Chapter 78 The Secret of the Scar (Part 2)
That night, after returning from the hospital, Huo Yanli stood on the balcony for a long time.
The night breeze in Sanya, carrying the salty dampness of the sea, dispelled the daytime heat. The swimming pool downstairs shimmered with blue light, where children played, their laughter ringing out. In the distance, the sea was pitch black, save for the occasional passing boat leaving a trail of shimmering light.
Everything was peaceful and beautiful.
But what lingered in Huo Yanli's mind was Director Chen's words, "only three millimeters away from the spinal nerve," and Song Zhiyi's calm statement, "The pain is bearable."
The next day at breakfast, the Huo family was all in the dining room.
Huo Siqi was pushed over in a wheelchair, her legs braced. Upon seeing Song Zhiyi, she immediately waved, "Sister-in-law! Over here!"
Song Zhiyi walked over and sat down next to her: "How are you feeling?"
"It's alright, but I can't move, it's so boring." Huo Siqi stuck out her tongue, then lowered her voice, "Sister-in-law, thank you for that day... and I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize." Song Zhiyi spread butter on the bread with elegant movements. "Just be careful next time."
Mrs. Huo brought over a tray and sat down opposite Song Zhiyi. She glanced at Song Zhiyi's arm and asked, "Has the wound been dressed?"
"It's been changed."
What did the doctor say?
"It's just a superficial wound, nothing serious."
Mrs. Huo nodded and didn't ask any more questions, but she put a fried egg on Song Zhiyi's plate: "Eat more protein, your wound will heal faster."
This subtle concern startled Song Zhiyi for a moment. She said softly, "Thank you, Mom."
Lin Wei walked over at that moment. She was wearing a pale yellow dress today, her makeup was exquisite, and she smiled brightly: "Everyone's here. Siqi, are you feeling better?"
"I'm much better, thank you for your concern, Sister Lin Wei."
Lin Wei sat down in the empty seat opposite Huo Yanli. She naturally picked up the coffee pot and refilled Huo Yanli's cup: "Yanli, did you sleep well last night? You look a little pale."
"It's alright." Huo Yanli said calmly, moving his coffee cup to the side.
Lin Wei's hand stiffened for a moment, but she quickly smiled again: "That's good. By the way, the weather is nice today, shall we go for a walk on the beach this afternoon? I know a very beautiful beach that's quiet and not crowded."
"Zhiyi needs rest," Huo Yanli said.
"Ah, right." Lin Wei turned to Song Zhiyi, her eyes filled with concern. "Zhiyi, your arm injury hasn't healed yet; you really should rest more. How about this, you rest at the hotel, and Yanli and I will go..."
"I'm tired too, I want to rest," Huo Yanli interrupted her.
Lin Wei's smile finally faltered. She looked at Huo Yanli, her eyes filled with grievance: "Yanli, I just wanted you to relax a bit. You've been running around like this these past few days..."
“Miss Lin,” Mrs. Huo suddenly spoke, her tone calm but carrying an undeniable authority, “You don’t need to bother with the Huo family’s affairs.”
These words were so direct that the restaurant fell silent instantly. Several relatives looked over, their expressions varied.
Lin Wei's face flushed instantly. She bit her lip, her eyes reddening, "Auntie, I just..."
“I know you mean well.” Mrs. Huo put down her knife and fork and wiped her mouth with a napkin. “But good intentions should be considered in the context. The Huo family is on a family trip, and it’s not appropriate for outsiders to interfere too much.”
She emphasized the word "outsider".
Lin Wei stood up, her voice choked with emotion: "I'm sorry, I disturbed you."
She turned and quickly left the restaurant, her back view hurried.
Huo Siqi watched her retreating figure and whispered, "Auntie, aren't you being a bit too much..."
"What do you mean, 'too'?" Mrs. Huo looked at her. "Siqi, you must remember—some people smile at you, but they may not be doing it for your own good. Where was she when your sister-in-law was injured for you? Where was she when your sister-in-law saved you in the canyon?"
Huo Siqi lowered her head and remained silent.
Song Zhiyi ate her breakfast quietly, as if the incident just now had nothing to do with her. Huo Yanli looked at her calm profile and suddenly wanted to know—was she truly indifferent to Lin Wei's actions, or had she simply gotten used to being indifferent?
After breakfast, Huo Yanli accompanied Song Zhiyi back to her room to change her dressing.
He gently removed the gauze from her arm. The wound had already scabbed over, and there was still some redness and swelling around it.
"It's recovered quite well." Huo Yanli carefully disinfected the wound, reapplied the medicine, and re-bandaged it. "But we still need to be careful to keep it waterproof."
"Um."
After changing her dressing, Song Zhiyi was about to go to the study to handle work emails. Huo Yanli stopped her: "Don't work today, take a day off."
"Some documents must be processed today."
"What document is so urgent?"
"Background materials for next month's ASEAN meeting." Song Zhiyi had already opened her laptop. "Sorry, it really needs to be processed."
Looking at her focused profile, Huo Yanli suddenly asked, "Song Zhiyi, how did you get the injury on your back?"
The room fell silent for a moment.
Song Zhiyi stopped typing. She didn't turn around, but Huo Yanli saw that she straightened her back—an instinctive defensive posture.
"Didn't Director Chen say it was shrapnel wounds?"
"I'm asking how you got hurt." Huo Yanli walked up to her, looked at her, and asked, "Under what circumstances and why you were injured."
Song Zhiyi raised her eyes and looked at him. Her eyes were clear, but deep, so deep that Huo Yanli couldn't see the emotions within them.
Silence spread between the two.
The faint sound of waves could be heard outside the window, and the only sound in the room was the low hum of the air conditioner running.
"It's all in the past," Song Zhiyi finally said, her voice very soft.
“But the wound is still there,” Huo Yanli said. “It still hurts, it’s still reopening, and it’s still affecting your life. How are you going to get through it?”
Song Zhiyi closed her laptop, stood up, and walked to the window. With her back to Huo Yanli, she looked out at the sea.
The sunlight was beautiful, shining on her and giving her a soft golden glow.
“Four years ago, in a small town in northern Syria,” she finally began, her voice calm as if she were telling someone else’s story. “I was there conducting community research to understand the needs of people in the post-war reconstruction.”
Huo Yanli walked behind her, without urging her, but just listened quietly.
“There is a temporary school in the town, built by an international organization, which takes in more than eighty children who have lost their parents,” Song Zhiyi continued. “That day I was doing research at the school when I suddenly heard an air raid siren.”
Her voice was steady, but Huo Yanli noticed that her fingers were gently gripping the window frame.
“According to the emergency plan, we should have evacuated to the air-raid shelter immediately. I ran to the door with a few children, and we could already see the entrance to the air-raid shelter.” She paused, “Then I heard crying inside. A little girl had fallen and was trapped under a table and chairs, unable to get out.”
Huo Yanli's breath caught in his throat.
“I went back,” Song Zhiyi said simply. “I pulled her out and ran outside. We had only taken two steps when the explosion happened.”
She turned around and looked at Huo Yanli, her face still calm: "A piece of shrapnel hit me. It was in a very lucky spot, hitting the first aid kit I was carrying, which cushioned some of the impact. Otherwise, I might have died on the spot."
Huo Yanli was speechless. He looked at her calm face, at her casually saying "she might die on the spot," and suddenly felt a suffocating pain.
"Why didn't you run?" he asked with difficulty. "You were already at the door..."
“Because she was crying.” Song Zhiyi’s answer was simple. “She called me ‘sister’ and said ‘save me’.”
When she said this, her eyes were as clear as a spring, without any heroic embellishment, only a pure statement—someone was calling for help, so she went back.
It's that simple.
Huo Yanli recalled Huo Zheng's words: "She could have run away; she had already reached the door. But when she heard a child crying inside, she turned back."
He was simply shocked at the time.
Now, looking at Song Zhiyi's calm face and listening to her calm narration, he truly understood the weight of that shock—it wasn't a momentary act of heroism, but an instinct etched into his bones: to rush to the rescue upon hearing a cry for help.
"And then?" His voice was a little hoarse.
"Later I was sent to a field hospital and had surgery. I was in a coma for two days before waking up." Song Zhiyi sat back down at her desk and turned on her computer. "That's it."
that's all.
An air raid that nearly killed her, a scar that almost paralyzed her, and a brush with death.
In her words, it was just "that's it".
Huo Yanli watched her resume her work, watching her intently stare at the screen, her fingers tapping on the keyboard, as if she had just recounted an ordinary experience.
He suddenly got very angry.
I'm not angry at her, I'm angry at myself.
I'm angry at myself for ignoring her for the past three years, angry at myself for thinking she was "not good enough for the Huo family," and angry at myself for only now truly seeing what kind of person she is.
"Song Zhiyi," he said.
She looked up at him.
"Why didn't you tell me you had such serious injuries?" Huo Yanli asked. "It's been three years, and you've never mentioned it once."
Song Zhiyi thought for a moment and said seriously, "A contract marriage is unnecessary."
This is the same answer again.
But this time, Huo Yanli sensed a different meaning.
When she said "it's unnecessary," it wasn't indifference, but a deep-rooted independence—she was used to bearing everything alone, used to not relying on anyone, and used to swallowing her pain and digesting it herself.
Because in her past life, she had no one to rely on.
Her parents sacrificed their lives, her maternal grandfather grew old, and later he passed away. She grew up alone, faced the world alone, and carried on her parents' unfinished dreams alone.
Therefore, she neither knew nor believed that anyone would be willing to share her pain.
"Song Zhiyi." Huo Yanli walked up to her, squatted down, and looked her in the eye. "Our marriage is more than just a contract."
Song Zhiyi looked at him, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.
“At least for me, it’s more than that.” Huo Yanli’s voice was soft but firm. “All your injuries, your pain, everything about you, you need to tell me. Because I care.”
Song Zhiyi looked at him, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes, followed by... an emotion that Huo Yanli couldn't understand.
It looked like surprise, confusion, or... bewilderment.
She rarely showed that expression. Most of the time, she was calm, composed, and in control.
But at this moment, she looked somewhat lost.
“Mr. Huo,” she finally said, “thank you. But I really can handle it myself.”
She paused, then added, "And I don't want to be a burden to anyone."
“You are not a burden,” Huo Yanli said immediately.
“Not now, but if I get used to relying on others, I might become that way in the future,” Song Zhiyi said earnestly. “The most important thing my parents taught me is that people must learn to be independent. Because no one can be with you forever, you have to be able to stand up on your own.”
Her eyes were clear and firm as she said this.
Huo Yanli suddenly understood—this wasn't rejection, it was her philosophy of survival. It was a lesson she had learned with her life.
“I understand,” he finally said. “I won’t interfere with you, nor will I make decisions for you. But I want you to know—I’m here if you need me.”
He spoke slowly and earnestly: "Not out of duty, not out of obligation. It's just because... I want to be here."
Song Zhiyi looked at him without saying a word for a long time.
She looked at him, at the seriousness in his eyes, and at the tenderness and determination on his face that she had never seen before.
The room was very quiet.
The sound of waves crashing against the window drifted in.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting a beam of light between the two people, with dust particles swirling within it.
After a long silence, Song Zhiyi said softly, "Mr. Huo, you don't need to do this."
“I need it,” Huo Yanli said. “It’s not that you need it, it’s that I need it. I need to know what you’ve been through, I need to know if you’re in pain, and I need to know what I can do for you.”
He paused, then added, "This is my need. It's none of your business."
The words were convoluted, but Song Zhiyi understood them.
He was saying: I want to care about you, not because you ask me to, but because I want to.
"Okay," she finally said, her voice very soft. "I understand."
Huo Yanli smiled—not the usual polite and distant smile, but a genuine, heartfelt smile.
“Then you go back to work,” he said. “What would you like for lunch? I’ll have the restaurant bring it up.”
"It will be all right."
"good."
Huo Yanli left the study and gently closed the door behind him.
He suddenly realized that what he had just said might have been too heavy a burden for her.
She's used to bearing everything alone, used to not relying on anyone. If someone suddenly says, "I'm here," she might not know how to react.
But it's okay.
He can wait.
As she gradually gets used to it, accepts it, and begins to believe—that there really is someone in this world willing to be with her, not because she needs him, but because he wants to.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com