Chapter 70
Lin Langyi returned to the emergency department along the same route. She walked slowly, even deliberately slowing her pace, in order to squeeze in a phone call to Yuan Chuyu along the way.
When the call was answered, Yuan Chuyu didn't waste any words and directly explained the matter of the surveillance in a concise manner.
Verbal descriptions offer more room for imagination than seeing things on a screen, and Lin Langyi listened to the whole story with a strained expression.
The phrase "the unclaimed gift was taken back" made her heart leap even higher.
Her tone was somewhat fierce: "Did he see you?"
His gentle, clear voice paused, and there was a few seconds of silence before he spoke again, his voice trailing off: "Are you afraid?"
"He's a hassle, and besides, I don't want anyone else to know about our relationship."
"We'll find out eventually."
He said this without the slightest worry or hesitation, as if he were waiting for a flower to bloom.
He asked softly, "Does it make you uncomfortable for others to know about our relationship?"
Lin Langyi downplayed the issue, saying, "I just think it's unnecessary. Isn't what we're doing now good enough?"
Silence fell over the other side, and all was quiet.
"The main problem is that it will be very troublesome, you know? I am now..." She started rambling like every scumbag who starts something and then abandons it, trying to make her lover obedient, sensible, and not fight or compete, preferably someone who knows when to advance and retreat, and who can be summoned and dismissed at will.
“He didn’t see me.” Yuan Chuyu suddenly interrupted them, as if he didn’t want to listen, and said to himself, “I rarely come to 1702, after all, there’s no point in me coming if you don’t come.”
This time, she was speechless.
She heard soft breathing; the other person didn't speak, nor did they hang up.
After a long pause, she asked, "But why did Chi Shu reach the 17th floor instead of the 16th?"
Have you mentioned it to him?
"How could that be?"
"Pick-up or drop-off for people going the same way?"
"I have never driven to Dingpu Community."
"Has he ever given you anything that you brought home?"
Lin Langyi recalled the miniature Taj Mahal, pressed one hand to her forehead, and gritted her teeth: "But I placed it on the 16th floor. I used it when I was doing a live stream from home... so he should know that I have residences on both sides."
The tone of her voice didn't sound like she had just discovered the problem with the gift. Yuan Chuyu paused, then asked, "When did you find out?"
"Chi Shu gave me another opera house model today, but I couldn't find it after I got home. Now I know it was with Bian Shu, and that Chi Shu came by."
"Were you with Bian Shu today? And now?" Yuan Chuyu asked, but he went off-topic.
She had already reached the emergency room entrance, the busiest place in the hospital all night. The terrifying cries and the sirens of newly parked ambulances drifted through the air and reached the other end of the phone.
Yuan Chuyu, always perceptive, immediately became serious: "Is it the emergency room? Were you affected?"
"No, the wound cleaning and bandaging were already done when I arrived." Lin Langyi said somewhat irritably, "But Bian Shu called and texted me in advance, but I didn't receive the call, otherwise I could have arrived earlier."
"Why did he call you over?" A pen cap accidentally slipped off and bounced on the table. Yuan Chuyu's tone was unfriendly as he placed the pen on the table, making a crisp tapping sound. "He sent you, a girl, to help? Or just so you could see how pitiful he is? What if someone like Chi Shu gets angry and hurts you too? How could Bian Shu dare to call you over when he knows there's danger?!"
A completely unexpected idea.
Lin Langyi gripped her phone, her eyes fixed on the brightly lit emergency room and the vibrant red text scrolling across the electronic screen: "He probably felt that there was no one else he could contact."
"Is that so?" Yuan Chuyu chuckled lightly, his tone even colder over the receiver, clearly showing his strong dislike for Bian Shu. "Won't he call the police?"
"I just asked around, and when Chi Shu was discovered by the nurse, he ran out the door without even taking the knife. It should only be a matter of time before he is caught after the police are called."
“Okay,” he said. “I know some very senior and highly capable lawyers in the industry. What are you planning to do?”
"Introduce me to him, thanks."
Another man, completely drunk and unconscious, was carried inside. Lin Langyi stood outside, looking at the stretcher beneath him and his anxious family members beside him, and said, "Then I'll hang up now."
There was only a barely audible breathing sound on the other end. Before she could move the phone away from her ear, he sighed softly and said, "Zhuzhu, in the future, even if you don't plan to ask me for help with these kinds of things, remember to ask Cheng Yanjin to accompany you. Safety comes first, no matter what."
She paused, glanced at the tips of her shoes, simply said "Mmm," and hung up the phone.
Upon entering the emergency room, Lin Langyi could see from a distance that Bian Shu still had bandages on his head and hands, standing alone in front of a trash can, peering inside. His only free hand was reaching in, as if he wanted to retrieve something.
"What are you doing?!" She rushed forward and grabbed his arm.
He was startled, a moment of panic flashing across his face. When he saw it was her, he opened his mouth, a hint of embarrassment appearing on his face.
Lin Langyi didn't even need to look into the trash can to know what he was picking up.
Bian Shu didn't answer, but silently looked away and said, "You're back... I thought you were gone."
"Let me help you back first." She wrapped her arms around his uninjured arm and supported him with her shoulders. "Don't move around or wander off, okay?"
He didn't move his feet.
Lin Langyi knew what he wanted to do and shook her head: "The hat is dirty, don't take it, don't pick things out of the trash can."
“It’s not dirty,” he said softly. “It’s clean.”
"As long as I preserve it properly, it will always look brand new."
Lin Langyi pursed her lips: "We can buy more."
“Not everything can be replaced.” He stubbornly pulled his hand away from her arm and bent down to pick up the hat from the trash can.
She stood to the side, watching him silently.
Bian Shu gently dusted off his hat before walking toward bed 23.
There was an oily film separating the two people, through which nothing could pass.
Lin Langyi had many questions she wanted to ask, such as Chi Shu, and how the seemingly loving senior and junior brothers had ended up like this. She didn't know where to begin. Suddenly, Bian Shu put the hat back on his head and smiled briefly, like a fleeting moment.
It was a genuine, joyful laugh from the heart.
“Zhuzhu, I plan to transfer the patented technology to you,” he said. “When is it convenient for you? Let’s go sign the contract.”
In the noisy environment, Lin Langyi could barely hear the sentence.
She stopped in surprise, her eyes widening as she asked, "What did you say?"
“I’m so happy today.” Bian Shu continued, tilting his face slightly upward, as if he could see the moon in the night sky through the oppressive ceiling. “Zhuzhu, I think that since we reunited, today is the only time you haven’t hidden anything from me.”
He stopped as well, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly, still tilting his head back: "Your acting is terrible. Instead of smiling at me so politely, why don't you just throw a tantrum in front of me like you did tonight? That would make me feel like I'm not a guest."
"When I was little, my parents would only stop arguing and pretend nothing had happened when guests came to our house."
The ceiling light was blindingly white. He closed his eyes briefly, then pressed the bridge of his nose. "I told myself today, as long as you come, as long as you come to see me, as long as you worry about me even a little bit, then it's all worth it..."
He let out a shy and wistful sigh, overwhelmed with mixed feelings: "I never expected you to slap him for my sake."
“Actually, I—” she began to explain, but he suddenly turned to look at her.
Perhaps because the lights were too bright, his eyes were a little moist, but his gaze softened inch by inch, and the corners of his mouth slowly turned up, like a warm sun shower.
"Do you know, that slap made me feel that even if my life ends up being nothing, as long as I can think of tonight, I will feel that I am not completely destitute."
He was overjoyed, filled with boundless hope: "Life is so long, both for you and for me, so who says there's no possibility in the future?"
"So I've decided to help you get out of this arranged marriage as soon as possible, sooner, faster, even faster. We'll talk about other things after you're free."
Lin Langyi's nerves started pounding.
Life is full of unpredictable moments; you never know what the next piece of chocolate will taste like.
She never expected that the originally planned protracted negotiation would be resolved so easily with this unexpected slap.
“Let the patent broker assess the price.” She has always been sincere with her business partners. “There’s no reason for you to treat all your years of hard work as a favor and for me to raise the price.”
Bian Shu turned his head away and didn't look at her again, then walked back to the hospital bed: "You're calculating things so clearly with me?"
"Business is business."
He shook his head, smiled wryly, but still knew her perfectly well: "You just think it's hard to repay favors."
After a brief silence, the two returned to the bedside. Although Lin Langyi's mind was mostly occupied by the word "patent," she was, after all, there to visit a patient. Moreover, Bian Shu's misfortune tonight was entirely undeserved, and she was genuinely worried about him.
She went straight to the point: "What's the deal with Chi Shu?"
Bian Shu sat on the edge of the bed: "He came to see me, carrying a knife."
Lin Langyi asked incredulously, "Why? And that text message of yours... You knew he would come looking for me?"
Bian Shu didn't speak, but glanced at the pearl model on the bedside table.
Lin Langyi, who had been leaning against the railing of the empty bed opposite with her legs crossed, pulled her legs back upon seeing this, took a few steps over, picked up the pearl model, and examined it from all angles.
Instead of dismantling it, she put the item back: "This is for the police."
He nodded: "I just called the police."
Lin Langyi: "Okay, a lawyer named Yuan will be coming over in a bit. She has been fighting for many years and has a lot of experience. You can entrust her with all your responsibilities."
"Just rest well and don't think about anything else. I've given the caregiver a red envelope. After you get through these few days, we can go home to rest and have a family doctor come to take care of you."
Bian Shu was clearly taken aback: "Family doctor?"
Lin Langyi recalled Yuan Chuyu's original words and fully trusted his tactful and diplomatic manner, so she was quite at ease with his arrangements.
After all, it's his family's property, so there's nothing to complain about regarding security.
She repeated, "Yes, there is a relatively secluded sanatorium, a private one, with excellent medical services. This kind of thing will not happen again, and you can recover well."
Bian Shu lay back down on the bed, watching her tuck the thin blanket in little by little, his gaze fixed on her face, and finally he nodded.
"I'll do as you say."
*
Lin Langyi returned to the underground parking lot an hour and a half later.
After communicating with Attorney Yuan, asking the caregiver for help, and listening to the doctor's advice, Cheng Yanjin probably wouldn't have the patience to wait for her in the same place.
Even so, she still bought some things at the self-service supermarket to prepare for the future, and carried the bags back to the parking spot by herself.
When she was still fifteen or sixteen meters away from the vehicle, she raised her hand and unlocked it. The headlights flashed, and the lights inside the vehicle automatically turned on.
The man, leaning back in the back seat, remained casually seated in the center. Looking through the windshield, all that could be seen was his well-defined jawline and the clear, sharp lines of his neck.
She slowed her pace slightly, the bag in her hand brushing against her leg, making a rustling sound.
He knew she was back, even though the lights were on in the car, but he remained motionless, as if he were asleep.
Lin Langyi walked straight to the back seat, opened the door, bent down and sat down, then locked the car door, and the car was finally dark again.
The man beside her still didn't react at all.
His eyes were tightly closed, covered by thick, dark eyelashes, but his brow was still furrowed. Although he looked like he was just sleeping and didn't care about anything else, he was never truly relaxed.
Lin Langyi rummaged through the bag, like the kind of parents who would start vacuuming early in the morning and wouldn't stop until they woke their children up.
The car was filled with the rustling sound of plastic bags. She noticed that his brows furrowed even more, and his lips were tightly pursed and turned down, his face clearly displaying a sour expression.
Lin Langyi finally found what she wanted. She took it out, weighed it in her hand, turned to him and examined it for a few moments. She smiled silently at his childish appearance, where he kept his eyes closed and was determined not to look at her even once.
She shifted to the middle of the seat, turned halfway around, straddled him with one leg, and sat on his lap with effortless grace.
The muscles in his thighs twitched slightly, and soon, the already hard muscles became even firmer.
Lin Langyi gestured and realized that the distance was not enough. She supported herself on his thigh with her left hand, without raising her buttocks, and pressed her legs up on both sides of his thighs. She sat in a duck-sitting position, rubbing her legs against his legs and moving closer to him.
The veins on his neck were faintly visible, and he closed his eyes even tighter, as if afraid that air would sneak in through the slits of his eyes.
Lin Langyi pretended not to know anything. She was fully equipped and first used a cotton swab dipped in saline solution to gently apply it to the corner of his broken mouth. Then she blew on the wound that was about to heal if left untreated.
Even though he was blowing on his lips, his eyelashes started to tremble, as if they were being brushed by the wind.
Lin Langyi changed several cotton swabs and applied the ointment repeatedly before finally applying erythromycin ointment to him.
The soft cotton swab tip circled around the corner of his mouth, and finally gently touched his lower lip with its rounded tip.
His Adam's apple bobbed, and his chin was held high; it was unclear why he could hold his anger for so long.
After Lin Langyi finished treating the broken skin wound, she turned to look at his face. The red marks on it had faded a bit, but they were still very noticeable.
She took out the ice pack, which was frozen solid and still radiated cold air with wisps of smoke.
She glanced at him, and without saying a word, pressed her hand against his cheek. Finally, she got her wish and made him shudder, his knees even jumping up. He was clearly caught off guard by the cold.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw his fiancée standing before him with a half-smile.
Cheng Yanjin realized he had been exposed for pretending to be asleep, and feeling embarrassed, he quickly started thinking about how to get back at Cheng Yanjin.
He has suffered such a great injustice today, he can no longer be as soft-hearted and easily swayed as before, getting angry for two hours and calming down in five minutes.
He was mentally prepared and was planning to continue the cold war with her with dignity, but Lin Langyi blinked slowly, looked intently at his profile, and touched it tenderly.
His head nodded slightly, completely out of his control.
Her fingertips were also freezing cold, and when you touched them, they were no different from those ice packs, which showed that she had been holding ice packs for too long.
Those slender fingers slid across his cheek, like tiny ice cubes half-melted in lemonade, which would slide uncontrollably around in his mouth when held in his mouth, cool and refreshing.
Subconsciously, he was a traitor. He had no idea how he so naturally raised his hand and pinched her fingers, then tilted his head slightly and smoothly pressed his face against her palm.
The person in front of him stopped moving.
Cheng Yanjin belatedly met her eyes and realized that he had actually been thinking of warming her fingers... He was simply crazy.
Could he have Stockholm syndrome?
"Does it still hurt?" She gently frowned, a tender and affected voice he had never heard from her before.
Cheng Yanjin's mind was a bit tangled. Actually, the pain had subsided, but he swallowed the words that were about to roll on his tongue.
It was the sight of her placing him in the car and isolating him before leaving that made his chest and lungs ache so much he couldn't even breathe.
His eyes were still a little sore, a lingering effect of crying; they were so dry that every blink felt like sand rubbing against his conjunctiva.
After recalling both old and new grudges, Cheng Yanjin straightened his face again, crossed his arms over his chest, and said bitterly, "It hurts!"
Lin Langyi went to get the ice pack again, but before she could reach it, he swiftly reached out and snatched it away.
He pressed his hand against his face, glanced at her sideways, raised his chin in a huff, but his free hand still held her fingers tightly to warm them.
"It was my fault today. I was prejudiced." Lin Langyi touched his earlobe and saw that he not only did not reject it, but also turned his face and put his ear in her hand.
"You apologized after hitting someone?" He looked away, his expression a mixture of unwavering resolve and utter grievance. "Let me tell you, it's too late!"
"Domestic violence is either zero times or countless times. You set a precedent today, and from now on you'll only beat me like a dog every day!"
Lin Langyi: "...How could that be?"
"Don't think that just because you're nicer to me now, I'll forget the pain once the wound heals." He spoke with a set of plausible words. "There's a saying that goes, every abusive spouse has eyes that can shed tears and knees that can kneel. They hit someone today, buy breakfast to apologize the next day, and then hit them again, over and over again!"
Lin Langyi: ...
No, what did he look at during the hour and a half he was in the car?
Seeing his stiff expression, and realizing that he had taken care of his own equipment, Lin Langyi could only take out a bottle of water from the bag.
Cheng Yanjin guessed her intentions, and became even more indignant. He angrily refused, "I won't drink hot water! You're being so perfunctory! I was slapped in front of your ex-lover, I've lost all face, how can you just tell me to drink more hot water and brush it off?!"
Lin Langyi: ?
She hesitated as she looked at the water in her hand. A layer of fine water droplets had condensed on the outer packaging, which turned into water and flowed down when touched.
“No…” she held up the water in her hand, “it’s ice cold.”
Under his wide-eyed stare, she wiped the water from the bottle that she had rubbed from her palm onto his clothes, and then, under his incredulous gaze, lifted the hem of his shirt and placed it over the bottle cap.
With a twist, it opened.
She handed it to him: "Want a drink?"
Seeing that he didn't take it, Lin Langyi withdrew her hand and decided to drink it herself.
Before she could even drink it, the mineral water bottle was grabbed, and he snatched the ice water from her hand. With a tilt of his head back, the water level plummeted.
In ten seconds, he crushed the empty bottle, put the cap back on, and set it aside.
That wasn't all. He leaned to the side and rummaged through her shopping bag, finding a bottle of room-temperature mineral water, which he unscrewed and handed to her.
"Why are you drinking ice water? Have you forgotten how painful your period is?"
Lin Langyi took the bottle and drank about half of it, then pointed to the driver's seat: "You drive or I drive?"
Cheng Yanjin still looked indifferent, but the higher his lips curled up, the more honest his body was. He lifted her up and put her aside, then got out of the car and went to the front to become the driver.
The car started, and Lin Langyi lay down in the back seat, closing her eyes: "Drive slowly, I'm going to take a nap."
A "humph" came from the front, and after a short pause, he turned off the automatically connected Bluetooth, and the car became quiet.
The car was driven steadily and slowly. Lin Langyi said with her eyes closed, "Cheng Yanjin, don't fight with people anymore, so I won't misunderstand you."
"Understood," he replied solemnly, his hands resting on the steering wheel.
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