Chapter 21

Under the bright incandescent light in the hall, the high-hanging ink painting of rivers and mountains lost its daytime charm in the strong light, and turned from rich colors into a pale and hazy one, making it impossible to see what kind of scenery was depicted on it.

Xiao Weiyan squinted his eyes for a while, dazzled by the strong light reflection, and looked far away towards a group of lockers at the corner of the hall. Jiawei had been wandering between the lockers for more than ten minutes, but seemed to have made no progress.

"Did you forget which cabinet you put it in?" he walked over and asked her.

Jiawei clutched a crumpled piece of paper in her hand and said in a panic: "No, I'm studying this code..."

In order to save time, he took the note in her hand and took a look at it: "What's so good about the password note? This kind of locker is not complicated, and it is similar to the ones used in domestic supermarkets." As he said that, he was about to try the password lock in the center of the locker.

Jiawei grabbed the code back in a hurry: "I just tried it. The 24-hour free storage period has passed. I need to pay the fee to get it back."

"Oh? That doesn't matter. This hospital mainly serves Asian customers. They should be able to pay directly by scanning the code." Xiao Weiyan casually pressed a few buttons on the password input area in the middle of the cabinet. Apart from a few beeps, he didn't find any QR code on the screen.

Jiawei stood aside, her palms sweating, and she waited for the right moment: "Brother Yan, the password is printed on the back. I'll study it myself and try a few more times. You should sit over there and wait for me!"

She promptly showed him the back of the code strip, which indeed contained the "Storage and Deposit Usage Instructions" densely printed in small letters in both English and Arabic.

Xiao Weiyan narrowed his eyes, ready to take it over for study.

Jiawei, however, only briefly waved the note in front of his eyes before taking it away: "The words are too small. Brother Yan, you've been staring at the computer all day, and your eyes are already overstrained. I can handle this little thing myself."

Xiao Weiyan rubbed his eyes, which had been irritated by the bright light when he was bored looking at the ink painting of rivers and mountains. "Okay, I'll wait for you over there. If you really can't figure it out, call me and I'll see if I can find someone to help you unlock it."

The hospital was on night shift, and the halls were deserted. Finding a support staff member wasn't as convenient as it was during the day. Jiawei was thankful for this, as she could buy some time. "Don't worry, let me try again. I feel bad for finding someone for such a small matter."

Xiao Weiyan nodded, walked back to his seat and sat down, looking boredly at the electronic screen in the hospital that was playing promotional videos.

Jiawei let out a long sigh. She wasn't good at lying. Every time she lied, she felt guilty and weak in the knees. Yesterday, in front of Guan Ying, if it weren't for the railing, she could hardly stand up straight. Now, she found an inconspicuous corner, squatted down dejectedly, and stared at the code note as if she had lost her soul: "Guan Guan, what should I do..."

Time passed by little by little without anyone noticing, and several doctors or assistants who were working overtime upstairs left work one after another.

"Hey? Isn't that Lawyer Xiao? When did you get here?" Director Ma, now over fifty, had moved to the UAE with his children. Unable to cope with idleness, he remained committed to his profession as a doctor. He had just finished overtime and had changed out of his white coat for a white shirt and light blue jeans. His steps were brisk, his voice clear, and he looked radiant, as if he were a dozen years younger.

Xiao Weiyan stood up upon hearing the voice, took a closer look, and finally recognized him: "Director Ma, why are you working overtime so late? It's been a while since we last met. You look very different from before. I almost didn't recognize you just now."

Upon hearing this, Director Ma was delighted but also polite: "Last time you saw me, I was just a housemaid cleaning the place. Now I'm finally back to work. How can I be the same spirited and energetic as before? Haha, there's nothing I can do. I'm just a person who can't sit still! By the way, it's so late. If you have anything to say, just come up and see me. Why are you waiting here alone?"

"I don't have anything to do. I just stopped by with a friend to pick up something."

"Oh~~" Director Ma said meaningfully. He glanced around and didn't see anyone else. Remembering that he had been concentrating on watching the hospital's promotional video, he laughed. "I can even take an extra shift here. I'm so happy. Speaking of which, I have to thank you for introducing me to a professional lawyer. I was able to get a doctor's license here!"

The senior kept addressing him respectfully as "you," which made the younger Xiao Weiyan feel embarrassed. "I didn't do anything. You have real skills. You can do it even without a lawyer."

"Since Lawyer Xiao trusts me, just send your girlfriend to me for treatment in the future. The nursing conditions of this hospital are almost comparable to the top three hospitals in China! I see that the girl has a weak constitution and a protrusion in her lumbar spine, which is pressing on the nerves. She just got pregnant and doesn't feel it yet. I'm afraid she will suffer more than others in the future! You don't have to worry. As long as you two young people have discussed it, I will definitely help. It is indeed a little difficult to treat, but I will do my best!" Director Ma thought that he was too cautious as a lawyer, so he came to check out the conditions of the hospital on site, patted his shoulder seriously, and reassured him.

Xiao Weiyan blinked and stood there in a daze.

Director Ma smiled and said, "Why, are you still worried? If you are really worried, then you can only send her back to China as soon as possible to protect the fetus. You two will have to live apart!"

Xiao Weiyan asked in a daze: "How long has she been pregnant?"

Director Ma saw his expression and said, "About a week. Other doctors probably still can't find the cause. This is also my own experience in 30 years of practicing Traditional Chinese Medicine in China. It's pretty close. Of course, you can also wait a few more weeks and come back for a urine and blood test to confirm it. There's still time to make any decision, so don't panic." As he spoke, his phone vibrated and buzzed. "Hey, my daughter-in-law is here to pick me up. Shall we go together?"

Xiao Weiyan hesitated: "I'd like to...thank you first...I'd also..."

Director Ma frowned, glanced at the hall window, walked over and whispered a few words to the girl on duty inside the window before returning: "Well, I've greeted everyone for you. Please sit here for a while. If you have anything, you can ask her. Of course, you can also call me. However, she has to go off work in half an hour."

Amidst Xiao Weiyan's distraught and vague thanks, Director Ma left work feeling uneasy. As he got into his car, he couldn't help but complain to his daughter-in-law, "Oh, thank goodness I didn't let your husband study law. This is the occupational hazard of being a lawyer. You can't be bothered by this or that."

The daughter-in-law started the car, thought for a moment, and said with a smile, "How come you change your tune so quickly? A while ago, you were saying it would be nice to have a lawyer in the family! What's going on? Could it be that Lawyer Xiao came to see you today with his girlfriend? Speaking of which, I treated them to dinner at a Chinese restaurant the night before last, and I saw with my own eyes how nice Lawyer Xiao was to his girlfriend! The bones on the vinegar fish were so fine and shredded that he almost wanted to remove them all and give them to his girlfriend. And hey, his girlfriend is interesting too, she's not polite at all! Halfway through the meal, she chased after another man and ran off without a second thought! It's a good thing she ran away. I ended up serving a plate of crabs, but she didn't get to eat any of them. I didn't know at the time, otherwise it would have been really bad for her pregnancy."

"She ran away?" Director Ma hesitated. "Did you see her run away?"

"Well, that guy is quite young and runs elegantly, but he's not as fast as she can catch up with him."

"That shouldn't be the case. Her lumbar disc is herniating and pressing on her nerves. She said she developed the condition when she was a dancing girl. Yesterday, she was in so much pain that she could barely straighten her back. She started crying in pain while talking to me in the clinic. She was so delicate and sweet, and her voice was as sweet as a sick cat."

"Hmm?" The daughter-in-law looked back at her mother-in-law. "You must be mistaken, aren't you? His girlfriend isn't delicate at all. There's a close friend of hers who's just like that. She's fair and tender, and has a sweet smile. You can tell she's a southern girl."

"He's just a southerner... Ouch! Ouch!" Director Ma slapped his knee, regretting it deeply. "I'm off track, I really am!"

......

Jiawei hesitated for half an hour, but Xiao Weiyan didn't come to the cabinet to ask again. It was not until the girl on duty at the window ran over and asked her if there was anything she could help with that she slowly opened the cabinet and took out several bags of things that she had put in it yesterday.

When I got into the car with Xiao Weiyan, I secretly glanced at the time and found that it was just past the police station's evening visiting time.

"Brother Yan, it's all my fault. I wasted all the time!" In order to appear to be in a hurry, Jiawei took out a half-drunk tea drink from the cup beside her seat.

"It's too cold, don't drink it yet." Xiao Weiyan had just taken all the bags from her hands and was silent all the way until he saw her wanting to drink ice water after getting in the car, and then he spoke.

"Oh..." She wasn't that thirsty, so she put it back after seeing his expression, still worried that he would be angry, "Brother Yan, are you still going to the police station?"

Xiao Weiyan said to the driver in front with a cold face: "Let's go to the Burj Al Arab!"

Jiawei lowered her head in shame. Ever since that night when she crossed the line, Xiao Weiyan, as if to compensate her or to silence her, had been pampering her lavishly for several days, first at the Royal Palace Hotel and then at the Burj Al Arab in Dubai. But she didn't feel any enjoyment. Instead, she felt that the hotel suites, which often cost two thousand dollars a night, were like luxurious shackles, strangling her every night and nearly suffocating her. She would rather be in the police station holding cell where Guan Ying was.

Several large bags of things were brought in by the waiter, and Xiao Weiyan followed in. After giving her a tip, he sat down on the sofa.

Jiawei was restless and hid in the bathroom to fill the bathtub with hot water.

A tank of water has been connected. He has been hiding for quite some time. He listened carefully and it was very quiet outside the door. He must be angry but too embarrassed to vent, so he finally left, right?

Although she had applied a plaster that day, her back and waist were still sore from the air conditioning. She could hardly bear it any longer, so she took off her clothes without hesitation, peeled off the plasters on her back that were already soaked with sweat, threw them on the sink, and then got into the bathtub naked.

The hot water covered her from head to toe, just like when she was a child hiding in her mother's arms. The warmth relieved her for a moment. When she couldn't hold her breath anymore, she pried her head out of the water with a "splash" and finally let out a long sigh: "Huh!"

"Knock knock!" Someone knocked on the bathroom door from outside, frightening Jiawei so much that she screamed, "Ah!"

This sound frightened Xiao Weiyan, who had been sitting outside the door for a long time. He thought she took too long to shower, and when he was hesitating at the door, he heard a lot of noise coming from inside, so he simply knocked on the door. The scream made him believe that something was wrong inside, so he didn't care and rushed in through the bathroom door.

"Ah!" Jiawei had nowhere to hide and fell headfirst into the bathtub, stirring up the hot water and splashing all over the floor.

When Xiao Weiyan rushed over hurriedly, his leather shoes suddenly became slippery and he fell heavily. His nose hit the edge of the bathtub, and the bright red blood from his nose dripped into the bathtub, spreading out like petals.

Jiawei was panicking watching from underwater. She turned over, arched her back and crawled out: "Xiao Weiyan!"

She called him by his full name because she didn't know where on his body he was hit. Whether it was Brother Yan's hands or his face, each one was very useful and more precious than her own.

The edge of the bathtub was slippery, and Jiawei slipped down again before she could get up. This startled Xiao Weiyan so much that he went to help her. They both jumped into the bathtub, splashing water everywhere, and the shower room was overflowing into a small ocean.

Although Xiao Weiyan was in a state of embarrassment, he still tried to maintain the distance between him and her waist, fearing that something might go wrong.

Her belly was cushioned by his warm palm, and on her back she could feel the buttons of his clothes floating down due to being soaked in hot water, gently touching her already sensitive spine: "Hmph..."

"Are you okay?" Xiao Weiyan asked her from behind. A stream of heat dripped from his nose behind Jiawei's ear, sliding along the red veins of her neck into the water. It reminded him of the red he had glimpsed that night. Yes, what was there to doubt! What other evidence did he need?!

Jiawei huddled her hands over her chest, hiding in the water and deceiving herself: "No, it's okay..."

"I'll pick you up." He stopped dodging and carefully exited the bathtub. He took the long towel from the shelf, threw it into the bathtub, wrapped Jiawei up, and then carried her out with a "splash". He turned around and carried her to the sink. "Come down later. I need to wipe the water off the floor first."

Jiawei was wrapped in a hot, damp towel, with hot water dripping down her body. She wondered what the point was of Xiao Weiyan bending over and scrubbing back and forth in front of the sink. "Brother Yan, I'm fine. Go out first and wipe the blood off your nose."

Xiao Weiyan was still bending over to mop the floor, with no intention of stopping.

Jiawei is about to jump down.

Xiao Weiyan suddenly yelled, "Don't move!"

Jiawei was frightened, pulled her scarf and lowered her head.

Hot water continued to flow from her long towel, but Xiao Weiyan was busy cleaning it up, seemingly not noticing anything wrong with it. His logic and rationality had long since vanished.

Jiawei shrank back, "I'm sorry, I thought you were gone."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry again, don't keep saying sorry to me! I was the one who offended you, why are you saying sorry to me!" It was obvious that she was the one who suffered the loss, but she always admitted her mistake first and never held him accountable. She was both silly and cowardly, which made Xiao Weiyan inexplicably angry at her for not fighting for it. Even if she fought for something, he would know how to compensate her, but she just looked like she had endured, accepted, and accepted it.

The angrier he got, the more apologetic Jiawei became: "I'm...I'm sorry."

Xiao Weiyan threw away the mop and stood up. He finally realized that the endless stream of water on the ground came from her long scarf and his own clothes. He felt a little regretful and his tone softened: "You and I both know that I was the one who wronged you from the beginning."

With nothing blocking his view, he naturally took off her long scarf and put a dry bathrobe on her. Then he took off his clothes, shoes and socks and put on a bathrobe for himself.

Jiawei blushed and didn't dare to open her eyes.

He had a blank expression on his face. He picked her up and carried her to the sofa. Then he found a hair dryer and handed it to her: "Blow it yourself. I'll call room service."

The waiter cleaned the bathroom again and brought a set of men's clothes.

While giving these orders, Xiao Weiyan acted like a husband, like the host. Even the waiters mistook them for a couple. Jiawei lay on the sofa, blowing her hair. She felt that everything happening before her was extremely precious, yet so fleeting. She couldn't bear to look away, wanting to firmly remember this scene, a bubbly scene that didn't belong to her.

Xiao Weiyan changed his clothes. It was impossible for him to stay with her. She should know this, and she advised herself that it would be better for her to know this.

"I forgot to ask you, how does your waist look?" He stood beside the sofa and asked her with concern.

Jiawei put down the hair dryer, tucked her fluffy hair behind her ears, and regained her composure: "It's an old problem, just apply some plaster and it will be fine."

"That plaster doesn't seem to have any taste."

"It's a far-infrared heating plaster."

"Oh... no wonder I didn't notice... You mean an old problem? I don't think I've asked you before..."

"When I was little, my mom always took me to the folk art troupe. Seeing that I was interested in dancing, she wanted to train me. But I didn't expect that I used too much force and hurt my waist. Haha, that's just how I am. It seems like I can't do anything right..."

Xiao Weiyan picked up the hair dryer, blew it on his head twice, and then put it back in place for her.

"Your parents must be very worried about you, right?"

Jiawei looked up at him, not understanding why he was suddenly interested in her family and past: "I don't have a father."

"..." Xiao Weiyan's eyes flickered.

"Don't just pity me when I say this. When I was little, I had a lot of older brothers in the folk art troupe, and they all loved me. Later, I left home to go to university in Tianjin, and I met Guan Guan. She protected me everywhere, like a little bully... Uncle Guan was also very good to me. When I was in university, he would go to the school to see Guan Guan whenever he passed through Tianjin on business trips. He would prepare a portion of everything he brought with him for me. So even though I don't have a father, I don't feel like I'm missing anything."

Jiawei tried to smile, but Xiao Weiyan saw through her. He turned his back and sighed, "Guan Guan...does she know about your...situation?"

"Waist? Of course Guan Guan knows. He even arranged to pick me up at the hospital yesterday afternoon. But, what happened later..."

Hearing this, Xiao Weiyan shook his body slightly, his scalp tingling: "She still knows, no wonder she looks like that, I thought..."

Jiawei was behind him and couldn't hear clearly: "What?"

Xiao Weiyan turned around: "I mean, what are your plans next?"

Jiawei wasn't sure what his question was about. After thinking for a moment, she decided to speak her mind. "Brother Yan, I was just about to tell you not to renew your stay at this hotel. As soon as the management is released, I'm leaving the UAE."

"Leave? Where to?!"

Seeing his anxious face, Jiawei said in surprise: "Of course I will go back to China."

"But I remember you said your mother will be going to Russia for a diplomatic performance with the folk art troupe soon. Why are you in such a hurry to return home alone?" Xiao Weiyan stared into her eyes, as if he wanted to see through her.

Jiawei blinked and stammered, "I...I'm alone...I was alone originally..."

Xiao Weiyan stopped her: "Let me think about this matter carefully first, don't act on your own!"

She thought he was still worried about what happened that night, but she had promised him that she would never tell anyone about it. For the people she cared about, she would never go back on her word. Wouldn't it be more reassuring if she stayed away? Jiawei's expression changed, and she became determined as if she had burned her boats: "This is the best way!"

"The best way?" Xiao Weiyan frowned, convinced that she was going to go that far, and said anxiously, "No! You should at least discuss it with me! I, Xiao Weiyan, am not such an irresponsible person! Give me some time!"

Jiawei asked doubtfully, "Responsibility? Didn't we agree to just pretend it never happened?"

Xiao Weiyan suddenly changed his attitude: "Facts are facts, how can we pretend that they didn't happen! Anyway, starting from tomorrow, don't go anywhere, just wait for me here!"