Chapter 63, Fourth Story (9)
After walking around outside with Qin Rui for a while, Qin Chu brought him back to the carriage.
Lying in the carriage, Qin Chu pulled a thin blanket over Qin Rui's head, patted his head, and commanded, "Go to sleep."
He persuaded Qin Rui to go to sleep, but Qin Chu did not fall asleep. He rested with his eyelids half-closed while keeping an eye on the child beside him.
He slept very peacefully, neither turning over nor kicking his legs, unlike other children who, when they sleep, seem to want to grind on the bed.
but……
Qin Chu moved slightly and looked down to meet Qin Rui's open eyes.
As before, although there were some drowsy dark circles under his eyes, there was no sleepiness in his eyes, nor the confusion of waking up from a dream.
This time, Qin Chu was completely certain: when the kid said he didn't sleep at night, he wasn't joking; he was serious.
At first, Qin Rui didn't sleep, and Qin Chu thought it was because he was secretly on guard and dared not sleep. Later, they traveled on horseback at night, so he probably couldn't sleep soundly.
But even now, inside the carriage, it's still the same.
Sleep is crucial for both adults and children. Even someone like Qin Chu, who can control his body's instincts, would find it unbearable to go without rest for a while, let alone a child that young.
Qin Chu thought for a moment, then simply sat up and pulled Qin Rui up as well.
He asked, "What's wrong? Why aren't you sleeping?"
Hearing him ask this, the boy, who had been energetic all night, fell silent for a moment, his mood visibly somber. He reached out and pulled at the corner of the blanket, keeping his head down and not looking at Qin Chu, only muttering, "I can't sleep."
After saying that, he quickly looked up at Qin Chu and saw Qin Chu frowning and looking serious. He quickly added, "I've always been like this. I've been like this since...birth."
Qin Chu was taken aback; he hadn't expected such an answer.
He instinctively asked Noah, "What's wrong, Your Highness?"
Noah was speechless: "It's just part of the game's mechanics, sir. You're way too concerned about this kid!"
No matter how much it's a game setting, it reflects the most realistic feelings when it's used by specific characters. But Noah saying this means he has no solution.
Qin Chu looked down at the thin, small child and asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"
The child paused, his hand still rubbing the corner of the blanket, then let go of the blanket and rushed into Qin Chu's arms.
This was the first time someone had asked him if he was feeling unwell or in pain.
He couldn't sleep, so he had twice as much time as normal people and witnessed all sorts of ugliness. No matter what he tried, he couldn't fall asleep at night. After a while, his head would ache, and sometimes he would become so agitated that he wanted to kill people or even harm himself.
But he endured it all; none of this mattered to him. No matter what, he would live on.
But now, nestled in Qin Chu's arms, hearing those three cold, indifferent words from him, the pain he had once gritted his teeth to endure slowly resurfaced, choking him in his throat and eyes.
He pressed his face against Qin Chu's body, unable to make a sound, and could only nod as best he could.
He is not afraid to cry, nor does he feel ashamed to cry.
He would do anything to survive, to lower the enemy's guard, or to win people's favor.
But when facing Qin Chu, he dared not cry nor did he want to cry. After nodding, he immediately raised his head and looked at Qin Chu, saying, "It's okay, it's just a little uncomfortable, I'll be fine soon."
Qin Chu looked down at the child, whose eyes were red but who was still trying to comfort him. He didn't know what he could do, and he wasn't good with words, so he could only reach out and rub Qin Rui's red eyes.
He pulled the child down to lie down again, patted his back, and said, "If you can't sleep, just close your eyes and get some rest. It's okay."
The next morning, Qin Rui regretted telling Qin Chu the truth.
He watched as Qin Chu invited the physician into the carriage, then feigned a cheerful expression and tried to run out: "Brother, I'm so hungry! Let's go get breakfast!"
Unfortunately, Qin Chu pulled it back halfway with one hand.
"Breakfast isn't in a rush, it's not ready yet." Qin Chu sat down with Qin Rui in his arms, looked up at the doctor sitting opposite him, and said, "Dr. Su, the reason I invited you here is to ask you to take a look at this child."
The doctor didn't show it on the surface, but he was extremely excited inside.
He counted the number of words in Qin Chu's sentence—twenty words! This is something to brag about on the forum! Sure enough, the profession of doctor is useful, much better than that cook from last time.
Suppressing his excitement, the doctor smiled and nodded, then gently extended his hand to Qin Rui: "Little brother Qin Rui, give me your wrist, let me take a look."
While speaking, she subtly brought up the seniority of the time when Qin Rui had helped her get ahead.
Unfortunately, Qin Rui didn't appreciate it at all. She glanced at him timidly and said, "No, Uncle, I'm afraid of pain!" Then she turned around and snuggled into Qin Chu's arms.
They keep saying "uncle" and "afraid of pain," not only messing up the generational hierarchy but also putting a blame on each other.
The physician forced a smile, thinking that the prince in front of him was a master of manipulation. He took a deep breath and continued, "What are you saying, Brother Qin Rui? It's just taking your pulse, how could it hurt?"
The two men, one calling him "uncle" and the other "brother," went back and forth, and Qin Chu, a straight man, didn't notice anything amiss.
In the era he lived in, generational distinctions were blurred. When Qin Rui first called him "brother," he acted like "brother"; when Qin Rui first called him "uncle," he acted like "uncle." He was completely unaware of the subtle scheming in Qin Rui's words.
Qin Rui had already figured this out. Just as he was feeling smug, he exclaimed again, "I don't want to see it, I'm afraid it will hurt."
But then he heard a "snap" sound, his whole body stiffened, and he immediately looked up at Qin Chu.
Qin Chu withdrew his hand from the man's buttocks, glanced at him indifferently, pulled him out, and said coldly, "What's a man afraid of pain? Come out and see a doctor."
Qin Rui was completely stunned.
Qin Chu actually got into trouble because someone hit him?
He was a little angry, but when he thought that Qin Chu really wanted to help him with his insomnia, he felt a sweet and happy feeling inside.
But Qin Chu spanked him!
Qin Rui thought for a while, and his anger subsided, but he made up his mind that he would definitely get his revenge when he grew up.
He turned away from Qin Chu's embrace with a pitiful look, glanced up at Qin Chu, and stopped struggling but also stopped reaching out.
How could the iron-willed General Qin spoil a child? Qin Chu glanced at him, grabbed his arm, and handed him to the doctor opposite. Of course, he carefully avoided Qin Rui's left hand, which had a birthmark.
Seeing the interaction between the two brothers, the doctor was not gloating, but rather somewhat surprised.
While taking the eldest prince's pulse, he couldn't help but wonder to himself, how come Qin Chu, this NPC, has such a good relationship with the eldest prince, this boss?
The game is divided into several zones based on the map. After registering an account, players can choose to be assigned to different zones. Generally, players don't choose military camps, but rather wealthy families in the imperial city or the imperial palace.
However, he wanted to seduce men, and on a whim, he decided to be sent to the border. Life on the border was tough, but luckily he met Qin Chu, a high-quality NPC.
He couldn't resist taking a screenshot and sharing it with the NPC Qin Chu. This NPC had a refined appearance, a breath of fresh air in the otherwise burly military camp. The key was that he was incredibly handsome in battle, exuding a cold and aloof aura; a single glance from him was enough to send people screaming in terror.
So he only shared a screenshot of Qin Chu drawing his bow and shooting an arrow online, and this NPC became an instant hit, quickly rising to the top of the list of NPCs players most wanted to patronize.
Unfortunately, Qin Chu soon left the border with his army, leaving the players who had parachuted in empty-handed, and they later appeared and disappeared without a trace.
A recent screenshot related to Qin Chu was posted by a player. Qin Chu is wearing a bright red wedding dress, with her black hair flowing freely, and she is breathtakingly beautiful. This single image immediately caused players across the server to die and come back to life repeatedly throughout the night.
Unfortunately, his character, who was a cook, froze to death in the wilderness overnight and could only read posts on the forum.
The picture of the wedding dress seemed to be taken from the perspective of a servant. They encouraged the poster to post more pictures, but the poster's account was deleted and the post was also deleted within two hours.
Each account in this game only has one chance to revive, and you can't revive with the original identity. At the time, he was waiting for his account to revive, and out of boredom, he posted on the forum, determined to sleep with the NPC Qin Chu.
But that evening, he received a message from the game's official website: "Your account has been banned for suspected violations."
The doctor was furious. His complaints to the authorities went unanswered, so he had to borrow a friend's ID to register again, which resulted in the doctor's account. He was lucky, because the block was closed after he posted it.
With this in mind, the doctor was even more unwilling to miss the opportunity to spend time with Qin Chu, and also wanted to complete the main quest along the way.
While taking the eldest prince's pulse, he checked the data displayed in front of him, frowning slightly as he said to Qin Chu, "This child's constitution is too weak; he needs to be well cared for. Also, does he have insomnia?"
Seeing that he had hit the nail on the head, Qin Chu looked up at him and asked, "Do you have a solution?"
The doctor didn't give a definitive answer, only saying he would think of a solution, and then left.
Watching his retreating figure, Qin Chu suddenly asked Noah, "Is this doctor a player?"
Noah worked for a while and gave him the answer: "From the data, we can only see that he is a guy from this world, but we can't see anything else."
But remembering the blunder he'd caused in the last world, Noah quickly patched up his argument, saying, "Of course, there are exceptions. Sir, looking at this doctor, don't you feel a strong urge to punch him?"
Qin Chu: "..."
Qin Chu knew who Noah was referring to, and said with a headache, "Isn't he dead?"
Lin Xiang is dead, but his mission must continue, because the Crown Prince is not the only one trapped in the virtual world.
"I'm just doing this in case..." Noah muttered.
Qin Chu didn't feel any urge to touch the doctor; he was only confirming things for Qin Rui's safety.
Qin Rui was very unhappy.
Before, he and Qin Chu rode their horses across the wasteland. Although life was hard, it was just the two of them. Now, someone else had suddenly appeared to bother them, and he instinctively disliked it.
He turned around and grabbed Qin Chu, pleading, "Can I not watch it? I just can't sleep, it's not like I'm going to die."
But Qin Chu didn't comply this time. He patted Qin Rui's head and still had the doctor come over to check on him from time to time. However, he didn't completely trust the doctor and didn't let Qin Rui be alone with him.
They were about to arrive at the military camp, and Qin Chu became quite busy, as it was inconvenient to bring Qin Rui along on certain occasions.
He had just finished speaking with the officials escorting the grain supplies and was rushing back to his carriage during lunchtime. However, he didn't see the doctor who usually greeted him along the way.
Qin Chu looked around, then stopped a passing coachman and asked, "Where is Doctor Su? Why isn't she here?"
"Doctor Su? General, Doctor Su said he went to see you. Didn't you see him?" The coachman was also surprised.
Qin Chu frowned and quickly walked towards his carriage.
His carriage was at the back of the procession to prevent any unsuspecting thieves from stealing the supplies. Usually, when he returned from the front, he could see a small head peeking out from far away, waving at him from afar, without exception.
But as they drew closer, Qin Rui still hadn't come out to greet them.
Qin Chu's eyes sharpened, his lips pursed, and he quickly ran towards the carriage. Reaching the carriage, Qin Chu suppressed a rising worry and abruptly pulled back the curtain.
The people in the car were startled and turned around, stepping back to look at him.
It was Dr. Su.
He sat in the carriage, while Qin Rui lay on his lap, fast asleep with his fists clenched.
The child was breathing steadily, with drooping eyelashes and rosy cheeks, looking like he was sleeping very soundly.
Qin Chu took a closer look at Qin Rui's breathing and rosy cheeks before withdrawing his intimidating aura.
He didn't get into the carriage; he just lifted the curtain and stood silently by the door, watching.