Her persistence
The next morning, when Zuo Xiao woke up, Zhuang Yu'an had already left.
Ever since Luffy's accident, the two of them had tacitly entered a state of abstinence. When they lay in bed together, they would usually talk for a long time before cuddling and falling asleep. Occasionally, he would react, but he wouldn't do anything to her, either staying where he was or quietly getting up and going to the bathroom. Zuo Xiao had never asked him why he suddenly stopped having sex with her, because she assumed his reason must be the same as hers.
After breakfast, Zuo Xiao headed straight to the hospital. Just as he reached the ward door, Lu Ziqiang approached and said, "Mr. Lu's mother just arrived and is inside now. I don't know how long we'll be chatting. Would you like to go back to the hotel first and come back this afternoon?"
Zuo Xiao actually wanted to see what his mother, who was so indifferent to his son that she only visited him for the second time after more than half a month after the accident, looked like, so he said, "I don't have anything to do. I'll just wait here."
About an hour later, a beautiful lady came out of the ward. Their eyes met, and a hint of curiosity flashed in each other's eyes.
The man stopped in front of Lu Ziqiang, raised his chin slightly, glanced at Zuo Xiao, and said, "Xiao Lu, who is this lady?"
Lu Ziqiang nodded and said, "This is Zuo Xiao, he is a friend of Mr. Lu and Mr. Zhuang."
A fierce look flashed in the woman's eyes as she fixed her gaze on her. Zuo Xiao smiled and nodded in a measured manner.
"Xiao Lu, let me talk to her," the woman said calmly. Lu Ziqiang said yes and gave her a worried look.
After Lu Ziqiang left, the woman looked down at her for a long time. The man was wearing high heels and was the same height as her, but for some reason, she gave people a feeling of being looked down upon from above, as if she was born superior to him.
Since the other party didn't speak, Zuo Xiao didn't say anything either. He just stood in front of her, looking at her nose and her heart, without moving.
In the end, the noble man couldn't hold on any longer and said coldly, "Fei'er fought with Zhuang Yu'an just for you?"
Zuo Xiao met her gaze calmly and said, "If you're referring to the video online, that was Luffy unilaterally attacking Zhuang Yu'an, and he didn't fight back. Apart from that time, they haven't had any physical altercations since."
The woman couldn't hide her disgust: "So you chose Zhuang Yu'an and dumped Fei'er."
"I broke up with Luffy first, and then I fell in love with Zhuang Yu'an and got together with him." Zuo Xiao said matter-of-factly.
The woman sneered when she heard this: "You'd better pray that Fei'er's car accident has nothing to do with you, otherwise..." The pair of peach blossom eyes that looked like Luffy suddenly burst out with a sharp light, and her tone became cold, "You will never have a good life in this life." After that, she walked away leisurely in high heels.
When her figure disappeared around the corner, Lu Ziqiang trotted over and asked with concern, "Did she give you any trouble?"
Zuo Xiao shook his head, and he rubbed his chest and said in a low voice, "That's good... Oh, you don't know, every time I meet this noble lady, I dare not breathe, for fear that the sound of my breathing is too loud and will disturb her noble hair..."
"Don't tell Mr. Zhuang about her conversation with me, or he might get worried," Zuo Xiao warned. Lu Ziqiang looked embarrassed and said, "I've already reported it."
Sure enough, Zhuang Yu'an called not long after. Zuo Xiao faithfully recounted their brief conversation, and only then did he feel relieved. He even had the energy to joke, "Baby was calm and collected, every word he said was to the point, and every word he said was in my defense."
"She's obviously showing me some mercy for your sake." Zuo Xiao snorted, "Otherwise, she would have executed me right here and now."
"Don't worry about it," Zhuang Yu'an said firmly, "She wouldn't dare touch you."
After hanging up the phone, Zuo Xiao entered the ward.
"I'm late today." She looked at Luffy's face, "I just ran into your mother outside the ward. She's quite elegant and she asked me some questions."
At that moment, Luffy's eyelids twitched noticeably. Zuo Xiao gasped in shock and asked in disbelief, "You heard it, didn't you?"
However, the body before her stopped responding. Her frantic heartbeat gradually subsided, and she couldn't help but suspect she was hallucinating. But she continued to observe him carefully, continuing the previous conversation, saying, "You seemed to have told me before that you look like your mother. And sure enough, her peach blossom eyes are a perfect match for yours. But your eyes are different, completely different."
She recalled Luffy's almost always smiling eyes and couldn't help but smile: "Your eyes are beautiful and your gaze is soothing. But Auntie..." She "tsk"ed, "Although it's not polite to talk about people behind their backs, to be honest, she is fierce and looks at people like ants. It's not like I haven't seen rich people before, but none of them are like her. So how rich is she? Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands... eleven digits?"
As he was talking, he started to laugh. Just after two seconds, he suddenly saw the corner of Luffy's mouth twitching. It was very slight, but it was definitely twitching.
She held her breath, gathered herself, and continued, "So you want to complain about your mom too... Sigh, I couldn't stand having a mom like that. I'd write all her good deeds into a novel in a second, and the title would be... 'After Marrying Into a Wealthy Family, I Battled Wits and Courage with My Cold Mother-in-Law'... Luckily, my mom isn't like that. She's just a little cool and a little self-centered..."
She then spent ten minutes describing Ms. Dai to Luffy. Luffy didn't react at all, and she thought it was because Ms. Dai wasn't related to him, so she decided to change the subject.
Logically speaking, talking about Zhuang Yu'an should be helpful, but she really didn't want to talk about him in front of Luffy, for fear that it would have the opposite effect and make Luffy so angry that he wouldn't want to wake up.
So, she talked about Zhuang Jinghao and her relationship with Chen Liqing. Luffy didn't respond.
She talked about Ge Xin again, and asked Luffy if they really had feelings for each other, and whether they had exchanged New Year greetings. Luffy still didn't respond.
She was forced into a corner and had no choice but to say, "The first day you transferred to HDU, Zhuang Yu'an and I came together. Did you hear what we said?"
She stared at Luffy's face, not daring to blink, but he still didn't react.
She didn't give up and complained about his mother again, repeating the conversation with her, but Luffy still didn't react.
Well, it seems his initial reaction was just a fluke. Or perhaps Luffy's nerves are still recovering, and he can only react a limited number of times per day?
After leaving the ward, Zuo Xiao went to the nurse and explained the situation. The nurse's eyes lit up and she said, "That's a very good sign! I'll make a note of it in the nursing record and report it to the attending physician. I hope you can continue this kind of communication. It's very good!"
After that, Zuo Xiao went to the ward to visit Luffy every day. He usually stayed with him for two hours in the morning and three hours in the afternoon. If someone else had been there, he would shorten the visit to ensure that Luffy did not get enough rest.
During this time, Ge Xin came twice, took the initiative to greet her, and staggered into the ward. Luffy's mother never came again, but her father did come twice, staring at her for a few seconds, and then left without saying anything.
The topics of conversation with Luffy were varied. Initially, Zuo Xiao focused on their shared memories, but within two days, she ran out of material and began to talk about everything. For example: before the Lunar New Year, her band was reviewed by a well-known blogger, gaining over 2,000 followers, but she discovered that most of them were superficial, only interested in her face and figure; on New Year's Eve, she and Chen Liqing set off all sorts of bizarre fireworks, depicting things like puppies pooping and hens laying eggs; during Spring Festival, when Lao Zuo learned about her band, they had a huge argument, resulting in a heart attack...
As for the company's stock price plummeting after his accident, the outside world's speculation about the hidden circumstances behind the accident, and the reappearance of his half-brother... these negative and negative things were deliberately avoided. Besides that, anything related to Zhuang Yu'an was rarely mentioned, and she found that she had lost most of her topics for conversation.
In just one week, she finished talking about things that would have taken her half a year to say. She felt dry mouth every day and always had lozenges in her bag. But she never tired of it because the effect was so significant—Luffy responded more and more frequently, from once or twice a day at first to two or three times an hour.
The doctor explained that this medically signified that the patient's central nervous system was gradually recovering. He also reminded them that providing a quiet and peaceful recovery environment was crucial, and that they should avoid excessive and frequent stimulation out of impatience. Therefore, despite Zuo Xiao's enthusiasm, he didn't extend his time with the patient.
During this period, Zhuang Yu'an still came here frequently.
The first time, he brought his sister with him. The two arrived at the hotel late at night, and the next morning, they went into the ward together and talked with Luffy for an hour, and then took her to lunch at noon.
"We rehearsed a couple of days ago," Zhuang Jing said with a smile in the restaurant. "Peng Lei keeps saying it's boring and we can't go back to the days without a lead singer, haha!"
Zuo Xiao laughed and asked, "What about the others?"
"Old Sun said Peng Lei wasn't pure. The other two didn't say anything, but they also looked listless." Her eyes sparkled. "Xiaoxiao, baby, everyone is waiting for you to return to the team!"
"Yeah." Zuo Xiao smiled slightly, "Tell them to wait a little longer."
"Okay." Zhuang Jinghao paused for a moment and said hesitantly, "There's one more thing..."
Zuo Xiao urged her to speak quickly, so she said, "Old Sun said that a big record company contacted him."
Zuo Xiao's eyes suddenly lit up, but Zhuang Jinghao's eyes retreated and said, "Old Sun said that the record company is interested in you, not the band..."
Zuo Xiao was stunned. She continued, "The record company thinks you have a good image and style, and your voice is recognizable, so they want to package you... Lao Zuo didn't tell anyone else about this. He only told me when he heard I was coming to see you, and asked me to ask for your opinion... Only if you agree will he give them your contact information."
"What does he think?" Zuo Xiao frowned.
"He's fine..." Zhuang Jinghao said, "He said he respects your choice. And objectively speaking, it's a bit of a waste for you to play this kind of niche music..." There was a hint of tentativeness in her eyes. "He said you should consider going to a bigger stage to shine and be recognized and loved by more people."
Zuo Xiao couldn't help rolling his eyes and sneered, "He's quite generous."
"So what do you think?" Zhuang Jinghao asked cautiously.
Zuo Xiao crossed his arms and smiled, "What do you think?"
Zhuang Jinghao blushed: "I just don't know, that's why I'm asking you..."
"You're lying." Zuo Xiao said with a half-smile, "You obviously don't want me to agree to meet with them. Otherwise, you wouldn't have just said everyone was waiting for me to return to the team and then immediately said someone was trying to steal me away."
"Uh..." Zhuang Jinghao scratched his head and said awkwardly, "Actually, I think the same as Lao Sun... I want you to stay, but I also want you to fly higher..."
"Fly higher?" Zuo Xiao sneered, "Let someone pull a string and fly you in the sky like a kite?"
Zhuang Jinghao stared at her blankly, then turned her gaze to Zhuang Yu'an: "What do you think?"
He looked at her gently and intently, and smiled, "No creator doesn't want to be loved and recognized by more people, but that's not your starting point. You embarked on this path because of your passion and desire to explore more possibilities in life. I think no matter what you choose, the prerequisite is to make the music you truly want to make. Enjoying the process is more important than the result."
Zuo Xiao pursed his lips and smiled: "Anything else?"
Zhuang Yu'an thought about it seriously and said, "Also, it's important who you're with."
"Anything else?" Zuo Xiao continued to ask.
Zhuang Jinghao was completely bewildered. Zhuang Yu'an was also bewildered. After thinking for a while, he smiled and said, "Please teach me."
Zuo Xiao curled her lips, looked at him, then looked at Zhuang Jinghao: "Also...if I don't rely on a record company, can't I become famous?"
At this moment, her eyes sparkled like stars. Zhuang Jinghao, with a look of admiration on her face, suddenly clapped her hands: "Good! That's very well said!"
That afternoon, before the Zhuang siblings left, they accompanied Zuo Xiao to the hospital. The two girls entered the ward together and chatted about their band, including a record company trying to sign her. Zuo Xiao even jokingly suggested that if Luffy were to start a company and sign them, she'd consider it. Luffy seemed to take it in, his lips twitching slightly, which excited the two men, their eyes sparkling, and they continued to promise him bigger and bigger things.
With Zhuang Jinghao's arrival, the gloom of the past few days was swept away. Zuo Xiao felt that she was like a little sun, spreading sunshine wherever she went. He even became more confident that Luffy would wake up, thinking with anticipation: Maybe tomorrow, he will open his eyes.
However, she waited for tomorrow after tomorrow, but Luffy still didn't wake up.
After that, Zhuang Yu'an came here alone three times.
He always took the 8:00 PM high-speed train from Beijing, arriving in Taiyuan at 10:30 PM to spend the night with her. The next morning, he took the 8:30 PM high-speed train back to Beijing and headed straight to the office. Late the next night, he showed up at the hotel room again, and the cycle continued. Zuo Xiao had tried to dissuade him, saying he was risking his life, but he said that not letting him come would be the death of him.
Zuo Xiao saw how haggard he had become, his eyes always dark and bloodshot. He had an endless amount of work to do at the company, and his rest time was already limited. Add to that the constant travel back and forth, and even the strongest of bodies couldn't handle the strain. Maybe a month or two wouldn't be a problem, but what if it took a year or two? She didn't know how long she could hold out, but she was certain that as long as she didn't return to her normal life, Zhuang Yu'an would continue to play along.
That morning, Zuo Xiao woke up, touched the traces of where he had lain beside her, and suddenly burst into tears.
No, she couldn't let him continue like this...
She called him and heard him say with a smile: "Is the baby awake?"
She let her tears blur her vision and cried, "Zhuang Yu'an, please don't be like this anymore... What should I do if something happens to you again..."
The person on the other end of the phone panicked and said quickly: "I'm fine! Baby, what's wrong with you? Did you have a nightmare? Don't cry, don't cry..."
Nightmare... Zuo Xiao did have a nightmare.
In her dream, Zhuang Yu'an and she were walking hand in hand on the street at dusk. She was holding flowers in her arms, and the man she loved most was connected to her heart and hand.
She still remembered Luffy's coma, her many unfulfilled wishes, and the fact that Old Zuo had to quit smoking and drinking from now on... Yet, at this moment, any difficulties or challenges no longer seemed daunting to her. Because she had him. Because no matter when, no matter where, he would hold her hand and face any situation with her.
She smiled and looked at the man beside her: he was so tall and majestic, full of charm, yet so gentle and firm, like a rock. Wasn't it her luck to meet him and be loved by him?
She stopped, and he stopped too. She stood on tiptoe, her hands clasped around his shoulders, ready to give him a deep kiss. But the next moment, the image before her suddenly flashed.
She was stunned. Then, like a malfunctioning electronic screen, the lover in front of her became distorted and warped before her eyes, as if being torn into pieces by countless hands, until not even a single pixel remained.
The street was empty, and she was suddenly alone. She tried her best to call out his name, but no sound came out.
Then, the scene suddenly flashed back to that day. Zhang Jianming thrust the knife into his hand...
Zuo Xiao pulled himself away from the memory of the nightmare, and the voice in his ear was still soothing him gently: "I'm fine, baby, hang up now, I'll call you, okay? Look, I'm fine... Stop crying, okay?"
The more he talked, the louder Zuo Xiao cried, unable to stop. So he didn't dare to say anything more and just listened quietly.
After a long time, she said breathlessly with red eyes and tears in her eyes: "You are not allowed to come to Taiyuan again within a week... Otherwise... I will break up with you!"
After hanging up, she wiped away her tears, regretting that she had been so overwhelmed by grief that her orders to him were useless and foolish. Even if he was forced to stop coming, she was afraid his condition would only get worse, not better. Because it's often not physical fatigue that's more likely to crush a person, but mental stress.
She got up, washed her face and brushed her teeth, then sent him a message on WeChat: "I hope you get a good rest and take care of yourself. Otherwise, all your promises about a lifetime will be nothing but empty talk that you can't fulfill."
After a long while, he replied: "Only when you come to a place from another place can it be called coming to a place. If you don't leave a place, it can't be called coming to a place. Is that right?"
Zuo Xiao pondered for a long time and finally understood what he meant: Is this guy planning to stay in Taiyuan?
She angrily typed a warning to him: "Don't play word games with me!"
After waiting for a long time without receiving a reply, she was about to call to ask for an explanation when she suddenly heard the door open.
When she looked up, the person who should have been on the high-speed train appeared at her door.
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