Chapter 35 Discharge from the Hospital Recently, all my words have been about you.

After Lin Yu woke up, the doctor performed a comprehensive examination on her as requested by Zhou Ke. Only after confirming that there were no other external injuries or clear bleeding points did Zhou Ke finally feel relieved.

On the second day of her hospitalization, Yan Yadong and Jiang Zi arrived early to visit her. Jiang Zi placed a bouquet of flowers on the bedside table. "I heard from Yan Yadong that you were in a car accident. It really scared me to death." As she spoke, she looked around and, seeing that nothing serious had happened, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Ke wasn't there, so Yan Yadong pulled up a stool and sat down. "What did the doctor say? Is his head alright?"

Lin Yu straightened up and smiled faintly: "Concussion, nothing serious, you can be discharged tomorrow."

"It's good that you're alright." Yan Yadong sighed, "You don't know, the day your brother received the call from the hospital, his face turned completely pale. I've known him for so many years, and I've never seen him like that. He looked like he'd lost his soul. It really scared me."

Yan Yadong will probably never forget Zhou Ke's expression at that time. He looked as disheveled as if he had fallen into the water, having lost all composure, calmness, and restraint.

As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Yu's smile faded a bit. She remembered what Zhou Ke had said last night, and her chest felt like it had been filled with lemon juice, suddenly turning bitter and astringent.

Seeing that Lin Yu's expression was off, Jiang Zi glared at Yan Yadong: "Why are you telling her this? She's still lying in a hospital bed."

After being told that, Yan Yadong realized what was going on and reverted to his usual playful demeanor: "Oh, it's my fault for being nosy. Why did I tell you this?"

Just then, the door to the ward opened, and Zhou Ke walked in, carrying a takeout box. He looked at the two people in the ward and asked, "When did you arrive?"

Yan Yadong: "I just arrived not long ago."

Zhou Ke placed the takeout box on the bedside table, ignoring the two of them, and only glanced at Lin Yu, asking, "Are you feeling unwell after waking up?"

Lin Yu licked her dry lips: "No, I'm much better than yesterday, and my head isn't dizzy anymore."

Zhou Ke gave a soft "hmm," turned around, poured a glass of water, and handed it to her.

After doing all that, Zhou Ke turned to Yan Yadong and said, "I won't be going to bars for a while. You can keep an eye on things in the south of the city yourself."

Yan Yadong nodded repeatedly, "I know that. Don't worry, just take good care of your sister. You don't need to worry about the bar and the billiard hall."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke gave a self-deprecating chuckle: "I can't possibly worry about that."

Lin Yu alone is enough to give him a headache.

Considering that Lin Yu needed to rest, the two didn't stay long, chatted for a while, and then left.

After everyone left, Zhou Ke placed the breakfast he had bought on the table: "Eat something first."

There are many breakfast shops near the hospital, but the types of breakfast are all pretty much the same. Since the patient needed something light, Zhou Ke packed a serving of wontons. Lin Yu glanced at it; it was steaming hot, with a layer of green scallions and a few small shrimp floating on the surface of the soup.

She picked up a spoon, scooped up a wonton, blew on it to make sure it wasn't too hot, and then took a small bite.

While eating, Zhou Ke watched Lin Yu from the side. Sunlight streamed in through the window and fell on the girl. She was wearing the hospital's blue and white gown, and her long hair was tied in a low ponytail with a rubber band. Only a few wispy strands remained around her hairline. She picked up a spoon and ate the wontons in her bowl one after another, occasionally taking a sip of soup. She looked quiet and well-behaved.

If it weren't for the current situation, Zhou Kezhen felt that just quietly watching her would be a kind of happiness, a sense of tranquility and peace, with no one to disturb them, only him and her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lin Yu noticed Zhou Ke staring at her. She turned her head, her eyes flashing, and softly called out to him, "Brother."

"Um."

Lin Yu put down her spoon. "I want to eat your baked razor clams."

Zhou Ke lowered his eyes slightly: "I'll make it for you when you're discharged from the hospital."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yu seized the opportunity to add to the list: "What about old duck soup?" She rattled off several menu items in one go.

Zhou Ke chuckled: "Do you see me as your brother or as a five-star chef?"

"Of course it's my brother." Lin Yu smiled and pursed her lips: "A five-star chef wouldn't just make whatever I want to eat for free."

Zhou Ke: "So you're treating your brother like free labor."

Lin Yu: "No, that's not true. I just wanted to say that my brother is really good to me."

It's good without reservation, good without conditions.

During many moments of self-pity and despair, she wondered if she would not have fallen in love with her brother if he hadn't been so good to her.

*

After breakfast, the nurse came to give her an IV drip.

With nothing much to do at the hospital, she casually browsed a few apps before falling asleep, aided by the medication.

After dusk, Jiayi and Congyi came to the hospital again, bringing with them crucian carp and tofu soup that Jiayi's mother had personally cooked.

When they came in, both of them looked rather unwell. Yi used to be such a cheerful person, but now she had stopped smiling and was carrying a thermos with a heavy expression as she followed Jiayi into the ward. As soon as Jiayi saw her lying on the hospital bed, she couldn't help but cry. Like a schoolchild being scolded, she wrung her hands in front of her abdomen and looked at her with teary eyes.

Before Lin Yu could finish speaking, Jia Yi suddenly hugged her tightly and burst into tears: "It's all my fault... Waaah, if I hadn't said I wanted to go to that mountain to escape the summer heat, the car accident wouldn't have happened... It's all my fault..."

Lin Yu patted her on the back, "It's not your fault, nobody wanted this to happen."

But Jiayi still felt extremely guilty, and she hugged Lin Yu and cried loudly with snot and tears streaming down her face.

Cong Yi knew that Jia Yi was really scared. If it weren't for her mother and Zhou Ke persuading her yesterday, she might have stayed in the ward and refused to leave. Seeing this scene, he stepped forward, patted Jia Yi's shoulder, and advised, "Alright, sister, this is a ward. Lin Yu already bumped her head. If you keep crying, she'll get a headache from crying."

Upon hearing this, Jiayi stopped crying. She raised her hand to wipe her tears, and Lin Yu took the opportunity to pull a tissue from the bedside table and hand it to her to wipe her face. "By the way, where's my brother?"

Jiayi: "What about outside?"

Lin Yu asked in confusion, "Isn't he coming in?"

At this point, Jiayi and Congyi looked at each other, then shrank back. Lin Yu noticed their reaction and sensed something was wrong. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Um..." Jiayi lowered her head, fidgeting with the crumpled tissue in her hand.

Seeing that Jiayi was hesitant and unwilling to speak, Lin Yu looked at Cong Yi. When Cong Yi met Lin Yu's eyes, he touched his nose and looked away unnaturally.

"Speak up, what's wrong?"

"Well..." Jiayi looked at Lin Yu with a hesitant expression, but under the scrutinizing gaze, she still told him everything, "Your brother saw Cong Yi at the hospital yesterday and almost got into a fight."

Lin Yu was taken aback. "What?"

At that moment, Zhou Ke grabbed Cong Yi by the collar and angrily said, "Is this how you take care of people?"

After the car accident, Lin Yu fell into a coma. When she woke up, she was lying in a hospital bed with only Zhou Ke by her side. Naturally, she didn't know what had happened. She hurriedly asked about the process and what happened next, "What happened next?"

"This matter?" Jiayi didn't know how to bring it up. "You should ask Brother Zhou Ke yourself."

Jiayi was unwilling to talk about it, Congyi was also unwilling to talk about it, and Lin Yu didn't know how to continue asking.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Jiayi glanced at the thermos on the table and laughed it off, "Oh, never mind that. I specially asked my mom to make some soup. It won't taste good if it gets cold. I'll pour it out for you."

As she spoke, she got up, unscrewed the lid of the thermos, and poured out the soup. The soup was milky white with a few plump goji berries floating on top. She drank half a bowl in one go.

The next morning, after the attending physician came to check on her, removed the gauze from her forehead, gave her some instructions, and then discharged Lin Yu from the hospital.

As noon approached, Zhou Ke lost his appetite for cooking, so he took her to the restaurant where he had eaten with Jiang Zi and Yan Yadong last time.

Zhou Ke had made a phone call in advance, and as soon as they arrived, a waiter led them into a private room.

Fuyunju is a Chinese restaurant. Inside the private room hangs a painting of a hundred flowers, with peonies and peonies depicted in lifelike detail. A huanghuali wood dining table is placed by the window, which is half-open, letting in a gentle breeze.

After the two sat down, the waiter handed the menu to Zhou Ke, who then passed it to Lin Yu: "See if there's anything you'd like to eat."

Last time we ate there, Lin Yu said that their crab roe noodles and caramel osmanthus pudding dessert were very good, so we ordered one again this time, and also ordered a fried crispy milk.

After ordering, Lin Yu closed the menu and was about to hand it to Zhou Ke to see if there was anything else she wanted to order when a hand reached out from across the table. Long, slender fingers held a purple cup and placed the tea in front of her.

He lowered his eyes, withdrew his hand from the cup, and added another bowl of mixed soup.

Lin Yu was a little worried that they might have ordered too much, but Zhou Ke said, "It's okay, I ordered it for you to try, it should suit your taste."

Once the waiter left, only the two of them remained in the private room. Lin Yu picked up her teacup, took a sip, and asked, "Brother, do you often eat here?"

“Occasionally.” Zhou Ke looked up at her. “Lately, it’s all been with you.”

The warm tea slid down her throat, and Lin Yu tasted the flavor of roses—sweet and delicate with a faint fragrance. A breeze blew by, causing the hair behind her ear to stick to the corner of her mouth. Lin Yu was slightly startled; the rim of the cup was still against her lips. She suddenly looked up and saw Zhou Ke staring straight at her.

This statement is too ambiguous. If it were an ordinary man and woman, it would likely have a hidden meaning, with their minds not on the food but on the person.

Lin Yu's eyelashes fluttered slightly, then she abruptly looked away, concealing the fleeting tremor in her eyes with her long, lowered lashes. She reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, replying absentmindedly, "Really?"

With his fingertips lightly stroking the rim of the cup, Zhou Ke's voice was deep, and a faint smile appeared on his lips: "When have I ever lied to you?"

His intense gaze fell on Lin Yu's head, making her feel inexplicably guilty. She put down her cup, and her fingertips curled up unconsciously.

Her brother hadn't lied to her, but she had lied to him countless times, more than she could count on one hand. She wondered what Zhou Ke's reaction would be if he found out, whether he would be so angry that his face would turn ashen. Thinking of this, Lin Yu picked up her cup again and took a sip of water, trying to suppress the thorns in her heart.

After waiting for a while, the door to the private room was pushed open, and waiters brought in the prepared dishes one by one.

After the little incident, Lin Yu decided to just eat and not say anything during the meal. She still remembered what Zhou Ke said at the hospital: that they would talk about it after she recovered. She should be recovered now. As for what Zhou Ke planned to do to her later, Lin Yu couldn't say for sure. She just felt a headache. How could she explain things without making her brother angry?

After dinner, the two returned home.

Lin Yu told Jia Yi about her discharge from the hospital, and the latter quickly called her.

"You're discharged! What did the doctor say? I hope there won't be any aftereffects."

"No, it's nothing serious. You just need to rest well during this time, don't worry," Lin Yu reassured her.

"That's good." Jiayi said listlessly, "Since the car accident, I haven't been able to eat or sleep well these past few days. Luckily you're alright, otherwise I would have felt so guilty."

Lin Yu smiled and said, "I already said, this has nothing to do with you, it's just an accident."

After she finished speaking, a sigh came from the receiver. Jiayi turned to her and said, "By the way, Congyi is going back to Lincheng in two days." At this point, she bit her lip and tentatively asked, "Have you... thought about when to tell your brother the truth?"

After these words were spoken, both sides fell silent.

Outside the window, the old locust tree's branches and leaves were lush and green. Sunlight filtered through the dense, layered leaves, casting dappled shadows on the window. On the left corner of the desk sat a brand-new desk calendar, turned to August. Time flies, and it was time to leave Tongcheng again.

She pursed her lips and said slowly, "In the next couple of days, I'll do it."