Qiu Xing only allowed himself to be sad for half an hour. Half an hour later, he picked himself up and started arranging the funeral.

He called his mother’s family, the Qiu family, Liu Sha, He Jun and other people, notifying them of Mother Qiu’s death. Then he contacted everyone who should be contacted including the sanatorium, funeral company and cemetery.

Xie Yang didn’t overly comfort Qiu Xing. He just ensured he stayed in a position where Qiu Xing could see him the moment Qiu Xing turned his head.

In less than two hours, the small building deep in the sanatorium was filled with people from all walks of life. As more people came, Qiu Xing’s mood became more controlled. He was like a snail, shrinking his soft insides into a ball and hiding it in a thick shell.

His mother’s older brother, Liu Jiang came to blame him. “Your mother was dying. Why didn’t you inform us earlier? What type of son are you? I heard that a few days earlier, you took your mother to—”

“Shut up.” Xie Yang, who had stayed quietly behind Qiu Xing, suddenly walked up. He stopped in front of Liu Jiang and declared coldly, “It isn’t your place to blame Ah Xing. If you want to keep talking then I will ask you to leave.”

Many people around them were watching. Liu Jiang was so angry that he opened his mouth and scolded, “Who do you think you are? Actually talking to me like this? My sister is dead, you—”

“He Jun.” Qiu Xing abruptly interrupted while reaching out to hold Xie Yang’s hand. He pulled Xie Yang back and ordered without even looking at Liu Jiang, “Send Chairman Liu out.”

Chairman Liu… it wasn’t even Uncle.

Liu Jiang’s expression was very ugly. He wanted to say something else but was held back by Liu Zhu who rushed over. Liu Zhu’s eyes were red and he seemed to have been crying. He shouted at Liu Jiang, “Brother, what are you doing? What occasion is this? Can you stop making trouble!”

“I’m not—”

He Jun walked in front of the two of them and coldly reached out. “Chairman Liu, please.”

Liu Jiang was embarrassed and didn’t want to leave. He wanted to pull everyone down with him. Liu Zhu was angry and sad. He spoke a few sentences to appease Qiu Xing and Xie Yang before dragging Liu Jiang away.

It became quiet indoors.

Xie Yang abruptly turned back and hugged Qiu Xing. He touched Qiu Xing’s back and coaxed him. “Don’t care about those people. I will deal with them. Just stay with Mom.”

Qiu Xing closed his eyes and hugged Xie Yang back. He lowered his head, rubbed it against Xie Yang’s cheek and replied, “Hmm.”

Xie Yang took over the external hospitality. He was more decisive and merciless than Qiu Xing. Most importantly, he was calmer and more thorough than everyone expected.

Those who dared to talk nonsense due to the shallow relationship they had were invited to leave by him on the spot. Those who wanted to talk to Qiu Xing based on being an elder were all blocked by him. It didn’t matter if they were relatives of the Qiu family or Liu family. He suppressed all those who dared to take the opportunity to mess around.

He stood in front, helping create a space for Qiu Xing to send Mother Qiu on her final journey.

The mourning hall was soon set up. Liu Sha helped Mother Qiu change clothes and put on makeup. Then she notified Qiu Xing, Feng Qinglin, Xie Yang and several other people so they could place Mother Qiu in the coffin and send her to the mourning hall.

Only then did the guests notice that Feng Qinglin was present.

The recent turmoil in the Feng family had been very loud. Everyone knew that Qiu Xing was acting behind the scenes. Now Feng Qinglin appeared at the funeral of Mother Qiu. This signal was really subtle.

No matter what others thought about him, Feng Qinglin wore a black suit after handling all the matters in the mourning hall and stood with Qiu Xing and Xie Yang in the family position.

Xie Yang glanced sideways at Feng Qinglin and grabbed Qiu Xing’s hand. “You’re not alone. Besides me, there is also Qinglin, Liu Sha… everyone is here.”

Qiu Xing didn’t speak. He just gripped Xie Yang’s hand tightly.

The three long and heavy days finally passed. Mother Qiu was laid down peacefully next to Father Qiu in front of all her relatives. The guests left one after another and only Xie Yang, Qiu Xing and Feng Qinglin remained in front of the gravestone.

Feng Qinglin abruptly said, “I will bring my mother back as soon as possible.”Qiu Xing was woken from his thoughts as he stared at the gravestone. He reached out to touch the photo of Mother and Father Qiu on the gravestone and replied, “Yes.”

They left the cemetery. Feng Qinglin went off alone and Qiu Xing didn’t ask where he was going. He just took Xie Yang home in the car. The car drove slowly away from the cemetery. Qiu Xing was always staring outside the car in an expressionless manner.

Xie Yang reached out to hold Qiu Xing. Qiu Xing’s senses returned and he looked over at Xie Yang.

“Get some sleep.” Xie Yang touched Qiu Xing’s back. “You haven’t closed your eyes much during the last three days.”

Qiu Xing watched Xie Yang and his body that had been stiff and tense for three days slowly relaxed. He lowered his head to hug Xie Yang, closed his eyes and slowed down his breathing.

“Xie Yang.”

“Yes.”

“I absolutely won’t let you send me away like this… I can’t do that to you.”

Xie Yang adjusted his posture so that Qiu Xing could comfortably lean in his arms. He rubbed along Qiu Xing’s back and replied, “What a coincidence. I think so as well.”

Qiu Xing tightened his arms.

“You are nine years older than me.”

“It is eight and a half years.”

“Yes, eight and a half years.” Xie Yang kissed Qiu Xing’s ear. “So you have to strive to live eight and a half years longer than me. Once our time is up, we will go together and no one will have to send the other away.”

Qiu Xing felt the temperature coming from Xie Yang’s body and hugged him more tightly. “Okay.”

The funeral that lasted for three days consumed Qiu Xing’s good looks. Xie Yang might’ve made Qiu Xing have a good sleep afterwards, but the vitality that had been consumed by Mother Qiu’s departure couldn’t be made up by a single night of sleep.

Now when Qiu Xing went outside, everyone who saw him immediately realized he was sick. His thin body, special hairstyle and unhealthy complexion… The illness once again consumed Qiu Xing’s brilliance.

On the fourth day after the funeral ended, Xie Yang saw a secret photo of himself and Qiu Xing on Weibo. In the photo, he and Qiu Xing were walking in the community. It was probably because the sky was too dark and the street lights too bad. The photo of Qiu Xing was far worse than the actual situation. He looked thin, grey and dying.

The person who sent this sneak photo used a personal account and his accompanying text was very sensational: I just found out that I live in a community with Xie Yang. I happened to see him and his fiance going out for a walk. Oh my god, this is Qiu Xing… is he going to die?

Due to this photo, rumors that Qiu Xing was near death suddenly spread on Weibo. A few days ago, Xie Yang’s act of proposing marriage to Qiu Xing created jealousy. Now it was understood as Xie Yang giving comfort to the dying Qiu Xing. Some people were more malicious and even guessed that Xie Yang did it to stabilize Qiu Xing’s mood, fearing that Qiu Xing would change his will before he died.

Xie Yang frowned and contacted Qin Cheng. He asked him to go to the PR department to get rid of the news. Then he immediately left Yang Xing and rushed to Rongding.

Qiu Xing was approving documents when he saw Xie Yang coming. “Don’t you have a job at Yang Xing? Why did you come?”

“I came to see if you are hiding any shameless people in your office behind my back.” Xie Yang replied as he sat directly on Qiu Xing’s lap and stared at Qiu Xing’s face.

Qiu Xing immediately hugged Xie Yang and held him tightly. “What shameless people? Nonsense.”

This was a new habit that Qiu Xing developed after his mother’s death. Every time he saw Xie Yang, he would cling on like he was afraid Xie Yang would also disappear. Xie Yang observed Qiu Xing’s face before leaning over and kissing him. “You are obviously so handsome. The person who secretly took photos is probably blind.”

He took his phone out in front of Qiu Xing, opened Weibo and switched to his main account. He reposted the Weibo that was on the hot list and added the text: I just observed it. Qiu Xing is still very handsome. He can still live for another 100 years.

Only then did Qiu Xing understand why Xie Yang came over. He glanced at the sneak shot on the screen of Xie Yang’s phone and apologized. “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? It is obviously these people talking nonsense.” Xie Yang kissed him for a while before standing up with a smile. “Work hard. I will come to accompany you after the meeting.”Qiu Xing held Xie Yang’s hand and remained silent, but he was obviously unwilling to let go. Xie Yang stopped and bent over to get closer to Qiu Xing. Qiu Xing hooked an arm around Xie Yang’s neck and kissed him tenderly.

“Yang Yang.”

Xie Yang watched Qiu Xing quietly.

Qiu Xing touched Xie Yang’s eyebrow and suddenly smiled. The smile was a bit shallow but he got up to hold Xie Yang’s hand. “Let’s go, I will send you back to Yang Xing.” His tone was energetic, rare for these days.

Xie Yang also smiled and nodded. “Okay.”

Qiu Xing sent Xie Yang up to his office in Yang Xing. Putting aside that one night he sneaked up, this was the first time that Qiu Xing had made an official appearance in Yang Xing. He wasn’t shy at all as he held Xie Yang’s hand. He didn’t let go until he sent Xie Yang to the office.

“Come here after the meeting.”

Xie Yang nodded. Qiu Xing kissed between his eyebrows and watched Xie Yang for a few seconds before turning to leave. The moment Qiu Xing left, Qin Cheng walked in with his mobile phone and asked with hesitation. “H… How is Mr Qiu?”

“He is getting better.” Xie Yang ordered, “Make sure someone keeps an eye on the Internet. If there is anything related to Qiu Xing’s physical condition then deal with it as soon as possible. I will also ask He Jun to assign someone to keep watch.”

Qin Cheng nodded in understanding before asking, “Go to the meeting? There are a few jobs here that you really can’t reject and have to attend. They are all relatively large-scale events.”

“Let’s go.”

From this day on, Qiu Xing took the initiative to adjust his state. He consciously ate more meals, slept more and rested more. He tried to improve his facial expressions and talk more with Xie Yang.

He was trying to get better.

Xie Yang worked hard with Qiu Xing. He went to Rongding every day to accompany him for lunch and afternoon tea. After the meal, he would take him for a walk to exercise. At night, he freed up an hour or two to concentrate on nourishing Qiu Xing’s body with his ability.

Soon, it was October and Qiu Xing received the last treatment of the first course. This time during the examination, Qiu Xing’s weight was extremely low.

Dr Kirkman put down the checklist, looked at Qiu Xing and advised him, “Take good care of your health in the next two months. I will go back home and work with the team to re-adjust the treatment plan based on your current physical condition. You should be mentally prepared. Once the next course of treatment begins, you must lay down your work and stay in the hospital to prepare for the operation.”

Qiu Xing wondered, “Do I have to be hospitalized?”

“It is a must. Before the formal operation, every change in your brain tumor will affect the outcome of the operation. Doing this is being responsible for your body.”

Qiu Xing frowned.

“Then be hospitalized.”

Qiu Xing glanced over at Xie Yang’s words.

Xie Yang looked back at Qiu Xing and asked, “If you finish the operation and find out that I have already caused Rongding to collapse, will you be so angry that you won’t hold a wedding with me?”

Qiu Xing was taken aback and slowly stopped frowning. He grabbed Xie Yang’s hand tightly. “What stupid thing are you saying? It doesn’t matter how much money you lose. If you lose it then I will earn it back for you.”

Xie Yang smiled with satisfaction. “So from tomorrow, you will slowly leave Rongding’s affairs to me?”

“…..” Qiu Xing interlocked their fingers and nodded. “Yes.”