Chapter 34 Car Accident - I Didn't Mean to Lie to You

It rained for several days in Tongcheng before the sun finally came out on Friday.

That evening, Jiayi called her to discuss going to the mountain resort to escape the summer heat in a few days. Congyi planned to return to Lincheng in a few days, and Jiayi wanted everyone to have a good time at the mountain resort before he left. There were tea gardens, fishing, and various other recreational activities there.

Jiayi had originally planned to have Lin Yu invite Zhou Ke, but now that things are like this, the three of them can only go together.

The departure date was set for the day after tomorrow. The two discussed the specific departure time and route, as well as what to bring, over the phone before finally ending the call.

When the brother and sister sat together at the dining table that evening, Lin Yu looked at the dishes on the table and her gaze fell on her brother sitting opposite her.

Since that day at the hotel, Zhou Ke had become much more silent, and his expression had become colder. At the same time, she felt that her brother seemed to have lost weight, and this obvious change made Lin Yu unable to help but ask him about it several times, but Zhou Ke always brushed her off, saying that it was just her imagination.

She spoke cautiously, "Brother, I have something to tell you."

"What."

"Do you remember when I told you I was going to go with Jiayi to that resort her uncle invested in?"

Zhou Ke thought for a moment and quickly remembered that he had encouraged Lin Yu to take advantage of the holiday to travel more. "I remember, what's wrong?"

Lin Yu: "We plan to go there the day after tomorrow."

Zhou Ke stewed pigeon soup for dinner. He took a bowl, ladled some out, and handed it to Lin Yu, asking, "Is it just the two of you?"

This question really stumped Lin Yu. Besides them, Cong Yi would also be going. Zhou Ke didn't know that he was Jia Yi's cousin. Moreover, Cong Yi's going there had nothing to do with the plan. In order not to cause any trouble and needlessly anger her brother, Lin Yu nodded and didn't mention Cong Yi at all.

Zhou Ke then agreed.

The night before their departure, Lin Yu was busy packing. Jia Yi said that since it was a rare opportunity to go there, she planned to stay for a week before returning, so she prepared a small suitcase to take with her. Zhou Ke glanced at it and, thinking that the two young girls were carrying luggage, which would likely be inconvenient for them, he looked at Lin Yu and asked, "Do you need me to take you there?"

The resort is located in the suburbs, and it takes two hours to get there one way from the city. Lin Yu put the things in her hands into the box, then closed it. While busy with her work, she said to Zhou Ke, "No need, a car from the resort will come to pick us up."

When Jiayi's uncle learned that his niece and nephew were going to visit, he specially arranged for a car to come and pick them up.

On the day of departure, Lin Yu had just walked downstairs when she saw a black minivan parked at the entrance of the residential area.

The driver picked her up and then drove the three of them to the resort. Yi had been playing until the early hours of the morning last night and got up early again today. As soon as she got in the car, she covered her face with her sun hat, crossed her arms, and fell asleep in the back seat. Only Jiayi and Lin Yu were still chatting in the car.

As the planner, Jiayi was naturally particularly concerned about the relationship between Lin Yu and Zhou Ke. When she learned that Zhou Ke not only didn't say anything, but also began to distance himself from Lin Yu, she widened her eyes and asked incredulously, "How could this be?"

Lin Yu lowered her gaze, equally puzzled: "I don't know either."

Jiayi swallowed hard and said nervously, "Could it be that he saw how well you and Congyi got along and convinced himself to accept him as your boyfriend?"

"......"

Lin Yu felt it was unlikely; he didn't seem to show any tolerance for their unfounded relationship. But she couldn't figure out what was going on. With the start of the new semester approaching, she planned to have a more in-depth conversation with her brother after returning from the resort, determined to pry out the reason for the change from his mouth.

As the vehicle entered the mountain road, the distant mountains stretched out in a continuous range. The vegetation on both sides of the road was lush and green, and when the sunlight shone down, you could see the dazzling halo reflected on the leaves.

The person in the back seat was still fast asleep, and Jiayi was also looking down at her phone. The car was quiet, and Lin Yu was looking at the scenery outside the window with her head turned to the side.

As the vehicle rounded the bend, a sharp horn suddenly blared. The driver, who had just dozed off, was caught off guard and saw a large truck approaching, about to collide with it. He instinctively jerked the steering wheel, causing the tires to screech. The commotion startled everyone in the car.

The vehicle crashed into the roadside guardrail with a loud bang.

Lin Yu's temples slammed heavily against the window frame, the world suddenly tilted and flipped, and the moment the seatbelt tightened around her collarbone, her breath caught in her throat, and all she could hear were a few panicked screams.

Lin Yu tried to blink, but found her eyes blurry, with only gray and white double images in her vision. A bright light suddenly shone on her, causing her to tear up.

...

Zhou Ke arrived much faster than Jia Yi had expected. Under the fluorescent lights of the emergency room lobby, she sat blankly on a bench. The moment she looked up and saw Zhou Ke, tears streamed down her face. She clutched her fingertips and stammered, "Brother Zhou Ke."

"Where is Lin Yu?" Zhou Ke looked over with a serious expression.

“In...inside..." She pointed to the observation room behind her. Doctors and nurses were coming and going in the emergency room, mixed with the patients' grief and the family members' crying. The sound of these sounds made Zhou Ke's face turn pale. He swayed and almost couldn't stand up.

Jiayi stood beside him, tears streaming down her face from her eyes, terrified. No one expected that a perfectly good trip would turn into a car accident. The vehicle crashed into the right-hand guardrail. Apart from the driver, Lin Yu was the most seriously injured. Because she was sitting on the right side, her head hit the glass window, and she fainted on the spot.

I woke up six hours later.

As evening fell, pink clouds painted half the sky, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone through the window into the ward. Lin Yu lay on the bed, and the medicine was being administered into her body drop by drop through the IV tube. The leads of the electrocardiogram monitor emitted a regular "beep beep" sound.

Zhou Ke stood by the bed, watching Lin Yu's pale face sink into the pillow. Her skin was so pale that it was almost the same color as the pillow and blanket. Her eyes were closed, and her fine eyelashes cast a fan-shaped shadow on her lower eyelids, making her look quiet and fragile.

His heart felt like it was being squeezed and kneaded by an invisible hand. He stared at her with a frosty expression until his eyes gradually stung.

No one knows what he was feeling when he received Jiayi's call. In broad daylight, it was as if his soul had left his body, his blood had frozen, and even his heartbeat had stopped.

He was so afraid, afraid that something would happen to her.

The monitor's numbers glowed dimly under the incandescent light. Zhou Ke rested his forehead against the bed railing, the smell of rust mixed with disinfectant seeping into his lungs. He heard his heartbeat gradually synchronize with Lin Yu's breathing.

The smell of disinfectant filled her nostrils, and Lin Yu frowned, trying to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt as heavy as lead. She tried to move her fingers and squinted her eyes through a narrow slit.

"woke up?"

A deep voice came from beside her. Lin Yu opened her eyes with difficulty, her vision blurry for a few seconds before gradually focusing. Zhou Ke sat by the hospital bed, his gaze fixed on her face, his brows slightly furrowed.

Lin Yu opened her mouth, but her throat was so dry that she couldn't make a sound. Her eyelashes fluttered, and a dull, throbbing pain in her forehead instantly brought back the scene of the car accident: the piercing horn, the out-of-control steering wheel, and Jia Yi's screams...

The wound on my forehead throbbed faintly, and my head felt like it was stuffed with cotton, making me feel dizzy and lightheaded.

She opened her mouth: "Brother..."

Zhou Ke's eyes were deep, and his tense expression never eased. All the words he had been holding back vanished at this moment. He gave a soft "hmm," and his long eyelashes drooped down, concealing the emotions surging in his eyes.

"Jia...Yi".

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke interrupted her directly, knowing that she cared about her friend and probably wanted to ask about Jia Yi. Thinking of that name, Zhou Ke's eyes darkened, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Jia Yi is fine. Her mother took her away after she came."

When Zhou Ke recalled the moment he learned that Cong Yi was also on this trip, a surge of anger welled up inside him. His eyes were filled with dark clouds, and his pulse was pounding violently. He remembered Lin Yu's words that there were only two of them.

What a pair of people!

He glanced over and felt as if countless needles were piercing his chest, a dense, tingling pain spreading to his limbs. For a long time, he couldn't quite describe what it felt like.

His younger sister has grown up, and he can't stop any man from liking her. Similarly, he can't just take advantage of his status as the older brother to be unreasonable and demand that she only look at him.

He tried his best to convince himself to accept them during every agonizing night.

Before persuasion could overcome reason, deception came first.

She lied to the same man twice.

Zhou Ke's Adam's apple bobbed slightly, his voice low and hoarse. He took a deep breath and looked at her face: "And your boyfriend, he's fine too. He came in, glanced at you, and then left with Jiayi."

As he spoke, a deep glint appeared in Zhou Ke's dark eyes, which darkened and pressed down.

Hearing this, Lin Yu's heart skipped a beat. Her eyes widened, and a trace of panic flashed across them before disappearing. To avoid making Zhou Ke overthink things, she had lied to him that only she and Jia Yi were going. Now that the lie had been exposed, she knew without a doubt how angry Zhou Ke would be.

She instinctively tried to sit up, attempting to explain something to her brother: "Brother... I, please listen to me..."

Seeing Lin Yu's reckless behavior, Zhou Ke glanced at her with mixed feelings and said in a deep voice, "Why are you moving around? The doctor said you have a concussion and need to lie down. Are you so scared just because you heard Cong Yi's name? He's fine, he doesn't even have any minor injuries. On the contrary, you are the one who is most seriously injured!"

Lin Yu had no time to worry about her injuries; all she could think about was how to explain things to Zhou Ke.

"Brother, I'm sorry..." Lin Yu leaned against the hospital bed, her eyes stinging with tears. "I didn't mean to lie to you..."

Zhou Ke stared intently at her, his chest heaving: "I don't want to discuss anything between you and Cong Yi right now. We can talk about it after you've recovered."

"Brother..." Lin Yu looked up, tears slowly sliding down her cheeks.

Zhou Ke was deeply hurt by her tear. More than deception, he cared about her health.

To allow Lin Yu to rest better, Zhou Ke arranged a single room for her. At this moment, there were only the two of them in the ward, and the room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

Zhou Ke was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke: "Do you know what I was thinking when the hospital called me?"

Lin Yu was stunned, and looked up at him with her wet eyes.

Zhou Ke looked at her, his dark eyes devoid of any of the tenderness he once had.

Lin Yu felt a pang of pain in her heart from his words. She had never seen Zhou Ke like this before. He was always calm and composed, rarely showing his emotions. But now, his eyes were filled with emotions she couldn't understand, as if something that had been suppressed for a long time had finally cracked open.

She would rather Zhou Ke berate her than see him looking so pained and helpless. A sour feeling slowly rose in her nose, and her eyes welled up with tears. Lin Yu sniffed and held back her tears.

She tilted her head back, revealing a pair of watery eyes, and forced a natural smile at him, as if to comfort him, and said softly, "Brother... I'm fine. Look at me, I'm perfectly fine now, I'm not missing any arms or legs."

She tried to comfort her brother, telling him that she was alright, but Zhou Ke remained unmoved. Lin Yu had no choice but to reach out and carefully take his hand, which was hanging by his side, and said softly, "No one could have predicted that something like this would happen, but luckily, I'm still standing here in front of you, safe and sound."

Zhou Ke stared at her for a few seconds, then stopped talking and just looked at her intently.

She cautiously raised her eyes, but was suddenly shocked to see a glaring glint in the corner of Zhou Ke's eye.

Her heart felt like it was being gnawed by a thousand ants, a sharp, throbbing pain. Her brain felt like it was being torn apart. Almost in fear, she grabbed Zhou Ke's sleeve and called him softly, "Brother."

She had never seen Zhou Ke like this before, so angry yet vulnerable, as if he had just emerged from the eye of a storm, looking disheveled.

Lin Yu opened her mouth, then asked in a low voice, "Are you angry?"

"No."

He had nothing left to lose, but for a fleeting moment when he received Jiayi's call, he stopped breathing and his hands trembled so much that he couldn't even drive.

"Have you ever thought about how your brother would live if something happened to him?"

Lin Yu opened her mouth, but couldn't utter a single word for a long time. This brother was so unfamiliar to her, so unfamiliar that she felt a sense of dread.