"I'm tired, you can go now."
Nanzhi lay down, covered herself with the blanket, and closed her eyes to rest.
She really couldn't be too harsh on the two of them, so she simply closed her eyes and went to sleep; they would naturally leave.
Shen Xingmian looked down at the girl on the bed. After a long while, he pulled Gu Ying and walked towards the door.
After the door closed, Nanzhi opened her eyes. The ward was quiet again. A look of loneliness flashed in her eyes. She was really gone.
Sigh, it's better that you left, so I won't have to feel sad later.
Nanzhi thought to herself for a while, then heard the sound of the door being opened.
She glanced instinctively toward the doorway. The boy looked at her and walked over.
Nan Zhi: "...Why are you still here?"
Shen Xingmian sat by the hospital bed and reached out to brush her hair aside. "I won't leave."
Going out was just to let Gu Ying go back first.
Nan Zhi couldn't help but feel a little happy, but she couldn't let Shen Xingmian suffer.
"Don't think about it anymore. No matter what you say, I won't leave. Xixi, there's something I've been keeping from you."
Nan Zhi looked at him, but how could Shen Xingmian know what she was thinking?
Actually, Shen Xingmian couldn't quite explain it. Perhaps it was because he left at the time because he didn't want Nanzhi to suffer even more in the future.
But to still have that kind of thinking now would be foolish.
"I like you."
Those four words left Nanzhi completely stunned, her eyes wide open, looking utterly dumbfounded. Nanzhi couldn't believe what she had just heard.
Shen Xingmian admits he likes her?
She stood there for a while before frowning and looking at Shen Xingmian. "You don't have to do this. You have to go against your heart and say you like me because of my illness. I don't care about that at all now."
Nan Zhi was still very angry. She had always treated Shen Xingmian with special favor and had spoken her mind to him many times, but how did this boy respond? Now he suddenly came to say this, which was clearly intentional.
Shen Xingmian wasn't annoyed. He looked at the girl, his eyes filled with her image. "I like you, Xixi, let's date."
Nan Zhi was a little surprised. Given Shen Xingmian's personality, he would never say such a thing, but now he not only said it, but also did so very solemnly and formally confess his feelings to her.
"What's wrong with you today?" Nan Zhi frowned, really not understanding why Shen Xingmian was acting so strangely today. Logically speaking, even if he knew she was sick, he shouldn't have such a big reaction. Anyway, he didn't know he was beyond saving.
"Xixi, I kept running away from you before, afraid to accept your feelings, because I was afraid that I would leave you alone in the future, and that would make you even more sad. But now I've figured it out. If you like someone, you like them. We love each other, and we should be together."
Shen Xingmian probably never imagined he would say such cheesy things, but he just said it so directly, showing his youthful nature.
Hearing him say that, Nanzhi was taken aback, afraid that she would be sad and heartbroken alone in the future.
Shen Xingmian did not belong to this world. In the end, he would return to the book. He understood this and was afraid that one day he would suddenly leave. If that happened, how painful it would be for the person left behind.
So this was the reason why Shen Xingmian had always rejected her. Nanzhi felt a little bitter. Yes, how painful it must be for the one who stayed behind. Nanzhi had seen it with her own eyes. In the story she wrote, wasn't Shen Xingmian the one who died young?
Before coming here, I had personally witnessed how he had lived like a walking corpse for those few years.
Thinking of all this, Nan Zhi's eyes welled up with tears. Shen Xingmian had always treated her very well, even though he kept rejecting her, but his purpose was to prevent her from experiencing a tragedy in the future.
"Then why have you suddenly come to this realization?"
Nanzhi stared at him and asked, "Do you now think I won't be sad or upset in the future?"
Shen Xingmian was slightly taken aback, a hint of pain flashing in his eyes. He smiled and said, "I will always be with you, so you won't be sad."
For three months, Shen Xingmian wanted to be with Nan Zhi every day, and he wanted to cherish the time he spent with her each day.
Nan Zhi expressed her confusion. Although she didn't have much time left to live, did Shen Xingmian's words mean that he knew about her condition?
But how did he know that?
Nan Zhi lowered her eyes and thought for a while before suddenly raising her head and smiling at Shen Xingmian, "Okay, let's date."
Shen Xingmian breathed a sigh of relief, her face beaming with undisguised joy.
Nan Zhi thought that she was Shen Xingmian's wife, and she would have to tell him about this sooner or later; she just needed to find a suitable opportunity.
"You're not going home tonight?"
Nanzhi almost spat out the water in her mouth. "What about Aying?"
"Besides, don't you also have a part-time job at a hot pot restaurant?"
Shen Xingmian took the water glass from her hand and said with a smile, "I resigned. Aying can take care of herself. I will live here every day from now on."
Nan Zhi: "...But my dad comes over to rest every day."
Shen Xingmian shook her head. "It's okay, I can sleep on the sofa."
In this ward, an extra bed was specially added for Mu Zi's convenience. The sofa and coffee table over there are used for sitting or working.
Nan Zhi pursed her lips, somewhat helpless. It was indeed possible to suggest sleeping on the sofa, but how could that be acceptable?
When Mu Zi arrived, she saw her daughter was different from usual. She was talking animatedly with a boy, her eyes shining brightly.
He turned the doorknob, stood at the door for a few seconds, and then went inside, with the butler following behind carrying a lunchbox.
Upon seeing Shen Xingmian, the butler's expression turned sour. In the butler's eyes, this person was no different from an ingrate.
Mu Zi didn't know Shen Xingmian well; he had only met him once or twice occasionally, and most of his knowledge of him came from other people.
But what others said was enough for a father to feel dissatisfied with Shen Xingmian.
"Xixi, dinner's ready."
Mu Zi took the lunchbox and walked over. Shen Xingmian stood up on his own initiative and greeted Mu Zi respectfully, "Hello, Uncle."
Mu Zi completely ignored him, and Shen Xingmian didn't seem to have any dissatisfaction. Instead, he spontaneously stepped aside.
Nanzhi glanced at him without saying a word, then smiled as she looked at the lunchbox Muzi had opened. This time it wasn't plain porridge, but rather a light rice and vegetable dish.
The food they brought was always a lot, and Nanzhi couldn't finish it all by herself. Since Shen Xingmian was here today, Nanzhi glanced at Muzi and said, "Dad, Shen Xingmian hasn't eaten either. I can't finish it all, so let's share some with him."
Upon hearing this, Mu Zi frowned, glanced at Shen Xingmian with displeasure, and then picked up the spoon. "Xi Xi, you're sick. You need to eat more. Some people aren't worth your effort. Here, let Daddy feed you."
Nanzhi: "......"
Shen Xingmian: "......."
He could understand a father's reluctance to see his daughter sad, and he had never said anything hurtful to Xixi, and even left the Mu family directly. In this father's eyes, he was probably the kind of person who was ungrateful and didn't even deserve his daughter's gentleness.
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