She was pressing the sharp end of a hairpin against her palm, trying to suppress the burning sensation in her body with pain. Drops of blood dripped from between her fingers onto the carpet, like blooming red plum blossoms.
That was a side of Xie Zhecheng he had never seen before, devoid of all the composure of a controller, like a young animal drenched by a downpour, so fragile it made one's heart tremble.
"Yu Jiuyuan!"
Hearing the noise, she looked up abruptly, her eyes now only showing fragments of clarity. When she saw them, she instinctively shrank back into the sofa.
For the first time, Rong Shenghan's voice betrayed a loss of control. He rushed over and squatted down, his fingertips barely touching her skin before he abruptly pulled back, as it was burning hot.
Xie Zhecheng stood behind her, his pupils contracting in shock, his cold mask cracking inch by inch. Looking at the red mark on her collarbone, his Adam's apple bobbed violently.
“The medicine… the medicine the Su family gave me…” Yu Jiuyuan’s consciousness was beginning to blur, but her remaining rationality made her grip Rong Shenghan’s sleeve tightly. “The system said… if it’s not resolved… I’ll be crippled…”
The rest of her words were drowned out by soft moans. She suddenly looked up, her unfocused gaze sweeping across their faces like that of a drowning person grasping at the last straw.
Lin Yanran appeared at the doorway, and upon seeing the scene before him, his arrogant expression instantly froze. He wanted to turn around and call for help, but Rong Shenghan's icy gaze kept him rooted to the spot: "Shut up, go outside and stand guard. No one is allowed to come in."
Lin Yanran's steps seemed to be nailed to the ground. Looking at Yu Jiuyuan's reddened eyes, her heart felt as if it were being squeezed tightly by something.
He had never seen her like this before, stripped of all composure and control, leaving only a vulnerable and vulnerable figure in need of rescue.
"What should we do?" Xie Zhecheng's voice trembled without him even realizing it. His gaze swept over the first-aid kit on the table, which only contained some ointment for treating external injuries. "Call a doctor?"
"It's too late." Rong Shenghan interrupted him, his fingertips probing Yu Jiuyuan's carotid artery, her pulse pounding so fast it felt like it was about to explode.
“The Su family’s medicine is extremely insidious. By the time the doctor arrives, her nerves will be damaged.” His gaze fell on Xie Zhecheng, sharper than ever before. “Think carefully.”
[Xie Zhecheng: Favorability 17 (unchanged), Emotional fluctuations - Negative 0/Neutral 5/Positive 105 (Positive +12)]
Positive emotions surged like a lit fuse.
Xie Zhecheng clenched his fists tightly at his sides, his knuckles turning white. For the first time, he hated his own composure. At this moment, no amount of perfect logical analysis could compare to the impulse to rush over and hug her.
Rong Shenghan's voice was colder than ice. He took off his suit jacket and draped it over Yu Jiuyuan's shoulders. The fabric still carried his body heat, but she immediately flung it away.
"Don't touch me..." Yu Jiuyuan's voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded. She grabbed a cushion from the sofa and held it in front of her, a hint of humiliation and struggle flashing in her eyes. "Get out..."
Her eyes were unfocused, yet she was still clenching her teeth, like a beast driven to the brink of despair but refusing to show weakness.
But the body betrays reason.
The effects of the drug had begun to erode her nerves, and her vision started to blur. The figures of Rong Shenghan and Xie Zhecheng overlapped and separated in front of her, like two swaying shadows.
Outside the lounge, Lin Yanran's face alternated between pale and flushed.
He had just seen the young master of the Su family run out of here, laughing and saying, "Yu Jiuyuan is going to be ruined now." At the time, he only felt relieved, but now he felt a chill run down his spine.
"Get out of my way." He tried to push the door open, but was stopped by Rong Shenghan's bodyguards. "I'm from the Lin family. How dare you stop me?"
"Vice President Rong said that no one is allowed to enter." The bodyguard remained expressionless, his arm as still as an iron gate.
Lin Yanran clenched her fists, her nails digging deep into her palms.
He heard Yu Jiuyuan's suppressed groan coming from inside. The sound was like needles piercing his ears. The student council president, who was always calm and collected and had him completely outmaneuvered, was actually inside...
He dared not think any further, feeling only a tightness in his throat, and even breathing was painful.
[Lin Yanran: Favorability 3 (unchanged), Emotional fluctuations - Negative 24 / Neutral 10 / Positive 0 (Negative -4, Positive +2)]
For the first time, negative emotions began to subside, while positive emotions, like a pebble thrown into a frozen lake, created tiny ripples.
He suddenly remembered what Yu Jiuyuan had said that morning: "Rules are not meant to be broken, but to be followed."
It turns out she wasn't lecturing him, but teaching him how to survive in this industry.
But he became an accomplice.
Yu Jiuyuan's consciousness was torn between lucidity and confusion.
She saw the seriousness in Rong Shenghan's eyes and Xie Zhecheng's tightly pursed lips, and suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with broken mockery: "Rong Shenghan, didn't you want to know... what kind of 'special treatment' is the same as Xie Zhecheng's?"
She reached out, her fingertips trembling as she grabbed Rong Shenghan's tie and pulled him toward her.
As they drew closer, she smelled his minty scent, which overlapped with the scent of the Changbai Mountain Observatory. That was her clearest memory of the two times she kissed him.
Xie Zhecheng abruptly turned his head, his gaze falling on the snow outside the window.
Snowflakes fall on the glass and instantly melt into watermarks, like someone silently shedding tears.
He heard the sound of fabric rubbing behind him, and Yu Jiuyuan's suppressed breathing. Those strange feelings for her that he had deliberately ignored now overwhelmed him like a tide.
[Xie Zhecheng: Favorability 17 (unchanged), Emotional fluctuations - Negative 0/Neutral 5/Positive 105 (Positive +8)]
His positive emotions surged dramatically, and the usually aloof perfectionist completely lost control at this moment. He roughly ripped off his tie, but his steps toward the sofa faltered as Rong Shenghan had already picked up Yu Jiuyuan.
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