Before Gou An and his tail appeared in Ye Lang's ward, his ward had already welcomed the first group of visitors of the day.
Leaning on the hospital bed, Ye Lang coughed from time to time due to the high fever. His broad shoulders swayed slightly because of the coughing. He looked calmly at the girl who was sitting beside the bed with her head lowered.
Lu Wan was also wearing a hospital gown. The gown was too large and her pale face made her look extremely weak. Blue blood vessels could be seen on the back of her hand, and there were needle marks left by the infusion.
It's just an infusion, but it can leave such marks.
If someone who is friendly and kind to Lu Wan saw it, they would probably just feel heartbroken.
Ye Lang vaguely recalled that the neighbors had always said that Lu Wan did not look like someone who would stay in Zhaipu District all her life, and that she would fly up to the tree and become a phoenix.
In the past, Ye Lang was dismissive of this statement. If anyone said this, he might retort coldly that she could leave here with her own strength and did not need to rely on anyone else's help.
Poverty, unyielding ambition and seriousness, innocence——
These qualities, probably in today's cannibalistic society, would be sneered at and mocked as "traits that only hold people back."
But people who think this way usually forget that when some traits are enough to make people let down their guard and look down on them, perhaps they themselves are sharp weapons.
But this weapon, once sharpened, will attack everyone who stands in its way without distinction——
Do not distinguish between enemies and friends.
"What's up?"
Ye Lang's voice was so cold that Lu Wan raised his head and gave him a confused look.
After Lu Wan finished the infusion in the morning, she heard from the nurse that the person who came with her yesterday had also woken up. She was worried that Ye Lang was the only person who reached out to her in such a chaotic situation in the swimming pool yesterday, so after breakfast, Lu Wan went to Ye Lang's ward to visit him.
He seemed to still have a fever and looked very tired.
When he saw Lu Wan come in, he did not call her "Wanwan" as he usually did. He just paused for a moment while scooping porridge with the disposable spoon, then lowered his head and continued eating without paying any attention to her.
Lu Wan felt as if Ye Lang suddenly looked at her differently——
Just like now.
It's like looking at a stranger.
"It's okay, I just remembered what happened yesterday and I haven't said thank you yet."
"Need not."
Lu Wan's voice stopped abruptly, and her face froze for a moment. She tried to tell herself, "It's okay, Ye Lang just talks like that," but there was still a silent uneasiness, like dripping ink spots, black spots that were infinitely spreading and magnifying.
The same fragile and powerless smile appeared on his beautiful face. Ye Lang had seen this expression many times. He lowered his head, looked at Lu Wan, and gently tugged at his sleeves, and asked softly, "Alang, is there something that makes you unhappy?"
Ye Lang turned his face away and lowered his eyes.
some.
It really does.
He would be unhappy when he saw her.
He couldn't help but think of his two choices, the two most important crossroads in his life. He gave up Gou An and walked towards Lu Wan.
One time, it was because of Lu Wan's harmless face, with the filter of childhood sweethearts, that he was instantly bewitched and gave up Gou An's trust in him;
The second time, it had nothing to do with love or hate, but he took the initiative to give up everything.
Ye Lang's mind replayed the scenes he had witnessed before -
In the drizzle of the winter night, under the dim light of the tube building, he tilted his umbrella towards Lu Wan to cover her shoulders that had long been soaked by the rain, and told her, "Be careful recently."
The girl in front of him opened her innocent eyes wide and looked at him in shock, as if she was panicked about what was about to happen next; in the dusty tube-shaped building, he looked up at the person standing at the door of his house waiting for him, and saw that her once innocent eyes were filled with fatigue and pleading, her haggard face, and her bulging belly that could only be covered by a long down jacket.
He clearly hated Lu Wan to the core at that time. If she were a man, she would not have been able to leave the Zhaipu District alive...
But in a moment, Ye Lang still compromised.
His hands were clenched into fists in his coat pockets.
I know that He Jinxing will certainly have a better legal team. Although I don't know why that strange man is so concerned about Gou An's affairs, but in comparison, at that time, probably everyone was more qualified than myself to take over and take care of Gou An.
"This is the last time I will help you, Lu Wan."
In the corridor, his voice was so hoarse that it was almost inaudible.
"I will hand the things over to He Jinxing personally."
As soon as he finished speaking, as expected, he saw a light of surprise flashing in Lu Wan's eyes.
"I can……"
"No."
Don’t you understand yet, Lu Wan?
I need to hand it to him personally because, even compared to He Jinxing, I no longer trust you.
not at all.
When he opened his eyes, Ye Lang's dark pupils became like a bottomless ocean.
The pain in his internal organs came again. Although he knew that the girl sitting in front of him was still his childhood sweetheart, she had not done anything, not resorting to any means, not trampling on his trust in order to climb to a higher branch or for her own selfish desires.
But he couldn't separate her from Lu Wan in his dream.
I'm not blaming her for her hypocrisy and calculation, I'm blaming myself entirely for my stupidity.
A splitting headache and tearing sensation swept over him, and looking at the innocent face in front of him, Ye Lang almost felt like vomiting.
Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he coughed violently. The thin tube of the IV in his hand shook violently! "Alang, what's wrong with you!"
Lu Wan jumped up and tried to pat his back...
But the moment she touched him, she felt the man sitting hunched over on the hospital bed tremble and shrink violently, and he pushed her away fiercely with his elbow!
Lu Wan was caught off guard and let out a small scream before being thrown back three steps. She had also had a fever last night, and her temperature had just returned to normal this morning, but she was actually very weak.
Now that Ye Lang had pushed her away, she looked at him like a frightened little deer, hurt and terrified.
"Don't look at me like that."
The man sitting on the hospital bed, leaning on the edge of the bed, gasped in pain.
"I don't want to see you either."
Seeing Lu Wan would awaken him to examine himself completely——
He had lived in a daze for the past few decades, and had spent the first half of his life struggling to make a living or simply to survive. He had never been able to tell the difference between "pity" and "like"...
Like a unique monster.
Who would like a monster? Someone did.
But he had no idea and even lost her with his own hands.
"Lu Wan, I am a loser. I have no money and no power. The Ye family building has collapsed for more than ten years. I am not Ye Zhen. I am Ye Lang, who has nothing."
"You get nothing from me."
"Please."
"Let me go."
Gou An arrived at the hospital, and before he even reached Ye Lang's room, he saw from afar Lu Wan suddenly open the door of his ward and stumble out of it -
She was still wearing a hospital gown, and the loose gown made her look even more fragile than usual.
Her eyes were as red as a rabbit's. She wiped them hard with her sleeve and ran in the other direction of the corridor.
Gou An raised his eyebrows, wondering what kind of Qiong Yao drama this was...
I heard He Jinxing behind me say with a smile: "He is so energetic even when he is sick. He is worthy of being called Alang."
He scolded two people with one sentence.
"An An's bodyguard is different."
Oh, everyone.
You are worthy of it, He Jinxing.
Gou An turned around and looked at the man standing behind her. In fact, she had no idea why this man followed her. He didn't even go to the respiratory department or surgery department to register, but followed her to the inpatient area...
The whole person exudes an air of entitlement.
When Gou An leaned on the marble table of the nurse station and asked the nurse on duty "Which room is Ye Lang in?", the nurse on duty couldn't help but look up at the noble man behind Gou An who restrained his smile and looked a little indifferent.
His thin lips were pressed into a thin line, which betrayed that he was not as relaxed and cheerful as he was a second ago.
Feeling the gazes of others, He Jinxing glanced back indifferently.
The young nurse's hands trembled, and she couldn't help but look carefully at the little girl who was lying very close to her, with her head tilted and looking at her seriously. She seemed to be completely unaware of the low pressure behind her and was waiting for the query result earnestly.
"Ye Lang is in Room 3, Area A, Bed 01." The nurse lowered her voice, "Did you bring your own admission form?"
"What hospitalization order?"
"Doesn't the person behind you also need to be hospitalized?" The nurse blinked, "He looks like he's also very ill."
After all, she was young, so she used words so freely that they flew out of her mouth without her noticing. As soon as she said the words, the young nurse made a face and bit her tongue, looking around to see if the head nurse was there.
Gou An covered his mouth, making a "puff" sound, and his face turned red from trying to hold back his laughter.
Putting down her hand, she couldn't help but raise the corners of her lips, and tugged at the sleeve of the man behind her who had a dark face and looked unhappy for some reason. "It's okay," she said expressionlessly, "The brain specialist has a lot of appointments today, and it's not our turn yet."
Then he pulled away the guy who looked like the King of Hell.
Gou An raised his hand and pushed open Ye Lang's door.
The person in the room frowned when he heard the sound of the door opening, looked up and said "I said" in a menacing manner, but the rest of the words were held back when his eyes met those almond-shaped eyes behind the crack in the door.
The second before Gou An opened the door, he was still thinking, "My friendliness is zero, will he pull out a gun from somewhere and shoot me?" The next second, he saw Ye Lang's change from impatience to dumbfoundedness.
It seems that I can't draw my gun.
The usually fair face turned pale due to illness. At this moment, an unnatural color appeared on the cheeks and corners of the eyes.
Gou An thought it was because of the high fever.
Miss Gou didn't forget what she was here for. When she pushed the door and entered the ward, she looked at the person on the bed. She found that he was holding a fruit knife and was cutting oranges to kill time. At this time, there was a pile of peeled oranges and orange peels on the bedside...
The half-peeled fruit was held in his hand.
"Busy?"
The moment Gou An's voice sounded, above Ye Lang's head, the disappeared friendship level flashed back again as if the signal had been reconnected, and the bright pink number reflected the blush on the pale face of Mr. Bodyguard -
【Friendship level: 93】
Gou An blinked and considered slapping himself to wake himself up.
A few seconds later.
Gou An: Stupid cat, are you still there?
【Jiao Jiao: What are you doing? 】
Gou An: It’s okay. I thought you had already been reincarnated with this earth-shattering friendship level.
Gou An: See that, 93.
Gou An: The remaining 7 points may be to leave some room for improvement and to prevent me from becoming too proud.
Gou An: What happened? The system resets the friendliness to zero as a penalty, which means that after it is reset to zero, it will start from 100 again to give another chance to read the bar? Gou An suddenly turned around and looked at He Jinxing behind him.
He Jinxing: “?”
[Jiao Jiao: No matter what you think, the delusion of pushing the male protagonist down from the seventh floor in an attempt to restore friendship is not advisable. ]
Gou An: “…”
Faced with Ye Lang, whose friendship level was suddenly close to full, Gou An was somewhat at a loss. If it were anyone else, she would probably approach him and ask: "Excuse me, how do you feel now? Do you love me to death?" But Ye Lang, she couldn't ask.
So creepy.
The abnormal phone call last night seemed to have an answer. The jump in friendship level seemed to fly across the Mariana Trench and rush into the sky. The late-night calls did not seem so strange anymore.
Gou An's mind was still confused at the moment. She originally planned to take a look at the friendship level to understand what was going on with the system and then leave, but now she sat down directly on the chair where Lu Wan had sat before.
She sat down gently, but the person on the bed moved awkwardly, looking out the window and looking at her: "Change the chair?"
"?" Gou An was at a loss, "Why can't I sit on this one?"
"Lu Wan just sat here." Mr. Bodyguard said, "I'm afraid of you. I don't like it."
Gou An: “…”
【Jiao Jiao: ……】
The system kitten had lost its voice and turned into a mute kitten. Gou An opened his mouth in astonishment and subconsciously turned back to look for He Jinxing——
I don't mean anything else, I just want to find a living person at the scene to exchange opinions on this strange situation.
After He Jin walked into the ward, he looked around and gave up the soft sofa in the ward. He stood behind Gou An like a door god. At this time, he felt her gaze, lowered his head, and met her eyes.
He Jinxing immediately understood the absurdity and panic in her eyes, and pulled the corner of his lips, revealing a cold look.
The handmade leather shoes kicked the worn-out bench leg, "You really don't like it?"
“…”
"stand up."
As he spoke, he reached out and dragged over another chair and threw it next to Gou An.
Gou An wanted to say that this was not what she meant at all, but she stood up obediently and sat on the chair brought by He Jinxing, then watched the man sit down on the bench closer to the bed as a matter of course.
On the hospital bed, watching the two of them exchange stools as if it were a matter of course, Ye Lang pursed his lips silently, and the hand holding the fruit knife tightened silently...
On the back of the hand that is still receiving an infusion, blood is returning to the needle because of this action.
Amid the stinging pain, bright red blood dyed the small section of the infusion tube near the needle red.
Probably, no one noticed.
Gou Anbu's attention was focused on Ye Lang's soaring friendship level, and he hadn't reacted to this sudden change yet, so he leaned towards Ye Lang and asked, "Are you still having a fever?"
Ye Lang's long eyelashes trembled and he lifted his eyelids. This action made his already handsome appearance even more handsome...
Before he could answer Gou An, He Jinxing, who was sitting next to him, suddenly raised his hand, pulled Gou An, whose upper body was leaning against the bed, back, and said calmly, "Stay away. Unlike me, he has a cold, which is contagious."
There was still a gentle expression on his face, but his tone was unquestionably firm.
Ye Lang's gaze, which was originally on Gou An, turned to He Jinxing. When their eyes met, He Jinxing smiled at him, "Alang, I don't think I offended you by saying this, did I?"
There was a smile on the corner of his lips, but his eyes were slightly gloomy.
From the moment he stepped into the ward, the man never stopped silently examining her.
His gaze was too direct, and it was hard for Ye Lang not to notice it.
The reason he spoke so rashly at this moment probably means that he has completed the reflection period and reached some conclusion.
But it doesn't matter at all.
As for He Jinxing, even though the people of Jiangcheng were accustomed to trembling under his hands and called him the new dome covering Jiangcheng, that did not include Ye Lang.
Anyway, people walking in the downtown area never look up at the sky, so they don’t care whether the sky is sunny or cloudy.
Putting away the helplessness and nervousness he had just felt towards Gou An, Ye Lang's coffin-like face regained its expressionless state. He stared indifferently at the leader of the He family for a long time, and said calmly: "No problem."
The two of them kept talking like this, one in a sarcastic tone and the other responding with a cold face.
Gou An was used to the arrogance and domineering attitude of the two men, and their dislike for each other. At this moment, he scratched his chin awkwardly with one finger, feeling that he should say something -
She was the one who brought He Jinxing here.
If there is any conflict between the two, she will inevitably be blamed.
Ye Lang's friendship seems to be enough for her to act for a while, but He Jinxing's friendship is more precious than Iraq's oil.
After thinking it over, looking at [Friendship: 93] and [Friendship: 48 (*I don't know when it grew a little)], she found it difficult to treat them equally, so she said, "Ye Lang, don't blame... blame Mr. He for speaking so harshly."
Ye Lang's eyes darkened slightly.
Next to Gou An, the person who was scolded for speaking rudely seemed to be praised and silently raised the corner of his lips.
"Although objectively speaking, I am responsible for your illness, and it may be my fault for pushing you into the swimming pool yesterday... But I think there seems to be room for negotiation on this matter. I gave you the butterfly cake out of friendship-"
"Out of friendship."
Ye Lang's face stiffened.
"Who told you to give it to Lu Wan without knowing what's good for you? Don't you know that she and I are incompatible?" Gou An calmly added, "You are a bodyguard, you get paid to go to work, it's ok for you to chat with her during work hours, but you also help her to oppose me——"
"Feel sorry."
“…”
Gou An moved his lips. Although his friendliness was [Friendship: 93], this unconditional apology seemed a bit too harsh...
"Gou Yu contacted me this morning. It was my fault." Ye Lang lowered his head and slowly peeled the orange in his hand. "I will submit my resignation later."
This time it was Gou An's turn to be silent.
Staring at the man peeling the orange with his eyes downcast, I don’t know why he suddenly looked like he was badly bullied—
Although it seems to be true.
He was the one who was pushed into the water, he was the one who apologized, and he was also the one who was held accountable and asked to resign.
If it were someone else, Gou An might have rushed up to him and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him, saying, "Things change unpredictably, just be patient." But the person in front of him was Ye Lang, and the moment he handed the butterfly cake to Lu Wan, he deserved whatever he did.
There was a brief silence in the ward.
Ye Lang patiently peeled the last orange in his hand, and with his hands full of the aroma of the orange peel, he put it into Gou An's hands.
In the latter's shocked eyes, the man with a face that rarely showed any expression curved his eyebrows, probably smiling at her: "Go back, An An. The hospital is very dirty. Don't stay here if you are not sick."
A light orange scent penetrates into the nose.
The person in front of her had a focused gaze. The two words "An An" were like a thunder that struck Gou An's mind, and her pupils shrank slightly.
After awakening, Ye Lang never called her name since his appearance.
Only in the original novel, the bodyguard Ye Lang would reluctantly turn his head away and call softly, "An An" when Miss Gou couldn't bear his pestering and hung on his neck and swung on the swing and insisted on hearing him call her name.
At that time, in the sunlight, his almost transparent earlobes would also glow red like they do now.
Gou An stood up and handed the orange in his hand to the man next to him.
"Yelang."
Gou An felt that she seemed to have guessed something about the penalty for friendship level being reset to zero and the reason for the drastic change in friendship level overnight.
"Are you——"
The words came to my lips but I didn't finish them.
“So sour.”
A lazy male voice interrupted the tense atmosphere from behind. Gou An turned around and saw a man sitting on the chair that did not match his image at all, frowning and looking at the orange in his hand with a bite taken.
When the eyes of both people in the ward fell on him, he casually threw the orange into the trash can.
He clapped his hands and stood up. He covered his lips and coughed twice as if his throat was irritated by the fruit acid. Then he casually picked up the disinfectant tissue from the bedside and wiped his hands.
The man raised his eyes and glanced over Ye Lang lying on the hospital bed without stopping.
Finally, it fell on Gou An.
"Are you done?"
He Jinxing asked calmly.
"I do not feel well."
He raised his hand and casually lifted a strand of soft black hair from the little girl who was looking up at him, and twirled it around his fingertips. He smiled at her and gently pulled her hair in a somewhat childish manner.
"The hospital is really dirty. It's not suitable for a weak patient like me... An An, can you accompany me home?"
(End of this chapter)