Chapter 41

The Qi family was in full disarray when Qi Shu fell. I couldn’t tell how many people with bad intentions had tried to enquire a few times under the guise of seeing a patient, but they had all been turned down by Zhou Chen.

Qi Shu had two disappointing younger male cousins who were subpar in both skill and character but enjoyed to cause mischief. When Qi Shu had yet to return to the company, he would switch on the television every day and watch the bad news. 

Zhou Chen couldn’t stand by and let this problem unfold, so he temporarily took over Qi Shu’s work and dealt with it for him.

I assumed he was busy at first, but after a few days, I realized he was purposely alienating me.

I was disturbed by the discovery. People seldom knew how to cherish what they had once they got it, and I was afraid he was no exception.

When I walked out of Qi Shu’s hospital room one day, I smelled a slight odor of smoke as I went by the stairway. I walked over with gentle footsteps, as if feeling something. I noticed a man standing at the window, staring out into the evening sky, holding a lighted cigarette between his fingers. 

It was Zhou Chen.

His figure seemed lonely, made even more so by the dull light of the day-night cycle.

A big willow tree stood outside the window, its limbs swinging softly in the evening breeze like an overgrown concern on a summer night.

Zhou Chen said he had to get some work done, but he was actually smoking quietly here alone.

I thought he’d already quit…?

I had already stepped behind him, placed my arms around his waist, and rested my face on his back by the time I realized what I had done.

——My body seemed to have its own thoughts.

For a little while, Zhou Chen remained still. In a hurry, he extinguished the smoke in his palm. He wanted to turn, but he didn’t dare to. 

“Sir,” I said quietly, “what are you doing?”

“I…”

“My hand hurts,” I said, pointing to the middle of my left palm, which was wrapped in gauze. T”he scab is separating. When I change the dressing, it aches. ”

After the first few days of my recuperation, the pain was minimal, at least not to the point that I felt the need to appear weak and coquettish. 

It’s only that the mottling looked terrible and awful when it peeled, and I didn’t want to see it for myself.

Zhou Chen was visibly upset, which gave me a sense of security.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“I forgot to replace the gauze with you, I’m sorry,” he said as he carefully grasped my wrist, turned around, wrapped me in his arms, and kissed the top of my head.

“Ktf vbmabg wfcalbcfv la kbeiv ifjnf rmjgr; ws tjcvr kbeiv ibbx euis cbk.” 

Ktfgf kjr ralii j riluta ktloo bo rwbxf lc tlr mtfra, ktlmt rwfia gfjiis clmf, jcv P lcralcmalnfis yeglfv wsrfio j yla oegatfg.

“Cgf sbe ublcu ab rabq ilxlcu wf?”

Ktf defralbc kjr rb ralmxs atja P mbeivc’a tfiq yea yiert jr P jrxfv la.

I’m scared that I won’t dare to be so unscrupulous unless I face Zhou Chen. 

“How could that be?” he remarked, sighing slightly, “Where is Qi Shu? Has he taken a rest?”

“Hmm.”

It was pitch black outside, and only silence was between us.

I noticed that Zhou Chen’s demeanor was a little odd, but I wasn’t sure whether what I suspected was the cause. 

After a long time, he said softly: “He was injured for you and survived for you. He hasn’t moved on yet.”

Is it… Perhaps ba.

“Did he say anything to you?” I asked.

“No, I can tell. “Zhou Shen said, “In this world, there will be no second person willing to put himself in danger.” 

“But you also came to save me. “I looked up at him. “Are you saying this because you want to push me back to him?”

Zhou Chen didn’t answer the question immediately. After some time, he glanced down at me and said, “It’s not that I don’t want to; it’s that I’m terrified.

“I’m afraid you’ll discover that he genuinely loves you and is willing to give up his old self in order to be a better person for you.”

He stroked my sideburns. 

“Although I said I wouldn’t let you go again, and I won’t grant you freedom again, but if…”

He didn’t appear to be able to talk anymore, so I finished the rest of the sentence for him in my head.

——If you want to start over with him, I’ll let you.

“Liar.” I grabbed his arm with my uninjured hand, angrily took his hand and bit it hard. “Saying things like loving me forever and never leaving me again. Liar.” 

Zhou Chen was inexplicably bitten. He didn’t say a word but his expression was obviously a little confused.

I began to regret it again after biting. I seemed to have applied too much force. My teeth had left such a deep mark…

Will he think I was unreasonable… Worried, I brushed my lips against the teeth marks and whispered my apologies.

Reflecting on his sentiments, I realized that the days of alienation and avoidance had a reason, and as I pondered, I began to hate myself for my insensitivity. 

I’m afraid that if Zhou Chen’s ex was in the hospital today and he visited them every day, I’d have gone insane with jealousy by now.
No, the very mention of the word “ex” could makes me so sick that I couldn’t bear it for a second.

And I had no idea he might be jealous at all. I didn’t take the initiative to explain, instead biting him.

I’m so terrible…

I’m an unqualified lover. 

Lover… This novel and intimate title made me embarrassed again.

I was so confused and flushed that I probably looked a lot like a stupid quail.

No, how could I be so stupid…

Is Zhou Chen blind or what… 

“What are you thinking?”

He pinched my lips between his forefinger and thumb, and I went from quail to a flat-beaked duck.

Fortunately, he just squeezed it for a few seconds before letting it go. I was embarrassed by the unexpected intimacy, and I couldn’t say anything because my face was red.

But he still stared at me with such intensity that I had nowhere to hide in his gaze. 

Finally, in abandon, I buried my head once again and said, “Tell me what I’m doing wrong… Don’t push me away, don’t leave me.

“I went to meet Qi Shu out of guilt and worry, not with the intention of rekindling old love.

“I know I was wrong; please forgive me.”

The feeling of coaxing a person willingly in this way was also very strange. 

The experience of coaxing someone willingly in this manner was equally novel.

Everything seemed very novel.

Love, it turns out, was like this.

It was good to quails, flat-beaked ducks, and even cats and dogs. 

I’d be willing to flip over my soft belly and show him my weakest spot.

He would also be willing to put away his talons and fangs and trade his shotgun bullets for roses and his iron cage for a castle.

People called this kind of gentle supporting love.

Speaking of roses. 

“That day, I brought you flowers and handpicked the finest roses in the garden. I wanted to express how much I miss and like you, and if you’d like, I’d like to bring you flowers every day from now on.”

The pulse in my ear seemed to be erratic.

Zhou Chen lowered his head, touched the tip of my nose with the tip of his nose, and murmured, “Picking flowers from my garden to give them to me. Why are you so insightful?”

My face turned hot. I hadn’t thought of a comeback when I heard him say, “I do.”