Chapter 68
By the time Zhou Xinyi calmed down and returned to her ward, it was already very late.
Zhou Chengze was lying half-reclined on the hospital bed, letting the nurse draw blood from him.
When he saw Zhou Xinyi return, he casually asked, "Xinyi, where did you go just now?"
Zhou Xinyi shook her head, still looking somewhat dazed: "I went to have a cup of coffee with a classmate."
Zhou Chengze nodded without asking any further questions. Instead, he asked the nurse who was drawing his blood when he could be discharged. The reply he received was that he could be discharged in another week.
Zhou Xinyi put her bag on the sofa next to her, and after the nurse left, she sat on the hospital bed and started peeling an apple for Zhou Chengze.
As she peeled the apple, she looked up at him in the hospital room and asked, "Brother, I don't think I've asked you what you like about Xiang Wan yet?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chengze thought about it seriously, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. The moment he saw Xiang Wan, he had an indescribable feeling, as if they were destined to fall in love.
But this feeling was too mysterious, so he only used the phrase "love at first sight" to describe it. However, Zhou Xinyi was somewhat distracted when she heard this answer.
She placed the peeled apple aside and said, "Sister Xiangwan said that you and she have decided to be friends."
"Hmm." Zhou Chengze pulled down the sleeve from where the blood was drawn, looking somewhat absent-minded.
"Are you still sad, brother?"
"It would be a lie to say I'm not sad, but as long as A-Wan can be happy in this life, it doesn't matter if I'm not the one by her side."
Zhou Xinyi cut the peeled apple into pieces with a knife, placed them on a plate, and handed it to him, asking casually, "Brother, do you know what kind of coffee I like?"
Zhou Chengze took the apple and looked at her: "Cappuccino? I remember you often ordered this when you went to the coffee shop."
She smiled, but there was a hint of helplessness in her smile. She ordered a cappuccino because it was the only coffee she knew, but she didn't like coffee at all.
Zhou Chengze had no idea that she knew.
Zhou Xinyi grabbed the thermos from the bedside table, made an excuse to go fill it with hot water, and went out alone. After closing the ward door, she leaned against the wall, feeling a tightness in her chest.
After a while, she went to the deepest part of the corridor. When she came back after filling her cup with hot water, Zhou Chengze was already lying down.
Zhou Xinyi placed the thermos within easy reach of him and then planned to return to her dormitory. She knew her brother didn't really want her to stay and take care of him, so she didn't intend to stay overnight.
Before leaving, remembering Xiang Wan's invitation, she looked at her brother on the hospital bed and asked, "Sister Xiang Wan invited us to go out to sea together next month. Brother, do you want to go?"
Did A-Wan bring it up on her own initiative?
"It was Sister Xiang Wan who brought it up."
Zhou Chengze was somewhat surprised. Whether it was the trip to Northern Europe together or the camping trip with the group of eight, it was always Jiang Zhuochun or Che Nanbei who invited him.
This time, the invitation came directly from Xiang Wan, which surprised him and made him secretly happy: "I want to go, Xinyi, are you coming?"
Zhou Xinyi wasn't surprised by her brother's decision; her expression showed some helplessness: "Since my brother is going, I'll go too."
"good."
*
A month later, in the tranquil waters surrounding a private island abroad, a yacht rested quietly in the middle of the sea.
Beneath the azure surface of the sea, the water is so clear that you can see the coral reefs on the seabed.
On the top deck of the yacht, several young men and women were lying on deck chairs enjoying the sun.
Xiang Wan and Shen Feiyang were sunbathing while wearing sunglasses, while Jiang Zhuochun and Che Nanbei were having a competition to see who could skip more stones across the water.
Wang Yidong and Xia Yueshen both suffer from thalassophobia, so neither of them came. Instead, they spent their time collecting seashells on the beach outside their vacation villa.
In addition to the trio, Xiang Wan also invited Jiang Nan and Zhou Chengze and his sister to this sea voyage.
Surprisingly, Chen Yan and Zhou Chengze had a good relationship; the two were playing chess on the yacht at that moment.
As for Zhou Xinyi, she was originally fishing on the deck with Jiang Nan, but it seemed that the water was too clear and they couldn't catch any fish, so she came over to sunbathe with them.
Wearing an eye mask, Xiang Wan felt the sea breeze blowing from all sides. Everything seemed so pleasant, except for the inescapable yet all-too-familiar cacophony in her ears:
"Che Nanbei, you're cheating."
How did I cheat?
"When you skipped the stone, you leaned forward, and you threw it closer than I did."
"It doesn't say you can't lean forward, does it?"
"What happened just now doesn't count."
"Jiang Zhuochun, have you no shame?? You just said it would be a single game to decide the winner, then you said best of three, and now it's best of five?"
"..." Jiang Zhuochun was clearly taken aback by her words. "Let's play another round."
"...Shameless."
"Che Nanbei, can't you have some competitive spirit?"
"So who's lacking competitive spirit now?"
"If you're not satisfied, we'll find Wanwan to be the referee."
…
Hearing this, Xiang Wan didn't open her eyes, but her lips visibly pursed.
Shen Feiyang, who also heard this, closed his eyes and teased her, "Two troublemakers are coming to find you again."
After teasing her, she wanted to see her reaction, so she opened her eyes and looked at her: "Are you ready to face the referee?"
Xiang Wan said in a calm voice, "I'm asleep."
Upon hearing this, not only Shen Feiyang, but also Jiang Nan and Zhou Xinyi laughed out loud at her lame joke.
Xiang Wan has a rather indifferent personality and rarely jokes, but the occasional dry jokes she throws out are particularly funny.
"Hmm, Xiang Shuhan, why don't you become a stand-up comedian and tell jokes?"
"What about my employees?"
"..."
Che Nanbei and Jiang Zhuochun were just talking; they didn't actually come over. Instead, they started skipping stones for the second time.
The two entertained themselves, and Xiang Wan was happy to be free from being a referee.
Around noon, after sunbathing, they went to the deck to enjoy the scenery. Because Jiang Zhuochun and Che Nanbei were arguing about going sea fishing, the yacht was heading towards the deep sea.
The yacht was moving very fast, and you could tell from the changing color of the seawater that they were gradually moving away from the shore, and the seawater was becoming more and more azure.
During their journey to the deep sea, they encountered a small incident: a baby seal, appearing out of nowhere, jumped onto their deck and accompanied them for the rest of the trip.
Che Nanbei was the most daring; he even touched the seal. Fortunately, the seal didn't seem afraid of people and didn't resist being touched. It even slapped its tail fin in their direction.
Jiang Zhuochun, however, remained cautiously by his side, saying, "Don't keep touching it. What if it bites you?"
Why did it bite me?
"Isn't that just a possibility?"
"Where do we get so many 'what ifs'?"
Perhaps it was because they were making a headache, but the seal only rode the yacht for a short while. Once it reached the deep sea area, it jumped off and disappeared.
Since it was lunchtime, everyone went inside the yacht's cabin to eat.
As for Zhou Xinyi and Xiang Wan, they weren't very hungry since they had just eaten a box of cream puffs, so they stayed on the deck watching the sea.
When only the two of them remained on the deck, Zhou Xinyi looked at Xiang Wan's profile and asked the question that had been troubling her for a whole month.
"Sister Xiang Wan, how did you know I don't like coffee?"
Xiang Wan looked at her, her voice devoid of emotion: "I guessed it because I noticed you never drink coffee."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Xinyi remained silent for a long time, her eyes reddening.
She knew from a young age that she was an adopted child. Although Li Taohua treated her well, she was not her biological daughter and there were times when she was neglected.
She had always been the one ignored since childhood, and she was used to it. This was the first time someone had paid attention to her, telling her what they liked and disliked, which made her feel flattered.
But Zhou Xinyi was already used to hiding her emotions, so even though her inner emotions were churning, she didn't say anything when she heard this. She just looked at her with a complicated expression and said, "I thought you didn't like me very much, Sister Xiang Wan."
Hearing this, Xiang Wan felt a bit conflicted.
Although Xiang Wan prides herself on not being someone who shows her emotions, no one is a fool. Even if she doesn't show her emotions, Zhou Xinyi can still tell that she doesn't like her.
In fact, although Xiang Wan didn't harbor any hostility towards Zhou Xinyi, she didn't really like her. As for how she knew Zhou Xinyi's preferences, that was because of her past life.
In her previous life, after Xiang Wan decided to get engaged to Zhou Chengze, she truly treated Zhou Xinyi as her sister-in-law.
Although she didn't need to curry favor with Zhou Chengze because of their vastly different statuses, she had still considered leaving a good impression on her. She never expected the three of them to end up like this.
Therefore, when Xiang Wan heard Zhou Xinyi say that she thought he didn't like her, she felt a mix of emotions.
I did give my heart back then, and I was truly let down. Even though I've let it go now, there's still a sense of emptiness in my heart.
The yacht sped forward, the waves surging behind the deck, but the two people stood quietly on the deck, each lost in thought.
The air was salty, unique to the sea, and damp. Xiang Wan reached out to the sea breeze, as if embracing it.
She closed her eyes and felt the sea with her body, but she vaguely sensed that a hand was about to push her from behind.
She quickly turned around, only to find no one behind her, but a strange force was pushing her toward the deep sea.
A person's reaction time is only 0.5 seconds. Xiang Wan tried to change her forward-leaning posture and lean towards the side of the deck. However, by the time she realized what was happening, she was already some distance away from the deck.
The yacht was still speeding forward when she fell from the deck into the deep sea...
The seawater in July is not particularly cool; in fact, it can even feel slightly warm after being exposed to the morning sun.
Xiang Wan tried to calm down and strained to open her eyes to see the surrounding sea. However, every time she tried to peek out of the water, she was shoved back into the sea by the waves at the stern of the yacht.
Without much effort, she had already guessed that her fall into the sea was once again the work of that invisible hand—that person still wanted to kill her.
Just when Xiang Wan thought she might need to hold her breath for a while longer, she felt someone grab her arm and pull her back desperately.
She could barely poke her eyes above the water, and when she opened them, she saw Zhou Xinyi clinging to her on the deck.
"Hold on—"
With the sound of waves all around her, Xiang Wan couldn't quite hear what Zhou Xinyi was saying, but she could roughly understand what she was trying to say from the shape of her lips.
She knew that Zhou Xinyi wanted to save her, but she didn't know if, in a male-oriented novel, Zhou Xinyi, as the female lead, had enough luck to save her.
The surging seawater filled Xiang Wan's ears and nose, making it impossible for her to think. She could only look at Zhou Xinyi when her eyes broke the surface of the water, and then close her eyes before being swallowed by the waves in the next second.
She mentally calculated the probability of Zhou Xinyi successfully saving her, but felt that although her arm was being held, the waves were slowly getting smaller.
Xiang Wan lay dormant in the seawater, on the verge of suffocation, yet she waited quietly for her chance. When she felt the sea become calm again, she mustered all her strength and pushed herself out of the water.
Despite wanting to breathe deeply, she could only breathe in rhythm with the rise and fall of the sea.
Until she opened her eyes and looked at the boundless sea and Zhou Xinyi, who was holding her beside her.
Xiang Wan understood that both she and Zhou Xinyi had been "taken offline"...
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