Qingran was extremely tired, and with the weight of her worries, she shouldn't have felt this way.
When she could see some blurry scenes, Qingran realized that she had once again slipped into a dream.
It seemed to happen every time; whenever the storyline in the book developed, she would either dream or, after a headache, suddenly have new memories in her mind.
In her dream, it was also late night. She saw two figures standing in the dark courtyard, the moon covered by dark clouds, not letting a single ray of light through.
They were talking about something, but too far away for her to hear clearly.
It is not gentlemanly to eavesdrop, Qingran thought, not intending to go over, but her body in the dream wasn't under her control and she approached on its own.
An eerie silence filled the air, interrupted only by the woman's sobbing cries, as if she was in extreme pain.
The tall and slender man stood about five steps behind the crying woman, his features blurred by the night, his general outline barely visible.
After a while, Qingran heard the man speak. His voice was rough as if passing through sand, hoarse to the extreme—
"Li Qingran, I trade the rest of my life for your happiness, what reason do you have to cry?"
Only then did Qingran realize that the woman crouched on the ground crying was the Li Qingran from the book.
Li Qingran did nothing but cry; her muffled sobs were heart-wrenching.
The man walked away, passing by Li Qingran, leaving only one sentence in the air: "After I marry you and you marry, we will have nothing to do with each other!"
The man's figure passed through Qingran's body, and she felt a sudden dull pain in her heart. She wanted to leave, but as soon as she moved a little, the pain intensified.
In a hazy consciousness, she felt herself being embraced by someone, exceptionally warm.
——
Struggling to open her eyes, Qingran saw that it was already bright outside.
The smell of disinfectant was strong, and there was a slight pain in her right hand outside the blanket. Qingran turned her head, and the first thing she saw was an IV drip.
Only then did she belatedly realize she was lying in a hospital bed, and if she paid attention, she could feel a slight pain in her chest.
The woman who had been looking at her smartphone by the bed noticed Qingran waking up and seemed pleasantly surprised.
"You're awake?" She leaned forward with a smile and uttered a useless platitude, then hurriedly picked up her smartphone as if to make a call.
If not for the first thing she said on the phone, "President Li, good day, Miss Qingran has woken up," Qingran would have almost thought she had time-traveled again.
After hanging up the phone, the woman pressed the call button for the doctor at the bedside.
Taking advantage of the gap before the doctor arrived, she asked Qingran, "President Li is on his way here. Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"
Qingran shook her head and closed her eyes again.
The doctor arrived quickly, and learning that Qingran didn't feel uncomfortable anywhere, he just instructed her to rest more and left.
Mr. Li arrived half an hour later in a hurry, his appearance disheveled, his tie loosened, unaware of it, and he sat by Qingran's bedside asking if she was still feeling unwell.
"I don't feel unwell anymore, Dad." Qingran's pale lips barely mustered a smile to comfort her father.
Mr. Li had a look of sympathy for his daughter in his eyes. He sighed, "You, child, suffer grievances and don't even speak to Dad, keeping everything bottled up inside, that's not good for you."
Qingran lowered her eyes without responding.
That strange dream and the sudden heart-wrenching pain—by the last moment of the dream, she couldn't tell if Li Qingran's suffering had transferred to her?
Qingran had to stay in the hospital for three days due to chest pain. During those three days, Song Shize, completely able-bodied and shamelessly lingering in the hospital, visited her several times a day, always choosing when no one else was around.
Xie Ying'an visited her every day after school, even arriving before Li Qingmo. On the first day, Song Shize was surprised to see Xie Ying'an and then left.
Xie Ying'an glanced at Song Shize's retreating back, slightly frowning his brows, but seeing Qingran's distracted state, he ended up saying nothing.
He sat by the bedside and began peeling an apple. The long peel dangled down without breaking, even after peeling more than half.
Qingran couldn't help being amazed and leaned in.
For Qingran, who was not adept with her hands, this skill was impressive. She gave a thumbs up: "That's impressive."
Xie Ying'an looked up at her with a smile, his young black eyes filled with pleasure, his lightly pursed lips adorned with a faint smile, adding a touch of ethereal handsomeness compared to his usual aloof image.
"Want to learn? I'll teach you."
Qingran looked away, feeling that ever since the plot entered the main thread, Xie Ying'an just kept breaking the rules.
Seeing her turn her head, Xie Ying'an continued his task. After the final cut, the peel fell into the trash can. He then cut the apple into small, bite-sized pieces, skewered a piece with a toothpick, and offered it to Qingran.
Qingran lowered her eyes and took it, thanking him.
The young man's distinct fingertips were stained with apple juice. He went to wash his hands in the bathroom and, coming out, bumped into Li Qingmo entering.
Li Qingmo scowled, "How did you get here earlier than me?"
Xie Ying'an glanced at Qingran, who was sitting on the hospital bed eating an apple, looking demure and adorable.
Xie Ying'an brushed past the blocking Li Qingmo and sat down again by the bedside: "I walked faster."
Li Qingmo was expressionless: "Are you suggesting my legs are short?"
"Yes." Xie Ying'an nodded with an air of 'what can you do about it'.
Xie Ying'an was miffed as Li Qingmo frowned deeply.
"I don't need someone like you to look after my sister..." His gaze fixed upon the small fruit plate in Qingran's hand: "Hey, Li Qingran, what are you eating?"
Qingran skewered a piece of fruit with a toothpick, "Apple."
"Is it sweet?" Li Qingmo swallowed.
Qingran took another bite, savoring it carefully before replying, "Sweet."
Li Qingmo shamelessly brought his face closer, "Let me try some."
Xie Ying'an blocked Li Qingmo's face with an unpeeled apple, "If you want some, peel it yourself."
Li Qingmo looked up and glared at him, "Did you peel the apple for Qingran?"
"Uh-huh."
"Could you peel one for me too?"
"Don't get your hopes up."
Damn, now he was even more irritated.
Xie Ying'an was principled; if he said he wouldn't peel it, he wouldn't. After Qingran finished an apple, he took the plate to wash it.
Qingran felt there was nothing wrong with her body and clamored to be discharged, but no one, including Mr. Li, acknowledged her request.
Since only one person could stay with her in the hospital room and Mr. Li was entering a critical period at work, where he couldn't afford the time to come over, Aunt Liu did want to come, but she was getting on in years; Li Qingmo still had classes, and Mr. Li didn't allow him to stay in the hospital overnight.
Left with no choice, Zhao Yan, who was idle at home, volunteered to accompany Qingran. Mr. Li felt rather embarrassed and thanked Zhao Yan repeatedly.
Zhao Yan treated Qingran as if she were her own child, and besides, she was just there to keep Qingran company, which didn't require much assistance.
At 6:45 in the evening, Zhao Yan looked at her own son and Li Qingmo.
"Guys."
Xie Ying'an and Li Qingmo looked up from their phones, puzzled, at Zhao Yan.
"What time is it? Aren't you leaving yet? Waiting for the doctor to come and kick you out?"
Li Qingmo snapped out of it, put away his phone and stood up from his chair, "I appreciate it, Aunt Zhao. I'll head out then."
Before leaving, he didn't forget to drag along Xie Ying'an who still hadn't moved, "Let's go."
Xie Ying'an glanced at Qingran; she smiled and waved goodbye to them. The unwarranted aversion she had shown him the past few days was gone from her eyes, which lifted his spirits somewhat, "Mom, remember to call me if anything comes up."
Zhao Yan urged impatiently, "I know, get going."
As he opened the door, Li Qingmo took one last look at Qingran and put on his big brother persona, "Listen to Aunt Zhao, alright?"
Qingran was utterly speechless at him.
Later around eight o'clock, Song Shize came wandering in again.
At this time, Zhao Yan was in the restroom taking a shower.
Song Shize didn't see any caregivers in the hospital room and was taken aback for a moment, "No one's staying with you tonight?"
Qingran lay in bed, completely unwilling to entertain him.
"Come on, don't be like this?" Song Shize impudently sat by her bed and pulled at the quilt covering her head, "I've got something important to tell you."
Qingran couldn't resist him and sat up to listen attentively, "Go on."
Song Shize showed her a photo: "Found the person who posted it. It's him."
The photo showed a young man around eighteen or nineteen years old crouching on the ground with his head in his arms, his features unremarkable and his skin dark.
Qingran's angry impulse had long subsided, and she was perplexed, "I don't even know him, why would he smear my name like that?"
"This guy has a crush on Luo Lan and he's a stalker. Seeing that he couldn't pursue Luo Lan, he started to slander people. You were seen with me and he thought you're the same kind of person as Luo Lan, so he included you in the post to stir up public opinion."
"Is he from our school?"
Qingran couldn't believe that the young man could be a high school student.
"How could he be? The guy dropped out of middle school and used to be Luo Lan's neighbor."
"Oh, I see. You can go now." Qingran issued the order for him to leave.
Song Shize began to act like a wronged little wife, "Li Qingran, I've really misjudged you. To think you'd just use me and throw me away."
Qingran looked at him with a lifeless gaze, "Have you forgotten who got me into this state?"
Song Shize went silent at her words.
After a while, he muttered sheepishly, "I'm sorry."
Then he added, "But still, you overreacted. Just a post got you so angry you had a heart spasm and passed out..."
The bathroom door opened with a click, and Zhao Yan, dressed in pajamas and holding a hair dryer, walked over. She was visibly stunned to see Song Shize sitting there.
"Young man, how did you get in here?"