Cloud Girl Chapter Twenty-Eight
Then, on that very day, the day when she could hear, see, and think that Xu Xiaomeng and Liu Shixi were about to get married, Chen Nanyi sat in the library, gazing at the blue sky outside the window. She naively thought that she could continue living such a simple and detached life.
Because she knew she was living well toward her goals and had earned money so that she and Chen Yijing could continue their happy life together.
She had indeed put the villa where they had lived for so many years, and Chen Yiwen, who had disappeared without a trace, out of her mind.
At this point, Chen Nanyi felt she was living a happy and carefree life, because she had let go of everything she could have but could not have, including Xu Xiaomeng.
But in the end, she realized that it was just a self-deception and an illusion.
That afternoon, she was still working on an unfinished manuscript on her desk, wondering if she could finish it before picking up Chen Yijing from the special school at 5 p.m., when she suddenly started trembling all over.
On that very occasion, Chen Nanyi truly felt the sensation of death and could only resign herself to fate.
She was usually good at enduring things, but that day her tears flowed uncontrollably.
She hated the feeling of being unable to control anything—she had been managing everything in a domineering and orderly manner, just to soothe her pitiful, insecure heart, but when her body was completely out of control, she felt that in that instant she had nothing left—only Xu Xiaomeng's face flashed through her mind.
Her sudden condition in the library terrified everyone there; her convulsions only subsided after she was taken to the intensive care unit.
After administering the medication and checking that everything was fine, the doctors and nurses left.
Chen Nanyi then turned her body to the windowsill, curled up, and turned her back to the medical staff observing her condition. She showed no awkwardness at being exposed to others, but was saddened by the fear of death she had just experienced.
Although the doctor had just clearly told her that it was just a bodily dysfunction caused by excessive mental and physical fatigue, and that there was no need to worry about the aftereffects of the surgery, she just needed to be monitored and allowed to recover.
But she still felt lingering fear about it.
The fear of losing control of one's own body even overwhelmed the mentality of always valuing one's reputation and never wanting to embarrass oneself in front of others.
However, Chen Nanyi was too focused on her own panic to notice the person she had once warmed among the group of observers—Xu Xiaomeng, who was also wearing a white coat.
Because he was certain that Chen Nanyi, who was very concerned about his image, would never turn around and sleep facing the side with the mirror, his gaze was greedily fixed on the figure he hadn't seen in a long time, like a fighting dragon eyeing the jewels it cherished for its livelihood.
This comes at a time when there are international calls to reduce students' academic burden and pay attention to their physical and mental health.
Therefore, Chen Nanyi, who was considered to have "gone crazy" from doing homework, was sent to the hospital in a grand manner by the conscientious principal, who also reported it to the Lu family enterprise that sponsored the college.
After all, Chen Nanyi was included in the list of outstanding candidates to be hired again after the "major reshuffle" of Lu's Enterprise leadership. If any situation arises, she will be within the necessary scope of evaluation. Of course, whether this is Xu Xiaomeng's personal idea is not important, because in the end, the most important thing is Chen Nanyi's own idea, and he will always respect her idea.
Chen Nanyi was still immersed in her own sorrow with her eyes closed, and she was worried that keeping Chen Yijing in the special school would be a problem, so she didn't notice that someone had walked in.
Until she felt a person with a strong yet gentle aura approaching—Chen Nanyi thought a nurse was coming in to change the IV drip, and her arm, covered in needle marks, shrank back under the blanket.
Before she even opened her eyes, a pair of hands gently stroked her loose hair from behind. For some reason, Chen Nanyi felt inexplicably flustered. After thinking of something, she suddenly turned around.
Chen Nanyi opened her eyes, which she had been trying to conceal as she looked at that.
Watching the thin man in the white coat slowly remove his mask, revealing his slender, fair face.
Xu Xiaomeng's deep eyes, reflected by her gold-rimmed glasses, and her meticulously styled hair gave her a powerful yet charming aura—making Chen Nanyi, lying weakly in the hospital bed, appear even more vulnerable and even somewhat panicked.
Chen Nanyi just watched quietly without saying a word, while Xu Xiaomeng also watched her silently, her gaze intense.
After a while, Chen Nanyi couldn't bear it any longer and looked away, saying to the nurse who followed Xu Xiaomeng in, "I'm being discharged this afternoon, could you please cancel my IV drip?"
The nurse who was bending down to administer the injection was clearly taken aback, probably because she felt that the person in the intensive care unit wanted to be discharged and didn't know what to say, so she even stopped what she was doing.
Xu Xiaomeng stepped forward and took the needles and gauze from the nurse to treat Chen Nanyi's arm, which was already bleeding profusely. Then she gestured for the nurse to leave.
However, Chen Nanyi has always been someone who cannot be judged by common sense. She is very cautious when it comes to other people's affairs, but when it comes to her own affairs, no one can make decisions for her.
She got up and wanted to chase after the nurse—because the nurse hadn't agreed to let her be discharged that afternoon… Actually, this was also because Chen Nanyi didn't know how to face Xu Xiaomeng, so she tried to hide it and escape by chasing after her.
But Xu Xiaomeng now wouldn't let her pretend she didn't exist.
He looked at Chen Nanyi's increasingly thin face, her features becoming more and more hardened, and remained silent for a long time.
Chen Nanyi has always enjoyed quiet, but she felt quite awkward at this moment.
What made the situation even more awkward was that Xu Xiaomeng, looking at her from behind, couldn't help but burst into tears in front of her hospital bed for some reason.
This made Chen Nanyi, who had been pretending to be calm and collected, feel inexplicably flustered, wondering if she had done something wrong.
Xu Xiaomeng has always been a person of her word, with a kind and honest character, for which she has suffered a lot.
That's why he was so reluctant to watch Chen Nanyi disappear like that, which is why he was willing to obediently return to the Lu family and agree to get engaged to Liu Shixi, and that's why Qin Se was willing to pay money to save her.
Xu Xiaomeng is a person who always keeps her promises and has never violated her principle of wanting to be an upright person.
Because of his mother's traditional literati upbringing, he believed that even if one was unwilling at times, one should take integrity as the foundation of one's entire life—otherwise, how could a person believe in himself and not regret his entire life when he died?
Of course, this also shows that he takes his vow to marry Liu Shixi very seriously.
So when Xu Xiaomeng finally managed to remove a fraction of her from his heart and wanted to fulfill his promise, he found that she had so easily added a thousand times more... He felt hopeless about his entire life—should he continue to pursue Chen Nanyi, this girl in the clouds he might never be able to reach, or should he follow his mother's teachings and live a complete life by keeping his vow?
Xu Xiaomeng believes that no matter what decision he makes, he will regret some aspect of it in the future. However, he is unable to discern his future self's true feelings right now, so he doesn't know what choice he should make to avoid regrets.
It's like gambling. Those around you can see it clearly, but they won't reveal it. If the person involved were to step back, they would naturally discover what is most important to them, but at the time, they simply couldn't see it.
Xu Xiaomeng delayed his actions because he wanted to figure out what he really wanted. So the sadness he felt when he saw her on the Tu Luo Mountain path and the sudden news of her "serious illness" a few days ago made him realize that he couldn't do it.
I originally thought that being able to live under the same sky was a unique kind of happiness.
Now it seems that it was just wishful thinking, because as soon as he thought about how he couldn't live without her, he couldn't do anything... What kind of happiness is that?
Therefore, having not yet learned how to deal with various company public relations and interpersonal demands, he did not know how to refuse Qin Se's demand for him to get married, but he stubbornly refused to comply.
Whether he was going on a hunger strike or hurting himself, he came to Chen Nanyi's bedside and found himself choking up even more uncontrollably.
"Are you really that clueless about life? You're always like this when you do something. You don't know to rest when you're tired, you don't know to put on a layer of clothing when you're cold, and you don't eat properly when you're hungry. Your hands are peeling so badly, but you still won't eat a single vegetable..." Holding Chen Nanyi's hand, Xu Xiaomeng made a series of sounds from her throat, just keeping her head down, "What do you want me to do? Why are you like this!"
Still somewhat bewildered, Chen Nanyi stared directly at him, finding the situation very strange. Her hand involuntarily twitched slightly, and her eyes narrowed. "You…"
Xu Xiaomeng didn't answer. She just touched her thin, bony hand, lowered her head, and cried and laughed, wiping away her tears. "My mother definitely doesn't like you... She raised me all these years, always hoping I would be an upright and peaceful person, but because of you I've become so cunning—always having such paranoid and extreme thoughts..."
Chen Nanyi seemed unaccustomed to Xu Xiaomeng's blatant and cheesy manner, and was speechless for a moment. She wanted to pull her hand back but felt it was inappropriate. Then she remembered everything he had done for her and didn't know how to handle herself. She could only stammer an apology and blushed, unable to continue.
Seeing this, Xu Xiaomeng couldn't help but smile, her smile tinged with tears. "It's alright. If you really feel sorry for my mother, then be good to her precious son, stay put, and stop making me worry..."
Chen Nanyi felt uneasy after hearing this.
Although she was profound and highly skilled in debate, she could also be quite naive at times. She felt genuinely apologetic for being fooled by Xu Xiaomeng's seemingly sincere yet deceptive words, but she also felt that she couldn't do what he said, so she pursed her lips and became even more silent.
Seeing Chen Nanyi's expression, Xu Xiaomeng thought she had been abrupt and looked somewhat sad, but she still smiled.
"Then you should get some rest. I won't bother you anymore," he said, turning to leave.
Chen Nanyi suddenly reached out and grabbed Xu Xiaomeng's collar, holding it tightly.
Xu Xiaomeng turned around and asked her with a questioning look, then suddenly seemed to realize something, her expression changing slightly, but not noticeably. She smiled and said, "Oh, you're worried about Yi Jing, right? Don't worry, I've already sent someone to take care of her."
After a pause, Xu Xiaomeng's eyes lit up with a smile. Seeing that Chen Nanyi remained silent, she said with feigned slyness, "Do you want to say thank you? You only did this because you didn't need my help? It's nothing at all..."
Xu Xiaomeng's lips, no longer bright red, were dry and pressed together, and the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
Chen Nanyi suddenly hated his forced smile, while her heart felt heavy and choked with emotion.
So she suddenly stood up, quickly twisted Xu Xiaomeng's tie, forcefully pulled Xu Xiaomeng down, then tilted her head back, and two inexperienced lips met...
Overall, the kiss wasn't pleasant.
Chen Nanyi felt a slight, sharp pain in her chest, as her heart was beating too fast, and then she kissed him before pushing him away.
Xu Xiaomeng was stunned as her tie was pulled down, causing her to bump into Chen Nanyi's nose. She vaguely felt a faint touch on her lips, but it was not obvious, and she was still completely confused.
Almost immediately, Chen Nanyi pushed Xu Xiaomeng away and pressed his hand to his chest. Xu Xiaomeng was pushed back unsteadily and subconsciously rubbed her sore nose.
Xu Xiaomeng didn't notice Chen Nanyi's gesture of rubbing her chest; he was only focused on Chen Nanyi's furrowed brows, and he couldn't help but get angry. "What do you mean by that expression?"
Chen Nanyi looked displeased. "I didn't," she said, then glared at him angrily.
Xu Xiaomeng then realized that she was answering his previous question, but then she suddenly remembered the ambiguous kiss from earlier and couldn't help but chuckle.
She wanted to go over and rub her aching chest, but as soon as she reached out her hand, she realized it was inappropriate and stopped. She wanted to explain, but when she saw Chen Nanyi's panicked look, Xu Xiaomeng couldn't help but laugh.
A hearty laugh echoed throughout the ward, interspersed with a few muttered words of dissatisfaction from Chen Nanyi.
The joy emanating from that room aroused intense curiosity among those who were waiting outside but couldn't see anything.
Small Theater
Xu Xiaomeng: "Ah! Xilin, why does Kurihara always have his arms outstretched and facing upwards when he sleeps?"
Chen Nanyi: "Get out of my way, don't block my way..."
Xu Xiaomeng (><), "Ah, that's not right, but it seems like all kids are like that!"
Chen Nanyi suppressed her anger and looked at him, "It's probably because she was constantly being held at gunpoint during her pregnancy that she learned the surrender posture."
Xu Xiaomeng (﹏), “Oh, what should I do? It really seems to be true…”
Chen Nanyi squinted and gave a cold, sidelong glance.
Xu Xiaomeng (ó﹏ò): "But, but the doctor said it's okay to be pregnant...~ I, I was wrong~"
(The correct answer is that the baby's environment in the womb is too crowded and restrictive, so after birth the baby tries to open its arms outwards, which also represents the posture of growth and development.)
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