That night, a sharp, piercing sound came from the monitor in Gu Xingze's ward, and the on-duty nurse also heard a sharp, piercing sound.
When they arrived at the ward, Gu Xingze was still holding his phone, which was off, in his hand.
...
The next day.
Su Jin had just finished tidying her hair when there was a knock on the door. It was Shen Yanxiu bringing her the washed clothes.
"I dried it in the dryer, and it's very clean now."
Su Jin sniffed the scent and exclaimed in surprise, "It smells so good! Did you use fragrance beads? It smells wonderful."
The clothes smelled nice and were warm and cozy. Su Jin hugged them and snuggled against them, feeling very comfortable.
Thank you.
Shen Yanxiu was flattered by her praise, "If you like, I can wash your clothes."
One sentence brought Su Jin back to reality: They weren't that intimate yet, were they?
"No need, let's go to the film set."
Shen Yanxiu tugged at her sleeve, "Want to come along? My van is waiting downstairs."
"……OK."
Su Jin didn't wear a mask or sunglasses and went straight out of the hotel.
Whether she wears it or not doesn't matter. If paparazzi are staking out her, they can take pictures all they want until they realize she doesn't have anything to reveal, then they'll stop.
Once in the car, Shen Yanxiu's agent was visibly taken aback.
"Teacher Su? Hello, hello."
Su Jin shook hands with him, "Hello, thank you for your help."
The agent frantically tried to signal to Shen Yanxiu from the shadows, but the latter looked completely bewildered.
The agent pointed to the phone, indicating that he should speak on the phone.
[Boss's colleague is in heaven]: How did you get involved with her again?! My goodness! I finally managed to clarify that you and her were just friends, what are you doing?!
Shen Yanxiu only replied with three dots.
His manager was about to explode, but held back because Su Jin was there.
After finishing her morning filming, Su Jin discussed with the actresses in the same production crew about going out for lunch together.
One of the actresses who played her teacher said in surprise, "I didn't expect you to have this kind of personality. I only realized it when I met the real person."
Su Jin joked, "What do you mean by meeting me in person? I'm not a big star."
An actress of similar age joked with her, "You have no idea how apprehensive I am when I see you. My agent told me never to mess with you."
"Oh, you're overthinking it. Our Teacher Su is so approachable."
Su Jin's smile froze. "Why would you say that about me? Am I that scary?"
"No, no," she whispered in Su Jin's ear, "because of your investors and your husband, they're all people you can't mess with."
Su Jin had never known that people in the industry viewed her this way, and she didn't know what expression to wear.
A more experienced actor noticed something was amiss and tried to smooth things over, saying, "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. Didn't we say we'd go out to eat together?"
Picking at the boxed lunch in her hand, Su Jin was clearly absent-minded, thinking about what the actress had said earlier. It seemed that Director Chen had said something similar.
For a fleeting moment, she had the impulse to announce her divorce.
But reason prevailed, and I couldn't just go public with it. What if the stock market crashed and I lost money?
"Ajin, what's wrong?"
Su Jin looked up and saw Shen Yanxiu's tall figure looming over her.
She turned to look around, and found herself all alone.
Shen Yanxiu found a chair and sat down next to her. "They said you don't respond no matter how they call you, so I came to check on you."
His gaze shifted to Su Jin's lunchbox. She hadn't eaten much; he'd have to prepare some candy for her later.
"Did something happen? Or are you feeling unwell?"
Shen Yanxiu tilted his head and rested his head on his knees to look at her.
From this angle, paired with his pitiful eyes...
Su Jin had to admire Shen Yanxiu; he truly was an actor who knew how to manipulate people's hearts.
Feeling better, she reached out and patted him on the back. "Let's go, Teacher Shen."
Shen Yanxiu pointed to her lunchbox, "Aren't you going to eat?"
Su Jin waved her hand dismissively, "I don't want to eat it, it doesn't taste like anything."
She felt that her palate had become too picky.
Shen Yanxiu followed after him in small steps, "You'll get tired, eat some of this."
He then slipped a chocolate bar into her hand.
"Yes, thank you."
...
Gu Xingze opened his eyes to a wall covered in white paint.
He closed his eyes again, numbly.
It took Jiang Heng a long time to realize that he had woken up.
"Why didn't you make a sound? I didn't even know you were awake."
Gu Xingze pulled off his oxygen mask and propped himself up, not wanting his loved ones to see him like this.
For example, Su Jin.
But she won't come to see me; that's just wishful thinking.
What brings you here?
Jiang Heng tidied his messy hair, clearly indicating that he hadn't been doing well lately.
"Why would I come? Your mom told me to come and keep an eye on you. She was terrified yesterday."
Gu Xingze's eyelids drooped, and he didn't even bother to open them.
"Yeah, she should be worried about me, why doesn't she come and watch over me herself?"
Jiang Heng stopped talking. Why does he always have such a sharp tongue?
Gu Xingze changed the subject, "How are you? Did you fail to steal the bride?"
He had heard about Jiang Heng's 'heroic deeds'.
She called me a complete idiot.
Gu Xingze comforted him, "It's okay, any normal person would feel that way."
"..."
Jiang Heng covered his face. "She said I'm too childish and will never grow up. Am I really that childish?"
Gu Xingze corrected, "It's not naive, it's stupid."
After all, what normal person would do something like using a toy gun to steal a bride?
Jiang Heng was resentful after being repeatedly criticized. "So how are you any better than me? Just because your ex-wife doesn't come to see you, you've ruined yourself like this?"
"Not my ex-wife!"
Gu Xingze's chest heaved, frightening Jiang Heng into not daring to say another word.
"...Calm down, don't let me make you so angry, or I'll have no way to defend myself."
Gu Xingze turned his head away, "Don't call her ex-wife, she always likes to say I'm her ex-husband."
Jiang Heng muttered under his breath, "Is what they said wrong? Didn't you want a divorce? Now they're putting on this act."
Gu Xingze leaned against the hospital bed, struggling to breathe.
“What good will it do if I don’t bring up divorce? She’ll bring it up sooner or later anyway, so I might as well let her go and leave a good impression on her.”
Seeing his dejected look, Jiang Heng sighed and said, "That was your own decision, so don't be sad. It's all set in stone."
Gu Xingze sobbed a few times, "I said I wouldn't bother her anymore... I wouldn't cry for her anymore, but..."
It's really too difficult.
He looked up, tears streaming down his face.
“I called her yesterday, and a man answered.”
Gu Xingze could no longer tell whether he was talking to himself or confiding in Jiang Heng.
He knew that if he didn't vent his pain, he would eventually suffocate.
Do you know how I felt at that moment?
He closed his eyes sadly.
“I just felt like I was going to die… I was thinking, why didn’t they just kill me during the surgery… It would have been better than this living hell.”
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