainment venue to make some arrangements for certain plans, instructing the manager to take care of a few things in advance.

Chi Yao gave a fake identity—a social media influencer who accidentally got scammed and ended up owing tens of thousands of yuan. The influencer had a chance to pay it all back in one go by selling himself for a high price. As for medical records and such, Chi Yao sent over an old one of his and had the hospital alter the key details of the name.

During his recovery, Chi Yao followed a healthy diet, with a nutritionist crafting each meal for him. Being young, his body recovered quickly.

After nearly a month in the hospital, Chi Yao left. Stepping out, he felt the breeze against his face and relaxed completely, as if releasing the last bit of the heavy air from his previous life.

He boarded a flight back to Nancheng, keeping his return a secret from everyone, including Shen Ling.

Just a few days earlier, he had told Shen Ling that there were some tourist spots along the way, and he would explore for a week or two before coming back.

Shen Ling wouldn’t rush him. After all, he was confident that this little pet(pertaining to Chi Yao) who adored him would always be in his grasp.

Shen Ling often had meals with Fu Rong, and he mentioned Chi Yao briefly, saying that he had gone traveling. It seemed quieter around him all of a sudden.

Fu Rong didn’t tell Shen Ling about an incident that had happened over a month ago at one of his hotels, where he had saved Chi Yao.

At the time, Chi Yao was unconscious, but despite that, Fu Rong had helped him. He never received a thank-you.

Fu Rong didn’t know why, but there was something strange about Chi Yao’s presence that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. However, getting closer to him was clearly not an option.

Chi Yao’s unruly personality was something Fu Rong didn’t like; he preferred more gentle people.

The two didn’t talk much more about Chi Yao, and the conversation moved on.

When Chi Yao returned, he didn’t go back to his own place. Instead, he stayed at a hotel. He went to a salon to dye his hair, turning his black hair into a grayish-blue. He also hired a professional makeup artist to make some adjustments to his face, softening his sharp features.

Additionally, Chi Yao went to a tattoo parlor and had a tattoo done on the back of his neck. He almost asked the tattoo artist to embroider a sunflower there but stopped at the last moment. In the end, he chose to have two butterfly wings inked, without the butterfly’s body.

With these changes, his appearance had greatly transformed from his original look. Chi Yao even bought contact lenses to slightly alter his eye color.

He wasn’t sure of the exact effect yet, but Chi Yao found an opportunity to deliberately appear in front of Fu Rong and Shen Ling, walking right past them.

Shen Ling glanced at the passing boy, thinking the facial outline looked too familiar. But with the hair color and other differences, he dismissed the thought.

He hadn’t expected to see someone who resembled Chi Yao so closely, looking almost like a little rabbit.

At that time, Shen Ling was in the car. He had seen the boy, but Fu Rong hadn’t. Shen Ling casually mentioned that the boy outside looked a lot like Chi Yao.

Fu Rong turned his head, but only saw a slender figure walking away and didn’t catch a glimpse of his face.

A few days later, on the weekend, Fu Rong also saw a boy whose build was nearly identical to Chi Yao’s, even the jawline was strikingly similar. Fu Rong almost thought it was Chi Yao.

But he was certain it wasn’t.

The violent and gloomy Chi Yao could never be this boy in front of him.

This boy, wearing a silk shirt, was kneeling on the floor in front of Fu Rong. His head was slightly raised, like a kitten, with gray-blue hair and eyes covered by a blindfold. Though clearly nervous, he still maintained a submissive, well-behaved demeanor.

The manager had explained that the boy was a small-time Influencer/Actor who had accidentally incurred some debt—just a few hundred thousand yuan. For Fu Rong, that amount was like the cost of a meal. But for someone like the boy, it meant something entirely different.