Chapter 49 Waking Up

Xie Li's voice was hoarse, and he lowered his head in shame, staring at his feet with uneasy eyes. His thin body trembled slightly.

Actually, it would have been fine to make him burst into tears on the spot, but I was afraid that going too far would have the opposite effect, so I held back and could only pretend to feel guilty and remorseful.

Then he covered his face with his hands, bowed deeply to Yan Yu, and said with great remorse, "I'm sorry! It's my fault! If I... if I..."

He stammered for a long time, but still couldn't bring himself to say, "If only I hadn't dodged." He was definitely scared, and saying it would sound insincere. He could only stammer and then say guiltily, "I'm sorry..."

Yan Yu stubbed out his cigarette and threw it into the trash can next to him. He closed his eyes wearily, took a breath, and looked at him indifferently: "Alright, why are you apologizing to me?"

Xie Li chuckled self-deprecatingly, rubbed his pale face, and a bitter smile appeared on his lips as he said remorsefully, "I feel sorry for him... If I could have stopped him, maybe this accident wouldn't have happened."

"...Alright, stop talking." Yan Yu interrupted him, not wanting to hear him apologize again and again. He felt tired and looked into the distance through the glass window.

He clearly remembered Shen Jin staggering into the middle of them, taking his punch, and falling into a pool of blood. Even though he was injured and bleeding so much, and his consciousness was about to fade, he still managed to say with all his might, "Stop hitting me, you'll get hurt."

Such a person, who worries about others even when his own life is in danger, would he push someone out of danger when he knows there is danger? Especially someone who is frail, weak, and sickly...

Yan Yu subtly lifted his eyelids and glanced at Xie Li.

The other person still looked remorseful, with no other changes. His eyelids were downcast, his face was full of worry, and his expression was somewhat solemn, yet very genuine. At least, there was not a trace of falsehood in his demeanor.

"What's wrong?" Xie Li seemed to sense his gaze before cautiously lifting her eyelids to look at him. She pursed her dry lips somewhat uneasily and tentatively asked, "Are you... blaming me too?"

Yan Yu withdrew his gaze without replying, only feeling his head grow even heavier.

He and Xie Li have known each other since they were children, more than ten years ago now. If he didn't like Xie Li, he thought their relationship would be like that of brothers.

Now, he has to ponder whether his words are true or false, and even think about whether there is an ulterior motive or some other reason, which makes him feel very tired.

Finally, he strode out the door with his long, straight legs, exhaled, turned back to look at the person who remained standing, and said in a calm tone, "I'm gone."

"Hmm..." Xie Li responded, somewhat puzzled as to what he was thinking, unsure whether he believed what he said, and afraid that asking too many questions would arouse suspicion.

Then a thought flashed through his mind, and he had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure it for the time being. In order to make the performance more convincing, he grabbed Yan Yuyi's sleeve: "Before I am discharged from the hospital, I want to go and see Shen Jin. I don't know how he is. I can't rest easy if I don't go and see him..."

If it weren't for wanting to show his so-called "kindness," why would he have been willing to take a step into the ward of the ashes?

"Hmm, that's fine too." Yan Yu paused, since he also wanted to go and take a look before leaving, so he didn't refuse.

When the two arrived at the ward, Bai Yujin was also there. When he saw Yan Yu coming over, he frowned and was a little unhappy, but he didn't say anything unpleasant. He still gave them some face and went out for a moment to leave them some space.

Xie Li approached Shen Jin's hospital bed, narrowed his eyes slightly, then sighed softly, looking at the person on the bed with some self-reproach and worry, and whispered, "You're so badly injured... I hope you get better soon..."

Yan Yu stared quietly at the person on the bed. The person's face was very pale, and after being hospitalized for a period of time, the person seemed to have lost a lot of weight. The person was already very thin before, but now the person seemed to be just a skeleton. Yan Yu felt as if a needle had pierced his heart.

When he came to his senses, his hand had already involuntarily reached out to stroke his pale face, his fingertips gently caressing his eyebrows and eyes, as if responding to Xie Li's words, or as if whispering to the person on the bed: "It's okay, get some rest, you'll get better..."

Xie Li's gaze suddenly turned cold. He silently gritted his teeth, but didn't dare to lash out.

He had previously sent people to inquire about Shen Jin and learned that he was an orphan without parents who had lived with his sister for many years in that godforsaken place, struggling to make ends meet and living in poverty.

But Xie Li is the young master of the Xie family, whose status is many times higher than that of Shen Jin, that poor orphan. How can he compare to him? What does he have to compare with him?

The worst part was that while he was furious and wanted to tear Shen Jin apart, he still had to force a calm smile and say to Yan Yu in a reasonable manner, "Ayu, if you're really worried about him, then you can stay and take care of him. I'll be fine..."

Yan Yu was taken aback. He looked at Xie Li, then at the person who had been lying in bed for several days without waking up. He had a strange feeling. If it were in the past, if something happened to Xie Li, he would definitely be by his side without hesitation.

But now, looking at Shen Jin on the bed, he didn't really want to leave. Instead, he felt that what Xie Li said wasn't entirely impossible. If Xie Li went back to the villa, there would be servants to take care of her, while Shen Jin here...

"Cough cough..." Xie Li coughed a few times, as if he had choked on something. "This little cold is really troublesome."

The unintentional cough startled Yan Yu. A memory from many years ago flashed through his mind: an endless fire burning everything, a frail boy barely managing to push him out of the flames, while he himself nearly suffocated in the inferno...

His heart skipped a beat. He ran his fingertips along Shen Jin's face a few times before slowly withdrawing his hand. He lowered his eyes and chuckled softly, a hint of self-deprecation in his voice: "Never mind, let's go back."

"Okay, fine..." Xie Li smiled smugly, rubbed his nose, and turned around with Yan Yu.

Neither of them noticed that the person lying motionless on the bed moved slightly the moment they turned around. The pale fingers tugged at Yan Yu's clothes, but the latter took a step forward. The fingers, which had finally managed to muster some strength, touched the air and fell back onto the bed.

Immediately afterwards, the person on the bed twitched slightly, as if struggling. After a few seconds, they slowly lifted their heavy eyelids and happened to see the two figures walking away side by side...

After staring at it for a second, Shen Jin looked away, his eyes still somewhat blank. He blinked gently, and then his eyes became clear again, his dark eyes looking around with a hint of curiosity.

He was surrounded by pure white, and there was a medicinal scent emanating from the surroundings. He sniffed the air, then frowned, clearly not liking the smell. He muttered somewhat dejectedly, "How strange... how did I get here..."