Chapter 59 Regret

Ling Wei had just settled him in and turned to go back to the chair to catch her breath when her wrist was grabbed by a burning hot hand.

"...Don't go." Qu Chen's voice was hoarse and weak due to the fever.

"I didn't leave, I just went to sit over there for a bit," Ling Wei explained.

He seemed deaf to their words, his fingers tightening, almost pleading, "Don't leave me alone..."

Looking at his feverish yet stubborn state, Ling Wei sighed helplessly and softened her tone unconsciously: "I'll find a place to sit down. I'm exhausted after a whole night. Be good."

As soon as she said it, she was stunned. Why was she speaking in such a coaxing tone?

However, Qu Chen seemed to have taken it to heart.

He struggled to turn to his side, the narrow cot creaking under his weight.

He arched his back to make room on the edge of the bed, then gently tugged at Ling Wei's hand, indicating that she could sit there.

With her hand still being held, Ling Wei had no choice but to sit down in the empty space.

But as soon as she sat down, a burning hot arm wrapped around her waist.

"Hey, that's over already." Ling Wei frowned and tugged at his arm.

Instead of loosening his grip, the other person tightened his arms and pressed his head against hers, his burning forehead against her arm, his voice barely audible: "...fans."

"What?"

This time, his voice was a little louder, with a nasal tone: "I'm your fan."

Ling Wei: "...Well, you have good taste, but what does this have to do with fans?"

Qu Chen tightened his grip on her arm, then looked up at her with his flushed face, his eyes hazy but unusually serious: "Fan benefits."

The system was astonished in her mind: "This is a talent! Her thought process actually matches yours."

Ling Wei: "......"

She forcefully pried his hands off, got up, walked back to her chair, sat down, and leaned on the table.

Qu Chen followed her with his gaze from the moment she got up until she was probably too feverish to bear and finally closed her eyes in exhaustion.

Ling Wei was also exhausted and drifted off to sleep.

She was awakened by a suppressed, painful murmur after an unknown amount of time.

Looking up, I saw Qu Chen curled up on the cot, his brows furrowed, and he was calling out something helplessly.

She moved closer and bent down to listen carefully:

"Don't jump...don't jump..."

Ling Wei reached out to wake him: "Qu Chen? Wake up!"

However, the moment her hand touched him, he suddenly opened his eyes, the terror of a nightmare still lingering in them.

Almost instinctively, he grabbed her and pulled her into a tight embrace with astonishing force.

Ling Wei struggled: "Let go!"

He buried his head deep into her shoulder, and then a stream of scalding liquid landed on her skin.

At the same time, as if unable to bear it any longer, the sound of breaking came intermittently:

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

Ling Wei felt like she was suffocating from his embrace. With a struggle, she freed one hand and tugged at his hair: "Wake up! Qu Chen!"

She was truly at her wit's end. How did this gloomy little dog suddenly turn into a crybaby?

Qu Chen's body trembled between hot and cold, and the dream was bizarre and fantastical.

He felt as if he had returned to the forgotten days of his childhood, to the cold, dark room where the light was swallowed up by the heavy curtains.

Only the nanny's sarcastic voice could be faintly heard on the phone: "...just an unwanted burden, if it weren't for the money..."

Then came the days when relatives would come to visit. They would bring exquisite gifts, pat his head, and say, "Come with your uncle. Your uncle is so busy, he doesn't have time to take care of you."

But when he actually reaches out to take the toy, the other person will suddenly pull their hand back, smile and say, "Call me Daddy first, and I'll give you the toy."

Finally, all the images shattered and reformed, frozen in time on that chaotic night.

The dream is cruelly recreated from his perspective:

He stood downstairs, looking up at the figure by the window, so frail, and his years of accumulated defensiveness instinctively rose up.

What he was thinking was: trouble.

He didn't even rush forward immediately; that moment of hesitation was stretched and magnified infinitely in his dream at this moment.

That moment of indifference became the sharpest thorn piercing his heart.

He watched helplessly as the figure plummeted from his sight.

A wave of overwhelming regret washed over him like ice water. He desperately tried to shout and rush over, but his throat felt like it was being choked, and he couldn't make a sound.

It wasn't until a familiar voice called him and he felt a reassuring presence that he pulled the person into his arms as if grasping at a lifeline.

Thank goodness, thank goodness, you're alright, you're still alive and well.

But what followed was an even stronger wave of regret. These days, he pretended nothing was wrong, letting things take their course, trying to cover up that unbearable first encounter with normal interactions.

Seeing that she didn't seem to care, he assumed that the matter could be easily turned over. Only now did he realize that the thorn was still stuck in his heart, and he himself had never truly moved on.

"I'm sorry, I didn't consider the potential dangers you might have faced..."

"I'm sorry for treating you such a jerk back then..."

"I'm sorry, when you needed someone to lend a hand the most, the first thought that flashed through my mind was that it was too much trouble..."

Tears streamed down her face as she uttered her indistinct words, but miraculously, Ling Wei heard every single one of them.

Her struggling movements gradually stopped, and she understood what he was saying.

Finally, she quietly lowered her hands, letting the other person hug her and apologize repeatedly.

Only when his trembling gradually subsided and his sobs turned into suppressed gasps did Ling Wei gently pat him, her voice extremely soft:

Did you have a nightmare?

The head nodded slightly in the hollow of its shoulder.

"About me?"

The man gave a soft "hmm".

Now Ling Wei was really curious, "What did you dream about me about?"

"..." The other person didn't say anything, but hugged her even tighter.

Ling Wei, who seemed to have figured it out: ...What bad luck!

"Let me go first, okay?"

Only then did the other person slowly loosen their arms, not completely letting go, keeping her in their embrace. Their red eyes, washed by tears, stared at her without blinking, as if she would disappear in the blink of an eye.

Looking at his disheveled yet persistent appearance, Ling Wei felt both annoyed and amused.

But somehow, listening to his repeated apologies, a small part of her heart softened.

Ah! She knew it! Ms. Yu Xiufen's soft-heartedness and inability to bear seeing others suffer was inherited from her!

She didn't struggle anymore. To be honest, the embrace and the body temperature felt like a freshly boiled hot spring egg, quite warming in the mountains.

...She wasn't seduced by good looks! She's just more tolerant of her fans!

system:"."