Chapter 76 Summer Sleep is like a resilient wild rose, but those storms should not have been inflicted upon her by him.
Just as Xia Mian had predicted, her hand was fine, with only minor soft tissue damage. It just looked a little scary because her skin was so fair and delicate.
The doctor prescribed two boxes of medicine to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, patiently explained how to use it, pointed to the door, and Xia Mian thanked him and opened the door to the clinic.
Then I saw a strange scene.
On the bench in the corridor, Zhou Pingchuan sat in the middle with his eyes slightly closed, while Xu Ning sat at the far left as if she were sealed away.
His buttocks barely touched the half of the stool, his usual arrogant expression was gone, and he sat properly with his hands on his knees like a primary school student.
The Third Master of the Zhou Family is terrifyingly powerful.
Seeing him emerge, Xu Ning finally broke the seal and ran over to ask, "What did the doctor say?"
"Soft tissue injury, it will be fine after applying medicine for two days."
"Phew, that scared me to death! Thank goodness you're alright," Xu Ning breathed a sigh of relief. "So... shall we go back first?"
As he spoke, he secretly glanced at Zhou Pingchuan—he dared not act rashly without Zhou Pingchuan's approval.
Xia Mian didn't dare to either, but she couldn't just let the three of them stare at each other blankly, so she forced herself to say, "Let's go."
The injury occurred inside the hotel, and the hotel was very responsible, sending two cars to pick them up—one for him and Xu Ning, and one for Zhou Pingchuan himself. As for the production team's PD who was filming—it's unclear whether he was driven away by Zhou Pingchuan, as he has disappeared without a trace.
Only after completely separating from that giant Buddha statue did Xu Ning's heart finally return to its normal beating rhythm.
“Xia Mian,” he turned around and asked in a low voice, “what’s your relationship with that person?”
What kind of relationship...?
Calling him her fiancé? No way, he didn't even know Zhou Pingchuan was staying at the same hotel as him, that's too fake.
Call them friends? No, very few people can be on good terms with Third Master. Everyone in the circle knows who is on good terms with whom and who is not.
“A distant relative. His second aunt’s third aunt is my eldest brother’s brother-in-law’s twin brother.” Xia Mian was too lazy to make up an excuse, so she simply made it up.
"My second aunt's third aunt..." Xu Ning counted on her fingers, but couldn't figure it out after a long time. She said in distress, "This is so difficult. Anyway, you two aren't close relatives, are you? I think he cares about you quite a bit, and it seems like he has some feelings for you."
Xia Mian recalled that from the time he met Zhou Pingchuan until now, the other party had never contacted him proactively. He came and went as he pleased; the idea of "concern" was utter nonsense: "He's practically a close relative."
"Then you'd better stay true to yourself and don't let Third Master bewitch you. If you end up in a sadomasochistic relationship, your child will most likely be disabled!"
“I’m not interested in men,” Xia Mian answered reflexively, then realized that Xu Ning seemed to have lowered his intelligence. “...Do I look like I can have children? Besides, even if I did, it would be him who would have them!”
"Oh right, right, my brain is suddenly all muddled. You don't have to like him, but don't like Liu Er either, that scumbag doesn't deserve him."
Xia Mian was speechless: "Can't you put something useful in your head? Stop talking about likes and dislikes all the time. Take advantage of this exposure to focus on your career."
"What should we do...?"
The two discussed business all the way back to the hotel. By the time they returned, the chirping of insects in the grass was already in full swing, indicating that it was late at night.
Liu Er was still worried about Xia Mian and hadn't gone to sleep. Hearing the noise in the corridor, he quietly peeked out, saw Zhou Pingchuan, and quickly shrank back inside.
Xu Ning didn't pay attention to Liu Er. After tonight, he was completely in awe of Xia Mian. How could there be someone like Xia Mian in the world who was so beautiful, knew how to dress, and was also so down-to-earth in her career? If Xia Mian weren't uninterested in men, he would almost have fallen in love with her!
"Then go to sleep now, goodnight, sweet dreams~" Xu Ning escorted Xia Mian to her bedroom door.
"Okay, goodnight." Xia Mian took out her room card, paused in the action of swiping the door, and turned her head to look behind them.
After getting off the bus, Zhou Pingchuan followed behind and was now standing about three steps away from them, looking perfectly normal. He seemed to just want to follow and had nothing to say to them.
Without explaining the hotel or asking about his injuries, even Xu Ning, whom he had just met, knew to say goodnight to him, but that guy remained silent like a human figurine, which was both frightening and infuriating.
"Fine, whatever," Xia Mian gritted her teeth, swiped her card, and went inside.
To everyone's surprise, a tall figure followed right after them!
"you......"
Zhou Pingchuan ignored her and slammed the door shut. With a loud "bang," Xia Mian's unease reached its peak.
He still remembers the burning pain of being pinned against the wall and having his necklace ripped off in Nangang before, and he doesn't want to experience it a second time.
To gain the upper hand, he turned on all the lights in the house. Zhou Pingchuan, however, seemed to have no intention of resorting to violence. He slowly walked into the living room and sat down on the sofa.
"Come here," Zhou Pingchuan said.
His expression was calm, his tone even, but for some reason, the more calm he was, the more frightened Xia Mian became. She obediently walked over, her hands tucked into her trouser seams, and stood before Zhou Pingchuan like a schoolchild being punished by the headmaster.
Director Zhou remained indifferent: "Does your hand hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore, the swelling is almost gone."
"Will you continue to stand up for others next time?"
"You have no idea how frustrating the situation was back then. If I hadn't intervened, Xu Ning would have been bullied to death by that Liu guy, I..."
Before she could finish her excuse, the antler staff suddenly hooked her leg, causing Xia Mian to stumble and lose her balance instantly!
Fortunately, he had studied dance and was more stable than the average person. He stumbled forward two steps and placed his hands on the back of the sofa on either side of Zhou Pingchuan's shoulders, thus avoiding kneeling on the ground.
He broke out in a cold sweat, feeling a chill run down his spine. He wanted to confront Zhou Pingchuan, but when he looked up, he realized that he was very close to Zhou Pingchuan, as if he were holding him in his arms.
Those cold, indifferent eyes were so close, like a deep pool in a snow-capped mountain; one glance from them sent chills down one's spine.
Xia Mian was startled and thought, "Never mind, I'll get up first."
Unfortunately, the other party had no intention of letting him go and directly reached out and grabbed Xia Mian by the back of the neck.
"I'm asking you, will you still stand up for others in the future?"
Oh, so he answered wrong earlier. Xia Mian suddenly realized what the other person wanted. But having just been to the hospital that night, he was both hungry and tired, and being questioned so forcefully made him feel incredibly wronged: "I can stand up for myself if I want to, and I can stay out of it if I don't want to. It's none of your business!"
Zhou Pingchuan suddenly pressed his hand down, bringing their faces closer and closer until Xia Mian's eyelashes almost brushed against his nose: "Look at your hands."
"My hand is broken, but that's the price I'm willing to pay. So what? Besides, it's my hand, so the pain is mine. Even if it's broken, it has nothing to do with you, let alone just being pinched."
"You won't even give me a definite answer, so what right do you have to interfere with me, just because you transferred money to me?"
"From now on, I won't spend your money anymore. I'll pay you back, I'll pay you back everything!"
Xia Mian practically shouted the last sentence.
As he spoke, he handed the credit card to Zhou Pingchuan, his eyes fixed on Zhou Pingchuan, trying his best not to show even the slightest bit of grievance.
The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, so long that Xia Mian thought the night was about to end when suddenly the back of her neck relaxed.
Zhou Pingchuan got up, left the room saying "Don't forget to apply the medicine," and left.
"Whether I apply the medicine or not is none of your business," Xia Mian muttered to herself, then collapsed onto the sofa, utterly exhausted.
***
This hot spring hotel belongs to the Kepler Group. The manager thoughtfully reserved a private room for Zhou Pingchuan. Like the private hot spring, it was never open to the public and was only for his stay or to entertain guests.
The waiter had already prepared the bathwater. It was getting late, so Zhou Pingchuan decided to take a quick bath. He sat in the tub, closed his eyes, but the scene that had just happened kept replaying in his mind.
In the living room, the little boy, with his hands on either side of his shoulders, his eyes and nose red, asked him in a trembling voice, "Why are you interfering with me!"
Even back in Nangang, a child once said, "Who are you to me?"
Zhou Pingchuan frowned, having to admit that he was wrong this time.
The power struggle within wealthy families is like a war without gunpowder. Being soft-hearted and cowardly is tantamount to slow suicide. His ability to seize power at a young age is the result of his ruthless and decisive actions.
He had long been accustomed to dealing with people and things in life through commands and reprimands.
But they forgot that there are always exceptions.
Summer hibernation is like a resilient wild rose, but those storms should not have been inflicted upon him.
Zhou Pingchuan felt he should try to appease Xia Mian, but this conflict had escalated too much to be resolved with money, so he even returned the credit card.
Zhou Pingchuan pressed his temples. The usually decisive and ruthless chairman couldn't think of a good solution for a moment.
Since we can't solve the problem for now, let's deal with the people who created it first.
A moment later, Zhou Pingchuan picked up the phone and gave the order: "Starting tomorrow, suspend all cooperation with the Liu family."
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