Don't let me lose
"Qin Lingfeng...you're not allowed to die...do you hear me...?"
"Please...look at me..."
"As long as you live... I'll agree to anything you want..."
"Don't leave me alone..."
...
All the calculations, precautions, and alienation of the past were shattered in the face of the absolute threat of loss.
He held Qin Lingfeng's hand tightly, revealing his most vulnerable and authentic self without reservation in this deathly silent ward.
On the seventh day at dusk, Qin Lingfeng's high fever miraculously subsided a little. Although he was still unconscious, his breathing seemed to have become a bit more stable.
The doctor finally dared to say, "If we can get through tonight, there will be a turning point."
Jiang Manyan had been on tenterhooks for seven days before she dared to relax even a little, only to be met with an overwhelming sense of exhaustion.
He leaned over the bedside, holding Qin Lingfeng's hand, and finally couldn't hold on any longer, falling into a deep sleep.
In the middle of the night, he felt the fingers in his palm twitch very slightly.
Jiang Manyan woke up with a start, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of her throat.
He held his breath, staring intently at the person on the bed.
In the flickering candlelight, Qin Lingfeng's long, thick eyelashes trembled violently a few times, his brows furrowed tightly with immense pain, and a hoarse, weak groan escaped his throat.
Then, those eyes, which had been tightly closed for seven days, finally opened a crack with difficulty and slowly.
My vision was initially unfocused and blurry, and it took a very long time to finally focus.
Through blurred vision, the first thing that came into view was Jiang Manyan's haggard face, filled with extreme worry and ecstasy.
"Slowly... smoke..."
Qin Lingfeng's voice was so dry and broken that it was almost unrecognizable; every syllable had taken a tremendous amount of his strength.
He tried to move, but the movement instantly aggravated the fatal wound in his chest. The excruciating pain made his vision go black, and he almost fainted again. Cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.
"Don't move!"
Jiang Manyan's voice trembled violently and choked with sobs. She hurriedly and carefully pressed him down, her movements as gentle as if she were touching a fragile piece of glass.
"You're badly injured... really badly injured... don't move around..." His tears welled up uncontrollably, a mixture of fear, relief, and the release of emotions that had been building up for seven days and seven nights.
He frantically but very carefully helped Qin Lingfeng up little by little, moistened his chapped lips with warm water using a cotton swab, and then fed him in very small sips.
The warm water soothed his throat, and Qin Lingfeng's consciousness cleared up a little.
He looked around and confirmed that he was in Jiang Manyan's bedroom, and the person in front of him looked so haggard, it was clear that she had been taking care of him...
Overwhelmed by immense relief and overwhelming heartache, he was instantly enveloped.
He remembered the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness: Jiang Manyan's terrified face and... the poisoned knife he had blocked with his own body.
"you……"
He exhausted himself, his gaze fixed on Jiang Manyan, trying to make sure she was safe.
"It's nothing... just..."
Before he could utter the word "good," he was interrupted by a violent cough, his breath laced with blood and foam.
"I'm fine! I'm fine! Look, I'm perfectly alright!"
Jiang Manyan's tears flowed even more fiercely. She tightly grasped Qin Lingfeng's limp hand and pressed it against her cheek.
"It's you who's in trouble! Qin Lingfeng, you madman! Who asked you to take a knife for me! If you... if you really..."
He couldn't continue speaking; he just bit his lip tightly and sobbed uncontrollably.
At this moment, all defenses crumbled completely. What difference in status, what family interests, what past shadows—all vanished in the face of the immense shock of regaining what was lost and the seven days of hellish torment.
All he wanted was to live.
Qin Lingfeng had never seen Jiang Manyan like this before, so vulnerable, so real, and so open with all her emotions.
His heart was both incredibly soft and in unbearable pain; he only wanted to hold him tightly in his arms, but he didn't even have the strength to lift his hand.
"sorry……"
He spoke in a hoarse voice, his gaze gentle and apologetic.
"I scared you... I won't... do it again..."
He made this promise, even though he knew it might seem weak in the face of an uncertain future, but it came from the bottom of his heart at that moment.
Jiang Manyan wiped away her tears haphazardly, took a deep breath, and seemed to have used all her strength to make her final decision.
He looked at Qin Lingfeng again, his eyes no longer flickering, distant, or calculating, but clear and firm like a sky washed clean by a storm, carrying a resolute determination.
"Qin Lingfeng," he called him by his full name, his voice still trembling with sobs, yet unusually clear and powerful.
“Listen to me. The reason I didn’t trust you, was afraid of you, and was wary of you before was because I had seen too much filth and depravity. I didn’t dare to gamble; I couldn’t afford to lose.”
He paused, then gripped Qin Lingfeng's hand even tighter, as if trying to transfer his strength to him.
“But you took that knife for me and almost died. These past seven days... I’ve felt like I’m living in hell every single day…” His voice choked up again.
"I suddenly realized that one shouldn't give up eating because of a minor setback. If... if what you say and do now is the same as before... then I'm telling you, I'm taking the gamble."
His gaze was intense, as if a raging fire was burning within him, trying to burn away all the barriers between them.
"I'm betting my life, my future, and the future of so many people in the three towns... on you. Qin Lingfeng, don't let me lose."
This unreserved, profound honesty and entrustment, like the most intense light, instantly shone into Qin Lingfeng's weakened body and soul.
He was overwhelmed with immense joy and a sense of responsibility as heavy as a mountain, which even temporarily overwhelmed the excruciating pain of his wound.
He used all the strength he had left to grasp Jiang Manyan's hand, weakly but with extraordinary determination.
"good."
He answered with only one word, yet it carried immense weight, as if he were swearing an oath with his life. No words could describe the turmoil and solemnity in his heart at that moment.
He struggled, gesturing with his eyes for Jiang Manyan to come closer.
Jiang Manyan leaned down and put her ear close to his lips.
"We won't lose..."
Qin Lingfeng's breath was weak, but he made his promise clearly, word by word.
"Slow smoke... I swear on my life... I will never betray you in this life... I will never betray the three towns..."
Warm breath brushed against my ear, carrying the scent of blood, yet also the scent of a promise.
Jiang Manyan's tears flowed again, but this time, they were warm.
He raised his head, carefully avoiding his hideous wound, and gently placed a very light kiss, filled with endless cherishing, lingering fear and love, on Qin Lingfeng's pale and chapped lips.
"Remember what you said."
He pressed his forehead against his, whispering softly, his tone filled with complete trust and surrender.
Qin Lingfeng closed his eyes, feeling the soft touch on his lips and the unreserved trust of the person in front of him. He felt his chest filled with a hot and overflowing emotion.
Even if it meant enduring such torture, it was all worth it to get to this moment.
At this point, all the testing, suspicion, and defensiveness between the two finally melted away completely.
After going through a life-or-death ordeal, their relationship, like gold tempered by fire, became purer and stronger, entering a completely new phase of absolute trust and intertwined destinies.
The days Jiang Manyan spent with Qin Lingfeng as he recovered from his injuries were not entirely peaceful. Although the Qin brothers, Zhao and Rui, dared not attempt another assassination, they remained like two annoying flies.
The two men darted around the villa outside the town, occasionally trying to gather information under the guise of "visiting their cousin," their words still revealing their covetousness of Jinxi Town and their disdain for Jiang Manyan.
The longer they stayed in the three towns, the more they realized their value; this place had to be taken!
Perhaps there's more...
On one occasion, the two men made frivolous and disrespectful remarks to a young maid who was serving Jiang Manyan by bringing her medicine, in a separate courtyard.
When the news reached Jiang Manyan's ears, her eyes instantly turned frosty.
He did not make a fuss, nor did he impulsively go to argue or fight – he knew that his martial arts skills, which he had practiced for self-defense, might be enough to deal with ordinary thugs, but against a powerful family like the Qin family, especially if they came prepared, he had no chance of winning and might even give them a handle to use against him.
He simply calmly gave the orders...
As Qin Zhao and Qin Ruizhi left the villa in high spirits, preparing to return to their own residence, they were ambushed by several masked men in a secluded alley.
These people acted swiftly and efficiently, and were well-trained. They didn't even give them a chance to shout for help before dragging the two men into the shadows.
A silent but harsh lesson was about to begin.
The punches and kicks rained down, targeting sore spots and areas where injuries were hard to spot, so that they would suffer greatly without leaving any obvious evidence.
The whole process was as fast as lightning. After it was over, the masked men quickly dispersed, leaving Qin Zhao and Qin Rui lying at the bottom of the alley like rag dolls, their faces bruised and swollen, their bodies in excruciating pain, and several of their ribs broken. They didn't even know who had sent them.
It wasn't until some townspeople "passing by" "discovered" them that they cried out in alarm and carried them back to their courtyard.
The news spread quickly, and the version became "The two young masters of the Qin family accidentally fell and were seriously injured while walking at night."
The two men clearly suspected that Jiang Manyan had orchestrated this, but lacking evidence and with only a dozen or so thugs at their disposal, they dared not confront her directly...
Upon hearing the news, Jiang Manyan merely gave a faint "hmm," as if it were none of his business. He carried the freshly brewed medicine into Qin Lingfeng's bedroom.
Qin Lingfeng leaned against the headboard, clearly having heard the commotion outside.
Looking at Jiang Manyan's calm and composed face, he already understood.
He didn't ask if he had done it, but a very faint yet incredibly genuine smile played on his lips, his eyes filled with indulgence and... well, you could even say admiration.
His slow smoking indicates he's not someone who only knows how to act rashly.
The reason for not killing these two clowns was not because of insufficient strength or fear, but because it was to avoid giving the Qin family's main branch any leverage at this moment, thus creating an opportunity for them to launch a large-scale invasion.
"It seems my two cousins aren't having much luck."
Qin Lingfeng chuckled softly, his tone devoid of any sympathy.
Jiang Manyan handed him the medicine bowl, her tone calm: "Perhaps he's done too many bad things, and now he can't even walk steadily." The two understood each other without saying a word and smiled at each other.
However, this brief moment of pleasure was quickly shattered by the harsh reality.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
