Xu Xinghe smiled, her eyes crinkling like a little fox who had just stolen some cream, "Hehe, it doesn't hurt anymore."

Jiang Linchuan stood up, his neck flushed red, but he still maintained a cold and aloof expression. "You are not allowed to make such a request in the future, and you are not allowed to make such a request in public."

"Okay." Xu Xinghe licked her lips. "Then we have to have a kiss every day."

"No!" Jiang Linchuan gripped the lunchbox tightly. "Don't be silly. I have something to take care of. You rest first. Call the nurse if you need anything."

He left people outside to keep watch, lest Li Xingzhou take advantage of the situation.

Xu Xinghe closed her eyes with relief.

This is the first time she has suffered such a serious injury; she needs to rest properly.

Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I heard footsteps outside.

Xu Xinghe could only open her eyes again, only to see Lian Xiao impatiently placing a can of yellow peaches on the table.

Without a word, he twisted open the lid, took out a spoon, scooped one out, and held it to Xu Xinghe's lips. "There's a custom in Northeast China that no matter what illness you have, eating a can of yellow peaches will cure you. Don't overthink it. If Grandpa hadn't asked me to take care of you, I wouldn't have bothered with you!"

Xu Xinghe had no choice but to eat it.

The peach segment was so big that her cheeks bulged out from eating it, and she could barely speak clearly.

Seeing her like this, Lian Xiao couldn't help but curl his thin lips and poked her face with his finger.

The next second.

The two of them were stunned at the same time.

Xu Xinghe never expected him to do such a thing.

Lian Xiao didn't expect that he was only thinking about it, but he never actually did it!

"Cough cough..." Lian Xiao coughed awkwardly twice, "I was afraid you would choke, so I helped you, otherwise you would have suffered a second injury."

"Really?" Xu Xinghe found it strange, but didn't mind. "Thank you for coming to visit me."

She vaguely remembered that Lian Xiao had brought her to the hospital yesterday.

She was in so much pain at the time, her head was spinning, and she had no mind to pay attention to the outside world.

Lian Xiao pulled over a chair and sat down. His legs were too long, so he could only curl up awkwardly, but he didn't even think about pulling the chair further away.

This distance is just right; you can clearly see the fine hairs on Xu Xinghe's face.

"Are you going to stay in Heilongjiang Province? I feel like you're incompatible with this place."

He listed them one by one, "You do the math yourself. Since you came here, have you encountered anything good? Not only that, but it's been nothing but unpleasant things. Why don't you go back to Shanghai? It's more suitable for you there. Besides, winter is coming soon. Do you know how cold it is here? Getting frostbite is a blessing. Some people even lose their fingers and ears to frostbite. Every year, many people freeze to death. Someone as delicate as you simply cannot survive in a place like this."

Lian Xiao was speaking from the heart.

The conditions here are too harsh.

It's fine when it's not cold, but once it starts to get cold, it becomes really torturous.

Moreover, winter in Heilongjiang Province can last for a full five months, and even after the snow melts in the spring, it is still unbearably cold.

Not to mention that spring and autumn are also not warm, and they will last for another five months.

The last season that is warm enough is summer, and the temperature only hovers around 20 degrees Celsius.

Shanghai may not have a spring-like climate all year round, but it's much better than Heilongjiang Province.

In comparison, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it paradise.

Seeing that Xu Xinghe didn't speak, Lian Xiao frowned, then scooped out another piece of canned yellow peach. "Eat."

Xu Xinghe quite liked the taste. Since it was inconvenient for her to move, and she was in a lot of pain, she simply took another bite from the other person's hand.

Lian Xiao's brows relaxed. "The cold here is different from where we are. You need to wear a lot of clothes. You won't be able to wear your pretty clothes anymore. You'll have to be wrapped up like a bear. Can you accept that? You also have to cover your face, otherwise it will be cracked by the wind. You've seen it yourself. Many women here have rough skin and redness on their faces. That's all from the wind."

He talked on and on for several minutes.

He tried his best to persuade Xu Xinghe to leave Heilongjiang Province.

Xu Xinghe finally spoke after hearing the last part, "Thank you for your kindness, but I'm not leaving. If you want to leave, you can go back to Shanghai first. I'll send a telegram to Grandpa Lian and say that I sent you back."

Lian Xiao paused, his face darkening. "You think I came to persuade you because I wanted to leave? I couldn't bear to see you continue to be bullied here! Xu Xinghe, you're a member of the Xu family, do you need to suffer in such a harsh place? What's so good about that Jiang Linchuan that you'd be willing to stay in a place like this!"

If you were just curious about what Northeast China is like, you've seen it now.

"Xu Xinghe, marriage is a lifelong commitment! You've lived a life of luxury for the past ten years or so, are you really going to spend the rest of your life in a place like this, suffering?"

Xu Xinghe pursed her lips. "As long as I don't feel bitter, I'll be wherever Jiang Linchuan is."

Lian Xiao suddenly stood up, the chair scraping against the ground with a screeching sound.

He didn't know why he was so angry, and he wanted to smash the little girl's head open to see what she was thinking!

Xu Xinghe looked at him accusingly, "Why are you reacting so strongly? You scared me."

Lian Xiao puffed out his cheeks, his anger turning into a mocking laugh. "Xu Xinghe, do you know why Jiang Linchuan is able to be a commander? Do you know what kind of missions he's been assigned?"

He leaned down, staring at Xu Xinghe, and said, word by word, "It's a mission to kill! A mission where you could die at any moment! People call him the King of Hell, do you think it's just because they're afraid of him? It's because his hands are stained with countless lives! It's because he's fearless! If you really marry him, you'll be living a life of widowhood in a few years!"

Xu Xinghe also got angry, her almond-shaped eyes glaring back fiercely like a kitten ready to pounce, "I won't allow you to talk about him like that! He won't die, he'll live to be a hundred and grow old with me!"

"You..." Lian Xiao was genuinely angry and laughed. He kicked the cabinet in a fit of rage. "Whatever, just don't regret it later!"

He strode out of the ward, getting angrier the more he thought about it, and punched the wall.

"This is unbelievable! Why am I so angry!"

It's getting angrier and angrier!

The image of that sweet apple on the train flashed through his mind again.

"Get out of my way! Apples are the last thing I like to eat!"

"Have you gone crazy enough?" came a deep, cold voice.

Lian Xiao turned around abruptly and saw Jiang Linchuan standing on the other side of the corridor, having been there for an unknown amount of time.

"Did you hear everything I said?"

"Hmm." Jiang Linchuan closed the ward door before walking up to him. "You're right, I did climb to this position by killing people, but I only killed those who deserved to die. Also, I won't die."

He didn't care about his life before, but now he does.

Once you have ties in your life, you'll fear death.

He was no exception.

"For Xinghe's sake, I will live on." Jiang Linchuan paused, his tone extremely serious. "I will live to be a hundred years old and grow old with her."