"Okay! But I'm still a patient, so you have to come back often."

Shen Jinchen looked at her expectantly.

"Sure!"

Looking at him, Cen Xi suddenly felt that this man was so childish. He actually acted like a child begging for candy without any sense of incongruity.

"Come closer."

"what?"

“Your hair is messy, let me smooth it for you. If you go out like this, even if you don’t do anything to me, people will still have all sorts of wild ideas.”

Shen Jinchen glanced at the door and offered an innocent explanation.

"It's okay, I'll just go back to my room next door and tidy up in a bit, you don't need to pretend to be kind."

Cen Xi replied, completely oblivious to the situation.

"Hey, you silly woman, I have a secret I want to tell you. Can you come closer?"

Shen Jinchen muttered a curse under his breath before making his request.

"Why can't you say things like that! There's only the two of us in the room, why do you have to whisper in my ear?"

Cen Xi felt that he had many faults and a bad temper, and she didn't want to serve him at all.

"I...I have a wound in a hidden place that I'm ashamed to talk about. Can you come and take a look at it for me?"

Seeing that he couldn't coax her over no matter what he did, Shen Jinchen frowned and pretended to be in pain in a certain place, while his hand kept touching that spot.

Seeing the pain on his face, Cen Xi panicked and rushed to the bedside, looking at the spot he was touching, and asked:

"What's wrong? Are there any hidden wounds? We haven't found any."

Unexpectedly, Shen Jinchen pulled her into a tight embrace and whispered in her ear:

"No, it's just that I've been thinking about it a lot. I really want to be with you... I'm in love with you."

After saying that, he straightened Cen Xi's face without saying another word, and his tongue went straight in, and then the room was filled with a romantic atmosphere between the two of them.

Cen Xi was almost breathless from his kiss. She pushed him away. Damn it, this guy is no good. He's already seriously injured, and he still won't stop.

It's going to drive her crazy.

"You...you...you..."

Cen Xi stared at him for a long time, her ears turning bright red. She didn't know how to describe the man's shamelessness, so she angrily flung her sleeves and ran out the door.

But as soon as she stepped out the door, she bumped into someone's chest. Cen Xi was about to curse who the hell was blocking her way when she met Jun Jianchou's unfathomable eyes.

Her mind went blank for a moment, she felt ashamed and kicked the door of the next room open with lightning speed.

Jun Jianchou glanced at her hurried steps, then heard the man's low chuckle from inside the room. He stepped into Shen Jinchen's room and said coolly:

"Why bother, Prime Minister Shen? You don't need to prove it. I already know she has feelings for you. As for me... humph! In the end, I'm nothing."

"I need to show you how we get along, and that she's not averse to being close to me. Only then will you give up, right?"

Shen Jinchen raised an eyebrow, not feeling at all that there was anything wrong with what he had done.

"Give me your hand, let me check your pulse. Once you're better, leave our Jun residence as soon as possible. I know she doesn't care about me; she's said this to me many times. But Prime Minister Shen, do you think you've won? Let me tell you, if you treat her even slightly badly in the future, she'll discard you like trash. Why bother showing off?"

"But even if you two become husband and wife in the future, so what? I will still be with you. The fate between us from past lives is not something an outsider like you can interfere with. Even if he doesn't see me as a husband he can entrust his life to, I am still an indelible presence in his heart, and he will always treat me like a brother."

"With this kind of identity, I don't ask for anything else if it can annoy you in the future."

Jun Jianchou looked at him defiantly. The scene just now had indeed stung his heart and made it clear to him that the woman he loved would never be his partner. But how could he admit defeat in front of his rival? Anyone could show off and provoke. As long as he could shut this newcomer up, he would consider his mission accomplished.

“It is good that you can recognize your place, Young Master Jun. I would be more than happy to be able to call you brother in the future.”

After some probing, Jun Jianchou was able to speak frankly, and Shen Jinchen also respected him as a gentleman. As long as he didn't steal her away, Cen Xi could call him brother, and if the two of them got married, he could call him that too.

"Prime Minister Shen is seriously injured this time and needs to recuperate for about ten to fifteen months. It would be best if he knew what was good for him. If I were to poison him or something, even if you could get together with my sister, it probably wouldn't last long!"

Jun Jianchou glanced at him after taking his pulse, then coldly threatened. He wasn't one to be trifled with; saying he was giving up was one thing, but others mocking him was another. So what if he won a woman's heart? Was it necessary to flaunt it like this?

To be honest, if it weren't for Cen Xi, he really would have wanted to stab this man a couple more times. Save him! He's truly kind-hearted, and truly pathetic.

When Shen Jinchen saw that after he finished speaking, he went to his desk to write a prescription without saying a word, his jealousy was shattered by Shen Jinchen's indifferent expression.

Why should a real man like him waste his breath arguing? So he kept quiet.

"This prescription is for a seven-day supply. Prime Minister Shen, please find someone to get the medicine from the pharmacy yourself. I'll take my leave now!"

Jun Jianchou glanced at him indifferently, tossed him a prescription, and then turned and left. Shen Jinchen watched his departing figure, pursed his lips, and said nothing more.

With just this one move, a clean and decisive letting go, he felt he had already lost, lost because of his lack of strategic thinking.

He would rather lose than lose, because he only wanted to grow old with the woman he loved, and he wouldn't yield to anyone else.

After running out of Shen Jinchen's room, Cen Xi returned to her own room, calmed herself down, and quietly pressed herself against the wall to listen to their conversation. Knowing that Jun Jianchou was planning to give up, she breathed a huge sigh of relief.

However, she still needed to explain things to Jun Jianchou in person, so as soon as Jun Jianchou came out of Shen Jinchen's room, she also went out and silently followed behind him.

"Why are you following me? Aren't you going to be all lovey-dovey with your lover?"

Walking under a corridor, Jun Jianchou finally couldn't help but speak.

"You sent a letter a few days ago saying you wanted to come back for the New Year. Today is New Year's Eve, and I want to spend this last New Year with you!"

Cen Xi twisted her handkerchief, not daring to meet his gaze, and spoke in an increasingly lower voice.

"Ha, it's New Year's! When have you ever cared about my feelings like this? Cen Xi! Do you have a heart? Why him? And not me?"

Jun Jianchoed turned his face away, his tone both mocking and sarcastic, but the pain he tried so hard to hide could not be concealed.

"I... I don't know either! I lost my virginity so easily. Before you came back, before Shen Jinchen shielded me from the arrow, I could be sure that I hadn't lost my heart. But! But! Just like that, by some twist of fate, this is how things ended up between him and me. How can I know why it was him, and not you?"