Chapter 74

Because of the anesthesia, Li Ye lay motionless on the hospital bed, his handsome face pale, even his lips were bluish-white. Xu Wanyi felt a pang of pity and self-reproach.

In the afternoon, she was in a meeting when she suddenly heard Feng Jing tell her that Li Ye had been in a serious accident and had been taken to the hospital. Xu Wanyi thought to herself, "What could possibly happen in broad daylight?" But then Jiang Yu sent Feng Jing a bloody photo that the administrative assistant, Xiao Zhou, had given her, and Feng Jing immediately showed it to Xu Wanyi.

Upon seeing the picture, Xu Wanyi's heart skipped a beat. Ignoring the people speaking, she immediately got up and walked out as if she had lost her mind.

Everyone looked at each other, wondering what was wrong with the chairman. Fortunately, Lin Hong was also there and quickly stabilized the situation. Feng Jing exchanged a glance with Lin Hong and hurriedly followed Xu Wanyi out the door.

Xiao Zhou, the administrative assistant, was a well-known photography expert in the office. The photo perfectly captured the full picture of the bloodstains. Xu Wanyi was sitting in the passenger seat. She deduced from the shape of the bloodstains that they were splattered bloodstains. If the blood was Li Ye's, she couldn't even imagine Li Ye's current state. The more she thought about it, the more anxious she became. She couldn't sit still and wished she could fly to the hospital immediately.

Upon arriving at the hospital, she endured another long wait. Never before in her life had she had to wait like this, nor had she ever suffered such torment. Compared to this, even the days when Li Ye had left without saying goodbye seemed bearable.

As dusk fell, the light rain outside continued to fall. Inside, the lights were bright, and the room was warm and dry. As she looked around, Xu Wanyi felt a sudden surge of happiness. She lowered her head and gently kissed Li Ye's lips. Then, sitting on the edge of the bed, she gently stroked Li Ye's face. At that moment, she felt as if Li Ye was closer to her.

At this moment, Attorney Li—of course, unaware—was fast asleep, without even a single dream.

Xu Wanyi asked Feng Jing to bring some changes of clothes, as well as a computer and necessary documents. Feng Jing remained silent. It seemed that the chairman was planning to move the office to Attorney Li's ward. I wonder if Attorney Li's ordeal was a blessing in disguise?

When Li Ye woke up, the lights in the ward had been dimmed. Xu Wanyi, dressed in casual clothes, sat on a small sofa, intently staring at the computer screen in front of her. The light from the computer screen shone on her face, veiling her with a thin layer of light, making her appear even more profound and focused.

As soon as Li Ye made a little noise, Xu Wanyi immediately packed up her computer and came over: "You're awake? How are you feeling? Do you feel nauseous or want to vomit?"

Li Ye's mind was still a bit foggy. She had vaguely seen Xu Wanyi in her room and vaguely wanted to sit up and go over. She couldn't remember being stabbed earlier that day. When she heard Xu Wanyi ask her a question, she didn't react for a long time and didn't know what the question meant.

But her body language betrayed her. As soon as she saw Xu Wanyi approaching, she grabbed her hand and wouldn't let go, grinning foolishly at Miss Xu. Xu Wanyi almost called the doctor, thinking that Xu Wanyi had lost her mind from the general anesthesia.

"No, I just want to see you." Li Ye said weakly when he saw Xu Wanyi trying to press the bell.

Xu Wanyi didn't listen to her at all. The patient should have called the doctor as soon as he woke up. She was just delayed by Li Ye's silly laughter.

Before the doctor arrived, Xu Wanyi stared intently into Li Ye's eyes, trying to figure out whether he was faking it or truly awake. Five or six hours had passed since she came out of the operating room; people usually wake up in three hours. The doctor had come several times during that time, constantly monitoring her condition.

"You're really awake, Miss Xu. I was just mesmerized by your beauty and fainted for a while longer." Li Ye stopped grinning and forced a proper smile.

"Okay, you're even joking with me now. Looks like he's really awake." Hearing this, Xu Wanyi finally felt relieved. She had been staring at the computer screen so intently, not at all working, but searching online for things like "How long does it take to wake up after general anesthesia?" and "How long does it take to recover after a major artery is cut?" Even in the hospital, she was still unwilling to give up and wanted to gather more information herself, as if Li Ye wouldn't wake up unless she did.

In truth, she was afraid—Xu Wanyi knew all too well that this was an extreme manifestation of nervousness and fear. She could only immerse herself in something she was currently focused on, which seemed to shift her attention, but in reality, she was still uneasy.

"You haven't answered my question yet? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"No, I just feel a little dizzy, like there's something between my head and my eyes."

As they were talking, Director Wang, the attending physician, and the nurses arrived. After a thorough examination, the attending physician said, "Everything is normal. It's normal for you to be a little dazed right now. The anesthesia usually wears off after eight hours. You need to rest well from now on. You've lost a lot of blood, so you'll have to replenish it."

"Okay, I understand. Thank you, Dr. Liu!" Xu Wanyi greeted the doctors and nurses politely.

"Yes, Mr. Xu, Attorney Li is a lucky man and has pulled through this safely, but he lost a lot of blood and will need to rest well for the next few months. Well then, Mr. Xu, we won't bother you two any longer. Please call us if you need anything," Director Wang said warmly.

"Thank you, Director Wang, thank you, Dr. Liu, and Nurse Zhang." Xu Wanyi had probably never been so gentle and kind in her life, saying "thank you" repeatedly.

After they all left, Li Ye said weakly, "Chairman Xu, did you hear what the doctor said? I need to rest well. You have to treat me well from now on so I can recover quickly and continue to be your servant."

Xu Wanyi rolled her eyes and ignored her. This person got so arrogant when he was sick. If it were before, Xu Wanyi would have thrown anything she could get her hands on at him. But now that things had changed so much, she naturally wouldn't be willing to throw even a piece of paper at Li Ye.

Li Ye had been expecting Xu Wanyi to retort with harsh, cold words, something like the "I pay you to do things" approach she often used to say. Unfortunately, this time Xu Wanyi didn't do as she expected. Instead, she came over, tucked the blanket around her, touched her forehead, and finding nothing amiss, gently sat down on the chair next to the bed.

"I'll give you water later. The doctor said to wait and see, but I feel it's better to wait. Can you hold it in?"

"Mmm." Xu Wanyi's soft and gentle voice only existed in Li Ye's memory, and even in his memory, there were few such scenes. So she was as obedient as a puppy being stuffed into its owner's bed in the wind and rain.

After the doctor's efforts, Li Ye was actually quite exhausted. No matter how much she pretended to be fine, she had lost too much blood and didn't want to say anything more. She turned to look out the window, where the dim light shone on the sparse branches and leaves, reflecting the shimmering water. A few rays of light shone into the room through the half-drawn curtains, and it seemed that only the sound of raindrops falling could be heard in the world.

Xu Wanyi thought she was angry. After thinking it over again, she couldn't help but say, "Uh..." and stopped.

Although the sound was faint, Li Ye still caught it. She turned her gaze to Xu Wanyi. She saw that Xu Wanyi's brows were furrowed, and her expression changed several times, as if she wanted to say something but found it difficult to say it.

"What's wrong, Wanyi?"

Xu Wanyi looked at Li Ye's pale face again, and her tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed. She found Li Ye's hand that was not receiving an IV drip and gently placed her hand on it.

"I'm sorry, Li Ye."

"Sorry? Is it because you haven't paid the lawyer's fees, or are you still trying to maintain a client relationship with me?" Li Ye guessed what Xu Wanyi wanted to say and deliberately made a joke. However, she was currently weak and spoke slowly, which made her seem like she really wanted to "settle accounts".

"I didn't handle this matter well. I never thought Jin Haifeng... could do such a thing." Xu Wanyi's voice grew softer and softer, and her head unconsciously turned to the snow-white sheets.

The room was completely silent; even the sound of raindrops seemed inaudible. After a while, Xu Wan noticed that Li Ye wasn't speaking and assumed he didn't want to talk to her anymore. Feeling a little anxious, she suddenly heard a soft laugh beside her. She looked up and saw Li Ye's sly smile, his lips slightly upturned, and his eyes full of mockery.

Suddenly, she felt her hand, which was covering Li Ye's hand, being grasped by another hand with its fingers interlocked, and then squeezed a little harder at the end.

“It’s not your fault, Wanyi. Even if you don’t do anything to them now, I will soon do something to them.” Li Ye paused, then said, “It’s just that Jin Haifeng is young and impetuous, arrogant and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. You can tell from how easily he colluded with Chen Chunlin and Zhang Gang.”

"But, well, the only thing I want to tell you, uh, let me make one thing clear first, don't get angry no matter what you hear." Li Ye knew where this young lady's sore spot was, so he spoke first to ask for a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Xu Wanyi was somewhat taken aback. At this point, what was there for her to be angry about? However, what came out of her mouth was: "That depends on what it is." What if Li Ye suddenly had a change of heart and took this opportunity to reveal her romantic history over the past ten years, demanding that she forget everything and forgive him after hearing it? Couldn't she be angry after hearing her vivid description?

Li Ye shrank back a little when he heard this. Where did the gentle and tender Xu Wanyi from just now go?

"Well, what I want to say is that people like Jin Haifeng, including Zhang Gang—do you remember what Zhang Gang did in the office last time? Their backgrounds are actually very similar. They all came from poverty, went through countless hardships, and were even bullied and had their self-esteem trampled on by countless people before they got to where they are today. If these people don't become someone else's umbrella, they will become the most vicious and ruthless people in the world."

“And because of my background, I will never be able to understand people like that, right?” Xu Wanyi interrupted before Li Ye could continue.

Li Ye wrapped the blanket tighter around himself, feeling a bit annoyed, and didn't say anything more. After a moment, he seemed to remember something: "So, if you encounter people like that again in the future, pay attention to their background before making any plans. I'm not blaming you, I really am not blaming you. You're in the open while they're in the shadows, it's really hard to say what kind of heinous things these people might do."

Xu Wanyi understood her words and knew that she had learned to be tactful and was no longer so direct, saying things like "It's easy for a rich person like you to talk when you're not in the same boat."

Although the Xu family was internally discordant and, by high moral standards, not exactly good people, the advantage of being wealthy was that the siblings wouldn't directly encounter the naked petty evils of the lowest rungs of society. Therefore, Xu Wanyi always assumed the worst about her opponents' demands, rather than their capabilities.

After all, great evil is invisible; even if someone were to kill or eat people, they wouldn't do it in such a clumsy way.

"Of course, I don't mean that all rich and powerful people are virtuous and honest. Eighty percent of the evil in this world is done by people of your class, Miss Xu. You've heard the saying, 'Those who steal a country become princes, those who steal a pearl are punished.' But you only have one life, and you're not a rich person who does evil. It's not worth risking your life to fight these people."

"Yeah, I know it's easy for me to say this when I'm not in the situation, but I'll be careful... Drink some water, and then get some rest. It's already very late."

Xu Wanyi gently squeezed Li Ye's hand, then tucked it into the blankets and got up to fetch her some water.

Li Ye laughed silently the moment she turned around.