Chapter 67
Although they had traveled together several times, Xiang Wan had never spoken to Zhou Xinyi on the phone because of the lingering unease from her past life. This was the first time she had called Zhou Xinyi, so she paused for a moment during the call, which was quite unusual for her.
The other party was also a little surprised to receive her call, but Zhou Xinyi quickly recognized Xiang Wan's voice: "Sister Xiang Wan, what happened?"
Even though Xiang Wan didn't say anything, Zhou Xinyi seemed to sense something and had a bad feeling.
"Zhou Chengze collapsed downstairs in the dormitory and has been taken to the hospital." Xiang Wan suddenly stopped halfway through her sentence.
Seemingly realizing she had been a bit too cold-hearted, she added, "But Chen Yan said the doctor said there's nothing seriously wrong, just some malnutrition and excessive mental stress."
Although her sister-in-law in her previous life did some questionable things, Xiang Wan did not harbor any deep resentment towards her.
Many of her transgressions were due to Zhou Chengze's blurred sense of boundaries in his previous life, and it takes two to tango.
Xiang Wan didn't think the blame lay entirely with Zhou Xinyi from the previous life, so whether in the previous life or this life, she never harbored any particular malice towards her sister-in-law.
"Sister Xiang Wan, which hospital is my brother in?"
Seeing her voice crack with tears upon hearing that Zhou Chengze had fainted, Xiang Wan felt a pang of sympathy: "He's been transferred to the affiliated hospital. Chen Yan has already paid the fees, and he's on the third floor of the inpatient department."
"Sister Xiang Wan, I'll be right there."
"good."
Not long after hanging up the phone, Xiang Wan's taxi arrived at the inpatient department downstairs at the hospital.
She first asked which ward she was in, and then took the elevator to the third floor.
When they arrived at the ward, Zhou Xinyi hadn't arrived yet; only Chen Yan was sitting by the bed. Hearing the noise, he glanced towards the door.
Upon seeing her, Chen Yan's expression immediately relaxed: "The doctor said it's just malnutrition and a bit of low blood sugar; an IV drip will do the trick."
"Why isn't he awake yet?"
"The doctor said it might be because he hasn't slept for too long."
"..."
Xiang Wan never expected that Zhou Chengze's elaborate fainting spell was simply due to exhaustion.
Because some hospitalization procedures were still incomplete, Chen Yan went to the first floor to complete them, while Xiang Wan stayed in the ward to watch over Zhou Chengze.
She had barely sat down when the trio arrived, all of them empty-handed because they had come in such a hurry.
The first thing everyone asked when they came in was, "What happened to Zhou Chengze?"
Xiang Wan patiently explained three times. Because the three of them were watching over her, and because she felt a bit stuffy in the ward, she went to the corridor outside for some fresh air.
It was sunny just a short while ago, but suddenly it started to drizzle again. Although Xiang Wan's first encounter with Chen Ruilin in her previous life was on a rainy day, she actually didn't like rainy days.
The light rain was drizzling down, which made her feel inexplicably irritable. So she stayed in the hallway for a while before taking the elevator in the inpatient department to the lobby on the first floor.
There seemed to be a charity performance on the first floor of the inpatient ward, where a children's author was reading fairy tales to sick children.
Although Xiang Wan wasn't very interested in fairy tales, she still sat in the chair and listened for a long time.
Just as the children's author was about to leave, she felt her phone vibrate in her handbag. She glanced at it and saw a message from Shen Feiyang saying that Zhou Chengze had woken up.
Xiang Wan then picked up her handbag, got up, and walked towards the ward.
In the ward on the third floor, Zhou Chengze was indeed awake and chatting with the trio. However, when she glanced around, she found that Zhou Xinyi was not there.
When Zhou Chengze fainted, the first person she told was Zhou Xinyi, who should have arrived long ago.
Xiang Wan looked at Shen Feiyang, who was sitting on the far side, and asked, "Has Zhou Xinyi not arrived yet?"
Shen Feiyang turned to look at him and replied, "She went out again, saying she needed to go back to her dorm to get something."
After saying that, she seemed to suddenly remember something: "Oh, right."
"Zhou Xinyi also told you not to leave yet, but to wait for her for a while."
Xiang Wan raised an eyebrow, finding it a bit strange. What did Zhou Xinyi want with her? She looked at Shen Feiyang and asked, "Did she say what she wanted to talk to me about?"
"No."
She nodded and didn't say anything more. Zhou Chengze, who was on the hospital bed, also nodded to her when he saw her.
The two had just agreed to be friends that morning, and for them, a nodding acquaintance was the best option.
The ward was so stuffy, and the smell of disinfectant reminded Xiang Wan of the days when she was ten years old and hospitalized after heart surgery. So she went to the corridor for some fresh air after a short while.
However, this time, she had only been in front of the French windows for a short while when she bumped into Zhou Xinyi, who was rushing back.
The two looked at each other across the corner. Xiang Wan looked at her, about to ask what she wanted to see her about, when she heard Zhou Xinyi say, "Sister Xiang Wan, I need to talk to you about something."
Although she didn't know why Zhou Xinyi wanted to see her, she could guess that it was related to Zhou Chengze's fainting. She nodded and said, "Let's go to the coffee shop downstairs."
"good."
When they arrived at the coffee shop, the waiter had already brought the coffee, but Zhou Xinyi didn't say a word about what was going on.
Xiang Wan didn't urge her, but calmly drank her coffee and looked out the window at the light rain that was falling.
After a while, Zhou Xinyi finally spoke up: "Sister Xiang Wan, take a look at this."
As she spoke, she handed her a workbook. Xiang Wan took it and glanced at it, recognizing it as Zhou Chengze's workbook based on the handwriting.
Unlike his somewhat smooth personality, his handwriting is sharp and angular.
Xiang Wan flipped through a few pages symbolically, somewhat confused about Zhou Xinyi's purpose in showing this to her, until one page, which seemed to have been frequently looked at by its owner, developed creases.
The unfolded page was already somewhat yellowed, but the ballpoint pen marks on it had not faded over time.
Among the messy drafts, there was a woman drawn with a ballpoint pen. The woman's face had no features, but Xiang Wan recognized her just by her overall style.
Considering the owner of this notebook, it's not hard to guess that it was Zhou Chengze who drew her.
As for when it was drawn, judging from the calculations on it, it should have been during his junior or senior high school years.
It's not hard to understand why he painted her; in this life, by some twist of fate, she became his white moonlight once again.
Based on just one notebook, Xiang Wan was able to deduce the general idea, but she was puzzled as to why Zhou Xinyi had shown her the notebook.
She pushed the homework book towards her and looked at her sister-in-law from her previous life for the first time.
Although they had a lot of contact in their previous life because of Zhou Chengze, they rarely had the opportunity to sit face to face and talk while looking each other in the eyes.
Every time they met, her gaze was focused on his older brother, Zhou Chengze, and she rarely looked at her. Even when they did, it was only a brief exchange of glances.
Compared to her previous life, Zhou Xinyi seems to have changed quite a bit in this life, and she no longer has any obsession with Zhou Chengze.
Xiang Wan gestured with her eyes towards the workbook: "What does this mean?"
"Sister Xiang Wan, my brother likes you a lot." Zhou Xinyi looked at her with a very sincere expression.
"..."
Xiang Wan looked at her, but found it somewhat amusing.
Last time, she chose to get engaged to Zhou Chengze, but they flirted and made ambiguous advances behind her back. In this life, she has stepped aside from the two siblings and started to bring them together.
Too lazy to beat around the bush, she simply asked directly, "Don't you like your brother Zhou Chengze?"
Zhou Xinyi never mentioned her feelings for Zhou Chengze to anyone.
She was only slightly surprised that her brother knew about this, but when Xiang Wan also knew about it, she was so shocked that she couldn't speak.
But instead of asking how she knew, she pushed the notebook towards Xiang Wan and said, "But he likes you."
Seemingly to emphasize the persuasiveness of her words, she added, "From the first moment he saw you, he has always liked you."
At this point, Zhou Xinyi did not offer any explanation for her feelings for Zhou Chengze, but instead said, "I hope my brother can be happy."
Looking at the painting that was repeatedly pushed toward her, Xiang Wan fell silent. Looking at the ballpoint pen marks on it, she suddenly remembered the time in her previous life when Zhou Chengze smiled and painted her portrait.
The two had just started dating and their eyes were full of affection for each other; even his paintings were filled with love.
In the end, the two of them grew to dislike each other.
Xiang Wan closed the workbook and handed it to Zhou Xinyi: "But I don't like him."
"So who do you like? Chen Yan?"
Xiang Wan did not answer the question immediately. Her feelings for Chen Yan were complicated. She could not say she loved him, but she was definitely attracted to him. Otherwise, she would not have taken the initiative to kiss him.
But is it to the point of liking?
Perhaps there are some, but they are also mixed with some trade-offs and calculations.
Xiang Wan felt that since this was a male-oriented novel world, there had to be a male protagonist. So she decided to cultivate Chen Yan into the male protagonist of this world, even though she didn't know if she could ultimately succeed, she wanted to give it a try.
In his previous life, Chen Yan was the self-made CEO of Si Rong. Although he couldn't compare to Zhou Chengze, who had the protagonist's halo, Xiang Wan felt that he must have had a kind of luck that ordinary people didn't have.
According to her destiny, she will die of a heart attack in five years, and what she desperately needs now is his luck.
Chen Yan is not the male lead, is not under the author's control, and was personally trained by her. He is also very filial to his mother-in-law who is not related to him by blood, so there is no need to worry about his loyalty. Besides, he likes her.
Chen Yan is now the male protagonist of the world chosen by Xiang Wan. It can be said that the kiss just now included these weighing of pros and cons, which can not be considered calculation.
That somewhat abrupt kiss was a plot device she set up to advance the story.
Although she had some affection for Chen Yan, in her heart, Chen Yan was also a pawn she had planted to change her fate.
She wouldn't say she felt guilty, but she did feel she owed Chen Yan something.
Therefore, when Zhou Xinyi asked her if she liked Chen Yan, Xiang Wan remained silent for a long time and still did not give a direct answer to the question.
Instead, they changed their tune: "Your brother and I have decided to remain friends."
She took a sip of her coffee, glanced at Zhou Xinyi's untouched cappuccino across from her, and waved to the waiter, signaling them to bring her another cup of milk tea.
The milk tea was ready quickly, and the waiter brought it over, but Xiang Wan told him to put the milk tea on the opposite side.
Zhou Xinyi stared blankly at the milk tea in front of her. No one had ever known that she didn't like coffee.
After being admitted to Beiyi City from Lijiacun, in order not to be looked down upon by her classmates, she would force herself to order a cup of coffee whenever she went to a coffee shop with them, even though she didn't like bitter coffee.
But no one ever noticed this, and no one ever gave her milk tea just because she didn't like it, not even her brother Zhou Chengze.
She pretended to look at Xiang Wan as if nothing was wrong, but her heart was in turmoil. Xiang Wan's face remained indifferent, as if she had only done something insignificant.
In her past life, Zhou Xinyi didn't like coffee and only drank milk tea. Xiang Wan had a photographic memory, so she naturally remembered this little thing as well.
"Zhou Xinyi, summer vacation starts next month. We're going on a sea trip. If you and Zhou Chengze are free, you can come along."
"……good."
After Xiang Wan finished speaking, she got up and left, leaving Zhou Xinyi alone, staring blankly at the milk tea in front of her...
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